First Saturday Breakfast at Farm Kitchen

Do you like organic food? Love the country-side? Like making new friends? Then you should definitely make a trip out to Farm Kitchen located in Poulsbo, WA. Farm Kitchen is an eighteen acre organic farm which offers the First Saturday of the Month Breakfast. Treat the family to a short ferry ride and drive out to Farm Kitchen and you'll be treated to an organic, farm fresh breakfast!

The First Saturday Breakfast is Year round.

Each month Farm Kitchen offers a Featured Breakfast for $9.75 and a selection of side orders from $3 - $5 each.

No reservations are needed. Breakfast is served between 8:00 am to Noon.

A previous menu from a First Saturday Breakfast included: Scrambled Eggs, Thick cut Bacon, Roasted Potatoes, Orange Cranberry Scone, Fresh Fruit. You can also try one of their many fresh pastries: Cinnamon Rolls, Cherry Danish, Orange Cranberry Scones, Yummy Orange Rolls Hollis's Original 8-Grain Pullaparts, Pecan Sticky Buns and many others!

Farm Kitchen is owned by Hollis Fay and Anne Thatcher. According to their website, they "created Farm Kitchen to be a place where events are celebrated in a gracious country setting with friends and great food."

Do yourself and your friends and family a favor and head on out to Farm Kitchen for a wonderful breakfast experience.

You can find out more information about Farm Kitchen, First Saturday Breakfast and their other events at their website at http://www.farmkitchen.com/.

Quaker True Delights

I joined a foodie community website a few months ago called Foodbuzz.com. It's a great website for anyone interested in food, recipes, restaurants and food products. You can share your ideas, reviews, photos and blogs with thousands of other foodies all over the world. One of the cool perks of being a Foodbuzz member is receiving free samples of new food products. Just the other week I received some samples of the new Quaker True Delights bars.

The Quaker True Delights bars come in three flavors: Honey Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry, Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond, and Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut. I received two bars of each so I shared them with my boyfriend. We first tried the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond. We both liked this bar. It has a lot of dark chocolate throughout the bar and the raspberry was quite tasty. The next bar we sampled was the Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut. This was probalby our least favorite of the three. On its own, the bar is okay, but compared to the two other flavors it definitely comes in third. The last bar we sampled was the Honey Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry. This was our favorite. I'm a big fan of honey, so that paired with the cashews and mixed berries definitely made this the best tasting bar. I would buy a box of these the next time I go grocery shopping.

You can check out the Quaker True Delights bars at their website and request a free sample. If you're a foodie, like to cook, or like eating out at restaurants you should check out Foodbuzz.com.

Palermo Pizza & Pasta

I have been to Palermo Pizza & Pasta tons of times, and in my opinion, they still serve one of the best pizzas in Seattle. I have never had a bad pizza from Palermo. They are always cooked just right. My favorite pizza is the Soprano, which has pepperoni, mushrooms and Canadian bacon. My favorite meal to have at Palermo is the Soprano, an Italian salad and a nice glass of Chianti.

I give Palermo Pizza & Pasta 4 out of 5 Pepperonis

Dad's (Pop's) Chili

One of my favorite meals to make is my Dad's (Pop's) chili. When I was a kid I would love the smell the chili would give off as it simmered on the stove. The first time I made the chili myself was for a Super Bowl party my roommates and I hosted back in college. I only made one large pot of it, but I soon ended up making two more big pots of it as everyone was devouring it up! That's when I knew just how good my Dad's chili was. I now make it every year for the Super Bowl and at least five or six times during the Fall and Winter months. I also make this chili for potluck dinners and lunches.

I've made vegetarian versions of this chili as well as replacing the ground beef with chicken or turkey. But ground beef is my favorite. I usually top off the chili with some green onions and shredded cheese. I also love to eat my chili with a TON of crackers. I seriously go through a whole row of crackers per bowl! Below is the recipe for my Dad's chili.

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 (15.25 oz) can of Kidney Beans

1 (14.5 oz) can of Pinto Beans

1 (14.5 oz) can of Garbanzo Beans

2 (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes

2 (28 oz) cans of Tomato Sauce

3 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Ground Cumin

1 Large White Onion, chopped

1 Large Red Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Large Green Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Large Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Large Orange Bell Pepper, chopped

1 bunch of Green Onions

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Brown ground beef in skillet. Add 1 can of tomato sauce, garlic, cumin, chili powder and brown sugar.

2. In a large pot, heat up 1 can of tomato sauce, kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, chopped onion, and chopped bell peppers. Add the ground beef mixture to the large pot and let simmer for a minimum of two hours. I prefer to let it simmer for at least 4 to 5 hours. This allows the peppers and onion to soften up a bit. You can add more chili powder, garlic powder and cumin to taste, as well as the salt and pepper.

