Chowda!

When our beloved Truffles went to kitty heaven, we decided to get a new cat. Specifically a young male (so he'd both get along with Rosemary + get used to Mia)

After stopping by several animal rescue places without success, we finally went to the place with Don McQuinn's granddaughter works & she hooked us up with a funnest cat I've met - a white cat with black spots that we immediately named Chowder.

Chowder & Mia became best mates instantly. They play together all day. Chowder sleeps with Mia & Mia enjoys grabbing Chowder under the arm pits & carry him around the house (whether Chowder actually enjoys it is highly unlikely).

Mia has also successfully (no, really) trained Chowder to be on a leash. We tied the leash to the extension cords so he has a wide range. In fact as I'm typing this Chowder is off in the backyard chasing bugs while tied to the cords.

Rosemary was initially, er, very cool - ok - hostile to Chowder. But after a few weeks she has definitely grown to at least accept Chowder, and we've even occasionally seen the two playing together. I guess giving hold Rosey a young male to play with was the right thing to do.

We love Chowder & welcome him to our family.

The Butter Lion

Following a recipe from grandma, Baby Crumpet makes a Lion from Butter.

While the kids hunted easter eggs, the grown-ups ate.
The menu:
- Grilled leg of lamb (with sage & rosemary)
- Tuscan white bean soup with kale
- Mashed Desiree potatoes
- Red lettuce salad with chesnut & shallots-viniagrette
- Sauteed Jerusalem artichokes, leeks & asparagus

Grown-ups at the party: Gracie, Carl, Braden, Tiffany, Jim, Jenni, Angie, Kim, Blane
- Adrian made cherry & guinness breads
- Butter Lion

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

Baby Crumpet hosted our first ever Easter Egg Hunt

Sharing the fun were her friends Kai, Nathan, Madeline, Dante, Issac & Lily.

Not sure what was more fun - coloring the eggs or finding them!

Dog Show

Baby Crumpet took us to the annual Seattle Dog Show with Don McQuinn.

Always one of our favorite events, the real dog show is every bit as fun & goofy as the movie Best in Show - down to the frantic back area where trainers groom their pets & the nervous looking handlers.

Visits with Dante, Carl & Gracie

Upper photo - Baby Crumpet visiting her friend & neighbor Dante with some appropriate silliness during breakfast.

Bottom photo - Baby Crumpet entertains guests Carl & Gracie as they come over for dinner

New bike!

Baby Crumpet very excited to check out her new ''hello kitty'' bike that we picked up for $5 at a Church sale.

The Big Easy 2009

Baby Crumpet took us with Gracie, Kate, John, Kerry & Sean to New Orleans for St. Patrick's Day.

Photo album here on Facebook.

We did it all! Audobon Zoo. Crawfish at French Market Cafe. Oysters at Acme. Beignets at Cafe du Monde. Pimm's Cup at Napoleon House. Muffalettas at Central Grocery. Dinner at Jacque-mos. Po'boys at Johnnys. St Patricks Day Parade. Charles Street Car. Pies at Camelias' Grill.

I know I left a lot out - but pretty sure we had 13 meals in 2 1/2 days. The group is already planning our next visit.

Mardi Gras 2009

Mardi Gras 2009 was a resounding success.

Thanks to Ewan, Leya & Leo for the pear tart.

Gracie for the bread pudding & bourbon whipped cream and beads

Don & Carol McQuinn for the homemade pralines

Braden & Lily for the French wine

We made:
- Gumbo with chicken & bacon
- Jambalaya with andouille & smoked ham
- Crab & shrimp bisque
- Roasted garlic dip

Aaron Neville, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone & Armand were among the soundtracks

Gracie & I proudly wore out Tabasco shirts

Next - a trip to New Orleans on the 11th!

New videos from birthday party 3.0 & Mardi Gras

(Mia, Lily & Leo at the Mardi Gras party)



(Video 1 from Mia's 3 years old birthday party with Lily, Nathan, Leo, Kai & Dante)



(Video 2 from the birthday bash)

Baby Crumpet 3.0

Mia's 3 years old birthday party!

