What a 32 birthday should look like....

We all descended on Seattle, WA this weekend to celebrate sis turning the big 32.  


For lunch we went to Tamarind Tree (one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle) and sat outside in the gorgeous sun.

So how do you throw the perfect birthday for a 32 year old?????  Serve up a round of these...

and get the pinata party started!  You think I am joking...

I am not really sure where the pirate theme came from but it ended up working perfectly when sis' bag was smashed during her flight from DC and her sunglasses ended up looking like this...

So pirate-pinata-party it would be (I love a good theme party).  Everyone embraced their own pinata hitting style...

For dinner we set up a little french meal in the backyard

We finished the day by having some tiramisu by the fire

Home

We are back from my sis' birthday weekend in Seattle....lots of pictures to follow.

herb garden

I picked up my starts at the PSU Farmers Market the other weekend....basil, cilantro and pineapple mint!

birthday bash #2

birthday bash #1

When it comes to birthdays my inner 11 year old completely takes over.  I am not too keen on my own birthday but adore surprising people, making cakes, decorating and going all out.  For E's birthday this year, I couldn't decided whether to cook at home, and have a quiet night in or to go out...so I am doing both.  Last night, was the pre-birthday bash.

I made a grilled marinated flank steak (using this recipe from Simply Recipes and used 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the 1/4 cup of honey) and a summer salad (which consists of anything I have in the fridge/that is in season).


Last night's summer salad 

• 1 can garbanzo beans rinsed
• cilantro
• 2 ears of corn (cook and removed from cob)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• roasted beets from trader joe's 
• good quality feta (*if you use a good quality feta it is enough flavour that you don't need a dressing)

I also made a tiramisu.  I followed this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  I love her photography and step by step instruction which helped me feel confident my zabaglione wasn't a complete flop.  Stay tuned for birthday #2.  

Favorite Recipes

Pizza Dough

3 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 pkg (2 1/2 tsp) quick rise yeast

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. salt

1 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)

2 tbsp. olive oil

With a dough hook, mix all dry ingredients until combined.  Add the water and olive oil in a steady stream until combined.  Add more water as needed until the dough is tacky and mix about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a floured surface and make a ball.  Transfer ball to a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise 2 hours.  Shape into two balls and transfer one to an airtight container in the freezer. (dough will last for 2 months; when ready to use-thaw for 3 hrs on the counter)  Let dough rest on counter for 15 minutes before rolling out into crust.  Transfer to a oiled pan, add toppings and bake at 450 degrees for 9-12 minutes.

*I took the advice of a baker and just added the dry yeast to my other dry ingredients, if you are worried about the yeast not rising, you can add it to the warm water with a pinch of sugar and let stand on the counter for five minutes prior to adding to the recipe

Soba Noodle Salad (via Simply Recipes)

You can make this dish a few hours in advanced, or even the night before and let the soba chill and marinate, just be sure not to add the peanuts, mint and basil until just before serving. It's a nice dish that can make either six large meals, or 12 well portioned sides.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Zest of one lime
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 12 ounces soba noodles
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large ripe mango, peeled and chopped into cubes
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts
• Lime wedges for serving (optional)

METHOD

1 Place the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until the sugar and salt dissolve. Stir in the garlic and jalapeño, and allow to cool. Add the lime juice, lime zest, and sesame oil and mix well.

2 Cook the noodles in salted water, until al dente, according to the package instructions. Drain and then rinse well under cool water. Transfer the noodles to a large bowl and toss with the dressing.

3 Add the mango, bell pepper, basil and mint. Toss and plate. Serve with chopped peanuts sprinkled over the top and lime wedges.

Chicken Palava (African Peanut Stew)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken fillet
• 1 large onion
• 1 large yam
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 2 big, juicy tomatoes
• 1/2 pound fresh spinach
• 2 tbsp (peanut) oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp chili powder (hot)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 4 tsp brown sugar
• 5 tbsp peanut butter
• 3 cups chicken broth
• handful of fresh cilantro
• roasted peanuts (chopped fine)
• sriracha hot sauce

After reading several recipes online, I used the recipe from KayoticKitchen as the basic recipe and made several modifications.

Cube  chicken and add to a marinade of sesame oil, peanut oil, ginger, garlic and chili powder.  Cover and refrigerate for  at least 1 hour.  In a stock pot, heat olive oil and sauté onions until translucent (about 5 minutes) and season with salt and pepper.  Add the cubed yam and sauté several more minutes.  Add the chicken stock, peanut butter, brown sugar and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour adding chicken stock as needed to thin out.  Once flavours have developed, add additional chicken stock, peanut butter, brown sugar  and sriracha as needed.  (I think I added about 2 tbsp of brown sugar, a tbsp of sriracha and a dollop of peanut butter).  Take off the heat and cover with a tight fitting lid.  Using an immersion blender, blend stock until smooth.  In a separate stock pot, add marinated chicken (no need to add oil, as there is oil in the marinade) and sauté until outside is brown and the middle is still slightly pink.   Add red pepper and sauté for several more minutes.  Add stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and add spinach.  Cook until spinach has wilted slightly.  Add to serving bowl and sprinkle with crushed roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro.

The Weekend

We found a sweet little french bakery La Petite Provence and had a great lunch.
We walked around our "fingers-crossed-please-please-one day-maybe neighbourhoods" and picked out which houses we liked.
We finally hung art on the walls (big applause for a little agreement!) 
and we tried to enjoy the little pleasure in life.

Seattle

Pictures from our trip to Seattle last week...

The backyard gate my dad just finished:

My new home

I have officially transfered over from my original blog (http://lievebee.wordpress.com/).  Please update your feeds!