Seattle Thurs: Surprise! It's the Pike!

After the bakery, we wandered through Pike Place. The parking gods were with us. Look at the amazing spot we got for our black rented SUV!









A trip to Pike as always, included a stop at Beecher's.











Flagship cheese on the move



Picked up a pretzel I think at 3 Girls Bakery - maybe Auntie Em's...it's all ablur of foodstuffs swirling around my head



We also stopped off at Pike Chowder where we tried a sampler of seafood chowders. The basic clam chowder was the best.








Kids are so adorable



We got some pierogie at Cafe Yarmarka for the road, which was lucky because Justin was starving after his exams





Plus the border crossing took forever, so our picnic basket of collected treats was really needed. By the time we got to our gorgeous room at the Vancouver Westin Bayshore, I was happy to just order room service and a movie while Justin and mom went out for dinner with Uncle John.



And maybe just one of their freakishly giant beers afterwards.

Seattle Thursday: Hey Macrina!

Thursday we had the entire morning and afternoon before we were scheduled to pick up my nephew Justin. At my friend Wathana's recomendation, we went looking for the Macrina Bakery. It was only blocks from our hotel. It really was a fantastic location. We picked up some pastries for the road.



Macrina has a wide selection of breads, all formed by hand, including

Macrina Casera
“Of This House”
1.5 lb Loaf ~ $3.55
This bread is leavened with a natural wild starter made from organic grapes, coarse whole wheat and unbleached flours. Designed for any meal. It has a mild sour flavor.

Giuseppe
1.5 lb Loaf ~ $3.55 • 2.5 oz Roll ~ $0.65
1.75 lb Sliced Loaf ~ $4.15
8 oz Panini ~ $1.65
Our classic, crusty Italian loaf. Leavened with biga (traditional sponge starter) and unbleached flour. Lighter in salt and perfect for dipping in your favorite olive oil.



Olivetta
1 lb Loaf ~ $4.05 • 2.5 oz Roll ~ $0.65
Similar in texture to our focaccia, this moist and savory loaf is packed with whole green olives and fresh oregano. Baked on semolina and brushed with extra virgin olive oil.

and the fascinating

Vollkorn
1.25 lb Loaf ~ $4.05 • 2.5 oz Roll ~ $0.65
A German-style, 6-grain seed bread. This beautiful loaf is leavened with a beer starter and sweetened with a touch of honey and molasses. Its braided design makes it perfect for breaking with friends.

Their antique pastry case has been offering up goodies since 1993. Like the Roly-Poly, "our homage to the classic cinnamon roll, enhanced with coconut, raisins and walnuts".






Macrina's Fresh Fruit Coffeecake

For September, we are featuring our Fresh Fruit Coffeecake. To make the best possible cake, use freshly picked berries at the height of their growing season. Usually, berries are at their best in September. Pick blackberries, raspberries, blueberries or huckleberries (perfect in mid-September) and toss them in the batter.

Makes 1 bundt cake

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups ripe fruit (whole berries or fruit cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
Edible flowers and powdered sugar for garnish (optional)


Preheat oven to 350º F. Oil a 12-cup Bundt pan.

Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and toss with your hands to combine. Remove 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and set bowl aside.

In a separate medium bowl, combine fruit and the reserved 1/4 cup of flour mixture. Toss until fruit is evenly coated and set aside. Tossing the fruit in flour helps keep it from sinking to the bottom of the coffeecake – a true disaster!

Combine butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix with the paddle attachment for 5 to 8 minutes on medium speed. The mixture will become smooth and pale in color. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure the first egg is fully mixed into the batter before adding the other. After the second egg is incorporated, add vanilla extract and mix for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for another 30 seconds to make sure all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

Alternately add small amounts of flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter mixing with a wooden spoon just until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in the flour coated fruit making sure the fruit is evenly distributed through the batter. Spoon batter into the prepared Bundt pan filling two-thirds of the pan.

Bake on the center rack of the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Check the center of the coffeecake with a skewer. It will come out clean when the cake is done. Let cool in a pan for 45 minutes.

Loosen the sides of the cake with a sharp knife. Place a serving plate upside-down on top of the cooled Bundt pan and invert the pan to remove the cake.

This delicious coffeecake is perfect just the way it is, but I like to jazz up the presentation with a few fresh, edible flowers and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Seattle: Connect Four at Buckleys

For dinner Wednesday the historic MGM/Loews building and warm lights drew us over to Buckley's in Belltown. Half of the restaurant/pub is a sports bar with an umm, enthusiastic clientele. One person on UrbanSpoon said that the glow from the rows and rows of flat screens made them feel like they were in the supermarket refrigerator aisle.

