34/52: The Dog Days are here

The dog days are here and the long days of summer are fading.

Last week Chick and I went to our one and only minor league baseball game in Portland (Hillsboro) and saw the Hops play on a sticky, smoky night.  It's always a highlight of summer to go to as many baseball games as possible and this year we have been to quiet a variety of games.

I spent a long weekend in Seattle working on Friday, but taking some time to eat my lunch down by the Puget Sound (Me Kwa Mooks Park).  Then a late afternoon walk up to the Beveranda (Beveridge Place) for happy hour with my guy.

The rest of the weekend was quiet.  We harvested cherry tomatoes off the vine to make a rich pomadora pasta sauce. Brian made a beautiful fritatta for brunch and we pickled fresh jalapenos for a delicious plate of nachos on Saturday night.

Enjoy!
Stacy

22/52: Anniversary Weekend

ANTIPASTA: Insalata di piselli - English peas. radishes and cauliflower with lemon

ANTIPASTA: Cariciofi - Marinated baby artichokes with mint, hazelnuts and honey-controne mascarpone

Primi: Pappardelle con ragu di coniglio - pappardelle with rabbit ragu bianca and marjoram

Primi: Tajarin al ragu - fine cut egg pasta with pork and beef ragu

Dolci: Torta al cioccolato - Chocolate cake layered with hazelbut delizia with cocoanib meringue baci di dama and luxardo cherry sauce.

We had a wonderful (long) weekend in Seattle as I drove up from Portland on Thursday, worked remotely on Friday and then drove back to Portland Monday morning.

We stopped by to see my mother's beautiful garden on Saturday, which was a nice sunny day and had a lovely glass of wine on their garden patio.

The wet and cooler weather arrived on Sunday, and Brian and I took the bus, light rail and street car to Capital Hill for our anniversary dinner at Spinasse.  With it's rustic northern Italy farmhouse feel, Brian and I felt like we were transported to a small village in the Piedmont region.  We sipped on a bottle of Barbaresco wine and perused the menu for the best dishes.

The menu was small and meant to be served family-style...but the choices were authentic and seasonal.  The star of the show is the handmade (in-house) pasta, which was the best pasta I have ever had (not to mention one of the best Italian dishes in the nation).  Both our antipasta plates were amazing and flavorful and I can't think of a better description than amazing for the chocolate cake.

It was a special evening with my amazing life partner and an excellent way to celebrate 14 years!

Enjoy!
Stacy

32/52: Rio Opening Ceremonies and Mom's Birthday Adventure

Last Friday were the Opening Ceremonies of the 31st Summer Olympics in Rio!  Chick and I were glued to our seats watching all the festivities and enjoying our international tapas and cocktails!

Saturday morning, I took the first train out of Portland and arrived in Tukwila where Brian picked me up and we headed to Mom and Kenny's for her birthday celebrations.

Her request was lunch at Dairy Queen!  Okay, don't laugh.  Mom's get treated to whatever they want and to be honest, we all really enjoyed the "pig out".

We worked off our lunch with a wander around the Highline Botanical Gardens which include a wonderful Japanese Garden.  Beautiful!

How was your first weekend of August?

Enjoy!

Stacy

15/52: April in the Arboretum

It's not yet the middle of April and it's already been an amazing Birthday Month!  Our weather has been the star of the show with last week's temps in the upper 70's low 80's!

Friday night was date night at Elliott Bay and I branched out and ordered their lamb meatball curry which was fabulous.  We left the restaurant just in time to make it up to Solstice Park minutes after sunset and the sky put on quite a show.

Saturday's adventure was a car-free day up to the Seattle Arboretum...a place that we have never explored together.

Founded in 1934, the Arboretum has over 230 acres on the shores of Lake Washington.  It contains one of the most diverse and important plant collections in North America displayed in acres of woodlands, wetlands, gardens and walking trails.  The arboretum is internationally renowned for its collection of oaks, conifers, camellias, hollies and Japanese maples.

The park is accessible year round, but Azalea Way, the main road through he park is particularly inviting in springtime.  Originally a road for the mill, Azalea Way is now a path, lined with enormous flowering bushes that explode in a sea of color as warm weather hits Seattle.  At 3 miles round trip, the walk was a great way to get our exercise.

How was your April weekend?

