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A Week of Celebrations


We are now home after a week of celebrating our July birthdays and our wedding anniversary in Seattle, as well as having a wonderful, relaxing vacation.  You might think with all that celebrating it was hard to relax but when you're staying at a lovely beach bungalow, it's very easy to get into that relaxed mode.


The bungalow was located just down from a restaurant called Palisade that we decided is a new favorite of ours


with beautiful scenery at the Elliot Bay Marina.

We went there for my birthday and then again for our 33rd wedding anniversary on Friday night.

This time I ordered the Alaska halibut with chorizo and clams served on paella.  It was a perfect combination because halibut is so mild but chorizo really gaves it some zip along with the paella.  

Bruce ordered the same thing but he also ordered the Dungeness Crab and Lobster Bisque.



I ordered the Romaine and Tuscan Kale Ceasar salad.  I'm always looking for good ways to get kale into my diet and this worked for me, I must say.


Lots of people come to Palisade for celebrations and they will leave a cute little card on your table to recognize your special day.  I liked ours.


We ordered a superb dessert called Spiced Banana Ice Cream Sundae.


This dessert had caramelized bananas with salted carmel ice cream, banana crunch ice cream, mascarpone and housemade caramel sauce.  Need I say more?  After dinner, we walked along the marina and watched the boats and sunset, as we did many evenings during the week.


Mt. Rainier was out again in all her glory as she had been all week.


We also spent one evening taking the ferry over to Bremerton to meet Nick and Sachiyo for dinner at Anthonys, the same place where we celebrated my birthday last year.  This year it was more of a group celebration of our July birthdays.


 Nick ordered the Lava Cake for dessert for his birthday celebration.


Anthony's is known for their seasonal fresh berries used in many of their dishes.  So, we all started off with delicious seasonal drinks.  Mine was a raspberry margarita and I loved it!


I also ordered their Pan Fried Oysters which I always love.  You can't visit Seattle without eating oysters at least once or twice and I do without a problem.


Again, it was a beautiful evening and perfect for a ferry ride.


I even had time to do my favorite walk around Green Lake during our week long stay.  


There was lots of water sport activities on Green Lake in it's prime of summer.


I even saw wildlife amongst all the summer activities.


We had a barbecued one evening at the beach bungalow since it came complete with a barbecue and Nick requested pork ribs.  Being back in the states, he knows what he wants to eat before he goes back to Japan.


I got most of the food at Whole Foods that made for a delicious dinner since our beach bungalow was a bungalow...that means a small kitchen.  I bought some of their delicious  slaw, grilled beets and summer squash, pasta salad and baked beans to go along with the barbecued ribs.


The appetizers were yummy, too.  A Seattle must-have is the local Beecher's cheese, both the Flagship and the smoked version.  Add a little smoked salmon, some handmade garlic & black pepper uncured salami and delicious bread sticks that I got for my birthday on Friday from Barbara that she got at a local neighborhood shop and some hummus we brought along in our ice chest.  


The family was happy with the choices.


The family was also happy at a family barbecue at Barbara's house with nephews, nieces, children and more good food. 



 Lauren brought caprese skewers, a recipe that brings back memories of her summer in  Italy.


Bruce did not hesitate to help out doing what he does best.



My sister made a family favorite of teriyaki flank steak 


and many delicious salads.


 including her delicious kale salad.


You don't have to have a special occasion to celebrate.  The summer is just fun to get together with people to enjoy their company and to enjoy good food together.  I can't think of a better way to spend summer days.  We just happened to have reason to celebrate in this month of July and we did it to the best of our ability!


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