Skittles

Today at the mall in La Jolla, after overindulging at my favourite local chocolatier (Chuao) and then fulfilling my stereotypical role as a young, female, consumer at my favourite clothing store (Anthropologie), I was walking out to the car, click-clicking away with my high heels on the pavement. After checking my cell phone for any new text messages, I looked up and observed a little blonde five year old walking with her father. I love to people watch, especially kids, they are so honest in all their behaviour and speech and I think we could all learn from them. Anyhow, this little girl was walking with her dad when she suddenly let out a little squeel and sharply turned around, ran, with the cutest, uncoordinated stride to a few steps back, where there lay an empty skittles bag on the ground. She bent down and grabbed it with her full palm, ran to the nearest garbage receptacle, threw it away and re-joined her father. He turned around to see if anyone had seen and saw me drop my jaw in awe. "That was amazing, you're awesome." I called out. She stared up at me and hid behind her father who chuckled and said "Good girl." As I walked passed them I told her "Keep it up."

There was so much I wanted to say. So much I wanted to talk about. I wish more people were like you, at 14, 20, 33, 46, any age. She's 4. I hope she never changes. I hope she is able to maintain these little selfless acts to keep our world beautiful. More often that not we are bogged down by the bad in the world. Killing, stealing, you name it, but I whole heartedly believe that the good in this world outweighs the bad, or else we would have already destroyed ourselves and the earth.

Traditional Spongecake with Almonds & Apricot Glaze

I was given Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my graduation. It's a kitchen essential and now my cookbook library has officially begun. French cooking has always been a reach for me. I grew up cooking but everything I made was sort of thrown together and I saw French cuisine as sophisticated, requiring precise measurements and strict abidance to many a rule I was ignorant of.

As a part of growing up, I think we make internal realizations about life and people that explain a lot of things. It's the "ah-ha" moment. My most recent "ah-ha" moment is that most people do not know what they are talking about and it's the manner in which they present themselves that convinces you. For example, people will respect you more and are more willing to listen to you if you have good posture. So now I have the means to start French Cooking all I have to have is the attitude to present it. I'm pretty sure I've got the attitude down.

So with my new cookbook in hand, I set off to make a traditional French Spongecake. Yes, it did have directions that I followed precisely but, it was so easy to make!

Butter Spongecake (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)

4 Tbsp. butter

2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar (2 separate measurements)

4 eggs, separated

2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3/4 cup cake flower

The directions are spelled out for you, word for word on page 669 of MAoFC, but I'll tell you how I did it.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.

Butter and flour a 10" cake pan, set aside.

Melt the butter, set aside.

With an egg beater, beat the sugar into the egg yolks, gradually. Continue to beat "until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and forms ribbons." This means that when you turn the egg beater off and lift it out of the bowl, the mixture will stick to the egg beater and then slowly fall off, forming a ribbon-like lump on the remaining mixture in the bowl. Do not overdo it.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and salt together until soft peaks form. Then add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

The next step I believe is the most important and must be done right. Take about one fourth of the egg whites and add them to the egg yolk-sugar mixture. Sift one fourth of the flour over this and very gently fold until just partially blended. Repeat, this time adding about one third of the remaining egg whites and one third of the remaining flour. Again, gently fold until just incorporated. Repeat again, this time with half of each remaining ingredient. And one last time with the remaining egg whites, flour, plus half of the slightly cooled, melted butter. When partially blended, fold in the remaining butter, paying close attention so as to not add the milky substance at the bottom. Do not overmix! The volume of the egg whites is necessary for a fluffly, spongy texture.

Turn into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. "Cake is done when it has puffed, is lightly brown, and has just begun to show a faint line of shrinkage from the edges of the pan."

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least an hour before frosting or glazing.

I did an apricot glaze and slivered almonds along the edges of the cake. Take apricot jam (I used homemade that I found in the fridge) and run it through a tea strainer to get rid of any chunks. Let it simmer in a small frying pan for a good 10 minutes, set aside to cool. Gently roll the outer rim of the cake in the cooled apricot glaze and then gently roll it over a plate with slivered almonds. Set on a platter and glaze the top of the cake.

Voila!

Strawberry Surprise

We bought several pounds of strawberries at a local fruit stand in Gig Harbor. We decided to make strawberry jam.

We washed, hulled and chopped pounds upon pounds of strawberries.

We then looked up several recipes, and in my typical fashion, I announced that I knew how to make strawberry jam, and no, we didn't need pectin. My mom made it all the time growing up and didn't use pectin, I'd watched her. I called her. She didn't answer. Oh well, we proceeded.

We added sugar to the hulled and chopped strawberries, brought them to a boil, and canned um up! That simple! Well, kind of. Let me tell you, that is how you make delicious Strawberry Topping, but that is NOT strawberry jam. We made about 24 1-quart jars of this Strawberry Delight as we came to call it.

