Tuna in Curry? (aka, "It sounded like a good idea at the time...")

I was craving seafood on Thursday, so when I met with my ex-coworker, Lulu, for lunch, she suggested Etta's. I thought, why not, since she gets discounts for being an employee of Tom Douglas's and Etta's is supposedly known for their seafood. For appetizers, we started with the mini crabcakes were delicious (albeit too pricey...$13 for three 1.5-inch diameter crabcakes?!), especially with the green cocktail sauce. But the love affair unfortunately ended there.

First off, I was expecting more seafood choices in their already small menu (I thought the damn thing was the wine list at first, and it only opens up to two pages), but that didn't happen. Also, we were in for lunch, where the menu does differ slightly, and, unfortunately for me, has less seafood choices. I should have chosen the Rub With Love King salmon (which is grilled with Tom's famous spice rub), but for some reason I was drawn to the Kaffir lime leaf coconut curry with albacore, bok choy, eggplant, and steamed jasmine rice. Perhaps it was the prospect of seafood in curry? I had had some pretty good seafood curry at Shalimar on the Ave last Friday, and, for no good reason, decided on a repeat performance. Needless to say, the curry lacked a certain punch, and was not worth the money for how little amount of tuna I got (though delicious those 1-inch cubes of delightful fish they were). I kinda wish I got what Lulu ordered, which was the dungeness crab salad, but again, I sill don't think it was worth it's price unless she got a miniature mountain of crab on top of a bed of lettuce.

Anyway, we didn't bother with dessert. After months of sampling anything I could get my hands on at the bakery (especially Tom's Famous Triple Coconut Pie... :P), we figured we might have better luck finding something sweet at Pike's, but then decided we were too full to want anything else.

Didn't do much else afterwards, except more training at Haagen Dazs. Then I was so hungry when I came home that I fried up some eggs and then smothered them in spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese... I know, I know, it's weird, but it was good...lacked carbs though (perhaps some rice?). Haha. I ought to improve on that dish a little more.

Aids in the Kitchen

So, I had to pack away my Kitchen Aid stand mixer the other day. :( Sad. I'm not too sure I'll be able to unpack it unless someone orders cream puffs or melonpan before I leave. But to some consolation, all the kitchen appliances in my new apartment are all Kitchen Aid! Lol. The apartment is tiny, definitely meant for only 1 person (or 2 people without as much crap). But it's okay, we just gotta put up with it until I finally get out of here this July.

Nothing to write food-wise...haven't been really able to cook much, or bake for that matter. Sigh. I wish I had just moved into a temporary apartment. :(

Today was a good day. (Think Ice Cube)

Actually, the title was meant for Friday, but I got lazy and didn't end up posting. Plus the internet was being wonky at Kevin's. I cooked myself some sukiyaki beef and pork for breakfast that I had marinated with pretty much anything I had on hand the night before: soy sauce, mirin seasoning, garlic, pepper, white wine vinegar, regular white vinegar...that, plus a couple fried eggs (is that what you call it when you crack the egg into the skillet and, once the white sets, add a little water and cover the egg so the top part gets steamed? or is that poached?) and a nice big ol' plate of white, fluffy rice...it was the best breakfast I had in AGES.

Then I headed over to my first shift at the Haagen-Dazs in the U-District. Scooping ice cream my first day was hectic (good weather means good business, usually...), a lot of groups came in, or just a bunch of people coming in all at once. The shop is really quite small (seats 6 customers), which can be nice. I learned a lot about maintaining the store, and making shakes and Dazzlers and such. I haven't learned everything just yet (Lois, my friend and manager of the shop, says she'll have me do ice cream cakes.. O_O), but it's exciting to learn new things and to be doing customer service again. I'm glad I get to learn another aspect of sweets, as well. It's too bad I didn't get a chance to really do any ice cream while I was at Dahlia.

Saturday was beautiful. We had a belated birthday barbecue for my brother (April 11) and me (March 30) at my dad's in Marysville. If there's anything I love about Filipino parties, it's how much food was there. Pancit, barbeque, fried rice, lumpia...so much food, and yet the highlight for me is always the grilled oysters. Cooked quick on the fire, and with a splash of lemon juice...mmm....After a long morning/afternoon of getting the run around Smokey Point and Marysville just to get two errands done, I definitely earned the two ice-cold Heinekens that accompanied my food binge.

Today, again, was a good day. What a difference the absence of one person makes, which makes me very sad. Not because said person is gone, but because I had such a limited amount of time to enjoy working at Dahlia since their dismissal. But, what can I do? I already committed to helping out Lois during her maternity leave (despite the cut in pay :( ), and I'm leaving soon as it is. Besides, I really don't like the idea of working my Sunday-Monday, 5am-1 or 2pm schedule until I leave, because it's hard enough to hang out with friends and Kevin before I move as it is, and I'm pretty sure they won't let me change my schedule for that reason alone (my replacement has the exact same schedule as me, with the addition of another day of work at the bread bakery). I know I'll have to suck it up later, but when later comes, then I'll suck it up. Right now, I want to just be able to enjoy as much of the remainder of my stay in Seattle as possible.

Tomorrow is my last day at Dahlia, providing Ellice (my replacement) or Garrett (manager) doesn't feel the need for me to be back again. Or unless they ask me to fill in if a morning person can't make it. It's bittersweet, it is.