Blog Posts

Recipes for Better Breakfast Month

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! And it has the potential to be the tastiest meal of the day, too. To help you better enjoy your breakfast, we’ve gathered together some recipes that you can try out right in your Nantucket Gate apartment — no need to go out for delicious breakfasts! These recipes are from Allrecipes.com, and we’ve included their creators’ descriptions of the meals to help you pick which one to make first. Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast with Peaches "Lemon zest and mascarpone stuffed into thick white bread slices, dipped in batter, pan fried, and smothered in fresh peach sauce. I love this recipe for breakfast but it could be fancy enough for dessert too." Banana Pancakes "Crowd pleasing banana pancakes made from scratch. A fun twist on ordinary pancakes." Quick Quiche "When you don't have the time to make a pastry crust, try this quick lunch idea. You may add any other goodies you like, such as ham, chicken, crab, shrimp or broccoli." Country Breakfast Casserole "A one-dish casserole with all of your Sunday morning favorites: sausage, gravy, eggs, cheese, and toast." Creamy Blueberry Coconut Ricotta Bowl "This filling breakfast bowl will jumpstart your day and keep you full all morning. It is chock full of protein and is super delicious and creamy." Chef John’s Shakshuka "This North African one-dish-meal is so fast, easy, and delicious. Be sure to cook your sauce until the veggies are nice and soft and sweet. Once the eggs go in, you can finish covered on the stove, or just pop the pan into a hot oven until they cook to your liking." Authentic Mexican Breakfast Tacos "Quick Easy and Delicious! I learned this recipe from many years of eating with the Mexican cooks at my restaurant. They like to sneak in breakfast before we open. I've grown to LOVE this breakfast. If you like spicy food, you will love this."

Celebrate National Video Games Day

Today is September 12th: National Video Games Day! Video games have been available for public play for well over thirty years, now, but the earliest games were developed back in the forties and fifties. While the earliest games, like Pong , were very simple representations of real-life games like table tennis and handball, video games have evolved into a vast variety of genres, game styles, stories, and avenues of artistic expression. If you’re a fan of video games, you probably already have a list of games you’ve been wanting to play that you can pick from to enjoy today. But if you’re not familiar with video games, today is the perfect time to give them a try. We’ve collected a few video game recommendations that are easy to learn and play, can be played right on your home computer, won’t take long to get through, and have compelling stories that won’t let you down. Thomas Was Alone Thomas is a little red rectangle — an AI in a failed program. As he discovers who and what he is, he also finds friends. Together, they set out to escape their program. Well-written with some fabulous narration, this game offers a moving story of friendship and sacrifice. Braid The story is familiar: a young man sets out to rescue a lost princess; but it’s deeper than it sounds, a thoughtful rumination about growing up and moving on, about the complexities that appear in the world as we leave childhood behind. Bend time, undo your mistakes, and defy physics in this beautifully-rendered game. LIMBO A lonely boy travels through a dark, frightening forest full of monsters and horrors in search of his lost sister. Often frightening and even disturbing, this nevertheless-beautiful game is not for the faint of heart. Portal Of all the games on this list, Portal is definitely the most difficult to master… but it will be well worth it. Solve mind-bending puzzles at the dictation of a disturbed robot in a game filled with subtle humor and amazing design. Portal is easily one of the greatest games ever made.

Visit the Washington State Fair

If you haven’t been living in the area for long, you might not know that the Washington State Fair is held each year just a short drive away from Nantucket Gate apartments in Tacoma. With the fair so close by, why not head out and enjoy some of the attractions? There’s plenty to do, and the fair will run from September 2nd to the 25th, so you’ll have plenty of time to visit. You can find more information on their website here . As always, this year’s fair features loads of attractions. Discover the Dinosaurs is a unique exhibit with moving replica dinosaurs to touch and see, with dinosaur riding, themed inflatables, a dino dig, and gem and fossil panning. There will be art shows and crafting classes, including the Hobby Hall, an exhibit focusing on crafts and collecting. And don’t forget traditional animal exhibits including the Piglet Palace, draft horse and driving demonstrations, and the Fair Farm. The fair offers lots of contests and competitions with great prizes to win, including the Ultimate Fan contest at the Ultimate Tailgate party. Fairground booths and prizes are also available in abundance! Head over to the Midvale fairground for carnival rides, including the Classic Coaster, the Extreme Scream, and the Rainier Rush inverted roller coaster. You have to be a certain height to ride, but for kids that don’t meet the mark there’s also Sillyville, with rides for anyone 32” or taller. But maybe what piques your interest most are the numerous planned concerts and performances. This year’s appearances include Tim Mcgraw, Alan Jackson, Kid Rock & Uncle Kracker, Creedence Clearwater, Smash Mouth, Jeff Foxworthy & Larry the Cable Guy, Train, and more. Not to mention the rodeo, which will feature traditional events like bull riding, bareback & saddle bronc riding, roping, steer wrestling, and barrel racing, plus the Rodeo Parade and Cattle Drive. Or just go out and enjoy the Friday Fireworks spectacular! And of course, the Fair offers lots of food options including over nine hundred vendors — plan to make plenty of time for snacking and shopping! What is your favorite part of attending a fair? Please share in the comments.

