Richard Huff's Seattle Social Blog

Melissa planned the perfect, foodie party for my birthday this year: ten of us got to have Culinary Communion to ourselves for a "local food" class. In preparation, Chef Gabriel Claycamp and Chef Katie Coleman shopped at several local farmers' markets to gather a collection of foods that were produced within 250 miles of Seattle. Melissa brought several bottles of wine from the same region. With help from the Chefs, we created a menu that would make use of almost all of the ingredients. We drank. We cooked. We ate.

What did we cook? Melissa and Winnie made fresh pasta and an arugula pesto. Several people worked on a roasted golden beet salad with fresh blackberries and chives. Gavin and Elaine threw together the most fantastic dish of clams, mussels, pancetta, and a white wine sauce. Joan, Aron, and Tatjana grilled corn, onions, and eggplant for a "deconstructed" ratatouille. We also battered and fried squash blossoms and beans, roasted potatoes with garlic, stuffed peppers with lamb and mint, and concocted a giant spinach frittata. (Forgive me if I don't exactly recall who worked on all the dishes.) We finished the whole meal with grilled peaches dressed by a balsamic and port wine reduction.  But the finale was my birthday cake, which Melissa had gone out of her way to procure from Mike's Amazing Cakes.

Photos from the party are linked here.

Taking the 2007 - 2008 winter off from training -- following a very active summer and fall -- was, in hindsight, a very bad idea.  Thanksgiving and Christmas took their toll, and the short days of January and February kept me mostly indoors.  But the upcoming races (Super Jock n Jill, Royal Victorian, and the Goofy Challenge) were not getting any shorter as time passed.  So I joined a fitness boot camp, hoping that it would kick my training into high gear.  Now that the first week is under my belt, I can tell you that it is some of the best money I've ever spent on fitness.  You cannot fail to dramatically improve your fitness in this sort of program (as long as you don't drop out).  Some of the highlights I've identified are:

• Participants meet five, three, or two days per week.  (I'm in the five day program.)
• Sessions are a full 60 minutes long (i.e., the sessions start and end on time).
• Cross-training, as opposed to just strength or just endurance.
• Motivation through group interdependence.
• Substantially less expensive than one-on-one training.

Tapas' wedding tux arrived today.  Yes, it's more than a year early.  No, I couldn't wait.  Little Lily's Red Carpet Collection is a set of limited edition dog couture styled after the celebrity fashions of the 2008 Oscar Awards.  It took me some time to find a store that still had the collection in stock.  There was no time to waste once I did.  The alternatives to Little Lily's real tuxedos are gimmick, faux tuxedos -- something akin to those t-shirts that "look" like a tuxedo.

Tapas is seen, here, sporting "The George".  (Someone please straighten his bow tie!) It's a classic, traditional look, like I hope to have for the wedding party.  Barking Babies shipped it from their Vancouver, BC boutique in its own miniature garment bag.

I just pray that I look better than Tapas in my wedding tuxedo.  Oh,...and I hope that he isn't busy filming the next 007 movie.  Get that dog a martini before he uses his license to kill.

There is this giant gap in my blogging between the months of June 2007 and January 2008.  No,...I didn't give up on blogging.  The problem was that several things converged at once to limit my ability to blog.  First, I started a new job.  Second, marathon and cycling training began in earnest.  As the summer progressed, every waking moment was occupied.  So,...this single post will have to suffice.  Here are some highlights:

• Jun 10, 2007 - Furry Fun Run (5K)
• Jun 24, 2007 - 47 Mile Cycle Training Ride
• Jun 29, 2007 - iPhone Released
• Jul 01, 2007 - 60 Mile Cycle Training Ride
• Jul 02, 2007 - Start @ Microsoft
• Jul 04, 2007 - 80 Mile Cycle Training Ride
• Jul 07, 2007 - Host Gavin & Elaine's Wedding Shower
• Jul 08, 2007 - Laptop Stolen
• Jul 14-15, 2007 - Seattle To Portland Cycle (204 Miles)
• Jul 21, 2007 - Volunteer @ TrailsFest
• Jul 28, 2007 - 6 Mile Run
• Aug 05, 2007 - 3 Mile Run
• Aug 06, 2007 - Host Gavin's Bachelor Party
• Aug 11, 2007 - 11 Mile Run
• Aug 18, 2007 - 13.5 Mile Run
• Aug 24-26, 2007 - Hood to Coast Support
• Aug 29, 2007 - Tooth Crown Installed
• Sep 01, 2007 - 17 Mile Run
• Sep 03, 2007 - 3 Mile Run
• Sep 07, 2007 - Gavin & Elaine's Wedding Rehearsal
• Sep 08, 2007 - 12 Mile Run
• Sep 08, 2007 - Gavin & Elaine's Wedding
• Sep 15, 2007 - 17 Mile Run
• Sep 29, 2007 - 8 Mile Run
• Oct 06-07, 2007 - Royal Victoria Marathon
• Oct 08-12, 2007 - Raleigh, NC
• Oct 13, 2007 - 8.5 Mile Run
• Oct 28, 2008 - 6 Mile Run
• Nov 03-07, 2007 - New York, NY
• Nov 21-23, 2007 - Thanksgiving in Portland
• Nov 25, 2007 - Seattle Half Marathon

The bottom line is that I was hyper-busy during the second half of 2007, and it hasn't slowed down too much since then.  There's been no cycling this year, but I have several races on the calendar for September, November, and January.

[The photo was taken by Chuck of the RunChuckIt Running Group when I was running the 2007 Seattle Half Marathon.]