Swim and Swill

Big Ern did a swim class today.

He should pretty much be teaching the class at this point.

We like Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery because it's pretty much a park you can drink at.

Lupidoptera the Flavor Opera

I'm way behind on writing this blog and one solution would be to skip some of the more normal days and focus on the big trips and more notable events. I think that's hard for me to do because Ernie is growing up so fast that I don't want to skip remembering the little things. Anyway here goes.

I believe the story here was the we had a reservation at Paisley's Tea Room in Issaquah but they were so rude and weird that we walked out and ended up at the nearby Well and Table. I don't think I even ordered this Lupidoptera IPA but when the server offered to take it back I decided to give this orphan a good home. Mainly because it was friggin blue! I guess they use "butterfly pea flowers which are naturally blue in color, but change to purple when introduced to an acidic environment such as beer". Pretty magical. Even the name "Lupidoptera" is right up my nerd alley, being a mashup of Mosaic Lupomax hops and Lepidoptera, the order of winged insects which include butterflies and moths.

Drifting Down Alki Beach

Today we had a fancy dinner at Driftwood on Alki Beach in West Seattle. When we first moved to the Seattle area the bridge to West Seattle was out, and so we never went there and it became a land of mystery to us.

Driftwood is a celebration of seasons and the bounty of Washington State.

All of our fresh ingredients come from small Washington producers, farmers, foragers, fishermen and women, cheesemongers, ranchers, and artisans.

Our goal is to support the local Washington food ecosystem and in turn, the people and families that produce such wonderful things.

Our menus change often, sometimes daily, to reflect what's truly in season, what's abundant, and what's unique. Eat Local First.

They had fun cocktails.

Spicy Chiaro

Vecinos mezcal, tart apple, brovo curacao, five pepper firewater, fermented chile salt

Lily Juice

Fermented rhubarb-pear, strawberry rum, jimmy nardello ancho liqueur, apple

Butcher's Cut Pork Chop, Moses Lake, WA 

Alvarez Farms Braised Mayocoba Beans, Fondant Celeriac, Green Cedar Smoked Bacon Lardons, Caramelized Apple Butter, Cosmic Crisp Apple Relish

Quileute Tribe Spring King Salmon, Quileute River, WA 

Bluebird Grains, Roasted Cinnamon Cap Mushrooms, Pickled Sweet Onions, Stinging Nettle Pesto, Black Garlic Tare, Puffed and Toasted Wild Rice

Got a little candle and dessert for the birthday girl.

Grandma Gina's Hazelnut Pie

Nookachamps Farms Organic

Hazelnuts, Roasted Packham Pear Jam, Fresh D'Anjou Pear, Mama's Thyme, Salted Chantilly Cream 

According to Wikipedia the little Statue of Liberty on the beach is a replica of a "sculpture was donated to the city by the Boy Scouts of America in 1952, as part of the Strengthen the Arm of Liberty campaign."

We walked down the boardwalk a little and popped into Otter on the Rocks for one last whimsical cocktail.

Jelly Cakes and Starquakes

I bought Lydia a whimsical treat for her birthday. It was sort of like a if an alcoholic jell-o shot graduated from college and got a job at an art gallery. Sophisticated.

"Aperitivo Spritz Boozy Jelly Cake

The Boozy Aperitivo Spritz Cake is made with an acid-adjusted orange juice jelly accented with Prosecco, Brooklyn-made Faccia Brutto Aperitivo, and lime juice. Sweet-milk-jelly makes up the edible bouquet inside. It’s 5% ABV

We bet you’ve never seen anything like this! Founded in Brooklyn by Pastry Chef Jena Derman and master mixologist Jack Schramm, Solid Wiggles is turning out boozy gelatin-based “Jelly Cakes” that are guaranteed to make your jaw drop. These hand-crafted works of edible art are flavored with the highest quality spirits, citrus, and tropical fruits, and are sure to steal the show at any get together. They’re beautiful, delicious, a little bit boozy, and shipping nationwide!"

There was a possibility of seeing the northern lights not long after we moved to the Pacific Northwest. I naively just drove north then stood around at a dark spot late at night in the countryside and saw bupkis. Well tonight I was again alerted and this time Gondor stood ready!

I had the apps. I found a link to an outdoor webcam thing that was oriented in a way in which I could see if the damn lights were out there before I even left my couch. I had it all.

Jackpot! Now... these photos are a bit deceptive because I had to set my phone for low light and then do a long exposure. With the naked eye they looked like weird clouds and the colors were more grayish than anything. So while I consider this an end to a painful aurora borealis-less chapter of my life, I would still be interested in seeing them in a Nordic country or somewhere super north because my understanding is that the show would be more vivid.

By the time I got home I was very excited and... woke Lydia up. She was crabby about it but I made her go see the show. Who knows when the next opportunity might be.

Redmond Dining

We tried a new place for lunch today: Sages Restaurant in Redmond. It was fine.

Ernie was doing a lot of flirting with people at a nearby table.

Nearby Redmond Library was having a story time.

I'm not used to having normal people for landlords. We told them we were having an issue with standing water in one the tubs and they responded by... completely redoing both showers.