Locally Made Delicious Seattle Chocolate!

 

Last Tuesday was the perfect Seattle day.  I went to the U district and found a cute little coffee shop with free wifi that served pretty good coffee (and gave out free toast, it was good but seemed a little strange to me).  For you coffee snobs (and I say that with love as I am one too) it was Cafe D'arte coffee. I sat there, writing and enjoying the Seattle scene for about 2 hours.  I had a friend to meet at the UW so I made my way up there, stopping at a bookstore on the way where there was debate going on about what was better, french or italian roast coffee.  It was all I could do to contain myself from hugging them and yelling "I'm Home!!" I can't help it.  I love Seattle.

I wandered to the university to meet one of my dearest friends in the whole world and grab a bite and then walked her back to her next class.  One of her classmates had gone to a benefit and had stacks of these cute little chocolate bars.  He said he didn't like chocolate (gasp!) so he shared with us.  This chocolate is dark, just the right amount of bitter and melts slowly on your tongue.  In a word- perfect.  As you can see the packaging in the photo is a little wrinkled, I ate most of the bar before I bothered to take the photo.  

You can order their chocolate at www.theo.com and buy it locally most anywhere in Seattle.

Cooking in Mom's Kitchen/ Sweet-Sour Chicken (or tofu)

There are few things as fun to me as making food with people I love.  Tonight and tomorrow I have the honor of cooking food with my Mom in my parent's kitchen.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, my Mom is an amazing cook.  She usually makes this recipe with chicken but it is equally amazing with tofu.  It is adapted from an old, well loved copy of a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. 

Sweet-Sour Chicken (or tofu)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• a sprinkle of sesame seeds
• 2 lbs chicken or 1 16 oz package of firm tofu

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and water.  Add sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and pepper.  
2. Cook ingredients over medium heat until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.
3. Brush over chicken or tofu placed in one layer in a shallow baking dish (skin side down if chicken).
4. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, turn chicken or tofu over, bake an additional 30 minutes, until cooked through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds the last 5 minutes of baking.

Enjoy over rice with stir fried veggies on the side.