yogafy

I had to check in today to share this amazing video my friend Lauren passed my way. I can't get over how inspiring and beautiful it is. Everything about it is perfection. Aren't people so amazing!?!? This video makes me want to MOVE!  I hope you love it as much as me. Thanks, Lauren, for sending it my way! I really needed this inspiration in my life right now.

P.S. Yogafy is one of my favorite words. I think it might be made up (?). If you ever want to know the story behind it, ask me in person some day. It's a good one!

happy friday!

What are you all doing this weekend? It's going to be sunny and in the 60s this weekend, and I'm so excited. On top of that, Anders has Saturday off (minus a small chunk of time to do another cooking demo), which is a rare treat for us. Not sure what we are going to do yet, but an adventure will be involved. Woo.

Let's celebrate Friday with a few of my favorite links from around the web:

One of my favorite author's wrote an article about the Ranch in Malibu. Oh how I would LOVE to go.

I've been obsessed with lettuce wraps lately, and these look awesome.

I want this skirt in citrus green!

One of my favorite blogs has a cookbook coming out.

This is hilarious. Choosing the right seat (found via A Cup of Jo)

A new favorite blog...Legal Nomads (about a lawyer who quit to travel!)

The 60 coolest people in food and drink (my crush, Christina Tossi, is on it!)

How pretty is this cake. And it's all raw!

Ryan, a Pike Place Fish fishmonger, shares a recipe from the cookbook

Have a great weekend!

teriyaki

The weather is warming up, which means a whole lot more outside cooking! (side note: I grew up in IL, and we always call it "cooking out" or "grilling." Anders and his family call it "barbecuing," which, to this day, always throws me for a loop. To me, barbecue will always and forever be a sauce. If you are "barbecuing" something you are putting barbecue sauce on it. I still have to think it through every time they talk about it. It's an issue. Please tell me I'm not the only one alone in this...) Anyway, when I was a kid my Mom would make teriyaki for us every so often, and it was my absolute favorite thing to eat on the grill (barbecue). I haven't had it for years, but something made me think of it the other day, and I immediately added it to this week's dinner menu. The ingredients are short and simple, but they pack quite a punch. And I promise it doesn't matter if you want to grill or barbecue, it will taste super delicious either way.

Teriyaki

Serves 4-6

Ingrediants:

3-4 lb chuck roast

clove of garlic, minced

1 tbs brown sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tbs oil

2 tbs water

1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions:

1. Cut the chuck roast into good sized kabob chunks (about 1-2 inches), trimming off any unwanted fat

2. Combine all of the marinade ingredients together and add to a 11x8 inch pan (I actually just stirred them all together in the pan)

3. Add meat, toss to combine with marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for 12+ hours. The longer the better. I let mine marinade overnight.

4. Preheat grill (barbecue) to high. Seer the meat on high for 1 minute on each side, then turn the heat down to medium high and cook another 3-5 minutes (or until desired doneness, we like ours medium rare). Turn occasionally so it cooks evenly on both sides.

Note: We actually put our teriyaki on skewers to make grilling easier, but it's not required. If you use skewers, don't forget to soak them first!

Enjoy!

cherry blossoms

Two reasons to celebrate this weekend: Anders is finally home (officially) from the book tour, and the sun was (kinda) shining. We took a little bit of time on Sunday afternoon to go check out the cherry blossoms in bloom on the University of Washington's quad. We were definitely a touch early as the blossoms were just starting to sprout, but it was pretty none-the-less. Although, we might have to go back next weekend just to see them in all their full-bloom glory. Spring is coming! I am so excited.

a little update...

 Anders has been on his book tour this past week; stopping in New York, San Fran, Portland and finally on to Denver. Meanwhile, it has just been me and Maggie at home. Until today that is!!! I got home today from work, minding my own business, and when I walked in the door I saw Anders home early! He has a small break before he leaves for Denver, so he came home for a few days and surprised me. AND not only did he surprise me by coming home early, but he brought Pok Pok (a very well known Thai restaurant that I've been dying to try) all the way home from Portland with him because I literally won't stop talking about it. 

I mean, pleeeeease! Do husbands get much better than that?

I don't think so.

Here is all the press from the book tour from the last week in case you missed it.

AM Northwest (Katu.com)

Seattle Weekly review

Heritage Radio

Better TV

Portland Monthly review

Truffles and Tribulations (radio show)

The pictures above are from the book tour via the Pike Place Fish instagram and Anders' instagram. Click the hyperlinks to check them out if you don't have the app on a smartphone.

my favorite room

Anders and I have this quirky little room in our tiny house that hasn't served much of a purpose for a long time. It's an open room visible from the kitchen, and you have to walk through it to get to the back bedroom. For the longest time, it held a desk to make it an office, but it was never used and the desk held so much clutter that the room was mostly just an eyesore. Anders and I finally decided to change it up in there by removing the desk and adding a little table and chairs, family pictures, pike place fish memorabilia and tons and tons of plants. It's officially my new favorite spot in the house. You can even see our neighbor's blooming tree outside the window, and with all the green and natural light, it's the prefect place to wait for spring time. Also, I'm thinking the rest of the house needs more plants as well. They just make me so happy!

ny, part two

A few instagrams from our time in NY!

