Foodie fast track

Have you ever heard of the revolutions being made with mobile phones? Before even learning to read and write, populations in third world developing nations have fast tracked to owning mobile phones (http://tinyurl.com/7vyfxwq). How do you charge keep a smartphone charged in a village without electricity?  If you're wondering why we're talking about developing countries and cellphones; it's a great analogy to Katie's most recent food adventure!  Katie hasn't had many of the basic foods, like yams or leeks, but she took the fast track to the foodie favorites and tried:

Steak tartare

fried oysters

brussels sprouts

oysters in the raw!

Oui oui, it's foie gras

Katie wasn't the only one trying new things.  Her trusty supporters also tried beef tartare for the first time.  mmmmmm!  Thank you Walrus and Carpenter restaurant!




In other news, salty chips make her mouth hurt.  Being a foodie is hard work!

Never met a cheese she didn't like

In all the daily Starbucks ventures, Katie Kookalot had never tried the cheese danish!  The cheese danish is not just a Starbucks treat; it's a gift from the gods! In Ballard, Katie's 'hood, Larsen's bakery famously makes the best danish in town.  So to have the city's best danish right under your nose, and not have even tried it is absurd. That's like living in the Northwest, and not having Salmon for 20+ years of your life--oh, wait...

So during on Starbucks outing, I wanted to split the Danish, and was floored when Katie said her famous "I haven't had a cheese danish before" (filled in the blank with the latest). So we split this  treat:

First words after trying were "tastes good."

Cosmos and hummus and bacon, oh my!

Kooky Katie has done it again!  She has reinvented herself throughout the summer:

Katie Bradshaw, First Cosmo

Hippie, First Hummus

Homer Simpson, mmmm.... Bacon Maple Bar

Here's the cliffhanger.  Katie has never had sweet potatoes.

Firsts: 1 of_?

I'm not sure how many of these "Firsts" posts we'll have, but I'm inclined to think there will be many since Katie's most commonly used phrase is "I've never had ______." Here is a serving from the past month:

first guacamole dip

first bite of Chinese broccoli

first glass of

Rosé

You might be asking yourself, "I can't believe Katie has never had guacamole!  That's like never having hummus!"  Well, she has never had hummus.  Now you're probably saying "but what about Chinese broccoli?!  That's like not ever having yellow bell pepper!"  Katie hasn't had that either and so the blog continues.

Turn up the heat!

Hot wings challenge!  Katie went for the alleged "spicy" wing, which was determined by the real spice lovers not to be spicy at all.  Nevertheless, fear was in the heart of Katie as she approached the wing.  But, she approached it like a champ--not unlike the one in the backdrop . 

Once it was determined that Katie's tongue was at an acceptable temperature, a dash of 7-alarm wing sauce was applied to spice things up a bit.  This was in conjunction with the heroic consumption of the famous 7 Alarm Wing by both Sous Chef (yours truly) and two other brave stewards of spice!  Sympathy sweat was had by those not having the hot wings, and triumph was shared by all.



The Challenge

It all started with a co-worker's naive comment:  "K, so [I've] never had Nutella... is it just regular old peanut butter?   Or is there something special to it?"  Katie had a konniption fit and declared she could eat Nutella "EVERY day," and so the challenge began.  How many consecutive days and different ways could Katie eat Nutella?

Day 1: Nutella crepe with strawberries

Day 2: Nutella french toast

Day 3: Nutella pastry puff (a Katie original)

Day 4: Nutella-stuffed pancakes

Day 5: Nutella and banana panini

Day 6: Nutella and banana purses

It turns out Katie only lasted six days on the challenge even though she considers Nutella the "condiment of the gods." And the co-worker still has not tried it (Tassos).

Dinner Diary

Sorry readers, I'm behind on my posts!  Readers have pointed out that Kooking with Katie has not shown enough of Katie's actual kooking... So, this week we're covering Katie's dinner diary from last week:

Sunday: Cherry popsicle and Cherry Craisins
Monday: Sun Chips and Nutella Toast
Tuesday: Cherry Craisins


Wednesday: Chicken Sauteed with Apples (garlic was forgotten).  Recipe can be found here: http://katieparker.tumblr.com/post/6343309001/chicken-sauteed-with-apples-ingredients

Thursday: Chinese dumplings at Din Tai Fung!  Katie put her fears aside (most of them), and tried some:

    a little scared....                                mmmm... dumplings....                            Success!

Friday: Fried egg sandwich
Saturday: leftover turkey and swiss panini from earlier lunch.

Ellie, the Havanese dog, had Chicken and Brown Rice flavored dog food.

Seems like the week was off to a rough start, but later things really got kookin'.  Let's see if she can outdo herself this week.

Evolution

Hello hungry followers.  In a mere 10 days, something phenomenal has happened.  It was kind of like Planet of the Apes, but instead of apes and humans, it involved Spam and sushi (and Katie, of course).  So how does one progress from spam to sushi?  Take note:

Katie's first Spam--hooray for processed/canned meat!

Now let's incorporate the processed meat into a hot dog roll....

And now onto the real thing.  This was Katie's first time eating raw fish (and second time ever eating salmon).

Presto!  Evolution from Spam to salmon sushi! 

What Tastes Better than Flesh?

Not sure if you heard the news, but the rapture and zombie apocalypse were a real threat this past weekend!  The Center for Disease Control even released a zombie preparedness guide, complete with what you’ll need to survive before making it to a zombie-free refuge site.  Details can be found here: http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp 

Fortunately for Katie, she was prepared when the zombies did attack.  She stocked up with plenty of Nutella (and probably Cheez-its) in her emergency survival kit.  The hungry zombies came a-knockin’:

Katie responded as the gracious host she is; she whipped up some Snoqualmie batter pancakes, complete with Nutella and strawberries which are a zombie treat.

Katie kooking saved the day, and possibly the world.

Who let the Dogs out?!

Last night was a big night.  Katie shortened her “haven’t tried it” list by eating her first Seattle Dog!   It had cream cheese and onions and was grilled to perfection. 

However, Katie pointed out the Seattle Dog has some tough competition with Tucson's Sonoran Dog, which comes wrapped in bacon.  Pictured here is a double (heart attack) Sonoran dog:



Which dog do you think tastes best?

Cheese sammich, hold the mold

After Monday's dinner of cherry-flavored craisins (which was the inspiration for the blog), Katie has stepped up her kooking.  With limited groceries and unsalvageable mold-covered cheeses, Katie used shredded cheddar to make this delectable grilled cheese sammich.  Yes, sammich is now an official word in the dictionary (http://tinyurl.com/48ob8ra).

Now the question remains... If Katie has showed improvements from craisin dinner to preparing Grilled Cheese sandwiches, in a year from now where will she be?  Will she surpass grilled cheese to become the next Julia Child, boning the duck and preparing pate de canard en croute?

Prologue 5/10/2011

Katie lives in a sweet condo with her Havanese dog in a happening neighborhood.  She doesn’t like many vegetables, has never had an Egg McMuffin, and loves cheese.  All of these interesting eating preferences and lively lifestyle, who has time or even wants to cook for one?!  Katie has developed eating habits that revolve around dinners usually taking less than 10 minutes of preparation.  This blog sets the stage for Kooking with Katie.