Catching up!

Time sure does fly!  I can't believe it's already been almost a month since my last post.  Sorry about that!  It's been busy (warning: long post ahead), with a Mariner's game:

::Making pizza and hanging out with Kris and Sarah at our place::

 {OJ really wants to try it too}

::The last of Nik's birthday celebrations - a cooking demo/class by Mark Bitterman using salt and salt blocks::

{one of 6 kinds of salt to try on our popcorn}

{salmon cured on a salt block}

 

{scallop cooked on a salt block}

{a piece of the salt that encrusted the beef}

::A trip to Vancouver for my first (and only!) full marathon::

 

 

{caramel apples at Granville Market} 

 {day before race breakfast at Medina Cafe}

{day before race dinner: pasta bolognese at Il Nido}

{day before race dessert: tiramisu at Il Nido} 

 

::And a trip back to Virginia/D.C. to see family and friends and celebrate my 30th birthday::

{birthday key lime pie at my mom's}

{W hotel roof top}

 

A visit from the in-laws

Nik's parents came out for their first visit the weekend after Natalie & Greg's visit.  We lucked out yet again and had beautiful weather for their visit, so we got outside as much as possible.  We ventured down to Pike Place the day they arrived and hit up "crabby hour" at Etta's for dungeness crabs.

We walked around Volunteer Park and its Observatory (hope you're ready for lots of flower pictures) before braving the line at Salumi for a delicious lunch.

 

 

 

Nik and his dad enjoyed cigars on our roof top deck that evening before we headed to Pho Ba for the best pho I've ever had.  Seriously.  Best.  Ever.  The broth had so much flavor.  And it's cheap!  $6.50 for a small, which is plenty.

 

We took the ferry out to Bainbridge Island and enjoyed a great lunch and view at The Harbour Public House.  That night we did a little carb loading at Serious Pie.

Saturday was Nik's birthday, so we headed up to Woodinville for some wine tasting after my 20 mile run (can't wait to have this marathon over!) before a delicious dinner at Terra Plata.  We didn't get to try their delicious, I'm sure, desserts since we had Nik's go-to birthday cake (yellow cake with chocolate frosting) waiting at home.

Sunday was pretty low key before enjoying an amazing Greek brunch at Vio's Cafe to celebrate Orthodox Easter.

It was such a great visit and we can't wait for the next.  Even OJ made a new buddy.

An easy, delicious dinner

Do you ever buy some parsley (or cilantro or basil) for a recipe, use a little bit of it, then not know what to do with the rest of it?  Make a pesto!  I know basil is an obvious one for pesto making, but parsley and cilantro also make delicious pesto.  We especially love making a pizza with cilantro pesto, mozzarella, red onions, roasted red peppers, and sometimes sausage.  A few weeks ago we had a bunch of parsley left over from a meal, so we made a parsley pesto using this recipe.

We roasted some purple asparagus, tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper.

 

Then we mixed it all together with some whole wheat pasta and voila!