Sometimes you just want meatloaf, you know? Meatloaf is an easy dinner but then we’re like well we need mashed potatoes to go with, and something green… and then you need gravy…. so it turns into a whole thing, LOL. ;P Justan and Liam brought this great wine to go with. I would say my […]

Trader Sams is a vaunted tiki bar at the Disneyland Hotel. We decided to give it a try. To be clear, the interior of this bar is part of why people love to go there, but we figured the drinks could also stand on their own if we sat outside (with a MUCH shorter wait.) […]

So it’s not really true confit, but it has the spirit of it. Cooking vegetables in copious amounts of fat! What could go wrong? lol. I often have a bunch of random greens or dying tomatoes or something and because we tend to roast a chicken either weekly or every other week, this is a […]

I’ve written about Ivar’s Salmon House before but realized that I’ve never actually reviewed it proper. Ivar’s is a Seattle institution. If you’ve never made a trek to the Salmon House on Lake Union, it’s a must for some classic Pacific Northwest vibes. This restaurant is actually two in one, you’ve got the Salmon House […]

We really did not go to enough Mariners games this season, BUT, we did go with Justan, Liam and Daniel a few days ago. PLUS we won against the cheating Astros, so, huzzah. Thanks Justan for getting the selfie of all of us! The game was actually pretty close. Tied up nearly the entire time […]

The weather has promptly turned rainy here in Seattle, but our garden is still eking out just a bit more this year. I keep saying it, but this year was a very weird one for the garden. It was both too hot and too cold all at once, just not blended together for a nice […]

The Autumn 2026 edition of Pickled Okra Magazine is here! I’ve got a digital copy for viewing here (click on the cover image below to open it up!) To navigate the magazine you can either use your finger to drag the pages like a real paper magazine, or use the arrow keys on your keyboard. […]

Thank god the days of steamed to death vegetables are done. Roasty, toasty and full of flavor! Preheat your oven to 400F. Lay the broccolini out on a baking tray and toss with the olive oil, followed by the salt. Top with the parmesan, slivers of garlic and roast for 20 minutes or until tender […]

Canon here in Seattle is most known for their fun cocktails and extensive spirits list, but they’re also great for dinner! That said, we still ordered drinks, lol. I’ve written about Canon before, but that was a while ago and their menu has changed a bit since then. For my part, I ordered an absolute […]

Sometimes it’s just nice to take yourself to lunch, a quiet moment to yourself with just you, a book and nothing else. You know I put my phone on do not disturb too (well, let’s be real… it almost always is on DND.) This day I went to Cafe Lolo, an excellent spot here on […]

Spice Waala is an excellent Indian street eatery here in Seattle. Even if you’re not hungry for lunch they have incredible soft serve ice cream! I almost always get the chicken tikka Kathi roll, but the lamb is also very good. Rolls are flavorful and juicy with a nice amount of heat. I really love […]

I’ve written out this recipe so many times that I figured I should just make a dedicated post for it. This is the standard dressing we make at home to go with salads and more. Tangy, sweet, complex. It’s very good. In a bowl whisk together everything and only dress your washed, dried greens immediately […]

Sometimes I take food pics that don’t fit anywhere else and so they get grouped into one of these! More often than not these end up being for a post that just didn’t work out or wasn’t substantial enough on its own, lol. Kevin and I went to Kobuta and Ookami, a great little spot […]

Perfect for a bite before a show at the 5th ave or during a convention in downtown Seattle, Elephant & Castle serves up pub fare that’s pretty good! Admittedly, I took these pics like several months ago before we went to a show our friend Liam worked on at the 5th Ave theatre. lol, BUT, […]

Sometimes you have one of those perfect mornings that are beautifully sunny and just relaxing. We got up early and baked some cinnamon, made coffee and tea. I did quite a bit of writing for the blog and had some lo-fi gothica muzak on in the background, lol. I hope your morning was as relaxing. […]

Admittedly, I prefer regular iced coffee to cold brew because I like a bit of bite vs a totally smooth brew. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to make cold brew. 😉 Grind your coffee coarsely and add 1 liter of water, mix well. Steep for 24 hours. Strain completely and either keep […]

I always forget, but Sol Liquor Lounge has some solid dim sum offerings. I mean, for a bar, that is, lol. We were here the other night and feeling peckish so we ordered the crab shumai and pork bao. It’s a nice spot for a lite dinner. And now I’m hungry writing this… I dont […]

Pulling an espresso shot isn’t particularly difficult, but there are some guidelines you’ll want to follow. This is a really basic guide and you can go as deep or shallow as you want on this topic. For a former barista turned home barista, here’s what I do. This guide is for a semi-automatic machine with […]

One of my favorite things in the summer is that the Capitol Hill Farmers Market runs a Tuesday evening market from 3-7pm. It’s usually smaller but it’s a great way to get some bounties of summertime. It’ll run from June through September. This time I picked up a macadamia nut ice cream from Hellenika, mmmm. […]

Every summer we make a point to visit the Woodland Park Rose Garden, which is just a gloriously beautiful park here in Seattle. Despite the name, and while it does have a lot of roses, the garden itself has so much more to look at. There are artichokes, lavender, gorgeous topiaries and more. Definitely make […]

