Be One With the Heat
Weather was a consideration in the decision to move to Seattle. Not about the rain - I actually like rain (an attitude I'm sure will change in, oh say, February). Really, I was concerned with heat. And assured that the summers were beautiful - sunny, mild, perfect. Which was sort of true, until the heat wave hit. Hot, somewhat muggy, I spent several days a sticky mess, eventually giving up and trying to be one with the heat.
The heat wave coincided with a weekend of plans, namely the Taste of Seattle and the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Beer Festival. Located under the shadow of the Space Needle, Taste is a collection of food representing that of the high-end gourmet for the foodies to near carnival fare. Lots of choose from. But the best part was the little alley: for $10, I was served a plate of amazing food, cooked under the guidance of Thomas Douglas, of Dahlia Lounge and Palace Kitchen fame. For those of you not from Seattle, he is one of our best known chefs. And a super cool guy, too. His efforts that day resulted in a large charitable donation.
Jamie, Jill and I feasted and enjoyed. Corn and blueberry salad. Snap pea salad with mint. Hush puppies. Crab cakes. Steak with berry sauce. Pork loin with chimichurri sauce. Garlic bread. And chocolate cherry cupcakes for dessert. The food was simply amazing. We followed the meal up with Dahlia Lounge donuts, fried puffs of goodness smothered in cinnamon sugar; I chose the vanilla mascarpone and berry compote dipping sauces.
Later that day, in keeping with "be one with the heat" mantra, we walked to El Chupacabre. The shade and margaritas certainly helped me feel better. Life got even better with a very good carne asada burrito, one of the better burritos to be had in Seattle. Life got much better at the Phinney Ridge beer festival. Despite the heat (it was held in an old school building, thus, sans modern AC), the festival was great. Small, well-organized and full of people there to taste and enjoy, rather than pick up and get drunk. I absolutely loved the Red Wolf Cherry Wheat from Harmon Brewery in Portland, and the Hale's Kolsch was quite good too.
A few days later, the heat wave has broken, and once again, Seattle is beautiful, sunny, mild. I even woke up this morning feeling cold, the first in several days.