Nutty Food Critic

Located in north Ballard Crown Hill neighborhood We decided to stop in for happy hour and check out this small eatery in the north Ballard Crown Hill area of Seattle off Holman road NW.  We were delightfully surprised to find out how good it was and so reasonably priced.  We have now found a jewel of a place for awesome Mexican food not far from where we live and have been back several times.  Taquitos They serve a good selection of Mexican beer on draft as well as a popular IPA along with other bottle beer and wine on the menu.  The happy hour menu is just right or you can mix and match off the main menu.  Happy hour is from 2pm -6pm and again after 9pm.  Don't take our word for it.  Try it out today!  They are directly across the street from Dick's on Holman.

My Sweet Bread The smell of sweet bread or any bread for that matter is pleasing to most people!  Bread is an ancient art and can be made so many ways that a person in one lifetime could never get bored with it.  Bread seems to be in some ways a part of all cultures at some point in time, just different names and different way of making it. INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup water 2 large egg 1/3 cup

What better appetizer to start off a gourmet feast of healthy delicious Greek food.paired with your sweet red wine!  Ingredients: 20 oz Grape tomatoes 10 oz 4 Tbs 1 pinch 1 Tbs 20 Mozzarella cheese cubed Extra Virgin Olive Oil Salt and pepper each Italian seasoning  toothpicks Directions: Simple enough – take the toothpicks and put one grape and one cube of mozzarella cheese on each.   I like putting them all in a glass container with a lid along with the olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.   Shake it around to fully coat and then leave in the fridge for a few hours to marinate or overnight.   Pull the container out and serve.   Just about the easiest appetizer to make!

Blueberries I saw this French recipe on Facebook made with cherries.  I tried it and loved the custard taste and cherry flavor.  I decided to try it with blueberries and take both the cherry and blueberry to a community party.  The blueberry pie didn't last long but I still had a little left over from the cherry one.  I highly recommend this pie made with either cherry or blueberries.  I can't wait to try different variations! Ingredients: 18 oz fresh blueberries, washed and set aside to dry* 2 Tbs. of butter, melted and set aside to cool 4 eggs 1 cup of milk 3/4 cups of flour 1/4 tsp of salt 1/2 cup of sugar 1 tsp of vanilla extract 1 tsp of almond extract Dust with powdered sugar   * substitute blueberries with 20 oz of clean and pitted cherries for the Cherry Clafoutis Take a 9 inch pie pan and grease the bottom with the butter on bottom and all sides. Sprinkle and coat the pan with the sugar.  Add the blueberries and make sure they are even withi

While walking in the Balłard area of Seattle we stumbled on this quaint restaurant pub that offered a selection of spirits, beer, wine and unique menu items.   We were feeling adventurous so my Husband Kurt and I decided to try a thin crust all natural garlic fennel sausage pizza with ricotta and mozzarella cheese.   I have to admit I had never tried pizza with ricotta cheese but since I love lasagne how bad could it be?  Well, it wasn't bad at all, quite the contrary!  It was absolutely delicious!  The service was friendly and attentative...meaning they didn't make us wait from the time we walked in the door to taking care of the bill.   We will go back again so that says something in itself.  The atmosphere, food, drinks and service got an A+++++. The only problem was walking the 2 miles home but that's another story..... Visit their website at www.patxispizza.com for a local one near you or for your next travel adventure!

I had the opportunity to go to lunch at McMenamin's Brew Pub awhile back and they had this delicious cheeseburger on the special menu.  It looked so good when they brought it to the table that  I had to take a picture!  It not only looked good, it was perhaps the best cheeseburger I have ever had!  The beer that I paired it with was their most popular Hammerhead brew which is a pale ale.  Usually I can't decide which beer to order since I happen to like them all.  They are all handcrafted brews that pair with their excellent choice of food offered on their main and weekly specialty menus.   The selection is great and so is the service.  McMenamins has a lot to offer if you are traveling in Washington and Oregon.  They have many locations that also offer hotel accommodations along with their restaurants. I highly recommend them so check out their website for more information:  McMenamins

Homemade Pasta I bought a pasta making machine with the drying rack but let it sit in my closet close to a year before actually using it.  I had been so eager to buy but so reluctant to use!  I finally overcame my fear of failure when I pulled it out of the box and made the decision to try it. Add the eggs in the center and beat them with a fork Ok, there is really only two ingredients that are listed on the instructions that came with the machine.  How bad can it be?  Well, for starters instead of talking while measuring it may be better to stay quiet and pay attention!  I actually doubled the flour and didn't have enough eggs to compensate so my Husband being the hungry man he is obliged and went to the store to get the eggs. Adding the seasoning Now, I was ready to knead and knead until I got the dough the way I wanted it.  I used 4 cups of flour, 10 eggs (room temp) and even though the recipe didn't call for it I added lots of dried basil and dried Ita