::potato salad::

Potato salad is usually something I have in the summer -- at barbecues -- but this is the second year in a row that I've made it in February. In fact, before last night, just about a year ago was when I made it last.

Last year Eric was going to a potluck birthday party for one of his law school friends (which I could not go to because I was working; see my last post) and he asked if I could make potato salad. This year I'm able to go to the party and Eric and his friends have requested the potato salad again, which I'm actually happy about since I quite like it and because I had forgotten about it for a year, even through the summer. I'm also happy that I was able to grocery shop and make the salad on a WEEKnight (again, see last post).

This potato salad is very much like the one my mom made growing up. It uses sour cream rather than mayonnaise or oil as its base, which was always popular with my friends that did not care for mayonnaise. My version includes pieces of bacon and (usually) chives from our garden (which actually were transplanted from my mom's thriving plants), although with the winter weather (it snowed on Thursday!), I decided to go with store-bought green onions instead this time around. With red potatoes and some seasoning, this salad is basically pulled together in the amount of time it takes to boil and then cool the potatoes. However, if you have 24 hours, it's even better the next day!

This one had been hanging out in the fridge since Thursday night, but it got all dressed up and ready to head out last night!  Hello weekend!

::no more busy season::

It's been almost ten months since I switched jobs (same company, completely different work).  My former role was client-facing and pretty demanding.  While the busy times were pretty cyclical, it was difficult to plan weekends without work with much certainty.  Since transferring, the process of un-winding from that type of work has been a gradual one.  Now that it's that time of year when I normally would've been buried in work, I'm definitely noticing the difference.

For example, last year I never would've been able to do what I did over the weekend in February.  I would've either been at the office, working from home, or suffering from exhaustion and worried about the upcoming week.  Instead, on Saturday I made lemon orzo soup for lunch and then decided on a whim to also make granola to have with yogurt for breakfast all week.

Lemon orzo soup - missing a lot of the veggies the recipe called for, but I did the best I could the day before our grocery shopping day.

What better to do with the leftover cranberries and apricots from my recent treats than put them in some granola?



The finished product!  I like it best with thick Greek yogurt and crunchy grapes.

Another thing I could never do during busy season (at least not with any plans set up in advance): hang out with my friends.  This past weekend, Ava, who just moved to Portland from LA, decided to come up and visit her Seattle friends.  I got to have brunch at Peso's with Ava, Ava's fiance, Morgan, and Christie, and on short notice!  It was fantastic.  Not only did I get to spend time with some great company, we also decided that dessert was appropriate after brunch and to Trophy Cupcakes we went!



Eric and I split a s'mores and triple chocolate cupcake.  The s'mores one definitely inspired a future rice krispy treat...

 Those were the highlights of my non-working weekend, although I also got to do things like fill our recently-made-bookshelves with things we got to take out of storage (more on that later), catch up on last week's TV, package up some treats (pretty darn cutely) to bring to co-workers, and make some other home-cooked meals.  I swear I'm not about to rub this in the faces of people I used to work with in my old role -- or anyone else that has to put in weekend hours at work -- I am just truly grateful that I don't have to anymore!

::apricot & chocolate treats, coffee treats::

Today was a beautiful day in Seattle! It's been a long time since I've had to pull the blinds down at my desk because of the afternoon sun. Here's what I got to look out at today:


Yup, I get to look out on the sound AND Pike Place Market, everyday!

Last night I got a burst of energy (very unusual for me halfway through the week) and decided to make a few batches of treats that I'd been excited to try out.

My friend Antje is getting married this summer and her save-the-dates gave me the inspiration for this treat: apricot and chocolate treats!

The light fruity flavor of the apricots reminds me that spring is on the way -- as did today's sunny afternoon -- and the sweetness of the fruit was balanced nicely by the mini semi-sweet chocolate chips I added. The chocolate softened gently from the heat of the melted marshmallows and butter and gave the treats a dark, romantic look and taste. I decided to pack up some of the treats and take them to Antje since she sort of sparked the idea.

