Category Archives: Foodie Fridays

All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Mighty-O Donuts

Seattle, WA

My Live Video Review on Youtube is HERE

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 1400 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 547-0335

Mightyo.com

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Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: “Maple Bar”
Signature shop donut: Perhaps the French Toast
Most popular US donut: glazed (cake donut)
2nd most popular US donut: Boston Creme (Not Available)
Donut Hole: Not Available

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What I tried:

Glazed, lemon poppy seed, maple bar, French toast, peppermint, chocolate raspberry

~$13.40

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What to expect:

This corner store is next to easy street parking and has high ceilings and a high counter. The donuts are displayed like a fancy catering event’s dessert table. All the donuts are beautifully frosted and not heavy in their cake filling.

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My favorite:

I liked the peppermint the best, but I think I would have liked any donut with their chocolate cake interior. The frosting is perfectly balanced with the amount of cake and isn’t overwhelmingly sweet, but fully flavored.

Foodie Fridays: Blue Apron Review

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I tried out a 3 meal for two people Blue Apron this month.

Pros:

  1. I got to know new ingredients (like how to deal with turnips and chickpeas)
  2. I got to eat semi-gourmet homemade meals
  3. They were over portioned and I had leftovers!

Cons:

  1. The box arrived on the most inconvenient day of the week and I had to let the ingredients sit in my fridge for 3 days before I could even cook the first one.
  2. The recipes were more complicated than I’m used to cooking
  3. There were a LOT of dishes to clean up
  4. Some of the directions were confusing and I started to doubt my own ability to cook and make assumptions

I really enjoyed the experience but felt harried trying to make the meals and not let them sit in the fridge for too long. I liked having new ingredients to work with that I’m not sure I’d ever find or purchase in the grocery store and I will be using chickpeas in the near future! I wish Blue Apron had levels of difficulty/gourmet so that the harried overworked overbusy people can start off with the starter pack that uses less dishes and takes less prep finagling to figure out, but introduces you to new ingredients and provides a ready meal when you’re too busy to go to the grocery store.

The spicy chicken with Mediterranean flair (my favorite):

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The seared salmon with fall vegetables:

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And the roasted pork steam buns without final picture because we were too busy eating:

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All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – Family Donuts – Lynnwood, WA

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Family Donuts

lynnwood, WA

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7600 196th St SW #850, Lynnwood, WA 98036

(425) 712-0903

 

Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: NA
Signature shop donut: NA
Most popular US donut: glazed
2nd most popular US donut: Boston crème
Donut Hole: Glazed $2.00/doz

 

What I tried:

Glazed Twist, Boston Creme, Donut Holes

$4.15 total

 

What to expect:

the glazed donut holes looked exceptionally nice but the glaze/donut tasted mildly chalky lke they weren’t made from fresh oi. The boston crème definitely tastes like there’s something flavoring the oil they cook the donuts in. I’m not a fan.

 

My favorite:

I wasn’t impressed with this donut shop.

Foodie Fridays: Red Velvet Cheesecake Churros

by in Foodie Fridays and tagged

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This was such a difficult recipe to follow! I didn’t have some of the baking equipment (piping bags) and it was messy and a pain! They are delicious, but not as magical looking as I had hoped. I also don’t like cinnamon or excess sugar so I didn’t roll them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture and I halved the amount of powered sugar put into the cream cheese for the filling. It would have been easier to use a fat straw, but all I had was a thin one I’d swiped from a fast food place earlier.

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BUZZFEED recipe can be found here

INGREDIENTS

2 cups water
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
Canola oil, for frying
½ cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

PREPARATION

In a pot over medium-high heat, bring water, sugar, and butter to a boil. Add in the flour and the cake mix and stir vigorously until mixture has no streaks. Remove from heat and add the eggs, stirring until the dough becomes a ball. Transfer dough to a piping bag with a size 9 star tip.

Pipe three to four inches strips of the dough on a baking sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Heat the canola oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Fry the red velvet churros for about three to four minutes, then remove and drain on paper towels.

Using a straw, poke a hole through the centers of the churros to hollow out a cavity for the filling.

