For those of you who missed it, we had a big wind storm here in the NorthWest near the middle of December.  Winds were the worst I've ever personally experienced, and Mike was scared for our lives.  We ended up sleeping in the living room during the storm and spent the next day in the living room next to the wood burning stove trying to stay warm and napping since we didn't get any sleep through the night.  The neighbors across the street lost a tree, but luckily only went down into the culdesac.  Many others went down in the neighborhood, but we lucked out.

Here are some pics from our yard the morning after:

Most of the branches in our front yard ended up being burned in our stove to keep warm :-)

These trees remained standing the next day, but during the night we swore they were going to come through our bedroom wall.

The trees in our backyard did some significant shedding.  It's been a month, and I might just finally be getting around to cleaning them up today (we'll see...)

This was a typical sight driving down the roads, seeing trees precariously dangling overhead.

Here are more pictures that locals sent into the news stations that are directly around us:

This one was in Bridle Trails off of 140th in Bellevue.

This picture was taken just down the road from us.

We actually drove up this road the day after.  Not all of the lines were down still, but some were still hanging low as well as trees across the road that we drove under :-)

And this picture is in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle (putting this up here for Georgina):

And since so many folks were burning fallen brush and wood from the storm, air was thick with smoke:

Georgia has an iPod Nano, so I decided to make her a felt cover for Christmas.  I used some templates with dimensions from online to get the general sizing down, cut out holes for the screen, touchpad, and hookups on the bottomside, did stitching around all of the edging, and added a button and latch to keep the Nano from slipping out.

For the screen, I ended up using clear packing tape, folding it over on it self, sticky side to sticky side, then securing it to the inside of the case with four knots of thread.  Fine!

Hello all, it's been a while since I last posted, but a lot has happened.  Say a snow storm, then a wind storm, the holidays, then another snow storm.  Yeah, good fun.

Well, right before the windstorm, I was preparing for the holidays by making some balsamic cranberry drizzle and salsa, canning them, and giving them as gifts.  I made it through the drizzles on night and as soon as I had finished the salsa another night, the wind storm picked up and the electricity went out.  Talk about good timing!

Here are some pics from the drizzle creation:

The kitchen (lab)

The drizzle reduction

The staging area

Prepping the bottles

Cranberries popping

The final product

So making the salsa was a bit intimidating as I have only made fresh raw salsas (which is pretty easy).  I searched high and low for a cooked recipe that I thought would be tasty.  I settled on one with onion, pepper, garlic, black beans, and carrot (all in addition to the basic tomato) and i threw in corn for good measure.

Salsa prep area

Pre-salsa goodness

Closeup on goodness

Salsa cooking and bottle prep

Closeup on yummy salsa

I didn't get pics of the final canned salsa since the power went out and pictures of my lovely canned salsa was last on my mind.  I ended up packing up everything at a friends house and shipped it out before the power came back on.

Canning was definitely fun, and I'll do some more of it for myself when I find more recipes that I want to have on hand throughout the year.

 This new bar in downtown Seattle looks really nice.  Any takers for an adventure to explore the drinks and food with me?  :-)

Quote

Vessel, Seattles Newest Cocktail Lounge

Last night was the opening night for Vessel, a new bar in downtown Seattle. Jamie Boudreau, the bar manager, hesitates to refer to this as an "official" opening, since the upstairs section isn't quite ready yet. When the stairway leading up there is finally ready for foot-traffic, later this week, he'll finally be able to sigh a breath of relief and declare Vessel ready for business.

Vessel
1312 5th Avenue
Seattle, WA
http://vesselseattle.com/

Jamie has had this project in the works for quite some time now. Originally he was just organizing the bar and setting up the original cocktail program, but eventually he realized that in order to do this project justice he'd have to leave his position at Lumier, a noted restaurant in Vancouver B.C. and become the full-time bar manager. This not only meant he'd have to move, but it also meant he'd have to apply for a US Visa so he could work down here.

The schedule originally had them set to open in late August... then delays pushed that into mid-September... then late September or early October, but finally here we are just past mid-October and they've finally opened. Frankly, that's not too bad considering the delay's I've seen other establishments face as they were racing to the finish line.

The bar was already hopping by the time I got there a little bit after 6pm. I was thankfully able to find a seat at the small downstairs bar. I perused over the menu and instantly settled on the "Marmalade Sour" (Cachaca, lemon juice, orange bitters, egg white, and citrus marmalade) as my first drink. I had heard that this was one of Jamie's signature drinks, and was anxious to give it a try. As he mixed it up for me he complained that he had so far been disappointed by the quality of the marmalade we had down here in the states. Ours he felt is too sweet when compared to the traditional marmalade he would use up in Canada. Frankly I have to agree with him, American seem to have a sweet tooth, and feel that everything should be sweetened at least a touch. I wouldn't be surprised to see sugar coated mushrooms show up one of these days. The drink however turned out fabulous regardless, probably had something to do with the fact that Jamie has been tweaking the marmalade just a little to try to get its flavor just right.

For my second drink, I chose the Rubicon (Flamed green chartreuse and rosemary sprig, gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice), mostly because Brandon (the barback, and a friend of mine) recommended it. It was indeed a tasty drink, and it even comes with a bit of a floor show as Jamie ignites a misting of chartreuse over the sprig of rosemary in the glass.

For my third, and final, drink of the evening, Jamie volunteered up a Cablegram (rye, lemon juice, simple syrup, ginger beer). Unlike the other two drinks, this is an older cocktail dating from the 1930's. It is a refreshing "tall" drink, and the home-made ginger beer that Jamie uses for it is wonderfully spicy.

Vessel isn't just about drinks however, they also have some food. The food focus is on simple snaking fare, and especially sized portions for sharing amongst your friends. Tonight, the Croque Monsieur sounded the most appetizing, although the sweet corn fritters might be something I'll need to try on a return visit.

Seattle has gradually been establishing itself as a strong center for true cocktails. While we might have our share of places that are more interested in just being "hip and trendy", there are several establishments that are really focused on breathing a little culinary excitement into the cocktails they offer. I think that Vessel will be a wonderful addition to the scene, as well as a good sign of the increasing momentum that is underway.

(picture set on flickr)