Category Archives: Seattle

day 41- Travelogue – food in Seattle

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Chef Tom Douglas is the Seattle star restaurateur and put this Northwestern city on the map for destination dining.  Courtesy of my hosts, I was treated to two desserts from his famous Dahlia Bakery, our last stop on the Chocolate Indulgence Walking Tour.  A signature cookie and brownie. Completely and utterly decadent, we strolled for hours, in and out of sweet shops, regaled by stories and the history of cacao.  Cutting edge earphones with volume control provided us all the chance to hear every nuance and question; an educational wealth of information was bestowed upon us as well as a gourmand treat.  See what I mean about my theory that the academics seem to have more value in colder climes?

Every bite, every calorie, every step in the freezing mist that hovered all day was worth it.  We ate an awful amount of sugar related product.  I highly recommend this tour to non-diabetics.  The sugar high alone kept me going for hours and good thing, because we had a musical to watch that evening that my son had also gifted us.  Wicked.

We had gourmet popcorn every which way, a combination of nuts, seeds, marshmallows, caramel, chocolate, etc. at KuKuRuZa.  Freshly made on the premises chocolate gelato and treats at Cupcake Royale, Obama’s favorite salted caramels at Fran’s Chocolates, chocolate tea at the Perennial Tea Room, homemade, thick delicious hot chocolate accompanied by home spun gingered marshmallows and whipped pumpkin flavored cream at The Chocolate Box and (drum roll) White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Tarts at The Confectional, fronting Pike Street Market where we had to ward off passerby’s asking for samples too.  “Sorry, only for us chocolate fanatics!  Cannot spare a single specimen.”  The Chocolate Indulgence tour of Seattle is a banquet of chocolate that pays homage to the coveted cacao bean and was a great kick-off to those 5-10 pounds I put on starting around Halloween!

On yet another outing, we had a lengthy stay at the Quintessential Gourmet Flavored Oils and Vinegar Storefront on the boardwalk boasting huge corner windows and stainless steel bins full of a wide range of delectable oils/vinegars.  Each vat has spouts and you pour the intoxicating liquids into teeny-waxed cups. Bits of bread are prepared on trays.   This was a delightful and filling field trip.  Dipping, saturating and tasting bread from countless combinations was not enough, we poured oils and vinegars and shook them up together and tossed back the mixtures like we were doing shots of tequila, albeit much healthier.

My favorite combination is the Blood Orange Olive Oil with Vanilla Balsamic Vinegar.  Exquisite. I ended up buying a lengthy list of oils and vinegars and having them shipped.

More feasting tales tomorrow…..

day 39 – Travelogue – Seattle/digression into Berkeley – part two

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My son is a punster with words and he once picked fungi as a science term paper project because – wait for it – he’s a fun guy! Get it?  His fourth and fifth grade late great teacher, Ms. Blake, named him Mr. Vocabulary and considered him a walking dictionary, asking him often to give a definition for the class when the rest of the gifted and talented students were stumped.  Does my pride and joy show?

Let me tell you more.

He is amazing with languages and I guess all the video, Nintendo and computer gaming paid off because now I am the mother of a Computer Scientist.   His specialty is coding, using and mapping out computer lingo or whatever these young, super intelligent, computer savvy brains are up to in ‘hip’ and mod Seattle, running the entire Internet as if it were their own personal playground.  Certainly not mine, but I like to come and play, periodically, without an ounce of awareness of how it all works.

Seattle is home to a host of start-ups.  A few names you may recognize: Microsoft, Costco, Amazon, Sur le Table, Boeing, Nordstrom’s, and of course, Starbucks.

They are Very into the Environment.  They recycle more than they put into landfills – true fact.  They are pro-legalization of gay marriage and marijuana.  Seattle screams contemporary, stylishly young and current in its ideas and its values.  I love the vibe.  It was Berkeley to the nth degree.

People think, study, write, gather and read when it’s cold and rainy out I have come to realize.  And in my opinion if you give them inexpensive mass transportation and bad weather like in NY, the Bay Area and Seattle;  you have all of the time in the world to write your memoir, novel or article or read someone else’s.

I suppose a few silly sitcom scripts are written in LA traffic waiting for the cig alert to clear but people just look more intelligent to me in local lamb’s wool scarves, heirloom knitted hats and non-leather vegan gloves and jackets.

Once, on my very first trip to UC Berkeley (or Cal as we Californians call it because it was the first and only University of California for a long time) my son and I went to scout out the campus before he applied.    A bicycle zoomed by us and the cyclist was holding a book and reading while gently sailing down Telegraph Road.   I am convinced you surround yourself and sprout what you find attractive.  No fake wax museums or fantasy amusement parks exist here.  Publishers, new and used bookstores, herbal, homemade body care products and Vegetarian multi -cultured restaurants abound instead.

I saw a lot of professional ( I am assuming homeless) beggars too. Another time, right across the street from my Shattuck Hotel window,  I saw panhandlers lined up for coffee, doughnuts and later on in the day, soup and bread.  I always felt San Diego had a better climate for outdoor living but even though the bay area might get chilly, foggy and damp – they treat everyone warmly, are generous to a fault for every cause that can possibly exist and it is a bevy of superior minds.