Luckily for us there is a cozy restaurant area with tall-backed wooden booths, one of my favorite seating arrangements. I feel like I'm in my own private club compartment.

Reading over the pub's accolades, I am kind of confused by the fact that Buckey's won "The best Guinness in Seattle". Umm, they are brewing Guinness in Seattle? They have the best supplier? They can slow pour like a pro?

We started with the meatloaf sliders. They were OK. I think burgers are really only the proper slider filling. An interesting idea, but didn't quite fly.



Then we split the fish and chips. All I remember is that the fish was good, but the fries were cold.



OK, so Buckleys is not the place to go for fine dining. But if you are with a group of friends and want to get hammered, eat bar food and play a bunch of fun games, the comfy booths are stocked with retro board games that make for a fun night.

Look how EXCITED these kids are to play Connect Four. They are downright HYSTERICAL



Can I just say that my mom kicks ass at Connect Four. It's like that Donkey Kong guy.



Of course, every game has its cheaters and sharks, and you best take heed to this warning inside the game cover:

Seattle: Breakfast at Lola

Wednesday morning we met the sisters for breakfast at Lola. It was a nice atmosphere for a group - the room is large and open. The sadness was overwhelming, but it was comforting to be together, and when my mom picked up the check everyone was genuinely touched. Sometimes it's those little acts of kindness that give people comfort.



We are all so different from each other - this one won't eat gluten, and that one won't eat sugar, but there was enough variety that there was something for everyone at the table.



The menu had a lot of exciting-sounding options; Tom Douglas even dared to put octopus with pork belly on the breakfast menu. "Tom’s big breakfast: pacific octopus hash, sweet pepper, summer squash, pork belly, sunny egg 16" It was tempting but I went traditional.



The smashed garlic fried potatoes appear to have been bashed with a giant cast iron pan and then thrown in the deep-fryer.

Anne's pork-maple sausage looked delicious



They are known for their fresh donuts, which were exciting. But I had them for "dessert" and maybe they would have been better hot. The strawberry jam and marscapone allowed you to make your own jelly donuts.







We enjoyed breakfast so much, we went back on Thursday. I was tempted by the morel, ramps and fontina omelette. This is the Pacific Northwest, and the morels were unreal.

Seattle Wednesday: visiting day

When I was a little girl, there was a Chinese family from Trinidad and Aruba that lived across the lane. All us kids played together. They had mostly girls, and I was kind of like their toy doll for the first few years of my life.

One time when I was around 2 or 3, before carseats, I opened the car door in the backseat of my mom's station wagon. As I fell out, one of the girls managed to grab the hood of my jacket and pull me back in, saving my life.

I was 18 months old in this picture.



Grace taking us to visit Santa (3 years old)



Since my grandmother lived in Canada, their grandma, Apo, became mine too. Apo used to give me a dollar and tell me to hide it from my brothers. She always had sesame candies or White Rabbit candy to give away. She also grew giant roses in the front yard. That's probably the reason why every time any of us move into a new home the first thing we do is plant roses.



She used to wear sailor's watch caps and everyone thought she would be all dainty since she was a litle old lady, like they would try to help her and then she would open her mouth and this strong Trinidadian accent would come out, "Get dat 'way from me, neh?" She also used to make the most delicious little meat pies. I have the basic recipe, but some of us remember a version made with curry and one with a little ketchup in the filling.



Today we went to visit Grace, Apo's daughter. She has Apo's green thumb, and her garden in Seattle was exploding with color.









I still remember these little wooden serving dishes from when I was very small



She made a very dainty lunch for us, with fruit salad in little dessert glasses. She remembered our love for the little meat pies and had gone to the British Pantry to pick up curried chicken and beef pies.




APO'S MEAT PIES

1 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup chives, chopped fine

Salt, black pepper, garlic powder and English thyme to taste

Margarine

Pastry (see below)


Saute meat, chives, and spices in a little bit of oil. Cool to room temperature and drain off excess oil.

Roll out dough, a little at a time. Cut into 3" to 4" diameter circles using a little drinking glass or shot glass.

Put a little meat filling onto the center of one circle of dough. Top with another circle of dough, using a little water to seal the edges.

Pierce top with a fork to let steam escape, and top with a little dot of margarine.

Bake until pastry is golden brown.

PASTRY:

3 cups flour

Dash salt

1 cup shortening

5 to 6 Tablespoons ice water

Mix flour and salt together. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Add a little water at a time until you can form the dough into a ball.

Note: This recipe has no temperature or cooking time, as people used to just know these things. In general oven temperature was usually 350, although it could be as high as 400 for baked goods, and I would guess the cooking time for these pies is around 20 minutes.