Bellingham Show and Tell

Show and tell!

The weekend before Christmas my husband and I bustled out to Bellingham, Washington for the wedding of two friends of ours. Bellingham is my college town, and if you haven't heard me extolling the many virtues of the 'ham, you haven't met me. Aside from its streets being paved with indie vinyl records and post-post modern graphic t-shirt designs, Bellingham is a haven for foodies. It has the diversity typical of Northwestern urban culture, but the many surrounding farms give it an edge on locally grown food (that includes pork, dairy and beef!) that is almost impossible to beat.

My favorite is the sushi. I snapped a shot of my favorite combo at Tokyo House on Garden Street:

Salmon skin rolls, squid nigiri and salmon nigiri.

Here's what R has to say about the town's favorite "hippie" breakfast cafe:

Incidentally, Bellingham also houses (last time I checked) the second highest coffee shop per capita ratio in the continental US. Avellino Espresso is my all-time favorite coffee shop, for ambience, food and, of course, for bean. Avellino attends to the details, like using shaved Belgian chocolate instead of chocolate syrup and real whipped cream (local, of course).

Just look at it. Isn't it the most beautiful cuppa you've ever seen?

The Avellino mocha (two shots please).

Bellingham also has a thriving arts community, most notably (imho) pottery. Good Earth Pottery is a shop in Fairhaven that houses a co-op of potters, and their work is stunning. I'm not going to lie, I spent a large chunk of our wedding present money here, and I'm so glad!

That's it for show and tell. I've cooked and baked so many things in the last week I couldn't remember to blog about it if I tried. Our trip to the 'ham was the kickoff of a mad, frantic dash of holiday events, the last of which we get to enjoy on New Year's Eve. Will likely spend January hibernating with my new copy of - you guessed it - Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.