I know I've threatened this before, but I'm seriously done with my laptop. As in, shut down for the last time and if it mysteriously catches on fire and melts into one giant chunk of plastic, I'll roast marshmallows and hot dogs over its (hopefully not too toxic) flames. If you're out there Dell and Microsoft (aka. Axis of Evil) you just lost a customer who swore she'd never buy a Mac.
There have been a series of incidents that have led up to this decision, the most recent and annoying is the failure of my power cord yet again. It has left me laptop-less for over a week. Luckily, PSU has an abundance of computers on campus and 500 free pages to print for students. Bonus! Last night, we had a scare that Jesse's 4-year-old+ laptop from work wasn't going to start up again (it did, hence my ability to blog this morning) and I realized that we need to have one reliable computer in the house. The Mac Mini is great, but it's not a full computer -- basically a word processing and music machine. Jesse also reminded me that I'm a student until the end of August, so we might as well take advantage of the discount. I think we're going to pop into an Apple store and check out the goods, ask a few questions, and maybe even consider a purchase.
As for today? I have a piece of fabric* that is calling my name. Perhaps I'll make a sundress this afternoon. I haven't touched the sewing machine in ages!
* Yes, this photo is taken with my cell phone camera. No, there is nothing wrong with my real camera. Jesse's laptop will not allow me to download just one image, due to the fact that the iPhoto version is so ancient. It insists (even though I yell at it) on scanning every single photo on the memory card, which happens to be in the neighborhood of 800 right now. Someday, I'll operate technologically in the 21st century and feel secure enough to actually delete photos from my camera (which sadly, is the most stable device in my life right now).
Last night the temperature finally dropped below 78° and I was able to sleep. Having gotten only a little over three hours of shut eye on Tuesday night, coupled with (almost) record-breaking temperatures of 107° in the afternoon, I was on the verge of a breakdown. Our apartment at midnight was 93°!! I haven't quite been that cantankerous since I was in my final weeks of grad school -- on a particularly rough afternoon Jesse declared, "it's a good thing you're cute and I love you." When were walking toward Powell's for another round of free air-conditioning, I fussed him for walking too fast and he sighed, "I'd enjoy this heat a lot more if you weren't perpetually ornery." I thought it was a legitimate complaint, who speed walks on a sweltering evening?
Anyway, we set up the second window fan in the bedroom (blowing full speed directly on my head) and I slept like a log the entire night. I was so rested that I was actually awake and decided to go for a run before the sun got too hot. Our apartment is still pretty toasty from four days of 100+ temperatures, so we headed out to the library to do work. It's been an incredibly productive day and to top it all off, I got to go to Döner Kebab for a lunch break. It's owned by a German family and is the closest thing that I've come to döners that I had in Berlin ages ago -- hence the name Döner Kebab -- and has quickly become one of my favorite lunch spots.
The meat is roasted on a spit, similar to gyros, but is way better. I also learned that the meat is turkey (and seriously out of this world), which makes it a little healthier right? I didn't take a photo of our meal (I feel uncomfortable about photographing food in restaurants), so the borrowed image from the Portland Mercury will have to suffice. I can't wait to test out the real thing in Germany when we visit in September to see how the Portland version stacks up.
Dear Portland,
I know it's oppressively hot, but for the love of god, please exercise some personal hygiene. I don't smell like roses at the end of a long hot day on my bike, but dammit, I try to not make my fellow streetcar riders' eyes tear from my stench. The serious funk is not acceptable, especially when I KNOW you aren't homeless.
Yours Truly,
Brasilliant
I have no words for the weather that we're experiencing. In fact, typing makes me feel as though I'm going to burst into flames. Today, it was 104º. One-hundred-four-degrees. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of people telling me every single season that "this never happens."
This freak weather is making me a miserable soul with hair stiff from sweat who has to come home to an apartment that is 92.3 degrees (courtesy of the instant-read thermometer) at midnight.
Poo on this weather. I'm moving to the north pole.
P.S. We won our kickball game. That helped a little.
I started a post on Friday to talk about my Thursday night at the Timbers game. The game was awesome. However, they tied with the Puerto Rico Islanders despite my chanting with the rest of the crowd. I think when I become gainfully employed again, Timbers season tickets are going to be a household budget line item. I was really excited to write about my night out with Jesse and our friend Tivra, but my laptop power cord died and I wasn't able to figure out how to transfer photos from my camera to Jesse's laptop. Even though I'm only half-way finished with my coffee and the synapses aren't all firing in sync, I plugged in the old camera for a second try. While waiting for the 698 photos to load off my memory card (because I don't have the option to only load 3), I'll tell you a little about my weekend.
