Kim Dannies: Lifestyle & Adventure writing

Sleepless in Seattle
October 11, 2007

Did you ever eat so much you couldn’t sleep? The second part of our Pacific Northwest tour was a fiftieth birthday visit to Seattle and my best pal from high school, Cindy Smullen Blais. Cindy staged a bacchanalia that Ratatouille and his extended family could have feasted on happily for weeks. Seattleites are very serious about their food— and, no surprise, it is sensational stuff. The fresh fish choices alone made me wonder aloud about relocating, not to mention the unique array of heirloom vegetables, flowers, herbs, and hazelnuts available at the corner market. I’d never even heard of white salmon before this trip. It is a thick, rich, meaty salmon that we roasted with lemon and buttered garlic croutons— incredible! All weekend we ate, reminisced, ate, laughed, stayed up late, and ate some more.

Cindy really rolled out the red tablecloth, stuffing us with fresh chocolate chip cookies and brownies for a bike tour along the boardwalk. Then she popped us into the hot tub overlooking Seattle’s Space Needle skyline with gin & tonics. Next, she whipped out delicate puff pastry pinwheels filled with prosciutto & Parmesan and served them with a perfectly chilled local Chateau Ste. Michelle Ethos. The grilled lemongrass beef and dill scented rice for dinner each had lime complements that married beautifully with a Leonetti Cellars, 2002 Reserve Cabernet from Walla Walla. (I won’t even mention the white chocolate cheesecake with candles.) Thanks to Chef Cindy, I had a fabulous 50th as we ate, reminisced, ate, laughed— and then cried when we parted. As soon as we boarded the plane I paged Dr. Nod and slept all the way to Vermont.

Cindy’s Yummy Egg & Sausage Casserole
Ingredients: 9 eggs beaten; 9 slices of white sandwich bread, crust removed and cubed; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon dry mustard; 1.5 pounds of breakfast sausage patties, crumbled, browned and drained; 2.5 cups of shredded cheddar cheese; 3 cups 2% milk.

Method: Whisk wet ingredients together with salt and mustard. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9” X 13” pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour prior to serving. Slices reheat beautifully in the microwave. Serves 10-12.

Lemongrass Grilled Beef
Ingredients: 2—3 stalks of lemongrass, trimmed; 3 cloves of garlic, 1—3 Thai chilies or jalapeno peppers, seeded; one bunch Cilantro leaves; 3 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 teaspoons ground coriander; one—third cup fish sauce; one—half cup lime juice; 1 tablespoon sesame oil.

Method: Reserve fish sauce, juice, and oil. Combine other ingredients in a food processor. Pulse 1 minute. Add remaining ingerdients and blend well. Pour into a bowl; coat beef (flank steak or steak tips work well). Marinate 1—5 hours. Grill beef to taste.