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Discolor Online

Weblog of the sweetest person you never want to piss off.

 

Brunch at Verve


Pork Belly and Egg Close-up
Originally uploaded by Nikchick.
Verve is a spacious wine bar in Columbia City, tucked around the corner from more visible eateries like Jones Barbecue and Geraldine's Counter. I'd been there once or twice before shortly after they'd opened but for one reason and another hadn't been back. Until this week I didn't know they do a weekend brunch. Since this happens to be my first Kate-free weekend since before Christmas, it occurred to me that it would be a swell time to try out the brunch.

We were not disappointed. In fact, we were quite thrilled with the results of our excursion. For about $5 more than we would have spent on a satisfactory breakfast at Geraldine's Counter we had a spectacular breakfast at Verve. I'll take that for a fiver!

It was also the first time I got some decent shots in with the camera we got as a Christmas gift, so I hope this will mean a return to my food blogging in 2009. I do so enjoy the food blogging.

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2008 Recipe Round-up

Because of all the things that were going on in my personal life last year I didn't ever really get a chance to keep up my recipe pages as I would have liked. I did do some cooking and I posted a few of the more successful recipes I tried as individual blog posts but I really wanted to have the whole thing cataloged better for my own use and for those of you who've told me you like using my recipe pages as a resource.

In that vein, I've finally put several of my favorite recipes that I tried out in 2008 onto my recipe pages where they belong. This certainly isn't everything I cooked in 2008 and not even all of the successful recipes but it's a start and better than nothing at this late date.

Apple and Raw Beet Salad
Baked "Manicotti"
Beans and Wild Mushrooms in Fennel Broth
Broiled Fennel with Lime and Parmesan
Cabbage Braised with Ham and Reisling
Chunky Lentil Soup
Coriander-Crusted Scallops in Fennel Broth
Curry Udon Hotpot
Espresso Black Bean Chili
Fennel Broth
Fennel, Carrot, and Cranberry Salad
Fresh Pea Soup with Mint
Honey Cured Pork Loin with Juniper-Fennel Seed Rub
Lime Peanut Salad
Napa Cabbage Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Otsu
Oven-Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
Sesame Crusted Swordfish
Spinach and Pear Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Toasted Wheat Germ Soup

I have several recipes that I've tried since the new year started and I will try to get those up in the coming weeks so I can stay on top of this project better in 2009. In addition to the reorganization taking place in the house, I'm hoping to do a little reorg on my webpage and social networking sites.

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Blue Scholars, My Neighbors, and Snowpocalypse

Thanks to the excellent Rainier Valley Post, I discovered that neighborhood hiphopsters The Blue Scholars had put up a video they shot during Snowpocalypse 08.




Longtime readers might remember that I posted another Blue Scholars video (Joe Metro) that showed some of the depth of Seattle and some scenes I know too well. I even commented that I'd probably ridden the 48 bus with those guys at some point.

Well, the new Snowpocalypse video is even closer to home! Want to see New Holly? This video is full of scenes of the streets near my house, the townhouses of Phase 3, the fences and porches of my neighbors. You can see the intersections we drive through, catch a glimpse of the scary sub-par Safeway we try to avoid, the view of the power lines that arch over the Chief Sealth walking trail that winds through New Holly uniting the Phases. Holy cow, Geo and Sabzi aren't just my neighbors, they're my neighbors!

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The Great Reorg of 2009


Pantry
Originally uploaded by Nikchick.
Chris has been posting a little about his ongoing office reorganization. After installing an attic ladder this fall, I've moved on to sorting things in our drawers and closets so that everything in the house has a home. It's impossible to put things away when you don't have anywhere to put them and that was the situation in our house as 2008 drew to a close. Instead of watching tv, playing computer games, reading, blogging, or otherwise screwing around in the evenings I've been spending my nights and weekends going through our house from top to bottom.

We gave two full sets of old luggage, several boxes of old clothes and bedding and other household items to charity last week and moved several plastic bins of rarely used items up to the attic. I expect this project will keep me busy for a good long time yet but I'm motivated to keep at it because I find gazing in on my orderly cupboards, tidy laundry room, and functional closets is immensely satisfying. I look forward to getting the larger spaces similarly organized.

 
 

A Question of Service

After the recent election, I posted this:

So. Obama has challenged us. The American people cannot just vote and call it good. We need to "summon a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice...a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility."

What is your service? What is your sacrifice? What are you going to let your sense of patriotism serve? What are you going to be responsible for?


I got few replies and many of them were pretty frivolous. Jonathan Alter is asking a similar question over at Newsweek. I hope he gets a better answer.

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You have got to be kidding


You have got to be kidding
Originally uploaded by Nikchick.
I think this is the most snow I've seen since leaving Minnesota in 1993. Kate is positively gleeful at the thought of another snow day off from school (delaying her return from Winter Break, which started three days early because of snow).

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