A Lunch Date

Hello, friends!

Spring break is a lovely time.  Being home, free from lots of homework, no terribly demanding schedule…love it!  Okay, maybe I don’t love the homework part, but you know…it’s less stressful 🙂

My dad works early in the morning and later in the afternoon, and because mom works at a school (during the day, obviously), I get to chill with Dad during the day when I’m home.  Today, we had a little lunch date!  Dad suggested we go to Coffee Traders, a local “hot spot”, and let’s just say…no complaints from me!

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Coffee Traders is a cafe and coffee shop (shocker!), featuring locally roasted coffee, and a relatively healthy menu with quite a few locally sourced ingredients.  For lunch, the cafe has a “soup and sandwich/wrap” kind of menu, but “sandwich” is a broad term.  A basic turkey sandwich?  Sure!  Tofu wrap?  Why not!  Burger?  You betcha.  As far as soups go, veggie chili is always on the menu, and you basically can’t go wrong with any of the rotating choices.  Fresh salads, quiche, burritos…and the baked goods.  Ohhhhh man.  Basically what I’m sayin’ is that you need to make a little trip to this place!  You won’t be disappointed 🙂

You may have noticed that I’m quite the soup-lover.  For evidence, just take a look-see at my recipe page…proportionately, there’s a lot of soup.  So naturally, when deciding what to have for lunch, my attention went straight to the daily soup board.

After deliberating between the clam chowder and the vegetable barley, I settled on the chowder.  Creamy but not tooooo creamy, this soup had tender clams, smooth baby red potatoes and the perfect amount of celery and onion.  I didn’t love the red pepper chunks, but I could pick around them 😀  The salad served as a great light and fresh contrast to the creamy soup, and the bread…so tasty.  Oh, and don’t mind the onions off to the side…I always forget to ask for them to be left off!

Dad opted for the manly burger.  No, that’s not what it’s called on the menu.  Yes, this is what I just decided to call it 🙂  I didn’t taste it, but let me tell ya, it looked (and smelled) good!  And dad approved.  A side of fruit rounded out his meal nicely.  Yay for a tasty lunch!

From an eating disorder perspective, this would seem like a pretty successful lunch, right?  Right.  I mean come on…clam chowder?  Do you realize how creamy this stuff is?  In making my meal choice, I thought to myself “You know, there’s probably a good amount of calcium in that soup, so I’ll order a cup”.  But that’s where the little issue arose.  I ordered a cup.  The cashier wrote down “cup“.  But friends, they didn’t bring me a cup.  Scroll back up to that photo.  Look close.  That’s a bowl.  A bowl of creamy chowder.  I didn’t panic, but I certainly experienced a big ol’ moment of uncertainty.

And then I dug in. 

No, I didn’t eat the whole bowl.  I ate quite a bit of the stuff out of it, leaving mostly broth (and red peppers!) behind.  But I ate it.  I didn’t make a fuss.  I mentioned the mix-up to my dad, and then we went on with the meal.  I could feel that ED voice flinging arrows, though.

“You should have gotten the vegetable barley.  At least then, the BOWL wouldn’t have been so bad.”

But the chowder sounded good.

“Why didn’t you just the sandwich and salad?  Then you wouldn’t have even had to worry about this.”

I didn’t want a cold sandwich.  It was snowing, after all!

So.  I managed to eat and enjoy my lunch despite ED’s nagging.  And anyways…how dare ED barge in on my lunch date with my dad!

And guess what!  Later in the afternoon, I had a little snack.  And so far, I’m okay 🙂

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

Blessings,

Beth

Twenty-Two Years

Hello, my friends!  This weekend, I had the privilege of celebrating my roomie’s 22nd birthday!  We enjoyed some delicious food, did some fun shopping, and all-in-all, had ourselves a lovely time.  What a blessing Marisa is to all of us! 🙂

Ready…set…PHOTO RECAP!

Our first stop: The British Pantry for some lunch!

This place is ADORABLE!  Our waitress was sweet and proper, with the most endearing and gentle British accent.

And then it was lunch time.  We each chose a meal, but sampled each other’s…that’s the way to be! 🙂

The Ploughman’s Plate included fruit and salad, as well as a cold pork pie, cheese, and a roll with chutney.  Delish!

Here’s my lunch!  This English cheese and tomato sandwich, with salad, was so simple, yet SO tasty.

eggs + cheese + toast & jam…need I say more?

While the fruit and quiche were very tasty, I think the scone with jam and cream made this meal!

Elizabeth’s gift to Marisa – an owl mug, named “Whobert” by the clerk at the store.

Please excuse our semi-blurry photo (and my silly expression).  There was much confusion over how my camera actually worked.  That sweet waitress! 🙂

Tea hat?  Hat cozy?  We may be in college, but we’re still kids!

We spent the afternoon spending gift cards from Christmas at the Mall.  Then, it was off to Pomegranate for dinner.  Remember this place from my Roommate Date night?  SO TASTY!

And then the food came.

!!!!!!

