When you can't make pie . . .

So we had 3 pie apples. That's right just 3. When we bought the house, we were provided with a map of our trees and the first tree when you enter the garden was labled "Gravenstein - pie apples." It's a young dwarf tree, shorter than my husband. So we were excited that it managed to produce even 3 apples. But the thing is . . . 3 apples are not enough for pie. And then we realized that 3 apples would be plenty for a dutch baby pancake. Have you ever had a dutch baby? Have you tasted it's puffy, buttery, skillet-baked deliciousness? No? Then you are missing out. The dutch baby goes by many names, but it's basically a puffy pancake baked in a cast iron skillet in the oven in more butter than most folks want to know about. I adapted a recipe off epicurious.com for the Big Apple Pancake, substituting our Gravensteins and almond extract for vanilla (which made it fantastically, subtly, almondy). The result? Probably the best damn pancake we've ever had. Try it. Try it soon. Apple season is upon us.

Tuesdays with Market

Athenian Inn - This place was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. It was Saturday afternoon and I was looking for a place to take an out-of-town guest. She wanted breakfast. The Market was packed, despite the drizzle, and we had to fight the tourist hordes as we searched for sustenance. I've had my eye on the Athenian Inn for sometime. But I felt like I couldn't take a visitor to a restaurant featured in Sleepless in Seattle without feeling super cheesy. So first we tried a divey back of the market spot, but it had stopped serving breakfast. Then we went for the chi chi French bakery, but we couldn't get a table. Finally, I said, "Hey, how would you feel about a diner featured in Sleepless in Seattle?" "Great," she said, "I just want somewhere I can sit down." I worried the Athenian would be overrun with tourists but, instead, we were greeted by an extremely chipper server and a sign that said "Breakfast Served All Day." He immediately took us to an upstairs table overlooking Elliott Bay and handed us thick menus with pages of omelets and waffles. We thought we'd died and gone to heaven. My brunch companion ordered the waffle breakfast and I got the special Greek omelet. It was filled with feta cheese and gyro meat, accompanied by a generous serving of hashbrowns and sourdough toast. It was unbelievably fluffy and way more than I could eat. It was fantastic. The Athenian has it all: good food, good prices, a great view, and breakfast served all day. It doesn't even feel touristy, if you can ignore the picture of Tom Hanks in the front window.