Seattle in June-uary

Seven inches of snow fell on I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass last night. Seriously.

Yesterday, while waiting for the bus dressed in a long-sleeved t-shirt, a sweater, a weatherproof jacket, and a scarf, I really wished I was wearing gloves. The warmest it got was a record breaking low of 55F/13C (and it got as cold as 45F/7C).

"Seattle just experienced the coldest first week of June, according to climate records dating to 1891", according to the Seattle Times.
Yes, 1891.

Well, at least I'm glad to know that this weather isn't normal.

Can't wait for Friday: if the forecast is right, it will be a balmy 73F/23C!

Tulipomania

I went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival for the first time this year.

There were tulips in many different colors, sizes, and shapes...



Multicolored tulips.



Tall and pointy tulips.



Fuzzy tulips.



Even some scary tulips.



These delicate pink tulips were my favorite



How can you NOT take 250 pictures of tulips?



Yes, I might have gone a little overboard...



To see pretty pictures of tulips in Holland, at the famous Keukenhof Gardens and around Leiden, go here and here.

Happy Easter!

When Easter came around a few months after I moved to Seattle four years ago, I felt really homesick for the first time. I realized no one here would give me chocolate on Easter morning... Eating chocolate for breakfast was (and still is) a tradition in my family. So, I took matters into my own hands and went out to buy myself some chocolate. I ate it on Easter morning, but it wasn't quite the same...



This year, a friend of mine gave me this cute lavender egg with chocolate inside. What a difference... I guess I made a home for myself in Seattle over the years, and good friends along the way! A friend who gives you chocolate is obviously a good friend, don't you think? ;)

It's still winter at Mt Baker

Yesterday, I went skiing at Mt Baker with Emily and Dave. It was a beautiful day...



"Magnificent! Fantastic! The most beautiful day of the year", would say my dad.



The snow was fresh and heavy, which made it a challenge to turn in some places. Can you see Emily and Dave way up the slope?



I had fun, and was happily tired at the end of the day. Thanks to Emily and Dave for taking me with them!



And look who also enjoyed Mt Baker!

Le fabuleux destin d'un nain de jardin

Pattern: Simply a gnome!, by Else Tenessen
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool and Superwash Wool, leftover from various projects. Eyes and eyebrows sewn on with Tahki Cotton Classic (leftover from this baby blanket)
Hook: size G (4.25mm)
Started and finished on March 18, 2008




He seems to like Seattle.

Spring awakening!

It's the first day of Spring! The cherry trees are blossoming!

I have to enjoy it: next year on the first day of Spring I might be stuck under 10 feet of snow...

The significance of cupcakes...

My friend Nora, over at Whopping Cornbread, has introduced me to many wonderful aspects of the American culture. Cupcakes are one of them...
She asked me to do a guest post for her about cupcakes. You can read it here.

My last birthday in Seattle

Last weekend was my birthday. For the last few years, I have invited people over for a dinner party on my birthday. I decide on a menu and spend the day cooking a nice meal for my friends. Some people think it's not right to cook your own birthday dinner, but what I really want is to be surrounded by friends, talking and laughing over a nice and leisurely meal. The goal is to have everything ready when the guests arrive, so I don't have to spend the evening in the kitchen while everyone else has fun...

My birthday dinner menu:

Hors d'oeuvres
***
Cassoulet de canard
or
Root-vegetable cassoulet
***
Mixed green salad
Cheese plate with fruit
***
Pineapple upside-down cake



To find duck legs for the cassoulet and buy a nice selection of cheeses, I went down to Pike Place Market. I love going down there, it makes me feel all grown up to walk around the market with my environmentally friendly fabric shopping bag to buy meat, vegetables, cheeses, and flowers from people behind stalls. I think it's the interaction with these people that makes it different. At the grocery store, you hardly ever have to interact with anyone. Here, you have to ask and answer questions, and you can get a taste of the cheese... And I couldn't resist the tulips.



This being Seattle, I made a cassoulet with only poultry: duck legs (of course), chicken sausage (instead of saucisse de Toulouse), and turkey bacon (instead of lardons or bacon). And to accommodate the vegetarian among us, I also made a root-vegetable cassoulet from a recipe I found online, by Daniel Boulud. I doubt that any of these could pass off as cassoulet in the southwest of France where this dish originates (they are serious about their cassoulet), but my versions turned out well and my guests seemed to appreciate them!



(yes, the crust on the root-vegetable cassoulet is a little past "golden", but that's what happens when you're talking away and not paying attention... It tasted perfectly fine)

When I first had a dinner party for my birthday a couple of years ago, I made smoked salmon tartare, chicken puttanesca, and pineapple upside down cake, all from scratch. The next week, the only thing people kept telling me about was the cheese plate... It seems the idea of a cheese plate after the main course and before dessert was both unusual and fascinating... so now I make sure I always have a cheese plate...
Pineapple upside down cake has been my birthday cake for as long as I can remember. It's the only cake I remember my mother making on a regular basis. It wouldn't feel like my birthday without it...



I think the evening was a great success. I had fun, and I think everyone else did too. Sadly, it is my last birthday in Seattle. I'm moving back to Canada next Fall, and will have to start a new birthday tradition...

In the meantime, I leave you with a picture of the card and gift Emily gave me. Yarn humor, you have to love it...



Unfortunately, I already have the Dai Sijie novel (very good, great choice!). I just started "How I Learned to Cook", a collection of essays by famous chefs. Quite interesting!

p.s. I just noticed on the picture that there's a pretty big typo in the title on the spine of the book...