Dreaming of Croatia

I have to apologize for neglecting you...I've recently completed a huge milestone in my career and it's definitely taken it out of me! Yours truly is now a certified yoga teacher - not related to food, but could be considered the antidote to food, which is in order after reading this post. During the hiatus Marissa and I also went to a Croatian cooking class at The Pantry, an awesome locale that hosts cooking classes and communal dinners.

The creative minds behind The Pantry planted edibles outside, which I haphazardly documented on Marissa's camera (please note that I'm not the photographer of the duo). I really enjoy seeing other edible gardens, especially in the Spring - it reminds me that life is cyclical, things that once were return. And on this particularly (and might I say unusually) sunny day in Seattle, the colors of the garden were awe-inspiring.

Our instructor for the evening was the charismatic Amy Pennington, a Seattle celebrity in the food scene. I have to say, I was humbled by her ease and her ability to make the entire class burst into laughter. We fried fish (see above), chopped, drank (a lot), stretched dough and consumed quite a lot of chicken fat - it was gnarly!

 The menu went something like this:

1. Turnip & Potato Soup
2. Fried Fishes
3. Mlinci & Roast Chicken (Mlinci is a Croatian pasta that is cooked in chicken fat)
4. Apple Strudel

By the end of the evening my belly was full and my head was light - a wonderful way to close the day in my opinion.  We aren't featuring any recipes here, but we thought you'd like to a glimpse into our gastronomic fantasy, for lack of a better term. It was truly FANTASTICAL!

xo,
Natalie & Marissa

P.S. Look for more recipes soon!