Lobster goodness

Last night May and I dined like kings and queens while feasting on a few lobster tails. May saw an ad in one of the mail fliers for a sale on lobster tails. Hook, line and sinker we fell for the bait and went out of our way to find an Albertson's. It was worth it, the little guys were indeed very tasty. Next time we know to buy more. May broiled them for approximately 10 minutes. (Word to the wise for visitors, try and come on lobster sundays!)

Snowflakes in Phinney

Last night May and I watched "Fred Claus" while monitoring the snowflake density outside. The movie was pretty bad, but our fire was warm. Around midnight the snow fall started to pick up, at one point the snowflakes were the size of a Canadian Loonie (May says they were nickle size, I admire her patriotism). Unfortunately, it looks like 1.5" is the most we'll see from this storm. It's looking like it will clear up today, settling in to a brisk 20 degrees!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

We went for a walk around Greenlake tonight becuase it is the annual Pathway of Lights night. They line the path around Greenlake with luminarias and everyone in the neighborhood comes out for a little stroll. It was VERY chilly out, but no one seemed to mind. Families were out decked out in christmas gear and everyone was singing christmas carols as they walked around. On our way back though, the snow started to come down a bit harder and even starting to stick to the cars and trees! I'm so excited! Hopefully, it'll stick through morning and we can take some pictures to document our first snowfall in Seattle together!

pizza pizza

I have decided that Seattle is a pizza town. They don't have a type of pizza that they've made their own (like Chicago style pizza or California pizza), but still, there's lots and lots of pizza places in the city. I wonder if there is some sort of correlation between number of pizza places and number of microbrews!

Anyway, since my good friend Barb was in town for a few days, I looked up a few good restaurants we could try to meet up at and Via Tribunali, a Neapolitan-style pizza joint in Capitol Hill that I've heard about, was walking distance from her hotel. Her sister had been before and gave it a nod of approval so off we went!

From the outside, the restaurant looks small and cozy, but when you walk in, you realize that the brick walls are VERY tall and that the room extends pretty far back. With all of the dim lighting and tall booths though, it actually felt quite cozy. It somehow felt old-world European, and just right!

We each ordered a starter salad (I got a classic salad of arugula + parmesan) and then split 2 pizzas: the Via Tribunali and the Salsiccio. Both were very good, with top-notch ingredients and a nice thin, but chewy, crust. The Salsiccio was the better of the two and I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have been due to the tasty little sausages on there.

So now, I think I've tried most of the big pizza joints in town except for Serious Pie (which I've heard good things about and I am trying to find an excuse to go!). My general assessment so far is people take pizza pretty seriously here and load the pies up with good, interesting toppings. I don't mean they use funky combinations like you can find at CPK, just more like high-quality types of salami. Probably because of that, pizza isn't a cheap meal here though.

Winter Beer Fest

Last weekend May and I went with our friend Eric to the 4th annual Winter Beer Fest at Hales Ale Brewery in Ballard. Who can pass up an event with that name? We started our adventuresome evening by hoping on the nearby #5 bus and taking it to down to Fremont. We climbed out and walked a 1/2 mile in the brisk evening air to the Hales Brewery backdoor. We joined a few work colleagues from Expedia who called ahead and mentioned there was a long line to get in. Thankfully, by the time we arrived it was a short wait.

All in all it was a fun event where you could try local winter beers, but way too crowded. My usual style is to go to each beer brewer booth and try a sip of their suds, I mean that's the whole point, right? Unfortunately, the lady (most likely owner) of the Big Al brewery made a very snarky comment that we "tried" two of their beers and then instructed her staff not to let us sample any more.

Well, let me be the first to tell you Mrs. Big Al, this household is boycotting your beer and spreading the word! Hope it was worth it.

My favorites:

• #1 Lazy Boy, Mistletoe Bliss
• #2 Lazy Boy, Dubble (Naked City private label)
• #3 Whoop Pass, Double IPA
• #4 Chuckanut, Schwarbier
• #5 Northern Lights, Winter Ale (newbie brewer)
• #6 Red Hook, Double Black Stout

See the full beer list here.

