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[Travel] 21-course Tasting Menu at The Willows Inn Restaurant, Lummi Island

Posted in Dinner, Eat Local, Fine dining, Great Views, Hotel Dining, Joyce, Restaurants, Seafood, Special Occasion, Travel, U.S., Washington, West Coast, tagged Bellingham, Farm to Table, Farm Tour, Loganita Farm, Lummi Island, Tasting Menu, The Willows Inn, Washington on August 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Mr. and I recently went on a 10-day road trip to the States. Kicking it off was a celebration of our 4th wedding anniversary and we spent a night at the quaint Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Washington. Lummi Island is a small island just a 10-minute ferry ride southwest of Bellingham.

The upscale inn deserves a separate post but the highlight of the evening was definitely our dinner at the restaurant. It serves up a 21-course tasting menu every evening, yes 21 courses, that changes regularly and seasonally. It features locally grown produce and other locally fished, foraged and farmed products. And in addition to their kitchen, they also have an outdoor wood-fired BBQ and smoker.

Obviously, with 21 courses this is not your everyday dinner out. The menu costs $225 per person with optional wine pairing for an additional $150 per person. You also don’t know what’s on the menu as they rotate it often. You only receive a copy of the menu at the end of your meal. So you ask, was it worth it?

Without further ado, let us indulge you with a feast for your eyes.

Food

Toasted kale leave, local black truffle, crumbled rye on top — elevated kale chip with the fragrance of truffle and extra crunch from the rye crumble

Wild rainier cherry in nasturtium leaf, wild chamomile, elderflower essence — what an interesting bite. Enjoyed the crisp sweetness of rainier cherry against the herbaceous chamomile and nasturtium. The elderflower essence was made into a little dollop of jelly that combined everything.

Sugar snap peas from their garden, pureed and combined with cream then it’s piped back in the pod — It’s like crudites in a fancy bite. You can taste the freshness of the sugar snap peas. (more…)

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[Travel] Self-Guided Walking Tour of Seattle’s Ballard Brewery District

Posted in Beer, Brewery, Craft Beer Series, Drinks, Joyce, Restaurants, Seattle, Travel, U.S., Washington, tagged Ballard, beer, Beer Tasting, Brewery District, Brewery Tour, craft beer, IPA, Lucky Envelope Brewing, Populuxe Brewing, Porter, Reuben's Brews, Seattle, Sours, Stoup Brewing, stout, Triple IPA, Washington on May 1, 2018| 1 Comment »

Mr. and I had a few days off in April, so we decided to head down to Seattle for a quick getaway. It’s been a couple of years now since we last headed south of the border thanks to the weak Canadian Dollar.

Instead of hanging out in the downtown area, we chose to stay in the Ballard district, which is known for its ever growing share of breweries. Where we stayed was within walking distance to a cluster of craft breweries, so we did a self-guided brewery tour.

And that means we just hit the street and started walking towards the first stop from our temporary home. When I was looking up the breweries, Lucky Envelope caught my eyes because its logo is the red envelope 利是 we hand out during Chinese New Year and to no surprise, looks like it’s Asian owned. LE it is.

Stop #1 – Lucky Envelope

Seattle Ballard Brewery Stop 1 - Lucky Envelope

Lucky for us, it was the release day of their sours. And we are big sour fans!! There were 6 on the menu, so we opted for the lighter ones (it’s only our first stop!) plus a couple of other brews:

Raspberry Sour
Mango Sour
Lychee Sour
Blackberry Shake Sour
Beardless Brewer Red Ale
Error 404: El Dorado Haze IPA

Mr.‘s favourite was the Lychee Sour. (more…)

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[Travel] A Walk Through the Lights of Christmas – Largest Display in Pacific Northwest

Posted in Christmas Series, Family-friendly, Joyce, Special Occasion, Travel, U.S., Washington, tagged Attraction, Christmas, Christmas Lights, Family Event, Family-friendly, Holiday, Holiday Lights, Light Display, Light Maze, Light Tunnel, Lights, Stanwood, The Lights of Christmas, Travel, Warm Beach Camp, Washington on January 3, 2017| 1 Comment »

During the Christmas Break, Mr. and I went to the States to check out some holiday light displays. We drove through various neighbourhoods in the Seattle area and were amazed by how the houses came together to put on some fabulous displays.

The highlight of our trip was visiting the Lights of Christmas in Stanwood, at the Warm Beach Camp. With more than one million Christmas lights spread over 15 acres, this is known to be the largest holiday light display in the Pacific Northwest. I’m always fascinated by lights, the more the merrier, so I wasn’t going to miss it.

And it didn’t disappoint. There were 6 themed areas, each with its own unique lights. Some of my favourites include the light tunnels, a light maze (although not as elaborate as what Enchant offered here in Vancouver), the Fireball Tree (that looks like fireworks itself), the Cascade mountains, Christmas Tree Island, the angels, the snow-capped mountain, and the waterfall.