I’m really looking forward to my lunch today that it’s a little ridiculous. If I wasn’t so full of the best flavor of gelato ever (more on that later) I might take a bite.

My main entree includes three ingredients: collard greens (from Tahoma Farms), red pepper hummus (WF), and bell pepper slices (leftover from a BBQ). It’s a wrap! Excuse the weird shade of the red pepper, I took all of these photos under awful light at 10pm.

And yes I’m that excited about a wrap. Who isn’t. And no question mark there, because it’s not a question.

Mmm, wrap.

This is the hummus I used, it’s from Whole Foods and ridiculously delicious. It comes with a later of roasted red pepper on top that you stir in like fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. Or you’re like me and dig to the bottom of the yogurt (or in this case, skim the peppers off of the top) and eat the fruity goodness. Leaving just enough fruit to flavor the rest of the yogurt.

Lunch also includes low-moisture string cheese and and a tupperware full of blueberries, mango, and fresh raspberries from my mom’s yard. I’m pretty sure that those raspberries and her homemade applesauce are two of my most favorite things in the world. Nobody does it better. Even farmer’s markets don’t get the raspberries right. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Aren’t they glorious? I’ve eaten them probably every year of my life in jam, syrup, frozen, and fresh form. I really can’t wait to have my own raspberry plants.

Drool.

On a side note, the wild blackberries in my alley have a few ripe berries! There are millions upon millions of blackberry bushes around my place and across the main road. And since it’s all city folk up here, I’m doubting that they’ll even touch them. Surprising since fresh blackberries are so expensive.

Anyway, I ended the night with a few spoonfuls of my new found love–Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato. Translated: Nutella Gelato.

My favorite flavor ever. It tastes exactly like what Nutella gelato should taste like. All your hopes and dreams have come alive.

Here are the nutrional facts if you’re curious, only seven ingredients (grouping the stabilizers together).

I bought it at Fred Meyer’s for $2.50 on sale. I would also love to try the Talenti gelatos but they cost more than I’m willing to shell out when I can have Nutella gelato for half the price. Yes the nice man at the store who grabbed a tub of Talenti strongly suggested that I should buy some as well, but I love finding new delicious things that don’t cost twice as much as I want to pay. Especially when there is Nutella gelato. I can’t get over that. Nutella. Gelato. Genius.

P.S. I could explain the title. But there’s no point if you don’t already recognize it. The rest of you get to stay in the dark. :)

They rule fiercely, are hard to please, and have thick dictatorly ‘staches.

Exhibit A:

We flock to restaurants and cupcake shops, tasting their wares and reviewing them without mercy! The peasants read our verdicts and cower before our decisions. The lucky establishments that pass our tests are revered in the kingdom and highly patroned!

So really the Citysearch Dictators are a group (you can join, at least in Seattle!) of people that review businesses on Citysearch. The editor, Chelsea, gives us monthly “assignments” that we can partake in and have the chance to win prizes! Assignments vary from writing a list of restaurants with patios to a review of our favorite restaurant that has Sunday Suppers. Sometimes you can win by having the best, or other times you can win by entering first or just winning in a random selection. I won a $25 gift card to Agua Verde recently to be one of the first 5 to submit the assignment.

We also have monthly gatherings, with a raffle and often free food or cupcakes! The last one I went to was at Cupcake Royale.

At this gathering we happened to get to decorate our own cupcakes and sample some local wine. We were given some great swag, a box with a Cupcake Royale travel cup, a coupon for a free cupcake, a bag of Shepherd’s Grain Flour, and some other neat goodies too.

Here’s a picture of the Sprinkle Bar where we decoratee our cupcakes. We got to choose the frosting! And we got to sample three different kinds of babycakes, oh were they good. I love Cupcake Royale.

In the raffle I won a Sprinkle Party! Me and a few of my friends (6 or so) get to come in and decorate our own cupcakes. Not sure when to use it, but sounds like a cute idea for some get together.

At the first Dictator gathering at Post I won a jar of Bacon Jam from Skillet. Which I shall have you know is very, very, awesome.

It’s a great group, and it helps you to get to know the city better. Quite a few of them are also very active foodies on Twitter, the gatherings are always a hoot with this group. We’d love more dictators, so join and get your ‘stache on!

*I found the photos on the Dictator Facebook Group Page, so kudos to whoever took them!

What happened this weekend anyway? This chilly Monday has completely erased all warm thoughts from the past few days. It’s 60 degrees right now, that’s a 30 degree drop from this weekend. My body is in shock.

