Food and NoCal, among other things

So, it's been three weeks since I've done a true grocery trip. Don't have a great reason for it, other than lots of life has happened, including James starting school and a trip to San Francisco/Napa/Sonoma Valley for me. Today's grocery run was not only a re-stocking trip (meaning I needed some staples like butter, eggs and flour), but also includes seven meals instead of five. There are also four back-up meals built in, so they aren't specifically listed on the menu, but I easily have enough ingredients to do all of them, without compromising anything on the menu.
So, on with the food:
Mock Manti: this is a greek dish with ground lamb, bowtie pasta, and a lemon-mint greek yogurt sauce
Pork and black bean pie, with sweet potato topping: actually this one is fairly self-explanatory
Tava: large cubes of beef, roasted with potatoes, tomatoes and cumin
Sausage, bean and barley soup: hot Italian sausage, red kidney beans and pearled barley
Lachmajou: seasoned ground beef (cinnamon, parsley, lemon) served on fresh baked flat-bread
Arron con pollo:Puerto Rican style chicken and rice
Curried apple and lentil dal: Indian dish, pretty self-explanatory

My back-up meals are almost always the same: pasta Bolognese, pasta ai Fagioli, chili

For baked goods I've got:
Brownie chunk cookies: think chocolate chip cookies, except with brownies instead of chocolate chips (now go ahead and think chocolate chips as well as brownies, because that's probably how I'll make them)
Old-fashioned apple cake with walnuts and brown sugar frosting
Olive, herb and parmesan breadsticks


I love Northern Cali so much. I'll be putting pictures of my trip up sometime soon. The air there smells like eucalyptus and cedar. I was able to surprise Zoe for her birthday, and we got to spend the weekend tasting wine.
It's full-on autumn here in Seattle, which means it's mostly wet and cold. There are some pretty colors, and today was sunny. (Today was actually pretty nice- chilly but dry.)
Oh, I'm getting a kitten on Monday. :) Help me think of a name? It's a small tabby female with white feet, black raccoon rings around her tail, and a black outline of her pink nose.

Menu: Sept 14

Okay, so here's the menu for the coming week:

Texas brisket chili w/ cornbread
White corn chowder
Fried chicken w/ mashed potatoes
Tuscan pork tenderloin
Lamb and butter bean stew
Pasta and meat sauce w/ garlic bread

Last week the Moroccan meatballs turned out quite nicely. The curried chicken burgers were also a success. Japanese curry was so-so, but mostly because the roux was pretty bland. We'll try it again sometime. I've become a big fan of the pasta w/ white beans, it's really easy to make and very flavorful.
Hopefully this menu isn't too ambitious.

'round the world menu: Sept 1

Last week I realized that it was starting to look like we're eating the same meals over and over again, which I suppose we are, to a degree. So I've started scouring my favorite food websites for a bigger variety of food for the week. Here's what I've come up with:

Japanese Curry w/ rice
Caribbean style grilled chicken w/ Cuban black beans and rice
Beef and potato burritos
Izmir-Kofte w/ rice
Curried chicken burgers w/ mango chutney
and the old standby...
Cappellini Bolognese and garlic bread

Note: I've not done the grocery shopping yet due to a stomach illness, but I've got the list made up, and it will fall well within the $50 target range.

Ballard Farmer's Market

Pictures here.

My Summer Vacation:

I went to Glacier National Park in Montana with Q and Matt two weeks ago: It was a lot of fun!
See the pictures here!

Artwork: Help needed!

My room at work needs art, and my boss said it was okay to hang my own photos. His wife is going to frame and mat them, very gallery style. I've got my choices narrowed down to five, but I may have to whittle to three. Please let me know which three would be best? Many thanks in advance! <3


Kaena Point (Oahu)


Temple of Heaven (China)


Space Needle (Seattle) (I have a slightly corrected version I'd be using, that doesn't have the artifacts in it.)


Lava Flow from Kiluea (Big Island)


China Walls (Oahu)

Tacoma Glass Museum

I went to the Tacoma Glass Museum with Q today. It was a fun trip, and we got to see some pretty cool glass-blowing. Enjoy!

From Tacoma Glass ...