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"are you drinkin what I'm drinkin?"
18 Connections
3 Reviews
19 Wine Ratings
10 Questions
82 General Postings
Member's Location
Seattle, WA
CHATr Member Since:
July 2007
Favorite Wine
currently looking
Favorite Winery
My Unlce Steve's house
Favorite Varietal
Pinot Noir, Syrah, Rose blends
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purplelips's Postings
Last Entry Posted 6/19/2009
1 to 15 of 114 | Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
GENERAL POST
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Posted
6/18/2009 at 12:07 AM PST
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Back at the Herbfarm
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I took a little time off from the Herbfarm in order to move, change jobs and help put on the IFBC. It's been the nuttiest April-May I can ever remember, all in very positive ways. I'm working for Foodista now, an online encyclopedia of all things food. It's a total blast and such a refreshing change from what I was doing previously. While needed work is being done to our new house, Mark and I are living with my brother, in Edmonds. New to us that is- it's a 101 year old house which means it thousands of dollars of repairs, but the cool thing is we get to work with good bones, a clean slate if you will. A kitchen design, all my own.Even as busy as I get, each time I go back to the Herbfarm, it's like walking onto a good friend's property, a neighborhood bar or a familiar elementary school playground. It's become a place that I feel at ease with, the heighten sensitivity of being "the new kid" has finally worn off and I can make my way around the chickens and pigs. I have gotten to know... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
6/14/2009 at 7:46 AM PST
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Ghetto Pasta, My Brother Jesse's Cooking Show
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My biggest cooking influence in my life is my mother. Her inventive cooking and taste for quality has not only affected my emotional opinions about food flavors, but learning to identify quality ingredients has also affected my brother, who I believe to be a true consumer of all the finer things in life. Instead of investing in culinary school however, Jesse takes his research on the road. Any time I am looking for Seattle's best burger, taco truck or finest cut of rib-eye, all I have to do is text my brother and he'll respond with at least five options for me. Besides knowing about all the greatest places to eat, good places to buy good ingredients, he can also make some mean barbecue, and he is hilariously funny.
Like anyone else, Jesse and I also have our moments when the need to satisfy hunger simply takes over anything creative, leading us to scanning the pantry and making something "that will do." I know all of us can think of a time when we've resorted to some wild...
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
6/3/2009 at 1:13 PM PST
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Heirloom Tomato Lover
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I am a tomato lover. I’m not alone in the tomato lust department. I’ve stood behind several devotees at farmer’s markets or at checkout counters who have happily paid $6.00 for their oddly shaped, wrinkled and rainbow colored heirloom tomatoes. $6.00 for one tomato?! Are we crazy? Why do we do it when there is a perfect pyramid of Roma or beefsteak tomatoes everyday without fail in the produced department for half the price? We’re not trying to be Gucci, we do it for flavor. Tomato lovers consider it crazy to pay for mealy, tasteless tomatoes, simply because the store sells these disappointing replicas called “tomatoes” year-round. I’m one of these people who wished that tomatoes tasted the way they do in the summer 365 days a year, but I have come to the realization that in order to experience the flavor of summer tomatoes all year round, I’ll need to get busy canning when tomatoes are at their peak. American’s have gotten used to pumpkins... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
5/27/2009 at 8:16 AM PST
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Working on EAT & DRINK book 4
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Marcus and I have been busy over the past couple months recipe testing and wine pairing and tasting for EAT & DRINK in the Northwest book 4. Things are finally starting to come together, albeit the IFBC, switching jobs and moving all within the same couple months. The Northwest wines being celebrated in this next book are some of the best! Perhaps with this book more than others, I am thinking of the ingredients in each dish that will pair well with wine, rather than ingredients first- wine pairing second. Perhaps it's just my awareness and development of my palate over this year-long EAT & DRINK writing experience or the evolution in how I am thinking and writing recipes now. Here are the list of recipes that will be in the next book! Warm Chicken Panini With Lemon Feta, Grilled Zucchini And Peppadew Dressing Spring Pea Soup With Seared Scallop, And Tarragon Oil (Optional Scallop) Thyme Profiteroles With Lox And Fried Capers Lamb With Cilantro/Mint...
