On to Something New... and Something Old

 

 
If you have not heard yet, I was let go from my job a little over a week ago. It was the last day before I was scheduled to go on vacation, and just a few days before my birthday. Not the best timing ever, but I suppose not the worse, either. Despite my not-so-great news, I have tried to enjoy this time (while making work contacts as well).

For my birthday, I went out and bought just a few new clothes. Not many, since I have no idea what I will be doing yet, but I miss having my style, which kind of disappeared while working at my last job. When you work with chemicals and contaminates, you tend not to want to wear nice things. Not at work, anyway. At least that's me.

I saw "The Lion King in 3D" (A longtime favorite Disney movie of mine). It kind of helped get my mind off things. For my birthday, that was something I just needed to do.

I made one of my favorite dinners, Fondue. I prepared a small steak, some red potatoes (good for not falling apart), mushrooms, and some Walla-Walla sweet onions (a nice choice for oil fondue, as I discovered!). Along with that, I made a red sauce (a sauce with ketchup and several other goodies), and a white sauce (with sour cream, dill and whatnot) for dipping the cooked items in. It turned out delicious!

For dessert, I made Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies, topped with Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream, and some Hershey's Syrup. Exquisitely rich in taste! My dad would say, "Too much chocolate." I would say back, "Never."

I had originally planned for part of my vacation to go to Portland. It has been years since I have seen a certain family member, and even longer seeing the Portland Saturday Market, which is a nice place to see hand-made crafts, browse through artwork and taste great food.

We rode the train into the City Center. It was kind of difficult to figure out. Luckily, I was with someone who knew a little more about what she was doing. I would have gone the opposite direction.

The market was only about a couple of blocks away from where we boarded off. It used to be right under the bridge, but now it is right along the water, by a park. It seems much bigger than it used to be.

One of my favorite art pieces at this week's Market was Schroedinger's Cat, by Sienna Morris, which is done in a technique the artist describes as "Numberism," using only the numbers 1-12 to create her piece. From a distance, the numbers cannot be seen. Up close, it is pretty cool.

Photography by Jenni was another booth I was impressed with, had some very eye-catching architecture photo shots, mostly in black in white, and others, with just one more significant color added. Some of the smaller prints had a good "2 for" sale, but I decided to save my money. I really like the "Portland Sign 1" photo, "Pike Place Market-Horizontal" photo, the "Golden Gate Bridge," and "Girl with Red Umbrella."

Because of my love of cooking, an Olive Oil Cruet, by Peter Neff, stood out. He had many different designs, in beautiful, and vibrant colors; I believe a red one stood out for me. Go figure. He has many other pretty things as well - like hummingbird feeders, and hanging ornaments.

After browsing the whole market, we decided to eat lunch. There were so many good-smelling foods there, it was hard to decide, but we heard that the Kielbasa place (Taste of Poland) was good. The menu was pretty confusing, but eventually we ordered what we thought was a Kielbasa sandwich. It ended up not being a sandwich, but it was so delicious, we had no complaints! On our plate, we had Kielbasa, Pierogies, some potato dish, and tomato and cucumber salad. More than enough! Very tasty. I am kind of craving it now.

The Bellevue Arts Festival 2011!

This year, the Bellevue Arts Festival was at it's best yet!  I have traditionally been going for several years now, and find it amazing how creative some people really are.

There are so many good pieces this year.  A great number of them have humour in them, which I appreciate.  Especially on a very hot day, with over 200 artists to see!  I came home exhausted, with pained feet, today, but it was totally worth it.

Several of the artist's booths are set up on the bottom floor of the parking garage at the back of the mall, so that is where I often choose to start.  The festival is clear around the Bellevue Square area, and about a block beyond.  It has definitely grown over the years.  I noticed that the jewelery was more creative this year.  It actually sparked my interest a little.  Here is just one sample of the many.  This one is by Alex Horst:

 Alex Horst Jewelry

Website

Facebook Page

Christina Goodman also has a jewelry series, as done in the style below.  The artwork is painted on with a very tiny-tipped brush.  The booth has display of one of one of Christina's pieces, under a magnifying glass.  The detail in the work is incredible.  This, I believe is a picture of one of her miniatures, or possibly a decorative pin:

Christina Goodman, hand painted miniatures &  jewelry

Website

Etsy Site

Besides jewelry, there are all other sorts of artwork, in various mediums.  Eileen F. Song is one of the artists that has a touch of humour in her paintings, mostly with birds as the subject:

