Mmmm mmm dim sum

We had a good time doing our September dim sum day. Surrounded by hordes of Seahawk fans, Lara & I made our way to the Jade Garden restaurant safely. Everyone else had arrived and ordered so we tucked in. Fish cakes, sticky rice were waiting for us. Ono grindz. Here are a couple of pictures. I had to add this one of Josh who is so camera shy that he just deserves to be on a famous blog.

Steven's Restaurant in Shelton WA

Yesterday as Barbara and I were driving back to Oly after a day of Myers-Briggsing in Port Angeles we were pretty hungry by the time we got near Shelton. She suggested Steven's. I was game...she was paying so I thought any place she picked would be just fine. So we walk in...it's a little countrified fancy and nice looking but nothing gave any clues to the excellence of the menu and subsequent mouth surprises. I am so glad she took me there and hope to make it a habit. Here's the little review I wrote for another web site:

"Wow...what a great surprise finding a dinner like I had last night...and in Shelton, WA...wow again. I asked what the soup was for the day. She says "medallion bleu cheese." I think, "whaaat?" and order it lickity split. It truly was the most delicious soup I've ever had, which is saying a lot, because I'm Soup Queen to all the people in my life. Thick creamy dark base with bits of pasta showing but not very much. I guess the pasta gets cooked away with the long cooking time. Fantastic flavor with just the right amount of bleu cheese peeking through plus dainty hints of medallion beef to chew on. The rib steak with burgundy reduction was amazing. Potatoes and veggies were perfect and fresh. Thank you, Steven's Restaurant. I'll be back with friends."

I'm calling the chef, Kern, today, and hope he's in a good enough mood to share the recipe for the soup. If he's not in the mood for sharing, at least I can thank him for such a good job!

Birthday Update

Did I say how much I like birthdays? It's still true...they're fun. Lara and I spent the day together yesterday. Went to International District in Seattle to eat at a great Vietnamese restaurant, Green Leaf. It's across the street from behemoth House of Hong (which I wouldn't recommend). Even from the sidewalk outside Green Leaf the smells were intoxicating. We ordered 5 things, brought most home: Vietnamese pancake, fresh rolls (the best I've ever had), green mango salad, duck soup with noodles & cabbage salad (I didn't like some flavor in the soup but Lara loved it), pickled plum soda. I didn't expect much from the soda but got it because I love pickled plums so much...and eureka, I loved it!

We had planned on going to How to Cook a Wolf later for dinner but realized we wouldn't be able to do 2 big meals in one day so just came home and vegged out in front of a big honking fan. It was a HOT day. So I think the best part of this birthday was getting to just hang out with Lara....with nothing else on our schedule. That's so rare. We watched the first segment of the Wooster and Jeeves series. It's called "The Arrival" and it is my all-time funniest fave.

Today I get my official present from Lara: a massage!

Then back to Oly tonight to get ready for the workshop. And if I'm not spread too thin, will spend the night with brother Ted and wife Vicky Wednesday so we can go picture-taking on Mount Rainier early the next a.m. Oh, gosh, and my 1st Salmon Stewarding of the year Thursday.

Food experiences in Hawaii

Everything from lobster dinner at the Outrigger to leftovers at home. None of it bad! And in between there is one of many poke offerings at the local Safeway.

Notice that the leftovers include my lobster tail and one claw. The meal was so big the night before that I brought most of the lobster home. The soup is my Mulligatawny special and the sandwich is leftover from Marie's lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. Marie sure knows how to live.

Outrigger Lobster Dinner

Each restaurant seems to outdo the last one. This time Sally took us to the Outrigger for their monthly lobster (from Maine, no less) dinner. Again, a beautifully located table near enough to the waves coming into the dining room, but not near enough to get wet.

The lobster came with not quite adequate pliers but it was not an easy job to get into the claws and tail. We managed, barely. I was so busy sucking the tidbits out of the skinny legs that I couldn't eat my tail and one claw. They're in the refrigerator and will be dinner tonight.

A trio of singers went from table to table and when they got to the 12-person table next to us, 2 of the young women at the table got up and did 2 hulas with the singers. Can you imagine, being in a fancy restaurant and the customers are the entertainers? It was so homey and beautiful. I have a couple of videos that I'll add to this post when I get back to Olympia.

Sally was the benefactor last night, a very kind 30-year member of the Outrigger who loves to take people out to dinner. I enjoyed her immensely and hope to visit with her more on future trips.

Eating out in Hawaii

Marie is sure treating me well. We go out for amazing meals almost every day. With practically every bite I swoon a little and tell her I'm in heaven. Tonight we went to Hau Tree Lanai down by Diamond Head. She and Ruth Ann had martinis. I swigged on a tonic and lime to which I'm now addicted. We all felt like eating light. I got a bowl of Portuguese Bean Soup. So so good. Some kind of sausage in there that I don't recognize but with a really great flavor. Then I had an Ahi Cobb Salad. It had a quail egg, anchovies, string beans, very rare Ahi, tiny Nicoise olives, wild greens, tomatoes and potatoes. Sorta Salade Nicoise-ish. So good.

Marie certainly has a ton of friends, all neat but Ruth Ann takes the cake. What a warm engaging person. And she made me so talkative! Hard to do. Wonder how she does that?

By the way, I foolishly did NOT take ze camera to Hau Tree Lanai. It is a dream restaurant, right on the beach. We watched surfers and swimmers for a while, then the sunset. It was heavenly. Of course the food was as well. Here's the web site: http://kaimana.com/dining/hautreelanai.html

Last night we went with Jean to Pah Ke's Chinese restaurant in Kaneohe. Had Lamb with Buns, Mongolian beef and big ole scallops with crispy fried leaves of spinach. My word. Way too much so we ate well at lunch time today with the leftovers.

Tomorrow I'll report on lobster dinner at the Outrigger. Have I died and gone to heaven?

To make things better I should be taking pictures. Will improve my performance in that area starting tomorrow.