Saturday night we went to a fun social outing in Seattle! We still know very few people here, which can feel sort of isolating at times, so I’m doing my best to make plans and accept invitations whenever I get the chance! Before we headed out for the night, we took a few pictures since we were all dressed up.
I love summer. I love weekends. And I have loved spending our first summer here in Seattle with my two favorite people!
We headed out to new friend Gina’s place, where she was hosting a fun cooking party for all her friends! Weeks ago we all received an Evite about a “secret ingredient cooking challenge” but we didn’t learn the secret ingredient until early this week. Our challenge was to make a dish – sweet or savory – featuring the ingredient she selected.
I was pretty excited when I finally learned that our ingredient was…STRAWBERRIES! Check out some of the amazing food that everyone brought…
(This was my contribution! Recipe coming soon…)
After we all looked and sampled, we voted on our favorites in three categories – best presentation, most original, and best tasting. It was such a fun idea and a great way to get people together! Many many thanks to Gina for including us and introducing us to her friends.
I took a few of my sidekicks along with me, who took their challenge of voting on the dishes quite seriously…
Gorgeous views from the high-rise apartment tower.
I always wonder what it would be like to live in one of these! I imagine if you don’t have big dogs like me, it might be a great experience.
Lots of new people to meet and talk with – it’s nice to have a chance to meet more people here in Seattle!
Dessert sampler plate…
Such a fun Saturday night out! I’d highly recommend doing an “ingredient challenge” party if you have a big group of friends. It was a great way to get people together and spark up conversations. I want to do it again!
Weekends are my favorite, not because of the break from work and chance to unplug (although that is quite nice too), but mostly because I get to spend two full days in a row with this guy.
We have a great setup and schedule here in Seattle, but I do miss our DC days when we worked side by side all day long. But I guess soon enough I’ll have another little guy to keep my company during my days!
Back shortly with my strawberry recipe…
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That looks like so much fun! Such a cool idea :)
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Wow, that looks so fun!
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Hi Emily! Some folks from Knox recommended I check out your blog – wow, everything looks great out in Seattle! Not sure if you remember me, I was a little bit younger at Walnut ;) Anyhow, just wanted to say hello and that I enjoy reading your blog – I’m a runner too and homecook, so I can get enough of this stuff! Let me know when you two want to come to France!
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Hi Jessica – of course I remember you!! Sounds like you are doing awesome things as well. I would love to come to France. :)
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Jessica Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Just let us know when you and Casey are ready to teach little G some French! You’re always welcome and I loooove showing people around! ;)
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I’m with ya – high rises are awesome UNLESS you have dogs. It’s just too much to be going up and down.
LOVE this idea! All the recipes look so mouth-watering.
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WOW – Strawberry overload. I hope your pregnant stomach could handle it :)
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Does strawberry overload exist? Not in my house!! :)
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Meagan Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
HAHA. I am surprised no one did strawberry smoothies?!
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This is such a great idea and I would love to host one! Can you send more information on how many ingredients and a little info on how the invitation read or do a post about it??
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
She really just emailed the party idea about 6 weeks ago and said we’d know the ingredient closer to the date. Then early this week she emailed to let us know it was strawberries, and what the voting categories were. Just the one secret ingredient, and no other real rules or requirements. It was a lot of fun! :)
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Oh Emily, that looks like fun! I am definitely loving strawberries right now! Can’t wait to see your recipe!
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Hi Emily! I am a native Seattleite and I’ve heard from many locals and transplants that it’s hard to make friends here! Have you heard of the “Seattle Freeze” yet?
I have recently met some cool people via Yelp and the events page and now have a hiking group through the people I’ve met. That has been a great avenue for me to make some new friends. Anyway, I realize it’s weird to accept the friendship of a stranger, but if you need any suggestions of what to do or where to go, shoot me an email!
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 11:59 am
I HAVE heard of the freeze. :) We’ve had quite a few nice people reach out – it’s just hard when you work from home and are totally new, but slowly we’re meeting some new faces. :)
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rachelgab Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
If I ever recognize you walking around Greenlake, I’ll say hi fo sho (I go there a lot)!
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Please do! I am there walking almost every day. :)
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rachelgab Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Me too! I split my walks between Greenlake and Seward Park, which is really nice if you want to go on a little drive. It borders Lake Washington and you can take a really pretty drive through the Arboretum to get there. It’s less crowded, which I like a lot.