Eileen F. Song

Website

Email

One of my favorite artists, Justin Hillgrove, is at the festival again, with his IMPS and MONSTERS collection. I have a couple of pieces of his work. One of a cat, called "Familiar," and one from his Alice In Wonderland series, called "Down the Rabbit Hole."  I would like to eventually get "Mad Tea Party" from that series, and maybe some of his new Harry Potter series.  They look really fun. This is the image that he has on his business card this year:

Justin Hillgrove

Website

There are some pretty awesome sculptures at the festival this year.  Carol Braden's work really caught my eye, as well as several other patrons.  Most of her display is a variety of sculpted guitars, made from various license plates, as shown on the right on this image:

Carol Braden

Website

Obviously, sculptures are much more impressive in person, because you can see the 3-dimensionality of them, but this gives you an idea.  Her website shows a few more of her guitar sculptures.  I would have liked to have seen the pizza slice too!  It looks cool!

Finally, a piece I could not resist, even though I tried.  This piece was done by an artist named Lynne Farren from Tacoma.  Her artwork is made from cut paper and mixed media on stretched canvas.  Because of that, I believe each piece may be one of a kind.  I was told there are 7 coats of varnish on the artwork I purchased, (which is not obvious at all - in a good way), so I could wipe it if needed.  I absolutely love this piece:

Lynne Farren

Lynne does not appear to have a website, but here is her card:

Pretty impressive card, too.  Isn't it?  This booth itself  looks very impressive, the floor has some artsy mats to cover the ugliness of the parking lot - and a desk sits at the front edge of the booth with her business cards and whatnot.  It also appears to be done with her cut-paper/mixed media style of work.  The whole display is really quite incredible.

So many artists I have not mentioned - but so many more with great pieces of work.  The event still runs tomorrow, July 31st, at the Bellevue Square Mall in Bellevue, WA from 9:30am-6pm.  There is no entrance or parking fee.  There are food vendors there for a price if you get hungry.  Have a good time!

Brian Major, chalk artist, replicates Andy Warhol's "Marilyn Monro" on the sidewalk outside of the BAM.

Click here to see other chalk pieces by Brian.

Day Two: Saturday's Bite 2011

Pictured:  Spicy Calamari Topped with Saffron Aioli on Bruschetta (Andaluca), Summer-Time Spaetzle (Belltown Pub), Triple Chocolate Cupcake (PinkaBella Cupcakes), Endive Spicy Pecans and Romaine with Gorgonzola Tossed in a Walnut Oil Vinaigrette Dressing (Daily Grill), "Rub with Love" Plate Steak w/ Jackie's Prosser Farm Tomatoes and a Blueberry Vinaigrette (Dahlia Lounge), Fresh Oregon Bay Shrimp Louie w/ Belgian Endive, Farmer's Egg, Asparagus and Heirloom Tomatoes (Salty's), and Grilled Italian Sausage w/ House-Made Pepper Onion Relish (Seattle's Little Italy).

Saturday started off a bit drizzly.  That is okay, it does not stop most Seattlites.  Especially not me, when it comes to The Bite.  As you can see, some of the items above are the same as Friday's Bite (in "The Alley" section), but I have to say -- I was right about liking the calamari dish a little more (due too the unusual flavors), and the sausage definitely had more flavor this time, which was a major improvement!

As the chef handed me the calamari dish, he asked me if I watched "Iron Chef America."  After I told him I did, he told me he was going to be on it, battling against Michael Symon!  So, tune into The Food Network on Sunday, July 31st to see if localist, Wayne Johnson can win over the judges on "Iron Chef America" that day!  I wonder if he will make the same dish?  If so, I am curious what the judges will think?  I am excited to see!

As I was handed the Summer-Time Spaetzle, I was told it was the best dish I would taste that day!  Ha ha!  Funny to hear after a previous chef told me he was going to be on "Iron Chef America."  Well, I have to say, he was quite right.  It was very good, and it had tough competition.  Especially against the steak dish.  It seemed to be some sort of pasta, with mushrooms.  Very light, very tasty.  My dad liked it too.  Might have been his favorite.  Might have been mine, too.  Everything on the plate was so good.

The chocolate cake was just as delicious as the day before.

The salad was yummy.  Reminds me of some kind of salad one of my cousin's make.  Very nice.

The Shrimp Louie was incredible.  Lots of good flavors, and a nice presentation.

The steak was very tasty.  I absolutely loved the tomato vinaigrette topping!  They also handed out recipes for it!

