Silly hats only.

We had a SILLY HAT PARTY at Bob's place...

The Bavarian Town of Leavenworth!

I think the pictures speak for themselves.

22.5 Hours in Portland and a Trip to the Arboretum

Ms. Meredith was in Portland this week.

I was able to switch around my schedule a bit in order to spend 22.5 hours in Portland with her and lovely Elisa!

And, Cinco...

On my way back to Seattle I took my time and explored some little towns and antique stores.

It was such a nice and well needed mini vacation. The only thing missing was the small town bakeries. Why is it that, in my head, small towns ALWAYS have a cute little bakery? I've been shown time and time again that this is not true. Still, I hold out hope...

On Saturday Drew and I took some pictures at the Arboretum.

The day was beyond beautiful.

You can see the rest of my Arboretum pictures here.

Un beso,

Allie

Allie likes visitors.

Last week I had a visitor.

No, it wasn't a "special kid" from some sort of organization that plans urban excursions for the developmentally disabled. He just seems to make faces like that whenever I pick up my camera. Don't worry, he's a lot more personable than he looks.

Visitors are a great excuse to do all those touristy things in your own city that you never find the time to do, like wander around downtown and take the time to get some pictures of all those cool details you've been meaning to shoot for, oh.... years. If Chile taught me one thing, it is to not procrastinate in taking pictures of the beautiful place in which you live. You never know when an earthquake will come and knock it all down. Oh, and it taught me Spanish, too. Whatever...

And we visited Pike Place Market...

And took a little ferry adventure.....

To Whidbey Island.....

Why do beautiful sunsets over water always remind me of Vermont?....

Besitos,

Allie

Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake

I have fond memories of my Grandmother's pineapple banana upside down cake. It's a genius combination of banana bread and buttery, caramely, ooey, gooey, upside down goodness. I remember that she would make it around Christmas time as a holiday gift for the staff in the doctor's offices that she frequented with my Grandfather. She would send a few pieces home with my father for my family as well. It was the moistest, gooiest banana bread I've ever had. Yes. I remember this cake in so much detail. Strangely, I'm the only one...

A few years ago, while I was still living in Chile, I asked my Dad to get the recipe from Grandma for me. I was living with a banana bread lover at the time and was getting sick of it myself. I thought that adding some banana pineapple upside down action might jazz it up a bit, giving me a slightly different way to put those over ripe bananas that we always seemed to have lying around to use. Also, it seemed like something Chileans would love. Dad didn't remember the cake but asked Grandma anyway. Grandma didn't remember the cake either. I asked Mom. She also had no recollection of this culinary masterpiece. Could I have possibly made it up? But I remember it in so much detail....

Mom had Dad e-mail me a plain old pineapple upside down cake recipe that she found in a children's book. It was a nice gesture, but it simply was not what I was looking for.

My quest for this (imagined?) taste of childhood was put on hold as I created other banana confectionery delights, such as banana chocolate chip oat bread and chocolate banana death pie, which certainly deserves the honor of its own blog post. Someday...

For our open house after the boy's graduation party over the summer, I decided to give the cake a shot. I settled on this recipe, as it received rave reviews all over the Internet. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but I thought it was too sweet. And, it's a low fat recipe. Even though it didn't taste that way, I can't help but to distrust any low fat cake... I was not impressed.

Then, of course, I promptly forgot about my quest for this cake again, as my summer cooking exploits turned mainly to pizza bake offs with the boy, and anything that could use up the excessive amount of zucchini that was bestowed upon us by friends, neighbors, and our own silly purchases at excessively cheap farm stands.

For some reason, the cake crept back into my mind last week as I pondered what would become of the sad bunch of bananas in my fruit basket. I decided that this time, I would go with my gut. I'd find a banana cake recipe, omit some of the sugar, and add it back in the form of a buttery, pineappley, upside downy caramel coating.

I can't believe that I waited so long to make this cake a part of my life again, and I can't wait to make it for Grandma next time I'm home...