Enjoy!
Stacy

How Does Your Garden Grow: Month #2

My garden is doing really well, mostly due to the extremely hot weather we have had for the past month.

I wish I had planted more green beans as one plant really isn't producing the amount of green beans we would like to eat!  Next year, three plants would give us a great haul week after week.

My tomato "bush" is growing nicely and I have already picked two tomatoes this week and have a few "pinking" up.

I've lost two zucchini early to blossom rot, but just picked my first one last night!  I've got at least 3 or 4 viable zucchini growing that I think will make it.

I don't think that the zucchini needs much water and in fact, I might be over watering.  Typically I water my garden in the early morning every other day. Because we've had no rain in 45 days and it's been hot, I figured that this would be adequate but perhaps squash needs little water.  I'll keep my eye on it going forward.  It might also be a soil problem.

I've not planted any herbs.  It's been so stinking hot in the afternoons and evenings that you just don't want to do anything outside, which is really disappointing.  Perhaps this next week will be cooler and I can spend sometime outdoors.

Enjoy!
Stacy

How Does Your Garden Grow: 6 week Check Up

My garden is coming along nicely.  Of course, right after I planted everything at the end of April...we had about 10-15 days of cooler weather.  I was most concerned with my tomato plants, but they appear to be doing just fine and I am starting to see not only tons of flowering buds, but one small tomato as of yesterday morning.

My black patio zucchini looks healthy.  It will be interesting to see how big it grows and if I'll be plagued with blossom rot.  I've got one lovely blossom!

My beans are already producing.  I've got at least a half dozen small green beans growing and perhaps next week, I'll have my first harvest!

I am ready to plant some herbs.  I'd like to grow some basil and thyme as they are the herbs that I tend to use the most and I have had good success with both, but basil more from July-September.

Enjoy!
Stacy

25/52: Quiet West Seattle Weekend

I had a beautiful train ride from Portland to Seattle aboard the Coast Starlight on Friday afternoon.  I snapped a few scenic shots along my journey, including one final look at Chambers Bay Golf Course ahead of this weekends US Open just south of Tacoma.

It was a quiet weekend in West Seattle.....Brian is recovery yet again from a nasty head cold so I spent most of Saturday outside doing some odd gardening jobs and enjoying the sunshine.

I finished barking around the patio, cleaned up the secret garden, planted a new hosta in the peace garden and barked around the shed.

Sunday night was a smooth and peaceful journey back to Portland and a beautiful shot of the sun setting along the Columbia River (at 9:01 PM).

How was your weekend?

Stacy

23/52: Around West Seattle

We stuck pretty close to home this past weekend and we were rewarded with beautiful weather and warm temps.

Friday night, when I got off the train from Portland, Brian and I headed back to West Seattle and down along Alki Beach to Blue Moon Burgers.  They opened in West Seattle a few months ago and I bought an Amazon Groupon for $22 worth of burgers, sides and shakes for $12.  The burgers were not cheap, but they were huge along with generous sides of French fries and onion rings!  To be honest...we like other places in West Seattle better, but it's always fun to try a new place and it was a treat to sit outside along busy Alki as the sun was setting.

We finally got back to walking both Saturday and Sunday mornings...3+ miles through Lincoln Park each day.  It felt nice to be back at it again as we are a bit behind on our summer goals. There was a minus tide on the beach and it's always interesting to see what is underneath the water in spots normally covered with 5-6 feet of water.

Brian tried a new breakfast dish on Saturday that I had torn out of a cooking magazine.  It was a Simply Potatoes dish called Cowboy Hash and it was quite good.

The rest of Saturday was spent tackling garden project #3.  The front yard area and flower box we did first and aside from some weeding, another layer of bark and a few leftover flowers to plant...we are both really pleased with the completion of project #1.

Sunday before last (Memorial Day Weekend), I worked on the Secret Garden (project #2) which was a chore.  Lots of weeding, and then I laid down two bags of bark and planted two coleus and a cosmo (last picture above). 

This past Saturday we finished project #3 (Peace Garden) which was quite a mess and extended down along the western fence line.  Mostly weeding, a layer some top soil and then bark and some finish work (not much sunlight to plant much of anything), but I like the clean and tidy look. Brian worked his butt off! (sorry no picture, but I'll post next weekend). 

Finally, it was time to sit back and enjoy our work with a nice iced tea on the patio.

How was your weekend?

Enjoy!
Stacy