Well, Mayor Nickel's proposal to charge shoppers 20 cents for plastic or paper bags in Seattle grocery, drug and convenience stores has been approved by Seattle City Council. The per-bag charge will go into effect in January, as will a food-service ban on polystyrene clam-shells (among other take-out containers) like these:

Some of the city's restaurants and food-service operations have already gone green, using recyclable -- or even compostable -- tote-your-take-out ware, but why wait to be environmentally proactive? Yes! I can see us all now:

Now that Pen Thai's sister-restaurant Chantanee is closed (soon to re-open in swankier Bellevue digs) it's slammed more than usual here in charming old-town Bothell. I can certainly see why. The contemporary copper-toned design is as appealing as what's on the plate, and Pen offers everything from an expansive wine list to fancy cocktails to my finger-food favorite miang kum -- bits and bites of lime, coconut, dried shrimp, fresh ginger among them, meant to be wrapped in spinach leaves for a festival of flavors: