So what’s up with these kelp noodles.
I see references and recipes as far back as 2012 on Elana’s Pantry but they didn’t hit my radar till this past year and I still had only tried them a couple of times. I put them on our Star Route Kitchen menu last week and to be honest, when I first pulled them, out I was a little nervous.
Inspired by the fermenting demo at 610 Magnolia with Chef Edward Lee, I made this white kimchi with pear and fennel within days of returning home from the IACP conference in Louisville. It’s loosly based on the recipe from Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee.
As previously mentioned in my last post on the UCLA writers program, I ate poke from Sweetfin everyday. One day I also ate it at The Poke Bar (no beating around the bush)- . Also very good but I liked the base of kelp noodles at Sweetfin… and the name.
My poke bowl
It’s not like poke is a terribly new thing. It’s been a Hawaiin staple for ions and it often appears on Japanese restaurant menus . Read what Seattle Eater has to say and follow to their site for poke findings in Seattle.
“Poke comes from the Hawaiian word for “to slice or cut,” and most commonly uses ahi tuna as its base, but it can include any fish, crustacean, or even land animal. Poke is often drizzled in sesame and sometimes gains a savory flavor from inamona, a relish of Hawaiian native kukui nut (candlenut), macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, and other seasonings.”
Finally. Your new year probably started a couple weeks ago. But our first week felt like a hiatus between the lines of time. Now we are looking ahead at travel plans to NYC for the Gift fair. Excited to get back on track with yoga and exercise… you know that momentum of righteous resolution. After days of barely having any appetite my buds re-calibrated post holiday to not needing so much sweet and I already dropped my holiday mid waist luggage.
We nursed a gnarly flu with the following arsenal… This is how we do it.
Herb pharm echinacea goldenseal blend. I’ll take this 2-3x day
So this is far from Irish… but I’m not so on top of the calendar:)
Spring is so near I can practically touch it. The sun and cold do their dance like a strip tease that excites and taunts. You don’t know what’s coming next. I picked delicate new spinach and arugula leaves from plants in the greenhouse creating a bed for my baked salmon lunch today. This first minimal picking sparked a little excitement for the coming growing season. What I realize too, is I don’t mind the winter break and it almost takes a strong nudge to get me in the growing mood. Fresh garden food does not arrive without somebody’s hard work. My first little seeds, planted last weekend will become the seedlings for the first of spring planting. Brassica’s, lettuces, peas… the tomatoes and peppers will grow longer in the glass house.
What we relied on this winter besides store bought veggies was our fermented foods.
I left Seatac airport over two hours late last Friday, due to the arrival plane’s mechanical difficulties. Under the notion I’d be spending the night in Chicago, IL left me a) disappointed to think I wouldn’t even have time to make it downtown for a look around and b) that I truly wished to have a dash more enthusiasm for the Super Bowl in which case I could have at least been able to partake in the mass craze of blue and green jerseys and paraphernalia. Go Seahawks… and we all now know they did.
Flying out of Seattle and over the mountains…
Incredible patterns we never consider when we are within them. Such a different perspective.
A wee bit more asparagus…really, you will soon be missing it when the lovely, fresh local spears are gone and the long hauled, pithy ones return.
I know what you are thinking… what is it with this chick and the glass noodles? People, I could eat these everyday. I think I must have been Vietnamese in a past life. Or Thai. My palette extends pretty far and wide but I find that when I’m trying to eat healthy, I could add cilantro and/or mint, basil, ginger and garlic and a squirt of fish sauce to just about everything. And I’m thinking the thai chili sauce isn’t so bad either. And I would rather not hear anything contradictory to that warm fuzzy feeling I have about it.
But first, the turkey kebabs…
We enjoyed another light meal this week of chicken soup with glass noodles. We’ve had a few more smoothies, which I must mention because I forgot to put a couple photos on the last post. The smoothie and a very moving one of a glass of water with a lemon slice- don’t fret, I’ll add it too. After pushing ‘publish’ last time, I had that sneaky little feeling I’d rushed it. I’m sure others have lingered in that moment. I re-read the post and thought, no it’s looks complete… until this morning during our weight class at the gym. The one I actually like but still can’t wait to finish… the one that I’ve NOT done in TOO long so I’m having to pause after every sentence I type to let my arms rest…the one I tend to day dream through. This was when two photos flashed before my eyes. I was like dammit janet, you forgot those two photos yesterday. How these thoughts, memories float to the surface of the conscious, is beyond me. I have recently read some very interesting articles concerning some of the intricacies of how the brain works. Here are a couple from the NYTimes-
The Brain On Love and The Brain On Fiction
We strayed far from a traditional St. Patty’s Day meal. No cornbeef. No colcannon. No Guinness chocolate cake… although that’s definitely on my list. No green or otherwise beer. We had an evening at the sauna, and Irish meals after an evening of swimming and sweating, I do not crave. Sushi on the other hand, like spring rolls, is perfect. Having filled my luck quota this weekend with the coincidental green liner and napkin under the last round of cupcakes meant no tuna for us on Saturday. I literally was behind the man who bought the last tuna steak at our fish monger. The tuna I had imagined, during my twenty minute wait, spicing up with chili oil and mayo. The tuna I would place next to sweet mango and avocado. I guess I wasn’t the only one thinking tuna for St Patricks Day. I’ve honestly never made sushi without fresh tuna. We still enjoyed fresh salmon, smoked salmon, shrimp and tofu.
Wendy's Place 
