When I was a kid Halloween was the best time of the year. We lived in a neighborhood that had very few children, but lots of adults who were happy to buy loads of candy. We scored. Every year my dad and the dad next door would take all of us out around the neighborhood. Living in Seattle meant that there were many years where it rained. When that happened, we all piled in the back of my dad’s Ford Explorer with the hatch open (it was the 90’s after all) and he’d drive us from house to house.

Halloween smelled like rain and leaves and whiskey (as a kid I didn't recognize the smell, but as an adult I’ve figured out what was in those flasks.)

As a kid, Halloween is full of magic and fun. The years between being a kid and having a kid are a little more ambiguous. There were parties and fancy dinners but the magic just wasn’t the same. If you’re lucky enough to have little ones around this Halloween, take advantage of it. Host a party, make a big batch of chili and revel in the magic and fun of youth.

Transform styrofoam balls with hot glue and candy corn. These last for years.

HALLOWEEN CHILI

serve 8

STEP 1

In a small bowl blend together cornmeal, sugar, cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder.  In a warm pan cook spice blend with two tablespoons olive oil until aromatic (just a minute or two).  

STEP 2

Add onions and butter to pan and cook over medium heat until translucent. Add sausage and stew meat and cook, turning often, until browned. 

STEP 3

When sausage is completely cooked and stew meat cubes are browned on all sides, pour in 1 cup beef broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan.  Add the second cup if needed to retain some liquid in the pan.  

STEP 4

Pour in tomatoes, beer, beans, and bay leaf and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to low and simmer about 3 hours stirring occasionally to prevent sticking until stew meat is tender and flaky.

STEP 5

When ready to serve, break up stew meat chunks with a fork and season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve with cheese, sour cream, and fresh chopped onions.  

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons butter

1-2 cups beef broth

1 pound sausage

2 pounds beef stew meat

2 bay leaves

12 ounces Pale Ale

1 - 8 oz. can garbanzo beans

1 - 8 oz. can kidney beans

1 - 8 oz. can pinto beans

2 - 9 oz cans tomato sauce

3 tablespoons cornmeal

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cumin

¼ cup chili powder

½ tablespoon salt

½ tablespoon pepper

olive oil

Here’s how to pull off the perfect Family Halloween Party

1. Make a giant batch of chili. More people show up? No problem, add more beans & more stock.

2. Make or buy loads of cookies and treats. Not totally for the kids - but for the parents to snack on so they don’t dig into their kids bags (yet).

3. Cocktails! Set up a simple bar with gin, vodka, tonic, and soda water. A few bottles of red wine & beer will round out the bar.

4. Weeknight Family Halloween parties tend to wrap up around 8pm. Let friends know ahead of time that you’re putting your kids to bed at a certain time.

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Any reason at all to celebrate anything at all is a win in my book.  Halloween is right at the top of that list because it can be SO QUIRKY!  And quirky is the best way to celebrate anything.  I put together a quirky little Halloween that is so simple you can pull it off with almost no lead time.  Especially those rats!  Keep scrolling for a cocktail that does have to sit overnight (jell-o) but is ridiculously good (stick to one of those!) and a step-by-step of the rats that are really easy and really fun.

Here's why this is the coolest cocktail; the jell-o shot melts as it sits in the martini delivering, not only a 1-2 punch, but also a spooky 'bleeding' effect.  You can always skip the martini part and just serve jell-o shots (yum).  I make loads of jell-o shots so take my advice: 

1. Do not use cheap vodka.  You will notice.  Everyone will notice.  If the bottle is on the bottom shelf, then leave it there.  

2. Let sit overnight.  Do not rush these.  It won't set up as well and they get sloppy and weird.

3. Don't try to add more vodka.  There's plenty.  Remember this is still science and you need the right balance for these to set up. 

You know that when you've totally creeped out a three year old that you've done your job.  And when you can do it for about $5 at the dollar store - BAM!  You feel like a freaking genius.  The trick with these rats is to cut all the way through so the candle can touch the table.  When it does that, it gives it a more stable resting place than if it is attempting to balance somewhere inside the plastic rat.  