I decided to make Friday night a celebration because I successfully completed my first week of school, Jesse finished editing a giant proposal, and I hadn't cooked a real meal since his birthday the week before. So, we made homemade fettuccine and I threw together a fresh tomato sauce that was pretty darn tasty. It was hot and my voice was scratchy from the Timbers game the night before, but it was so nice to sit down and have a nice dinner. I'll have to write down and post the recipe for the sauce sometime, but that's for another day.
Saturday was even hotter than Friday (peaking at about 92 degrees) and to beat the heat we had cocktails blended with lots of ice. I then got dressed up and met up with a few ladies on the tail end of a martini crawl. It was so much fun because I have neither dressed up, nor had a ladies night out since I moved to Portland. Not surprisingly, I paid for my Saturday night fun with a serious case of the slows on Sunday. Yesterday it hovered around 95 degrees outside until 6pm and didn't get much below 80 in the evening. Today, tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday are supposed to be around 99-102 degrees, so Jesse and I are planning on heading out in a little while to spend the day in air-conditioning.
I'll head off to my second week of class and he'll probably find a coffee shop or park at a table at the library to get some writing done. After this week I'll officially be half-way finished with my summer course. It was a little hard to get back into reading a textbook and participating in discussion, but I'm getting the hang of it again.
In May 2004, with a Master of Arts in American Studies under my belt, I swore I would never go to school again. No more 1000 pages/week assignments, no more 20-30 page papers, no more tuition, no more crying over cultural theory! Five years later, here I am, on my first day back to school. Let me clarify, I haven't technically decided to commit wholeheartedly to go back to school and earn another graduate degree. I'm just testing the water with a 4-week summer course, Intro to Urban Planning.
I thought it appropriate for Jesse to document this day, just like my Mom documented every single first day of school during my childhood. I'm pretty sure I was never this excited about starting up a class though. My first day went well and I think I'm going to like this urban planning stuff. There's already a lot that I already know, like process and evaluation, and making a million alternatives to study and ponder (that will likely never come to fruition). This time around, instead of just evaluating historic buildings, I can think about things like transportation and the environment, or affordable housing and historic buildings.
I knew I was in for a completely new experience when the syllabus indicated that we only have to read about 40 pages a night and our only writing assignment consists of three two-page "memos" on an urban plan of our choice -- naturally I'm going to select Portland. Apparently in the "real world" urban planners have little time to read dissertations, so our written assignments have to be clear and concise. I love it!* I've already pegged the token ass-head in class, but I think I can ignore him for the most part. I don't think you could call it school without one of those people.
*Downside? I think I might miss the footnotes a little.
I've been a busy lady this week. We've had a guest in town since Friday, which meant that Thursday was spent tidying the apartment. I also cooked Jesse's birthday dinner and cake on what proved to be the hottest day of the summer yet. We had pesto pasta, fresh corn, and pan seared sausages. I think it was one of the best batches of pesto that I've made to date. Also, the overheated kitchen was totally worth the effort because the cake was delicious.
Usually, Jesse requests a carrot cake or something chocolate. However, due to the heat we had quite a few overripe bananas sitting around. So, he thought a banana cake with dark chocolate frosting sounded divine (and so did I). That is until I found a recipe for Banana Layer Cake with Caramel Cream and Salted Pecans. I broke the news that his cake would not contain chocolate this year and he took it rather well after I let him taste the banana caramel sauce for the whipped cream.
Each layer of cake is dotted with lime and rum and the caramel banana cream is spread on top. The caramel cream is out of this world! I made two 9-inch cakes and sliced them horizontally. I only assembled three layers of the cake, because there are only two of us. We cut the fourth layer into dessert-sized pieces for later use with fresh berries and stored them in the freezer. Even after downsizing the cake, there is way too much leftover. We've been snacking on it since Friday and aren't even half-way finished. Good thing that it keeps getting better with age! I'm thinking next time, I'll cut the recipe by half and make them into cupcakes. MMM.
This week is going to be another busy one. I start my class today, which kicks off approximately four weeks of intensive study on Monday through Thursday. I can't wait!
As we're nearing the end of J's week-long birthday fest, I decided to cook something new for dinner. The criteria was simple: anything not involving the oven. I had some fresh kale, a nice bulb of fennel along with random fresh herbs. I'm always amazed at how often Mark Bittman's blog for the New York Times syncs perfectly with my plans for weekday meals. His recent post on "More Vegetables, Less Egg" was truly an inspiration for the height of fresh vegetable season. Also, I'm pretty sure this ladybug crawled out of my greens bag from the farmers market. Good luck for me!