Lastly, as stated above, the sausage had some good flavor too it!  Yay!  I am not sure what happened with Friday's batch, but this one was delicious!  Good job!

I finished my meal off with some Pomegranate Berry naturally flavored water with juice from Cascade Ice.  It was very refreshing.  After we walked around a bit, the sun decided to come out.  Turned out to be a nice day!

Some of my other tastes of The Bite of Seattle outside "The Alley," were:  Fried Mac and Cheese (strangely delicious and portable!), Avocado Ice Cream with Chocolate Syrup (was all right, but the actual ice cream itself was a little grainy, would have tasted better with a smoother texture), and a Slinky Potato (I had the salt and vinegar one.  Very eye-catching! A little pricey, though).  Mmmmm......

The Bite of Seattle 2011

In photo above:  Grilled flat-iron steak w/ Sweet Corn and Blueberry Relish (Seatown), Grilled Italian Sausage w/ House Made Pepper Onion Relish (Seattle's Little Italy), Grilled Watermelon Salad with Feta Cheese and a Rhubarb Lavender Vinaigrette and Seared Tiger Prawn (Gordon's On Blueberry Hill), Taiwan's Famous, Hand-Made, Steamed Pork Dumplings Filled with Soup (Din Tai Fung), Triple Chocolate Cupcake (PinkaBella Cupcake), Spicy Calamari Topped with Saffron Aioli on Bruschetta (Andaluca), and Shaved Roast Beef Slider w/ Carmelized Onions and Dijon Mustard on a Pretzel Bun (Purple Café).

It's that time again!  The Bite of Seattle started off right, on a warm and sunny day!  The Alley did not disappoint! 

I started off with the pork dumpling.  It was very good.  It had a nice salty flavor and wonderful textures.  Perhaps a little, was it ginger?  For garnish?  That was good, too. 

The grilled watermelon salad was amazing!  I was curious to see how all the ingredients together would work at first, and found that the Feta cheese, with the sweet chunks of watermelon, made of very nice blend of flavors, along with the other ingredients.  The prawn was cooked perfectly for it too, not overdone like I have had at other places before.  One of my favorites, if not my favorite of all the dishes. 

I was most concerned about the calamari on the bruschetta.  I thought I would not like the textures, but the textures were really good.  I am not sure how I felt about the sauce.  It wasn't my favorite.  I think, however, it could be an acquired taste, that I could grow to like.  The presentation of it was absolutely beautiful, as you can see.

The sausage dish, although not bad, was a little bland tasting, in my opinion.  I have had other sausage dishes previously at The Alley that had been much more impressive.  Like the one last year with crab.  That one was better.

The roast beef slider was delicious, a nice thing to eat on a summer day, nice blend of flavors with the caramelized onions, and the pretzel bread was a nice twist -- um... no pun intended...seriously.

The grilled steak was cooked to order, and served by Tom Douglas himself.  Very tasty.  Amongst mine and my friends favorites.  I had had this dish before at another Alley event.

The cupcake was a nice way to end the meal.  Perfectly chocolaty!  Nice and rich.  Totally delicious!

Overall, the whole plate of food was very good and my friends felt they got their money's worth, which is $10 per plate.  If you want water with your meal it is an extra $2.50.  If you drink wine, there is a extra cost for a wine tasting with the meal.  Proceeds go to Food Lifeline.

The Bite is going on all weekend!  The Alley changes some of it's menu items every day.  So, obviously, it is tempting to go back.  There are also many other vendors at The Bite, if you are not into gourmet.  I also tried some Avocado Ice Cream, and some Fried Macaroni and Cheese this year.  They have regular food too, such as Famous Dave's (BBQ), and Black Angus Steakhouse (steak).

So grab your family or your friends, head over, listen to some bands play, while munching on Fried Mac & Cheese, play in the fountain, maybe visit the Science Center, and if you were lucky enough to score tickets ahead of time, see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II at the IMAX!  You will have a good time.  Enjoy!

Sandwich

The other day I wanted to make a sandwich similar to Panera Bread's "Asiago Roast Beef." It is listed on their menu as: "Oven-roasted beef, smoked cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions & creamy horseradish sauce, on our Asiago Cheese Demi."  Mine is slightly different, but it really hit the spot.  Here is how to make my version, minus the Asiago, and with an addition of mustard:

Start with a french roll.

Add some slices of medium cheddar cheese.

Layer on some quality roast beef slices (I bought mine in the deli section of Fred Meyer).

Next, a couple of slices of tomato,

sliced red onion,

and green leaf lettuce.