I hope you have a fabulous Halloween!  Let me know how you're celebrating and follow me on Instagram for all of the goods I'm serving up this year!

My birthday party continues!  There is no birthday party with out a cocktail.  At least at my house.  A cocktail makes the whole night sing.  My signature birthday cake is a Black Forest Cake and I was dying to figure out how to get those flavors into a cocktail.  So I did it.  

Happy Summer!  Are you celebrating something?  You should be, there's lots to celebrate.  Celebrate the kids who have graduated from school; celebrate the parents who made it through another school year; celebrate the baseball teams/soccer teams/volleyball teams that had a great season.  

You did it!  

We made it to another summer.  

To celebrate, I leaned into the pineapple trend that everyone is loving and turned it into an edible trend.  If pineapples are cute, then eating them has to be freaking adorable.  Right?  I made a simple little menu with teriyaki chicken burgers that can cook on the grill while everyone sips delicious coconut pineapple cocktails that can be spiked or un-spiked for the younger celebrators.  

TERIYAKI CHICKEN BURGER

serves 4

STEP 1

In a microwave safe bowl, combine soy, pineapple juice, ginger, garlic, and sugar.  Set aside.  If you’re making rice, start it now. 

STEP 2

Pour half of the pineapple mixture over the chicken.  Let rest 5 minutes, but no longer or the pineapple with begin to ‘cook’ the chicken.

STEP 3

Grill chicken about 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.  

STEP 4

Whisk cornstarch in the pineapple mixture and microwave at one-minute increments whisking between each minute.  Continue until slightly thick.  

STEP 5

Whisk together mayonnaise and sriracha.  Spread mixture on one side of the Hawaiian buns.

STEP 6

Layer chicken, pineapple, and lettuce on top of each burger.  Serve with rice.

4 chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets

1 can sliced pineapple rings

¼ cup soy sauce

Pineapple juice from the can

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tbs corn starch

8 Hawaiian hamburger buns

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tbs. sriracha

Iceberg lettuce

PINA COLADA SPARKLERS

In a tall glass scoop two to three scoops of coconut sorbet.  Top with Pineapple Dry Sparkling until the glass is full.  Float 2 oz. of dark rum on top for the adults in the group.

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Long weekends are the best.  Three whole days to hang out with the kids, barbecue, and not have to pack lunches.  I've crammed this post full of shopping, cocktails, and recipes for you to use for your own shin-dig this weekend.  Enjoy!

xoxo, ali

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It occurred to me this weekend that I actually have no idea how many years Mr. Hedin and I have been going to the Fred Hutch Premier Chef's Dinner.  This event is my favorite event of the year (no offense to other events, it's just the best).  The evening celebrates local chefs, wineries, and finding a cure for cancer. 

Every year a fabulous chef is brought in as the guest speaker, last year it was Alice Waters (whom I adore) and this year we heard from the D A R L I N G and idol worthy Dominique Crenn.  She's the gal from the Visa commercial who makes the giant soufflé.  She's also the gal who has two Michelin Stars (the first lady to ever receive two stars in the US), best female chef in 2016, and most recently, Best Chef West by the James Beard Foundation just this year.  That's all to say, her culinary chops are legit.  She's also the cutest thing you've ever seen and a motorcycle jacket just jumped up on my wish list.  

image courtesy of Seattle Met

5 FAVORITE THINGS FROM THE CHEF'S DINNER

1. The "whoop" that went out as soon as I finished presenting about Two Mountain Winery.  My friends are the best.

2. Daisley Gordon's Asparagus Tart (below) which I might have eaten that whole sheet of...  the pickled asparagus salad on top was to die for.  

3. Dominique Crenn's motorcycle jacket.  #goals

4. Braised Short Ribs as big as your hand served on the creamiest polenta I think I've ever had.  

5. Raising more money than ever before for the study and research of cancer prevention.  

The way the evening works is unique for a charity event - at least in Seattle.  If there's an event like this near you I'd love to hear about it!  