My frittata was more or less the filling from the Greek Mixed Green Pie that I made back in June -- a bulb of fennel sliced thin, 2 bunches of kale, a bunch of dill, a bunch of scallions, and 1/2 cup of feta cheese. I used three eggs, which in J's mind did not constitute a "frittata." He put on his skeptical face as he poked around the kitchen while the "frittata" was cooking, but agreed after the first bite that it was tasty -- as long as I didn't try to pass it off as an actual fritatta.
I have to admit, my relationship with fennel in the past has been a shaky one. When sliced fresh, the bulb closely resembles the smell of licorice -- one of those foods (can you call it a food?) for me that triggers an instant gag reflex. However, when browned with a little scallion and butter, it is a delectable treat. I have J's Mom to thank for fennel's second chance in my life. She makes delicious pasta with Italian sausage, fennel, (tomatoes?) and not much else. It is outstanding.
Anyway, the "frittata" was not the prettiest dish to photograph, but it certainly made up for its lack of appearance in taste. We paired it with fresh corn (on the cob for Jesse, cut off the cob for me) a few slices of sourdough bread, and a tasty Belgian beer, Scaldis. The feta melted and browned just a little to make a nice crust on the bottom, and the slight bite of the kale was balanced out by the sweet fennel and onions. Definitely a keeper! I'm actually quite excited to try the recipe again with an entirely new set of vegetables and herbs. Perhaps potatoes, bell pepper and thyme next time? The possibilities are endless.
Since we were in the middle of packing up our apartment last year on Jesse's birthday, I decided to try and make his 31st a little better than his 30th. I took him on a surprise trip to Forest Grove, which is only about 40 minutes outside of Portland. While he knew that we were going for an overnight trip earlier in the week, he didn't find out the exact destination until Sunday morning. We loaded up our bikes in the car, packed sandwiches, water and snacks, and headed out to McMenamin's Grand Lodge -- the start/finish point for the day. The lodge was built in 1922 and was a Masonic home until 1999, at which time McMenamins purchased the property and converted it into a hotel.
It was the perfect launching point for our bike ride, a 29-mile loop out to Henry Hagg Lake and back. We started out around 11:30am and got back to the hotel around 3pm. The ride to the lake was about 10 miles, and we passed at least three or four vineyards along the way. The old country road was a really nice route. Just after the entrance to the lake/park, we stopped to have a picnic lunch. As you can see, it was a gray afternoon, but perfect weather for riding. While the trip wasn't necessarily strenuous overall, there were several hills that made me want to fall over with my (what felt like) 95-pound bike. I love the Townie for cruising around the city, but a road bike she is not. I'm seriously thinking that when we have a little more storage space, I'll be on Craigslist scouting out a much lighter, less bulky option.
By the time we made it back to the Grand Lodge, I was soaked with sweat, but feeling good at what we accomplished. I took a quick shower, put on a fresh change of clothes and we had dinner and a couple of pints. I definitely earned my two Rubys -- a raspberry wheat beer -- with all of those hills! I had such a fun afternoon and I think we're definitely going to try and do a few more of these day-long bike trips before the summer is over!
This week has been pretty busy. With the cloud cover in Portland keeping the air nice and cool, I've been able to work on lots of projects and stepped back into the kitchen. Last night we were out late for a game night our friends' house in Sellwood. I forgot how fun Balderdash (or impromptu version) is and laughed harder than I have in quite a while. While playing games, we were treated to tasty homemade pizza and a giant cookie that blew my mind. The cookie dough reminded me a lot of the strawberry bars that we made for Jesse's office competition. Jesse's alarm went off at 7am and for some reason I was wide awake. As a result, I'm feeling like another cup of coffee might be in order to make it through the afternoon.
However, I'm excited to report that I experimented with another rice and chicken dish on Wednesday night. Ever since I received the America's Test Kitchen Best Recipes cookbook, I have tried to make a successful batch of their version of chicken, shrimp, and sausage jambalaya. After failing miserably the first three times, this was its last chance. The only reason that I kept going back for more was that the test kitchen managed to make a one-pot dish that had an insanely good flavor (most likely attributed to the addition of clam juice as part of the cooking stock) that permeated the chicken and rice. Given that the original version clearly had some rice to liquid ratio troubles, I decided to go rogue and alter the recipe entirely.
