March Madness in Seattle

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This is what March Madness looks like in Seattle!

Wild King Salmon from Alaska baked on a cedar plank
with roasted vegetables

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese



During the month of March, thirty of Seattle's finest restaurants

host March Madness menus  -  3-course dinners for a mere $30.

This includes selections for appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

Many of the restaurants also offer lunch for $15.

Read more about it here.

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, my parents

treated us to a sunset dinner at Six Seven located

in the luxurious Edgewater Hotel.

The Edgewater Hotel famously hosted the Beatles in 1964

when the photo on the left was taken of them

fishing from their suite! 

You can read more about the Beatles visit here.

What a fabulous dinner we had!

My belly was hurting from all the goodness!

I hope you are able to one day visit Seattle and enjoy some tasty delights at the Edgewater Hotel!

Oatmeal Cookie - It's a Good Thing

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Photo courtesy of Marthastewart.com

Clipart for Oatmeal Cookie canister available at marthastewart.com/cookies-clip-art

Taking a break from cupcakes this week.

Baking cookies instead.

Oatmeal Raisin at my mother's request.

Oatmeal Cookie Recipe (from Martha Stewart LivingJanuary 2011)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup golden raisins


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, using a spatula, cream together butter, sugar, and salt. Add egg, vanilla, and 1/4 cup water; mix until well combined.

3. In another large bowl, sift together flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Fold into the butter mixture until well combined. Add raisins and stir until well combined.

4. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, scoop out cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Transfer baking sheets to oven, and bake until edges begin to brown, about 14 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Enjoy!


3/25/11 Update:  Linking up to

Discovering Discovery Park

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Notice anything different about me today?

I'm wearing

SUNGLASSES  and NO COAT!!!!

Wooo hooo !!!

What a beautiful day it was in the Pacific Northwest today.

The perfect day to discover Discovery Park in Seattle.

I grabbed Maggie and left my chores for a later time.

Maggie was soooooo excited!!!

A 3-mile hike at Discovery Park.

We were in search of a nurse log -

a fallen tree which, as it decays, provides ecological facilitation to seedlings.

I'm sure there are nurse logs in Discovery Park but we didn't find any.

But we did find these little beauties ...

And these sweet cherry blossoms

And these magnificant views of the Olympic Mountains



And the Puget Sound.



Even 'The Mountain" - Mount Ranier - was out!

Of the dozens of cities in the many countries I have lived and worked in,

when the sun is out, Seattle and the

Pacific Northwest are by far the most beautiful.

Wishing you a warm and sunny hike as beautiful as mine!

Update:  Linking up to
Razamataz for the Friday Pet Photo Challenge

Spring Blooms!

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Spring is finally starting to show it's lovely blooms!

All of God's little creatures are singing His praises.

The frogs in the wetlands.

The herons roosting in the trees.

The eagles soaring through the sky.

The deer are back now that the trees and bushes have buds.

Today a couple even were peeking in the window this morning.

Perhaps because they could smell bacon.

My wonderful husband made the most magnificant brunch!

Poached eggs over english muffins.

Crispy bacon.

Sweet cherry tomatoes with tasty olive oil and cracked pepper.

Fresh fruit salad with drizzled honey.

Someone was very, very happy

and ate ... and ate ... and ate!

And my heart smiled.

Welcome back Sunshine!!

We missed you!

Live Simply. Love Much.

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This sweet card was inspired by two design challenges:

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday and

The Cuttlebug Spot.

Papertrey Ink's challenge this week is to make a card

with a partially embossed element.

The Cuttlebug Spot's challenge is to use twine

as a design element.

The top layer of this card was partially embossed

using a Swiss Dot impression folder.

The bottom 1.5" were left untouched and then

hand-punched using a Martha Stewart doily punch.

Twine was wrapped around the layers and

finished with a Papertrey Ink Vintage button and

a sweet little vintage postcard image from

the Graphics Fairy.

I love the Graphics Fairy!!  

So many darling images - so little time.

I also love Papertrey Ink's buttons and ribbon and felt!

I used the same image to make a gift tag. 

I think I'll make a matching card to go with it.

Don't you love the sentiment?

Live simply.  Love much.

Live simply. Love much dear friends.

Have A Wonderful Day!

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Inspired from two design challenges and

my Send Love Today assignment.

Design Challenge #1: CR84FN Color Challenge
I really struggled with these colors.
I guess that's why it's called a CHALLENGE!

Design Challenge #2: Get Sketchy #79

So, what do you think?

What elements work for you or

don't work for you?

Go ahead 

SOCK IT TO ME!

 

Another Card Challenge

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This card was inspired by two design challenges this week and

several very special people in my life who so graciously

remembered my husband and me this week for
our 9th wedding anniversary.

 

The first design challenge is from Get Sketchy #78.

The second design challenge is to use only the colors listed above
(aside from neutrals).

For this card, I used several papers from my stash. 
Orange and aqua happento be a favorite. 
The sentiment and buttons are from Papertrey Ink. 
Simple machine stiches were sewn to two layers
and the top layer was sand-distressed on the edges.
The large scallop die-cut was cut using Cricut Lacy Labels
and the small scallop die-cut was punched with a
Martha Stewart punch.

Several more people to thank - I better get crafting and make a few more cards.


3/19/11: Linking up to The Cuttlebug Blogpsot twine challenge.