Category: recommended

Dinner and Ice Cream AND Cupcakes

My brother and sister-in-law Ken and Mindy are fairly serious foodies and took us around to some great places when we were in Seattle. Our first night there we ate dinner at Tilth. They specialize in organic New American cuisine served small plates style and were named one of the NY Times’ best new restaurants of last year.


Even though the restaurant is housed in a renovated cottage and we sat outside on the patio, Tilth is probably the fanciest restaurant I’ve been to. When N and I go out to eat we tend to frequent ethnic dives or if it’s a special occasions we’ll go to a schmancey steak house (I adore a good steak). But this was my first experience with fine cuisine served small plates style and it was great.

We had the Chilled Walla Walla Onion Soup, Sweet Corn-Yogurt Flan, St. Jude Albacore Tuna, Mini Duck Burgers, and the special which was Artichoke Ravioli. The food was delicious and delicate and gorgeous. (I had my camera with me but was sadly too shy to get it out for pictures.) My favorite dishes were the Onion Soup (the house-smoked salmon in it was great) and the Artichoke Ravioli.

After dinner we walked down the block to Molly Moon’s Ice Cream where we split scoops of salted caramel and balsamic strawberry ice cream (both delicious). As we ate our ice cream we continued our impromptu dessert stroll and walked further down the street to Trophy Cupcakes.

I had first heard about Trophy Cupcakes on Not Martha and had filed it away as a fun place to try if I was in town. Ken and Mindy had been there before and liked it so we made it the third and last stop on our grand gastronomic walking tour of the Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. (On the way there we discussed how the walking part of the evening conveniently and completely balanced out the ice cream and cupcake part of the evening.)

There were so many delicious-looking flavors that choosing was hard, but they were $3.50 a piece (and we had just had dinner AND ice cream) so we picked out a Pineapple Upside Down cupcake and a Snickerdoodle cupcake and cut them into fourths so we could each taste both. They were both fantastic. The flavors of both the cake and the frosting were rich and creamy and surprising like their namesakes. There were pineapple slices at the bottom of the Upside Down cupcake and the top of the Snickerdoodle cupcake even had the same texture as a Snickerdoodle cookie. I have no idea how they pulled that off but it was great.

I didn’t try the Red Velvet flavor but I thought they looked adorable.

The next day Mindy and I stopped by the University Village mall to do a little shopping and uh, what do you know?–Trophy Cupcakes’ only other store is located there! I’m not one to ignore a sign from fate so we went and brought back a few more cupcakes to share with the guys: Strawberry Cheesecake, Coconut, Triple Chocolate, and Vanilla Chocolate. It took us a few days to eat them all so the the chocolate flavors were kind of stale when we got to them. But the Strawberry Cheesecake and the Coconut flavors were fantastic. I would recommend those and the Pineapple Upside Down and Snickerdoodle flavors if you ever go.

And if you’re ever in Seattle, you should really go.

Sweet Chili Chips


I know it doesn’t sound like they would be that appetizing, but these sweet chili brown rice chips are really good. They were sampling them at Costco and both E and I liked them. They’re wonderfully crunchy with just the right blend of spicy/sweet. And they’re made from brown rice so eating handfuls of them is healthy! (Ahem.)

They’re also good for people with food allergies. They don’t contain milk powder and they’re wheat/gluten-free for those with celeriac disease.

My favorite places: The NPS Store

On Friday I was up by the airport and stopped by one of my favorite shops, the NPS store. They had a bunch of Le Creuset pots in stock and I snagged this braiser for a great price.

The NPS store is kind of hard to describe. It’s sort of like Goodwill in that you never know what they’re going to have and that it’s fairly dingy. But everything is theoretically new. They sell misdirected, unclaimed or damaged freight…so basically stuff that fell off the back of a truck. And apparently all sorts of stuff falls off of trucks.

The NPS store is actually made up of three different stores: the grocery store, the industrial store, and Market Square. We haven’t spent much time at the grocery store, but they seem to have a wide variety of items, including produce. The industrial store has aisles and aisles of indescribable machine parts and tools but we’ve also seen interesting things there like car bumpers, a fully-assembled sauna, kickboxing dummies, original oil paintings, and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream freezer.

We usually spend most of our time at the Market Square which sells kitchen items, jewelry, cds and dvds, clothes and shoes, toileties, fabric by the yard, etc… There’s also a separate room in the back full of “collectibles” including fine jewelry, wedding dresses, and original pieces of art.

When we get to the store N. usually makes a beeline for the cd section and picks it over. He’s found some rare releases for $2 or $3. I usually spend my time browsing the kitchen section. I have a couple of Le Creuset pots, all from the NPS store. I bought my big French oven there for 1/3 of the retail price. It was so cheap because the plastic handle on top was broken but then I called Le Creuset and they sent me a new handle for free so it worked out well.

