Lazy...

I think I ran into a hump or is it a lump (I feel like a lump right now sitting on the couch), where I am just lazy and unmotivated to do anything, even <gasp> cook!  Well actually the only thing I have been doing lately is hand quilting an incredibly large king size quilt that I started almost two weeks ago and now in the stage of hand quilting, but I'm almost done - maybe two more hours and I will be done! Woohoo!  It's so big that I can't properly spread the quilt completely out.  The quilt probably has eleven or twelve yards of fabric, not including the batting, just the front and back!  I had to go to my friend's, Evelyn, house and baste the quilt. I have to admit it, I am in love with it. It's colorful and so happy. I smile whenever I touch and look at it.

The fabric line is from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folk and it's voile cotton. I can't tell you how pleasurable and soft this fabric is. I wish I had enough to make a blouse.  The colors are just beautiful and it's buttery soft.  Sorry for the fuzziness of this pic.  I took this with my Windows 7 phone, the Samsung Focus.  Here they are laid out so I can reorganize and sew them together. They actually did not end up looking like the below pic.




I can't wait to show you the quilt when it is all finished. The binding fabric is all picked out, it just need to be cut and sew together. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it :)

My favorite meal of the day...Brunch

Breakfast + Lunch = Brunch

Me + Brunch = Happiness

Brunch meet duck frittata.  For our Easter lunch I made a simple frittata and kick it up a knot with some leftover Peking style duck that I roasted on Friday.  A frittata is just like a quiche but without the crust. I like to start the frittata on the stovetop and then finish it in the oven to get a nice brown exterior, so make sure your pan has an ovenproof handle.

This recipe is very versatile - just change your ingredients but keep the base the same.  I used a 10 inch nonstick skillet and preheat your oven to 425.

Base

8 large eggs

A splash of milk or half and half (whatever you have on hand)

Salt and Pepper

With a large wire balloon whisk you want to whisk the eggs to incorporate lots of air to make the resulting frittata nice and fluffy

Ingredients

1/2 small red onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 large button mushroom, sliced 1/4 thick

1 cup of fresh spinach

1 small tomato, diced

1 scallions, sliced into thin rounds

1/2 cup of sage cheddar cheese, diced

1/2 cup of shredded duck

With the pan on high heat, no oil, cook your mushrooms.  Leave the mushrooms alone and let them brown and watch as they release their juices. This will help your frittata from getting soggy. Flip to the other side and brown the other side.

Lower your heat to medium and add one tablespoon of olive oil.  Add your onions and saute until soft, then add your garlic and cook for one more minute.

Lower your heat to medium low and add the duck and spinach and cook it for one minute.  Next add your tomato and scallions to your egg mixture and slowly pour it into your hot pan.

With your spatula gently run your spatula from the edge of the pan to the center until the frittata is slightly set.

Turn off the heat and spread your cheese evenly on top and put it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese melted and the top is golden.

Take it out of the oven and run your spatula around the skillet to loosen the frittata.

Invert your  frittata onto a plate and serve with a simple spinach salad.

Photo Wednesday

Golden Goodness filled with lots of dark, milk and white chocolates 

and three delicious salted chocolate cookies!

I love this last picture.  It seems as one of the baby chicks is having a conversation with the bunny on how big the egg is and asking the bunny many questions about it and asking the infamous "Why?" question that all kids uses.

Available to purchase only at the Bellevue Fuji Bakery Store until the end of the month for $18.

Paper Record Player as a Wedding Invitation? Yup

How cool and insane is this wedding invitation? and the cool part it actually plays a song!

A Paper Record Player : Kelli Anderson

Please go to her website and check out all the great details of this amazing wedding invitation.

Tis the Season...to garden!

Unfortunately I live in a townhome and do not have any personal space to garden, except on my deck.  My deck is loaded with containers filled peonies, honeysuckles, lilies, and jasmines that are interspersed with various types of herbs from shiso,  mints, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage, little delicious Alpine strawberries, and more flowers!

Luckily I live close in an area where there is a communal garden, the P-Patch.  The term "P-Patch" originated in the Seattle area and refers to an urban communal public site that provides small leased plots to individuals for organic gardening.  The “P” in P-patch stands for Picardo.  The original Seattle P-Patch was Raine Picardo’s 2.5 acre farm, located in Seattle’s Wedgewood neighborhood. The P-patch program was developed during the hard economic times of the early 1970s as a way for people to grow and share their harvest with neighbors and friends.

