My husband and I love food. We are both overweight, but cannot seem to lose the desire for good food. The key seems to be more exercise, but now that is reduced to our gym in the basement because of the weather. We also have a dog that had major knee surgery, so when we are able to take the dogs hiking that will help. I want to show you some reasons why we have such a hard time losing weight. We don't eat fast food, we just love good food, either at home or at a restaurant. Last night we went to the Flat Iron Grill in Issaquah. It is the best steak house I have been to since the Pink Pony in Scottsdale, AZ. We had the platter, which had chorizo in sausage form, like the Basque make it. The biggest prauns I have had in a long time, steak and chicken. We also had cauliflower and Polenta. The polenta was so flavorful as was the cauliflower. Both of these dishes can be bland, but not there. The chorizo had the right amount of spice and the steak and chicken were cooked very well. As an addition, they have the largest assortment of whiskeys I have ever seen. I had a Manhatan and an Old Fashion and they were both excellent. This is one of the reasons we do not lose weight. The other reason is that I like to cook. I look for great soups or other dishes that are not the ordinary fare. I cannot create my own recipes, but I can follow a recipe to perfection. I look in the PCC news letter and Edible Seattle, Another wonderful source is iGoogle. I have an ap on there where I get a new recipe every few days. I cannot tell you how many of those receipes we have copied and tried. The most recent ones were for a cauliflower dish (not the same as the restaurant) with bacon and pine nuts, to die for! I have a recipe now for making your own corned beef. I blame the cooking channels for awakening and broadening my cooking horizons and coming to Washington state from Arizona where you seem to have more of an afinity for how your food is produced and good artisinal products. I guess after the dog recovers we will have to get more in exercise mode if we want to continue our food habit.

Creole Restaurant in Seattle. http://www.marcelascreolecookery.com/