It seems like the store is getting more popular. There don’t seem to have as many crazy sales as they used to, but the prices are still pretty good. I think it’s worth checking out if you’re up by the Salt Lake airport; it’s at 1600 South Empire Road. Let me know if you’re planning on going–E and I will meet you there!

For E’s Hair

When E was little we learned that he had very, very, very, sensitive skin. His eczema is pretty much under control now but he still has some patches of cradle cap. I’ve tried a bunch of different things and have found that these California Baby products work well for him.

I use the fragrance-free Super Sensitive shampoo and the lavender-scented Calming conditioner on him. The conditioner in particular seems to help his cradle-cap; it keeps his scalp moisturized so it doesn’t get scabby. So far it’s the only scented product I’ve been able to use on E and I love the way it smells. If it didn’t cost so much I’d probably use it too.

Target sells the shampoo and conditioner for about $10 and this week the shampoo is on sale for $7.99. They’re expensive as kids’ products go, but I think they’re worth it if your kids have very sensitive skin. And they last forever. I’ve been using them on E for six months now and still have 4/5ths of each bottle left.

House Works

I am in the happy anticipation phase of spring cleaning: imagining how great it’s going to be to have things organized and tidy and freshly-scrubbed. And this book, Houseworks: Cut the Clutter, Speed Your Cleaning and Calm the Chaos, is just fueling the fire.

I actually ordered it from Amazon the last time I was on a serious cleaning/organizing kick (over a year ago!) but I picked it up again this week and was impressed again by its sound advice (which I’m actually going to try and follow this time around. Ahem.)

The author, Cynthia Townley Ewer writes in a clear and calming style: she breaks things down into reasonable steps and has a lot of good ideas. And she’s not without humor. In the introduction she tells the story of how she realized she had problem with organization.

It was Christmas eve and she was recently divorced with two small kids. She had been out visiting family and returned to find the window by her front door broken. She called the cops and they came and checked it out. “Lady,” the cop said, “I don’t understand. Your deadbolt held but somehow they got inside and ransacked the upstairs.”

The rooms were “knee-deep in crumpled photocopies, legal pads, fabric scraps, piled clothing, holiday wrap, stacked files, spilled coffee and dirty dishes.” Ewer then had to confess, extremely embarrassed, that she had actually left things that way herself. (Ouch!)

After that Ewer worked hard to develop good habits and methods for keeping things clean and organized. She started a website, organizedhome.com, and then wrote this book. I know it’s kind of silly to read a book about cleaning instead of spending the time, you know, actually cleaning but she does have some good ideas. And sometimes I just need a little inspiration and motivation.

(I know I haven’t posted photos of E recently. I’ll get some up later this week, so hang in there, grandparents!)

On Buying a Better Bra

(Um, so this post is not really for the guys.)

The weekend was really nice. On Friday I went to the mall with the plan of finding a set of silverware and maybe buying a couple of new bras. My old ones were getting ratty-looking and not fitting well anymore.

Once I got to the mall I realized I should take full advantage of the rare luxury I had to shop without E in tow. It seemed like it would be a lot more difficult to try on bras while wrangling E than to look at silverware so I headed to Nordstrom.

I don’t shop at Nordstrom that often: they have really lovely things and fantastic customer service, but the prices are usually (shocking) out of my price range. But I do really like their lingerie department. Their sales ladies are very well trained and will give you a complimentary bra fitting to help you find your right size. And you don’t have to make an appointment or anything. The only downside is that the bras are pretty pricey (about $50). But, they are very well made. I’m cheap in a lot of ways but since I’m fairly busty and wear a bra everyday, I don’t mind paying extra for good support and quality that’s going to last.

I admit I was a teeny bit nervous about the whole thing before I went in to the dressing room, but the sales lady, Silvia, was great. She was super nice and knowledgeable and very good at putting me at ease. She started out by having me try on several “fit” bras to get a general idea of what size I was. Then she suggested a some different styles that I tried on in a few different sizes. We narrowed it down and I left with a couple of bras that I loved and a bottle of lingerie wash.

(About the lingerie wash, when Silvia found out that I washed my bras in Woolite she gently chided me about it. Apparently Woolite has petroleum-based compounds in it that will make spandex more brittle and faster to break down. In general I tend to be suspicious of specialty cleaners but I had heard that about Woolite before and Silvia seemed to know what she was talking about. And the bottle of concentrate should last me over a year.)

So, if you need new bras or have never been professionally fit and are unsure about your size go see Silvia at the Nordstrom in Orem. She is great and it will be awesome.

After I was finished at Nordstrom it was time to head back for my massage. For Christmas N had given me a gift card to a local massage place and so I used it on Friday for an hour-long message. It was great! I love massages but don’t get them that often. It was very relaxing: I almost fell asleep at some point.