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That party is such a great idea, I am definitely going to do that asap (or maybe after the baby is born :-)
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That looks like a lot of fun, sort of like iron chef and chopped from food network :)
All the items pictured look delish.
I also would like to know a bit more about how your friend planned this so that there was a balance of sweet and savory, did everyone email her prior and she monitored the items?
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 11:58 am
I think she just hoped for the best on the mix of sweet and savory, and there were enough people invited (about 25) that there was good variety.
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I understand how isolating it can feel to not know many people where you live and work.
I’ve moved a handful of times in the past decade, and as I get older it gets more and more difficult to make friends. (Without school – how does anyone make friends?!?! ha, ha). Seriously though, I work in a very isolating job, and it’s tough.
Good of you to get out there and meet some new people!
And I love the idea of the “secret ingredient” challenge party! Totally going to steal that idea… someday!
~
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Totally agree! Maybe I should go back to school again…
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Mmmm strawberry pesto pasta sounds amazing! Love strawberries and LOVE pesto so can’t go wrong with that! :) I think the ‘secret ingredient challenge’ idea for the party is a great one! Will definitely be trying that out in the future!
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so funnnn!!! Your pasta salad sounds yummy! looking forward to the recipe!
It is hard to meet new people. We’ve been in Charleston for about a year and we’ve only met a small handful of people.It makes it even harder when you have to work (some) weekends!
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Who won????
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 11:57 am
You will be as sad as I was that with all those gorgeous strawberries and many vegetarian and vegan contributions, the winners were…chicken tacos and chicken sliders. The only two meat dishes there! So predictable, right? Gazpacho won for presentation – a clear winner!
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Mama Pea Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Bummerito. :(
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Gina (Yogattude) Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
The gazpacho got the most votes over-all from all categories….we just wanted to spread the love to other contenders (2nd place winners!) Yesterday we talked about wanting to rig the best tasting category because we didn’t think the winning dish was representative of the category….maybe we should have just done a re-vote, but it may have been too much trouble! Your salad was fab by the way, can’t wait for you to post the recipe!
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
That gazpacho was awesome! No I totally believed the voting, just sad that I didn’t taste either of the other winners. I’m sure they were delicious as well. :) SUCH a fun idea and I’m so glad we were there!
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Veganlily Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
That was exactly my question!! I LOVE this party idea and will be stealing it immediately if not sooner. Emily-such a cute maternity shirt-love it!
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You look great!!
I cannot WAIT for the strawberry pesto pasta salad recipe.. just looking at the pictures is making my mouth water! And that strawberry salsa with avocado looks sooo good as well. What was your favorite??
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
I voted for the desserts. :)
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I’m totally in the mood for strawberry anything now!*
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Hi Emily I live just south of Seattle near Tacoma. If you ever want to venture out that way, shoot me an email.
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That is such a great idea for a get-together! And it’s be a great way to recipe swap. Everything looks delicious!
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This looks so fun! I’m bummed I missed out, but wedding festivities got in the way. I think there will have to be another secret ingredient party very soon!
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Emily Malone Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
We missed you – I thought you were going to be there!! Definitely a next time. Let’s hang out again soon!
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Marissa Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
I thought I was going to be there too, but my cousins wedding took up more of my weekend than I had planned! I’ll email you about hanging out soon :)
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Oh that looks like SO much fun! That strawberry thyme lemonade sounds killer. :)
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How fun! I can’t wait to see your recipes! ;)
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That sounds like such a fun idea! Although would definitely be harder in my circle. Almost every single person I know has something they can’t eat, whether it’s gluten, nuts, eggs, soy, corn, allergies and tolerances abound!
Plus I have random ones myself (besides the gluten, I also can’t have xanthan gum, onions, citrus or almonds). Argh! Parties are fun in theory, until you scare people by casually demanding to know every ingredient in the dish they are try to casually shove onto your plate.
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You look PHENOMENAL!!!! This also is such a great idea! I’d love to do this someday!
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Omg YU!M I have a huge thing of strawberries in my fridge. I was thinking of a strawberry cilantro combo for some reason, I can’t wait for your recipes!
Amber’s Notebook
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The suspense is killing me – who won???
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What an awesome party! How fun!
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Hey Emily!
I found your blog through another one I was reading and love it! I noticed you used to live in DC (I like there too), sad that I found your blog after you moved to Seattle.
This is such an awesome idea for a party, I am definitely going to do host a secret ingredient party soon! All these dishes look amazing!
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Those were some really innovative uses of strawberries.