We made Asian food since Lunar New Year was 2 days later.
Yakisoba with prawns
Singaporean curry with chicken
Ma Po Tofu with pork
Thai jasmine rice

Gracie & Adrian made cupcakes

I had special Jones Soda made up with a photo of Mia & Adrian on the bottle at My Jones Soda.

Thanks to everyone for coming!
Ewan, Leya, Leo, Jenn, Lily, Gracie, John, Cathy, Maya, Jenni, Jim, Nathan, Kim, Dante, Angie & Kai.

Somehow we survied the party without any major mishap, although we did lose Leo inside the fireplace for awhile (not like there was a fire or anything)

Mia had a FANTASTIC time.

Info dump - 2009 so far

The photo here was actually taken late last year & it came from a sleep test. Basically, they stick little nodes all over your body, stick tubes up your nose, then measure things like toe movements & heart rate while you sleep. The conclusion was I have very severe sleep apnea (I knew that already, but wanted a medical solution) so I now sleep with one of those sleep machines where tubes force air into my pipes. Quite fun really. I call it my darth vader mask.

First week of January went to Tokyo for a week. Hijinks ensue. Highlight was visiting Kiddy World in Harajuku - it's this 5 stories + basement behemonth retail store full of Hello Kitty stuff. Shopped like mad for Mia.

Quick trip down to San Diego & LA. Had dinner with cousins Lisa & Jeremy at El Bizcocho. Superb 7-course tasting menu paired with wine; but the highlight was definitely the dessert - an ice cream made from scratch at tableside! In a big silver bowl the waiter mixed guava juices, malibu rum, grand marnier & liquid nitrogen, mix & serve with freeze dried marshmellow. Wow.

Quick trip down to Portland, OR. Lots of great meals & good friends. Cocktail party at Brett Warnock who made margaritas with jalapeno peppers; dinners at La Calaca Comelona with Martens, Thea & Christine; pastrami at Kenny & Zukes; karaoke at The Ambassador with Jeremy; organic wild boar ribs at BBQ joint owned by Koreans with Rich. Only letdown was the Potato Champ was closed so I didn't get my poutine fix.

Attended NY Comic Con. 4 days of craziness ensue as I spend time with 77,000 of my close friends dressed as Chewbacca. Had an aswesome time. Evening highlights included bulgogi & norebang in K-town with Juyoun, Kurt & Tania; dinner at Sorella with Bernadette, Gretchen & their crazy clients; NY Noodle Town with Katherine & Nathan. Again, only snag was could not get to Joe's Shanghai (actually tried but line was too long)

Crumpet 3.0 pre-party

Because we're holding her ''official'' party on the weekend, on her actual birthday (Monday Jan. 19th) we had a private dinner with Gracie to celebrate Baby Crumpet turning 3.

She got bunches of great presents from Gracie including an all-new princess outfit, wand & tiara.

From her parents she got a new rocking horse (from Goodwill) and a number of goodies from Japan including a Hello Kitty bistro set, Hello Kitty purse, Hello Kitty umbrella & Hello Kitty doll in a cow suit (nope, no theme at all here).

Ku 4.0

Yup, turned 40 this year.

Celebrated by having a bunch of friend over for lunch - Sam, Ian, Alex, Desiree, Masa, Nathan, Jim, Jenni, Cathy, John, Maya & Gracie. Thanks all!

Menu:
- Lamb tagine with preserved lemon
- Rice with saffron & cherry
- Chicken pastilla
- Apple upside cake with molasses

Visiting the Allens

The highlight of every trip to New England is a visit to the Allens - Kate, John, Sophia, Amelia, Olive & Sabine (the last 2 are cats)

The girls had a great time dressing up & generally run around the house.

The adults, with the aid of a baby-sitter, went to Blue Ginger - Ming Tsai's restaurant out in Wellesley

We had a gorgeous with dishes like foie gras-shittake shumai in sauternes-shallot sauce, sake-miso marinated Alaska butterfish, lamb osso buco claypot with herb-poblano pesto and seared Georges bank scallops with carrot-ginger sauce.

Can we go back there now?

Abby & Mia

Baby Crumpet & her cousin Abby - who are only 6 days apart - make quite a team.

One can only imagine the trouble these two will cause together once they grow up.

