Hello readers! It's been a long and busy couple of months, but I found time to post a new update. It's been a pretty exciting time to explore the culinary world for me, one of my coworkers has connections to a local slaughter house and procured a whole pig for us to roast - a dream come true for any foodie. There were about twenty assorted side dishes and various cuts of pig served a dozen different ways. In the end, the only part that remained was the head that has been put on ice for other fun times.
I've also been taking advantage of the summer weather to visit the newly opened farmers market purchasing fresh rhubarb, apples, and parsley. Yesterday I used my produce to make a killer strawberry rhubarb pie, which my coworker promptly demolished. Then I went to my parents' house to make a tasty beer can chicken and pasta salad in a pea-almond pesto. Very tasty! For the beer can chicken I found a very nice canned scotch ale called "Old Chub" that gave the chicken an exquisite flavor, bringing a touch of class to the dish. Truly though, if you've never cooked chicken that way, it's simple and leaves your chicken moist and rich with flavor. Simply purchase a whole chicken, butter and salt and pepper the skin, then insert the beer can in the *ahem* behind of the chicken and place the whole thing on the grill, keeping the temperature at about 350-400 degrees. The chicken takes about an hour to cook, if you check it regularly. After you pull if off the grill, carefully remove the beer can as it will be hot and voila! You have your chicken and plenty of beer left to drink with it.

Left - fresh strawberry rhubarb pie, Right - a special I created at work, braised chicken and brussels sprouts with a creamy Dijon sauce  This Easter Sunday I took a well deserved break from the kitchen and didn't cook a single thing, unless you count sangria. I did spend a majority of the day cleaning up my decrepit garden and getting my seeds in for summer harvest. That really shouldn't be counted as work though, because with the sun shining down and the cool breeze, it felt like heaven.
I never really valued time, until the days started to slip by faster than I realized. Unfortunately since I've been so busy most of my days off are spent underneath my bed covers trying to recuperate. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it definitely doesn't leave a lot of room for hobbies, especially something that can be as time consuming as cooking. Something I have started doing in my minimal amounts of free time is planning my wedding. My fiance and I both agreed that we would take quite a bit of time preparing for the big event, so we could both save up and get the exact vendors we wanted. I find it hard sometimes to contain my excitement, and have begun collecting a variety of images for my Pinterest account. We also went ahead and had some engagement photos taken and made up some announcements we're sending out to family members as a keepsake. Even though it will be a long, drawn out process, I want the festivities to continue throughout the engagement, and thought this would just be one of many small tokens for family and friends.
This is my morning - reading my newest book which I adore and sipping my morning cup of coffee while nibbling on a chocolate chip cook fresh out of the oven. Seriously though, this book is amazing, taking place in rural Pennsylvania near where most of my mother's family live, the imagery and descriptive writing makes it easy to connect with the author on a personal level. This book will probably replace Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential as my top favorite culinary novel.

In other moments this weekend we finished taking time to be with the family and celebrate our new found engagement by exploring Seattle and showing off the landmarks nearby.
Left-the gum wall in Post Alley; Center - Pear, a deli with all kinds of delightful treats and specialty foods; Right - Love this candy colored pasta, it's almost too fun to eat!

Family having dinner at the Space Needle

Along with greeting out guests from out of state and enjoying an amazing outing all around Pike Place Market yesterday I was also given the surprise of my life while at the very top of the Space Needle - a proposal! I'm sure as many people know, it can be one of the most shocking and happiest moments of your life, and it certainly was for me. I loved having my family - both new and old there with us to celebrate. My boyfriend (now fiancee) was incredibly romantic and adorable so there was no doubt in my mind when I said yes.
My engagement ring actually is a family heirloom from the 1920s from my mother's side of the family. I have long admired it, and my boyfriend had it completely re sized, and cleaned before presenting it to me. I love the art deco details, and how detailed it is, and how much history it already has.
Where the actual wedding is concerned, I'm overwhelmed by how much there is to do already - this morning my family had already e'mailed me a list of extended family members and friends to get in contact with to announce my engagement. (Seriously though guys, it's been less than 24 hours...)
I can't want to share my journey with you, although we plan to have a fairly long engagement, I still am filled with excitement when it comes to planning the rest of our lives together. Oh Fat Tuesday. We all have traditions, and fortunately for my dieting competition and own personal desire to eat healthier, Fat Tuesday in my family means doughnuts. This year, without fail one arrived in my kitchen, courtesy of my mother who is more reliable than the postal service. There it was, in it's chocolate and sprinkle covered glory. Can you blame me? I feel like Homer Simpson.
To counteract said doughnut binge, I've been going on a semi-juice fast with my coworker. We've literally turned the kitchen into a laboratory where a pinch of this or that gets thrown into the blender, with no real idea how it will turn out. One such successful experiment however is probably my personal favorite smoothie and is loaded with all sorts of good stuff.
I really feel guilty about this post. Truly. It's one thing I told myself I wouldn't do if I wrote in a blog. I wanted never to just throw a bunch of Instagram photos in your face as a reader and have you dig through them all. That's what Flickr is for.

Here I am though, posting my week in Instagram because things have been keeping me especially busy here on the homestead. Including a very exciting visit from some family members at the end of the month! Nothing makes me happier than showing off my hometown and introducing people to all the wonderful places hidden in the nooks and crannies of Seattle. However, it means my little apartment has to be fairly presentable which presents a long list of tasks to complete before they arrive.





The top three photos are from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. My father and I have been making our annual trip there for several years now and it has always been a gorgeous escape from the miserable overcast days. Every show has a different theme for their display gardens and this year it was A Floral Symphony. Every different landscaper based their garden designs around music and sound, it was an astounding combination. In one massive drums were erected in the middle of a pretty garden and "raindrops" dripped down from a gazebo overhead causing a loud beat to echo around the convention center. The one with the chicken coop made of an old VW Bus included a giant interactive harp while another included an actual live harpist playing Clair de Lune. The third photo was just such a creative idea, I had to snap a shot - a "living" table made out of a re-purposed shipping pallet with a pretty bouquet of flowers growing out of the middle.
Next we've started a Biggest Loser competition at my work so my fellow coworkers and I have made an extra effort to eat much healthier. My diet has consisted of green smoothies and lots of quinoa and fresh fish. Pictured above is grilled salmon over quinoa and lentils with a fresh mango salsa, grilled endive and broccoli salad and avocado fries. Yum! Lastly, this past weekend my father and I ventured into downtown Seattle to brave the Seattle Home Show. After spending a couple hours browsing through windows and re-modelers we quickly tired of the displays and retreated to Elysian Fields where I picked up a delicious Prometheus IPA and had an amazing lunch.

These were waiting for me when I got home from work on Tuesday afternoon. Such a nice surprise even if the chocolates didn't help my diet!

Labels: beer, cleaning, diet, gardening, healthy eating, home, instagram, Seattle, spring, week