Chef's throughout the city of Seattle are invited to cook for the meal.  Each chef cooks half of the courses so that you and your date are each served something different at each course.  The idea being that you switch halfway though and you each get to eat two plates per course.  Since there are four courses, that's a lot of food.  A lot of amazing food.  

image courtesy of Seattle Met

With each course of food, a wine is paired to compliment it.  Generally the wines are all local, this year we featured three Washington wines and one from Oregon.  I had the privilege of speaking to the meat course wine provided by Two Mountain Winery - one of my favorite wineries in the state.  

Elijah DiStephano's Duck Breast

Samuel West's Braised Short Ribs

Two Mountain paired their 2015 Cabernet Franc with a Duck Breast from chef Elijah DiStephano from Thackeray Kitchen & Bar AND a Braised Short Rib cooked by Samuel West from San Fermo.  The Cab Franc is literally my favorite wine that Two Mountain makes - it's easy to drink, rich, and bold without overpowering anything, and just delightful.  

The wine was grown in the Copeland Vineyard on the Two Mountain property.  It's the first vineyard Matt planted in 2000 when they started the winery.  It's 95% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot - a perfect food friendly wine with good acid, tannin and structure.  Hints of oak, rose petals, and vanilla lend it to pair really nicely with red meat or dense mushrooms.  

Unless you're friends with me, you may not have heard of the winery.   It's actually owned and managed by Matt and Pat - brothers who grew up in Seattle and Eastern Washington where they lived on the family orchards and learned the agricultural business.  When they lived in Seattle they lived on the same block as Mr. Hedin and their families have been great friends ever since.  

In 2000 when we all graduated from college, Matt convinced his uncle to let him plant grapes in part of the orchard.  When Uncle Ron died unexpectedly, Matt and Pat took over orchard and - by then - a growing winery business.  Between the two of them, the brothers do everything; the wines are estate grown, they are blended by the brothers on the property, and most of the sales calls are handled by them as well.  It's truly a family operation.  

image courtesy of Seattle Met

image courtesy of Seattle Met

I would love to have you join us next year at this amazing event.  It's a foodie's paradise - when else do you get to eat the food of 10 amazing chefs in one night?  Here is the landing page for the Chef's Dinner and as soon as the event staff has come up for air from this year, they will begin to update with next year's information.  If you really want to be on top of it, send an email to the email address on the page and they will get you on the list so you will be one of the first to know when next year's event happens.  

Did I mention it's a fundraiser too?  The remarkable people in the room raised more than $1.4 million dollars for cancer prevention.  Come be a part of that life changing conversation.  If we can prevent cancer, we don't need to cure it.  

Hope I see you there next year

xoxo, ali

image courtesy of Seattle Met

image courtesy of Seattle Met

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This time of year is like a ladies party extravaganza.  If they aren't getting married, they are having babies.  And those are both really good reasons to celebrate.  You know I'm a big fan of the simple celebration so I've put together a really good spring luncheon that gives you a reason to celebrate with your ladies even if no one is having a baby (reason to celebrate!) or getting married (again?).

I'll be totally honest.  I had a salad at a restaurant recently that was and amazing cobb salad and I had this fabulous brainstorm to make a cobb salad using all of the fresh spring ingredients that are popping up in the farmer's markets right now  Think asparagus and radishes and tiny potatoes and peas all arranged beautifully on a platter.  Then right before I had my photo shoot, another local blogger created E X A C T L Y what I was thinking.  Clearly, we eat at the same restaurants.  

I was so bummed.  Mine was different because it does have eggs and doesn't have beans (which you could add when you do the asparagus!) so it's not the same.  But I like to be unique.  Do something different.  It's a personal goal that often gets busted by the bazillion recipe developers that are out there, but I try.  

So I decided I could use the same ingredients (which are A M A Z I N G right now!) and toss them like a chop chop salad.  Not only do you get the same delicious flavors but, you also can't screw this up.  I know if I made a cute arranged salad I would hear "mine won't look like yours" or "pinterest-fail" and I don't want you to ever feel like a fail.  Also, when you toss this thing together the egg yolk "melts" down a little bit with the dressing and creates a really good creamy texture without any actual cream.  You could almost call it healthy then.  

