A Bellingham Foodie Blog Restaurant Reviews Bellingham Washington 98225

May 29, 2009

The Daisy Cafe Needs to Offer a Meal Plan

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Tags: , , , , , — Bellinghamster @ 9:48 pm

I was looking for comfort food this morning and my partner was looking for some company before the day’s work consumed HIM. The Daisy Cafe was the place.

I had eaten lunch with the children there, but was eager to sample breakfast. The space is bright and airy with tables and a counter. The counter is always a draw for us because we both love to watch the kitchen at work. We were impressed. This was not the typical kitchen. No griddle here – lots of flames going; each meal cooked from scratch.  All menu choices could be customized without anyone making a face. FRESH FRESH FRESH.

Our server was Chase and he was as sweet and sunny as the generous wedges of orange on our dishes. Our first question was if they had a meal plan for people who would like to eat here often. He laughed and said ‘Get a job here, that’s what I did!’

The menu had so many great choices: scrambles and frittatas, pancakes and their famous cinnamon orange french toast. I ordered the french toast and one scrambled egg and it was excellent. It went down very fast – good thing my partner had ordered something big enough to share:  the ‘Geneva – a scramble of eggs, chorizo, spinach, cheese and some secret ingredient that made it taste prefect (kidding on the secret ingredient). It came with well seasoned potatoes, delicious dark rye toast and home made Pico de Gallo. The Pico de Gallo was fresh and the best touch to flavor the scramble. The Daisy Cafe serves Tony’s Coffee for him and BIG individual pots of tea for me.

While we were there, Baker Drew made his first bagels and I had to get a taste. Bagels are a devil of a thing to get right. My partner made them in a past life  – mmm, I can smell them now. Drew did alright, just rose a little to high so there was no hole. Keep at it!! Toasted bagel sandwiches look good on the menu.

Since we will be returning, I glanced at the children’s menu:

The O’le Onsie – 1 pancake, 1 egg, 1 meat
The O’le Twosie – 2 famous cinnamon orange french toast
The O’le Cheesie – 2 scrambled w/American, potatoes and toast
The O’le Wellatleasthey’reating – a bowl of Post cereal w/milk
The O’le Plate of Fresh Fruit

I love a place with a sense of reality AND humor! Chase serves breakfast on the weekends. I told him we’d all be back and fill the counter…

114 W Magnolia   733-8996    open 7 days from 7:30-2

April 24, 2009

My Life, In Acronyms

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: , — Bellinghamster @ 11:09 am

R.I.C.E. = rest, ice, compression, elevation

B.R.A.T. = bananas, rice, applesauce, tea

I made a joke tonight about how my life has come down to 2 acronyms. I sprained my ankle while hurrying down our hill to take the kids to the bus stop this morning.  They continued down while I struggled back up to home base to R.I.C.E my ankle. Yeah. Luckily I had an ice pack in the freezer and my Aircast from the last time I sprained this ankle on Thanksgiving, 2005. Yes, it is a bum ankle. The doctor advised I proceed from here on  wearing hightops. Keds as prosthetics? At least they come in cool colors.

This school year’s winter was challenging, too. Everyone catches some illness from someone during the winter months. And every so often the stomach flu is it. Hence, B.R.A.T. These are the acronyms of a mother’s life with young children. Memorized so we can assume auto-pilot at the first sign of a symptom. Because if we don’t, whatever we last fed the ill child WILL come back to haunt us until it is purged from their system.

Just some advice I have found necessary in my life. And remember to maintain the stash of non-perishables and water for when I am down and out and they have to pick up where I left off. And they did – admirably!

January 15, 2009

The gutter garden is gone…

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: , , — Bellinghamster @ 9:41 pm

Lucas came by yesterday to clean the rooftop moss garden that had lent a lovely green hue to the house. I loved that color green along with all the other greens on the property adjacent to the creek. And the gutter garden I and the Stellar Jays had grown accustomed to didn’t survive either. My son came home from school after the clean up was done and asked: Why is the roof white?

It was the moss killer.

January 11, 2009

Scharffen Berger Chocolate

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest,Seattle — Tags: , , , , , — Bellinghamster @ 11:51 am

My home is well stocked with staples: milk, eggs, bread and chocolate. I can see you smiling. No chocolate in your house? I’m sorry…but, chocolate = love = happiness. End of story.

The chocolate staple in my home is Scharffen Berger. I was introduced to Scharffen Berger chocolate by Helen Gustafson in her book The Agony of the Leaves: The Ecstasy of My Life With Tea. It is a compilation of her ‘tea’ anecdotes and many scrumptious ‘tea’ recipes. Scharffen Berger is her preferred chocolate in recipes and eating it straight, as I do, it is no wonder. I have the semisweet 60% cacao dark chocolate. The chocolate bar is in six pieces imprinted with a graceful goat on a mountain and 3 stars above it. It has a subtle chocolate smell with a hint of coffee and vanilla. It tastes rich and creamy and, of course, like chocolate!

Ingredients: cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, non-gmo soy lecithin and whole vanilla beans. Vegan anyone?

Scharffen Berger has a sister brand: Dagoba. I have seen this chocolate at the Community Food Co-op and Terra Organica and Bargainica. I’ll share my experience with this chocolate soon.

January 8, 2009

Coconut oil vs Lard

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: , , , , — Bellinghamster @ 8:46 pm

My mother is an excellent cook. When I was a kid, there were 2 things I could always count on in my mom’s kitchen: fried food and baked desserts. The richer, the better. Oh, she could cook anything, but it was the food fried in lard (she would buy the 2 lb pack at Waldbaums) that tasted best.

The health food/exercise craze of the ’80’s came along and she chose to fry in Crisco instead (maybe because Waldbaums wasn’t carrying lard anymore). Now that we’re living in the 21st century, I felt it was time to influence her eating habits (much to her chagrin). I tried to explain white rice was a carbohydrate like bread. I tried to explain why my organic eggs did not give her indigestion like her commercial eggs. And I sent her home with organic coconut oil after her visit at Thanksgiving. There are many health benefits associated with eating coconut oil, but this post is about my Mom, not about plugging a product.

How did I do it, you ask? Well, through example (and public pressure). We fried some chicken in canola oil and some more in the coconut oil. The kids (and she) liked the taste of the chicken fried in the coconut oil best. It was extra crispy and not heavy at all. The chicken was juicy, not dried out at all (mom’s words). I don’t know for sure if she’s still using the coconut oil (because she knows it’s pricey), but I tried.

As I take stock of what I ate then, and what I eat now, it is truly shocking. In 3rd grade I didn’t think life got much sweeter than half a dozen yodels chased down with ice cold milk. Someone pass the sprouted almonds and peppermint ice tea, please…

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