Goodbye Delicious Food: Andie's Last Meal

Recently, I was diagnosed with some pretty severe allergies. To make a long story short, in fear of boring the pants off of you: I have had dermatographism (aka "skin writing") since I was 11 years old. It's not as bad as it sounds! In short, any touch, scratch, bump, etc., to my skin leaves an itchy welt as the histamines in my skin overreact to the stimulus. However, with antihistamines I'm usually good to go!


For my birthday, I got myself Gwyneth Paltrow's new book, It's All Good, and made a recipe that just happened to be free of most of the allergens I am affected by (I now know). I woke up feeling way better than I ever have before. Hmm...maybe I'm onto something!

The short list after a naturopathic allergy blood panel revealed allergies to: grains, gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, chicken, corn, grape, some nightshades, beef and a host of other weird little tidbits. Yay! I win the high score! Not to worry: I've been told that after some diet healing, I may be able to add some of those things back into my diet (please, let it be wine!) In the meantime, my recipes on the Assemble blog may look a bit different--and ridiculously allergen free.

However, a last treat was in order. The sous chef at Tulio downtown, (4.2 stars!) invited Christian and I to come and sit at the chef's counter and be treated to a delicious "last" meal. It's a rare occasion that we get to go to super nice restaurants, so we jumped at the chance and absolutely loved being Tulio's guests. Here's what I got to partake in for my last meal:

Two glasses of an absolutely heavenly Chianti, Tenuta Santedame, '08. Focaccia and prosciutto with Truffle oil and Bel Paese cheese, and I believe a French Onion soup of some kind--I was too busy shoving spoonfuls into my mouth to remember. Second, a little antipasti plate that I again wasn't listening to. Here's what I think it was: awesome meat, awesome cheese and awesome, salty bread.

Next up (I remember this one, for sure) was a Risotto with morel mushrooms, bone marrow butter and parmesan. Followed by the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with sage butter and mascarpone (I think this was my favorite) with the Panzoti: taleggio, mascarpone, ricotta, corn, padron peppers, leeks, and butter. And yes, I even ate that pepper.

Last, but absolutely not least, we shared the Ribeye (yes, that's HALF of it) with wood oven roasted mushrooms panzanella, sweet onion, rosemary oil and sea salt. Then a quick Lemon sorbet, because I could honestly not fit anything else in.

Oh my, yes that happened. If you're up for some seriously fine dining, I highly recommend checking it out. I'll even come with you, and eat lettuce leaves. Make sure to grab some of that sweet potato gnocchi--I think that was definitely the favorite. However, I think I'm set for quite a while. Thanks, Tulio!

Easter Weekend in Seattle: A Pictorial

Seattle Recommendation: Get Your Hot Cakes! // Ballard

You may remember that back in December, sweet Autumn from Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery in Ballard, Seattle sponsored our Pre-Kit Release Press Party and brought delicious sipping caramel, mini s'mores and devilishly delicious chocolate cookies. I've been dreaming about those goodies ever since, so I was excited to stop by the shop for a coffee and lunch with a close friend.

On my menu: Beecher's Grilled Cheese (it comes in that perfect package!) with pickled beets and cauliflower, a soy mocha and a S'more Chocolate Hot Cake (there are several different types). As a bonus: the fabulous branding. Everything in the the shop is adorable and streamlined, chic and crisp. If you haven't been, I highly recommend sampling a savory (béchamel pocket pie!) as well as a sweet. I'd like to go back and grab a boozy shake one evening! Valentine's Day, anyone? Get there!