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
5/9/2009 at 5:07 PM PST
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So much to say- so little time
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Things in my life, to say the least are a bit nuts. I'm making myself little notes about all the things that I want to blog about when I actually have more time, but at the moment, I am stretched a bit thin and I only have time for notes in both words and pictures. When it rains- it pours as they say, and I feel like I am in a monsoon.
Mark and I bought a house- and because of the government loan that we have, it's a mess of hoops to jump through. I'm transitioning jobs, which is over the top exciting news!! BUT because we are moving- everything is on hold until we close- (May 22nd hopefully), I'm working on EAT & DRINK book 4 and lastly, apprenticing part time at the HerbFarm. I didn't mean to get this busy, it all kind of just happened.
The cutest fat robin at the HerbFarm watching over the lovage beds.French Breakfast Radishes, delicate, dainty and hot pink.The teenage chicks
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
5/8/2009 at 8:28 AM PST
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Sweet Corn
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One of my very first food memories is the taste of raw, sweet, corn on the cob. It is a rather rebellious flavor to me. Mostly because of the way in which the sweet corn was acquired but also because I didn’t eat it cooked- I ate it raw, the “wrong” way. When I was about five and my brother and neighbor were seven, we stole several cobs of corn right out of our neighbor’s backyard. We had to wade through fields of three-foot tall, tickly grass and climb over two fences to reach the corn field. Once we ripped off the cobs, we ran back through the field to our secret fort, a little hollowed out area under a canopy of leaves in a giant bush in my parent’s front yard. At the time, it seemed that we knew what we were doing with a small, 4-cup red saucepan, half full of water and a book of matches. Obviously, it made sense to light a fire and attempt to boil water, all under a canopy of leaves in the summer. Thankfully, none of the matches would light, which led... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
5/7/2009 at 9:03 AM PST
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International Food Bloggers Conference
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The International Food Bloggers' Conference is getting closer! I'm really looking forward to meeting some incredible food bloggers, speakers, cheese makers and chefs that will be coming to the event. Along with others, I've been helping Sheri of Foodista nail down details, create to-do lists and organize the chefs and other artisans that will be participating at the conference. The IFBC is taking place at The Sanctuary in West Seattle. It's fairly new event space located in a fantastic setting right off Admiral. As the name implies, it's a remodeled church, with an open gourmet kitchen, Tiffany-style lighting and Seattle antiques decorated throughout- it is absolutely gorgeous. With a little over a week left to go, the check lists of "to-do's" seem to only be getting longer as all the small details are left to tackle. The event sold out in only 10 days, but the good news is that the event will be webcasted! More details regarding the webcast are still to come.
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
5/3/2009 at 10:51 PM PST
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Wanting to capture it all
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I learn so much each time I'm at the HerbFarm that I wish I had one of those official "Press" recorders or at the very least, a note pad. It's not like the note pad is that far off, it's just that likely when I am catching some great bit of information I have some soil-encrusted purple gardening gloves on my hands or I am too busy absorbing the information and asking questions that I don't have time to write it all down. Thankfully, I remember to bring my little digital camera with me and capture the moments that are reminders to write about later. And of course the chickens keep growing and causing mischief, like this one chicken who has found her way inside the feeder and she doesn't look one bit guilty to me.
