sitka & spruce

On Tuesday, our third wedding anniversary, we found ourselves on Capitol Hill for the second time in a week. This time it was to dine at Sitka and Spruce. I'd noticed that this is the restaurant that all Seattle food bloggers take their visiting friends and family to when they want to impress and give them a real Seattle experience. Since we had a special occasion, we figured it was time we gave it a try.

An open space with an open kitchen, smaller than most suburban home's kitchens, tiny Sitka and Spruce is located in the corner of Melrose Market, which also houses a butcher, a shellfish shop, a florist, a sandwich shop, a cheese shop, and a bar.

Bar Ferd'nand

Hands down, the best thing about the entire meal was the fresh sourdough bread with soft butter and maldon flake salt. In particular the butter. It outshone pretty much everything else we ate that night: albacore and green beans, heirloom tomatoes and crème fraiche, flatbread with chickpeas. Yes, all nice. But the butter was far and away the star of the show.

Mmmm, Butter.

I forgot both my camera and my phone, so all these photos are taken by Blackberry and then modified in Instagram and I don't have any food photos to share because the light was too low. But there were these two great cut away windows into the pantry, so we could see the food before it made it's way to our plates.

A sight that would have made my former-vegetarian-self faint.

All kinds of vegetable goodness, including some
twiggy berries (top left) that I couldn't identify and featured
heavily in our albacore dish.

Anniversary flowers from my sweet husband. The same
colors and flowers from our wedding.

oddfellows and ice cream

I haven’t spent much time in Capitol Hill in Seattle yet, but after my brief visit there on Sunday I think I’ll definitely be frequenting the area much more often. After stopping by Fleet Feet for a new pair of running shoes for Mr. Husband (expert knowledge and service at this store, btw, highly recommend!), we went to Oddfellows for a Sunday afternoon martini and snack.

 

And what goes better after vodka than a summer ice cream cone from Maggie Moos while sitting in the Cal Anderson Park?

Salted Caramel and Theo Chocolate. Mmmmmmmm.

 

Dining Alfresco

Here's one of the best outside dining spots in Seattle. Hold on summer, don't go away--I need more days to bask in the (cool) sun outside on my lunch break!

Weekend Smorgasbord

Last weekend was a dining smorgasbord. Family was visiting and we had a lot of eating and celebrating to do.

We started out at Friday night at a launch party for Dry Fly Bourbon. This is the best stuff I've ever tasted come out of a bottle. Seriously.

After that, we dined at Steelhead Brewery. No photos of the food, but let me assure you that I ate a burger that was larger than my face and received absolutely no teasing about that fact.

Photo: Juliette Cook, from steelheaddiner.com

The next day we took my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and baby niece to eat Homegrown sandwiches at Green Lake.

Then we dined at Salty's on Alki.

Arguably the best view in the city (here is said view across the parking lot), the interior and decor haven't been updated since the late 80s and the menu is woefully overpriced.

But, it was a great place for a celebration and the Dry Fly Whiskey Manhattans were delicious.

And if that wasn't enough, we started Sunday off with brunch at Portage Bay in South Lake Union. Don't let this photo deceive you. Weekend mornings it's swarming with people and requires at least an hour wait for a table.

Photo: urbanspoon.com

 Needless to say, this week it's been all salads all the time.

More Fourth Feasting

If there is one thing I do well, and only one thing, it's eat. And eat we did all weekend long. Here's a recap of the gourmet menu.

This corn.



Turned into Grilled Corn Pablano Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette.
 

This steak.

And these onions.


Transformed into Grilled Carne Asada Tacos with Fresh Homemade Salsa.

These shish kabobs.

Created one of my favorite things to eat on the boat. Cous Cous, Yogurt and Cilantro, and grilled chicken shish kabobs.

And no Fourth of July would be complete without a real American picnic of hot dogs and coleslaw and corn on the cob.

And since boating is kind of like camping but better. We topped off the weekend with barbecued s'mores.



And now I'm off to do a thousand situps.

Seriously.

Fourth of July Feasting

I hope everyone had a great weekend and, if you're in the United States, a fabulous Fourth! I have lots of feasting and fun to share with you. We got out of town as fast as we could on Friday so we could start the weekend off right.

After cruising around for awhile in search of the perfect spot, we found ourselves in a quiet cove on Bainbridge Island. Guess we didn't have to go that far for peace and quiet, since we could still see downtown.