A few months ago I attempted a coffee treat. I also added some cocoa powder to that batch, but found that it was completely masked by the strong coffee. As a coffee lover, I found these absolutely delicious anyway, but Eric and I both agreed they were missing something. I decided to try again last night and added a stronger chocolate element -- my leftover mini chocolate chips. These treats look similar to the apricot ones because of the swirl of the chocolate, but they couldn't taste more different. I really enjoy the grown-up flavor of the coffee, especially since it is so unexpected to find in a childhood favorite. And besides, this is Seattle after all :)

::cucumber soup::

Almost seven years ago some friends and I took a 4 week vacation in Thailand. We were studying abroad for the year in Tokyo and not only was Thailand inexpensive and easy to get to from where we were, Japan's school year is set up differently and we found ourselves with a two month long spring break. We packed our backpacks.

With 28 days to fill, we were fortunate enough to visit a variety of cities and islands. Most of our travel was done by bus or train. On a particularly long bus ride, there was a scheduled stop at a small rest area, where there was cheap food and larger facilities than the bus could offer. At this outdoor bare-bones restaurant (for lack of a better term), we sat down to the one and only meal they were serving. I don't remember where we were, where we were headed, or what else we ate there, but I do remember that cucumber soup.

It sounds strange to cook cucumbers, let alone have a soup flavored with them I know, but I found that cooked cucumbers are almost as refreshing as raw ones. If that wasn't the case, I don't know how anyone could serve hot soup at an outdoor (i.e. not air-conditioned) place in some of the hottest, stickiest weather I've ever experienced. There wasn't much else going on in the soup but I had every last drop and haven't forgotten it.

And now I won't forget it for sure, because (1) I made it last night, (2) I'm writing about it now, and (3) I ate it with Eric, who has a good memory, and who should have been on that trip with me in the first place!

My version also included mushrooms, corn, and gyoza, and in addition to the thinly sliced cucumbers that cooked in the broth, I added raw diced cucumbers before serving for some crunch.

It was better at home, better with Eric, and it brought back some memories of warm weather on a cold Seattle night.

::popcorn and m&ms::

Our first two Valentine's Day dinners were spent at the Veritable Quandary when we lived in Portland, where we discovered bacon wrapped dates and indulged in chocolate souffles -- we're talking really sexy food. We thought we had started a tradition after going there for two years in a row but then we moved to Seattle and started another 'tradition' when we dined at Kabul for the next two Valentine's Day dinners. Lamb kabobs, warm rice with raisins, perfectly cooked eggplant, a friendly AND attentive owner -- yup, we could taste and feel the love there.

I'm not quite sure why we decided to eat at home on our fifth (and best yet!) Valentine's together. Maybe because we've been better in the kitchen recently or perhaps because we get so sleepy so much earlier now? Whatever the reason, I'm concluding that it was the right choice. No waiting to get a table, no guessing on how long we'd have to wait to get a table, no holding back any PDAs, and no noticeable water retention this morning (I would like to note that we never experienced this issue after the VQ or Kabul either, ahem)!

After dinner, we had a few more of the cookies I baked on Sunday (the V-Day colored M&Ms are kind of hiding, but they're in there, just nice and cozy:

And what I'd really like to remember (something we'd forgotten for a few years actually), is what we did with the M&Ms I intentionally set aside when making the cookies with this in mind:

Very simple 'recipe' here:

1. Pop a bag of microwave popcorn according to the instructions on the bag,

2. Pour the popped popcorn into a large bowl,

3. While the popcorn is hot, pour a few handfuls of M&Ms (colored for the appropriate holiday, if applicable) into the same bowl,

4. Listen to hear the sound of cracking as the M&Ms gently melt from the heat of the popcorn and try to break out of their shells,

5. Smile at this and avoid the temptation to start eating the popcorn and M&Ms prematurely; wait until the cracking noise has died down,

6. Smile more as you enjoy the sweet and salty combination of the popcorn and M&Ms and the delightful contrast of the crunch from the candy coated shells and the smooth, oozy melted chocolate. I find that the popcorn-to-M&M ratio I prefer most is about two kernels of popcorn for every M&M in my mouth at a time.

::work cupcakes::

I am not -- and have never been -- good at the whole self-control thing, especially when food is involved.  For instance, when I walked by the kitchen at work on the way to the bathroom and saw the counter top covered with an army of bold-colored cupcakes, instead of continuing on, I grabbed one and walked it to my desk before practically running back toward the bathroom (yeah, I had to go that badly, but clearly not bad enough to risk coming back to an empty counter top).

