Market Find Turned Jewelry Project

Yesterday on my walk to take Colin his phone, I walked through the Fremont Sunday Market.  If you're not from Seattle, Fremont is one it's many neighborhoods.  It is unique and eclectic.  Known for many things from the it's name "Center of the Universe" to the Summer Solstice Parade (google it :)) AND of course the Sunday Market.  I didn't have my camera...not totally used to this blogging thing yet...but next time I visit I will post a few pictures.

It's a farmer's market/ flea market/ craft fair/ food fair of sorts.  You can pick up fresh produce, a hand made piece of jewelry or purse, eat at one of the many food stands and check many, many booths for second hand treasures.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon if you ask me!

As I was browsing, I came upon a  booth with goody bags filled with old pieces of jewelry, sort of a surprise grab bag.  I found one that I thought had some fun pieces, the whole bag for $15.  I guess I was inspired, because it seemed like a fun venture, so I bought it on the spot!

I love jewelry!  I come from a family of jewelers...my grandfather, two brothers and even my Mom, so I guess it's in my blood. :)  Many of the jewelry pieces that are popular today are either copies if vintage pieces, or true vintage pieces re purposed.  That is what I thought of when I glanced through this bag filled with cute little bird and butterfly broaches.  I think it would be fun to turn these pieces into necklaces or use a few as charms for a bracelet.
This is an Anne Klein version sold for $95....I hope to recreate something like it for much less.

And here are the pieces I got that I think I'll be able to use.  Some of the bag just had junk, but fun to search through none the less!

The little red bird and feather are some of my favorite pieces.  Making them into necklaces shouldn't be too difficult, I may need some help with the charm bracelet idea though.  

I also like the anchor....

and the gold leaves....

actually each piece has some sort of potential!

I'll have to keep you posted as to how I end up using these pieces, but just thought I'd share because the idea of a project excites me!  Maybe even a good Christmas gift....hmmm?  Hope you are inspired too!

Have a Happy Halloween!  

PS.  Can't seem to fix the font...not sure why. :(

Personal Pesto Pizza with Ricotta, Mushrooms and Walnuts

So tonight I was home by myself and had been thinking about diffent pizza ideas for the past couple days. I've had this pizza dough in my fridge from Trader Joe's for the past week and was hoping to use it up today. Well...that didn't happen because Colin had to go into work a lttle bit early and I got to baking cookies. After he left for work, I was heading out for a walk and saw he forgt his phone...so off I went to drop it off. Long story short, all I could think about on my walk home was the pizza I planned to make for MYSELF. :) Pesto, ricotta, sauteed mushrooms...can it get any better?!

Because I was feeling a bit lazy and also wanted to keep it a bit healthier/lower cal, I used a whole wheat wrap for the crust. It actually turned out delicious! This pizza would also be wonderful on any dough and the dough I have in the fridge is a garlic herb flavor, so I plan to recreate this on that soon!

Personal Pesto Pizza with Ricotta, Mushrooma and Walnuts 
1 Whole wheat wrap
1 Tbs Basil Pesto, or more to your taste ( I used store bought)
6-8 Crimini mushrooms
Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper flakes(if desired)
1 tsp butter Cooking spray ( I used the olive oil kind)
2 tsp chopped Walnuts
1/4 C Ricotta
1/4 shreadded Mozzarella
Grated or shaved Parmasean

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice mushooms and spray a skillet with cooking spray, adding butter to melt over med heat. Add mushrooms and saute, sprinkling with a dash of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes as they saute until browned, about 5 mins. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside. Add walnuts to same pan and toast for just a couple of mins till fragrant. Remove from pan. Place wrap in same pan and lightly brown on each side, 1-2mis per side. Place wrap on cookie sheet and brush with pesto. Evenly spread mushrooms over pesto and then place 1/2-1tsp dollops of ricotta all over the pizza. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmasean over toppings, finsishing with walnuts on top. Bake about 5-7 mins watching closely so the crust doesn't burn. Slice and enjoy!

Tip: You can vary the amounts to your taste to make a larger pizza. One of my favorite quick pizza crusts is frozen Naan bread from Trader Joes. We usually do two for the two of us and that way we can make two differnt types of pizza!