Christina was a great sport and assured me she would buy pectin as soon as she got home to salvage them. We visited her grandmother and aunt the following week and popped open a can of Strawberry Delight. We had it over vanilla ice cream, and it was great, as a topping, but like I said, it certainly was not jam.

When I returned home to San Diego, I shared my Strawberry Delight with my brother. "Seriously Sally?" I get this from him a lot. It's the big brother, you're better than this tone. I like it, it keeps me on my toes.

"Don't you remember when mom used to make this when we were little? She would let it simmer all afternoon. How long did you boil it for?" brother

"Oh, yea, I just brought it to a boil and then poured it." me

"Here, we'll fix it." He poured one of the jars out onto a large frying pan and let it simmer for about half an hour until it was the perfect jam consistency! It was like magic. Or common kitchen sense, you choose.

So I have it for you now:

Pectin-Free, Simple Strawberry Jam

3 cups granulated sugar

2 pounds hulled strawberries

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

In a large bowl mash up the strawberries to your desired consistency. I prefer leaving big chunks but it's personal preference, really.

In a big saucepan add all the ingredients over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Now simmer for a long time. I've read in some recipes that they measure their jam and once it gets to 220˚ F then it's done, but I say just keep simmering and stirring, simmering and stirring until it reaches jam like consistency.

Pour it into sterilized jars, leaving enough head space(Home Canning FAQs: What is Headspace?). And close, you can place them in a water bath to airtight seal them for long term preservation (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2816.asp, great info for home canning!) , or if you are going to be eating it in the near future, you can simply put it in a jar, let it cool and refrigerate it.

Can't Donate Blood, Again.

So I really like to donate blood. It may seem weird. There's something satisfying about going to the blood bank that I have been going to for years, first with my father, and then alone once I turned 16 and was able to go by myself, not only because I then had the freedom of my own set of wheels, but also because that is the age at which one can donate. At the Blood Bank I go to, The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, (CHOMP) Blood Center, the nurses are so sweet, they know the regular donors by name and always have a cheery disposition. Also, after donating, they offer you carrot cake and fruit juice. If you're a "Four Seasons Donor," meaning you donate at least 4 times a year, you get a membership card and they give you prizes at every fourth donation. Maybe a t-shirt, a license plate holder, coffee thermos, coffee mug or canvas bag. We have all of these at my house as my dad has donated 11+ gallons. In case you are not familiar with how much blood that is, or how long that took to do, each time one donates blood, he/she gives a pint. There are 8 pints in a gallon. You cannot give more than a pint of blood every 8 weeks (56 days), or, if so inclined, you can do an erythrocytapheresis, where you donate essentially double the amount of red blood cells via a filtration process (apheresis). In this process, the unused components, the white blood cells, are returned to the donor (you) and the red blood cells are taken. In this method, you can donate once every 16 weeks. Assuming you do the traditional blood donation, once every 8 weeks, that is roughly 6.5 times a year. Also, you have to take into consideration health. When you donate, they are not going to want your blood if you are some sort of infection or are taking an antibiotic to cure an infection. Remember, your blood is going to somebody who is probably in compromised health. Your blood pressure has to be healthy, this varies by sex, physical fitness, diet, etc. A normal body temperature is required, confirming you are in good health. And lastly, they check your hematocrit. This is more commonly referred to as your iron level. I have been deferred several times due to low iron levels and it is really disappointing. It does not necessarily mean that you are anemic, but I am usually borderline.

In highschool, I started coordinating the Blood Drives at my highschool. They would set up a mobile blood bank in either the library or the gym, for a couple of weeks prior to the blood drive, I would go around signing students up and even publishing articles in our school paper about the benefits of donating blood, and what foods to eat prior to the blood drive to ensure blood iron levels were high enough for donation. This tends to be a problem with vegetarians and women.

It is a problem with me. I went to donate blood two weeks ago with some friends, they both donated and I was deferred due to inadequate iron levels. I made a big effort to eat meat regularly, that is difficult for me as I am not a big fan. Especially lately as I have been road-tripping a lot and crashing on my brother's couch. Eating lots of snack food and not proper meals. I went again today, and again, inadequate iron levels. So now I am really going to make an effort. Spinach, prunes, kale, collard greens, figs and apricots here I come! Yes, I will work on chicken and eggs too, but I prefer the fruit/vegie option. Maybe I will even post up some recipes of things I make before I go back to try to donate on Friday.