3. After the chili has simmered for at least 2 hours, serve up a bowl with finely chopped green onions on top and freshly shredded cheddar cheese (and don't forget the crackers!)

Enjoy!

Geraldine's Counter

Geraldine's Counter is one of my favorite places to go for Brunch. The name itself hints at the type of eatery it is. Yes, they have a counter and yes, you can sit at stools at the counter and enjoy your meal. That's just part of the charm. I love places that have that "diner" feel. Geraldine's Counter is located in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle on Rainier Avenue South. Columbia City is becoming one of those revived neighborhoods in Seattle that is quickly being sought after by young families. Columbia City offers some great restaurants and shops.

Geraldine's Counter is one of those cornerstone restaurants in the Columbia City neighborhood. It's the place where friends and families meet for brunch and a good meal. On any given weekend you can find people standing out side and crowded inside the front door waiting to be seated at a table. Even with a large crowd the tables turn fairly quickly, so the wait isn't all that long. Geraldine's is a very family-friendly restaurant. You can find tables with Mom, Dad, children and sometimes even Grandparents enjoying a great meal. It's nice to see this as most families don't even see each other during a normal day. You can also find friends meeting for brunch and catching up on the events of the week.

My most recent visit to Geraldine's Counter was on New Year's Day. As expected, there was a long list of names waiting to be seated, but the wait wasn't all that long at all. Once seated I knew exactly what I wanted. It what I crave almost every weekend for breakfast....French Toast.

Geraldine's has some of the best French Toast I've tasted. As a kid I used to love French Toast, but as I grew older I didn't care for how some places prepared it as it tended to be too soggy. One thing I can't stand is soggy bread. But Geraldine's bread is nice and crispy on the crust with just the right amount of softness throughout. Geraldine's changes up the toppings on their French Toast, so just ask the server what the topping of the day is. On this visit the topping was strawberries, which happens to be my second favorite topping they use. My first is peaches. I've also had their blackberry topping which is also very tasty. With a light dusting of some powdered sugar and some maple syrup, this brunch will definitely leave you feeling full and satisfied.

My boyfriend was with me for brunch and to start we had a slice of some fresh-baked raspberry, cream cheese coffee cake. This was very good. The cake was moist and the raspberry topping was delicious! My boyfriend ordered the Cafe Fanny Organic Granola & Vanilla Bean Yogurt. This was served with your choice of toast. He said it was very good and definitely a nice, healthy breakfast.

Geraldine's Counter is one of my favorite breakfast places in Seattle. They offer great food, great service, and if you don't mind it a little noisy, a great place for friends and families to meet and enjoy a great meal. The owners of Geraldine's Counter also own Table 219 on Capitol Hill, which offers a similar Breakfast menu, and yes, they have the delicious French Toast also. I've had it there plenty of times too!

I give Geraldine's Counter 4 out of 5 Bacon Strips.

Pork Tenderloin

Tonight my boyfriend surprised me with an amazing Pork Tenderloin dinner. Pork Tenderloin is one of my favorite meals. Below is a picture of the Tenderloin and peppers after coming out of the oven.

The Tenderloin was seared on both sides with some paprika and mesquite seasoning and then placed in the oven to cook through fully.

Here is a picture of the Pork Tenderloin plated with the peppers, rosemary roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. The dinner was delicious. Everything tasted so great.

We had some Dunham Cellars Three Legged Red wine with our Pork Tenderloin. This was my first time tasting this wine and it was very good. It was the perfect wine for this great meal. Here is a description of the wine from the Dunham Cellars website. Tasting Notes: Each year, Dunham Cellars blends a portion of its wines into this red table wine. Using fruit from some of Washington’s finest vineyards and using the same barrels in which our finest Cabernet, Merlots and Syrahs are aged, we are able to maintain the consistent high quality of our top wine, as well as create a great everyday wine that is price-friendly.

Thanksgiving Dinner

I'm a little late in posting these, but here they are! Photos from our Thanksgiving dinner. My boyfriend, his roommate and myself hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for some friends. All of the food turned out great and we all ate way too much. A good time was had by all and I'm looking forward to all the turkey dishes that we will create with the leftovers.

Thanksgiving table before the feast.

Delicious Shrimp appetizer made by my boyfriend's roommate.

My Green Bean Casserole and fresh Cranberry Sauce.

20 lb. turkey prepared by my boyfriend. Absolutely delicious!

Homemade Pumpkin and Pecan Pies made by my boyfriend. Hands-down the best pies I've ever tasted!


I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with great food, friends and family!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Home Cookin'

So with our economy going in a downward spiral I have tried cooking more at home rather than going out to eat. I have been digging into some of my cookbooks to try and come up with some nice dinners to prepare. I came across a recipe for one of my favorite meals, Chicken Piccata. This actually turned out better than I had expected. Below is a picture of the end result.