So all in all, it was a very relaxing weekend. It was fun to be pampered a bit.

Now it’s time to be productive again. I have a meeting at the office this afternoon and desperately need to spring clean the house. I’m itching to get everything organized and decluttered. I might post some before-and-after pictures if it’s not too embarrassing (but it will probably be too embarrassing).

Seriously Cute Crochet

I’m not very good at the needle arts. A couple of years ago I learned to knit. I made a couple of scarves, a few baby sweaters and two felted stuffed sheep. But I haven’t knitted anything in oh, say about 17 and a half months. My problem is that in order to overcome my natural laziness (which is quite strong) I have to fall in head-over-heels in love with a project in order to muster the enthusiasm to tackle it instead of spending all of my free time reading or watching tv or taking naps (by the way, I got to take that nap I wanted yesterday. It lasted for three hours and it was AWESOME).

Back to the crafts: I’ve had my eye on this book, Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet, for a while now. But I didn’t get it because I didn’t know how to crochet. But my multi-talented sister-in-law Mindy got the book and posted pictures of the adorable projects she had made from it. And, overcome by the cuteness of said projects, I ordered the book.

It you crochet (or want to learn) I really recommend this book. Amigurumi are little Japanese-style crocheted animals and the patterns in this book are really cute. The first project I’m tackling is the lion from the front cover. I bought my supplies at my favorite yarn store and got some free help from the sweet ladies who work there.

Since I never crocheted before, it took me a while to get the hang of it. I think I had to redo this part at least 5 times before it looked okay. This is all I have so far: the top of the head. I need to sew on the face before I finish the rest of the head. It’s pretty slow going, but once I get farther along I’ll take some other pictures.


I hope you have a lovely weekend. I’m looking forward to mine: E and I are about to leave for the gym and then this afternoon I’ve arranged for a babysitter and I’m going to go shopping for new silverware (the set we got at our wedding is pretty thrashed and somehow missing several spoons) and then get a massage. N gave me a gift certificate to a local spa and this seems like a great time to use it. And then tomorrow night N and I are going out to dinner and maybe a movie. I feel pretty cheerful: I think I’m finally out of the funk I’ve been in for the last few weeks.

I hope you have a great Friday!

SO good


N and I had some Haagen Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream last night. It was SO good: creamy (but not too dense) and very fresh tasting. There were just the right amounts of tasty pineapple and coconut chunks in it: not so many that the ice cream was overly chunky, but enough that you got at least one little bonus in every bit.

So if you enjoy pineapple or coconut (or the pure unadulterated taste of summer) it’s worth a try.

I Heart Art (& Comics): James Kochalka

I’ve enjoyed the work of James Kochalka ever since N’s brother Ken loaned us American Elf years and years ago. Back in 1998, Kochalka decided to keep a daily journal by drawing a comic a day. It seems like a project destined to peter our after a few months, but Kochalka kept at it and is still at it today.

American Elf: Volume One collects the first five years of daily comics. (Regarding the title, Kochalka draws himself as a somewhat balding, buck-toothed elf.) The comics range all over the place: some capture funny exchanges between him and his long-suffering wife Amy, some highlight a moment of beauty or wonder that stands out from the mundane, some celebrate the mundane, and some just defy description. As you would expect from the daily format, there are a few throwaway strips, but as a whole Kochalka’s work is solid and enjoyable. Kocahlka doesn’t pull many punches and so following the lives of him and his family (sons Eli and Oliver are born during the course of the project) is engrossing and charming.

Kochalka is still drawing daily comics. In addition to the first collection, volumes two and three are in print. I would recommend reading the collections; they make for quick, fun reads. But if you have time to kill at the office you can also read all of the strips online.

“But what does this have to do with art?” you might ask. Well, a couple of months ago I saw that Giant Robot was having another Post-it show. And I saw that James Kochalka was participating and that his Post-it was still available. The drawing was of his cat Spandy (frequently featured in American Elf) and was just $20 so I snapped that baby up.


I had it framed and now it hangs in our bathroom. I look at it as I’m getting ready in the morning and it makes me smile.

A Helpful Hint

When I made spaghetti sauce last week I cooked it in my big Le Creuset French oven (which I got at almost half-price so don’t judge, yo!) But when I went to pour the sauce out I discovered that some of it had burned on the bottom. It was horrible! I scrubbed what I could off and let it soak with dish soap overnight but to no avail. There was still a thick black layer of crud on the pot.

Then I did a search online and found that some people recommended mixing dishwasher detergent and water in the pot (you want to stir it so the powder dissolves) and then bringing it to a boil, covering it, and letting it sit overnight.

I decided to try it out. It was amazing! The heavy burnt-on crud started lifting off the pot as soon as the water came to a boil; it didn’t even have to sit overnight.

So if you ever find yourself in a similar situation I would definitely give it a try.