Terminal 105 Park Cleanup - West Seatle

The whole fam made a trek over to West Seattle's Terminal 105 Park for a recent volunteer event put on by Earth Corps.

We cleared some non-native blackberry, picked up rubbish and placed mulch around recently planted trees.  There might have been some grumbles before, during and after.  Better believe it was all smiles for the photo op though, eh?

Kodiak's Kone

Kodiak went in for a snip and came home with an amusing cone.

Country Chicken Chowder, Moroccan Chicken Stew

Keeping it seasonal in the kitchen, Country Girl has hooked it up with the warm, liquid goodness recently to combat the cooler temperatures outside.

A few weeks back she made a stellar country chicken chowder from Best-Loved Slow Cooker Recipes.  Super hearty and silky smooth creamy texture.  Paired with dinner rolls, it was top shelf stuff.

More recently she made Moroccan chicken stew from The Essential EatingWell Cookbook.  Wonderfully spicy and rich flavors throughout.  Amazed it was her first time making it.

Assaggio, Serious Pie - Belltown

 We were the grateful recipients of a gift card to Tom Douglas' family of restaurants and decided to try Serious Pie in Belltown.  I'd been there a couple of time before for lunch and it was Country Girl's first visit.  As they had a 40 minute wait, we headed around the corner to Assaggio Ristorante for a drink and an appetizer while waiting.

I've had the pleasure to meet the owner of Assaggio several times as we practice at the same yoga studio and he's incredibly friendly.  We've been to his restaurant before as I won a free dinner he donated as a prize for a yoga challenge.  While somewhat intimate in size, it's nicely decorated and has beautiful, soaring painted ceilings.  Our bartender that night was prompt and the mussels were tasty.

 Back at Serious Pie, we were lucky enough to give a high top for two near the back of the restaurant.  Its space is even cozier than Assaggio and they have several long, communal style tables near the front.  Despite the small size and cozy dimensions (no high ceiling here), it was a very pleasant meal.  The kitchen is completely open air so you get to see the huge ovens hard at work.  Our sever was again prompt and very friendly.  The pizzas were delicious as were the bubbles.  Well worth the wait.
   

Lake Union Sailboat Cruise

A cool, drizzly night didn't take the shine off an evening sailboat cruise around Lake Union.  Saw lots and learned lots.  Our informative captain covered everything from houseboats to tugboats!

8oz Burger Bar, El Ten Eleven @ Neumos - Capitol Hill

Celebration week rolled around meaning it was time for Country Girl and I to get it poppin'.  As luck would have it, a band I've been a fan of for some years was playing at Neumos that Friday and the venue is near a new fav burger restaurant of ours.  Nothing says celebration to City Boy like din din and a show so away we went!

We've been to 8oz Burger Bar a couple of times.  It's relatively new, a smallish place with lots of dark wood paneling and a usually impressive beer list.  We first went courtesy of an online coupon and I was fortunately to sample their short rib topped burger (!!).  Yes, it's just as amazing as it sounds.  This trip,  I decided to go with one of their specials which was a turkey-duck combo patty topped with duck confit as I'm crazy about duck.  Country Girl had a beef patty topped with gouda, a fried green onion and bbq sauce.  We also had the fried green tomato appetizer.  Her burger was quite good while mine disappointed.  While the turkey duck combo was ok, it pales mightily in comparison to the high standard set by the short rib burger.  Also worth noting their beer list that evening left much to be desired.  Slate of almost exclusively ambers, pale ales and IPAs which is unfortunately common in Emerald City.  

El Ten Eleven is a two piece instrumental alt-rock band out of LA.  While familiar with their music for several years, I first watched a video of them performing a few days before the concert to show Country Girl what she was in for.  It was only then that I started to get an idea of just how talented they are.  The guitarist/bassist plays a double necked guitar/bass and records short loops of himself playing.  While playing the loop, he plays another, different rift over it and records that. Rinse and repeat.  In the meantime, the drummer plays a mind numbing number of electric and acoustic drums.  The end result being an incredibly lush, multi-layered, melodic sound that is absolutely infectious track after track.  Seeing this live kept our minds exploding and heads bobbing through the night.  Not only was the music incredible, their interaction with and appreciation of the audience was impressive as well.  Easily one of the best shows I've seen.  They're on tour now and highly recommend you check them out if they come to a city near you!

St John's Bar and Eatery - Capitol Hill

True story:  don't much remember about the circumstances that led us to St. John's Bar and Eatery.  I recall we were on Capital Hill looking for someplace to eat.  Think it was a weekend night as the first couple of places we went to were quite full and wait times up the yazoo.  St. John's was the third or so place we considered and as it had no wait at the time, it won.

It was somewhat spacious with a high ceiling.  While I don't recall the food specifically, good or bad, we both found the artwork of varying sizes covering the walls to be quite interesting.  Other recollections include the pleasant but slow server we had and that the sangria was quite tasty!