My Day Yesterday

Yesterday was so nice. Finally I was feeling well enough to do things (unfortunately I seem to have relapsed a bit today), so I cleaned up the apartment, which had been suffering from my sickness-related laziness, and worked on my new craft project (which I'll talk about later). Our handyman and assistant showed up (thank god I cleaned!) to open our windows, so finally we can get some cross-ventilation. That alone would be enough to make a good day, but they also replaced our broken toilet seat and gave us a rubber plug for our tub! It's like christmas!
In the evening I had to attend a meeting in Ballard--for those who don't know, Ballard is a super-fun area of Seattle. We would like to go there more often, and although it is only six miles away, this can mean 2 to 3 busses and over an hour of travel time just to get there. Yuck. So I figured, since I was going there already I might as well do a few other things I have been meaning to do there. The first one was stop at the Joann Fabrics there (which isn't a great store generally, but I needed some certain items for my craft project that I can't get at the small Capitol Hill fabric store) and the second to go to the new BBQ restaurant that opened up recently where one of my friends works. Since I would need to get around Ballard once I got there, I decided to take my bike, which also cut out one of the busses on the way there, and since it was turning into a beautiful (but windy) day, I got some nice riding out of it. If I hadn't been sick I would have biked all the way there along the Lake Union Trail, but I figured some light riding would be best, especially around Ballard's cute neighborhoods. My meeting went well, and Nathan and Brian met up with me after their Ultimate Frisbee game (which they dominated!) so timing worked out perfect for a late dinner at Bitterroot. We started out with jalepeno hush puppies and buffalo fried chicken livers. Then we all split the combo platter known as the "cowboy killer." That is half a chicken, brisket, pulled pork, and ribs served with a pretzel roll and three sides. They were out of ribs, so they replaced it with pork belly. I was sad about the ribs, but the pork belly was amazing, obviously. This is the face Nathan made when he realized there was a three-inch-thick slab of bacon on our table:

They smoke their meats in house with apple wood, and you could really taste the flavor. The brisket and the pork belly were the most amazing (correlated to fat content perhaps?) Scratch that, the cheddar grits were the MOST amazing, but aside from that. The chicken and pulled pork were alright. The grilled asparagus was great. We got to choose from sweet bbq sauce, xxx spicy, and a vinegar-mustard sauce. I tend to like a Carolina-style vinegar sauce, and while the mustard sauce was pretty good, I think it needed more heat. I'm not big on sticky-sweet bbq sauces at all, except for Nathan's/Joy's, which has a strong acidity to it because it's made with lemons.
So that was my nice day. Monday is kinda my weekend, so I like to make it count! We are all suffering from a bit of a food hang-over this morning, and I'm brainstorming about a vegetarian dinner for tonight...

Spring Spring Spring!

Well, spring has definitely sprung...it's almost may after all, and we've been busybusy and also I've been sick...again. Here is a little centerpiece I put together for our table, but unfortunately the cat for some reason is OBSESSED with taking all the little things out of the teacups. She's not even allowed on the table, but I cannot leave the centerpiece unmonitored for a second, so sadly most of the time I keep our fly screen dome covering it.

 Last weekend Brian and Kate took us to the tulip fields in Mt Vernon...

 It is really quite breathtaking

The tulips are over for this year, but if you plan on going to this yearly event, I would not recommend the first beautiful saturday of the year...you might also want to wear rain boots since it was quite muddy, and whatever you do, drive back to I-5 via Hwy 20 and not through town! You'll simply never get there. Lots of people were biking in and could zoom right past the traffic. Were we ever jealous of them!

 Before the tulips we stopped at a very popular farm stand for the advertised "Immodest Ice Cream."
Quite.

 And also for some "Wood fired Piz...za"

