Seattle Delights

Seattle in January has, so far, been the best winter of my life. It's never very cold (we went for a pleasant bike ride the other day) and I haven't had to fight my way through a foot of snow, or wade through ice-cold slush. And for the first time ever, I have not once asked the question, "Why do I live here?!" to the heavens. The only catch is that 3 days out of 7, the sky will most likely be steel grey and rainy. I have found that the best way to combat this is to go out and do something really fun! Since the weather here is so schizophrenic, you might actually get a spot of sunshine when it appears deceptively dreary. My two favourite places to beat the winter doldrums are: Sur La Table kitchen store, and Le Panier bakery. Both are located in Pike Place Market down by the water, and both lift my spirits when the weather threatens to get me down! The fact that they both have French names is not lost on me, it's probably one of the reasons why they make me feel better: they remind me of home.

Sur La Table is full of the prettiest, most brightly coloured, cookware, bakeware, dinnerware, and anything kitchen/dining related! They carry Le Creuset, Emile Henry, Calphalon, you name it. I drool over their stock all the time. The latest things I acquired from them was a Silpat baking mat and a French rolling pin, ooh la la. Their prices are pretty competitive too, nothing is at full price, and if you are on their mailing list, you get really awesome discounts every so often.

Just down the hill and around the corner from Sur La Table is Le Panier, a happy little bakery that sells slightly overpriced baked goods. Their recipes are pretty authentic and none of the staff looks at me strangely when I pronounce the names the proper French way. They have palmiers, croissants, chocolatines, macarons, ridiculously expensive baguettes, and my favourite little feuilletés. Their feuilletés are so popular that if you arrive in the afternoon, they just might have ONE left in their warmer. 

A happy little feuilleté. The sun decided to come out and be happy with us!

Lilibeth: 2, Winter Doldrums: 0. Take that, winter!