The Birthday Season Continues

My dear friend, known here to one and all as Auntie Pumpkin, took me to lunch today for my Birthday Season. She asked me to come to her house at a certain time and that we'd then go to the surprise restaurant for lunch. "No jeans," she said. So I bit the bullet and tried to dress up, a little. No jeans. Combed hair. Teeth brushed. Good thing, too, because she took me to the Bellevue Wild Ginger restaurant for a festive, celebratory lunch. Wild Ginger is one of my all-time favorite places. And today, as always, it did not fail to satisfy my every wish for a lovely time---food, service, ambiance. Auntie Pumpkin provided the grand good company.

Here we have Auntie Pumpkin and her luncheon entree, Duck with Steamed Buns.

And here is my luncheon entree----Laksa!

I first tried laksa when I was in Singapore and I took a cooking class at Raffles Hotel (for another birthday season, if memory serves....maybe 11 years ago?) and I've been a big, BIG fan of this wonderful seafood-spice-noodle-curry-amalgam ever since. If you have never tried laksa, you should seriously consider making a batch and see for yourself what a delight it is (and it really is worth hunting down the exotic ingredients).

Since turmeric is one of the ingredients of the spice mix, the bib was necessary to keep my "not jeans" wardrobe looking pristine. (Notice the practiced noodle slurping technique....)

I am always surprised when I venture into Bellevue that it has grown into a city with many high rise buildings. This one had a lovely reflection that caught my eye.

After lunch Auntie Pumpkin took me shopping at Rosa Mundi, a little shop that used to have a branch in my town (but sadly no more), where I found this treasure. And what, you ask, am I going to do with that???

Tie it to my Christmas wreath with a bright red ribbon next December, of course! It will be just the perfect thing!