The International District - pilot episode 1

In the land of hanging roast duck and humbow, we start this next foodie chapter in Seattle's International District.

While most place in the ID are Chinese, we've thrown in other firsts. Notably, one of them is not chicken feet.  Katie has refused them the last three times. 

Lone uneaten chicken foot, reserved for Katie

First sake:

And wonton soup, with add-your-own noodles and baby bok choy, or as Katie called it "whatever that is" as she pushed it aside.  Maybe next time.

whatever that is

Lastly, unagi! 

Unagi (eel)

恭喜發財 - 新年快樂!

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).