Using the knowledge I gained from my previous baked rice concoctions, along with Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen for inspiration, I managed to put together a hybrid jambalaya that was probably my best ever. This time I used brown rice and instead of cooking it on the stove, I covered the dutch oven and put it in the oven. This produced much better rice and meat results. The rice was almost perfection and the chicken fell right off the bone. I'm eating leftovers now for breakfast -- it's that' good. I picked up more fresh green beans at the farmers market and we whipped together another bean, corn, and tomato salad. It was the perfect crunchy side for the rich and savory rice. I posted the recipe online, should you care to try it yourself. Given my penchant for all things fresh and frugal, I think a quick shrimp stock would be just as tasty (or even more so) than the clam juice. (And yes, Brasilliant's Mom, you have to use the shrimp stock or clam juice. The flavor is subtle, but totally makes the dish.)
Today, I am off again to run errands and have a giant sewing project that I'm trying to finish before my class starts on July 20th. I feel a push to get a lot of things accomplished this week and next, because the end of July and all of August will be so busy that I'm afraid it will go entirely too quickly!
Dinner on Monday was sort of off the cuff. I didn't have a recipe in mind and since I didn't go to the farmers market on Saturday, we were seriously low on vegetables. So, I walked over to the grocery store and just meandered through the produce section to see what was in season. I'm extremely excited that the first crop of corn is showing up. And it's so cheap! I got four ears last night for under $2. For dinner, we had whole wheat pasta with collards, andouille sausage, and mushrooms tossed with a simple fresh tomato sauce. On the side, Jesse threw together a bean salad with tomatoes, garlic, red onion, the fresh corn, and a dijon vinaigrette. Summer at it's best!
Tuesday morning, we finished off the remaining blueberries and peaches over blueberry pancakes with a little maple syrup. I made Jesse to promise to wake me up just before his 7am conference call (and just after making coffee of course) so I could prep the batter and slice the fruit. We made a pact to go out running in the late morning, so I decided we needed a good hearty breakfast as fuel. I wasn't terribly excited when 6:50am rolled around, but I'm glad now that I managed to get out of bed.
Today I am off to run errands, practice German, and do more research on our trip in September. Now that we have a hotel for our first two nights in Brussels, I feel that planning will be a lot more fun. Also, I'm anxiously awaiting my textbook's arrival for the class that I start in just a couple of weeks. I'm contemplating reading ahead to get a start on my coursework. We'll see if that actually happens, but since the class is only four weeks, I have a feeling things will be very intense on Monday through Thursday. If I can get ahead a little of the reading from the start, I think it will be a lot more manageable.
My dinner from Oaxaca (pronounced "wah-Haa-kah") was incredibly tasty and took quite a bit of time to prepare. I was somewhat disappointed with the result, because it was so darn ugly on the table. You'd think that spending over a day and a half prepping and cooking would lend somewhat more beautiful results. I initially thought of skipping this blog post entirely, but it would be a shame to not remember the flavors. All of the recipes, except for the dessert, came from Susana Trilling's Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico.
The main dish I chose, "Albondigas Estilo Ejutla," was beef and pork (my addition) meatballs seasoned with cumin, cloves, allspice, peppercorns, garlic, and cilantro (subbed instead of mint). While the meatballs themselves were incredibly tasty, the sauce was what made the meal. This dinner was the first time I had used several varieties of chilis and I was a little nervous about the overall heat as a result. The sauce was made with a combination of guajillo chilis that were seeded and re-hydrated, chipotles with adobo, a boat-load of fresh tomatillos, and tons of garlic. The heat was slight, but not overwhelming and the taste of the guajillos was readily apparent. I was so pleased with this sauce that I think it will be my new staple "red sauce" anytime I make Mexican or Tex-mex in the future.
The vegetable dish I chose was "Calabazas Horneadas," which is pretty much squash, corn, chilis, and cream baked with a bit of cheese on top. Given the abundance of fresh corn and fruit available in the markets, I thought it would be a good choice -- and it was. This dish was seasoned with fresh poblano chilis, onion, garlic, and salt and pepper. It was an amazingly simple side with really wonderful complex flavors. Again, the chilis were the star of the show and added a nice kick at the end. This one really should only be made in the summer when fresh corn is available, because it totally sent this dish over the top.
I also made cilantro rice, which was really meant to be a vehicle for soaking up the sauces, but turned out to be rather tasty on it's own. Next time, I'll probably just make plain rice so there's less competition for flavor on the table. I searched long and hard to find a Mexican dessert to go along with the meal, but in all honesty, they kind of all sounded gross. So, I opted for a blueberry tart instead. It certainly wasn't authentic, but it was a perfect end to the meal. It also provided a nice breakfast treat for the next two days.
So, there you have it. My ugly, yet tasty adventure in Oaxacan cooking.
