Hom Nom: Fall in Seattle

I flew home to Seattle for a weekend to play with my adorable 3 year old nephew.

The novelty of my formerly beloved United Airlines cheese tray has worn off. LUCKY ME - I stopped into Trader Joe's and I saw that it is now selling individual sized portions of brie and goat cheese! TJ also sells a package of salami and cheese. This was perfect for my DIY airplane cheese tray.

{My new and improved cheese plate. Next time

I'll bring a nice pink napkin to spruce it up.}

Hm. For some reason I didn't take any photos of the molten lava cake my mom made. She made 4 servings. I ate 3 of them in the course of the weekend. Dessert, breakfast, and lunch.

I wish Marya and I could live in the same city and brunch together every weekend - she is the loveliest brunch-mate a girl could have! Today, we had a lot to celebrate: our reunion, the Seattle sunshine, and, her new job doing something fancy and esquire-y! Marya, the Seattle restaurant connissieur, picked Skillet Diner. After a few detours, traffic, and the inability to parallel park on hills, I finally met Marya out front. We sipped coffee until our table was ready, and caught up on life, even though we email nearly daily.

With an extensive and delicious menu in front of me, I didn't know what to do!

I decided to go with savory. BURGER! Marya ordered the fried chicken sammy. And, because we were celebrating Marya's new job, we both ordered a glass of prosecco. Not that we ever needed a reason.

{Cheers!}

While my burger was just a little too much on the medium well side, it was topped with bacon jam and blue cheese. Bacon jam... it is Skillet's signature spread. Trust me - it is as good as it sounds. And even better when smeared a top a dollop of blue cheese. The hand cut fries - definitely worth it! The fries must have been cooked in or seasoned with something unique - I could pick up a flavor of something familiar, but not quite sure what it was. I ate every last one. Swoon.

I'm not sure why this sammy looks so humongous.

After walking around Capitol Hill for a bit, I met up with Avani for dessert at The Dilettante Mocha Cafe. After squealing with delight when she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, we ordered a raspberry cheesecake and a salted caramel sundae. The cheesecake was fluffy with a nice crust, the sundae...wasn't so great.

{All for me! Or so I think...}

{The "You're going to eat my share, aren't you?" look}

{I don't get why this salted caramel sundae is so...salty?}

{Spooky like halloween!}

For Sunday breakfast, my mom made a quick frittata. All you do is saute up some onions and peppers, grate up some parmesan cheese, add some goat cheese, dice up some cooked bacon and throw it all together to broil in the oven for a bit.

No visit home is complete without stopping by Metropolitan Market. This place was the Whole Foods before Whole Foods even existed.

First stop: the coffee place inside. I ordered a warm-me-up. I don't know how I feel about buttered caramel, maybe next time I'll just asked for steamed cider and a cinnamon stick.

After sampling various cheeses (it is cheese month after all), some sushi, and some cheese puff thing, I made my way to the seafood section, eyeing some kushi and kumomoto oysters before picking up some salmon and the crab and artichoke dip. This dip is best served warm, with some crusty bread. I highly recommend it.

My nephew likes to eat the flowers on my mom's (his grandma's) patio. Here is one thing he stays away from: the peppers!