What can I say? These are my observations and I encountered much of the same type of energy in Seattle, minus the begging.  More game, fish and dairy in Washington state too.  Which brings me to the topic of food……

day 38 – Travelogue – Seattle – Part one

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When it rains and storms, like in this instant -(the wind is literally howling through the gigantic pines) – It generates reminiscing.  I remember growing up on Long Island where moisture is always (duh, it’s an island) available.  Inclement weather patterns just make me introspective.

I also recall Berkeley, especially the time the girls and I visited their brother at Cal one January weekend.  We walked and walked for miles in the frigid rain, one umbrella (my leopard one).  They refused to use the less flashy, plain black umbrellas I packed.  Instead, all three of my darlings insisted on just covering their heads with hoodie jackets (not the rainproof kind, the sweatshirt kind).  I guess it’s just not cool anymore to stay dry.

I am reminded today of my most recent trip to Seattle to see my son and his girlfriend in their newly adopted city.  Watching Top Chef Seattle (I believe it’s the 10th season) and this storm I am experiencing up here in the mountains is making me relive that blistery, chilly, wet and teary – eyed three days of pure ‘mommy so proud of you and happy for you’ bliss.

I arrived at Tacoma, Washington airport early, second flight out of John Wayne in Orange, CA.  Lest no one tell you, you have to hop a subway in order to retrieve your luggage.  After successfully getting all that out of the way, I waited outside in the nippy, cloudy grey, drizzled air for my son’s girlfriend, J.   She scooped me up off the curbside waiting area almost as soon as I showed up and she whisked me off to my lodging accommodations.

I stayed in a wonderful suite at the Hampton Inn by their apartment in the quaint, residential Queen Anne neighborhood.   Unpacking by fireside, the small but well-appointed and newly remodeled space had a full kitchen (with granite counters!), a full marbled bath, a comfortable living/sitting area with a chic, minimalist and  ‘just turn it on with a switch/timer’ fireplace, a desk nook, an outdoor patio and a smartly laid out bedroom.  Designed with contemporary appeal, the rooms successfully spoke of the so-called Seattle label, ‘hipster’.  And using my AAA account, I congratulated myself, I scored a fantastic deal.

Back in the compact but roomy Toyota car, J drove us to meet up and pick M from outside his many-storied high building in the heart of Seattle’s downtown.  Neither visitors nor moms are allowed to enter or tour the top-secret goings-on and last minute developments of this highly visible, edgy, technological, consumer paraphernalia computer driven company.

“Why, M, you shaved off your beard!” I commented.  “You look like my young boy, again!” I blurted out, holding on to my seat belt in the backseat and leaning toward the front seat to at least touch and squeeze him on the shoulder with my gloved hand as he huddled in quickly and we steered away from the curb as the door latch closed shut.

“Yea, someone at work asked me if my parents were coming to town or something?” he explained and followed with, “Yup, my mom, I told them. Going to show her the town.”

I beamed.

Laughter, cheer and festive, amiable times were imminent, even in this inhospitable weather.

day 36 – Weather

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The weather has always been a particular obsession of mine. Gardeners, farmers and nature lovers check atmospheric conditions and talk about the climate incessantly.

Living in Southern California, I occasionally miss having the back east ever-changing and ever-challenging weather, although not so much during wild and destructive, super storm Sandy. I am best known actually for loving comfort and not being inconvenienced.

I keep track of everyone via the weather.  It’s in the low 40’s right now up here high in the mountains and also in Seattle, where my son lives and in New York as well, where my daughter and my best friend reside.  Down the mountain, it’s in the low 60’s.

Humidity influences my hairstyle and may irritate my spouse’s ankle, broken when he was a teen.  When it’s hot out, I get miserable and feel like I cannot breathe.  When it’s sunny too many days in a row, I feel I need a break from all the sunshine.  The one thing I relish about the weather – how it changes – is what we don’t get much of.

It stands to reason therefore; up here in the San Bernardino Mountains it is personally delightful for me.  Not only is it all foggy and scary and cold and dark, it’s different from what we are used to.  Change is good sometimes.  The ride up here was treacherous for about ten miles through winding, steep inclines, between boulders and a plunging drop only because I was in a cloud or deep fog and couldn’t see.

But that’s all behind me now, I am safe and the fireplace is blazing, Mayan Chocolate tea with stevia and almond milk at my side and a new novel to indulge in.  My abode is dry and the heat is warming.   Electricity and Internet is on and up.  I brought up plenty of food and snacks to partake in.

It might even snow.  I love the snow.  There is a hush when it snows and as the white flakes fall, it smells like pine and earth and clarity.  If it’s cold enough, the snowflakes stick to the branches, rocks, ground and each other; everything is covered in a blanket of thick milk purity, clean and fresh, sterile and genuine – nature’s virgin gift to us all.  Snow is frosty to the touch and crunchy to the ears when boots step in the chilly, spotless and vast drifts, leaving behind tracks.  Gentle snow landing softly on your outstretched tongue is divine and a nod to childhood.

When it rains below in the winter, it may snow above;  five thousand feet above sea level up here, where I am, right now.  And rain is predicted tonight and tomorrow in Sunny Southern California.  I can only hope.  I am keeping my fingers crossed I have enough firewood.  I am glad I borrowed my husband’s four by four truck with all-weather tires.  And I feel lucky I get to enjoy my treehouse so much in all weather conditions!