Zel's Del Mar

My boyfriend and I wanted to go out for a nice dinner. I like trying new places and he suggested we just drive around until we see something we like. He's from a small town and didn't really get that I need some sort of direction before heading out in San Diego. So I narrowed it down to Del Mar. I used to live in Del Mar and had tried most of the restaurants downtown but there were still a couple I hadn't been to. We drove down Camino Del Mar and I saw Zel's, this quaint, corner restaurant with outdoor seating (always a plus) that I have been curious about for quite some time. We decided we'd look at the menu and then we would decide.

The menu was printed on a legal sized sheet of card stock. It seemed to be one of those menus that changes frequently according to the season and availability of local produce and mentioned supporting sustainable meats and fish. After a quick look at the menu, we were sold.

The scene was beautiful. We sat in a Spanish style outdoor patio with a fireplace that was lit as soon as it got a bit chilly. There were candles on the table and we were served cucumber and lemon infused water, which only added to the ambiance.

We shared the "Trust the Chef Surprise Platter" as an appetizer. That day, it consisted of: half a braised artichoke with sauteed mushrooms and onions filling the place where the heart used to be, a couple slices of what the waiter simply described as charcuterie (it was some sort of sausage similar to chorizo), arugula with seared ahi and a light, creamy mustard sauce, and two fritters (serrano ham and roasted chicken with a buttermilk sauce, breaded and fried with a slow cooked ragu sauce on top. That was just the appetizer.

I ordered the Locally Grown Vegetable Tasting. On that particular day it consisted of hummus on the bottom of the plate, topped with roasted eggplant, wilted greens, a roasted carrot, grilled shallots with a red pepper dip on the side. My boyfriend had the special that night, a center cut sirloin with gorgonzola cheese along with fried polenta and broccolini. We split a bottle of wine. It was a Cab blend from Alexander Valley Vineyards and it was great. Both entrees were wonderful. Perfectly portioned. The service was exceptional and the view breathtaking. July in southern California is (usually) unbeatable.

I highly recommend this restaurant. There happy hour seemed great too. Tuesday - Sunday 5:00-6:30 pm. They have a deal that is $10 for a burger and a beer during happy hour, among others. The people sitting next to us had the burgers and they looked very appetizing. The happy hour menu is quite affordable. However, the meal we enjoyed was medium priced, but very reasonable for what we ordered and the overall experience. We spent a good two hours and were treated very well and not rushed out after we had finished and paid, we were able to stay and continue our conversation by the fireplace. Great service!

Sourdough Starter

So I just graduated. I am looking for a job, and I have a nice enough friend and brother to let me stay with them until I figure things out. In return, and to keep myself busy and indulge in one of my favorite hobbies that I have neglected in being an undergraduate Biochemistry student, I am cooking and baking.

Today I am attempting to make a sourdough starter and Molten Chocolate Cakes, both from the Williams-Sonoma Cookbook. See my next post for the Molten Chocolate Cakes.

This is my version of their recipe. The sourdough starter requires a 48 hour standing period. Today I'll whip it together and keep posting updates about how it goes. I'll then do a post with the finished product and the loaf of bread I'll make with it. :)

Sourdough Starter

2 cups lukewarm water

1/3 cup plain yogurt

2 cups bread flour

1/4 cup dry buttermilk powder

Mix the water and yogurt in a bowl until the yogurt is completely dissolved in the water. Make sure the water is not too hot, it must be lukewarm, a good test is to stick your finger in and count to 10, if that is bearable, you are good, if you have to take your finger out because you cannot bear it, then it's too hot. The yogurt may separate a little to the bottom, this is normal, but it is really helpful to use a whisk and spin the whisk between your palms as if rubbing your hands back and forth (but with a whisk in between). Then add the flour and buttermilk powder, again, using the whisk, make sure you get all the clumps out.

The finished product will have the consistency of pancake batter. Put it in a big jar or container and cover it loosely with cheesecloth or plastic wrap. And let it sit for 48 hours.

Seattle, with pride

Christina and I ended up in Seattle.

We were staying at Gig Harbor, about a 45 minute drive away from Seattle and got directions from her aunt, with whom we were staying. It was seemingly simple, straightforward. So we drove, and drove, screaming our favorite country music songs in the car as we went along. As we approach our exit, we notice that traffic is really backed up. We were marveling at the Space Needle when Christina noticed a flag on top. It is World Cup time, and I thought it looked like a German flag. Had the German community of Seattle gotten ahold of Space Needle and put their flag on top? We got a closer...and saw that the flag was striped, like the German flag, but not 3 stripes, and not the right colors, it was...rainbow striped.

We had just stumbled upon Seattle's Gay Pride Weekend. So parking was difficult to find, of course we got lost, and any normal priced parking was jacked up to at least $10 for the day. Oh well!

