First Picnic of Summer & Gluten Free “Kitchen Sink Quiche”

Finally enough sun, and on a weekend! This called for: The first backyard picnic of Summer 2010… one of many to come! One of the many great things about being “near neighbors” (about 5 blocks away) with a good friend is that planning a last-minute picnic dinner is no big deal. “You wanna?” “Sure! I’ll [...]

Recipe: Apricot Honey Muffins with Winnie the Pooh

While visiting Mom & Dad this weekend, I came across a favorite little cook book from childhood: The Pooh Cook Book The book was first published in 1969 and is illustrated throughout with the same line drawings by Ernest A. Shepherd that you’ll find in the original Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne. You’ll [...]

Deep Fried Love

This is going to sound terrible, but here goes anyway… I can’t hold it in. Even if they’re really, really bad for you, some traditions just have to be honored. I know I know I know… this sounds like some sort of antiquated excuse for allowing all kinds of horrible practices to thrive over generations. Having [...]

Year of Gratitude #7 & #8

Ooof… now I see what a weekend can do to the closest thing I’ve come to a daily resolution in a long time! Ok… catching up: Today (and yesterday) I am grateful for: 1) Sleep. Oh Sleep, I miss you. I’m sorry you’ve felt undervalued lately (and intermittently for the last, oh 18 years). I [...]

A Quiet Mid-Week Night on the Town

Sometimes you just need a date night. Sometimes your intended or confirmed or otherwise beloved partner is not that date. And you know– sometimes that’s perfectly fine. Which is why Kanarie and I took on the mid-week Tacoma nightlife for a thoroughly satisfying girl’s night out. The husband is in the throes of a winter-cold-touch-of-flu [...]

Granny Lala’s Bakery: The Genuine (Gluten-Free) Article

Granny Lala’s GF treats taste home-baked… by a really good baker. This is officially my lucky month. Lucky as in “Here, Emilie! I made muffins! Have a brownie! I found this store that sells gluten-free cookies, and I bought you some!” Yep. December is definitely my lucky, fat-n’happy, gluten-free gorging on delicious baked surprises month. [...]

Cupcakes for Breakfast

Dear Corina Cake Bakery: Thank you for your cozy, light-filled neighborhood locale and your sweet floury smells that fill my morning walk to work. Thank you for the genuinely warm greeting from behind the pastry-laden counter and for taking the time with each customer to explain ingredients and mention which goodies are fresh out of [...]

Gluten-Free Fryer Foods at Quality Burrito, Olympia!

I love bar food. I love late-night and happy-hour menus. I love fries and all things fried. Sadly, since I converted to a gluten-free diet, this love has mostly gone unrequited. All the best bar-side, late-night, bad-for-you foods are usually drenched in flour batter. I say mostly unrequited, because, yes, I have sometimes continued to [...]

Chilidog Day at Hot Rod Dog!

Hooray! My favorite day of the week, no matter when it falls. Today, friends, is Chilidog Thursday. This is the day to make the short pilgrimage down Pacific Ave to Hot Rod Dog’s lunch counter for an all-beef frank (with no bun, for the wheatless among us), a healthy helping of cilantro chili with cheese, a sprinkling [...]

S*Bux Lingo

You gotta hand it to the Bux… they take that whole “creating a positive customer experience thing” to a whole other level… right on into “infiltrating and rewriting cafe culture and linguistics.” The husband is an ex-Bux barista. For three years, through gradschool and beyond, he made lattes for the masses. Or, as his resumes [...]