SWEET WEEK SEATTLE: Happening right now!

Hello fellow foodies! What is one event currently happening all over Seattle? Sweet Week!! Local bakeries, chocolate shops, and any food establishment dedicated to anything sweet is having a $5 special  for a very special unique treat, made only for Sweet Week.


From Sept. 25-28th, a dessert version of Seattle Restaurant Week will take place. Be prepared for a sugar and chocolate overload, which is always a good thing to start the fall season.
Participating restaurants/bakeries/cafes will have a special $5 treat just for you. Please remember to politely ask for the "$5 sweet treat" when ordering.

Participating sweet venues include:

Hot Cakes (Ballard)
Flying Apron (Redmond and Fremont)
Ala Mode Pies (Phinney Ridge)
The Confectional (Downtown and Cap Hill)
Chocolopolis (Upper Queen Anne)
Cupcake Royal (Cap Hill and Madrona)
D'Ambrosio  (Ballard)
Dahlia Bakery (Belltown)
Fresh Flour (Ballard and Phinney Ridge)
High 5 Pies (Cap Hill)
Parfait (Ballard)
Sweet Mickeys (Ballard)
Theo Chocolate  (Fremont)


Be sure to add some sweetness in your life this weekend Let me know what your favorite sweet treat it!

Happy Baking,
Kimm

Latest foodie interview: Mykl Wu of Behind the Craft!

Hello beautiful readers! As many of you already know, I love meeting new foodie people and learning more about the food industry.

I recently met Mykl Wu, who works and writes at  Behind the Craft, a podcast which is dedicated to knowing the "craft" of anything food or drink related. Sounds like my kinda person! Plus his personal food blog, Thank You Cooperate highlights delicious food and restaurants.

Interview with Mykl Wu:



Bio wise: I was a television news producer for about 10 years before discovering my love for food and returning home to run my family's restaurant business. Ever since then I've been learning about the craft of cooking and food. Now I write about food and produce a podcast called Behind the Craft, where we go "behind the craft" of everything about food. Whether it's brewing beer or sharpening a knife. If it has to do with the food industry, we want to know about it.

 

 

Ramen.

 

1) What brought you into the food world?

I've always loved food. Even as a child I'd separate instant ramen from its broth and pretend I was eating Japanese somen. But even with my family I never quite gotten into the cooking aspect of food, until I saw the original Iron Chef. After that I was hooked. From then it was Michael Ruhlman's amazing Chef's trilogy that inspired me to take on the craft of cooking. I've been obsessed since.

 

2) What is your most memorable dining/food experience?

That is like asking who's your favorite child (not that I have any lol.) They're all special in their own way. Whether it's an adventure eating street side mussels in Istanbul or fresh sea urchin tostada's in Ensenada, to a hard to get seats at Momofuku Ko or Rose's Luxury, they're all memorable. Once I drove 3 hours from Barcelona to El Bulli (after they've closed) just to pay homage and have a picnic there. It was simple jamon, bread, and cheese but damn if it wasn't one of the most memorable experiences.

 

3) What is your least favorite food trend?

My least favorite food trend is also my favorite - Ramen. Even though this pedestrian bowl of comfort has been around for centuries, nobody in the U.S. cared about it until David Chang made it cool (and amazingly delicious, obv.) Now everyone thinks they can make ramen. And everyone claims to love it. In a way it's good that people are getting to know it, but it's bad because the overall quality is diluted. Making ramen takes years of skill and love. It needs to be appreciated and not just liked because it's trendy.

 

4) Describe your perfect meal at home.

(It's an interview of superlatives! lol) It's hard to pick the "perfect" meal. But I'll go two ways on this. One is the ultra simple but super delicious of a perfectly seared steak, some crusty bread and a bottle of red wine. That's when you just wanna unwind. It's quick and extremely rewarding.

The other would be a great big family meal where everyone chips in or better yet, just kinda watch and taste while I do all the cooking. Even though some people will think I'm insane but Thanksgiving dinner would be up there as a perfect meal at home for me. Sure it's stressful and tons of work, but at the end of day you've managed to feed and make the people you love happy, and isn't that what cooking is all about?

 

 

Steak dinner at Mykl's house. Can I be invited next time?

 5) You are on an island, what 3 food ingredient would you bring with you to cook?

Given the fact that I'm on an island. I'd just need salt, pepper, butter. I can catch all the seafood and surely there are some citrus (for acid) on the island. And that's pretty much all you need! 

 

 

 

Be sure to check out Behind the Craft for more food news and Thank you Cooperate for one of the best food blogs I have read.

 

Thank you Mykl for sharing your love of food!

Happy Cooking,

Kimm

 

Salmon.

Why I loooovvveeeeee butter: My top 3 reasons!

Baking and cooking all require fat. Fat brings out: flavor, enhances other flavors, and, well, makes food taste darn good. Like salt, it is require for any type of cooking, no matter what cuisine or dish you are creating in your kitchen.

What is butter? For you newbies, butter is made by simply churning ("agitate") fresh cream or milk. And, ta-da, a creamy-yellow mixture appears! I love it on toast, to baking chocolate cookies, or a simple sauté of veggies.

 



Here are my top 3 reasons I can't get enough of butter:

1) Butter melts in your mouth.
Unlike fake fats, like margarine or shortening, butter is a natural fat, thus melts at body temperature. Once it hits your mouth, it dissolves into pure magical foodie goodness. Fake fats tend to leave a weird, white film on your mouth and anything it touches.

2) Butter is natural.
Usually made from cows milk, you will not see any fake, weird, or odd ingredients when you read butter's nutritional facts. It is no secret I enjoy food...wholesome, re al, and unprocessed food. Butter is one of those foods I just can't get enough of.

3) Butter adheres to other flavors....easily.
Compound butter made with fine herbs, cinnamon-sugar butter for toast, European-style butter for grilled steaks....the list goes on and on. Smooth, creamy butter adds depth and flavor to other ingredients. It is rare I consume butter by itself, usually it is paired with other Pacific Northwest ingredients.


Like tea, there are many flavors and varieties of butters on the market. Try them. Try them on different foods with different herbs and spices. One thing I love about food is experimenting and see what the Seattle-community is eating and enjoying.

Butter is one true ingredient that will never go away from any professional or domestic kitchen.


Happy Cooking!
Kimm