vacation (all i ever wanted)

When this little grant writer's head started spinning after a summer full of government proposals, sweltering East Coast rains, and stories of NYC apartment rat infestations, she got smart and got out. That's right: Mary and I are officially on vacation, in the temperate and exceedingly pleasant Pacific Northwest. During our first two blissful days of vacation, we've had no problem remembering why the Seattle area is our favorite place to eat.

Vacation started with a morning visit to the Redmond Saturday Market, where we ogled the beautifully fresh produce. While there, we made sure to pick up a few sausage and pepper sandwiches from Wise Guys Italian. The irony isn't lost on me that we came all the way from Brooklyn to the Seattle area to enjoy a quintessentially New York sandwich, but it was worth it. They use this special contraption to hollow out each piece of Italian bread, then fill the cavity with a scaldingly hot mix of sausage, peppers and onions. As you burn your mouth trying to bite into the sandwich, rich, spicy sauce drips onto your fingers, evidence of extreme happiness and satiety. Yum.

Some other things vacation has included thus far? Friends. So many of them. A totally incredible chocolate cake with chocolate buttermilk frosting and (most impressively) a decorative heart of multicolored sprinkles. A trip to Sur La Table for good measure, because one can never have too many baking pans, miniature ramekins or mozzarella cheese slicers.

 

And oh, oh my. The Northwest's bounty: fresh blackberries growing uncontrollably in every backyard, practically sprouting out your ears. They're ready to be baked into crisps and pies, hidden under great dollops of whipped cream, or simply devoured until your tummy grumbles suspiciously. Oh, sweet berries, pockets of juice breaking on my tongue and sliding lusciously across my palate like winey velvet. I can't get enough of you.

Nor can I get enough of this place where the sun shines during the day but it's chilly at night, and where we get to eat outside by candlelight and breathe in smells of blossoming roses and deep green grass. Today this Brooklyn girl is truly in heaven.

-Kylie