A Bellingham Foodie Blog Restaurant Reviews Bellingham Washington 98225

January 21, 2009

A pizza too big for your oven?

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants,Seattle — Bellinghamster @ 3:13 pm

Everyone knows what Costco is. It is a bulk retailer as in “bigger is better”,  “more is better”,  “gimme gimme gimme” + “consume consume consume”. It just follows a typical American consumer pattern. It is the same as a diner meal. Low cost for mega servings.

I really got my money’s worth there!’

For instance: have you ever purchased a Costco pizza? How about their sicilian (square) style? Does it fit into your oven completely without touching the sides? Well, it didn’t fit into Wendy’s oven, so I cut it in half (and forgot to put a pan underneath to catch the dripping cheese – I’ll never live that consequence down). Almost had to call the fire department for the smoke during the oven cleaner cycle (just ask Kevin).

Someone I just met offered the obvious solution: the oven should have been purchased at Costco! Bigger is better!

How about Papa Murphy’s pizza? Does the family size pizza fit into your oven without touching the sides? The directions for baking a Papa Murphy’s pizza says to place it in the oven making sure the paper tray does not touch the oven walls. Why is that? Will it catch fire? or is it so the air can flow all around it?

I want to know why, not just how.

BTW, I have passed on buying another Costco pizza – the Wendy memory haunts me ( I think they had to clean the oven more than once – I’m afraid to bring it up). And I am forbidden to bring pizza to their house ever again. I do buy Papa Murphy’s pizza and the family size does fit into my oven. No, I did not buy the oven at Costco. But, if I was in the market for an oven…

January 15, 2009

The gutter garden is gone…

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: , , — Bellinghamster @ 9:41 pm

Lucas came by yesterday to clean the rooftop moss garden that had lent a lovely green hue to the house. I loved that color green along with all the other greens on the property adjacent to the creek. And the gutter garden I and the Stellar Jays had grown accustomed to didn’t survive either. My son came home from school after the clean up was done and asked: Why is the roof white?

It was the moss killer.

January 13, 2009

How do you say…?

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest,Seattle — Tags: , — Bellinghamster @ 9:42 pm

I grew up in NYC. Queens to be exact. Yes, I USE to have a Queens accent, but I wanted to make money on Wall Street so I opted for more of a New England accent. It worked. However, in the Northwest everyone knows I come from the Northeast because I talk fast. What does this have to do with food? Nothing, I am ranting.

I met a woman recently who introduced herself as Don. She said it quickly, so I asked her to spell it…D-a-w-n. In NYC, that would be pronounced Dawn as in AW-ful. I think it should rhyme with fawn. She pronounced it Don as in Don Quixote. Ok. Here’s what Merriam-Webster says: dawn.

I met a man recently who gave me directions to Squalicum HS. He said to make a right from Sunset onto McCloud. McCloud pronounced like the word “loud”. Ok. I passed McLeod 2x and decided I ought to call. Why is McLeod pronounced McCloud? The sheeple strike again! Why not McDawneold’s?

Here’s another one. Gyro. In NYC, it is pronounced jeye-row. On the west coast, it is pronounced yee-row. Merriam-Webster is from which coast? The mysteries of phonology.

I’m done now. Thank you for your payshins.

January 11, 2009

Scharffen Berger Chocolate

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest,Seattle — Tags: , , , , , — Bellinghamster @ 11:51 am

My home is well stocked with staples: milk, eggs, bread and chocolate. I can see you smiling. No chocolate in your house? I’m sorry…but, chocolate = love = happiness. End of story.

The chocolate staple in my home is Scharffen Berger. I was introduced to Scharffen Berger chocolate by Helen Gustafson in her book The Agony of the Leaves: The Ecstasy of My Life With Tea. It is a compilation of her ‘tea’ anecdotes and many scrumptious ‘tea’ recipes. Scharffen Berger is her preferred chocolate in recipes and eating it straight, as I do, it is no wonder. I have the semisweet 60% cacao dark chocolate. The chocolate bar is in six pieces imprinted with a graceful goat on a mountain and 3 stars above it. It has a subtle chocolate smell with a hint of coffee and vanilla. It tastes rich and creamy and, of course, like chocolate!

Ingredients: cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, non-gmo soy lecithin and whole vanilla beans. Vegan anyone?

Scharffen Berger has a sister brand: Dagoba. I have seen this chocolate at the Community Food Co-op and Terra Organica and Bargainica. I’ll share my experience with this chocolate soon.

January 9, 2009

Cats & Vegans

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: , — Bellinghamster @ 10:47 pm

I love animals. They are beautiful mysteries of nature I can interact with. I’ve had a couple of dogs. But, I have always been allergic to cats. I remember when I was 5 years old waking up and not being able to open my eyes. They were swollen shut for four days. My reward for playing with a cat and rubbing my eyes. Allergy shots followed on a weekly basis. You’d think a phlebotomist would send me running, but acupuncture is my preferred treatment ( after sirsasana). As an adult, I’ve used nettle leaf as a preventive successfully. After a visit with a cat friend, I’d immediately wash my clothes, hair and take another dose of nettle leaf. Most times, if I sat on wood furniture, it would be enough and I wouldn’t need my inhaler.

You wonder how does this correlate to being vegan? Well, I read a vegan post about being thankful to people who respect the personal choice a vegan has made by serving foods at gatherings they can eat. It described perfectly how thankful I was for the people (you know who you are) who cared about making my cat friend visits easier. It reminded me of my children with food intolerances and the friends who go out of their way to have snacks suitable for them. I love these people and how caring and thoughtful they are. Because so few people GET IT. The idiom ‘Walk a mile in my shoes‘ is widely understood, but rarely put into practice.

BTW, ‘pet free’ people are few and far between. So I nurture the friends who GET IT and move on from the ones who don’t. Embrace the human condition, whatever it may be.

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