New Beginnings

So I'm back after a long absence! Not that I'm even sure there are any of you out there reading, but I'm excited to be here posting some new recipes and experiences for whomever may care to read. I've changed my Blog name fom Eat, Drink and Be Merry to Pieces of Me, as that is what I am hoping to share with you. It may not be soley food related, rather just "pieces" of the things I love or am loving right now, or find exciting and inspirational...but probably a lot of food :)

Some of what this blog for me is, just taking a step toward following some of my passions. I am a regular follower of several blogs and it has been so inspirational...life changing I might say. It has even made me ponder culinary school! I'm not sure if that lies in the cards for me...very expensive, but there is no reason I can't still cook! This is a time in my life where I am reevaluating who I am, what I love, what makes me tick...and that is exciting! I'm not even sure of all that I will include here yet, but that too is exciting! I am wanting to live and experience life to the fullest and this blog is part of that.

My interests are many, but I have noticed I often just have ideas, and never see them to fruition. I want to change that...even if it means posting a couple of recipes I've come up with, sharing decorating ideas I have, or attempting to tackle a bit of photography (you will see right now I'm only using a point and shoot, but hope to move up in that area as well). I love to try new restaurants and hope to post some those as well. It's a new beginning and a new journey for me and anyone out there wanting to join! Here we go...

Palomino's

Recently I tried the happy hour at Palomino's after hearing a lot of good things about it from my friends that frequent the one on the Eastside. To be honest, I really hadn't had a lot of interest in checking this one out because it's a chain. Not to say that chains can't be good, but when there are so many one of kind places around....why waste time on chains! Monday night was my second time at Palomino's, which I guess says something in it itself. I would have to say, it's not bad, very good in fact, and having been there twice, I have gotten a fairly good sampling of their menu.

The atmosphere is okay, being that it is located on the 3rd floor of City Centre Mall. It's a fairly large bar, but one of the main things my friend and I thought the first time we visited was how loud it was. Saying that makes me feel old, but truly it is a bustling place. :) I guess that also says something about the popularity of this happy hour, it's definitely not hurting for people. Probably due to one of it's biggest draws, aside from the food, is the fact that it's all night, 3 to close! You don't find that everywhere, and I guess that is one of the luxuries chains can afford.

I was rather impressed with the food as well. They have a very nice selection of flatbreads and pizza's, 2 of which I've tried, both delicious. The flatbreads are $7, but they are huge, and the pizza's are $5, also very good sized. I've tried the Prosicutto Flatbread, which has a pesto base, topped with prosciutto, arugula and shavings of pecorino sardo...loved it! And last night Colin and I tried the Italian Sausage and Mushroom Flatbread, also very tasty! My first time there we also got the Puget Sound Clams, which I really enjoyed. Generally I'm more of a mussels girl, but these were prepared with tomatoes and cubed salami (I think) which made them special and delicious. Both the Dungeness Crab Artichoke Dip and Pigs in a Blanket were also worth the try. The prices are not as inexpensive as some happy hours ($3-$7.50), but the portions, at least with flatbreads and pizzas, seem to make it worthwhile. They also have drink specials, all night as well. A selection of cocktails, beer and a house red and white wine, all for $4.

I will admit, although skeptical at first, I will be adding this happy hour to my repertoire of worthwhile repeats. Give it a try!

Market Spice in Pike's Place Market

Keeping with my theme of inexpensive ways to enjoy food, I felt like I couldn't go without mentioning what I have found from talking to other locals (well, at least my friends) is somewhat of a hidden treasure here in Seattle. Market Spice is a spice and tea shop located in Pike's Place Market right next the famous Pike's Place Fish. Anyone who has been to Seattle and has been to the Market is sure to have walked past or even into this shop. Although if like me, you've never really done much but browse and taste their tea samples. It wasn't till I had been living here for awhile that I really took the time to explore there vast spice slection.

The shop has almost every kind of dried herb or spice you can imagine, but what both shocked and thrilled me was how inexpensive they were. Part of this comes from the fact that it is all sold in bags, by the ounce, just like a bulk store, so you aren't paying for the packaging. I happen to have a spice rack that I can refill the jars, so if you don't, in the long run, it would be a great investment. Or just save the containers next time you run out of a store bought herb or spice.

