Parked in the Kitchen: December 2009

Ranger Review: Seattle, WA Edition, Part 1

We were SO excited to head to Seattle for the second part of our honeymoon trip. Thanks to Big Dave, we stayed at the beautiful Alexis Hotel and enjoyed being in the city. We didn't over-do it...we relaxed by the fire in our room and ate wonderful meals. Our only big road trip was out to Mt. Ranier for the day. Yep, we climbed all the way to the top and made it back for dinner. Remember, we're park rangers.

Alexis Hotel, Seattle, WA
We loved our stay at the Alexis. Our room was bigger than our apartment, with a fireplace, living room, dining area, separate bedroom, and nice bathroom. The entryway alone was huge. The decor was really modern, but there were still touches from the historic building that the hotel is in. The service was great and our room was kept spotless. It was located just blocks from the Pike Place Market and we really liked being able to walk down the street for coffee or dinner. We'd definitely stay at the Alexis again!

Lobby...

Author's Suite Entryway...

Bar Area...and door to bedroom (on right)...

Fireplace in Living Room...

Rumor has it, Maya Angelou stayed in our room just days before (seriously!). It is, afterall, the Author's Suite...

Can't get your own ice around here...

Bedroom...

Postcards at Wine Hour...

What do you think about that?

Cherry Street Coffee, Seattle, WA

We found the 1st Street location of Cherry Street Coffee just two blocks from our hotel...and we were in love. They just have a few locations in Seattle and it had a neighborhood feel. We were shocked when they were out of bagels one "morning", only to realize that it was 1:00 pm. We had no idea what time it was...that's what honeymoon's are for. Chris' favorite Cherry Street drink was the Milky Way, while I could not get enough of their mochas. They were incredibly delicious...even with non fat milk! That justified the whipped cream! We loved Cherry Street and highly recommend a visit!

Cherry St. Coffee, 1st & Seneca...

Milky Way...

Mocha deliciousness...

The Pink Door, Seattle, WA
We had our first Seattle dinner at the Pink Door. It's a quaint, quirky Italian restaurant. We were seated in the bar, as there weren't any seats available in the regular dining room. We shared the Antipasto of the House and the Paglia e Fieno (fresh white and green fetuccine with exotic mushrooms). It was delicious, but honestly not the best we've ever had. What the Pink Door has is atmosphere. It's funky and fun. While we were having our dinner, we found out that Saturday nights were cabaret and burlesque night. Yes, you read that right. After much debate, we decided to return later to grab a table for the show. We didn't know what to expect...would it be sleazy or neat? Fun or weird? The show started at 11:00 pm...late night out for us old folks. We enjoyed a few drinks and waited for the show to start. According to Wikipedia (this is the FIRST and ONLY time I will ever refer to wiki!), "burlesque is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration. In 20th century America, the form became associated with a variety show in which striptease is the chief attraction." That's exactly it...it was fun, funny, exaggerated, a bit grody, but also classy. Yes, classy. Don't judge. It's almost hard to put it into words. It was wonderful. We loved it! If you're ever in Seattle, you should go...it's good to get out of that comfort zone every once in a while. Just catch dinner somewhere else beforehand...Pink Door is very good, but just not great in our book.

This guy is ready for some entertainment...

Dick's Hamburgers, Seattle, WA
Oh golly, who doesn't like a good, cheap hamburger? There are several Dick's locations in the Seattle area. Don't go with your Gold Card...they're cash only. We picked up our Dick's burgers and fries and took them back to our beautiful hotel room one night. Yes, we're classy people. And we LOVED it.

Gourmet Dining...

So wrong, but so very right...

The Market Grill, Seattle, WA
This fantastic grill is located in the Pike Place Market. We enjoyed an incredibly fresh and delicious lunch at the counter one afternoon. We shared clam chowder and a salmon sandwich, which was grilled for us while we watched. It was wonderful. You must go to this little gem. We were lucky, we were there on a Sunday and got seats right away. Rumor has it, it's impossible to get a seat during the week...for good reason!

The Crumpet Shop, Seattle, WA

What's a crumpet, you ask? We didn't know either. As it turns out, it's not like an english muffin. It's much cakier (is that a word?). The toppings are placed on top, rather than inside the sliced crumpet. They are delicious. We went back to the Market (didn't care if we seemed like tourists!) for breakfast one morning and shared two crumpets...one sweet and one savory. They were delicious! Too bad no one in Oklahoma knows what the heck they are!

Egg, ham, and cream cheese/Maple butter, cream cheese, and walnuts...

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Chris and Dave's Banana Nut Bread

Chris and my dad have a long history of dates at Starbuck's filled with long conversations over mochas and banana nut bread. They talk about life, love, and eachother's good looks. Over the summer I picked up a recipe card for Banana Nut Bread at Starbuck's and tucked it away in my recipe box. This afternoon I stumbled upon it and decided to give it a shot.

I hope you can read the recipe below. The spoon is covering up 3 bananas in the upper right. It calls for 1/2 cup vegetable oil. To trim a bit of fat, I used 1/4 cup canola oil and 1/4 unsweetened applesauce instead. I do the same thing with my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and no one knows! I wasn't paying attention and accidentally added all of the walnuts into the batter rather than sprinkling some on top and it was just fine, so I think you can do that either way...

Batter with walnuts...

Ready to bake...

Out of the oven...I blame the odd shape on top on my loaf pan...must not be big enough. It's a Pyrex. That also meant I had to bake it over 60 minutes to get the toothpick to come out clean, so watch out for that...