Offices are dangerous around holidays with all of the unhealthy sweets calling out everywhere you turn.  I mean honestly, after (thoroughly enjoying) the chocolate cupcake with homemade butter cream made with real raspberries (un.believe.able) that Allicia made, I ran across two more cupcakes -- in the same office -- on the same floor!

The one on the left was (before I got to it) Laura and Lindsay's red velvet cupcake with -- get this -- a hand-cut heart shaped strawberry cake in the middle of it and cream cheese frosting.  I can't even explain how this blows my mind.  I cut the cupcake in half and saw a pink heart in the red velvet!!!  The cupcake on the right with the edgy spiky frosting is another chocolate cupcake with coffee flavored frosting made by Meredith.

Let's just say I had a long way to come down from the sugar high I was on and after trying to eat healthy for the last few months, my body was not liking what my eyes and taste buds enjoyed so much.  *Sigh* like I said, holidays are health hazards in the workplace!

::valentine's day::

Have to show what greeted me at work this morning:

But before these wonderful surprises...

I woke up this morning feeling puffy and wasn't shocked in the least when the scale told me I am a pound heavier than every other morning in 2011. I know the culprit: the dinner we had last night at Cantinetta! On our first outing there, we were pleased with the clean, candle-lit ambiance. I enjoyed watching the classic Wallingford clientele (think older, refined, handsome) laugh with one another as we waited for our table. Everything was falling into place for our romantic Valentine's Eve celebration; well, everything until our waiter showed up anyway. I don't want to go into too many details about his poor service and stand off-ish attitude because it puts me in a bad mood. I'm hesitant to comment too much on the food because while it made me swollen with water retention this morning, I kind of liked the way the bread made my tongue burn from all the sodium in it, and I think pancetta-wrapped dates SHOULD have that sweet and SALTY quality. The mushroom risotto was fantastically heavy and cheesy, as I expected and wanted, so absolutely no complaints on that dish. I can't speak to any dessert because we didn't have any. The waiter turned us off so much that we just wanted to get out of there -- and that's a pretty strong statement for us! I mean, we did have some fresh-made cookies with Valentine's Day colored M&Ms in them waiting for us at home, so I can't feel too sorry for us.

After that whole not-good but not-entirely-bad experience, I am SO happy we decided to spend tonight at home with a familiar and loved meal. Hopefully I will deflate by tonight so that we can completely move on from our Cantinetta dinner. On the menu: lemon steamed salmon, Japanese rice, roasted vegetables, and lots of love and smiles!

Happy Valentine's Day!

::this is a memory::

After my grandfather passed away, my mom's brothers and sisters gathered at my grandparents' home in LA to go through some boxes of old stuff. I sat there amongst the five of them, each of us surrounded by piles of the contents of all those boxes, and listened to their conversations as you'd expect a seventh grader to do. Even at that age I could feel their closeness, the heaviness they shared from losing their father. While I also mourned the only grandfather I ever knew, I also understood that what was happening in that room was very much an adult experience, and since I had yet to have many of those, I absorbed it all very quietly. As I looked around the room, I saw my aunts and uncles holding stacks of photographs, lots and lots of photographs taken by my grandpa, and what has stuck with me for so many years is the memory of one of them saying 'ya know, I used to get so annoyed with Dad for always stopping us to take pictures, but now I wouldn't trade any of these memories for anything.'

When I told Eric that story, it hit home with him too. One cold winter night a little more than a year ago, we were all locked in for the night, cozy and warm in our 615 square foot condo, when Eric jumped up from his study spot at our dining room table. He grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of every room, exclaiming (very happily) 'this is a memory, this is a memory!' Looking back, I think that's the moment we realized that our condo was home; that's when Eric felt overcome with needing to capture 'home' in a picture, to always remember it.

I'll never forget that -- my sweet Eric in love with our home, his adorable statement 'this is a memory,' and the relief I felt knowing that I would always have a picture (well, lots of them actually) to remind me of that moment, just in case.

