Broadway Bound...???

A few weeks ago my friend Mari told me about a deal I could not pass up at The Five Spot. The Five Spot, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is a Queen Anne dining establishment that not only rotates its menu but also changes the entire theme of the restaurant seasonally. In the fall it was Philadelphia and for the winter they have moved into a Broadway motif. Now here's the kicker... On Wednesday nights for the next few months you can "sing for your supper". It's exactly how it sounds. You come in. Sing 1-2 minutes of a Broadway musical song. The servers score you. And then, depending on how many points you receive, you get a menu item free.

When, before Christmas, we made the plans to meet up and sing to a full restaurant I had intended to spend some serious time preparing my performance and getting my showtime hair, makeup and ensemble together. But of course that did not happen. My day was busy and I was lucky to squeeze in a trip to the gym before heading over to meet Mari and her roommate Laura. When I finally arrived the last thing I was wanting to do was make the poor restaurant patrons watch and listen to my sweaty self belting out show tunes. I would let Mari go first with her rendition of "New York New York" and then break the news to her that I would not in fact be performing...

By the time she was done wowing the crowds with her spirited 14 point earning performance (which, it must be told, included jumping on a booth) I felt inspired and ready to sing. Laura gave it a go first with Edelweiss. Because it's a softer song it was hard to score as high as Mari and she walked away with a respectable score of 11.
Then I was up. I prefaced my performance with a "Hello everyone. I'm going to relive my children's theater days by singing the most annoying song in Broadway history." Next I started in on the most horrifying rendition of "Tomorrow" to date. The first verse and chorus were pretty strong but I started in a higher key than I should have. When my mistake became clear it was too late for the necessary key change and there I was belting out notes that not even a coloratura soprano should attempt. I walked away 12 points richer but without my dignity.

Was the embarrassment worth it? Well I used those 12 points on a Boundary Bay IPA... so yes TOTES worth it. Not sure the photographic evidence was necessary though...

Maybe now that I know what it's all about I will spend this week making my performance pitch perfect in preparation for next Wednesday! See you there?

K.I.T.
Amanda

Christmas Dinner Has Been Brought To You By Pinterest

Pinterest, for those of you not in the know, is essentially where social networking and virtual inspiration boards meet. Pinterest allows you to organize images in different "boards" for your own reference but it also allows you to share these images with other "pinners". Like so many internet-y things it is addicting and as a result time consuming. In my short time on Pinterest I have already "pinned" over 500 images and have no plans of slowing down. I choose images to pin on my boards for a variety of reasons but I mostly select pictures of outfits to copy, DIY projects to attempt, and recipes to cook. The problem that I run into, however, is that instead of spending my time trying out the ideas that I've already pinned I scour the internet for more things to pin and subsequently never actually try doing.

A side note: I am also this way with books. I will buy 4 books at a time. Read one of them. And then instead of reading any of the three remaining books I will head back to the bookstore to buy four new ones and start the process of not reading them all over again.

But back to the topic at hand... Pinterest and the problems it presents. Before heading down to California for the holiday I told my mom that I would cook Christmas dinner. I prepared last years Thanksgiving feast and this year, because there were so many other people who wanted to get their hands dirty, I missed having total and absolute control over the menu and preparation (you'll see this is a theme when you combine me and any sort of entertaining/cooking/decorating endeavor). I was having a hard time deciding what I would concoct for the family. I am mainly vegetarian (I eat the fishies on occasion) whereas they are carnivorous beasts and so finding something that everyone will be happy with can be difficult. I decided this could be a perfect time to actually try out some of my pinned recipes. And so I did! I like to call the endeavor "Christmas Dinner Has Been Brought To You By Pinterest". Here's what I decided to make...

{no need to knead bread dough. recipe available at joie de vivre}

{pear, blue cheese and walnut salad! yum!

maple syrup vinaigrette recipe available at drizzle and dip }

{butternut squash with ginger & cilantro recipe available at rachelraymag}

{simple salmon baking technique from the pioneer woman. I added a little dill and lemon to mine!}

With some patience (the bread takes 14+ hours to make from start to finish) and a little help from my sous chefs...

I have to say I was pretty pleased with the final product...
The bread was definitely my favorite part of the meal. For one it was SUPER tasty and for two I had never been successful at baking bread from scratch... UNTIL NOW! Taking that first bite of fluffy, carb-y goodness and realizing that I had in fact baked a real loaf of bread stirred up feeling of accomplishment paramount to those I had when completing my first marathon. Strange? Maybe. Factual? Oh yes.


Just looking at the picture illustrating the fruit of my labor is making me tired. I am off to finish my day at work and then take a much needed post holiday nap!



Merry 2 days after Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Celebrate Monday!

So yesterday was Sunday but today is SUNday. See what I did there? Did you see it? Miracle of miracles! It is bright enough outside that I actually put forth the effort required to locate my sunglasses (i.e. digging through the mess on the floor of my car)!

Moving on from bad "puns"... As I've mentioned before I don't mind Mondays as much as most people do. In fact I find them pleasant as they are the one day in the work week that I am not held captive by my cubicle. Today's been particularly pleasure inducing and here's a brief list of why:

• I visited a client today who is 91 years old. She is the youngest of three children and both of her older siblings (ages 96 and 100) are still alive, kicking, and living down the block!
• In between client visits I got to hang out at The Ridgeback Cafe on 65th in Ballard. I had a delicious wrap with roasted yams, black beans, cheese (yikes!), peppers, and spinach (leafy greens for the day... CHECK!)

