Practice Round

I occasionally play guinea pig for my boyfriend. The guy is a seriously good cook. Like really, really good. He loves it (so I swear it's fun for both of us) and gets a kick out of making special snacks, hors d'oeuvres and multi-course meals for people. He'll be at it again tomorrow night, indulging a house full of lucky people at a New Years Eve fete his sister and brother-in-law are throwing.

I rounded out the holiday weekend sitting back with a glass of white while he perfected techniques and marinades for a couple of the items making an appearance on the menu--sushi rolls and pork skewers. (I offered to help as I always do, but he wouldn't have it.)

He did the sushi for the same party last year, and it was apparently a hit. He's made it once or twice since, but he wants those little spicy tuna rolls tight and perfect. And the marinade for the pork is a new addition to his meat-on-a stick repertoire. So he practices. And so I benefit...

Spicy tuna rolls with touches of panko breadcrumbs for texture and julienned carrots/cucumber.

Spicy Sambal pork skewers and crab cakes (not on the menu, but made an appearance on Sunday just for fun.)

Hamachi nigiri, also not on the menu, but good, and I kinda like the shadow the fish casts on the plate.

I'll try to snap some shots of the full spread tomorrow night. Happy New Year people!

Finally....

Finally, I have a camera that will let me take some decent pictures at night. As an incredibly generous Christmas gift, my boyfriend--who I'm pretty sure got tired of me stealing his little Canon and then complain later about the photo quality--gave me a Nikon Coolpix P90. It's mid-sized, lightweight and I'm slowly but surely learning its ins, outs and features.

We gave it a test run at Pike Place market Saturday evening as the vendors closed up shop. Here's a handful of the shots from its maiden voyage:

Looking forward to documenting some of these little adventures with some better visuals. Stay tuned for more pics and bits from a most lovely holiday weekend.

Wanted: Perfect Little Hand Mixer for Making Holiday Memories

It's five days before Christmas, and I just slipped into the spirit of the holiday season. I went to bed wishing it was Jan. 1 and woke up feeling festive and nostalgic. Feeling like my own little tree is in order so my itty-bitty apartment can hold the scent of pine. Feeling ready to conquer the holiday shopping crowds and excited to spend hours carefully wrapping gifts the way my parents use to.

But more than anything I want to make some sweet treats. I want my kitchen to turn into a time machine and transport me back to when I was little. I want it to take me to my grandma's house in late December--warm and cozy and full of smells like ginger and molasses with the sounds of Christmas music and oven timers in the background.

So I spent some of this morning looking for a recipe I could get excited about, surveying my cupboards for ingredients and making a shopping list. But then I pulled my hand mixer out of its box and cursed. What happened to the beaters that do the actual mixing? I opened every drawer and searched every shelf. Nowhere to be found. Guessing I lost them in one of my last two moves. Sigh.

And then I think, oh well, really that mixer wasn't very good anyways. But I start remembering all of the other recipes I've read and tagged recently that require one. Cookies, cakes, cupcakes--basically anything I want to bake. So now I've justified buying a new one. A few I'm considering:

KitchenAid 7-Speed Hand Mixer--Because it matches my blender, which still works well and looks like new despite multiple moves and some tough love.

Cuisinart 5-Speed Hand Mixer--Because it's a tad cheaper and I like the chrome.
Michael Graves Design Hand Mixer (White)--Because it's less expensive than the other two, and it seems I could put that little container that holds the beaters to good use.

And yes, I am well-aware I could just buy replacement beaters for my current mixer. But again, it really doesn't work that well. And I've worked hard enough this year that I can make the case for buying myself a little something that will probably end up yielding things for other people anyway. I'm planning to pick one up while I finish my holiday shopping over the next couple of days. Other suggestions?

Cheers to Ebey's Landing and Life in the Pacific Northwest

A couple of weeks back, I briefly mentioned a Friday hike that ends my boyfriend's family's annual Thanksgiving festivities. Well I recently got my hands on a few photos that were snapped that day and realized I didn't give that hike due space here. I glossed over it, neglecting to mention the details that made it one of the better days I've spent in the Seattle area since moving here a few years back.

I didn't mention how ridiculously excited I got about the morning ferry ride to Whidbey Island (lame, I know, but it was only my second ever). Or how the random cup of drip coffee I got during the 20 minute ride was hot, strong and tasted surprisingly perfect...despite the fact that it had probably sat there for an hour before I pumped it into a Styrofoam cup. I forgot to explain how psyched we were to finally find Ebey's Landing (our destination) after driving in the wrong direction for a good 15 minutes before we realized we passed it (kind of a reoccurring trend, I'm afraid).

I also neglected to write about how the first part of the "hike" was really more of a leisurely walk along the beach, or how the day was stunningly clear, oddly warm and yet still cool enough to make the jaunt refreshing. And I most definitely failed to describe the view--how the scene from the top of the ridge we eventually reached when we finally moved from walking to hiking was incredible. The water was layered shades of blue. The sky the same, with mountains framing it in the background.

And I also didn't mention how we stopped halfway through for an impromptu picnic. How a table made of washed-up logs formed in a matter of minutes, or how 15 of us gathered around it eating crackers, cheese, dried fruit and nuts--incredibly simple but delicious snacks that paired with the scenery and the shoreline perfectly. I also failed to mention the bottle of Moet that was cracked open while we sat.

Now I love Champagne (and am equally affectionate about its Italian cousin Prosecco). The bubbles. The sweet taste. I don't need a special occasion to order it. I like it in the morning when it's cut with juice and served as a Mimosa, will take it in place of a cocktail before dinner and love sipping it slowly with a dessert. I like how it makes any moment feel special. How it elicits a toast. I especially liked this sip. It wasn't just that it was a nice bottle. I liked that its qualities matched the day--cold, crisp, sparkling and fun. We of course toasted, and I again felt extremely fortunate--for the weather, the people, the day, the view of some of the Pacific Northwest's finest and overall to live where I do.

Ethan Stowell Picks Up a Pen

I had a series of painfully long days last week. Days where I could barely find time to get up from my desk to grab a glass of water let alone peruse my RSS feeds and regular fun reads. As a result I'm just now reading last week's news about Ethan Stowell's forthcoming cookbook.

I'm psyched about this. I wrote here about how I was surprised that none of this local restaurateur's places made Seattle Magazine's big list this fall. And while my last two trips to How to Cook a Wolf have admittedly not been my favorites, I still love a seat at that bar and could call a plate of his crudo dinner (or lunch, brunch or breakfast) every night for a week.

I like that he can make three or four ingredients taste like a full on feast, and I love that it sounds like that's where this book is headed. It's due out in Fall 2010, and Seattle Mag's Alicia Arter has more here.