You can see how joyous of an occasion the food was found to be 🙂

And here’s my dinner!

The ravioli were served with a poached pear and Calvados Beurre Blanc sauce with walnuts.  I think the sauce is a reduction of white butter and some type of fruity liquor.  I think.  Whatever it was, the mapley-fruity-creamy flavor combined with the subtle walnut flavor…ah-mazing.

Rounded out by some veget-ables!

We had a lovely time, and were bid farewell by this little feller.

And then…dessert time had come upon us.

And presents.  Don’t forget presents!

At Marisa’s request, instead of cake we had chocolate fondue.  Ohhhh yeah!  For dipping, we enjoyed strawberries, bananas, pretzels, marshmallows, cream puffs and macarons.  Can we say delicious and worth-it sugar coma?!  And no, “macarons” is not a typo – “macarons” are little French cookies while “macaroons” are those tasty coconut cookies.

And now you’re educated 🙂

We didn’t have cake.  But we had cream puffs.  So we made lemonade out of our tasty little cream puff lemons 🙂  And it worked!

Here’s my first plate… 😀

Pictures are a mandatory part of celebrations such as this.  Fact!

Happy birthday, Marisa!!!!

And that sums up our lovely birthday celebration day!  Good food and excellent company…sounds like a lovely day to me 🙂

I’m hoping to try a new recipe tomorrow…not an original one, but it will certainly have a few tweaks of my own…crossing my fingers that it turns out!!

Blessings!

Beth

A Date With my Roomie

Finals officially begin tomorrow.  Oye vey!  I’ve hit that wall where I can no longer study tonight, so I thought I’d catch you up on the delightful dinner out with my roomie (Marisa) last Friday!

For awhile, Marisa worked for a catering company.  The owner of the catering company also runs a restaurant called Pomegranate and let me tell you…it’s legit.  The menu changes seasonally, highlighting fresh, local fare, always with a classy yet home-made vibe.  Options range from fried chicken or grilled cheese & tomato soup to white fish tacos, flat bread pizzas, and phenomenal desserts.  And they even have a coffee and pastry bar open all day long!   Basically what I’m saying is that if you’re anywhere near Redmond, you have GOT to go to Pom.

The table setting…so simple yet elegant.  I adore the bottle of water, and the soft glow of the candle.  Perfect ambiance.

Well hi there, Marisa! 🙂

See the windows on the left?  That’s a view into the kitchen.  SO cool!

Marisa had a pretty good view of the pizza oven from her seat.  She even got to see them tossing the dough!  Lucky girl.

And then dinner came!

Marisa stuck to her Italian roots, and dined on Mac n’ Cheese and fresh Rustic Bread.  That Mac n’ Cheese is basically amazing.  The top is covered in bread crumbs and baked for a few moments, giving the top layer a bit of crunch.  Marisa skeptically opted for sausage, but after a few bites, the skepticism vanished.  And the bread!  Soft, chewy…perfect.  Her only complaint?  Cold butter.  But she could deal 😉

I chose the Niçoise Salad – mixed greens with juicy tomato, crunchy green beans, soft, cooked (and cooled) potato, salty olives, hard boiled egg, and rich tuna, all covered in a delicious, tangy dressing…oh.my.wow!  The bread (which I only took a few nibbles of to avoid much wheat) was essentially Pom’s pizza crust with cheese and olive oil.  And the tomato soup…definitely the best I’ve had in a long long time.  Rich, thick, salty, creamy…out of this world??!  No wonder it’s on the menu every day!

And did you really think two girls would go out for a nice dinner without dessert?  HA!

It’s a foregone conclusion that Marisa would be ordering the House Made Nutter Butters with chocolate soup.  They’re just that amazing!  Soft, pillowy cookies encase a sweet and creamy peanut butter filling…all doused in bittersweet chocolate.  What’s not to love?

And my dessert: Chocolate Coconut cake!  The bottom layer – a layer of coconut, mixed with something to keep it all together, then baked to brown it.  The middle layer, well…I don’t actually know what to call it.  Creamy?  Yes.  Sweet?  Yes.  Coconutty?  Yes.  So we’ll just call it delightful and move on to the GANACHE!  That top layer?  Solid ganache.  In case you didn’t know, ganache is basically bittersweet chocolate melted and mixed with heavy cream.  Holy yum!  But oh so rich.  I ate about a third and asked for a box.

Besides the food, here’s a few favorite moments of the night:

Favorite family: the one with the dancing little girls.

Favorite seating arrangement: Ours!  We sat at the end of the family table with 6 people at the other end.

Favorite story topic: Our ridiculous childhood crushes.

Favorite quote: “Hey, there’s a doughnut in my purse!” (Marisa)

Favorite end-of-dinner-quote: “Hey, there’s STILL a doughnut in my purse!” (Marisa)

So as you can see, there is no other descriptor for the night except lovely.  Especially when we secretly decorated Marisa’s parent’s house while they were out and about 🙂

And in other news, the SEAHAWKS WON!!!!!

Blessings,

Beth