Holiday in Boston

Christmas at our family in Bedford, MA (with grandma Dot as special guest, seen here consulting Mia on a complex puzzle)

We ate like mad people facing the end of the world. The moment we arrived at the house there was already roast leg of lamb waiting in the oven. From there on it was 10 days of non-stop feasting.

Baby Crumpet got a lot of loot including a doll house + plenty of old toys that used to belong to Adrian (barbie, horse...etc)

Happy Birthday Abby!

Happy Birthday Abby Wood from Baby Crumpet!

2008 Year Book

January
- Crumpet turned two on the 19th. Dinner party with ''Italian'' theme
- Chris Rhodes visits from Texas - spent New Year's Eve playing cards; later visits Mt Baker
- Visits Portland, Baltimore, New York & Philadelphia
- Book club book: Eat, Pray, Love
- Goes to Vegas with Crumpet & Adrian; sees Beattles LOVE and Richard Cheese live

February
- Superbowl party at Gracie
- Visits Tokyo & Seoul on business; visits Osaka & Kyoto to see my friend Mutsumi
- Sold condo in Queen Anne
- Cleaned crawl space & re-installed insulation
- Visits Ann Arbor

March
- Goes to Seattle Dog Show with Crumpet & Adrian
- Visits Baltimore
- Homemade corned beef/krauts & sheppard's pie for St Patrick's Day party
- Scott & Evan visits; goes snowboarding in Baker
- Attended Nathan's birthday party
- Chinese New Year party at Cathy
- Took Crumpet to Minneapolis to visit Amy Brown; also saw Ron Lundquist
- Book club: the Man who ate everything

April
- Visits Justine/Nico and Lipovsky/Cristina in London; Anne-Lise & Simon in Stonehenge
- Visit Portland with Gracie. Crumpet & Adrian
- Adrian visits Colleen in NY
- Visit Toronto

May
- Visit Crystal in Atlanta; eat at Fat Matt's Rib Shack
- Adrian & Crumpet goes to grandma Mary's funeral in Oakland
- Visits Baltimore & LA
- Attend Seattle Cheese Festival
- Book club: Like water for chocolate

June
- Visit NY
- Goes to Deming Log Show with Crumpet & Adrian
- Starts family vacation in France & Swiss Alps; visits Ion-Marc & Sonia/Serge in Geneva

July
- Continues family vacation in Italy & Amsterdam
- Visit NY, San Diego
- Goes to Int'l District Festival with Crumpet & Adrian
- Goes to Lynden Raspberry Festival with Adrian & Crumpet
- Josh visits Seattle
- Family vacation in Montana

August
- Pig roast at Adrian's birthday party
- Ivan, Heather & Abby visits Seattle
- Visits Baltimore & Portland
- Family vacation to Vancouver, BC
- Attends Lynden Fair with Crumpet, Adrian, Jim & Nathan
- Gracie's birthday party

September
- Visits Portland, NY & LA
- Attends Big Green Egg Festival with John, Cathy, Maya & Crumpet
- Anniversary dinner with Adrian at Rovers

October
- Attend cousin Clifton's wedding in Seoul
- Attend grandpa Percy's funeral in Oakland with Adrian & Crumpet
- Book club: My life in France by Julia Child
- Visits Frankfurt & Baltimore

November
- Visits mom & grandma in China with Crumpet
- Lily & Kai's birthday parties
- Book club: Heat
- Grandma Dot's birthday party in Menlo Park with Crumpet & Adrian

December
- Ku's birthday party with ''Moroccan'' theme
- Visits Toronto, Baltimore & SF
- Family vacation in New England
- Katherine & Nathan visits Seattle

These are a few of my favorite things in 2008

Favorite books:
- Heat
- MY life in France by Julia Child
- The man who ate everything
- Ugly americans & Rigged by Ben Mezrich
- COBRA II: the inside story of the invasion & occupation of Iraq
- Calculating risk
- Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell
- Eat, pray, love
-War reporting is hell

Guilty pleasure (airplane) readings:
- Books by James Rollins, David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Christopher Reich & Steve Berry.

