Fat and Crafty.com

Last night was the holiday party for  Patrick’s office It was a lavish event held at  Joey’s   a Mediterranean  grill on South Lake Union.  It’s upscale casual I guess,  a variety of steaks, sandwiches, salads.The venue has a large bar and its clear that they do a brisk bar/appetizer business. 

We ordered dinner, I indulged in the steak and prawns and was intrigued by the “Crispy Mashed Potatoes”  I expected maybe a little ceramic dish with mashed potatoes tossed under the salamander to get a little texture. Instead, I was served mashed potatoes rolled in a tortilla and then deep fried. They were ackward to eat,  somewhere between floppy and crispy and while “innovative” it didn’t really add anything to the dish.  The bacon bits, onions and sourcream meant to augment the mashed potatoes just littered the plate after being tossed on top of our  “egg rolly mashers” I cant stand innovation for innovations sake. It should add something to the experience, not detract.

The other big complaint I had was that it was clear that  whomever picked the plates for the place had never eaten there. We were at a small table set for five, and  the tables were these honking huge things. For our meals we were brought out plates the size of platters and given a second plate for our sides of mushrooms that were ordered. Lucky enough person number 5 at our table abandoned us to sit with the other techs.  Anyway, advice to any restaurant creating their table top? Sit and have  a typical meal using the dishes before you decide which dishes to go with.

Aron’s coworker Tom is going to Chicago tomorrow. I’m jealous. the first thing I said was “Have him bring me back a hot dog” I’m craving Chicago food. I want Vienna Beef hot dogs. I want Chateu Bread dumplings I want Edwardos Pizza . I want Eli’s Cheesecake. I want Solo Pastry fillings in more then Almond, Poppy and Apricot. I want liver dumplings to make liver dumpling soup. I want to go to Chicago and have a Apple Pancake breakfast at Omega.

I want to go eat Chicago.

I remember hearing about Menu for Hope last year just as it was wrapping up. During that time through a variety of raffle tickets for fabulous foodie gifts $62,000 was raised for hunger. Pretty neat huh? My nest egg is pretty small these days but I couldnt help tossing my hat in for a couple of tickets. So far they have raised $33,000. this year.

My bids? Well all are from locals

1. UW25 Theo Chocolates :This package includes one of every bar that Theo makes, from their Theo single origin bars (ranging from 65% to a whopping 91% cacao content) to the innovative flavor combinations of their 3400 line (the six bar types include Vanilla Milk Chocolate, Chai Milk Chocolate, Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate, Bread & Chocolate Dark, Nib Brittle Dark and Coffee Dark) as well as a 6 piece collection box of the shops own exquisite confections (burnt sugar, lemon, pb&j, fig fennel, mint, Ivory Coast), a big box of cocoa nibs, and a 1lb bag of spicy Sipping Chocolate.

2.Item #UW16: A set of three signed cookbooks by Chef Douglas: Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, Tom’s Big Dinners, and I Love Crab Cakes!

3 UW03: Your choice of three cookbooks from Ten Speed Press

I must admit, I was also very tempted by Tigers and Strawberries entry of UC06: Four Indian cookbooks with spice tin, spices, Indian teas, and assorted dals. We dont eat Indian food at my house so it seemed like a bit of a waste.

There were a number of fabulous packages that offered special dinners or special events with chefs. Nothing for Seattle though. I’m surprised. I’d have jumped at the chance to tour many of the kitchens in Seattle. Sure Tom Douglas donated an autographed book or three, but what about a Tour of Dahlia? A coconut cream pie? Pizza at Serious Pie? What about all the other Seattle restaurants that are not represented. Zoe, Brasa, Rovers, the Herbfarm and so on? Maybe its because nobody asked. It just seems that other areas have cooler prizes then the Pacific NW does.

—

Well Fed Network had their blog awards wrap up this week and I must say I had a great time reading through the nominees. so many food blogs so little time So far i’m really like

The Great Vegetable Challenge
This reminds me of a recent Vegetarian Times article with Molly Katzen where she said “I’m not interested in what you arent eating, tell me what you are eating.” Her point was that many people are vegetarians without eating vegetables. I’m not a vegetarian nor is the voice behind The Great Vegetable challenge. But what she is cooking, serving, sharing and eating are vegetables. She’s exploring vegetables from A-Z with her son as they discover what he truly likes and dislikes.

French Laundry At Home Remember when Julie cooked her way through Julia? Or the gal who was cooking her way through the Joy of Cooking? Well this fine blogger is cooking her way through the French Laundry cookbook. Not a small task at all. She’s got a great sense of a humor and the posts are a delight to read.