Bitters Co. Seattle

Ok, it's official - I have discovered my favorite home goods store in Seattle. Unfortunately, this store does NOT align with the "budget" side of my blog or my brain. It is filled with artsy, one-of-a-kind treasures and I just want to buy everything!! When I was last in the store, which is located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, I snapped a million pictures. Somehow, all the pictures turned out great and just made me want to spend my life savings even more than usual (I always just use my iPhone camera for blog pics and do not consider myself a photographer by any means, as you may have noticed :)

 

 
You can visit their website here, unfortunately the site really doesn't do the shop justice and is kind of "blah"... plus you can't see or purchase all of their wares online. If I had the budget I'd go crazy in here for my own home, but as it is I might just be shopping there for the occasional gift for family and friends. Too bad we may be moving back to California later this year, so I may lose access to this shop soon (more upadates and info about that to come as things finalize!!)

 Cute little leaf soap dish

 I love leaf patterns!

 

Embroidered napkins

 I love with this blue serving bowl

 And this green serving bowl...

 Tapered candles

 And beautiful pottery galore

Kale and Goat Cheese Penne

Hello hello blog world! I am sorry that I missed my regular Saturday post and am just catching up now. The reason my schedule is a bit off is because...I am on spring BREAK! Yes ladies and gentleman, another quarter of graduate school has been wrapped up, final papers submitted, and my students' grades posted. It feels very good to have the week off and I can't wait for a little R&R. I started my break of right with a long weekend in San Diego, CA to celebrate my wonderful friend Beth's bachelorette party. We had an epic time that included a champagne in a limo, dancing past midnight, and lying on the beach. It was sooo hard to leave and make the flight back to Seattle, but luckily it's gorgeous here this week!

Now that I'm back, I can finally share the amazing kale and goat cheese pasta recipe that I discovered here last week. It's almost like a healthy, adult version of mac and cheese -- think a pasta dish that's loaded with kale, fresh tomatoes, and a sauce of tangy goat cheese mixed with yogurt. I added some spicy sausage for an extra kick, but you could easily make the original vegetarian version. It was quite good and received the thumbs up from Stuart, so we'll definitely be making this one again in the future.

Ingredients:

8 oz kale, chopped (I like “dinosaur” kale)

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1 pint cherry tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

1 lb penne pasta

4 oz goat cheese

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1.  Boil water for pasta in large pot.

2.  While waiting for water to boil, chop garlic and sauté in large skillet over medium high heat until slightly caramelized and fragrant.

3.  Slice grape tomatoes in half and add to skillet. Cook until tomatoes start to soften and breakdown slightly about 7-9 minutes.

4.  Add kale, broth, hot pepper flakes, salt, and several twists of freshly ground pepper. Cook until greens are tender and wilted (5-8 minutes), stirring occasionally.

5.  When water is boiling, cook penne according to package directions. Drain pasta and place back in pot, pouring kale mixture over hot pasta.

6.  Mix in goat cheese and 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt. Stir well to coat pasta with cheese. Mix until goat cheese is melted and well distributed.

 Dinosaur kale is a smaller, less tough version of kale that I am now obsessed with...

 I added some spicy sausage, but feel free to go all-veggie

 

 Creamy and delicious, and semi-healthy to boot!

Irish Soda Bread

I know I'm a bit late to the St. Patrick's day madness, as I've been watching the shamrock-and-beer-themed posts flying all over Facebook and Pinterest for the past few days. However, Stuart and I celebrated his Irish heritage yesterday in our own foodie way!

Since he's got some Irish blood on his mother's side (with the surname Collins), one of the family traditions that was passed along was the making of Irish Soda Bread. We baked a loaf yesterday using just a few simple ingredients. It's a dense, rustic load of bread that's easy to make and tastes great toasted with butter. For some reason, the taste and texture truly makes me feel like I'm on a farm somewhere in Ireland, enjoying a loaf of bread that I baked from scratch with home-grown wheat. No yeast is involved here, just wheat flour, buttermilk, and three basic pantry ingredients!

 

Irish Soda Bread
*The classic bread of Ireland, traditionally cooked over a peat fire and offered with a cup of tea or a glass of stout.

Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 or more cups buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease and flour a baking sheet.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix in the buttermilk with a wooden spoon, and add as much additonal buttermilk as is necessary to form a slightly sticky dough.
3. Knead on a floured board (I used a kitchen aid mixer with dough hook attachment) just long enough to form the dough into a round cake.
4. Cut a cross shape about 4 inches long and 1/2 an inch deep on top using a sharp knife, and place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes. When done, the bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. If desired, wrap in a dishtowel until cool to prevent a hard crust from forming. Serve warm with butter.

Ballard Pizza Company

When I started this blog about 8 months ago, one of my early posts was about homemade pizza, and how Stuart and I relied on making our own since we had yet to discover a good pizza joint in Seattle. Since then, we have made the delicious discovery of Ballard Pizza Company. Think thin, wonderfully chewy pizza crust topped with quality and well-spiced toppings - all for a reasonable price.

My favorite things to get are the marinated olive appetizer ($4), followed by a medium Artichoke pizza ($16) or the Staple and Fancy pizza which features pepperoni, pineapple, and jalapeño. Isn't pizza and beer just the perfect casual wind-down from a long week? My sister Anna agrees - see us photographed below during our first visit to Ballard Pizza :)

Classic Margherita pizza

  Marinated olive appetizer

 

Sisters!

Half artichoke, half staple and fancy! Yummm.

Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea

I wanted to take this post opportunity to share with you my favorite tea of ALL TIME. I have been obsessed with this tea for several years now. If you know me, there is a good chance that you have received this particular tea as a Christmas gift. Or perhaps if you visited me, I offered you a cup (ahem...or shoved a cup in your face and told you to drink it because it was the best tea ever).

 

The tea is called Hot Cinnamon Spice, made by the company Harney & Sons. The name and packaging both appear faintly British, however they are an American company based out of upstate New York. They have many, many flavors but the only tried-and-true for me thus far is Hot Cinnamon Spice, which comes in both regular and decaf varieties. Caffeine makes me a little crazy, so I always appreciate non-caffeinated options! Recently I've been seeing this brand in some grocery stores, but ordering from their website it always a safe bet (you can sign up for their email list to receive occasional discounts and free shipping offers).

What about you? Do you have a favorite tea or beverage that you can't live with out? I'd love to hear your comments!

Cashew-Coconut Curry

Mmm you know what sounds good on a rainy evening? A simmering bowl of chicken curry. If you have ever been afraid of cooking up a curry, as I have been afraid to do many times, this recipe may be the one that convinces you that you are capable of doing so.

 

Most traditional curries (while I'm sure they are amazing), require a pantry full of expensive spices whose names I cannot pronounce. This one is simple and requires on one spice, sweet curry powder, which I purchase from a company called Penzey's Spices. While this curry is on the mild side, I'm sure you could doctor it up with your own spice concoction to give it an extra kick!

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon sweet curry powder (I use the one from Penzey's Spices)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2/3 cup uncooked white rice
3 cups chicken broth
1/2-1 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (for topping, optional)
1/2 cup cashews (for topping, optional)

Directions:
1. In a zip-lock bag, combine the flour, curry powder, salt, and pepper.
2. Add the chicken pieces and shake to evenly coat.
3. Heat the margarine or butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, turning once, until they are browned well.
4. Add the onion, raisins and rice and stir to blend.
5. Pour in the chicken broth. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Top with cashews and shredded coconut. 

 Simple, but delicious!