Squirt some hot horseradish and some yellow mustard on the top side.

Blend them both together.

You're sandwich is done!

Yummy!

Memrois of a Family Pet

Hershey

As some of you know, my family recently lost a pet that had been in the family for many years.  I remember when he first came to our home.  He was just a little thing, who barely had black on the tips of his ears, his tail, and a slight band across the eyes.  My sister had just gone to bed, and I took him upstairs and put him on her bed.  He wobbled as he walked, she sat up and said, "Oh cute...!"

We got another cat, named Smokey, maybe a week after.  He was an all black cat, a cross between a Persian and Himalayan.  Very cute, too.  Because Hershey had a band across his eyes, some of us thought it would be funny if we named Hershey "The Bandit."  So the duo could be "Smokey and the Bandit," like the old movie.  Since Hershey was mainly my sister's cat, she did not want to change his name.  She really did not know about the movie anyway.  Now, looking back, I think Hershey was a much more suitable name. 

He was a quiet cat, that mainly kept to himself (probably due to some other dominant felines in the house over the years).  He did not like to be held or sit on your lap, but he would come to you if you whistled, "Yankee Doodle Dandy."  No other tune would work.  He liked to be petted and would purr loudly when you stroked his fur.  He would also purr into the phone if you wanted to hear him from a long distance.

He mourned with me after Smokey died.  Tragically killed by a bald eagle around one Christmastime holiday.  I used to like bald eagles.  I really don't care for them much anymore.

The most funniest moment Hershey gave us, was the time we heard "thumping" and "jingling" at the same time.  I believe my sister and I were in the living room, we turned to see what the weird noise was.  It was Hershey!   He had a collar with a bell at the time, and somehow got an Easter basket wrapped between his back legs and his butt!  He was running down the stairs, with a basket stuck in back bobbing up and down!  It was the most hilarious site!  Truly, you really would have had to been there to get the full effect.

The last weekend I had to visit Hershey he came and sat on my lap on his own.  I felt honored.  I also made some crack about, "Oh NOW you come to sit on me!"  But I let him as long as he liked.  It was a special moment.  I really miss him.  He really was a good kitty.

The Sounders Beat Fire

This Saturday, I went to my first official soccer game at Qwest Field.  It was the Seattle Sounders vs. the Chicago Fire.  Two cities I love, which you can tell, if you read my blogs. 

It was one time, when the line to the men’s restroom, was longer than the line to the women’s.  That alone, makes it a worthwhile outing. 

I know only the basics of soccer, but already, I have decided it is my favorite sport to watch.  There is tons of action, and games are only 90 minutes long.  The crowd does these bizarre chants, and other rituals (such as holding up their Sounders scarves, jumping up and down, holding up their hands, and clapping to a certain beat) so it is entertaining, to say the least.

The game itself was very exciting.  Lots of players wound up on the ground, mainly ones from Chicago, after which the Sounder fans would boo, because most of the time it seemed like the injured were just faking (not that the fans cared, anyway).  They would then go into this bizarre chant of “Let him die!  Let him die!…”  Wow.  Soccer fans are brutal, aren’t they?

Half-time came very quickly.   I got hungry, so I decided to buy myself some nachos.  The food is pricey, but the chicken nachos are quite tasty.    I think I should have nixed the jalapeños though.  Next time, I want to try a stadium hot dog. 

The score wound up 2 to 1.  There was almost one final goal made at the very last second by the Sounders, but unfortunately, it went out of bounds by just by a little bit.  Still, it was a very exciting game, indeed.

Just as we were leaving the stadium, a lady was somehow thrown into me, swiping my left side!  I did not see what happened, but I could tell you, it did not feel good.  My friends behind me told me a fight broke out in front of me, and the woman somehow got in the way.  Luckily, as she was shoved practically through me, my friends were able to catch her and help her to the floor (she must have had the wind knocked out of her or something).  It sounds like the two guys fighting took off immediately.  I surely hope the woman is okay.  I am really glad I was able to buffer her from getting hurt maybe worse, and I am also glad I did not get thrown or hit by those guys myself.   My arm is still hurting, a little.  I can only imagine how the other lady feels.

After that craziness, we went over to the souvenir shop.  I knew the jerseys would be pricey, but the Sounders scarves were reasonably priced.  I wound up buying and bringing home a pretty dark grey and bright green striped scarf, with the Sounders logo on it. Perhaps, at the next game I go to, I will hold that scarf up, and participate in some of those bizarre rituals, and become a true Sounders fan.  Just need to get some of those songs down now.