So I spent the majority of the weekend outside with Caleb. We went to the Mobile Chowdown on Saturday at Seattle Center. It’s a conglomeration of a bunch of food trucks from Seattle and Portland like the Marination Mobile and Koi Fusion. They are all really, really tasty.

Caleb and I settled on Skillet, it was a choice based on what we know of the food and how long the line was. We wanted to go to Koi Fusion and Maximus/Minimus (they have an awesome pig truck), but the lines were too long and exacerbated by the heat.

It also helps that Skillet is served out of an Airstream. I love Airstreams. My family used to have one. It was a more rare one, the shorter version of Skillet’s.

We had the famous burger and fries from Skillet and a strawberry lemonade.

It was expensive for the portions, but the taste was completely worth it. Oh I can’t even describe it, really excellent all around. Loved the fries as well, and I consider myself an amateur fry connoisseur. They were thin cut, with visible potato skin still clinging on. They were seasoned with coarse sea salt and fresh rosemary. I dream about fries like these.

The rest of the day was spent at Canal St. Coffee, which has a glorious deck overlooking the canal.

There be my handsome husband. Isn’t he handsome?

We opted to sit inside right next to some very large open windows and drink Coca Cola and Hales (which, by the way, are $2 every day all day).

And enjoyed the scenery. I didn’t get a worthy photo of the canal, but I did get some photos of the beautiful foliage from around the cafe.

That evening we had BBQ at my brother-in-law’s place and watched Office Space. It’s amazing how quotable that movie is, and how often you hear it referenced in the workplace. Same with The Office.

Who knows what happened to Sunday. I think I went on a walk, tended to my balcony garden, and cleaned. Oh and I made a version of Bulgogi (Korean BBQ), though without a proper BBQ.

Hopefully the rest of this week heats up a little, because 60 isn’t going to cut it. I’d like next weekend to be just as nice as this one.

It’s nearly July and Seattle has had one day where it was over 75 degrees. One.

So my man and I decided to roll with it and go somewhere that is always a little chilly so our expectations would not be let down—the San Juan Islands.

The irony is that it turned out to be quite sunny and warm (high 60s). I even got a sunburn, first of the season. Hush now, I was expecting clouds and showers. And the sunblock was buried in my backpack somewhere that I did not desire to seek out.

The Juans were gorgeous, as always. They’re breathtaking rain or shine, clouds or not.

Caleb shot this photo right before we left the ferry back in Anacortes.

And they are home to all manner of fluffy, cute, frolicking creatures–which I am very sorry I didn’t catch any pictures of. We had numerous deer sleep in the field next to our tent and in the morning we drank coffee watching the sheep and the bunnies play.

We left early in the morning on a Saturday, driving up to Anacortes and grabbing some Old Rasputin stout on the way (for camping, not for driving).

I am going to build a castle on this island and live there forever.

We parked in the lot way up on the hill, pieced our bikes back together since we had to remove the front wheels to fit both bikes in our little car (a task easier said than done). And sped down the hill and onto the ferry.

Our little trip started on Lopez Island. Where we discovered that Caleb’s bike tire was flat. And town was 5 miles from the ferry terminal. Uh-huh. I see.

The Husband without, and with, enough coffee at the Lopez terminal.

So we began our trek in the heat into town, trying to catch a ride. It’s amazing how many trucks with empty beds sped by. Finally an old van with a bumper sticker on the back reading I love my Eagle Scouts pulled over to the side. Ah! Someone with the scout’s honor! And indeed it was an Eagle Scout to our rescue. He took my husband and his bike into town and I just rode the rest of the way in on my bike.

~

The secret writing on the wall, is there more?

The secret writing is here because the CSS is being weird. In the mean time, congratulate yourself.

Caleb and I stayed the night after riding our rears off all over the island at the Lopez Farm Cottages and Campground. We opted for the Camp Nest, a carpeted tent with a futon and comforter already set up for you. And no, we’re not lazy. We just didn’t want to haul in the camping supplies for our one nighter on bicycles.

The campground was empty, it was all ours. Just to share with the gentle creatures of the forest. It’s a very peaceful camp, I highly recommend it. The perfect change of pace from the city. Not that Seattle is all that wild, but it is compared to a meadow full of bunnies.

The rest of the weekend was spent on our bikes visiting Spencer Spit, walking on the beach, beckoning the bleating sheep, delighting on espresso over homemade ice cream, and whale watching.

P.S. No photos of me because all of them turned out awful. Somehow the husband looks good even after a day of bike riding in the wind.