On a plate, combine the cinnamon and the sugar and mix until it is a uniform color. Roll the hollowed out churros in the cinnamon sugar.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Transfer filling into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe the filling into the churros.

Foodie Fridays: Best Pie Ever – Youtube Video and Recipes

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Check out my youtube video HERE of me eating pie and talking about it! Don’t forget to subscribe for more videos about food, challenges, and books!

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Pie Crust from Martha Stewart – Recipe HERE

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS

  1. To make the dough for the pie crust, mix 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon each salt and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Cut 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces. With a pastry blender, cut in butter, working until mixture resembles coarse meal.
  2. Add 4 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time (up to 4 more tablespoons). Do not overwork.
  3. Divide dough in half, and flatten halves into disks. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
  4. To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round. Wrap around rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate.
  5. Fit gently into bottom and side of plate. Use kitchen shears to trim dough to a 1-inch overhang; fold under, and seal to form a rim.
  6. Crimp rim with fingertips and knuckle. Repeat with remaining dough; wrap each with plastic, stack, and freeze.

Pie filling from Grandma Ople – Recipe HERE

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (can use less)
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup water (can substitute apple juice to compensate for less sugar)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar (can use less)
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (can use less)
  • 5-8 apples – peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
  2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
  3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Note – I used half the amount of sugar, half the amount of butter and substituted apple juice for the water when I made my second pie for a *healthier* version

Foodie Fridays: Apple Picking and Juicing and Bonus – Plums!

by in Foodie Fridays, Rachel Barnard and tagged ,

At our 4th annual Barnard Cider making extravaganza we made cider from all local apples/pears/plums. Check out the wrapup post from last year HERE.

Here are the trees we picked from:

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Our haul of around 125 pounds of apples

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I used my juicer on half the plums (about 175 of them to make 14 cups of juice) and the pears (3 medium sized mason jars). I also juiced some other local apples we’d picked the week prior.

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Here is our process:

Step 1: Wash the apples and get rid of (compost) the mealy gross ones

Step 2 (Pictured Below): Cut up the apples into pieces

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Step 3: Vitamix the apple pieces into a puree

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Step 4: Place apple puree into cheesecloth and squeeze out the juice or use an apple press

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Step 5: funnel juice into bottles gathered over the year

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All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – Dona Queen Donuts and Deli – Seattle, WA

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Dona Queen Donuts and Deli

Seattle, WA

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View my LIVE review HERE

7018 Bothell Way NE, Kenmore, WA 98028
(206) 496-3670

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Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: “All of them”
Signature shop donut: NA
Most popular US donut: glazed
2nd most popular US donut: Boston crème
Donut Hole: Glazed

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What I tried:

Maple Bar, Glazed, Boston Crème, cake donut

$15.97 total for an assorted dozen

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What to expect:

This little shop has its own little parking lot – so don’t despair for Seattle parking as there are plenty of compact spots for you to use. It’s an easy turn to get into the lot and easy to spot this little donut place. Dona Queen Donuts isn’t just donuts! They are also a deli so you can get real food there too! This place is your run of the mill donut shop where you can get all the classics, as well as sandwiches and Korean favorites.

 

My favorite:

I liked how you can get Bulgogi and a glazed donut at the same time! You might be able to convince them to make a sandwich out of a donut if you try hard enough.

All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – Evergreen Donuts – Lynnwood, WA

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Evergreen Donuts

lynnwood, WA

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20101 44th Ave W, Lynnwood, WA 98036

(425) 673-5331

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Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: “All of them”
Signature shop donut: NA
Most popular US donut: glazed
2nd most popular US donut: Boston crème
Donut Hole: Glazed

 

What I tried:

Glazed, Cake Donut, Boston Creme

$3.25 total

 

What to expect:

This little shop is small and clean with normal-sized donuts. There is nothing amazing or spectacular about this shop. If you want a donut that’s fresh and decent, then this is a great place to get a donut. Don’t expect overly large or intricate or specialty donuts here, just the usual.

 

My favorite:

I liked how the Boston Creme had a full serving of cream inside that was spread out throughout the inside of the donut so every bite was creamy and delicious. The chocolate glaze on top was not overly sweet. It was the perfect blend of sweet chocolate on top and cream in the middle with the right amount of dough.