Ba Bar Breakfast

Breakfast in Seattle is a curious thing. Great breakfasts are few and far between. The places that are really great have 2 hour waits and are always clear across town. With my schedule it makes it hard for that scenario to work. 

There is a restaurant near us that has good food and even better pastries. What they were missing was breakfast. Not any more!! Their pastry chef invited me and Mr. Ramon to a friends and family breakfast to try out the new menu and offer feedback. Yes please!

Ba Bar is the creation of Sophie and Eric Banh. They grew up together eating street food in Saigon and that inspired Ba Bar. Their lunch and dinner menu are full of soups, noodles and delicious small plates. Karen their pastry chef makes a mean almond croissant! 

We showed up for breakfast with open minds and empty stomaches. Mr. Ramon had the - Eggs Benedict with Black Forest ham, housemade brioche, caramelized onion, hollandaise.

I could not resist the temptation of biscuits and gravy with poached eggs. 

I was really overwhelmed with the flavors of this meal. I can say it was probably one of my top 5 breakfasts of all time. So well seasoned with a depth that was unexpected. Love! 

The rest of the menu looks just as good. From omelette and granola to steak and eggs. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my breakfast. I hope you get a chance to check it out soon!

Relax

It is the end of July already and I feel like summer is sliping away. Here in Seattle summer is short and unpredictable. Knowing that, people start booking their calendars way in advance which makes me feel like time is going by faster. Add that to working 6 days a week and always being on the go and about now I begin to get nervous that I am going to miss out on summer. 

I know - slow down, chill out and relax. Today I tried to do just that at least for a couple of hours. I asked my amazing friend Kalin if she would open the store for me today so I could have a couple of hours with Mr. Ramon. A friend of mine has an adorable store filled with refinished furniture, up cycled items and Etsy type finds called Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporium. I wanted to drag Mr. Ramon there to see if anything caught our eye for the house. 

The one room we are working on right now is the bedroom. Slowly but surely we are developing a theme. We found a nice pair of black bedside tables with mercury glass tops. For $40 for the pair I could not resist. 

To finish of our time together we decided to go to one of my favorite little spots in Seattle - Volunteer Park Cafe. Eating here in this bustling cafe always feels like home. Filled with community and conversation over local, fresh and delicious food. We showed up at 1:00pm this Saturday and breakfast was still being served along with lunch. A hard choice to make. 

Mr. Ramon started with a bowl of Matzo Soup. Delicious light broth with shredded chicken and tender carrots. The matzo ball was a "sinker" and dense and flavorful. A great soup for a summer lunch. 

I went for breakfast choosing a bacon egg panini with melted gruyere. Yum. 

This lunch left us ready for a nap. It was so nice to spend some quality time with Mr. Ramon on a summer day. 

Egg Series - Hard Boiled

I have met quite a few lovely 20 somethings that wish they knew how to cook. "I can't even boil and egg" is a common quote. I started thinking about eggs. The perfect complete protein and so versatile. I know that I can use practice on some techniques so thought that a series devoted to egg preparations would be helpful to every cook. 

I have been craving egg salad lately and knew this was the perfect time to get started with hard boiled eggs. These perfect orbs of protein have only 70 calories, come in their own carrying case and can be used in so many recipes. 

Two important tips for great hard boiled eggs.

• Use eggs that are at least two weeks old. They are best for boiling and will peel easier. Fresh eggs are almost impossible to peel. 
• Chill in ice water as soon as you pull them out of the hot water. This keeps your eggs from having the icky green ring around the yolk. 

Basic Hard Boiled Eggs

• Take a bowl and fill it with ice and some water. This will be where you place your eggs after cooking. 
• Take desired amount of large eggs and place them into a saucepan. Cover the eggs with cold tap water covering them plus an inch. 
• Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a lower medium boil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and immediately place eggs in you bowl of ice water. Chill for 10 minutes in the ice water. 
• If you are not using immediately place in refrigerator for up to 1 week in their shells.

You now have perfect hard boiled eggs. You can eat them plain or use them in a variety of ways. One of my favorite things to do with them is make egg salad. 

My mom made egg salad often when I was growing up - on white bread. Some thing to know about my mom is that she does not like mayonaise. The other thing is that she chops all her ingrediants in recipes very small. Both of these come in to play in this classic egg salad. 

Egg Salad

• 6 hard boiled eggs peeled
• mayonaise
• salt and white pepper

Slice eggs and place in a bowl. 

Take a sharp knife and fork and continue to slice them into small pieces. We don't want chunks here. Once you have an even dice of eggs you are ready to mix. 

Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Add a dollop of mayonaise - less is more and you can add if needed. Mix and taste. You should have an egg salad that holds together with a creamy texture but it not drippy or over mayonaised. Pure perfection. 

I like mine on white bread or toast. Today I toasted a baguette and topped it with egg salad for lunch. Yum! Enjoy!