EPIC FOODIE VACATION: SEATTLE 2008.

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I am going to try with all my might to pare this down as much as possible. Summer and I are trying to figure out how to add a "jump" but oh man- wading through over 200 pictures, and skimming them down to about 40 was hard! I had an amazing time in Seattle, hosted by my good friend Alexis. We have been friends since we were goofy little pre-teens, and now as adults we're both shameless foodies. She's currently the head of the kitchen at King's Hardware in Ballard, a small neighborhood in Seattle. King's is great, they have a rad "slow food" type of philosophy that Portlanders like me love, and we spent a fair amount of time there just drinking good beer, eating amazing sliders (yum, tiny burgers! I love tiny food.) and catching up.

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The highlight of my trip was day 2, the first half of which we spent at Pike Place Market looking for produce and good fish. My husband was under the impression that Seattle residents don't do a lot of shopping at Pike Place because it seems so goofy and touristy, but Alexis used to cook at CanCan, a burlesque bar under the market. She knows where all the good fish and produce stands are, and we got amazing fresh fish from her buddies at one of the stands. After picking up a collection of goodies, we headed back to her house where we spent the heat of the day lolling about in the shade and drinking beer. When it started to cool off, we fired up the grill (literally, her boyfriend showed up with a bag of hickory chips to add smoke.) and started to put together dinner.

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All told, we had: Grilled Copper River sockeye fillet, grilled short ribs marinated in beer for 4 hours, grilled corn with brown sugar glaze, grilled miniature cauliflowers (which were mostly bought because they were adorable, but the ended up being DELICIOUS), an heirloom tomato salad with fresh mozzarella and basil, and a whole roasted golden trout, stuffed with onions, mayo, and chives.

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I had a really hard time editing these pictures without FREAKING OUT because I can't help but remember how amazing this all tasted. By the end of the meal we were practically weeping, continually cheering each other and clinking together our beer bottles, and then we sat for at least an hour just blissed-out, our eyes half closed and ecstatic.

I'd love to extend a huge thank you to my gracious host, Alexis:

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Thanks for feeding me and letting me kick back at your pad for 2 days. And thanks to my husband for staying home with the kiddo! For tons of other photos, check out my Seattle flickr set. I can't wait to go back, next time I'm taking the whole family!

As far as recipes go, do you need a recipe for any of these things? Go to your local fishmonger, (if you live somewhere where you just can't get really fresh fish- I'm sorry. That sucks. Buy some kick ass grass fed beef or pig instead and marinate in beer for a few hours. It will be so tender you'll cry.) get yourself a sushi-grade cut of fish and grill it medium-rare. Drink some booze with your best friends, kick back, and try not to stress out about all the dumb crap that drives you crazy. I'm so lucky I got to do it for a few days.

p.s., The next morning we had a hangover breakfast from heaven- fresh eggs from Alexis's own chickens:
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I've never tasted anything like them, and now I'm desperate for a flock of my own.

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