Category: Uncategorized

Last Friday we had sushi at home.  This is not the first time we did this, but I can honestly say that this was more “special.”  We made some rolls and had salmon and tuna sashimi, along with calamari salad!  I didn’t plan to have sushi that night but Hubby ordered a box of “uni” (sea urchin eggs) at our local Issaquah fish market and it’s not my fave so I suggested maybe we get salmon so we’ll have a little sushi party!  Hubby got so excited and suggested we go to the Asian Market (Uwajimaya@ Bellevue).  So off we go to the market, I stayed in the car because Riley was with us coz I dont want him alone in the house with him still recovering from his surgery!  My hubby can be an impulsive buyer! hehe, I SPECIFICALLY told him to get salmon but he ended up buying lots of fish that will last us for another day!  I ate too much sushi that night, I think I’ll have sushi again next year!

It’s a rainy Monday here in Seattle and I’m craving for some appetizers ,so I asked my hubby if He wanted to go to Seattle to avail a deal I got online couple of months ago, $50 worth of food and I paid $25 for it! Pintxo serves Tapa style food. This is our second time at Pintxo and we love the food but not the service soo much. It took forever for our meals to be served, but we are not in a hurry so it’s OK with us, I’d like to think that we are patient people! LOL! btw,not bad for $25 meal right?

cheese and meat platter

I wanted to try Tyler Florence’s recipe, Tacos Carne Asada, because I love carne asada but I didn’t have half of the ingredients.  So I searched online for a simple steak tacos recipe but I thought plain salt and pepper would not bring out the best in my beef sirloin so I just added other spices and herbs to marinade the beef.  Again, I just “eyeball” the seasonings.

Ingredients:

Beef Sirloin Steak
Salt, Pepper
Red pepper flakes,cayenne pepper,cumin powder,olive oil,cilantro,lime juice (marinade seasonings)
Flour/corn tortillas

Growing up in the Philippines we ate a lot of sweet potatoes because my Dad liked it a lot (He prefers steamed potatoes) and it’s also popular as an afternoon snack together with “bananaque” (deep fried banana).  I only had it deep fried with lots of brown sugar or steamed/boiled, either way it’s delicious!  So when I watched my fave show on the food network, Giada at Home, and she prepared this simple dish I knew I had to try this.  So simple yet so good!  My husband loves it too coz I heard him saying, “I can have this everyday!”  The mayo garlic sauce is just perfect with these fries!  You can check the recipe here: Giada’s Recipe.

Ingredients

• 5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch “fries”
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Last Monday our puppy Riley had his neutering/castration done and he’s now recovering at home. He stayed overnight at the animal hospital and it felt weird without him at the house for a day! We call him a “puppyrazzi” because he’s like my shadow and follows me around (even in the toilet and bathroom) LOL! He looks so cute and adorable with his “cone” but I know he can’t wait for this whole week to be over, so we can play to his hearts content! He’s just the cutest and we love him so much:)

We love appetizers!! so tonight, I decided to just prepare “smallbites”  coz hubby is not really hungry(he had late lunch at the office)…I made Dates wrapped in priciutto ( Giada de laurentii recipe), roasted garlic,potato wedges, and the star of the night Crab legs(tasty but expensive).

Hubby wanted to repair his Bose headphones(thanks to Riley!!) so were off to Bellevue Square and decided to stop at Z’Tejas for a quick lunch! We are not “lunch” people so we only got appetizers.  We like it that way:)

After the yummy lunch, my sweet husband had to stop at my fave popcorn store! gotta get my cheddar cheese popcorn:)

I chose the nickname “calamari queen”  because my husband finds it catchy. I do like to eat calamari but rarely prepare it because it can be a little laborious.