Perfect Christmas Eve Dessert. Coffee in the French Press and Chris and Dave's Banana Nut Bread...

Chris reported that the bread tasted just like the real thing! You should try this one, you won't be disappointed!

Blizzard of 2009...We're Not Kidding, Folks!

So, we're pretty sure that the world might be coming to an end. We have a blizzard warning here in South-Central Oklahoma! You see, this doesn't happen here. It was warm yesterday and we had thunderstorms overnight. Big, booming thunderstorms with LOTS of rain. We don't do snow here...these people just aren't hardy like natives of Northwest Indiana....and it just doesn't happen often...a few inches here and there, but no blizzards.

Oklahoma City news stations have been reporting live all day...all hell is breaking loose...highways are closed and there are total white-out conditions in northern and western Oklahoma. They are reporting that emergency responders CAN NOT get to all of the accidents and stranded motorists out there. Even OK State Troopers are stranded! The weathermen are reporting that it's the worst weather they have seen in years. It's coming our way...

Chris has already been to Wal-Marts (no, that isn't a typo, that's Okie for Wal-Mart) and we're ready for Christmas dinner. Can't go hungry in the Parked in the Kitchen control room! Tomorrow's dinner for two will bring spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, a little ham, homemade au gratin potatoes, green beans, hawaiian rolls, and dessert (to be determined).

You think we'll survive the Christmas Blizzard of 2009???

Be careful what you ask for...we wanted snow...and now it'll be blowing around at 30-50 mph!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oops, I Did it Again!

Someone in the Parked in the Kitchen control room loves the "publish post" button...especially before the post is posted. Disregard!

New posts coming soon!

You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta

Lauren is the one that cooks 99% of the time, where I do the clean up. However, tonight the wind of change blew in and I made dinner!! The below recipe was the very first meal I made for Lauren when I lived in Valparaiso, IN and she was working at Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore. She lived with her dad but stayed with me most of the time.

I was not single for long after this!!!!

I started dinner before she got home from work but when she arrived we had to take some pictures. This is a shout out to Vicki (my second mom) for getting my own personal apron!

This is a very simple pasta dish to make.

Me in action!!

After the heavy cream was added!! Don't you want to drink it?

And here it is!!

The Details!

You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta

(Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced (I did not have shallots, I used 1/4 cup chopped onion)

1 cup vodka

1 cup of chicken stock

1 can crushed tomatoes (32 oz)

Coarse salt and pepper

16 oz pasta (I used 13 oz), such as penne rigate (I recommend whole wheat pasta)

1/2 cup heavy cream

20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn

Directions

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add oil, butter, garlic and shallots. Gently saute shallots for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness. Reduce vodka by half, this will take 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer.

Season with salt and pepper.

While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente (with a bite to it).

Stir in cream into sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, romove it from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves.

ENJOY!

Thank you Amy and Mark!

We received a Christmas package from Amy and Mark last week. It was filled with goodies from Crate & Barrel. They must know how much we like to make homemade pizza! We can't wait to use the personal pizza pans and make the flatbread crust. It only took me 5 minutes to figure out how the tomato/mozzarella cutter works, so we'll be good to go! Actually, Chris had to take it and show me how it works. I would've been here all night. The pizza cookbook is wonderful, too!

Check it out...

THANK YOU, AMY AND MARK!!!!

Oops!

For those of you who received an email with my most recent post....it wasn't supposed to happen! There was an error in the Parked in the Kitchen control room! Disregard!

Ranger Review: San Juan Island, WA Edition, Part 2

As I mentioned before, we explored most of San Juan Island...despite cool weather, gray skies, and rain.

Late one afternoon, we made our way to the far end of the island to find the Roche Harbor Resort. Think Dirty Dancing...you know where Baby stayed with her parents? Roche Harbor is the San Juan Islands version...well, without the hot dance hall.

Too bad we didn't find Roche Harbor earlier...or look into staying there. It was a bit of a ghost town (off-season again!), but such a beautiful place. It's the former site of what was the largest limestone processing operation west of the Mississippi. In the late 1800's, the harbor was a booming company town, complete with a hotel and general store. Families were housed in cottages that dot the resort today...they've been restored and you can stay in them. It is a truly beautiful place...we'd love to go back and stay there!

Lime Kiln...

The Harbor...

Historic Hotel De Haro...

Company Store...

Halfway down the dock, we came upon this tiny US Customs building. We were curious about what they did there, so we started looking around...

And we met Officer Jim. Yes, you want to click on it...and learn all about him...and listen to a speical song written about him (if you're over 18). Seriously, you'll be glad you did. He's a very nice , professional man, who told us about this busy little harbor and how US Customs protects the boats coming in and makes sure their passengers aren't bringing in anything illegal from Canada.

Officer Jim offered to take our picture. Yes, he's that nice. Excuse my hair...sometimes I think my bald companion is pretty lucky...

Did you notice that coffee cup? Chris nursed it all the way to Roche Harbor. When I say, "all the way", it's relative. San Juan Island isn't big. But, that coffee cup was an important part of our stay in the island. See, he had discovered Friday Harbor Espresso. He decided that they made the "best mocha in the entire world"...at least until we went to Seattle. The mochas were good, it's true. And we even enjoyed a croissant sandwich there one afternoon. That would be after the honeymoon-ending camera crisis was resloved.

It was time to eat again and drink another mocha. They're good for the soul...