NKOTB!

This is a long overdue post. I couldn't NOT write about this though, so better late than never!

Several weeks ago, I joined Way and several of her Berkeley colleagues to watch New Kids on the Block at TacomaDone. It was a fabulous night! We were surrounded by NKOTB fans who knew all the words and the steps to the songs, and their exuberance was contagious. Before we knew it, we were swinging our arms back and forth and whoo-whoo-ing at the top of our lungs too! Here's a few pics and videos from our night:

Late fall gardening

Two weeks ago May and I decided to do a little late fall gardening in our back yard. We swung by Swanson's nursery and picked up a winter berry bush, 3 kale / cabbage plants and two Japanese maple trees.

It took awhile to dig the holes because our yard was at some point a dumping ground for gravel and small rocks.

In the end we were pleased with the results... even if some of our neighbors were not. Although it will take 10-12 years for the Japanese maple trees in the side yard to grow and we plan to trim them into an espalide, our neighbor with the 4 story box home was deeply concerned about his ability to put a ladder in our side yard to paint his home. Fair enough, but we wouldn't have put any plants in the side yard if the entire underneath side of their porch wasn't littered in trash.

Not Fit For a King!

Last weekend, our good friend Emi was in town from Hawaii so we decided to meet up at Palace Kitchen, a restaurant I've been wanting to try. It's another Tom Douglas place but one of his more casual ones. I'd heard good things about their burger and their drinks.

Some of us (me included!) started with the Penn Cove oyster on the half shell. I love me some oysters... can't seem to get enough of them! This one was on the smaller side and not too briny. The verjus shaved ice that it came with really didn't seem to do much for it, but I'm okay with that since I usually just like mine with a sprinkle of lemon juice.

The meal went downhill from there though. Scott ordered the burger, which ended up being fine but not great. I thought it had too much lettuce, making the burger taste sort of watered down. The bun sogged up a bit from the juicy patty, but Scott thought it just lacked flavor so had to douse on the mustard. For me, I ordered the Whole Idaho Trout, grilled on their Applewood Grill. Honestly, I thought this tasted like something anyone (Diana especially!) could make on their grill at home. Nothing spectacular. It was accompanied by mashed potatoes (bleh) and kale. I usually like my greens, but this kale was so vinegary it was just weird. Me no likee.

Eric ordered the crab appetizer as his entree and he was licking his fingers clean so I hope that I just ordered the wrong thing? In any case, I've tried 3 of TD's places now and 2 of them fall short. Dahlia Lounge still sticks out in my mind as a very good meal though, so that's enough to make me go and try the rest of his places! I'll report back when I do!

Another Star Sighting!

I don't have to be in LA to see stars! I was enjoying happy hour with a group of coworkers at Beach Cafe at Carillon Point when we spied the newest Bachelor! Some of the gals might have had one drink too many becuase when they saw him walk by the glass windows outside, they shrieked and screamed. I thought I was back at the NKOTB concert from all that noise! I have to clarify that I did NOT scream (heck, I didn't even know who he was), but I did laugh so hard I started to cry becuase I couldn't believe the kind of star treatment this guy was getting! He heard us through the windows, and since he was filming a segment for the local KOMO4 news, he came in to meet us. So, folks, yours truly may be on the local news, gawking at the Bachelor amongst a group of 8 girls + 1 boy. Makes for good (local) news and publicity!

In case you are interested: the Bachelor is a local Kirkland man. The show has wrapped up and the new season airs Jan 5. And yes, he found love, but wouldn't tell us any details other than "she's amazing".

Bus Newbie No More!

Since the bus stop is conveniently located about a block away from us, it's super easy to hop on and off. Scott loves to take the bus to work (just ask him!) and tries to recruit as many riders as he can. I decided to join him today and am proud to say I didn't get lost once! To get to work, we have to transfer in downtown; Scott goes towards Bellevue and I go towards Factoria. I was a little worried on the way back that I didn't know where to get off to connect to the express bus in time, but it all worked out well. I just waited inside Macy's shoe department until Scott got to Downtown and then we took ole #5 back up to Phinney Ridge!