Amy Butler

My mom bought some gorgeous fabric for cutains in Ruby's room from Amy Butler. Amy's been on my radar for a few years now, ever since I found Repro Depot Fabrics which used to have a retail store not too far from my house. Now that I have a sewing machine that works, I can't wait to try some of her patterns.

Bird Watching

All I had to do was go to the etsy homepage to find something I want to purchase. New vendor Matthew Stewart hand blows these great little birds using Italian techniques. They come in all sorts of colors, but I like these the best.

Local Brilliance

Seattle transplant Erin Jane creates lovely creations with a great eye for unusual combinations of gems, metals and colors.

Dinner with the Bo-Scho's

Today was my birthday and we made a big dinner for Karin and her husband, Scott. It was so fun. The mister and I really enjoy cooking together and we spent the day planning the menu and shopping for ingredients. West Seattle has a Winter's Farmer's Market where we bought a chicken, some chicken liver pate and some raw milk (unpasteurized!) from Sea Breeze Farm, a Vashon Island animal farm. We also got some organic potatoes.

Our next stop was the Husky Deli, a West Seattle institution. We got a delish $6.99 Tempernillo as well as Italian prosciutto and pancetta. A few stores down from the Husky is West Seattle's newest culinary addition Bakery Nouveau were we picked up an olive loaf as well as a chocolate tart and a few pieces of Boston Creme Pie to share. So, in addition to the items we already had from our CSA, the menu consisted of: bruschetta with a selection of toppings, roast chicken with potatoes and celeriac, kale with pancetta, olive bread and those delectable pastries.

Everything turned out great, the chicken was moist and flavorful, although since it was a free range chicken, raised on grass and bugs, and all the other things that livestock used to be raised on, there was less breast meat and more meat on the thighs and drumsticks. It wasn't one of those puffed up steroid laced birds with almost no flavor. But there was definitely less white meat. The pate made from those same chickens was so smooth and well balanced - simply delicious and one to base our future "house pate" off of.

All in all it was a great birthday.

Cheap Delicious Wine Alert

2004 Winemaker's Blend from Maryhill. So Yum. Under $15.00.

Stamp Jewelry Shop

I love etsy because I get exposed to designers like Stamp. Even though I stay home with a baby all day, I'm always looking for cool jewelry. Plus, I love birds...

Just My Style

These towels would go great in our orange kitchen:




I love pretty kitchen textiles - the mister likes shop towels, so he can get them dirty and then bleach them to smithereens.

Our New Favorite Foodie Show

on the tellie: Gourmet's: Diary of a Foodie on Public Television's digital channel. Tonight's episode was all about molecular gastronomy, which is a fascinating food modality that we're anxious to explore. Marcel liked to rock the weird science on Top Chef.

Bacon and Egg Ice Cream. No Kidding.

La Rustica

The mister and I had a romantic birthday dinner out at La Rustica tonight. It was one of those perfect nights, the stars were aligned and the food gods looked kindly down upon us.

First, to set the scene, La Rustica is a tiny place, 10-12 table tops, with a view to die for out the front window, straight and unobscured out to Puget Sound, evoking a vague island feel. The sun peaked through the February clouds to give us a hint of a peachy-pink sunset as we were seated.

With memories of a delicious, but overpriced and overly precious meal at Beato (our first dinner out since Ruby) we were a little leary of pricey restaurants leaving us hungry as we drove home. As soon as well perused the menu at La Rustica, we were put at ease. The wine list afforded us a reasonably priced Rosso di Montelcino and the Antipasti, Bruschetta and Pizza offerings on the first page of the menu were abundant with choices for every taste bud. We opted for the Mussels in white wine and garlic - plump and fat with a slight briney tang, fresh and devourable. At first glance of the menu, my eyes settled on a crostini of chicken livers, eggplant and tomatoes and I knew that would be my choice. I happen to love chicken livers and was delighted to see them offered not once, but twice on the menu here (the other choice being a pasta dish with a tomato sauce). The crostini were topped with fresh garlic and parsley as well as a generous heap of the chicken liver mixture. This was one of those dishes that got us discussing how we might make it at home. That's always a good sign.

With a luxuriously long pasta page and a well chosen meat and fish list as well as 5 (!) specials, we set to deciding our entrees. This restaurant is known for its lamb offerings, so the mister's decision was made for him the minute the waitress said "lamb shanks". I chose a Risotto with creamy pesto and shrimp, since I've been a little obesessed with risotto lately - it's something so rustic, yet slightly tempermental that fascinates me. When the plates arrived, we were thrilled and the mister knew that there'd be no late night bowl of cereal in his future. The lamb shank was HUGE (as were his eyes!) and came with sauteed veggies and spaghetti with a light marinara. My risotto was creamy with a slight toothiness to each grain of rice - perfect. Dessert was ok - we had a chocolate and vanilla brulee - but the prosecco and limoncello ended the night right.

There's no doubt that we'll be returning to La Rustica again and again. But we'll always come early - even at 5:30 it was almost packed on a saturday night!