This year for my mom’s birthday we took her to Raku, a shabu shabu restaurant here in Seattle! You can see last year’s birthday post here! The day actttttuallly started a bit earlier with her and I going to lunch at Cafe Lolo, a spot that I knew she would absolutely love (and did, lol.) […]

If you have fruit from infusing brandy and it tastes sweet, but not too strong, you can use it to make a simple dessert like this. Of course you could do this with fresh fruit as well. It’s not much of a recipe but the whipped cream is delicious with little flecks of vanilla bean […]

We had our friends Andy and Shane over for a game of Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar! Despite owning this first edition from like over 10 years ago I have never played it. Probably didn’t help that it sat at the bottom of the shelf. First off, I love the spinning gears to represent the Mayan […]

This makes a light and refreshing cocktail that goes great with a spicy dish. In a cocktail shaker add the cucumber, lime juice and simple syrup. Dry shake 15 or so times and double strain into a serving carafe. Add the cold sparkling water. Add some cucumber slices and ice to the carafe before serving […]

I hope you’ve had a restful and nice Labor Day weekend. We’re headed home from a lovely weekend on Vashon Island celebrating our friend. The efforts of laborers all over the country deserve to be celebrated. From the long hours spent farming, building buildings to tending to our parks and so much more; their efforts […]

The other day I was playing Tzolk’in and wanted a “mayan” cocktail to go with. This is not that, lol. I found a recipe for a “Maya martini” and it was wayyyy too overpowering so I retooled it here. You can find the original recipe linked below. My version adds melon, honey and sparkling water […]

I finally got around to trying out Dave’s Hot Chicken here in Capitol Hill. It’s…. fine. lol. This place often has a huge line out the door. The day we went it was actually pretty dead. I’d say if it’s not busy and you want a solid chicken strip and love a piquant moment, this […]

Scarecrow Video here in Seattle is AMAZING. Go check it out. Also they carry my favorite movie ever, the 2005 epic by Neil Kinsella: ICE QUEEN. This place is a true temple to films both popular and obscure. Seriously if they carry Ice Queen they probably carry whatever you’re looking for, LOL. The store is […]

I had a random hankering for a frozen cola, it was about 80 degrees out and I was roasty toasty, so I needed a nice pick me up. This will work with any soda, really. Use a mallet to break up your ice cubes into blendable sizes, you can skip that step if you’re using […]

Asadero in Ballard is a charming restaurant with great cocktails and flavorful food that ultimately was a frustrating experience. This place is on the nicer end of the spectrum and while it’s not “fine dining”, I still expected better, frankly. To put it this way, the next evening I had a more pleasant experience eating […]

Some pics from our trip to Disneyland! This time I brought just my 50mm f/1.8 lens and I really wanted to try and do some shots in the dark, which I think I mostly succeeded in. We landed in California at 2pm and after checking into our hotel we made our way to Disneyland to […]

A great last full day at Worldcon (LAcon V!) Went to some panels, did a quick trip to Disneyland and then attended the Hugos! The day started off with doughnuts, as any good day should. Did I peel off Pikachu’s sugary corporeal form and bite his head off? Yes, I did. First up was a […]

Yesterday at LAcon V (Worldcon) was truly magical. Running into friends old and new, being inducted into the Free Company of the Black Bear and so much more! The day started off with several panels, Kevin went to one with Barbara Hambly, Ellen Rachlin, Kimberly Bea, Laura Frankos, Ronald D. Moore, Stan Sakai and had […]

Happy birthday, Justan! We hope your day is special and full of fun! Here’s to many more years of camping, dinners, coffee shop dates and more ahead of us all! From that fateful kraken rum moment right after your last milestone bday to the Chromatica Ball and the Mayhem Ball. I’ve so enjoyed the moments […]

While in line I met an author named Melissa M Miller from the UK and she was like “oh if you just have the one book here is a bookplate for him to sign as well!” So nice!

Where I write about our first day at LAcon V (Worldcon 2026)! After such a fabulous experience at Seattle Worldcon last year we decided to take the plunge and attend again this year. We actually landed the day before, on Wednesday and made a Disneyland day out of that, so I’ll have a writeup on […]

This tangy salad is a very, very loose riff on the salads we’ve had from my mom’s husband who is Turkish, but dont tell me I ever said this was authentic, it’s not, lol. This version similarly goes well with spicy foods. In a bowl whisk together the onion/shallot, garlic, vinegar, white condiment, olive oil, […]

Summer is still in full swing and despite that, it’s been a challenging year in the garden. As I’ve mentioned in the past three updates, the plants have really not loved the 30 degree temperature swings. Despite that, there have been good moments like these plump tomatoes or the copious amounts of celery. Looking around […]

My brother and his fiancée Cristina made their way back to Italy, but before that we had them over at our house to share pics from our trip to Yellowstone and theirs to Yosemite. We went to Momiji for dinner, a sushiya in our neighborhood and ordered omakase. We’ve gone here for special occasions now […]

It was a warm evening so we made our way over to Outer Planet Brewing, a local microbrewery here in Capitol Hill Seattle. I’m very glad that this place found new owners and stayed open after a planned closure in 2025! After this latest trip I actually think the spot is in the best place […]