Skyscrapers/Riding the subway 

 Coffee/Gramercy Tavern

 Donut Plant/Momofuku cake aftermath

 Love/Momofuku Milk Bar

Warhol at the MoMA/Play Dead exhibit at the MoMA 

Behind the scenes at the Today show/Wolfgang Laib's Pollen from Hazelnut

ny, ny

What a great trip! The cookbook tour has started off on a great note with fun and high energy interviews from the Today show to VH1 to Sirius Radio and a whole bunch of other things in between. I LOVE New York City! It's such a fast paced, vibrant place with an endless amount of entertainment and food (oh, the food!). I made the most of my time there and managed to check off Chelsea Market, The High Line, Soho, Central Park, MoMA, Central Station, 5th Ave., the subway, Rockefeller Center, Gramercy Tavern, David Chang's Ma Peche and Milk Bar, ABC Kitchen and Blue Ribbon Sushi (just to name a few). 

For a first timer, I would say I did alright. I can't wait to go back!

Links to the Today Show and VH1 at the end!

 Anders hard at work promoting the book. Interview from the hotel room.

Donut Plant! Best donuts in the country. We got a peanut butter and jelly, coconut cream and tres leche.

Spices at Chelsea Market

Streets of NY (via the High Line)

Street art!

The best way to celebrate the book is with a birthday cake from the Milk Bar (pastry chef, Christina Tosi, is a genius!)

Backstage at the Today show with Kathie Lee and Hoda

Starry Night at the MoMA. So wonderful to see it in person.

My absolute favorite piece at the MoMA was Wolfgang Laib's Pollen from Hazelnut, which was literally pollen from hazelnuts. He has been collecting pollen since 1970s, and it's all on display here. So lovely.

Alice in Wonderland in Central Park

Empire State Building

And in case you missed the boys on TV:

Today Show

VH1 Big Morning Buzz

oh you know...

...just Anders throwing fish...at Elliott Bay Book Company!

We're off to New York for a long weekend to kick off the cookbook tour. Anders and Justin will be showing up on the Today show with Kathie Lee and Hoda on Monday, March 11th (10am PST) to talk about the book. I won't be on the show, but I am thinking about writing a sign that says I'M WITH THE FISH GUYS and hanging outside in hopes you can see me through the window. Hmmmm....

I'll be coming home on Tuesday, but Anders gets to continue on to San Francisco, Portland and Denver. Lucky dog. If you're in one of those areas, stop and say hi!

Be back soon!

it's here!

After years and years of hard work, the cookbook finally launched today. It has been a labor of love from day one, and I couldn't be more proud of all the work the guys have put into it. It's really beautiful! The pages are filled with beautiful photos, delicious recipes and lots of tips and advice. I can honestly say that I have personally tried almost every recipe in the book, and everything is blow-your-socks-off good. The boys had a little cookbook party at the shop today featuring appetizers from the cookbook while they signed books.

Meanwhile, here is a whole bunch of links about the book!

Cookbook tour schedule

Seattle Magazine

Seattle Times (at the very end of the article)

Post Gazette

New Day Northwest

Us as Zombies

Just kidding about that last one. Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention!

launch party

We are now only DAYS away from the launch of In the Kitchen with the Pike Place Fish Guys, which comes out this Thursday. We are so excited we can barely sleep. The guys had their launch party last Sunday to say thank you to everyone who worked so hard on the book and contributed recipes. The party was held at Matt's in the Market and featured food from the cookbook. It was a blast! I'm going to try and post a schedule of events and TV appearances if I can get my hands on the final schedule, but I do know that Anders will be signing books at the Elliot Bay Book Company this Friday, March 8th at 5pm.

Matt's Fish Burgers pg. 130 of the cookbook! 

Johnny Yokoyama (left), owner of the fishmarket

Anders with Bryan Jarr (right), one of the writers and the guys' "agent" as I like to call him

Left to right: Bryan Jarr, Leslie Miller (writer), Anders and Morgan Keuler (photographer)

And just in case you wanted even MORE information about the cookbook..here is a video the guys put together talking all about it.

din tai fung

It really takes a lot for Anders and I to make the drive all the way from Seattle and across the lake to the "east side." I mean, Seattle has everything the east side has except for one very important thing...Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung is THE BEST dumpling house in the city and quite possibly the world. It was named one of the world's top 10 restaurants by New York Magazine, and it was awarded its first Michelin Star in 2010. It started in Hong Kong, but has spread across the globe, and we are lucky enough to be only the second city in the USA to have a restaurant (the other city is Los Angeles). They are known for their soup dumpling, which are quite literally dumplings filled with soup. They are to die for, however, we have tried every category of their menu (the soup, the fried rice, the dumplings, the noodles), and we have yet to have one bad dish. We went today as a kick-off to Anders' birthday weekend (psst...it's tomorrow!), but I'm already trying to figure out when we can go back. 

Go check it out! I mean, if you are into this sort of thing.