Christmas in Seattle

Although I figured out how to have a almost-like-home Christmas while staying in a hotel room the first time seven years ago, each time it's a bit different.

This year our daughter K is living in Seattle in a tiny but beautiful studio condo. We stayed in a hotel with a suite that was as large as a one bedroom apartment, including a small kitchen and good sized living room. Since we had more room, lots of family time was spent in our suite.

The kitchen had a microwave and a stove, but didn't have an oven, so we ordered our favorite Christmas morning breakfast of sweet roll, muffins and scones from the Macrina Bakery in Belltown. As you can see above, it was seriously yummy. Lots and lots of coffee, a bowl of fruit salad, and smoked salmon omlettes rounded out a breakfast that took us into the afternoon as we opened gifts and watched old movies.

The same bakery was the source of our post-stroll late afternoon snack of baked brie in pastry, accented with herbs and dried fruits. Serious comfort food which I served with apple slices and stoned wheat crackers. Sorry no photo but you can imagine golden pastry, warm (from the microwave) brie and the juicy snap of crisp apples.

Dinner was a Northwest affair with fresh coho salmon from the new Whole Foods market, cooked in the microwave, then finished in a frying pan, plus blackened fresh tuna, expertly cooked by Sweetie. I had brought along herbs and garlic salt in the suitcase. Trader Joe's was the source for the rest of the meal of mashed potatoes and peas. Both were easily cooked in a tiny kitchen that didn't have very many cooking tools. Finishing it off was tea and Grandma's crescent cookies. You don't have to be home to have a Christmas almost as good as at home, but it's a little more challenging. The most difficult part was cleaning up. There was no dish soap, so I improvised with the small bottle of shampoo from the bathroom.

Hope that your Christmas was fun and that you had your fill of good food and good times with family and friends.

Cloudy Space Needle skies in Seattle on Christmas Day

Christmas
seasonal cooking
cooking while traveling