Grandma's (I swear!!) Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake

Heavily adapted from this recipe

1 can pineapple rings (7 of the 9 rings)

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

7 slices of banana

6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg (room temperature)

1/3 cup milk + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup mashed ripe banana

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the 2 tablespoons butter in a 9 inch round cake pan and place in the preheating oven until the butter is melted. Remove from the oven and use a pastry brush to spread the butter over the entire interior of the pan, making sure to completely coat the sides. Sprinkle the 3 tablespoons of brown sugar over the bottom of the pan and arrange 7 pineapple rings in the bottom of the pan. Push the 7 banana slices into the holes in the pineapple rings. Place the pan back into the oven while preparing the cake so that the ingredients can begin to caramelize.

Use an electric hand mixer to blend the remaining butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk (or sift) the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together.

Add the milk/vinegar and flour mixtures to the butter a little at a time, alternating between the two, and mix until well combined. Fold the mashed bananas into the batter.

Remove the pan from the oven. Pour the batter over the pineapple slices and return to the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes after removed from the oven. To remove cake from pan, place a plate/serving platter on top of the pan. Using oven mitts to hold the plate and pan together, flip the two over in one quick motion so that the pan ends up upside down over the plate. Carefully remove the pan. Share with people that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Besitos,

Allie

Hello, February!

Whenever I leave Seattle and tell people where I live, they without fail make a comment about Seattle's reputation for being grey and rainy. They ask how bad it really is. They ask how I handle it. They ask why I didn't just stay in Chile, or chose someplace in California as my west coast relocation destination.

Most of these people don't understand that I grew up in Binghamton, NY, which I am convinced is the greyest place on earth. According to the Farmer's Almanac, Binghamton is the 6th worst weather city in the US. Seattle doesn't even make the list, although cities relatively close by are mentioned. Point being, pretty much any weather outside of Binghamton is a step up in my book.

But, this is not the point that I wanted to make. What I wanted to say is that February is Seattle's best kept secret. Yes, February!

When I lived on the east coast, February was the low point of the year. It was the time when hearing the words "wintery mix" nearly brought me to tears, to tantrums, to quitting it all and running off to a beach as close to the equator as I could calculate where I would lay wearing a black pants suit until my bones were sufficiently warmed. In February, you know that March is just around the corner, and that with March technically comes the first day of spring. I however, have seen too many March snow storms to believe, in February, that there is an end in sight. I've seen too many grey, crusty snow banks in April to see February as anything but a yearly torture that must be endured. February can be a sad, dreary place of which it seems like there is no foreseeable escape.

Not in Seattle, my friends. Look what I saw in my courtyard on February 1st!!

In Seattle, February marks the start of SPRING!

I know!!!

Can you imagine anything more fabulous?? I certainly can't. My first February in Seattle secured this city a special place in my heart. Just another reason to love the city that took me in and became my home, the wonderful beyond words Seattle, Washington.

Bob and I took a little wander through Discovery Park on Friday.

We had a few sunny days during the week, but weren't so lucky on Friday....

But... swamp flowers!

And highs in the 50s!

I certainly can't complain about the weather.

Besitos,

Allie

Skill Share Weekend!

A few months ago, I spent a lovely afternoon foraging for mushrooms in the woods with two of my favorite pals, Ms. Megan and Ms. Nell. While expressing our deepest gratitude to Megan for sharing this useful and rewarding skill with us, we started realizing how truly lucky we are that we have such a talented, interesting, and diverse friend base. Nelly thought it would be a great idea to get our multi-talented loved ones together once a month so that one of us could teach the others a valuable skill. Then, Nelly did the most amazing thing. She took this little idea that was fluttering about and made it into a reality.

It's really taken off. January was Britt's month and she took the opportunity to plan an entire weekend retreat. She put so much work and love into planning this event, and you could feel it with every word she spoke.

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people all the time!!!

Here are some of their pretty faces.

And here are some other images that I gathered over the course of the weekend...

Click here to see more photos of the weekend.

Besitos,

Allie