Of course, I like many cooks today, choose fresh herbs when I'm able, but it is great to have good quality dried ones on hand. That is one of the main things I noticed once trying a few, they are a much better quality, with better flavor, but SO much less expensive. For example, a few years back I tried and fell in love with the blend Herbs de Provence, but they are a bit pricing in the regular grocery store. I'm not sure of exact weights, but I bought a good sized bag, more than enough to fill my empty jar, for $1 or less. Same thing with a spicy italian blend I've found there and like, I think the same size came to $0.82, or something ridiculously cheap like that. So, needless to say, being the bargain hunter that I am, I was sold immediately after that point.

If you happen to find yourself in the Market sometime soon, give this shop a try. I am also always very interested to find where others are finding good deals, so if have any tips, let me know!

P.S. I have started posting links to the places in my posts, under Location Links at the top of the blog.

Healthy Zucchini "Lasagna"

Living alone, I often try to rely on simple but healthy things like soup and salad for my basic diet, especially when I have to take meals to work for 12 hour shifts. Every now and then I just need to change it up a bit, but still like to keep it healthy. I'd rather reserve all the splurging for happy hour tasting. :) One of the recipes I've come up with that works perfect for work meals or just for satisfying that craving for comfort food, is what I call Zucchini Lasagna. I just put together an assortment of the veggies and flavors I like and have on hand, so there is always room for tweaking. The amounts are not, nor do they need to be exact, so if you opt to try this one out, get creative!

Healthy Zucchini Lasagna

2 small zucchini
1/2 of a red pepper cut in strips and then halved
3-5 mushrooms (depending on size) or canned if all that's on hand, sliced
Handful of fresh baby spinach leaves
Small bunch of fresh basil chopped
Cooking spray
Marinara sauce of your choice
Ricotta cheese (low fat or fat free if you choose)
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
Mozzarella cheese for sprinkling
Fresh ground pepper
Dried oregano (optional)
Garlic powder (optional)

Makes 2-3 servings, so increase amounts as needed for more.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a small casserole pan with nonstick cooking spray (I have one that's close to 5x9...odd size but perfect for me and a great find at the dollar store!) . Take the cleaned zucchini and slice lengthwise. I use a cheese slicer for this, but a mandolin would work even better if you have one.

Put a small amount of marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish to coat and then lay the strips of zucchini to cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder, oregano, black pepper and Parmesan. Take the ricotta and place several dollops to evenly cover the zucchini. Depending on the type of ricotta, it may be too thick to spread, but that's fine. Evenly place the red peppers and mushrooms over the ricotta and then sprinkle with mozzarella and basil. Lay the spinach over this and top with a layer of sauce. Repeat layers of zucchini with seasonings, followed by ricotta, ending with the peppers, mushrooms and basil.

Top this with more sauce to cover and then mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake approximately 30 minutes.

It will be waterier than a typical lasagna because of all the fresh veggies, but tastes great! Another variation I've tried is oven roasting the zucchini, peppers and mushrooms before compiling the lasagna, also very tasty!

Moshi Moshi Sushi

This past Monday my boyfriend, Colin and I tried a new sushi place for happy hour. Our favorite has always been Umi in Belltown (which I will post about another time), but Moshi Moshi is definitely high on my list after checking it out. It's in Ballard, right on Ballard Ave. across from Madame K's, so very convenient if you happen to be in the neighborhood and are looking for some great sushi. The atmosphere is lovely with pale green walls, dressed with japanese umbrellas and a floor to ceiling lit Sakura tree from Japan sitting in the center of the restaurant.

Prices are great ranging from $1.95 to $5.95. They only have a couple of roll options, so we tried a traditional California roll and an Eel Avacado roll, both very tasty and only $3.95. What's nice and somewhat different about their happy hour menu is they have several non-sushi options for those who aren't big fans of sushi. We tried the Beef Kushi Sashi, which are seasoned flat ironed beef skewers...delicious and only $2.95! And of course, both of our favorites, steamed edamame for $1.95. They also have drink specials, for $5 or less. We were impressed by the rather extensive list of speciaty cocktails, a couple of which are on the happy hour menu. Colin tried the .40 Calibur composed of rye, dubonnet, marshino, absinthe and bitters, which he really liked. They also have glasses of house wine for $3.95, which was and is often my choice for happy hour. I had the white, not bad, nor my favorite.

Overall, a great choice and one we will be stopping in for again!