This past Saturday night, through a series of what I suppose you could call mishaps Marc, Gavin and I ended up having dinner at a really cool restaurant called Tin Table. Located in the super busy especially on the weekend neighborhood of Capitol Hill we ended up there more by default and boy was I glad! First stop was Oddfellows with it’s industrial French-ish charm – and not surprisingly, totally packed. A couple blocks away, a bar called Quinns – also jammed to capacity. Across the street the 1.5 hour wait at Poquitos (same owners as Bastille in Ballard). We had scored the primo parking space (and it only took 10ish minutes of driving around) now we just needed the “restaurant Gods” to smile upon us. That’s when Gavin asked if we’d ever been to Tin Table. Never heard of it we said as we found ourselves headed back in the direction of Oddfellows which I now know is in the Oddfellows Building – which also houses the cool sustainable gift shop Nube Green and up a large creaky wooden staircase who woulda guessed – The Century Ballroom and finally the Tin Table. So romantic, like a trip back in time, very elegant! The wall of glasses (top photo) leads you into the bar with small lounge areas (and several “tin tables”). We had badly needed and delicious cocktails – Marc and Gavin, gin lovers that they are ordered the humorously named Corpse Reviver #2 consisting of Millers Gin, cointreau, cocchi americano & lemon juice served with an absinthe rinse & brandied cherry – hello momma! Champagne seems to be a speciality of the restaurant so a dash of it in my drink – the Bijou – an addicting mixture of Grapefruit juice, ruby red vodka, lemon juice Simple Syrup topped with champagne and served with a Sugar rim & lemon twist – wow! This makes me want to be a Mixologist in my next life, so creative! Dinner was excellent and considering how crowded they were I was surprised at our service – cool waiter and everything came pretty quickly. Each of us in the mood for something totally different. Gavin had Gnocchi, Marc the “floozy burger” with the thinnest most delicious french fries ever and for me the rockfish with Saffron Farrotto and Peppadew Marmalade (which was unusual and amazing!). My dish was $17 and I was the “high roller” amongst us (it was really really delicious). I would be happy to try anything on that menu and certainly to go back to the bar. Tango or Salsa dance lessons across the hall at the ballroom? I think we’ll be happy to sit that one out (conveniently across the hall at Tin Table!).

By the time I finish this post it will be time to say Happy New Year but before that a mini wrap up of Christmas once again in Asheville, North Carolina. I’m happy to say that we actually survived flying on Christmas Eve with dare I say no hassle at all? Hard to believe, but somehow it is true. (and we even flew on SouthWest!). There were no snowstorms anywhere to screw things up (coming or going) and I didn’t even see people tying to overstuff their carry ons with tons of travel mangled pre wrapped gifts. Even the babies (and there were several) didn’t cry! The first quick stop of our flight was in Denver, cheers to whoever organized the roving airport Christmas parade – the kids as well as the grown ups loved it! We landed in Greenville/Spartanburg South Carolina by John, Vinnie and LuAnn who had the forethought to pack a Christmas Eve picnic of sorts (since they only served peanuts on our flights) so they could whisk us off to Christmas Eve cocktails at Asheville’s Grand Bohemian hotel. Lots delicious cocktail concoctions, Bohemian decor including antlers of many descriptions and even a roaring fire complete with roasted chestnuts for the peeling and nibbling (much better than airline peanuts!) Speaking of cozy (and we always are) John and Vinnie (and their critters) are the ultimate hosts! Every morning in their spacious kitchen coffee and tea (in my own little tea pot) awaiting us, lovely guest rooms, our own guest bathrobes (wow) and a kitchen and bar stocked with all kinds of goodies! And pictured above and always looking for a lap to nap on, their trio of dotson’s – Gigi, Stretch and William – always in the mood for a cuddle (yes, there’s 3 of them in there!). Four cats also add to the fun but as Marc was wishing they was a tad less cozy when he tried A) to eat (watch out, there’s milk in that cereal!) and B) de-fur his coat (good luck with that!). Christmas dinner was a group effort – baked crab imperial and perfect filet mignon, asparagus and potatoes. Lu glows as much as the table centerpiece (only she is not off balance! – right Lu?!!!) An unusual, adventurous and beautiful ending to our Christmas evening – we bundled up for a quick car ride to Beaver Lake to light our Wish Lanterns. What a perfectly clear and chilly night to launch our glowing lanterns! When the flame goes out the eco friendly bamboo and rice paper lantern falls to the ground. Make a wish!

Cozyland wishes everyone a Very Happy New Year! As seen from the Seattle Space Needle (but not in person, are you kidding me, too cold!). A big year in front of us with lots of room for improvement in the world! Let’s hope some of those positive vibrations we’re all to putting out there really result in something! Happy 2012 everyone!

