There’s so much I could do IN my house… so much I’d like to do OUT of my house. How do you choose?! Fortunately, some of these “things-to-do” are in town for a while.
I SO want to see Jim Henson’s Fantastic World at the Museum of Science and Industry! I don’t mind admitting I’m a big Muppets fan, and love the Jim Henson empire. I remember when he passed away, and feeling like a part of my childhood went too. The exhibit runs from Sept. 24 (today!) through January 23, 2011.
If you’re around Millenium Park, this gastronomic event might be something to check out. Chicago Gourmet runs Sept. 25-26. Food. Wine. Tastings. Celebrity chef demos. Wheee!!! It would certainly be delicious and fun for me, and what I’d give to meet Rick Bayless. Don’t know what I’d say to him, but I’d love a chance.
We made a new friend at Tacoma’s farmer’s market, Valhalla Coffee. This is Sam trying to educate us on the finer points of the Valhalla blends. He did his job, because we really wanted to visit this independent roaster.
It would seem the thing to do… to drink coffee, at a coffee house, in or around Seattle. How pedestrian. But not really, it’s Tacoma’s only independent roaster who roasts five days out of the week on location at 6th and Proctor. You walk into coffee saturated air, it’s intoxicating. Store decor is minimal, but you only need somewhere to sit to enjoy the freshest cup of coffee. And, their prices are comparable to the big corporate store that started it all. When we were there in the mid-afternoon, the store was peaceful with a few customers checking up on their e-mail and reading the paper.
Store owner, AJ, was on hand that day to chat and brew some Valkyrie Blend: Ethiopian, Sumatra and French Roast. The French press was perfect and piping hot.
We asked AJ for some coffee to bring home… and he blended it right there on the spot. Could it get any fresher than that? There’s no pre-packaging, no pre-blending, no foolin’ around here. This guy runs a top-notch coffee spot that, well, serves a great cup o’ joe without all the merchandise distractions.
Bringing Coffee Home
If you’re into coffee, a 1/2 pound of Valkyrie Blend instead of a lavender sachet in your suitcase does wonders. My suitcase (and clothes in it) smelled so good when I opened it… *reminiscing and inhaling deeply now*. Somehow, I think that this novelty has probably worn off for baristas and employees at Starbucks. Speaking of Starbucks, when we got home, I said to my husband, we need to have Coffee Friend over for a tasting. I’ve known Coffee Friend for 25 years, and certainly he’s one of my best friends since before high school. He has a great palate and a knack for verbalizing it, and he works for the big corporate coffee shop. We don’t hold that against him. As for the unimaginative moniker, he’s okay with it. I asked.
The last time we had a coffee tasting with Coffee Friend, we had some really bad jitters and my husband, oy, he felt all buzzy-headed for a few hours. We took precautions this time: only one brew, not three. We opened the bag of Valhalla Valkyrie to smell the sweet, dark roasted beans, and got the French Press out. Personally, I loved the symphony of fruity and spicy flavors.
From my notes, here’s what Coffee Friend had to say: The Ethiopian component was delicate, but hard to taste with the dark, strong flavor of the Espresso French Roast. At the first sip, when it’s piping hot, you can taste the fruit. It also has a bright floral acidity. Then comes the earthiness and spice from the Sumatra. As it cools down, you get the maltiness. Overall, the blend has very nice layers of flavor.
Here’s what my husband said: “I just know I like it.”
Thanks, AJ and Valhalla Coffee crew! My brother-in-law got us some more of your awesome roasts! Can’t wait to brew a cup!
On the return flight home, I was feeling a little fidgety. No crafting for about two weeks… but since I went to Urban Craft Uprising and saw lots of handmade goods around Granville Island, Canada, I was antsy. So, to pass the time, I started thumbing through the airline magazine. The semi-finished sudoku and crossword puzzles didn’t capture my attention that much, and I had read through the steakhouse directory too many times. Onward to the Sky Mall magazine! I enjoy virtual shopping as much as anyone else especially when one magazine has business books-on-tape, concrete garden fountains and pet gear under the same cover.
