Explosion of global groceries

I usually never take the time to stray from my self-inflicted routine. My weekends are usually filled with friends and I find myself devoting most of the days to being active. I rarely take the time to do other things, like go shopping for an entire day. My sweet, dear friend Az broke me loose of the same old - same old and took me to Seattle for a day of Asian food, girl time and window shopping. A well needed break for me and my tender knee.

Az has been raving about "H Mart" a Asian/Global market north of Seattle for some time now and my interest in adding new things into the bland routine made me jump at the opportunity to have someone just as passionate and have similar tastes (besides the greasy beef) give me the grand tour. She gave me the Asian 101 experience and I didn't even have to leave the country. She explained simple cooking techniques, what she likes, what makes your lips tingle.... and a true interest in walking down every isle with me.

The produce section blew the socks off of anything I have ever seen. The variety was a little overwhelming. Choice in the produce section - that is nothing I usually see at the local markets. Banana flowers? Who knew! A bazillion different types of noodles, fresh, frozen, and dried. Sauces and pastes.... endless varieties.  Seaweed, salads, fresh, died (yummy!). Then the real mind opener - the meat section. The cuts of beef were nothing like I am accustomed to seeing, very thin, interesting cuts. From the meat section comes the seafood section. This is where Az and I share very similar interests. I could live on seafood and the variety that was to be found was a bit overwhelming. Fish in ALL forms - dried, salted, raw, frozen, fresh, and just mysterious. I LOVE pickled fish, and dried fish so I picked out a few gems that looked of good quality and sure to gross out a handful of people if they were to look through my cupboard - or as Joe would refer to a certain type of seaweed, "it tastes like low tide!"

Lunch at the food court is not to be missed - something that we just can't get close to in Bellingham - well unless Az is cooking.

Seeking shelter from the storm

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In an attempt to warm my co-workers and of course our hungry, wet, wind blown, cold bellies I cooked up my new found comfort food of choice: Asian noodles. I am new to asian cooking and for the most part asian cusine in general. I love it and can't get enough right now. My office mate and I have been drooling over this recipe for some time. I finally made it and it was a winner. The crock pot is a gal's best friend and it pulled through yet again. Done right, the slow cooker makes the house smell like you have been in the kitchen all day, but really all that needs to be done is throwing a pork roast, garlic, soy sauce, wine, water, pepper, ginger and what ever else you see fit int to the pot, turn to low and leave. As soon as you open the door after a day of work, wahlah! Perfect pork, bursting with flavor, savory broth that is just begging for noodles and some veggies.

The Northwest can be hard to hanndle this time of year. Storm after storm, rain day in and day out, and the wind... the type of wind that falls the biggest trees around like toothpicks, the wind that wakes you up at night, the force so fierce that the next morning the yard is often a tresure chest of random articles swept off of neighboring properties. These last couple of weeks have been blustery to say the least. The amount of rain that has been falling is unimaginable and is testing the strength of our roof (the rain won).

What do we fine people do to battle this absolute nonsence? We buy lots of GORETEX, go to the gym, drink insane amounts of coffee, drink alot of beer, and eat! EAT! EAT! EAT! and talk about the weather (sometimes).  Last night the house was full of wonderful people, seeking shelter from the storm, feasting on warm, gooey, pork asian noodles, waiting out this long winter together.