It got above 90 degrees for three days over the long weekend, which feels like the fires of hell in a third floor apartment with south facing windows. However, we still managed to have a great weekend. We met up with friends, went running, bike riding, and saw some fireworks. Because of the heat there was absolutely no cooking, so I have very few spectacular things, food-wise, to report. I'll post on our Mexican feast tomorrow when I'm feeling a little more ambitious. Mostly, we ate leftovers and anything could be had cold or at room temperature. Even doing dishes heated up the kitchen a little too much, so we didn't do a lot of that either.
I was slightly annoyed that our cheap metal blinds did very little to combat the melting sunbeams. On Friday afternoon, I started scrounging for items large enough to cover our windows in an effort to create make-shift blackout shades. Our plans were semi-successful. Guests from our dinner party last month will recognize our table cloth, stepping in to serve its wartime role as a binder clip roman shade. Our guest bed sheet is hanging in the bedroom with uneven swags created by straight pins and push pins. Who knew office supplies could come in so handy?!
Every time I curse the heat, I have to remind myself that such days are few and far between in Portland. I hardly think it's worth having an air-conditioning unit for a total of less than two weeks a year. I also try to remember that it's summer in one of the greatest cities for fresh produce and tasty food. I like to think that my torture this weekend is rewarded by gorging on a giant bowl of deliciously sweet fresh fruit for breakfast. Mmm. Summer tastes delicious.
Today, I am focusing on getting the apartment in order after the weekend. Hopefully, I'll cook a few dishes and make up for my lack of ambition for the past week. The temperature is only supposed to get up to 68 degrees today. Maybe I'll even turn on the oven for something sweet!
Jesse and I decided that we definitely want bike riding to be a part of our adventure in Belgium and Germany this September. There are a couple of towns within riding distance from Munich and I think it would be great to rent bikes to see the sights (stopping at Biergartens along the way of course).In order to fully prepare ourselves for these excursions, we're going to try and take long rides as often as we can between now and the end of August. Despite the blazing heat (90-92 degrees for the past three days), we decided to get out early and beat the afternoon sun that really starts to scorch between 3pm and 5pm. Today was the longest so far and toward the end we were both pretty hot and tired. However, it felt good to accomplish our first official training ride for the Belgium/Germany extravaganza. Check out our route below.
That's pronounced "ass-wee-pay". Not to be confused with a more derogatory word that might get me a Jackass Card (the penalty for being a jerk in our league). Have I mentioned before that Jesse and I are on a kickball team?
I was adamantly opposed to joining, given my horrible experience a couple of years ago in D.C., which involved another team throwing food at us on the street and very angry words (I seriously nearly decked a guy in cropped pants). However, I relented when I realized that it might be a fun way to make friends. Also, Jesse's co-worker (who invited us in the first place) is really nice, so she was bound to have nice colleagues. And she does have really, really great friends. Our league is called Recess Time and we are the Drinking Team with A Kicking Problem. Our name pretty much sums up our skills, but we're in the C group, which means that we're really bad and like to play people who are there to have fun. I'm pretty sure in this photo we were laughing at one of our teammates falling flat on his/her back (no injuries were sustained, except for a total loss of pride).
Up to this point, we have had a great time. Our team has graciously lost every single game, fumbling our way through the field with occasional bursts of genius. However, last night, we encountered a group of particularly heinous kickballers who blew us away (which wasn't the problem) and then insulted our team under their breath as we were giving the obligatory high-five after the game. Come on?! We're all adults. And this is kickball for god's sake! I won't say anymore, because they're just not worth it. I hope they crawl back into their dark holes in Portland and stay there.
Anyway, after our sorry performance in the outfield, a few of us have called an emergency practice session this weekend to brush up on catching and throwing. I know, kickball boot camp in our free time? Whatever, I don't think you realize how bad we really are. Then, we're going to take our anger out on the next team and leave them in the dust -- in a very non-asswipé, fun-loving way.
*Thanks to Lauren's cousin, Steve, for introducing me to my favorite insult/curse word disguised as a foreign language.
I know I've threatened this before, but I'm seriously done with my laptop. As in, shut down for the last time and if it mysteriously catches on fire and melts into one giant chunk of plastic, I'll roast marshmallows and hot dogs over its (hopefully not too toxic) flames. If you're out there Dell and Microsoft (aka. Axis of Evil) you just lost a customer who swore she'd never buy a Mac.
As for today? I have a piece of fabric* that is calling my name. Perhaps I'll make a sundress this afternoon. I haven't touched the sewing machine in ages!
