Adventures in Seattle

It’s been awhile since I’ve had any red meat, so now I’m craving something like this:

A big, red, juicy, well-seasoned, piece of barely-dead COW.

Green beans optional.

Since my arrival, I’ve made my fair share of trips to some Seattle food joints. I’ve been to:

Top Pot Donuts in Capitol Hill where I indulged in a cinnamon-sugar blueberry, and chocolate raspberry donut (not at the same time though!). I was first introduced to Top Pot during my visit to Seattle last year, and I fell in love with their yummy baked goods (apologies to Stans in Santa Clara). But since I don’t want to turn into the shape of a donut, I probably won’t be going back unless I have visitors (hint, hint). Last year, I was also introduced to Caffe Ladro. This time, I went to the Lower Queen Anne location where I sipped on a Medici (a mocha with an orange peel) while reading ‘Stepping Heavenward.’

Zeitgeist Coffee in Pioneer Square where I dashed out the door with an 8oz (huzzah for 8oz!) latte before my 30-minute parking spot expired and zoomed off to Pike Place Market. There, I did some shopping and waited 10 minutes to enjoy a Uli’s Famous Sausage sandwich.

Speaking of sausages, I also went to the Wallingford Wurst Festival. I was slightly dissapointed because I thought there would be bratwursts galore and cooked 20 different ways. But there was only one ‘wurst stand, although that didn’t deter me from chowing down on some sausage goodness.

You can’t be in Seattle and not have salmon. I think lunch at Ivar’s Salmon House was my first introduction to Sockeye, and I was surprised by its vibrant red color. I like how the restaurant has a display of BEARS eating fish =)

Before we had internet setup at our apartment, I spent some time at Trabant Chai Lounge using their free wi-fi. Besides having a ton of chai drinks, they also serve coffee-based ones using beans from Intelligentsia.

Since my first sad meal at the apartment, I’ve upgraded a bit and Trader Joe’s has continued to supply a significant portion of my meals along with Costco.

I’ve taken a liking to the Simply Recipes food blog, and have made Elise’s

Spanish Baked Chicken

Cardamom Honey Chicken

Baba Ghanouj

and hummus is on the menu for tomorrow.

I’ve also mixed together a bunch of ground turkey and zucchini for meatloaf and meatballs. Given that I had some zucchini leftover, I decided to make some zucchini bread. The lighter colored one is the low-fat, low-sugar version, and the darker one is the full-fat, full-sugar, chocolate-laden one.

My baking list has also included: cardamom butter squares, one failed peach cobbler, one successful berry peach cobbler, and with apples coming into season, I’m hoping to incorporate those into something yummy.

I think it’s dinnertime.

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