Seattle Food Bloggers Event

All the recipes had been building up inside, the food obsessiveness was starting to show exterior signs, the foodie twinkle in our eyes was starting to shine, our mouths were watering waiting for the next dish and most of all we needed other food obsessed bloggers to assure us that it is okay to immerse yourself in the food obsession.
It was time to release all the foodie tension. What a better way to do it? Another food blogger event!
This time we had a potluck brunch. Michael from Herbivoracious brought a white bean salad with grilled onions and his gorgeous daughter.
Chef Paul Redman and Helen Redman of Winewall brought country style pate made of pork from a pig that Paul actually butchered himself.
Kari of Anticiplate brought a fig and goat cheese crostini and her taste tester husband Eric.
Catherine from the Madeleine was a little late because she was taking her dish out of the oven, Saffron Fideos con Chorizo y Piquillos en Cazuela (Spanish Macaroni & Cheese). Her hubby Ken has all the tasting qualifications since he has worked as a chef himself.
Mr and Mrs Cakespy brought fruit scones and some of Mrs. Cakespy's uber-cute artwork. Candace of Italian Woman at the Table brought biscotti with chocolate chips.
Ronald of Cornichon made Italian Cocktails for everyone. Actually he set up his own little bar which was just what we needed to wash down the the gargantuan amounts of food. Not a blogger, but foodie, Lucy Mohl of Crosscut brought roasted beets from Porcella Urban Market.
I brought Iraqi Jewish style kube which are meat filled semolina dumplings and Orna and Ella Sweet Potato Pancakes. I also made Labaneh, a yogurt cheese.
My hubby made Lachooch, a Yemenite bread that is a pancaky flatbread with a sour taste. We had a few little raffles for prizes, a gift exchange and a supertasting contest. I am working on uploading videos of all the dishes so hopefully in a few days I will succeed to put them up. All in all the eatoggers(people who eat to blog and blog to eat), had a great time and love was in the air!



Seattle Food Bloggers meet up once a month for a foodie event. If you have a blog and want to be added to the list, please send me an email to Kerenlovestocook@gmail.com.

Blogger Introduces Menu Item

Today there is a review of Cafe Flora in the Seattle PI. I heard great things about the place from food blogger Michael Natkin of Herbivoracious. He has taken a break from his computer job to do an internship at Cafe Flora. Last time I saw him he told me that he had actually invented something on the menu, Winter Green Dumplings in Shiitake Broth. In the review today, the dumplings got a graceful and delightful review, The green dumplings managed to pull off a bit of Italian-Asian fusion, as ricotta-filled won tons floated in a lovely shiitake mushroom broth. A shower of Parmesan and lemon zest provided a dramatic finishing flourish.
Just proof that dreams can come true! If I were him I would put on my bathing suit and immerse myself in the broth, with dumplings as pillows of course. Is he allowed to do that?

The Year I learned to Embrace Food

This year I learned to embrace food. I learned to feed my body what it wants. Sometimes it wants healthy vegetables dishes and sometimes it wants gooey, gunky, buttery plates of food.
I started this blog a little while after I had decided that I want to learn how to cook.
I knew a bit about cooking but never thought that I could learn so much in one year.
I started my journey with random cooking classes until I realized that I was lacking techniques. I took two classes at the Art Institute and learned the fundamentals of cooking. Yes, it was extremely expensive but I learned that everything could be made from scratch.
Chef Paul Redman taught me all the basics and from then on, no yeast, no dough and no amount of work could stand in my way( he and his wife Helen have a really nice blog).
I learned to appreciate the allurement of seasonal produce, to relish at the sight of fresh herbs and to detect great meal components from a mile away.
I learned how to throw dinner parties without getting stressed out.
I took up yoga which taught me how to appreciate life, to meditate and most of all breathe which I can't believe that I didn't know how to do before.
I met some great chefs this year, went to fascinating food events and most of all learned to absorb any info that I could find about food. I got my appendix out this year which is not as bad as it sounds.
I also got engaged and married to the love of my life.
Thank you readers for your comments(yes, you Twinkies dad) and emails. I am grateful for all the support.
Whooo! What a year!

Protein Bars

I was just going through some old posts when I realized that I wrote this one. One of my resolutions last year was to eat more protein so I think I have been keeping this up pretty well. I am trying to focus on chicken, eggs and peanut butter but sometimes I get a bit lazy.

Protein Bars
The more I am introduced to new foods, the less I eat of the old ones. I am conscious of what I eat. I would rather not eat then pile up on Subway or some other fast food that I don't really crave. Some mornings I practice yoga and the last thing I want is to feel is food in my stomach while my body is upside down. My solution for those "I don't feel like eating moments"…..tadaaaaa.........nutrition bars.
I am not running a marathon or working out heavily so I can't really eat most protein bars. All of those calories would just stick to me. I need to choose ones that are low in calories and still keep me full.
Does anyone eat protein bars? Does anyone have any recommendations? My next step is to find a bar that doesn't have so much sugar. I haven't found one yet but you never know.