DIY Doggy Furniture and more

For our final August holiday, weve chosen to highlight National Dog Day, which will take place this Friday, August 26th. Here at Nantucket Gate apartments in Tacoma, we welcome many kinds of pets, including dogs that are under twenty pounds when full-grown. If you dont already have a dog, why not take advantage of Nantucket Gates pet-friendly policy and go get one? Or better yet, to celebrate National Dog Day, rescue one from a shelter! The Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce County offers rescued dogs (and other animals) for adoption, and also provides a wide variety of pet-care resources that can be extremely helpful, especially for first-time owners. Of course if you do rescue a dog and bring it home, youll want to make sure that it has some comfortable spots that it can call its own in your apartment. Weve gathered some great DIY pet furniture ideas that you can set up for your furry friend, and which are all space-appropriate for an apartment. Combination Pet Bed/End Table These instructions show you how to take a classic octagonal end table and build a cozy pet bed inside it. Dont have an old octagonal end table? Thats all right these instructions can easily be adapted to many other pieces of furniture. If you have a short chest of drawers, you can remove the drawers and the bars between them to make a rectangular version of this space-saving bed. Mini Murphy Bed for your Dog Not many homes are made with Murphy beds these days; theyre those fold-down beds that are built right into the wall. But a Murphy bed for a small dog is something that just about anyone could build if they follow the directions at the link above. Be sure to make some alterations, though; the instructions are for a cabinet that is built into the wall, so youll need to adjust them to avoid any damage to your apartment! Car Seat Cover Okay, this isnt technically furniture, and its not designed for your apartment. But it is quite handy, and its probably the simplest thing to make on our list. This cover can be easily hooked into place in your back seat to provide a comfortable place for your dog to relax while you drive (and simultaneously help prevent any messes along the way. Have some great pet-furniture tips? Let us know in the comments!

Kick Back in the Sun with a Great Book, Part II

Welcome to the blog of Nantucket Gate apartments in Tacoma, WA! If you missed last weeks post, we started sharing books to enjoy for National Book Lovers Day (August 9th). The holiday might have passed now, but summers still here, so enjoy a great book while the sun still shines! Herere a few more recommendations and their cover descriptions. Mystery: The Cuckoos Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide. After losing his leg to a landmine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man. You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this. And you read that right: The Cuckoos Calling and the other books in the Cormoran Strike series were written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Fantasy/Humor: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett If youve never picked up a Terry Pratchett book before, then you are missing out. Pratchett combines humor and magical fantasy with a storytelling skill that can only leave other authors staring with envy. Each of his Discworld novels can be picked up and read without the reader being familiar with the other books in the series, so you can start with whatever book strikes your fancy. We recommend starting with Going Postal. Heres the description: Suddenly, condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig found himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into ... a government job? By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as Postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what with a literal mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, greedy Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty piratical headman. But if the bold and undoable are what's called for, Moist's the man for the job -- to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every being, human or otherwise, requires: hope.

Kick Back in the Sun with a Great Book, Part I

Is there any time better than summer for reading some excellent literature? Sure, in the winter you can curl up in a cozy blanket with a warm drink and your favorite book, but in summertime you can go out on the balcony or sit by the pool here at Nantucket Gate apartments in Tacoma and enjoy the long hours of daylight with a great story. And were not the only ones to think so: thats why tomorrow, August 9th, is designated National Book Lovers Day. So in this post and the next, weve gathered up some great reads for you to enjoy for this great holiday, along with their descriptions from Amazon. Romance: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazels story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Greens most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. Horror: I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential. He's obsessed with serial killers but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation. Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer. Perhaps that's what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat and to appreciate what that difference means. Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can't control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could. I Am Not a Serial Killer is the first book in a series so if youre looking for a whole run of books to try out, this is a great place to start. Come back next week for a few more great reading recommendations!