Some Christmas traditions that I seem to have gathered throughout the years…Christmas wreaths, several of them – and yes, I’d love to order one like this (check out Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP for more on this wreath) but my solution has been to keep the same grape vine wreath and every year add fresh “ingredients” from around the hood be it holly, pine cones, juniper berries and maybe a freshly ironed real satin ribbon! Every year at least one new Christmas ornament to add to the tree. This year’s comes as a gift from Switzerland courtesy of lovely friends Sonja, Stephen and Lena – a little red purse (hanging next to last years Adelvice!). A special holiday soup – this year it’s Roasted Chestnut and I can’t remember how long it’s been since I wanted (and did) just lick the bowl clean. Embarrassing I tell ya, but worth it!! they key to this soup is the thyme – it is so delicious with the chestnuts! I used peeled and boiled chestnuts I bought at Trader Joe’s (and had leftover from Thanksgiving). I also omitted the Cognac cream. I had made this before and found it honestly didn’t add that much. The soup is amazing on it’s own! My Aunt Aggie’s Nut Cake – we have been making this cake for years for Christmas morning breakfast – it’s not too sweet and well, you’ll just have to take my word for it – it is delicious! I’ll include the recipe at the end of this post. And speaking of nuts – as often as possible I love love love to go see the Nutcracker! On the lower scale of “cultural activities” we always go see a movie together – this year I’m hoping it’s David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo! A real stretch from a ballet, right? And we can’t forget this Charlie Brown Christmas classic – we watch it every year! And another absolute MUST is watching the original Rudolph! Most importantly, Christmas is the season of giving and it’s funny how we can spend money like crazy on the silliest things when there are so many who are so badly in need. Open up your wallet and give to your favorite charity whatever it may be!!! The littlest bit can make a difference! Cozyland is flying out Christmas eve to North Carolina where although there is no snow there will still be a fire in the fireplace and lots of love and good cheer. Merry Christmas everyone!
AUNT AGGIE’S NUT CAKE
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup shortening (you can buy healthier shortening now!)
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
How about this for simple – mix all ingredients and bake at 375 for one hour – super moist and so delicious!

You know I always have to check up on Ms. Stewart during the holidays to see what she is up to! and thanks to the daily blog she keeps on her website she makes it easy for me to be a fly on the wall! I can hardly imagine the staff and planning that goes into getting her whole house and property ready – must be nuts! Martha has enough rooms to do many “stories” – gold and silver sets the tone above. Green with envy? you’re not the only one… Polished to perfection – Martha’s version of the Green Lantern… Let’s not forget about the “bird” room… Dozens of these little jewels It pays to know people in high places! (park this one next to the bulldozer…) I would love to know how many fireplaces total on her property… Even apple trees get special treatment As you might imagine, Martha entertains quite a bit at this house and as always, it seems like the kitchen is the place to be! Gere-head – No one minds if this one just happens to be in the neighborhood! Well I’ll be darned, if it isn’t the entire Ralph Lauren family!

View of the main house? Guess again, this is only the stable!!! Once again, Martha certainly has served up all the ingredients for a very Merry and cozy Christmas!

Every Christmas Marc and I pick a restaurant and go out for what we call “our official Christmas dinner” together. A lovely excuse to get all dressed up and have a really great evening! (I am still learning how to do little black dress in 40 degree weather – note to self – buy some dressy black boots and quick unless you plan on wearing only pants!. Last year we chose Mistral Kitchen and were sorely disappointed but this year we went to Ethan Stowell’s newest restaurant, The Book Bindery. Located along the ship canal in lower Queen Anne just a little before the Fremont Bridge on Nickerson the restaurant did in fact used to be a Book Bindery . The warehouse look of the outside is decidedly in contrast with the inside, with soft gray walls, lots of white wainscoting and built in book cases. What we especially liked was the elegant long bar and refreshing amount of space between tables. Marc and I were seated at a perfect corner banquette table giving me a wonderful view of the moon on the water (come the first snowfall, I want to be sitting at this bar sipping on a bottle of their in house wine Almquist Family Vintners.) Amuse Bouche? You betcha – a delicious oh so delicate little truffle soup – needless to say I could have eaten an entire bowl, how gauche of me! For starters I had an arugula salad and Marc had risotto. For main course he chose the steak (amazing!) while I went for the scallops – guess we’re a surf and turf kinda couple… Both extremely delicious and satisfying yet still leaving room for dessert (how fortunate!) we chose the Almond Financier with fresh strawberries. A couple of coffees, seems this couple didn’t want their Christmas dinner to end! Book Bindery, really great food and calm, beautiful ambience – it was so nice to escape the rude hustle bustle of some restaurants especially for this Christmas occasion – we will be back very soon!

We were so crazy busy with work in October that we never made it out to the pumpkin patch so for our Christmas tree I was hellbent on going to one of the many Christmas tree farms the state of Washington has to offer. I was happy to get a great recommendation from a friend at work who lives in Carnation – about 45 minutes outside of Seattle. She gave me the names of a couple choices but when she mentioned the big white barn at Carnation Tree Farm I was hooked! Take a deep breath, you can smell the cold air and best of all, the pine needles! Frosty breath galore, where were my gloves? Marc wandered amongst the trees you could cut down but we found our perfect tree pre-cut (that was handy!) Lots of activity going on at Carnation – a bake sale (I bought some brownies to make a trifle,,more on that later!), of course hot cocoa and lots and lots of little kiddies all bundled up in winter jackets, hats and mittens – so cute! A small Christmas boutique full of ornaments (but people too, we had to get out of there!). Apparently we weren’t the only ones who needed a “break” – a Santa sighting of sorts!
If you’ve got local farmers to support head on out to a tree farm – Carnation Tree Farm, a beautiful Christmas outing!