There are currently 73 P-Patch sites in the Seattle area and every one of them is unique.  If you have not wandered to your local P-Patch plot yet, you should make an effort to do so in the near future, as most of them are open year round.  It’s a great place to meet and talk to gardeners of various skill levels.  Most people are very open to sharing advice and plants with you, so just ask!

If you are looking for your very own plot, check out the Seattle.gov P-Patch site for more information and to find the nearest P-Patch in your area.  The cost is minimal and is usually just an annual fee with a chance for renewal each year.

This is my third year at my little patch.  This year I brought lots of seeds packets to plant this year along with a detail planting sketch and hopefully, I will not deviate from, like I did the previous two years. I mainly order my seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds, which I found to be a very reliable seed and plant source with organic and heirloom choices.

Hopefully you have studiously weeded out your garden before they go to seed.  Now is the time to plant your peas, beets, onions, carrots, lettuces, and mustard greens.  Also think about what items that you need to sow indoors to transplant later like your squashes and pumpkins, and remember now is NOT the time to plant your tomatoes, wait until after Mother's Day - be patience and you will be rewarded with plump juicy tomatoes later this summer! 

Busted yolks never tasted so good

I adore this version of a breakfast egg sandwich from Hi Life in Ballard, simple but with tons of flavors.  The egg is fried with herbed breadcrumbs and then splash with Tutto Calabria chile oil, Beaufor vinegar and sandwich between layer with fresh baked English muffin, home made pork sausage and of course Tillamook cheese. It's spicy and tangy and delicious.

You can usually order this Monday thru Friday for breakfast and on request on weekends, which I highly recommend.

Hi Life

5425 Russell Avenue Northwest

Seattle, WA 98107-4015

(206) 784-7272

Milk Sticks, how I adore thee

These my friend is Fuji Bakery’s Milk Sticks.  They are unassuming goodness from my youth and brings wonderful nostalgic with its simple flavors of condense milk spread on good baguette.  I don’t know about you, but growing up my mother would give my siblings and I mini baguettes and a bowl of condense milk to snack on after school.  Fuji’s simple but sophisticated version of this is small thin 8” baguettes that has been sliced in half and smeared with a combination of whipped butter and condense milk. Trust me, all little kids will love this snack. I know my friend, Enna, who is three year olds loves it and can devour one in just minutes.

The creator of this yummy goodness is Takahito Hirai, or known as Taka.  He is the Pastry Chef for Fuji Bakery at the young age of 26. Taka graduated from Tokyo’s Kokusai Seika Senmon Gakko, specializing in breads and French pastries. 

My friends, Kendra and Michael, were one of the first people to discover them when they first open and introduced us to this bakery on our way to hike Rattlesnake Mountain.  I remember each of us devouring five or six pastries to energize ourselves before our long hike! Good thing we burned a lot of calories on that hike that afternoon.


Once you walk into Fuji Bakery you can smell the amazing varieties of different sweet and savory baguettes from mixed olives, bacon, tomatoes, and chestnut, just to name a few in the store right now.  The best part it is ever changing with seasonal fruits and vegetables.  Breads are only a small portion of what you can find at Fuji Bakery. They have Japanese inspired French pastries like brioche bread filled with azuki and raspberry jam to give it a subtle tartness, chocolate croissants, and melonpan or pastries known as cookie bread favored with green tea, chocolate, raspberry or just plain! Also they do decorated cakes for special occasion in all sort of flavors, check out their website.

Taka fully believes in using the best and freshest local ingredients, along with organic milk and butter. He scours Pike Place Market, Whole Foods and Farmer’s Market to see what is being grown right now and it inspires him to make unique and delicious bakery goods for his customers. 

One of Taka favorite things to make is actually not only the pastries but making a natural starter for his levain, which means he does not use any yeast in making his levain but harvests it naturally from the air.

Another personal favorite you MUST buy is the panettone. It’s not your regular Italian panettone that you usually find around the holidays.  It’s filled with plump raisin and citrus peels, and it is light and slightly sweet and just plain decadent, especially if you spread a bit of honey butter on top.

Fuji Bakery is a must visit if you live or visit Seattle and luckily they have two locations, one on the East side and one in Seattle!

SEATTLE (Weekdays 11-7, Saturdays 11-6, and closed on Sundays & Holidays)

526 S. King St.
Seattle, WA 98104 
On the corner of 6th & King Street, one block north of Uwajimaya 

BELLEVUE (Weekdays 11-7, Saturdays 11-6 and closed on Sundays & Holidays)

526 S. King St.
Seattle, WA 98104 
On the corner of 145th & Lake Hills Boulevard, in the same lot as QFC
.