A Bellingham Foodie Blog Restaurant Reviews Bellingham Washington 98225

September 3, 2008

English Gentleman’s Sit-Down Seedcake

Filed under: local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Tags: , — Bellinghamster @ 12:57 am

This post is not about a restaurant, but there is a reference to one. It is about a tea book. The cake is merely an accompaniment.

I have just finished reading ‘The Agony of the Leaves‘ The Ecstasy of My Life With Tea by Helen Gustafson. She was the tea buyer at the renowned restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. The book is filled with anecdotes about tea experiences. It includes many tea food recipes (cookies cakes sandwiches).

For me, the most interesting part of the book was her description of her meeting with THE Mr. Twining (tea people since 1706). Her description of him and his British nuances were very funny. They went out to lunch and for dessert Mrs. Gustafson and Mr. Twining shared a pot of Twining’s Traditional Blend and ate seedcake. FYI: he prefers his teapot to be of a quality stainless steel that holds the heat.

Little did I know I grew up with seed cake as a staple. My Mom makes hers with poppyseed. Some recipes use caraway (or “carried away seeds” as my daughter says).

The Galley at Trader Joe’s in Bellingham WA

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,Uncategorized — Tags: , — Bellinghamster @ 12:55 am

I know it’s not a restaurant, but Trader Joe’s is a local eatery in my book. Anytime I’m needing a snack, I can go to the Galley at Trader Joe’s. They always serve a well balanced sample. Today’ menu: mini meatballs in marinara sauce with fusilli pasta, ginger snap cookies and strawberry lemonade. And the Trader Joester will never shoo you away if you have thirds or fourths.

My favorite Trader Joester is Bruce. I remember on Fourth of July he was in charge of the “Bruce-B-Q” for the employees Fourth of July party that day. He’s a really happy camper. He plays banjo among other instruments in the group ‘The Librarians’. Sometimes you can catch them at Honeymoon.

August 30, 2008

Warnie’s Family Restaurant & Drive Thru Espresso

Filed under: local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Tags: , , — Bellinghamster @ 9:33 pm

Raise your hand if Warnie’s is your all-time favorite family restaurant! Everybody’s hand went up! And that is a tall order in my family. Everyone has their favorite restaurant, but if we all want to go someplace together and not settle – Warnie’s is the place.

Warnie’s restaurant is not very big; cozy enough that Grandpa can shoot you a joke from another table and you’d hear it to laugh. Oh, and did I mention Warnie knew most of the customers dining? Yes, there is a real Warnie. He came out and asked us if we liked our meal (a couple of times). I confirmed his restaurant was our families all time favorite (big ‘stached smile).

I know I’m going to get hungry while describing our meal, so here goes…

I ate the hamburger steak (saved half it was so big) with grilled onion, baked potato and slaw. The slaw was fantastic and a generous serving. My partner ate the chicken dinner (3 pieces fried, with the same sides). I was lucky he shared! The crispy coating was like candy on moist chicken. One boy ate the shrimp basket (had to protect it from his siblings), the other ate shrimp scampi (he was in shrimp heaven) and my girl ate a kid’s hamburger with fries. YES. Warnie’s has a lengthy menu especially for kids. It has 11, yes, eleven different choices for your kid. You can’t go wrong!

Did I mention the Italian sodas? Italian sodas with cream. And whipped cream on top. Can your kid say YUM?

Warnie’s has what I call a full diner menu. Lots and lots of choices.

Diners are huge in NY & NJ. We’ve lived in a few places. Whenever it was time to move, our search criteria included diner sampling. Go ahead and laugh, but I kid you not. The people eating there would be your neighbors. The quality of life in these towns seemed to be directly reflected in their local diner.

With that in mind…Warnie’s is at 120 Front St in Sumas. 988-6400. An easy stop to make after crossing back from Canada.  “Check it out”, as they say in NYC.

August 23, 2008

Mr. Potato Head was Here

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: , , , , — Bellinghamster @ 11:03 pm

Mr Potato Head‘s sunglasses earned a free mini cupcake for 5 year old. Liz Kovacs of Icing On the Cake was enthralled with my daughter’s sunglasses today at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market. She was reminded of her own daughter wearing the same sunglasses from her Mr. Potato Head set of accessories. Go figure!

She’s first generation German (her last name is Hungarian, so I asked) and her husband is first generation Hungarian. These things are important in the immigrant community. First gens are immigrants in disguise. We become ‘Americanized’, but in reality I have a foot in America and a foot in Hungary.

She said her husband was a great cook. I asked her if her husband made her palacsinta. No? Well, he is now.

U4EEUH

Filed under: Bellingham local,local — Tags: , , , — Bellinghamster @ 10:35 pm

Yes, I experienced half an hour of it today at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market. I could say it was because of the chocolate babka I Indulged in from The Breadfarm. But it was because I stood mesmerized by 4 easy on the eyes guys in harmony.

My favorite music is a cappella. It is singing minus instruments. Their sound was beautiful and I just couldn’t get enough. When I asked them if they knew the music from Rockapella their eyes lit up. Someone from their generation appreciated their sound. They nodded and said Joe was their expert. They didn’t all know my request ‘Zombie Jamboree’, but they did know ‘Under the Boardwalk’. You should have heard the hooting and hollering when they were done!

I asked if they were the guys I had just read about in the Klipsun (back of the rag, but I read backwards) and they were happy for the recognition. U4eeuh is an a cappella barbershop quartet (their garb is more casual than the red pinstripes from generations ago). Drew said Joe got most of his quotes in the article, but I was glad I had found out about them and had the luck to hear them live local.

4 guys crooning – maybe they’ll send a tickle up your spine, too.

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