My extraordinary husband/chef spent all day prepping for two of our weekend feasts. The first night's menu? Mussels, Salmon, and an original recipe Potato Salad.

Mussels are good for you and good for the environment because they can be sustainably raised and help clean the sea floor. Eat up!

Then on to the Cedar-Planked Salmon. Tip: Make sure you soak the cedar plank for a looong time. Much longer than I soaked it, at least. (Soaking the plank was my one task in preparing this meal. Fail.) If not soaked long enough, you might emerge from the cabin to find your dad holding a flaming cedar plank in a pair of tongs over the edge of the boat. Crisis narrowly averted.

Sadly, I have no pictures of the flames because I was dashing for a fire extinguisher.

 

Fortunately, the fish made it through unscathed. The grill may never be the same.



And finally, on to the yummy potato salad for some essential carbs. Also featuring one of my favorite food groups: Bacon.



Fingerling Potato Salad with Asparagus, Blue Cheese, and Bacon
1-2 pounds fingerling potatoes
Small handful of asparagus
5-6 Strips of Bacon
Equal parts sour cream, blue cheese dressing, and mayonnaise, to taste
Chopped Green Onion
Minced Parsley
Generous Salt and Pepper to taste

Line a baking sheet with foil, evenly space bacon strips on sheet. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. The crispier the better for this recipe. When cool, chop or crumble into bite sized pieces.

Leave oven on (or cook at the same time as the potatoes). Place asparagus on foil lined cooking sheet. Mist very lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. When done and cool, slice into 1-2 inch pieces.

Chop potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Boil in salted water for 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Mix cool ingredients in bowl and gently fold in dressing mixture and onions and parsley. Season generously to taste.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for more Fourth of July food and fun, coming soon!

Garlic Basil Grilled Chicken with Caprese Salad

The other night we (and by we, I mean my husband, who is much calmer in the kitchen) made the Garlic Basil Grilled Chicken with Caprese Salad recipe from this month's Sunset magazine. Trust me, this recipe is a keeper. It was so easy, fresh and contains many ingredients you may have on hand or in your garden. Note to self: buy a basil plant!

Here's how we adjusted the recipe slightly for two. Click here for the original recipe.

Chicken

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 small boneless chicken breast halves 

Mince basil and garlic and mix with other ingredients in small bowl. Coat chicken breasts. Grill chicken until cooked through on outside grill or, in our case as we are apartment dwellers, the George Forman. :)

 It's not often that raw chicken looks so good I want to photograph it!



 

Caprese Salad

• A few handfuls of heirloom and grape tomatoes
• 6 slices slices of fresh, hand stretched mozzarella
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•  A few dashes of fig balsamic vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Halve grape tomatoes and slice larger tomatoes into bite size pieces. Mix tomatoes and other ingredients, except for cheese and let stand. Serve over mozzarella slices.

The perfect addition to the meal, a local olive bread dipped in olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar.

The finished product! Such a refreshing flavor and a great change for a summer meal.

baseball, brats, and beer

What better way to celebrate Dad's Day than with baseball, brats, and beer? And that's exactly what we did on Sunday at Safeco field.

It was cloudy, but it didn't rain. So the roof of the stadium was open.

We snacked on hot dogs, garlic fries, and beer.

And to top off a great day, the Mariners won! Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there (including mine!).

OMG, Arugula Patch

Can we talk about pizza? It's probably my most favorite food. No, wait, yes, it IS my most favorite food. And I regularly rotate through phases of My. Favorite. Pizza. Ever. My current fave is the Arugula Patch from Zaw Artisan Bake at Home Pizza.

The people who work at the Queen Anne Zaw are SO NICE and they make an amazing pizza that comes with a handwritten note and instructions about how to bake it. (Thanks for the great pizza Austin!)



The Arugula Patch comes covered in Parmesan, cherry tomatoes, basil, a very light tomato sauce, and delicate, thinly-sliced Prosciutto. Look how beautiful! Mmmmm. But wait! It gets better.



After the pizza has been in a 425 degree oven for 14—OMG, I'm so hungry and can't wait to eat—minutes, you garnish with a handful of crisp, green arugula and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I mean it is called the Arugula Patch, after all.

I enjoyed mine with a Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale to toast the Canucks in their loss of the Stanley Cup and watch the subsequent rioting in the streets of Vancouver on tv. Poor Vancouver.

But, OMG, the Arugula Patch is so good.

Now you tell me, what is your current favorite pizza?