Wandering Goose Seattle

Mr. Ramon and I popped in at the Wandering Goose on their first day open. This cosy spot in Seattle's North Capitol Hill is the work of Heather Earnhardt. Heather is many things and one of them is an amazing baker. I know her work well from Volunteer Park Cafe - she is one half of the talent that brought us this amazing gathering place full of meals to remember. 

I have never met Heather but think I would like too. I love what she is creating here. She seems to have had a rich life that really shows itself in the atmosphere and food at Wandering Goose. The space is small - no more than 30 seats. It fills quickly and has a buzz about it that feels like a family gathering. The tables are raw blonde wood and butt up against pews that line the walls. Every piece in the space feels found and useful. 

The bakery case is full of gorgeous rustic delights. On our visit we enjoyed the Plum Galette. A superb crust and the delicious fragrance of roasted plums with a hint of almond. We fought over every last bite. 

Who am I kidding though - we came for the biscuits. We just missed breakfast and chose two things of the menu to share. "The Easy" a classic egg, bacon biscuit sandwich and "The Sawmill" a  fried chicken biscuit sandwich with the road house gravy. Both of these left me totally satisfied in buttery, salty goodness. 

It was nice to see some familiar faces within the staff and the service was genuine and warm. Both Mr. Ramon and I look forward to making it early for breakfast and trying a few other things off the menu. If you have not had a chance to go yet - do. I know you will enjoy it as much as we did. 

A Lovely Gift

I am a really lucky girl. Mr. Ramon loves to bring me little gifts when he travels. I like that. It feels nice that he is thinking of me when he is away. 

He just got back from a week long trip to Los Angeles where he was visiting his family. While they were out one day he picked me up a box of French macarons from Bottega Louie. This amazing place is a restaurant, patisserie, gourmet market, cafe and bar. Full of tasty and beautiful things. 

The French macaron is a wonderful cookie. Wikipedia says "A macaron is a sweet meringu-based confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies."

The flavors he brought me were - salted caramel, strawberry, violet, pistachio and passion fruit. They were almost to pretty to eat. 

While not something I seek out these were the perfect little treat. They had a crispy outer shell with an airy soft melt in your mouth center. I really loved the salted caramel and the strawberry. 

Whidbey Island Dog Park

My one day off falls on a Monday every week. This means that Mr. Ramon and I rarely get days off together except for holidays and well planned escapes. 

This Memorial Day was beautiful in Seattle. Warm with some cloud cover. My mom and her dog were in town for a visit and we all had this Monday free to do something. Not one to waste a day off together I thought it would be fun to go somewhere different. 

In my 7 years here in Seattle we have never gone to Whidbey Island. A 25 minute trip up the freeway and a 20 minute ferry crossing we were what seems like worlds away. The draw of this drive is that there is a huge, on the beach dog park. 

If your dogs are anything like mine, they love the beach. Love might not be the right word. I think the beach is the place where my dogs are the happiest. Running free on perfectly packed, cool sand. Drinking ocean water only to puke it back up. Digging holes for who knows what and rolling in stinky stuff. Dog heaven! 

We let them run for a few hours. By that time Mischa was feeling pretty rotten from drinking to much ocean water. They were all sandy and wet. So much fun! 

With four tired dogs in the truck we set out to see what else was on this little island. We drove to the tiny town of Langley and shopped and ate. We had such a great day. I think I found my new little get away. 

Iowa Squirrels

So here it is I unveil my love of squirrels. Yes - the little vermin with those cute fluffy tails. I love watching them play in the tree branches and chase around the tree trunks. I love watching my dogs chase them - knowing they are never going to be able to catch them .

When I travel I am on the lookout for squirrels - especially city squirrels. New York and Chicago have some awful nice ones.

Ramon just traveled to Iowa for work. Now I had placed a few things on Ramons' agenda while he was away. One was to find me a taxidermy squirrel. I really want one for one of my wedding tables. And heck - Iowa seemed like the kind of place to find one. He knows of my squirrel love and heard from a couple of people that there were these black squirrels in Iowa. I wanted to know what the heck that means - what is a black squirrel - after all grey is the classic. A little more investigative work and he learned that these black squirrels hang out in the cemetery. Weird - right?

Here is what you wear in Iowa to sneak up on squirrels in the cemetery.

Here is the cemetery.

And here are the squirrels - the first picture is a black squirrel and the second is his friend mr. auburn squirrel.

Mr Ramon said they were so cute chasing each other and playing. One of the best things about this time of year - the squirrel fun.

Oh yeah - if anyone out there has a taxidermy squirrel that they would let us borrow - just let me know!!

visiting Bend, Oregon

Took a little road trip. Me and little Toby. Left Ramon with the girls and headed to Bend, Oregon to see my mom. This was my first long drive ever by myself. Grabbed some Cornnuts (my go to road trip snack), cranked up the tunes and hit the road. It was an awesome drive both ways - warm and clear. I love driving over the mountain - so pretty this time of year.

My main goal while there was to help my mom clean out her garage and get organized. Mission accomplished. I think she went from 20 some boxes to 4. And was inspired to work on some other projects at hand once I left. The two of us are quite a team and can move mountains.

The worst part about the trip was the mosquitos. They are having the biggest infestation in years - I was bitten just walking from the car to the house. And I have the sweet blood they love - I was bitten so much as a kid. They were like zombie mosquitos - circling the house waiting for us to come out. It took us 4 stops to find some herbal pest spray that could go on the yard and garden - and it actually was helpful.

Some of the other highlights of the trip were the deer hanging around the house. A mom and her two babies and a little buck out on his own.

We also had salads with fresh greens from her garden and picked up several flats of Marion Berries just before they went out of season. I made a crumble and it was oh so good.

My mom also helped me finish up my Save the Dates and get them in the mail - we are officially 6 months out - so exciting. My next post will highlight the save the date and the process we went through to make them .