My memory is a selective one, one that I can't figure out. It will lock away a big event like my sister's high school graduation and her speech as valedictorian. It can recall specific details of when Eric and I saw each other for the first time after his year in Tokyo: the way the sun felt on my shoulders while I waited for him to arrive outside the restaurant, what each of us wore, the unexpected calm I felt when we hugged, and what I ordered to eat. Some little things are safe too, like the night my sister and I got the giggles so bad at dinner with my parents that my mom made us leave the table, and my dad joining us in the waiting area a few moments later with tears of laughter in his eyes too. I remember ordering Pizza Hut's New York Style pizza and root beer every Thursday night with my best friend Andrea while we studied for our Friday Global Studies quiz in high school.

Another thing I'll never forget: the panic, the embarrassment, the horror I felt when I had to ask Eric to tell me about the first time we kissed. And then again when I also had to have him remind me about the first time we told each other 'I love you.' Apparently my memory did not select these to store away. Thankfully I have a husband that has a better memory (for certain things, for these things) than I do, and I'm very lucky that while he may have been a little hurt that I had to ask, he understands that it's out of my control. And of course, it all came back to me once he reminded me, but still (!) I had to ask!

I'm glad that we've started taking more pictures. But I am still afraid of forgetting. I'm really, very afraid of forgetting all of the important things, big and small. A picture can't tell me about a stifling hot night in a small Eugene apartment and the sweetness of a long awaited touch or the smell of the beach in a dark room and the life-changing words that were spoken. What about the dinner that we made every week for two months because we couldn't get enough of it, and then the one that we moved on to next, and the one after that? Is there a picture to remind me to make our loved-but-forgotten obsessions again?

I have a great life and I've never been happier than right now. As Eric often says, each day is a gift. I want to keep these little gifts safe, in a way that isn't as unpredictable as my memory. I just have to remember to put them here :)

::cream of tomato soup and japanese curry::

It is a dreary Monday in Seattle. Gray skies, gray water, gray mood. Mondays are especially hard when they follow a seemingly sun-less weekend, which is the case with this particular Monday and this past weekend.

Cold rainy weekends, especially ones without Eric, call for warm comforting foods. My Sunday was filled with coffee, the fragrant smell of roasting tomatoes and hot steam from some bubbling curry on the stove. I didn't get around to filing our taxes like I had ambitiously planned for, but at the end of the day/weekend, my satisfied tummy was quite alright with how things turned out.

The surprisingly simple and healthy cream of tomato soup recipe -- that my boss gave me after she saw a box of cream of tomato soup sitting on my desk -- looked like this:

Then, to welcome Eric home with one of his favorite meals, I got started on making Japanese beef curry.  I seared the beef, softened big chunks of onions, and let them simmer low and slow with beef broth, potatoes, and a grated apple.  When the potatoes were the perfect tenderness, I stirred in the curry mix and let all the flavors get friendly with one another in the refrigerator until dinner time.  With a salad of spinach, grated Parmesan, roasted asparagus and baby zucchini, and raspberry vinaigrette, we were both very happy.

 
And of course, knowing that these leftovers are waiting for us at home makes this Monday a little easier to get through!

::cranberry treats::

Yesterday Eric left for Ocean Shores for the weekend with some of his high school friends for a 'man trip.' I expected to come home after work to an empty house but was instead greeted by cheerful flowers and a sweet note from my man. Even more touching was that Eric later described them to me as 'duck-colored' -- anyone who knows about the rivalry between the University of Oregon and the University of Washington can appreciate this gesture -- especially since this was the day before the two schools met on the basketball court. This, ladies and gentlemen, is love!

As a newlywed, I am a huge supporter of and believer in love; however, I'm not the die-hard Valentine's Day fan you'd think I'd be, now that I've secured a guaranteed valentine for life.  I definitely love getting flowers and staring at my handsome husband with googly eyes over a delicious candle-lit dinner, but I don't necessarily want to do these things on a specified day.  With that said, I'm not a Valentine's Day hater either, and I cannot help but be inspired by a day all about love (and one that is heavily commercialized with my favorite color!).

In honor of my lovely husband, February's 'holiday,' and my love for red: cranberry treats!



I love the intense color of the cranberries and the tartness they bring to these sweet treats.

Happy February and go Ducks!