Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Or a murder waiting to happen?

It was a dark and stormy night, when a group of apparent strangers gathered together for an undisclosed reason. It all seemed innocent enough…but all was not as it seemed. Several guests never lived to make the party. Those who did barely escaped with their lives. Survivors included Colonel Mustard, M. Brunette, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, and Miss Peach. Each guest appeared innocent enough, but appearances can be deceptive. Guests were secretly captured on film throughout the evening, and a mysterious stranger has provided me with them for the public to solve the crimes committed that night. It is my duty to share them.

Who killed Mr. Boddy? Who killed the other guests? Could the crimes be solved in time to halt the bloodshed? And just what was in those cupcakes Mrs. White served? Each guest proved innocent one moment, and most guilty the next. Who is the murderer – or who ARE the murderERS? We’ll never tell… Can you?

Thursday we had a great time catching up with Alex, who was in town with his lovely girlfriend, Elizabeth. We ate at a great place, to which we all agreed we would return soon…if it weren’t in Burien. Friday I finally got to spend some time with the family, and it was great to catch up on everything that’s been going on during my absence. Ben is deeply ensconsed in his new work at Aquent, and despite the fact that it sounds incredibly challenging, he is rising to the occassion as always. Emily went to present at a conference for college speakers, so she was gone for part of the weekend, but back on Sunday! I went to Jessica’s musical (she’s amazing!), and would recommend you all go, except it closed on Saturday.

Although I missed the whole softball season this summer (thanks a lot, WSBA), I got to see Dad play in the tournament on Sunday. Despite a heart-stopping collision, he must have batted about .750 and pitched 7 great innings. We’re all in agreement it was a far superior tournament than the Cunninghams/Cresseys had last summer, with a family trip to the emergency room.

Monday we had a great good-bye dinner for Alex at Piatti – the only thing missing was Alex… The weather has been beautiful, and I’m SO GLAD I can finally take advantage of it, so I’m getting outside every moment I can! Yesterday Ciara and I resumed working out together (and when we’re back on evenings, Jess can join us too since she’s finally done with rehearsals!) and I had almost forgotten how nice it is to workout OUTSIDE for a change, rather than sitting on a recumbant bike reading through notes. BLECH! Last night we made Happy Hour at McCormick & Shmick where we could each get a cider/beer and half pound hamburger for $5. FANTASTIC deal. I hear they have one across the street from my firm, so you know I’ll be enjoying that more soon. We headed out to Safeco to see the Mariners lose in a spectacular show of zero offense and near zero defense (was the final score 0-8?) – they’d already hit two home runs before Jess and I even made it to the seats! Still, a beautiful 75 degree evening and a great day for baseball. (And we poured out some Kettle Corn in your honor, Trace!)

There are still 5 full weeks to go, so stay tuned for more fun, and let me know if you have any bright ideas. In the works is berry picking, croquet, picnics, more karaoke, book club (Ciara!), Culinary Club coming up on the 12th, Volleyball (I go on Mondays if anyone wants to join me), and much much more! Looking forward to spending more time with everyone SOON!

Thank you to everyone who made my “big day” so special. Thank you also to everyone who helped me survive the roller coaster ride that was law school!

I hope you enjoy it – please feel free to respond with feedback and suggestion for future films!

Click here to view the embedded video.

This month’s Culinary Club visited marjorie, a tiny, tucked-away little restaurant toward the north end of Belltown.

If you’re not looking for it, you might walk right by and never know you passed, but if you keep a sharp eye out on 2nd between Bell and Battery to the west, you’ll spot a tiny restaurant, whose entrance opens into a tiny alley, where patrons sit for hours enjoying the (purposefully?) relaxed pace of service, gentle evening breezes, white lights tucked in trees that stretch over tables and forty feet into the air, and candle light once the sun goes down. Caveats: marjorie is not a restaurant to visit if you’re in a hurry. Our meal took about 2.5 – 3 hours in total from start to finish. They could speed it up for you, most likely, but why hurry? Also, this is not the place for large parties. Outside seating cannot accommodate more than 4, and indoors looked pretty tight as well.

marjorie was, in my opinion, probably the best restaurant we’ve been to so far in the 8 months Culinary Club has been going on. So let’s get to the food! The cocktails were refreshing and tasty, but pricey. The margarita (Ciara’s choice, and the drink for which the restaurant is most famous) rang in at $12, and the mojito (my selection) was $10. Both were served in short glasses.

The “Trenchtown,” served in short glass as well was also good. Although it was never clear what the actual alcohol in that drink was, it was described as a being made from sugar cane, and as a sweeter version of rum. It tasted very much like a mojito, with a slight and mysterious scent of tequila.

Our table ordered 2 $30, 3-course, pre-fixe meals (one vegetarian, and one “meal-lovers”) and two $45 “Chef’s whim,” 5-course meals that change nightly to the Chef’s, well, whim. Last night he/she was on his/her game! Each course was very small in volume, but absolutely packed with flavor. We all shared a half-order (plenty!) of plantain chips (sort of like long thin potato chips) with an avocado, onion, pineapple, lime, and herb dip. So flavorful and light!

The 3-course pre-fixe meals:
Course 1: Simple Salad; field greens in a light balsamic vinaigrette, which was just a bit salty (not in a bad way).
Course 2: Polenta (vegetarian – this course and selection received the lowest rating of the evening with 6 out of 10) and tri-tip (carnivore) (cooked medium rare, as ordered!) with asparagus tips (which I usually don’t like, but here even they were great!), and golden potatoes
Course 3: Rhubarb tart; fantastic – flavorful, delicate crust, with a sort of lemony ice cream/sorbet on top.

The 5-course Chef’s Whim taster menu:
Course 1: White salmon; incredibly tasty. (Cooked medium-rare, so if you like your salmon cooked through, you’ll need to specify…)
Course 2: One scallop. One very tasty, tasty scallop with a delightful honey sauce of some kind
Course 3: Pallet cleansing mango sorbet
Course 4: Lobster over lentil ragout. The lobster had a bit of shell still on (no biggie) and the ragout was surprisingly flavorful.
Course 5: Creme Brulee with rhubarb atop.

Everything was wonderful, and we would all go back again (and can’t wait to!). Bottom line? Go to marjorie – it will not disappoint.