But that didn’t last too long either… without scissors, glue, knitting needles, or even a crochet hook, what was a girl to do? (Incidentally, these are all probably unsafe or inappropriate things to bring on a plane now.)
I made a paper tree! Actually I made two: one on the way to Phoenix and the one in the picture was on the way home. I both cases I left them on the plane. Someone (cleaning crew, probably) might have found it interesting, or at the very least, amusing? My husband called me the “(paper) tree bandit”. I thought of it as free art. Want to make some on your next plane ride? It’s really easy, and the instructions are here.
I’m taking a little break from the blog to relax with my family. It’s been a fun week in the Seattle-Tacoma area (it’s NOT raining, ha)Â and I can’t wait to share some great places, food and finds.
While we were sitting around having a lazy morning, I heard my little man squealing with laughter mixed with screams from the laptop. Of course, I wanted to know what was going on and my nephew showed me this game. I found it slightly disturbing, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Tell me, am I sick? Warning to those in an office – turn down your speakers and try not to laugh out loud.
Now that the holidays are over and I’ve recovered somewhat, I tend to review our hosting strategies, successes and misses. Every year we have at least 1-3 guests stay with us for any given length of time. It could be an overnight stay or a couple of weeks. Don’t know about other people, but I get worked up. I just want to make sure that our guests feel welcome and comfortable, that they enjoy their stay and would want to come back.
We have a slight challenge of not having a dedicated guest room, but here’s how we get around that: the basement. It becomes a semi-private suite. In the case of my awesome brother-in-law, he’ll room in my kid’s room, or with my kids. No problem. However, I can’t necessarily assume that everyone will be as accommodating.
My must haves: No matter what the state my house is in, I will prep good pillows, a good air mattress (we have two), towels, sheets, clock, storage cubes doubled as nightstand, hangers, and coat rack. Don’t have yet but would like: luggage rack.
Entertaining: Here, I luck out again with pretty easy going relatives. My in-laws did most of the shuttling around last Fall with our guests. But, it’s helpful to have schedules and sight-tour brochures handy. Seriously, I even picked up at our library a few copies of “family-friendly” publications that have local things-to-do and set that on the bedside table for our guests.
Meal times: I’ll ask about favorite snacks and more importantly, kids favorites, if I’m not exactly sure what my guests are into. Putting together a dinner/meal schedule was also a super timesaver. It was more like a guideline, if anything, but sure helped with grocery lists. We had plenty of drinks on hand too.
Here’s my favorite way of setting up my towels on the bed for a cute “welcome”. One of my best friends taught me this a long time ago when I stayed at her home for a few days. Sorry, you might only get this the first time you come over, after that, you’re like family and I don’t sweat it out so much.
Abby took video footage of me putting it together (our first video tutorial), but the file was too big to upload! This will have to do.
**Update** I figured out how to add video:
1) Take the bath towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.
2) Fold into thirds the other way (short direction).
3) Take the hand towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.
4) Now wrap the hand towel around the bath towel.
5) Take the wash cloth, fold into thirds, then wrap around the hand towel to hide the ends and create a “bow” appearance.
Every year, we like to visit Long Grove at least once. The biggest reason is for the brown bag apple pie from Apple Haus. It’s everything we want in an apple pie: flaky, buttery crust with a slight crunch, fresh apple chunks, not too sweet.
But before Apple Haus, we stopped by the Glunz Family Winery tasting room and I had this shot of raspberry wine in a chocolate cup. What a great idea for a party opener…
So many things to look at in Apple Haus. Just around the corner are the display cases with…
…pies! This cutey says it serves 1 or 2, but the lady behind the counter said it was good for one.
This is not a great picture of me at all. I was trying to make a “Mr. Egg” face. Talk about cute dish scraper. I ended up buying it and the kids played with it for a few days afterwards.
We do like going to the different stores around Long Grove, especially The Tuscan Table. Eastman is definitely scaring me with the muddler here.
They were so tired after walking around and having an apple donut and apple cider snack. It’s really amazing how much they look like each other. They’re so sweet.
At last, at home with our brown bag apple pie. There’s actually a good chance we’ll be attending the apple festival later this week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
