Menus, July 24, 2013

Menu Muse is savory,

Liz is the sweet stuff queen

and so between the two of us

we licked seattle clean

Even a muse needs an occasional influx of inspiration, and this mommy-daughter duet of a blogpost is dedicated to the dynamic duo who fueled our familial braincells this morning- 

Thanks ladies-
your love for coffee and your customers rivals anything
we experienced during a week in America's coffee capital.
Liz: and your kindness rivaled even the nicest Canadians we met last week!

Women working together in a kitchen is an ancient tradition of which Liz and I are happy inheritors. Eons ago, in some cave or around some campfire, our lady ancestors sprinkled a love of communal cooking into the human soul. That camaraderie and passion have taken a hundred different shapes in innumerable kitchens over the centuries-  and while MiniMuse and MommyMuse aren't really much like this team:

I disagree with MommyMuse here.  We eat our mistakes, just like these two!

 We certainly aren't much like this either:

My hair was once like that, at least!
So true, Minimuse. I was never quite that put together,
but you were always that adorable.

 Nope, this is us, hard at play-

Liz was winning the battle of the macarons-
I'd lost a small war with a cup of flour.
This is the glassy-eyed gaze of a girl who had completely  given up on a  batch of macarons.  
There are no pictures of me when they actually turned out perfect,
because all electronics were damaged by my ear-splitting "YEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" of joy.

Technically, our trip to Seattle ended half a week ago, but in our minds the two of us linger in a happy, hilly dreamscape of gardeney, food-a-licious, coffee-soaked goodness.

While the memories are fresh, and the hands and mind of the Minimuse remain in town, we'll be recreating some of our favorite Seattle food experiences from a few of our Seattle faves:

some people collect souvenir thimbles.....
We collect souvenir pounds.

It was difficult, but the Minimuse and I put our heads together and picked 5 of the meals we're most eager to reproduce:

Wednesday: Poutine, grilled brined chicken breast and grilled vegetables.

Poutine (poo-teen..hehe) is a delicious French Canadian comfort dish that the boyfriend, a Canadian transplant to West Texas, introduced me to last year.  It's ooey, gooey, salty and squeaky.  Ideally, poutine is topped with squeaky white cheddar cheese curds.  Difficult to find 'round these parts! Luckily, the combo of French fries and brown gravy is a stellar support system for any great cheese you can get your hands on.

Here's a little food nerd history on this unbelievably awesome Canadian import and the cheese curds that boost them into comfort food heaven.

Two things I wonder:

Will a good recipe recreate the beautiful Victoria Harbor view as well as the fantastic poutine we had there, and, what's the Minimuse making tonight for dessert?

That would be these Maple Bacon Cupcakes, a spin on the Maple Bacon Crack ice cream at the Seattle staple, Cupcake Royale. It's a little weird, bacon in a cupcake, but that's what we're all about here- goofy and awesome duos! 

Thursday: Lamb gyros and greek salad

A dinner inspired by one of our favorite Fremont stalls (you'll read more about that this weekend). We'll use some slivers of the lamb tonight, and cube up the rest for a curry on Saturday. 

Any sweets tonight, Liz?
We're going to  continue the Greek thing from dinner and do Key Lime Bars with Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese. I substitute desiccated coconut for 1/4 of the graham cracker crumbs in the crust for another yummy layer of flavor.


Friday: Irish Sausage Rolls

A bold attempt here to duplicate one of the specialties of the cozy (and maybe haunted!)  Kell's Irish Pub. Some sort of vegetable will wander out of the fridge and onto the plate, maybe a nice carrot slaw.

Saturday: Lamb Curry

The Minimuse flies away on Friday afternoon, so weekend energies will be spent alternately moping and hatching plans to visit her equally interesting  siblings (all three of whom have now received fair maternal warning). This low effort curry will use up the rest of Thursday's lamb, and is just right for a day when one can't be bothered to care about anything except how far away one's beloved peeps are.

Sad I'll be missing this! Lamb is my favorite protein for curry.

Sunday: Aloo Palak

This moist and flavorful spinach/potato curry formed the filling of a charming little pie we bought from one of Seattle's most popular pie places. Follow the link and take a look at that menu!!! Inspiring enough to prompt daydreams of Menumuse: the dinner pie edition. But first I'll need to learn to make a consistently good pie crust. Until that magic day, the rest of last night's curry paste will go into a spinach curry that we'll have on top of rice.

How fortunate I am, to have such a great traveling companions.  

The sort of people who can help turn an inconvenience into an adventure

and who are just the right mix of restful and exciting. 

whose words and silences are both worth listening to.

I hope that this week,

whether you're traveling through

a metropolis, or a marriage, or a Monday,

that you and your companions

have double helpings of grace and curiosity.

I hope it's easy to smooth out the bumps for each other,

and help each other with the heavy stuff.

I hope that for you and those you love this week is full of adventures

that are better than ever

because you shared them together.