Brian and Nathan by the pizza oven and Kate displays her pizza below

Here's what's new

uh...sorry it's been two months. Here's what's new:
I have laryngitis and probably a sinus infection following a bad cold. Last week I returned from touring with Khambatta, which was a whirlwind following our performance in Kirkland. All in all it went as best as can be expected--some technical problems and lots of everything running behind schedule, (Heya, still setting light cues 30 minutes before the show!) but nothing disastrous.
Cyrus has started working on a few new pieces to present in June and I am in full swing rehearsing for three pieces for Full Tilt (that's a concert) in May. So that's happening.
In addition I've started writing reviews for the blog Seattle Dances, and you can check out my first review here: http://seattledances.blogspot.com/2012/03/boost-weekend-2-be-part-of-fury-yes.html
Writing reviews is definitely a challenge--word count, the right amount of positive, the right amount of negative. And tact. I am not supposed to editorialize at all, which is really what I want to do, but it's a start.
Nathan and I went to see the Hunger Games movie last night, which was fun, but I really don't understand where all the reviews I've read are coming from--where lovers of the book are really liking the movie. First of all, the book is not that amazing. Pulpy, addictive, and fun? Yes. The second coming? No. I did like many things about the book and I didn't think those were the things they chose to feature in the film. Let's just say I would have made a LOT of different directorial decisions. Then I think, Kaitlin, these people are PROS, you know virtually nothing about film-making, why do you think you know better? That's pretty arrogant. But maybe the problem with films is that there are too many people involved in making a film, each with their own priorities, and so the vision of the film loses focus. I don't know. All I know is that seeing Rue jump between trees would have been wicked awesome, and that wasn't even mentioned. Opportunity lost.
What else...my house is messy because I've been sick and so I am tired and lose focus really easily and tend just to dump my stuff when I get in the house and fall face first into bed. I read about this cleaning concept on Nice Girl Notes, which is that you pick a room and put the kitchen timer on for 15 minutes and all you do is pick up that room and don't dive into organizing or stop to check your email or evaluate whether or not you need that alumnae magazine by reading the whole thing. Just putting things back where they belong. Then you do 15 minutes in another room, etc. When you get back to your original room you can move on to more "cleaning" tasks like sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, etc. Fair disclosure: I've never actually done this whole sequence in its entirety, but when say, I have 20 minutes until I have to leave for rehearsal, it helps me use my time more efficiently if I set the kitchen timer, and have a small task to do. Anyways, thought I'd pass that along. Nathan, please don't read this and come home expecting the whole house to be clean. I'm still sick *cough cough* and will probably use that to justify my laziness as long as possible.

Ten Dollar Turkey Roasting Pan

So around thanksgiving we were in need of a turkey roasting pan. Nathan wanted to invest in a multi-hundred dollar pan that would last us the rest of our lives and also would be not non-stick so that crispy bits from the turkey form and make a better gravy, while I distinctly felt like something in a lower price range would probably do the trick since we only roast a turkey once a year... and I was ok with non-stick (horror of horrors). Anyways, when we saw a turkey pan for 10 bucks at QFC, we decided that the price and the delay of making a roasting pan decision (especially with thanksgiving so close at hand) made it worth it, although normally I am not in favor of basically disposable items. Well, it turned out for the best that we had a cheap pan that was non-stick all the way around because this last week it snowed, and there's nothing like Teflon to get you going.

Here are some folks sledding down Mercer right by our house. There were people going down in garbage can lids, on shovels, plastic siding, and on those land-use notification signs.

This is a video of us, although we are on the far side of the hill and then end up behind some people for a bit. It's a little hard to see. Nathan is in back with the roasting pan and I am in front of him on 1/3 of a broken saucer sled. It was quite the arrangement. A couple of times we made it past Summit and halfway to Bellevue. 

This is a video I took while we were sledding. Unfortunately our steering is compromised and we run into a street sign.

Me in the roasting pan. Also, nathan and I both have distinct line-shaped bruises across the back of our thighs. We were pretty sore the next day, and our turkey roaster may have hit one too many curbs to be useful next year, but we still got our $10 worth for sure!

SNOW!!!

our apartment

our snowy street. No one even moved their cars all week.

The snow is totally gone now, but we were glad to have it.

Holiday Review!

Somehow it's already mid-January and I have yet to post pictures from the holidays.

All set for christmas eve dinner

Grandma Margaret's recipe for Swedish meatballs- an absolute christmas eve must.

And lucky you! I'm sharing her recipe! (hope that's ok grandma). Actually, I believe the recipe was originally developed by my grandma McCarthy's stepmother/aunt, but the recipe is in my grandmother's words. In any case, they will beat the pants off the Ikea version ANY day of the week.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

For each 4-6 people served, make one recipe of meatballs, double for 10, etc. Also depends upon whether meatballs are the main corse or part of a "smorgasbord".

Mix together thoroughly:

1 lb. finely ground lean beef

1/2 cup find dry bread crumbs (can be purchased-- get PLAIN)

1 egg

2/3 cups milk

2 tbsp. grated onion (GRATED not chopped)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Flour to thicken gravy

1 can beef broth

Dill weed (NOT DILL SEED)

Sour cream

Gently form into small balls (1" or so), using the palms of the hands. If hands get sticky, rinse off with water and don't dry (mixture won't stick to wet palms). Arrange on platter or pan of some kind, cover with foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or several hours. Brown in small amount of vegetable oil, with a little butter added. Turn them carefully so the don't break apart. Drain on paper towels and remove to casserole with cover. Add flour to fat and bits in the pan, stirring constantly. Add (for each recipe) one can of beef broth. Use whisk to get all the lumps out. Stir until cooked and the consistency you want. Add salt and pepper to taste, then add dill weed to taste. Pour over meatballs, cover and cook in a 325-350 degree oven for 45 min. to an hour. When ready to serve, carefully mix sour cream into the gravy (be careful not to add too much at the start-- perhaps 1/4 cup per recipe-- until you taste it to see what you like).