My top picks are:

Luna Peanut Butter Cookie
calories per bar 180 (48g bar)
protein : 10 g
Sugars: 13 g

Pria Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch
Calories per bar: 110 (28g bar)
Protein: 5 g
Sugars 10 g

Update: Since then I have discovered some new bars and all of them have minimal sugar. This year I discovered ..............
Pure Protein
calories per bar: 190
Protein: 20 gr
sugar: 2 g
sugar alcohol: 6 g

Think Thin
calories:240
protein: 20g
sugar: 0
Sugar alcohol:15 g

I have been eating both for a while. I recently tried a Snickers protein but could not remember how much sugar was in it. Anyone know?

The Day Ice cream Died

What do you think of this video? Does it hurt you to watch it?

New Year's Eve Food Stuff

Okay, so I have to acknowledge the New Year. I have no choice. It's coming soon, really soon. Here are some things that I found to do.

1. Tap House Grill .The prix fixe dinner includes the evening celebrations and is $50 per person; seating begins at 6:00 p.m. and continues until 8:00 p.m. Without dinner, the New Year's Eve party is $25 pre-sale and $30 at the door.
2. Serafina's New Year's Menu
3. Sorrentino
4.There is a 7 course tasting menu at Union for 95 dollars.
5. Rover's

More New Year's Eve Dinners

Boots in Cheese at Beecher's

A while ago, I posted that I would love to stomp in the cheese at Beecher's while wearing yellow boots. Dreams do come true! Actually, pretty close. So I don't have yellow boots but I have these blue and white ones.
Yes, I got to put my feet in the cheese, actually in the leftover milk that was going through the drain on the floor(it felt so warm).
Did you really think that they would let me stomp in the cheese?
The place was squeaky clean which I didn't expect. I always imagine that behind the scenes you find out about some nasty hygiene secrets that you weren't aware of. Nope, not here. The only secret here is that you could probably eat of the floor.

The people were extremely friendly. Brad, the head cheese maker made sure that I felt like a part of the cheese making family.




My dream came true! I got to witness the cheese making process.

Here is my Beecher's Story. I hope that the pictures tell it all.

The Big Cheese: Beecher's Flagship Cheese, a cheese made of Gruyere and Cheddar cheese cultures(this is the cheese that they made that day). Read more here.


Meet the Cheese makers.....
There is Blaine. Blaine studied communications at Arizona State University.
He worked in the fish section of the market and decided to move into the cheese direction. He couldn't handle the dirty looks that he would get for smelling like fish on the bus. He loves making cheese and invests all his passion into the cheese.

There is Bjorn. He studied molecule biology at Washington State University. He has a unique choice in music and a real love for cheese.


This Cloth is used to filter any debris or grass from the milk.




The Test
This test checks for antibiotics in the milk. The test looks like a pregnancy test, a certain color comes up if antibiotics are found in the milk.
If antibiotics are found, all the milk is dumped and the farmer gets in trouble. The
farmer then finds the cow responsible for this. Poor cow!

Cheese Components

1)Pasteurized whole cow's milk
2)Cultures
3)Rennet- used to thicken milk(they used a vegetable based Rennet)
4)Salt- They used kosher salt(large grains of salt)

Cheese Fact: Ten thousand pounds of milk makes about one thousand to eleven hundred pounds of cheese.

In the pictures, you can watch the cheese change textures(say it fast, 10 times).
I started my day at 8 A.M but the ingredients really transformed into cheese at around noon.
That's it, now you know the secret. The best time to peek through the window is at noon or 12:30 when you can really get a glimpse of the action.
You can grab a serving of the World's Best Macaroni and Cheese and sit right in front of the window to savor the beauty of the cheese.
Being inside was really interesting, I felt like a fish in a tank. Everyone stared as they walked by. Oh and from one angle, there is a machine in the way. So all I could see were jeans lined up on the window. I couldn't see the people's upper bodies or heads. I wanted to take a picture but I didn't want to scare the people away.

After a day of cheese, only one thing was on my mind. Poutine. Since I grew up in Montreal, I am used to eating big plates of fries, drowned in gravy and covered in melted cheese curds. I guess I'll get some Beecher's curds this week and make myself some Canadian comfort food or maybe I'll head to the Steelhead Diner where they serve Poutine made from Beecher's Curds.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese
1600 Pike Place
Seattle, Washington 98101
206.956.1964