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
4/27/2009 at 12:38 PM PST
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The "er" Drawer
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My mother-in-law is one of the biggest kitchen gadget fans that I know of. So much so that she became a kitchen rep for a highly respected brand of cooking gadgets. For years she would drive all over town and demonstrate to groups of giggling women the “must have” cooking gadgets of the season. She would demonstrate how the Pineapple Wedge-er is essential when slicing a pineapple or how the Egg Slicer is actually an Egg Slicer “Plus,” and how these kitchen gadgets would greatly help out in the kitchen and make their lives easier. Before I was married, I just expected to receive kitchen gadgets for Christmas and birthdays from my mother-in-law’s increasingly expanding kitchen tools catalog. Everyone would look at my reaction as I opened the Crinkle Cutter, or the Avocado Peeler, “Oh how perfect for you!” Someone would say or “I bet you are going to use those a lot in the restaurant.” Ironically, I don’t ever use them. Not because they are not useful, it’s just that... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
4/24/2009 at 10:39 PM PST
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The Importance of Plate Liners
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Green Wave Mustard Green Plate Liner Each day that the restaurant has one of its nine course seatings, you can guarantee that every detail is met with thoughtful consideration and care. I'll be the first to tell you that I haven't dined at the HerbFarm, so when I say this, it isn't from a dining experience, it's what is happening behind the scenes. The HerbFarm isn't something you just swing by. Reservations are made months in advance and people actually fly in for dinner. It's a true investment to dine there, an experience. Which brings me to my next topic: Plate liners. Each day that I come to the HerbFarm garden, there is a harvest list. It varies day to day, but one thing is always certain to be included and that is plate liners. Since I haven't dined at the restaurant (yet) I have to imagine what plate liners are...obviously I cannot help but think of a leaf version of paper doilies- which I know cannot be right. The mystery alone is delicious. Once I actually go...no... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
4/19/2009 at 6:42 PM PST
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HerbFarm days 10-14
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Once all the animals are fed and the greenhouse harvest list is checked off, I look outside at the fields and I can only imagine what it will be like in a couple months. It's still the calm before the storm at the HerbFarm. It's the tender game of waiting now and wondering if it will it freeze again. In the mean time- there is always something that needs weeding. I'm enjoying the routines at the farm. I love the fat hens, the ladies elite, with their posh chicken trailer now in the tall grass. Since the fields have dried up a bit, Bill moved them from a higher area that they picked clean, to an area of lush grass that is taller than most of the hens. The teenage chicks however are still in their nursery, growing before my eyes. It won’t be long before they will join the hens and enter into a new pecking order. I've been studying the greens at the HerbFarm. I think about the wimpy leaves in the bags of salad that are readily available in grocery stores. The greens at the HerbFarm... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
4/13/2009 at 10:49 AM PST
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Herbfarm, 9, Planting Rosemary Bushes, Changing Weather
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I've finally begun to shed layers at the farm. My fleece hat is now optional instead of required and my fleece coat is far too hot now underneath my raincoat. It's taken more than a month to feel "hot" only because it's just been that cold outside. On Wednesday, Sally needed some assistance planting five rosemary bushes at the Herbfarm restaurant garden. When I arrived, Sally had already started on the rosemary hedge. How brilliant, really- in the future, instead of planting a non-edible green bushy hedge for a border, why not rosemary? And what a sensory experience to plant rosemary bushes. The variety of rosemary we planted was called Tuscan Blue. Straight from Backyardgardener.com: “'Tuscan Blue' is a fast growing rosemary with a tall upright habit. The flowers are dark blue, the slightly glossy foliage is light green against red-brown stems. Height and spread are 3-6'. Dense, bushy, upright, aromatic evergreen shrub. Leaves are narrow and linear, dark green and... ... View Full Post >>
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GENERAL POST
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Posted
4/6/2009 at 8:31 PM PST
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Recipe Testing, Bacon Wrapped Guinea Hens with Blackberry Balsamic Glaze
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I hope you will forgive me for adding a guinea hen photo in between my blog posts about baby chickens. I'm testing a guinea hen wrapped in bacon with a blackberry and balsamic glaze. I am figuring out the best way to wrap the hens in bacon, and all the ways not to. This was my second attempt at the glaze and this one was much better. This is my failure at securing the bacon to the hen, but I'm looking forward to trying some different techniques. I'm feeling that I'll be adjusting the recipe a couple more times. I'm sorry I'm not posting my recipe tests-it would be a waste of both our times, as sometimes- they really don't work out. While I test these recipes, I'm thinking of the flavors in wine while I play a blind match game with my ideas paired with imaginary varietals. Plus, this is going to be a late spring, summer book and I 'm trying to be conscientious about barbecuing, summer fruit and of course ways to make the recipe vegetarian if it isn't already- obviously... ... View Full Post >>
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