Places we ate at:
Bucky’s on Lopez (average but good burger, excellent fries)
Isabel’s Espresso on Lopez (we had the ice cream with espresso, highly recommended)
The Crab House in Friday Harbor (really fresh seafood, naturally, but sorry we spent the money as it wasn’t very good despite the freshness)
The Hungry Clam in Friday Harbor (read my review here)
The Doctor’s Office in Friday Harbor (just got coffee, it was alright)

Verdict: The only repeatables were the fries at Bucky’s, the espresso float at Isabel’s, and the burger at The Hungry Clam.

I’ve always liked my yolks runny and sunny side up. Only slightly thickened, just shy of a custard-like consistency.

Recently I discovered poaching. All my life I either scrambled or fried them, sometimes over easy. Often we made quiches, growing up, to use all of the muddled egg we had from draining them for my mom’s beautiful Pysanky art.

I always knew what poaching was, I had just never attempted it. Sometimes we all like to stick to what we know works. But the other night I decided try it, so I went with a simple dish in which to nest my first poached eggs.

Duck vs. Chicken

I chopped a pound or so of fingerling potatoes into halves and cubes and sliced some carrots for more color and variety. I browned a couple tablespoons of butter in a heavy pan and tossed in the potatoes to fry up for a bit, followed by the carrots.

While that was cooking, I boiled the water to poach the eggs. I was following meticulous instructions, I so desired for this not to fail. I poured in a little rice vinegar (it’s the only clear vinegar I had) to prevent sticking, and I carefully slid my first duck egg into middle of the pan. I hit the timer for 2 minutes.

I carefully took my slotted spoon (a slotted spoon doesn’t hold much soup, but it sure holds a poached egg!) and lifted my first specimen out of the pan and into a little prep dish. I proceeded to repeat the process once more. By this time my potatoes and carrots browning along the edges with a little crispiness. I sprinkled it with sea salt, pepper, and a swizzle of honey and let it crisp just a little bit more.

I dished it up in bowls and plunked the poached egg on top. I nervously broke open my egg and it’s yolk spilled forth perfectly. It’s a rich dish to be sure, but that first bite was absolutely heavenly. It’s a 4 ingredient dish and it took all of 20 minutes. Sold to the girl destined to have high cholesterol!

*I’m thinking that some spinach would be a nice addition to this dish, especially for color. I usually add chicken to incorporate more protein, but it usually makes it too heavy for me.

Photo by jronaldlee.

It’s Beer Week here in Seattle, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences with beer in all their grandeur.

It was a long, long time ago that I first tasted beer, I don’t remember when or where or why, but I do know that I didn’t like it. I hated it. Beer was bitter and tasted like wheat (well technically it was probably hops, but what did I know about hops then?)

Fast forward to when I met my husband. Each time he had a beer he made me take sip. It was always awful, leaving a sour taste on the back of my tongue. It wasn’t like it was Budweiser, I’m pretty sure I have never seen the man drink a Budweiser. Or Miller. Or anything with the deranged term “light” in the name. For the first year and half that I knew him, he drank what I now know to be middle-of-the-road beers. Above Pabst but not gourmet. Except for a few, like Arrogant Bastard.

Photo by found_drama.

Then we temporarily moved to Spokane for a job. We also had the chance to then spend quality time with my eldest brother and his wife and son while we were there. My husband and brother had never really spent anytime together, but they soon discovered they both liked beer. My brother is definitely a beer connoisseur (thank you spell check). The husband and brother often tasted gourmet beers together, of course making me try them along the way.

My taste was growing. I was starting to tolerate beer, maybe even enjoying it a little. Now, a year later, I fully enjoy beer. Not all beers mind you, I am still rather picky. I pretty much only like Imperial Stouts, any beer that you can’t see through and has a tan-tinged foam is probably going to be smooth and delicious.

And finally we come to my favorite beer, beating out the Old Rasputin Imperial Stout and the 09 Abyss, is the grand Quilter’s Irish Death from Iron Horse. It’s so smooth, so malty, so deserving of a title like “dessert beer” if there were such thing (is there?) Iron House refers to it as “beer candy”, never did words ring more true.

I really don’t know much about beer, nor do I drink it very often. But I am glad that I can appreciate it now.

So you see, old dogs can learn new tricks.

Photo by Sailing “Footprints: Real to Reel” (Ronn ashore).

Recommended for beer-phobes: Lindemans Lambic Fruit Beers [I really enjoy these, though expensive and they don't really taste like beer made with hops], and of course Irish Death. Just try it, just a sip. You never know.