Volunteer Park

One of the things that I enjoy most about Seattle is the many different parks that are within the city limits. One of the parks that was on my Seattle Bucket List to visit was Volunteer Park. After almost a year of living in Seattle I finally made it to the park. And I got to say, I was unimpressed with the park itself. A friend described Volunteer Park as a "picnic park" however, it has a few small trails. In addition, the park has the Asian Art Museum and a Botanical Gardens. But I had other friends that told me that I needed to go to Volunteer Park for the view. Consensus: if you are wanting a view go to Kerry Park; if you want a park with trails go to Discovery Park; skip Volunteer Park unless you want to see Old Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Asian Art Museum or the Botanical Gardens (costs $4 for adults).

View from Volunteer Park

Actual View from Volunteer Park

What the internet "shows" the view will be at Volunteer Park

Asian Art Museum

Botanical Gardens at Volunteer Park

Flowers outside the Botanical Gardens in Volunteer Park

Blowing At Uptown Glassworks

I just had the ultimate glassblowing experience in Renton, Washington. My friend had a Groupon that allowed us to participate in making our own glassblowing projects. We each made a bowl. The colors I chose were cherry and black. There was a lot of huffing and puffing which allowed me to empathize with the big bad wolf in The Three Little Pigs. This particular Groupon experience allowed the user to participate in about 30% of the making of the project. I cannot wait to do another project there!

Placing the Cherry and Black Glass

Supervised as I play with fire and exhaust fan in the hair

After all the twirling and mixing of the colors

And the blowing begins

Blowing continues; I am turning red and the vein is protruding on my forehead

Making the opening for the bowl; I was a spectator at this part of the process

Twirling Expert Level

The final twirl

Nothing Is Sweeter Than A Date

If the only dates you have devoured in your life are the pre-package pitted dates that you buy from the store than you have definitely been deprived. I grew up eating the sweetest and softest (they literally melt in your mouth and you had to be careful to not choke on the pit) dates. My family is notorious for when they go to Iran to bring back 20+ boxes of just dates (60+ dates in each box). Although I have been unable to find a date in the United States as good as the ones from Iran (which makes sense since Iran is ranked first for global date production), the medjool date is comparable.

I was attending a potluck and was assigned the dessert course, and as many people know, I do not bake (unless I am baking with my niece, because then I have a guarantee scapegoat if the dessert doesn't come out right). Since I was attempting the dessert course without my niece, I channeled the Middle Eastern within and followed the recipe book Modern Flavors of Arabia and made Spiced Ricotta-Stuffed Dates, and kept my fingers crossed that it would be edible. This is definitely more of a savory dessert (but it is still sweet) and the only things I dirtied were a bowl, whisk, and measuring cups/spoons. This recipe was a hit at the potluck and guests took the leftovers; many hadn't had cardamom before and enjoyed what it added to the recipe.

Pistachio garnished and non-garnished finished recipe

Ingredients:
-22 Medjool dates
-22 blanched almonds (did not use)
-1 cup ricotta cheese
-1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
-1/4 cup half-and-half or heavy cream (I used heavy cream)
-1 1/2 teaspoon freshy grated nutmeg (I just used ground nutmeg)
-1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
-1/4 cup ground pistachios, to garnish

Directions:
-Cut each date lengthwise and remove the pit.
-In a bowl mix together using a whisk all the ingredients except the pistachios.
-You can be fancy and put the mixture in a bag and cut the tip to fill the dates or you can just use a spoon and dip the mixture into the dates.
-Garnish with pistachios. I grounded mine by using a meat tenderizer.

*Recommendations after making it once: I would fill the dates with the mixture a day before and leave in the refrigerator for approximately 12 hours uncovered and then cover the dish with saran wrap/aluminum foil until ready to serve. I would do this because the mixture was a little runnier than anticipated. Dates like Medjool are not meant to be kept in the refrigerator because they start to get stiff, but they will still remain soft. Additionally I would cut the recipe for everything (except the number of dates and pistachios) in half. There was so much mixture left over. I didn't put almonds in because I am not a fan of almonds; however, even though Medjool dates are quite large, with the addition of an almond I think there wouldn't be much room left in the date for the cream mixture. 

Smith Tower Observatory Deck

Smith Tower

I got to cross another item of my Seattle Bucket list thanks to a Groupon. Yesterday I visited  Smith Tower in Pioneer Square. The observatory deck is located on the 35th-floor.  The 35th-floor also has the legendary Chinese Room. The furnishings in this room were gifted by the last Empress of China. There is a chair that is said that any unmarried women whom sits in it would be married within a year....lets just say I kept a good 10 feet away from this chair during my visit. There is a penthouse apartment on the top floors of the Smith Tower; however, as I searched the internet I was unable to find out how much the apartment rents for, so I am thinking it could be $10,000+ a month.

From the observatory deck you get to see parts of Seattle that one is unable to see through the Space Needle and the Ferris Wheel. There is a small gift shop on the observatory deck and some maps and handouts (i.e. history of Smith Tower).  So the golden question: Would I take others to see the view? Probably not.  It is much cheaper to see the views from here than Space Needle and the Ferris Wheel, but you get what you pay for. I only spent about 10 minutes on the 35th floor during my visit. If you are interested in visiting Smith Tower I would recommend checking on their hours online because they are not set in stone and sometimes it is closed to the public because of a private event. Additional information: SmithTower.com    and  ChineseRoom.com