Dinner and a car show

I recently purchased a new cook book from the Fireworks store in U-Village. I love that store and find all kinds of cool stuff there. This cookbook is called Seriously Simple and it has a lot of great recipes in it. Over the weekend, I bought the ingredients for a chicken dish in the book and Jerill made the dish last night. It was super tasty!

The dish was Roast Lemon Garlic Chicken and Green Olives...


The finished product! Book on the left, dish on the right. Jerill used green and black olives (Greek style). Also had a side of homemade mashed potatoes and rustic bread. Jerill added in some fennel as well.

Last week Jerill attended the Seattle International Auto Show. I didn't go this year as I had to work. You may know I am a total car freak. I'm not so freaky that I know every single car out there, but I know what I like. I'm into cars that offer AWD, space for my dogs, and necessary ammenities like heated seats, interval wipers and parking-aids (I am a bad parker but good driver!). I asked Jerill to take some pictures for me while he was at the show, especially of a particular vehicle I secretly want really, super bad. He came back with the following photographs. I guess the true theme of this year's auto show is UGLY. I wasn't in love with many of the shapes and styles that came back to me from Jerill's photography assignment.


Here are some of the photos he took...

I think Jerill took this photo for himself. It's an Audi R8 - the top of the line super car from the German automaker. It has carbon fiber siding and accents. It's fast. It's also $156,000. I've actually seen a couple of these driving around Redmond at rush hour!

This is a butt ugly car, in my opinion. I like Porsches but this is grotesque. I mean, 4 doors?? What are they thinking? Give me a Cayenne please.

Another ugly car. But, it's an Italian car, so they can get away with it. The Alfa Romeo. I thought this was a Maserati at first because of the big stupid banner the car is sitting under. It seems the Maserati at least is making a comeback. I see tons of these marks on the road on my long commute. There is even one for sale in the used car lot at North Bend Chevrolet! I'm sure this Alfa Romeo is a little bit more special though; their flagship buttugly car. It does sort of resembe a Bugatti I guess. I'm just not seeing myself in this car... ever.

I know why Jerill took this one. He is really excited about this new Ford transport van. He thinks this will meet all my dog transport needs. It might, but it's ugly and it isn't AWD or 4WD - that' s a problem as I intend to go through snow and storm to get to a dog trial. This truck is pretty affordable though.

Ahhhh, yes. This is the car I want at the moment. I learned about the Porsche Transsyberia earlier this year. It's sort of like a rally car meets SUV. Based on the Porsche Cayenne, the Transsyberia only has two seats; the rest is cargo and off-road equipment I guess. It comes standard with these bright orange accents and wheels. Likely around $90,000 once all the goodies are loaded on. This is an off-roaders dream. I wonder if it's also a hydrofoil so I can get to dog trials overseas?

Dream Cars

Okay, not that my Hybrid isn't nice or anything, but I have to say I fell for a few cars at this year's Seattle Auto Show. Jerill and I went to the Show on Sunday with my parents, Carole and Arnold. I inherited my interest in cars from my parents who have probably had more cars that I care to count - some of which have been quite cool including a '67 Mustang, a Jag, an MG, and even a Model T. Here are some of the goodies from the show...

Okay, this is the Audi A8L - this is my dream car for commuting.
It's HUGE, comfortable and totally awesome. Quattro AWD, auto-everything.
And, it's really fast. MSRP around $87K to start.

Can't forget the new Aston Martin - same model as the one in the upcoming James Bond movie. This one will run you about $300K. This car is nice but I don't really WANT it like I want the Audi A8L or the other white one...

My Dad jumped into the 'fun' car they had at the show - the Flinstones Car. It was pretty plasticy but still pretty cute.
I believe it actually does run - although this one didn't appear to be powered by foot-power.

And, in my opinion, the creme de le creme of cars. The Porsche GT2. I've always loved the GT3 and this is their newest model into the line of Porsche Supercars. You can drive this as your every-day car, and then race it in Grand Prix events. Totally sexy, totally fast, totally Porsche. MSRP $197K



After the auto show, we decided to visit the new Snoqualmie Casino that just opened last Thursday. It was busy but bearable. We ate dinner in the Buffet as my parents are retired and LOVE buffets. This one is definitely better than the OCB (Old Country Buffet), and ALMOST as good as the Buffet in the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. They offered a nice array of meats, seafood and Asian foods. Their desserts were pretty good (chocolate covered cream puffs and sundae bar). We didn't gamble one cent though. However, I will probably be back this week (Thurs?) to eat at the Sushi place in the Casino and try my luck at those 3 cent slot machines.