Hopefully there were some traditional items like chocolate covered strawberries…just a yummy finger food.
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What a cool idea! Kudos to those who made savory strawberry dishes, too!
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all of that looks amazing :) and that top is so cute on you! you look fabulous as usual :)
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What a great idea! The food looks amazing! :P
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Every single one of those dishes looks unbelievable. Looks like everyone at the party was some kind of creative chef! I need to recreate those strawberry chevre crostinis. Mmm…
ANd you look adorable in that top and jeans.
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Your outfit is adorable! Thats such a great idea for a party, never would have thought of that!
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You look very, very pregnant!
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Just as a helpful comment for you to meet some people, sign up for a prenatal yoga class. Or do a LOONG prenatal prep class. I met soem wonderful friends that way. GL!
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I want recipes for everything haha!
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The gazpacho and lemonade look amazing. Can’t wait to see your recipe!
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What a fabulous idea! Definitely want to have a party like this…
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Yay, so glad Casey, Sarah and you could come! I was suprised at the turn-out…turns out I have friends! It actually took me a good year to make a good base of friends here…but everyone I have met is so great and it was nice to have a bunch of different friend groups all in one space! I’m suprisingly not strawberry’d out at all as I have a big bag sitting at my desk! I hope to host another challenge in the fall:)
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That sounds like such a fun night! What a great idea… I might have to steal it! Btw you and Casey look so chic and beautiful.
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Hi Emily,
I have a non-food related question for you. I’ve been reading your blog for well over a year now, and started because of my food interest. However since following your beautiful pregnancy journal for months now I am also now pregnant with my first!! Though I’m only two months and a bit along, I’m already starting to scout cute maternity clothes and love the top you’re wearing! Do you mind sharing with me where you got it? Thank you for being so open about your pregnancy journey- it’s nice to know I’m not alone with all the crazy thoughts that go through your head, and body misgivings.
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STRAWBERRIES!!!!
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Emily,
First off, you are looking great! Seriously super fit pregnant woman!
Secondly, what a fantastic idea for a party! I love it!
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Gosh I can’t wait for that recipe! :D
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That party looks like so much fun- I definitely want to steal that idea!
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This Thursday I will be traveling to Seattle for a week to visit my best friend! I love reading your blog and what you post about the city, it makes me that much more excited for my trip!
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That’s the one thing that scares me about ever moving to a new city- making new friends. It seems like you’re adapting well, on both social and culinary levels!
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This sounds like such a fun idea. I think I would have a very hard time picking the ingredient though if I were to host.
Your shoes look super fun peaking out from your pants. Any full shots?
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Oh my gosh! I want all of those recipes! Everything looks so delicious! I’m so jealous!
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I can’t wait for that pesto pasta salad recipe…it looks delicious. And that shirt is very cute hugging your little baby bump!
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That looks like so much fun! My friends would totally be into something like that.
A couple close friends moved to Seattle recently and have just a few friends… a party like this would be an awesome way to meet new people in a “you can come + people you think would be interested!” way!
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Those all sound so yummy but your strawberry pesto pasta salad sounds amazing!
I really liked the idea of a Ingredient Challenge party, it sounds like a blast.
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That shirt is adorable! You are such a stunning mommy-to-be!
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You look gorgeous!! Seriously putting even Victoria Beckham to shame with your adorable pregnant style! That is such an awesome idea for a party, I love it!
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Your baby bump looks too cute! Check out the famous Hong Kong egg tart, which is a delicious dessert: http://hongkongintern.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/egg-cellence/
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This is seriously my favorite top on you yet!
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So which items taste tested first in each category? =)
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what a cool idea for a dinner party! ps you’ll soon be making a ton of friends when you have your baby…when we moved somewhere we did not know people, first it was the dog–we made dog friends…then the 1st baby–we made baby friends…
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Before I say anything, I just have to say how gorgeous and stunning you look! Love that outfit and you’re absolutely glowing…you and Casey will make amazing parents and I love reading how in love you are with him :)
What a clever, fun, and innovative way to have a party! I definitely want to try that sometime..and the food looks delish!
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How awesome that you have become a friend to my daughter…She continues to amaze me. Glad she is making some fun friends..Her home base is Michigan, I don’t get to see her much. P.S. I hated to cook-she has done this all on her own!!! I wish I could taste her great looking dishes!
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Can you please share recipes for strawberry chevre crostini and strawberry salsa? Going to try your strawberry pesto tomorrow!
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Awwww look at you pregnant :)
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