SPRING CHOP CHOP SALAD

serves 4

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Place raw eggs in a pot of cold water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain off hot water and fill pot with ice and cold water to immediately cool the eggs.

STEP 2

Toss potatoes with olive oil and salt.  Place on a baking sheet and roast 10 minutes until fork tender.

STEP 3

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Fill a bowl with ice and water and set aside.  Quickly lower asparagus into hot water.  Cook until just bright green – about 2 minutes.  Remove from water and pop into ice bath.  

Repeat with the peas.

STEP 4

Mix together 2 tbs bacon drippings, red wine vinegar, dried basil, honey, and Dijon mustard.

STEP 5

Chop all ingredients and toss together with salad dressing. 

1 bunch Asparagus

1 cup Fresh peas

6 Radishes

2 cups Artichoke hearts, cooked and sliced

6 Hard boiled eggs

¼ lb Tiny red potatoes – sliced in quarters

2 tbs olive oil

8 strips Bacon

2 tbs Chives

1 head romaine lettuce

DRESSING

2 tbs reserved bacon drippings

2 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard 

½ tsp Dried Basil

1 tsp Honey

A few years ago I hosted Easter brunch.  It was a small group, my sister, her boyfriend, my husband and our kids.  Within that group we don't eat eggs, wheat, dairy, or refined sugars.  Since I revel in a challenge, I saw this as a chance to really test what I could make.  Mr. Hedin and I have lived on quinoa for months when we first started eating clean.  I was still researching what else we could eat and relied on quinoa to fill in the blanks.  

I really wanted to serve strawberries and mint and how amazing would that be with quinoa??  Turns out, really delicious.  Really really delicious.  The trick with it is to make it first because when it rests for about an hour, it's really perfect.  

Salmon is a natural choice.  When you can't eat eggs, dairy, or wheat you can't make an overnight casserole.  Or Eggs Benedict.  Or pastries of any kind.  That sounds depressing.  It's not - salmon is awesome.  Also, because it bakes in about 15 minutes, you don't have to plan ahead too far.  

Are you eating clean?  Health reasons or just to feel better?  You don't even have to be eating clean to make this your Easter dinner.  I did make my grandmother's rolls for the children - they love them and it just doesn't feel like Easter without them.  They are really tempting when they are sitting on the table smelling all good.  And yeast-y.  And covered in butter.  

THE RECIPES

click to go to the recipes

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Lucky you! I started making shirts for my kids years ago before Target was flooded with a t-shirt for every holiday.  It's become a bit of a tradition.  Mainly just for Valentine's and St. Patricks at this point, but that doesn't mean I won't take full advantage of some silly reason to make custom t-shirts for the the gang.  

Mostly I make them because I luurrvvee when we match.  It's my favorite!  When we can all line up and wear the same shirt - it's so stinking cute! It's like a Hanna Anderson ad, but for t-shirts.  Since Target has yet to see my vision, I make them myself.  

The most challenging part of these is cutting out the template.  I use freezer paper for the template because it cuts out really easily and you can iron it on to the shirt so it sticks and forms a perfect template.  You can use sticker paper or stencil paper too - freezer paper is a cheap and easy option!  

May these shirts bring you and your little leprechauns much luck!

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TACO POPCORN SNACK MIX

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

STEP 2

In a deep pan, mix together popcorn, pretzels, and goldfish crackers.  

STEP 3

Combine butter, spices, and hot sauce (to taste - spice it up!) and pour over the popcorn mixture. Toss to coat.

STEP 4

Bake 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.  Serve immediately or store in an airtight container up to one week. 

4 cups popcorn

3 cups pretzels

2 cups goldfish crackers

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

salt & pepper

hot sauce

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN MIX

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a deep pan mix together popcorn, pretzels and 1 cup of the marshmallows.

STEP 2

Mix together butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar.  Pour over the popcorn mixture and mix to coat. 

STEP 3

Bake 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes.   Remove from the oven and sprinkle with remaining marshmallow, whoppers, and chocolate chips.  Let cool.  Serve immediately or store in an airtight container up to one week

4 cups popcorn

2 cups pretzels

2 cups mini marshmallows

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup whoppers

SHOP THE PARTY

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