My Top 10 Fall Inspired Meals

The air is crisp, leaves are changing and here in Seattle it has turned grey and is raining. I love this time of the year, rain or no rain. It is one of my favorite food times. All the winter squash are ready, you get to mix sweet and savory and the crock pot get dusted off. There are some standard foods that come to mind that we can not go the season without. They become a part of our weekly rotations. Below are some of my favorites but you can find all on my Fall Meals Pinterest Board.


1. Stuffed Butternut Squash




2. Wild Rice and Acorn Squash




3. Kale and White Bean Soup




4. Peas and Cornbread




5. Beef Stew




6. Braised Lamb




7. Spaghetti Squash




8. Apples and Pork




9. Sweet Potatoes




10. Chicken Noodle Soup

Fresh From the Garden | Caprese Salad

Before the leaves start to turn and we see our last days of Summer in Washington we harvested our garden. With our basil and tomato harvest  from our first garden we made a bright and delicious Caprese salad with fresh bufala mozzarella cheese and Texas Olive Oil.

 

Seattle tomatoes and Texas Oil, made a great combo.

The Washington State Fair | 2013

Living in Washington 3 years now we have yet to visit the State Fair. Coming from Texas this fair has some Big Tex Boots to fill. We ate some great food, saw some cute animals and had a great time. ( There was no rain).

Next Year: We must try a scone. There were as many scone stands as text has corn dog stands. Everyone told us that was the iconic eatery of the fair.

FOOD FROM THE FAIR

Lobster Hot Dog.

 



Fries from the famous Earthquake Burgers. Next year we must try the $16 burger.

 And then a stop as the Whiskey Bar. A crown for my Dad, he must be rubbing off on me.

 

 

ANIMALS OF THE FAIR

The cutest, fastest goat. We called him Winston.

More Goats!

Local bees making honey.

Draft Horse

The smallest Draft Horse. Shetland Pony's.

IT ALL ENDS WITH A RAINBOW

 

 

Cougar Mountian Hike | Wilderness Creek Trail

Wilderness Creek Tail

Date: 7/28/2013
Miles Hiked: 4.8 Miles
Time Hiked: 3 hours including lunch
Highest Elevation Reached:  1,550 feet

What was the hike like?
This was a typical grey day Seattle hike. We got out around 11am and returned right around 2pm.
The switchbacks were short and steep but not hard at all.

What did we love about the trail?
Traffic was very light on this hike, compared to the others we did. It was very shady and there were lots of wildlife to see.

What was the downside of the hike?
The peek was a small circular area that was covered with trees with little of a view. There was a group hike already there and made it almost impossible to stay in the small area.

Pizza & Beer | Bambino's

A little Food and Beer Prom provided by Bambino's in Seattle WA.

 

 

 

Vegetarian Tacos with Lime Cabbage Slaw and Black Beans | 30 days with out Meat

Vegetarian Tacos with Lime Cabbage Slaw and Black Beans


As part of our Meals Without Meat 30 day challenge we prepared Vegetarian tacos made with Field Roast Chipotle Sausage. A Seattle local company that makes Grain Meat.

We were surprised about how good the spice and flavor of the "sausage" was. We sauteed it with onions in a pan until it broke apart and resembled ground meet. I honestly think you could serve this to any bonified meat eater and while they might think it was chicken they would never guess it was not meat. Challenge Excepted! Next time I have family up I will test out my theory. Brother just wait :)

I know some of you may think "How can you eat "fake meat"? Or that "Tofu-ie Stuff". Well it not soy based and has alot of everyday item in it. It was found by Buddhist Monks in the 600s A.D. as a firmer alternative to Tofu. By creating a wheat dough they discovered "Buddha's Food" or as we know it Grain Meat. This was then transformed over year and a Chef in Seattle created Field Roast.

Next time your making your Meatless Monday meals think of Field Roast. It is worth giving a try.

Bite of Seattle 2013

Some people wanted champagne and caviar when they should have had beer and hot dogs.
      -  Dwight D. Eisenhower

Mr. Eisenhower was right. Sometimes you just need to stick with what you know will satisfy you. After a 12 hour shift ending at 3am and an early morning day, starting at 8am, I met Jared and two of our amazing friends visiting from Texas at the Bite of Seattle. If the first sentence did not already let you know I was over due for a drink. New this year at the Bite of Seattle was the Bite Craft Beer Tasting. Have gone to many, and I say many local beer tastings the turn out was pretty good for year 1. There were over 30 breweries and almost 70 beers to sample from. Knowing Jared and Mike I had a feeling we were in for a full day tasting. Wither it is a good or bad thing Kelly and I almost kept up with the boys, but in Susie fashion I had 2 extra tickets and gave them to the guys.
Below are just a handful of the amazing breweries that were there. And some great friends making the day even better. Thanks Mike & Kelly for the visit.

 

 

 

 21st Amendment Brewery Located in San Fransisco CA

 

 

 Schooner Exact Located in Seattle WA ( one of Jared personal favorites)

 

 

 Oskar Blues Located in Longmont CO

 

 

 

 Dicks Brewing Company Located in Centralia WA

 

 Speakeasy Ales & Lagers Located in San Fransisco CA

 

 

 Silver City Brewery Located in Bremerton WA

 

 

Laurelwood Brewing Company Located in Portland OR

 

 

Rattlesnake Ridge | North Bend | Washington

RATTLESNAKE RIDGE
Hiking Time to Rattlesnake Ridge: 1 hour
Miles: 4 Round trip
Elevation gain: 1,175 feet


Our second hike of the season was Rattlesnake Ridge located around Rattlesnake Lake just outside of North Bend. This has been my favorite hike so far ( outside of Yosemite National Park). The view from the top was amazing stunning!



Just a few of the people having lunch on top of the mountain.



Rattlesnake lake. The water was surprisingly blue.


 

View from Rattlesnake Ledge

 

 

Our Selfy

 

 

 

 

Trail to Becoming a Washingtonian

As part of becoming a true Washingtonian you must enjoy ( or LIVE) the below:
1. Salmon
2. Hiking
3. Drinking Micro Brew
4. Dressing down even when everything tells you not to.

Bagel and locks are always by go to breakfast, I'm a pro at drinking micro brew ( thanks Jared) and dressing down is catching on. I now own 5 fleece sweaters and multiple pairs of SmartWool socks. But I still need to get a grasp on Hiking. I love it once we are out on the trail but it is always a struggle to get my bum out of the house and go. I guess this is why I married an outdoor guy. This Saturday really inspired me to take the leap. Jared found a great trail in the Cascade Mountains, Wallace Falls State Park. We hiked to the middle falls and every step of the way we were surrounded by breathtaking nature. After hiking an hour we stopped to have lunch by the Falls and then did some trail running back to the car. I think a journey has began.
Here's to the hope of more outdoor discovery.

~ Cheers