2008 Pike Place Market Street Festival

If your weekend isn’t already packed with activities, maybe you should consider attending the Pike Place Market Street Festival this weekend. It begins on Saturday, May 31st at and ends on Sunday, June 1st. Other than trying to jump over slow walking tourists with baby carriages, here are some of the activities you can partake in:

• Campfire Classic cook-off, 10-11 a.m. May 31
• Wine Tasting Lodge, 10a.m.-7 p.m. both days
• Kids Zone music, activities, bounce house, 11a.m.-3 p.m. both days
• Food vendors, chef demos, arts and crafts, live music, beer garden, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. both days
• Strut Your Mutt dog contest and parade, 10 a.m. June 1, Steinbrueck Park

2008 Seattle Cheese Festival

Chef Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez, co-owner of the Harvest Vine, gives at cooking seminar and talks about his special asparagus sauce.

Friends, (from right) Erin Dillon, Dost Bardouille and Katie Paul, enjoy the cheese during the festival.

The fourth annual Seattle Cheese Festival was well underway on May 17, 2008. The festival featured cooking demonstrations from local chefs including Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez, the owner of the Harvest Vine; tastings from a variety of Washington vineyards, and others.

The lack of melted cheese in the record-setting, 90-degree temperature was testament to the number of people that attended the festival. I had never seen that many people in the market, prior to this event.

This event was a definite treat as it made me aware of the variety and taste of the local fare, and represented a nice introduction to the taste of Seattle for this food-loving, new Midwestern “transplant.”

It was also a nice way to enjoy the culture of this great city. The people that I met were really warm, friendly and fun loving