Reasons I Love Seattle: #4 Amazing Food Trucks

Reasons I Love Seattle: #4 Amazing Food Trucks

Why is it that food purchased from the side of a truck always seems to taste better? We have some amazing food trucks in Seattle.

Skillet Hamburger and Fries

Seattle is making a name for itself with it’s foodie culture, but many may not know about the amazing food being served up on wheels around the area.  There are, of course, the traditional taco trucks, but keep your eyes peeled for Thai trucks and Pho trucks, as well.

A day like this is heaven – Skillet and Molly Moon‘s Ice Cream food trucks parked right next to each other.

Molly Moon and Skillet in Seattle

Hello Cholesterol!

And now, from around the interwebs…

Me: As Seen On…

GalTime: The Next Big One: How to be prepared – One of the best ways to help your entire community in time of crisis is to be prepared for that crisis yourself: learn first aid, get certified in CPR, and prepare a disaster kit sufficient to care for your entire household for at least three days. Each person, or family, with their own emergency food, water, and other supplies relieves the stress of support services trying to help those without. In this article, I give some guidelines and pointers for preparing yourself and your family for the next big emergency.

The SITS Girls: Inspire the Best in You – I was one of the leads on the Inspire the Best in You: Letting Go project by the amazing girls at SITS, and my post on Letting Go of the Illusion of Control was highlighted. Thank you so much for this honor.

Awesome People Who Linked to me Recently

(If you do link to me, let me know, most of the time I stumble across these links by accident.)

Studio30+ linked to my post on Letting Go of the Illusion of Control on their Sunday Spotlight.

Awesome stuff I found while I was procrastinating on my homework

Hamster Central: One Month – I’ve been following Jen’s blog for a couple years now. She lives in Tokyo. This quick check-in, one month after the devastating earthquake and tusnami, came with news that the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Cherry blossoms signify the ephemeral qualities of life. Hope Blooms.

Northwest Ladybug: A Beautiful Day on the University of Washington Campus – I truly believe that the UW campus is one of the most beautiful in the world. These photos are a gorgeous illustration. We’re so lucky to live here.

All Adither: Mommy Blogger – Angie struggles with the label “Mommy Blogger.” I struggle with that, too. Sure, I write a lot about my kid these days, I consider parenting her the most important thing of everything I do, so naturally it will bleed in to my writing. But it’s not all there is to me. I also tend to struggle against labels in general, but I understand that, as humans, we like to categorize things. Where do you stand on the label?

Miss Britt: Everything you wanted to know about the big trip – I’ve written about this before, but it has really captured my imagination. Britt and her husband and kids are about to sally forth in a motor home, and explore the country for a year. Every time I think about this, my brain spins. So many questions. How to pay the bills? What about the kids? Here Britt supplies some answers, and even more fodder for my imagination as I ponder what adventure is next for my little family.

Not Martha: a weekend on Guemes Island – This post is actually a couple months old, but I’ve revisited it several times. I’ve been feeling the need to get away lately. To pack up my little family and go somewhere quiet, surrounded by nature – and the water. To hear water lapping against rocks, and birds singing and chattering in the morning. To let go of deadlines and due dates, even if just for a weekend, and sink in to a deep tub, or sink my teeth into a sinfully decadent yet simple dinner. To read a book for pleasure – without taking notes. Sigh. One of these days…

Best Ginger Cookie Ever

Best Ginger Cookie Ever

Ginger helps more than anything when chemo brings on nausea. My mom came across this  ginger cookie recipe while watching the Barefoot Contessa on TV. She made up a batch last night, and they are perfect.

Real ginger flavor, plenty of spice, soft, hearty.

If you’re looking for a treat to whip up for a friend who is pregnant or going through chemotherapy, this recipe is where it’s at. Not too sweet, a powerful punch of ginger, and hearty enough to provide a sense of settling without sitting heavy after you eat one… or four.

All that said, these are wonderful ginger cookies for everyday as well. They’ve become a staple in our home, and in our lunchboxes, too.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:3]

Thanks, Mom, these cookies made my day.

 

 

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

ovarian cancer awareness
I’m still mulling recipe ideas for the O Foods Contest, but in the meantime, I’ll go ahead and post this notice to spread the word.

CONTEST RULES

O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

  • 1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;
OR

TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:

  • One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

  • Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
  • The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
  • There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
  • In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
  • When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at our page through FirstGiving!

Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.
Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.

And you thought haggis was strange

People show up at the little grocery tents to pick up the Scottish delights that are so difficult to find around here throughout the rest of the year.

Some of the foods don’t surprise me in the least, such as the canned haggis (and vegetarian haggis), shortbread cookies, marmite, and Irn-Bru (like orange soda but a little less sweet).

Some things just leave me shaking my head.

I don’t do canned peas to start with, “mushy” canned peas is just a little too much.

PNW Highland Games 2008 019

Salad cream – looks like straight miracle whip.

PNW Highland Games 2008 016

and of course, no meal is complete without eating spotted dick (surely there’s a pill for that).

PNW Highland Games 2008 015

UPDATE: We went grocery shopping today and found the salad cream (which still sounds to me like something you would put in your hair) and the spotted dick at our store. Who knew? At least we’ve been spared the mushy peas. I’m sure you’re all relieved to know you can get spotted dick in Seattle.

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Lattes and Lipstick and Recipes and Love

Tricia at Shout brought this story to my attention and I want to repeat it here to do my part in helping spread the word.

Gina of Lattes and Lipstick (which I’m adding to my rss reader right now) is raising money to pay for her husband’s cancer treatment by compiling and selling an eBook of recipes.

I know I have a lot of foodie friends out there, a lot of friends whose lives have been touched by cancer, and a lot of friends with really big hearts. I hope together we can make a difference for this family.

Their Story:

Our names are George & Gina Williamson. We have been married for nearly 17 years. When George turned 50 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. After radical surgery and painful radiation failed to cure his cancer, George opted to take an alternative route using diet and supplementation. His health greatly improved and he has felt better than he has in years. As he puts it, he is a “specimen of health” outside of cancer. However, his PSA levels did still continue to rise over the next several years.

In 2007 we victoriously enjoyed a Cancer Survivor Day Cruise. George was in his 6th year of survivorship at this point, surprising the doctors that he had made it this far, with no symptoms- and no metastasis. But still that pesky PSA rising…

In spite of uncertainties we have opted to enjoy life to its fullest- because none of us have tomorrow guaranteed, anyway! George just had a birthday- he is now 57.

He also just had some scans done after a pretty substantial PSA jump. For the first time, there is visible metastasis in his hip bone.

Why am I telling you all this??

Because of our belief in following a more natural path toward healing (and because of the lack of any curative options from the medical world), we have determined that George will be treated at an alternative treatment center in California- www.issels.com.

However, because it is alternative, insurance will NOT pay for it, and payment is required up front, in full. We are not wealthy people- as aren’t most people!

Therefore, we have realized that if this is going to be a reality, we need to be CREATIVE.

An idea occurred to me one day while I was brushing my teeth…

If I were to sell SOMETHING of SOME VALUE for only $1.00 and I sold 20,000 of it that would be $20,000-and that would be just about enough to send my husband to this treatment center.

BUT WHAT???

And then it hit me-

RECIPES!!

Everyone loves to share recipes.
So I have chosen to compile a collection of recipes from “Friends of George”
and sell them for only $1.00.
And every penny goes directly into a fund solely created to send my husband to this treatment center.
Hey…
It might sound crazy.
But it might be crazy enough to work.
And I’m crazy enough about this guy to do anything to keep him around-for a very long time.

Friend, can you spare $1.00

Pass It On.
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