The chicken turned out nice and juicy, and it had the perfect lemon flavor. I will definitely be making this more in the future. I'm going to try and work on some variations of this recipe and see how those turn out. If you would like the recipe, feel free to contact me!

Bon Appetit!

Happy Halloween!!!

Barolo

Over the weekend my friends and I celebrated my best friend's birthday at Barolo. This is one of our favorite restaurants in Seattle. We celebrated my birthday here last year and we had a great time. The food was great, the wine was great, and the service was excellent. All the same can be said for this visit also. I called a week in advance for a reservation for a group of 13 people. The manager, Eric, was very accommodating. When you have a large group for dinner at Barolo, you can choose to have one of their set-price menus. These menus include an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. The set menu prices start at $40 and go up to $100. The higher the price, the more options you have for the entree and other courses. They are also willing to add some items to the set-price menu for an additional cost.



We started our meal with the Antipasto Misto. This was a nice starter that included eggplant, tomato, olives, mozzarella, salami, prosciutto and some red and yellow peppers. Everything on the Antipasto plate was delicious!






For our salad, we were treated with the Cuore di Romana Grigliata (Grilled romaine heart with Caesar dressing & shaved reggiano). This was by far one of the best salads I have had in a long, long time. It was also my first grilled romaine heart salad. I liked the fact that the romaine heart was served whole and not chopped up. The Caesar dressing was excellent. It was not over-powering at all, so it allowed the flavor of the reggiano to shine through.




For my Entree I chose the Pollo Ruspante Imbottito con Spinaci e Provola (Free range natural chicken with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes & provola cheese). The chicken was delicious. The chicken was stuffed with the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and provola cheese. The chicken was very tender and juicy. The chicken was accompanied with carrot, asparagus, a potato and a beet. All of which were just as good as the rest of the meal.










For dessert I chose the Torta di Formaggio al Balsamico Invecchiato (House made cheesecake with aged balsamic). This dessert was a perfect ending to what was a wonderful dinner. The cheesecake was soft and fluffy.






Not only does Barolo offer delicious food, time and time again, but they also offer some of the best service in Seattle. This was my third visit to Barolo and the service was just as stellar as the other visits. Ashley, our main server, was outstanding! She made sure we were all taken care of the entire night. I know that with a group of 13 people it can be quite an undertaking to make sure everyone has the best dinner possible, but Ashley made sure our dinner was relaxed and enjoyable. Each course of our dinner came out in perfect timing, and each of us was served all at once, so we weren't all waiting around for everyone to receive their food.

I highly recommend Barolo for a large group dinner, or for any dinner. I also hear they have a great happy hour menu as well. I will definitely check that out soon!

I give Barolo 5 out of 5 Garlic Cloves.

Voila

Tonight my friends and I went to Voila for dinner. This was our second visit to this restaurant. The food during our first visit was so good we decided to pay another visit. Voila is one of my favorite Bistros in Seattle. Voila is just the right size for a Bistro. It's not too large that it gets noisy, and it's not too small so that you feel cramped. Voila has a nice sized bar area. The decor is what you would come to expect for a typical Bistro. Voila feels very comfortable.


Most of the Entrees on the menu sounded very good. I decided to go with the Grilled Pork Chop in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon, Garlic & Herbs (Cote de Porc Grillee). The pork chop was pretty tender. The olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs gave it a lot of flavor.

For the sides, we went with the Green Beans (Haricots Vert) and the Frites (French Fries). The green beans were nice and crispy. The frites were pretty good, but they could have had more flavor to them.

I was actually surprised to see that Voila serves Caffee Umbria coffee. Like I have stated in earliers blog posts, it seems as if Cafe Vita has a strong-hold on most restaurants in Seattle. The coffee was good. For dessert we had the Creme Brulee and the Lemon Tart (Tarte au Citron). Both were very tasty and I recommend them both!

I give Voila 4 out of 5 Steak Frites.

Betty Restaurant & Bar

My friends and I planned a Friday night dinner at Betty on Queen Anne. The week prior we had tried to just walk in for dinner, but with Betty's popularity it would have been over two hours before we would have been seated. So we decided to go to another restaurant for dinner, but told each other that we would definitely be back to try their food. My stomach growled as we left Betty due to the wonderful aroma of food. On this visit we were prepared. We made reservations and were finally able to try Betty's seemingly popular menu. I liked the layout of Betty. It is a nice, clean, simple restaurant.




I started with a mixed green salad topped with a light viniagrette and mozzarella cheese. This was one of the better salads I've tasted in quite a while. The greens were colorful and fresh, and I love shaved mozzarella on a salad, especially when it is served with a healthy portion.