You can also  cook them 1/2 hour or so an then cool and refrigerate. Then you can skim off any fat that comes to the top of the dish. Put back in the oven and cook at 325 degrees until hot, add sour cream, and serve. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice. 

nathan made some delicious mashed potatoes (thanksgiving redemption) and it pretending to take a huge mouthful. (Side story: we bought a 5 lb pound bag of potatoes and without thinking about it just made them all into mash, which is a lot for two people. We ate almost all of them within a few days, but you don't want to take chances with mashed potatoes, so there were maybe a few cups left when we left the pot on the counter to clean. Somehow we didn't get to cleaning that pot for a day or two, and trust me, we will never make that mistake again...)

Presents!

Loungin' on christmas day. Kitty decided to move at the last second of course.

Our "hearth"

The stocking I made for Nathan

New Years Eve I had to work, but I got off in time to see the fireworks from our corner and then drink the bottle of champagne Reid and Lindsay sent to us while watching West Wing.

On new years day we went to the international district to get Dim Sum, which is a kind of traditional chinese brunch. We went last year too, but this year it was swamped. We had to wait for 30 min for our reservation in a huge crowd. This year we went with Brian and Kate.

The way Dim Sum works is that ladies come around with carts of little dumplings and other small dishes. And you get a whole bunch of stuff and try them. A lot of it is weird, but that is part of the fun.

It was also beautiful on new years, so we walked over to Volunteer Park where there is an old water tower you can climb up into and you can see 365 degrees around the city.

Then, thanks to some christmas money and some zip car money we upgraded our dining table to one that can actually fit 4 diners, as well as (most importantly) puzzles and games! It even comes with a leaf. We got a couple other home-improvement things too, but I need to take pictures still.

Hope everyone had a happy new year!

Merry Christmas from Seattle!

A review of the last month in photos

Thanksgiving:

I made pies! Pumpkin and Apple

Here is the spread!

The table is set!

Christmas presents ready to go to michigan!

Mom came to visit in early april and brought us an early christmas present--this tree skirt she made in the spirit of my great grandmother's many felt crafts. The tree skirt is one of a kind and filled with little scraps tidbits from past projects. Isn't she talented?

The big green sequins are from my great grandmother's collection, and she also made the candy cane my mom repurposed here. The checked scarf is fabric from a pillow my mom made for Kitty Witty, one of my favorite stuffed animals when I was about 5.

Steph so graciously invited me to her ritzy work holiday party at the four seasons. Got to wear my junior prom dress again!

Buffet!! Ohmygod the mashed potatoes were amazing.

Steph wore her old prom dress too!

Then we took a few pictures by the gum wall:

Nathan with our Zipcar truck and our most beautiful christmas tree in the back!

Gdad sent me these stained glass dancers he made! They are based on pictures of me and look great in my kitchen window! 

Finally finished fixing up the bathroom! Here it is:

Kitty likes to jump in the tub

Holiday Party! A huge success. Here are the cookies I usually make with my grandma every year. This year I made them with Steph. It was exhausting, but look how pretty!

Here is the recipe direct from my grandma:

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco or some other non-butter shortening)*
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and set aside.  Cream together butter and shortening; add cream cheese and sugar beating until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla;  beat well.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Divide dough in half.  Cover and chill 1-2 hours.

On lightly floured surface, roll dough 1/4 " -thick.**  Cut with cookie cutters.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees, 7-9 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Frost as desired.  Makes 4-5 dozen cookies.


 * I have been known to use all butter instead of 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable shortening.

** The recipe calls for rolling out the dough 1/8" thick, but I have found that thin a cookie is hard to handle and burns too easily in the baking process.  I have better luck with somewhat thicker cookies.  All of this is up to you -- do what your experience tells you.

I made the frosting from powdered sugar, crisco, butter, vanilla, etc. The recipe was on the bag, but I really estimated amounts and it turned out fine.

Vegan Chocolate Cake! SOO good and SOO easy. Made this for my halloween party last year, this time I frosted it with some vegan frosting that was donated by Plum Bistro. 

Shortbread cookies!

I'm sorry this photo is awful. I made Andy's bread, Nathan made the goat cheese dip with garlic and herbs, Steph made cherry tomato, cucumber, and fresh mozzarella skewers, and then I bought crackers and tapenade from trader joes. 

The most beautiful tree of all time!!!!

Even Santa showed up to the party!

I know this picture is fuzzy, but it is the only photo where you can see my outfit! I got it vintage and it fits like a glove!

Stuffed mushrooms. Onion, garlic, spinach, thyme, mushroom stems, parmesan. Baked.

My fun little display on the radiator.

All ready for Christmas tomorrow! Working with Steph at Plum in the morning and early afternoon, and then a relaxing evening with my loving Nathan. We will miss everyone of course, but I don't think I have had such a low stress holiday in a while.