Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake and a Trip to Seattle Aquarium and Pike Place Market

We are home from Seattle. Had an absolute fantastic time. I could have easily stayed another week, but unfortunately real life calls and we are now back to our daily routine. Lots of fun outings with the kids. Great visits with family. Relaxing. Fantastic food.

I am majorly bummed that I didn’t take any pictures of the food we made, but I do have some recipes to share: Granola, Strawberry-Rhubarb Coffee Cake, Tangerine Cherry Overnight Oatmeal, Mixed greens with candied walnuts and blue cheese, and a quick one pot tilapia dish.

An excerpt from our trip:

I’ve completely lost track of time and days. It’s amazing what a vacation does to your mental calendar. No more appointments to remember. No countdown to the weekend. It’s all one long weekend with days blurring from one to the next. One day we find ourselves out at the Seattle Aquarium with grandma, grandpa, and the kids. Logan is running off not listening. I wonder if this is an indication of what it’s going to be like today. It’s a good thing we brought the stroller with us; it serves well as a portable timeout chair while on our outing. Madeline is mystified by the very first tank of fish she looks at and doesn’t want to leave to walk on to the next. After a mini-tantrum she realizes there is more to see ahead and makes a mad dash for it.

The Aquarium is excellent. Much larger than ours here in Albuquerque, with lots of indoor and outdoor exhibits. Definitely worth repeated visits. The kids favored watching the diver feeding the fish and the otters outside.

For Logan there is so much indecision in the gift shop. He can’t seem to find the perfect souvenir to take home. In the end, grandma purchases a t-shirt for each and an aquarium felt board which Logan has declared “perfect” because it comes with a girl diver. He currently has an affinity for all things female, purple, and curly. (In fact, we spend a better part of our vacation drawing stick figure girls using a purple crayon. They’ve all got big dresses and curly hair).

Afterwards we head to Pike Place Market to explore the offerings. We are lucky to have impeccable timing at the fish stand. Logan’s eyes are wide as he sees the famous fish throwing not once, but four times. They sure know how to put a show on for tourists. There are all sorts of fish and seafood. Whole octopus. Scary looking Monk Fish. In the end we decide on some local rhubarb, large strawberries, and a couple blood oranges for purchase. Rhubarb and strawberries because we haven’t planned anything for dessert yet. Eric’s mom, Angela, asks if I have a recipe. I tell her that we can look online or I’ll make something up. Not unusual for me. I am often a winger, adapter, fly by the seat of my pants-er, at least when it comes to the kitchen.

The kids are tired, hungry, and ready to leave the bustling market behind in favor of a nap in the car. The hunger is nothing that a bag of fresh grapes can’t fix. We pick up a bunch of red seedless for our last purchase. Logan and Madeline share the entire bunch in the back seat, where Madeline is now asleep. Not a single grape survives. I can hear Logan playing with cars in his seat behind Eric as I write this post on my phone. I don’t want to forget a moment of today, but I know I already have.

My only regrets for the day are not getting pictures of the spectacular market or the strawberry-rhubarb coffee cake we create for dessert. The good news is that it was so good I’ll be making it again soon. Like this weekend. And I will be sure to take pictures this time.