• My friend sent me a list of The 20 Best New Bands of 2011. Since I only know 5 of the bands listed I have some serious music listening to keep me busy for awhile.
• I am going to go on a quick jaunt around the neighborhood this evening in my new hot pink runners (I'm speaking Australian today)!
  
• The jaunt is going to be short because I'll be getting a workout at the Tractor Tavern where I will be square dancing the night away!

Leaving you with a video I'm loving of the Portland, OR band Typhoon. I'm a little bummed. They were just playing in Portland last week down the street from my friend's apartment. A friend who I am actually staying with a week from now. If only they could have scheduled around my overnight in PDX!


K.I.T. (no seriously, keep in touch... write a comment or something! pretty please?),
Amanda

An update: I had really better plan on cutting a rug tonight because my run lasted all of 10 minutes. I always forget that "sunshine" and "warmth" are not necessarily synonymous. My lungs are still burning and I am waiting for feeling to return to my finger tips. At least I got this picture?

A Delicious Idea...

Last night my traveling companion Tanya, my childhood friend Rachel, my sister Courtney, and myself headed to the boonies of San Francisco known to some as the Outer Sunset to dine at a small corner cafe called Outerlands.


The journey and subsequent wait (1 hour!) were totally worth it. The food was delicious and the ambiance even tastier (to the eyes, ears, and nose!) I'm not a food critic and will not pretend to be one in this post. If any of my Bay Area friends are reading this, though, run (do not walk) to Outerlands and order the delicata squash.

While we were eating I kept thinking about how rarely I ever eat anywhere "special" in Seattle. Now, I'm not saying the weekly Pho date that I take myself and my book of the moment on isn't special...



Pho Viet Ahn and I have a good thing going on. When I say "special" I mainly mean that I haven't been to the restaurant so many times that I don't need to see the menu to know what I'm going to eat.

So today, after an afternoon on Alcatraz Island, I decided I would start having a few more "special" meals in Seattle. (A quick aside: How many times can I write "special" in this entry? Special. Special. Special.) The deal I made with myself is that every pay day (so 2 times a month) I will choose an eatery that I've never been to and go there. If nobody else wants to go with me I will go by myself.

Pay day is tomorrow and so I decided that Tuesday I will take myself on my first "special" dining experience. My first choice was to go to Nettletown in Eastlake. Click on the link to Nettletown. I dare you. Oh yeah, that's right, it's closed! Oh the humanity!! It took me awhile to recover but it did happen and so instead of Nettletown I decided I will dine at The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard. Foodies flock there to taste their Oysters and so I, along with a good friend, shall put on my best foodie face and have a very "special" dinner!

Return flight is beginning the descent now. Hope everyone's weekend was splendid and sunny (mine was! mine was! mine was!)!

You Should Eat...

I have a great go to meal for those days when I have no money, no motivation, and no real appetite. I usually have the ingredients ready for me in my fridge but if your cooking doesn't always include hot sauce and chevre then here's a brief list of what you'll need:

• veggie burger patty


• bread to toast


• crumbled goat cheese


• sriracha sauce

It's pretty easy so I'll take you through it step by step:

1. Toast bread


2. Put goat cheese on toast


3. Put sriracha on goat cheese on toast
   


4. Cook veggie burger


5. Put veggie patty on sriracha sauce on goat cheese on toast


6. Eat


7. Get back to what you were doing (in this case indulging in 1 day of uninterrupted pity partying before moving on).
   

Taking Charge...

Yesterday someone (me! me! me!) got down to serious organizing business. As I was kicking ass and taking names (by purging my closet and underbed area) all I could think of was this Liz Lemon moment:



But hear me when I say that taking charge is not all song and dance. It is also exhausting! And so at 6 o'clock I took what I intended to be a "break" (i.e. an interruption to one's activity or occupation for a brief period).
...
...
...
The cleaning hiatus is still in full force. To be continued tonight?

Anyway, back to last night and my "break". I met up with Gentleman Friend to drink some Boundary Bay IPA at a bar that both he and I agreed we do not go to nearly enough. The real highlight, however, was after. Earlier this week I stumbled upon a list of the 40 Most Amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and so (upon my insistence) we did some 'sperimenting in the gooey cheese and crispy bread department. What we ended up with was quite stunning. Pepper jack, thinly sliced apples, goat cheese brie... YUM. My one complaint was that we made it on wheat bread. In the future my "sourdough only" rule will be enforced.

Next up on my "break" agenda was going to be meeting up with friends to imbibe yet another beverage. By the time I made my way back up the hill and to my apartment exhaustion set in and I ended up on the couch watching episodes of Sister Wives and canceling on both friends and drinks. An apology is owed to the friends but not so much the drinks. I had had plenty.

I think my decision to "just say no" to more alcohol paid off as this morning I sprung out of bed (and by bed I mean the couch as my bed is still unoccupiable) feeling like a hundred dollars. At our staff meeting this morning we were asked to go around and share what spirit/mood we were bringing to our work today. Most people talked about being tired and stressed but grateful. When it got to me I said, "I am in the BEST MOOD EVER! The Mary Tyler Moore theme song feels like the story of my life this morning!" And so with that I will leave you with a video that I am hoping will inspire you to toss your hat in the hair and remind yourself, "you're gonna make it after all".