Before dinner my friends and I enjoyed some drinks. I tried the Crow Manhattan. Crow is the sister restaurant to Betty, both owned by the same owners. This was slightly different version to the classic Manhattan. This was a good drink to start before the entree was served. It's a good thing we started with some drinks as it took a while to receive our food. Betty is a popular restaurant, and with that comes the wait for your food from a very busy kitchen.




Like I said, we had to wait a while for our food to be served. But let me tell you, the wait was well worth it. I ordered the pan roasted chicken served with mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes. The mixed vegetables were green beans and roasted garlic. The beans were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of crispness. The potatoes were whipped to a nice consistency, and were surprisingly flavorful. I'm saving the best for last. The chicken breast was cooked to absolute perfection. The skin was cooked to a golden brown and it wasn't too crispy. The chicken meat was some of the juiciest I've ever tasted. Only a few other times have I ever had the chicken meat almost melt in my mouth, it was so tender. The spices and herbs seared into the skin gave the chicken perfect flavor. The chicken breast was a generous portion. I would have eaten the bone too if I could. I highly recommend the chicken, and I look forward to coming back to try the tenderloin which looked mighty tasty also. Even though there was a slight mixup on our bill, that still didn't dampen my experience at Betty.

I give Betty 4 out of 5 Martini Glasses.

Kurrent Restaurant & Bar

I was invited by some friends to go to dinner at Kurrent Restaurant & Bar. I was actually surprised that they have a full menu. I've only known Kurrent as a bar, not a restaurant. I also learned that they just opened their sushi bar.

I started my dinner with the Field of Greens salad. This is made up of some mixed greens, diced tomatoes and cucumber, and it's topped off with shallot vinaigrette and toasted almonds. This salad was very good. What I liked most was the fact that the almonds were crushed and sprinkled over the salad rather than being served whole. It gave the salad a nice crunch.

For my main course I went with the Cold Smoked Pork Tenderloin. The tenderloin was accompanied with Asian pear slaw, sour cream red potato mashed and some garlic spinach. The pork tenderloin was good, although I thought it would have a little more flavor. The mashed sour cream red potato was pretty good, although they were a little cold when served. The Asian pear slaw was something I had never tried before and it was pretty good.

The wine we had with dinner was a Sonoma Chardonnay. This was a nice light wine that went very well with our dinner.

For dessert we tried the chocolate banana spring roll and the cherry creme brulee. Both of these desserts were firsts for me. The chocolate spring roll was interesting. It has a unique texture, but if you're a chocolate lover then you'll definitely like it. The cherry creme brulee was pretty tasty too.

With dessert we enjoyed a cup of Caffe Vita coffee. It seems that almost every restaurant in Seattle serves Caffe Vita coffee. I do like their cups!

I give Kurrent Restaurant & Bar 2 1/2 out of 5 forks.

Queen Anne Cafe

I paid my first visit to the Queen Anne Cafe this morning with some friends. The picture to the left shows what I had to eat. I decided to go with the basic pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage links. Now I know this isn't that original of a breakfast, but when I try out a new breakfast place I usually order the basics to see how it compares to other places I've eaten.

Breakfast is one of the easier meals to prepare, so if you can do it well then there is promise to coming back to try out the lunch and/or dinner menu on another visit. Of course if I have a horrible experience at breakfast, then there's a good chance I won't be coming back, period.

I must say this breakfast was good. It wasn't great and it wasn't bad, but I wasn't expecting all that much with what I ordered. The pancakes were decent, although they were barely warm when I received them, which I don't like because I like spreading butter on the pancakes when they're hot so the butter melts and soaks in. The bacon was crispy, but not over-cooked. The sausage links weren't anything special, but they did taste good. I ordered the eggs over-easy and they were cooked just right. I topped off breakfast with a coffee, which I must say was topped off pretty consistently by our very attentive server.

Queen Anne Cafe is very family-friendly, so if you don't mind a restaurant filled with kids then this is a good place to go. Queen Anne is also a very dog-friendly neighborhood, so if you're a dog lover like me you'll undoubteldy find a couple pooches tied up outside the cafe as well as most eating establishments on Queen Anne.

I give Queen Anne Cafe 2 1/2 out of 5 sausage links.

Vios Cafe & Marketplace

I had lunch today at Vios Cafe & Marketplace with two good friends. This was my first visit to Vios and it certainly won't be my last. Vios is a traditional Greek cafe. When you first walk into Vios you notice right away that it is a very family friendly place to eat. Pretty much every table had some young kids, and there is a little kids play area in the back of the cafe. It was nice to see so many families out to lunch with their kids.



Orders are placed at the counter and the food is brought out to you. I decided to go with the Chicken Souvlaki. The chicken is marinated in oregano, lemon & garlic and served on a pita with tomato, onions and tzatziki. Vios has some of the best tzatziki I've ever tasted. I also had some chocolate cake and a vanilla latte. Both were very good!

I give Vios Cafe & Marketplace 4 out of 5 lattes.