Currently in Bellevue, WA for work . Big team dinner at a nice Vietnamese place where I had something new to me and delicious: a thin skewer of beef wrapped in a betel leaf and grilled. So good, I must learn more about this dish.
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I have these leaves growing in my garden. Itâs a vine that just grows and grows.
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Black Bean Salad with Shaved Vegetables from âBean Bookâ by Steve Sando - using Santa Nero Negro Delgado beans out of Oaxaca from his Rancho Gordo company, shaved/cut/mandolined radishes, fennel, carrots, white onion and celery and a vinaigrette made with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard and oregano
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Iâll be right over.
This is slightly embarrassing to admit but since weâre all family here. To make a long story short. In anticipation of a baked ham dinner I put Rhodes rolls out to rise. Green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, corn casserole on the menu. Bought the ham a month ago on sale and still had a month to go before expiration. Heck, these things last forever in the fridge right. Well, this one did not. So we used leftover fried chicken from lunch to make chicken salad with chopped dill pickles, Granny Smith. Dukeâs mayo and s&p. Boxed fudge brownie mix three ways. Plain for the kids, caramel bits for me and mixed chopped nut and caramel bits for him. Everybody is happy.
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Blueberry vareniki from the freezer with A Dollop Oâ Daisy. Roasted salt-and-pepper carrots. Roasted apples with butter and cinnamon. A couple of roasted pork sausages for DH because âmeatâ.
For dessert, a freshly baked sour-cherry slab pie.
Veggies, fruits, and berries all from the garden.
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Beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, seared, basted with oo, butter, thyme and rosemary, finished in the oven. Red and gold fingerling potatoes, browned in oo & butter and roasted, served with garlic chives. Little gem and red leaf lettuce salad, Walla Walla sweet onion, Flavor Bomb tomatoes (from Grocery Outlet), avocado, cambozola and ranch dressing. There was wine.
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Zucchini, green bean, pea, tomato, onion and spinach briam with olive oil and lemon. Made with odds and ends from the garden. Hit the spot.
Also, paprika lemon thyme roasted chicken thighs, baby artichokes with lemon mayo, new potatoes. Small-town bakery crumb topped apple pie and Haagen-Daz pralines and cream ice cream for the DCs.
This is the basic idea. I wing it.
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A girlfriend I met during my Masterâs program recently moved to town. We havenât seen each other in a long time so we went for dinner at an Italian place, Dopo. They release their resos a month out, and she got today! We stopped at a brewery right beside it first for a beer and a cider. We decided to share and enjoyed whipped ricotta, polpetti, cappellacci, egg yolk ravilolo and broccolini. Multiple glasses of rose and a fair amount of that premium BC bud beforehand. Great meal, even better company and a cheaper bill than I expected.
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The fishmonger had soft-shell crabs. So, another fritto misto, with the crab, shrimp, zucchini, potato, and romano beans. The crab was a little spit-out chitinousâis this because itâs late in the season?
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Delicious Thai dinner in Kirkland, WA. This was a cod curry with exotic fruits (!) and was v good.
Afterward we walked along the lakefront and stumbled upon some farm stands . I couldnât resist trying my first west-coast berries 
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Keema Matar based on a Milk Street recipe - ground beef is cooked with red onions, garlic, ginger, garam masala, mashed tomatoes, tomato paste and peas. Finished with some yogurt and cilantro and served over rice and with more yogurt
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How disappointing about the ham but very nice pivot!
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Happens to the best of us
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We played our final 
outdoor gig this year at a plaza downtown as part of a summer music series. It was like playing inside of an air-fryer (95Ë / 22% dewpoint), and we were genuinely surprised at the crowdâs stamina to stick around for two sets⊠I mean, we had to be there â they did not. Also sold another CD 
Met up with my gal pals at the gay bar afterwards, although a couple of peens crashed the festivities (including my PIC). We had their excellent margaritas
& shared the featured Wednesday special dog: California dog with guac, Pico de Gallo, cotija, and Cholula.
It was a pretty damn good dog, tho the fries were a bit anemic.
Bc it was hot as ballz yesterday, Iâd also ordered the âpower food saladâ with kale, carrot, radicchio, mesclun mix, clementines, sunflower seeds & green goddess dressing (hold the clementines bc nope) despite its dumb name, but that wasnât the biggest issue. What was actually served to me was a bowl of what can only be described as field clippings.
There was no radicchio, no mesclun mix or sunflower seeds â nothing but thick slices of raw kale tossed in very little dressing with bits of shredded carrots strewn atop. It was catastrophically bad, which I told the server when she noticed Iâd barely touched the plate. They took it off our bill, and I ordered another dog to share just out of spite 
Well, not really. Mostly out of hunger & wanting proper food, not a workout for my jaw muscles. Iâd already done âleg dayâ at the gym and wasnât prepared for âface eveningâ ⊠but maybe thatâs why it was called âpower food.â 
It was nice catching up with my ladies, one of whom had just returned from her own Germany & Italy trip visiting fam.
Hereâs to better food tonight 
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This is hilarious! Your salad reminds me of a grocery store salad I bought as a take out lunch one day last year. In Ontario we have this grocery store chain called Farm Boy (apparently similar to TJs) and their groceries are good - always fresh, no stockage issues, staff is awesome, etc. However I am learning the hard way their take out meals leave much to be desired. I bought a kale salad one day last year and it was just that - a bowl full of kale with a little container of salad dressing to add at serving time. The salad dressing was good probably because it was their store brand which is really popular here in Ottawa. At least you got shredded carrots⊠And I had the firmest jaw ever after eating that salad. Glad your hot dog was good.
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I feel like my jaw is the firmest part of my body today 