Favorite movies:
- Tropic Thunder
- Iron Man
- The Bank Job
- It was a good year
- Flawless

Favorite music:
- Killers
- Kanye West
- Rhianna
- Girl Talk
- Usher

Favorite activities:
- Sledding
- Cooking book club
- Crepe breakfast on weekends
- Taking the bus to the farmers' market on Saturdays
- Singing & dancing with Mia
- Finding old friends thru Facebook
- Fantasy football
- Sitting on our deck during the summer
- Dim sum
- Cooking for family & friends

Best acquisitions:
- Blackberry
- Fish spatula (super-wide)

Favorite moments:
- Going to Italy, Switzerland, France & Amsterdam with Adrian & Mia
- Going to Montana with Adrian & Mia
- Going to New England with Adrian & Mia for the holidays
- Going to China with Mia to visit my mom & grandma
- Being silly with Mia & Adrian (anytime, all the time)

Seattle Snow Storm 2008

Over several days in December Seattle was shut down by about 8 inches of snow. Before folks from real winter cities go WTF note that Seattle rarely gets any snow & is totally unprepared for it. The entire city has only 27 snow removing vehicles (Boston, a city the exact size, has 700). We have no sanders and by policy do not salt the streets. The local airline Alaska ran out of de-icing fluids & airport concessions ran out of food as the supply trucks could not get to the airport.

Our street was closed by the time 1 1/2 inches had fallen. Adrian & Crumpet each missed 3 days of work & school. We put the chains on our Prius and that was lots of fun, we felt like we were driving a tank when we took Gracie to the airport.

The benefit of our street covered in unplowed snow (we live on a hill) was that it made for great sledding which we did muuitple times each day, including nighttime (with Crumpet leading way via headlamp). The few days of winter wonderland made we (briefly) wished we live in a place where snow happens all the time. Then the moment passed.

Our cats were far less unimpressed by the snow. They would each venture out for a few minutes then dash back inside for he comfort of heat, food & iTunes.

Christmas 2008

Baby Crumpet helps to decorate our tree, which the cats love.

Didn't do a holiday party this year because we're spending it in Boston. We did listen to a lot of music (love Aimee Mann's Christmas album, wish Tom Waits & Nick Cave would each do one).

Did go to Gracie's holiday party - ate & drank like kings & queens as usual.

Ku 4.0

Turned 40 on December 2nd. Decided to invite friends over for a Moroccan themed party complete with music & robes.

Menu:
- Lamb tagine with preserved lemon
- Chicken pastilla with harissa
- Roast beets salad

Guests: Sam, Ian, Alex, Gracie, Nathan, Jenni, Jim, Masa, Desiree, Cathy, John, Maya

The McQuinns couldn't make it due to ice in their driveway; and Collins had to bail because it was opening day on the mountains

Thanks to everyone for coming, especially for participating in our annual food drive for the needy.

Vancouver Ho

Baby Crumpet took us for a weekend trip to Vancouver B.C.

Highlights included attending the Taiwan Festival (lots of food & music); lots of Chinese food everywhere; brunch at the Granville Island market; picnic at Stanley Park.

We're big fans of Vancouver. Just 2 1/2 hours driving from Seattle, it has the perfect vibe that is part San Francisco, part Hong Kong while retaining the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. We also go there to get our Chinese food fix.

We visited the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park for the first time. Less than 20 minutes outside of the city, the main attraction is a suspension bridge (pictured) originally built in 1889 and stretches 450 feet and 230 feet above ground. They've recently added seven new suspension bridges each 100 feet above ground and circulate the entire park around tall trees. All of us had a great time and we have a lovely picnic with goodies from the Granville Island Market.

Oregon ho

Quick trip down to Portland, OR and dinner with Tomoko - who is a freshman at the Willamette College.

Always love visiting my favorite spots in Portland - Kenny & Zuke's for pastrami; Stumptown for cappucchino; Powells for the used books; Ace Hotel for the lime rosemary soda; Mustang Cafe for brunch with the Top Shelf boys; The Brew with the Dark Horse gang; Potato Champ for late-night poutines with rosemary ketchup.

Drving home to Seattle was looking forward to a meal at another favorite - The Rib Eye off I-5 but dismayed to find the restaurant gutted. Apparently the place has closed but the landlord is trying to find another person to run it. Bummer!

Fence

Baby Crumpet helping to paint the backyard fence.