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Scenes From Cafe Juanita’s Alfresco Pig Roast
  Hold on, the headline says pig roast. Why am I looking at soup?  Because a pig roast, while delicious, is ugly gorgeous.  As the sunny season winds down at Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Washington, this soup is one of the things I've been looking forward to all summer.  Pappa al pomodoro.  You know this soup? Tomatoes, hand crushed. Garlic, basil, cayenne, olive oil, balsamic, sherry vinegar, bread.  Served at room temp, it is the essence of summer. At Sunday night's Pig Roast, pappa al pomodoro was a pre-dinner summer sipper. This is perhaps the one Cafe Juanita recipe that gets shared the most, but I've never actually made it. Why? It's a destination dish.  I'll just say, it's worked out really well that we got married in late summer. If I plan it right, I can have it at the restaurant. If you can't, the recipe is here. So what about that pig roast?
September 14, 2012Share Post
Main Course Pasta Recipes
Mushroom Ragu with Fettuccine
I’m tiptoeing into Fall. The last few mornings there’s been more of a chill in the air, but the afternoons are still warm. I'm still wearing flip-flops, but with long sleeve t-shirts. My cherry tomato in a hanging pot is in its second wind. This is when we keep our fingers crossed for one last push. Last night’s pasta carried that forward. Summer's Lite Brite punches of heirloom tomato and basil were left behind, making way  for the earthiness of mushroom.  We (er, I)  haven’t quite given ourselves (read: myself) over entirely to the autumn, but this mushroom ragu was a first tentative step.
September 13, 2012Share Post
Breafkast Recipes
Chocolate-Topped Peanut Butter Bars – Healthy, No Bake & Gluten-Free
  After we’re back from a vacation, I always find myself trying to hold on to a piece of it, checking the weather, reading the local news from wherever we’ve just been.  After our trip to Tofino in August, I’ve found myself checking the Long Beach Lodge Resort’s Web cam with a view of the beach and Cox Bay and trying to recreate the chocolate-topped protein bars they serve as part of their complimentary continental breakfast.  But calling them protein bars really sells them short.  Would you believe me if I told you they taste good and they're actually pretty healthy?
September 9, 2012Share Post
Main Course Recipes Salads
Chicken Tikka Pasta Salad
September is about new beginnings, well, at least as far as the school year goes, so maybe that’s why OJ kicked off his new diet and exercise regimen now. Whatever it is, this new deal is already changing the way we eat (and I thought we were in a pretty good place to start with). The main challenge? Everything is weighed separately – 100 g protein, 80 grams carbs, however many grams fat. But when I start to look at how I cook, how do you calculate vegetable soup or pot pie or a casserole of any kind? Everything is mixed in. This first week there’s been a lot of grilling going on. Last night flank steak, over the weekend we grilled chicken. And it was that chicken that formed the basis for this chicken tikka pasta salad.
September 6, 2012Share Post
Book Reviews Dessert Restaurants
Ono Dough Fo’ Sho — Malasadas @ Issaquah Farmers Market
Since I was a kid, I've loved donuts. Wednesday mornings on the way to school, my mom would stop at the donut shop in my home town. I'd hop out of the car and drop a couple of quarters into the newspaper machines for the LA Times and Examiner food sections and sometimes we'd get a dozen donuts in a pink box. Sugar-raised, glazed, chocolate-topped, a crumb cake (always the last one left in the box) and a plain cake for my grandpa. Other times, on weekends, we'd go to Dunkin Donuts and get a bunch of Munchkins in an orange handle box. The chocolate cake ones were my favorite. Fast forward 15 years. The first time I had a malasada might have been at Komoda Store in Makawao, Maui. It was good, but just seemed like a donut. Later, on the Big Island we got some malasadas fresh from the fryer at Tex’s, and a new obsession was born. Rolled in sugar, these yeast-raised donuts are tender and sweet, and they’re as key to a visit to the Islands as plate lunch and good shave ice. Everyone always says Leonard's in Honolulu is the gold standard, I can't say, I haven't had theirs yet.
September 5, 2012Share Post
Recipes Salads Side Dishes
Summer Wind Down w/ a Green Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad
  Some long weekends I go into overdrive on cooking projects, but over this past Labor Day weekend, I felt compelled to do almost nothing. I hit the farmers market Saturday morning after having missed the two previous weeks and bought a ridiculous amount of Roma tomatoes and nectarines to stave off that nagging (read: desperate) feeling that summer is slipping away. But I didn’t have anything really in mind for them. OJ is embarking on a new diet and exercise regimen, which puts some real food limitations on half our household, so a nectarine buckle was out of the question and I didn’t feel motivated enough to make tomato paste. So despite our larder being more than full, this weekend was about simplicity. It was also about baseball games, braving the crowds at Pike Place and stocking up on this and that at Cost Plus, but mostly, it was about simplicity.
September 4, 2012Share Post
Restaurants Travel
What I Did on Summer Vacation, Part 1: Tofino, BC Edition
Summer vacation is a bit of misnomer if you live in the Pacific Northwest. Summer is when it’s finally sunny and beautiful here, so you want to stay home and soak it up, rather than leave it behind. The last couple of years we've kept our vacations close to home, exploring other parts of the Pacific Northwest, but we’ve taken them either too early or too late to get a strong dose of sunshine, but this year, we hit it just right. We’re just back from a glorious week in Tofino, British Columbia, a little beach town on the edge of Vancouver Island near Pacific Rim National Park.
August 29, 2012Share Post
Restaurants Travel
Ma’ono Seattle: Yes, We Had the Fried Chicken
The fried chicken is the main attraction at Ma'ono Fried Chicken and Whisky in West Seattle and with good reason. It's some goooood chicken. Not just when it's hot, but even the next day cold. I'm convinced anyone who says the fried chicken was greasy or not worth it (I'm looking at you Yelp reviews) is just trying to keep more for themselves. But let's take our time, shall we? We'll get to the chicken, don't worry.
August 21, 2012Share Post
Main Course Recipes Side Dishes
Cool Off a Hot Summer Night: Edamame Hummus
We’re in the dog days of summer, finally. Days so hot all you want to do is sit in front of an oscillating fan and sip a cool glass of iced tea. Days so hot nothing is getting cooked, except you in your car on the commute home. I’ve got something for you. It’s cool, crisp and refreshing. It’s….a sandwich. Well, a dip and a sandwich. Break out the food processor, we’re making edamame hummus, which you can do as dip for dinner with veg and pita chips, or as a great spread on sandwiches for the “Damn, could it get any hotter?” nights ahead.
August 15, 2012Share Post
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