We found parking and went to walk around. In my typical fashion, I had the names and addresses of chocolate shops of the city that we had to find. Among other various landmarks that were must sees. We parked by the Space Needle, the big plaza and fountain were filled with happy people, singing and dancing, running through the fountain, and just being merry. The atmosphere was great, everybody was so friendly.

We then went in search of Theo, a well known chocolate factory that supposedly gave great tours. We walked and walked and walked. We were on a mission, we had walked at least a mile when, we stumbled across a bakery. We smelled it before we saw it. From the smell, our eyes searched until we found Macrina's Bakery on First street between Battery and Wall Sts. We detoured from our search of Theo to going to this bakery. We were first impressed by the size of the kitchen. It was about half the size of the city block and a little below ground level, so we had a perfect view of the kitchen. There were huge racks for cookie sheets and a petite woman working away in the bakery. We watched in awe. Finally we shuffled on into the bakery. Everything looked delicious. The red velvet cupcakes were plump and inviting. The prepared sandwiches looked fresh and crisp. We found the day old basket which consisted of all of the day old cookies for half off. Being recently graduated travelers, we thought this would be the best bet for us. We asked if they would bring the basket closer so we could get a better look. The

basket was placed on the counter in front of us and we oohed and aahed. We ended up choosing 4 cookies, a peanut butter cookie, a molasses/ginger cookie, a chocolate chip/espresso cookie with dried apricot, and an oatmeal cookie. After sitting down outside and beginning to nibble at each one, Christina decided we needed a glass of milk. We assured each other that we would collectively eat half of each of the cookies, adding up to a total of one cookie each, and pack the other four half eaten cookies away in our bags to take home for the following day.

That didn't happen.

We ate all four cookies, which means we ate two cookies each. These were not your "fun-sized" cookies either. That's something I never understood, what is so fun about a cookie or a candy bar being an inch big? If you ask me that's no fun. Anyways.

This is the ginger/molasses cookie. (Above) It was chewy and wonderful. I highly recommend this bakery if you are ever in Seattle. And to the right is the oatmeal cookie which had all sorts of nuts and dried fruit in it. A beautiful woman also told us that brunch there was amazing and I always take the advice of beautiful women.

We figured since we had already walked over a mile in search of a chocolate shop, that we should continue the search. So along we walked, extremely full and content with our recent cookie gluttony. We walked some more stopping in little boutiques along the way. Seattle is full of quirky boutiques. We saw several shops that advertised and sold products made of recycled goods. I was confused by the extremely expensive price tags on purses made of recycled skirts and yoga-mat bags made of old pillow cases, I will assume that the money goes to support the local artist, in which case, it's a good cause!

Finally when we saw Pike's Place Market, one of the main attractions we'd been told we could not miss in Seattle, we decided to give up our search for chocolate and settle for the fish and produce market. This would probably be better for our health anyways.

Pike's Place was awesome!!! We walked through vibrantly colored alleys of vegetable and fruit and sampled

pickled asparagus, spiced honey and thai peanut dipping oils. I felt as if I were at the covered market in Morocco, although with a much more Western feel. I tried shea butter lotions and creams guaranteed to cure my eczema. I bought a little bushel of champagne grapes and walked through the market eating the smaller-than-pea-sized morsels. I even fed the guy cleaning the ice they keep the fish on. He gave me great advice. He told me if I had a few days (which I didn't) to drive north, I should drive up on some back road, called Chuckanut for the best oysters I'll ever have in my life. If you get the chance to do so, do it! And tell me about it! Otherwise it's on my lifelong to-do list. Here to the right we have a picture of Pike's Place Market.

Next we stumbled across a cheese shop. Beecher's Cheese Shop. We bought two cheeses. A goat cheese with orange zest and pecans and Flagship, a Beecher's classic. It's "a semi-hard cow's milk cheese with a uniquely robust, nutty flavor. It is carefully aged for one year under the watchful eye of the cheesemaker to fully develop its complex flavor and ever-so-slight crumble. See http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com/index.html for more info.

Portland - Chocolate and Roses

We slept in today. Until 8:30. Again breakfast from Mama B's bottomless sack of food and hit the trail.

The first intended stop was Sahagún, a chocolate shop in Portland recommended to me by a like-minded chocolate lover. It was very disappointingly closed. I had eaten a tiny breakfast in anticipation of good hot chocolate. Oh well. On to our next destination, Portland's Rose Gardens in Washington Park. I had looked it up on the map before leaving the loft and following the theme of Portland being small and easy to navigate by foot, we had decided to walk. It turned out to be quite the uphill trek. We never found the street on which we were supposed to turn, but asked for directions and discovered we were much closer than we thought. The gardens were beautiful and well worth any hike. After marveling at hundreds of varieties of roses, we found a park bench to read in the intoxicating smell of roses. A very relaxing way to spend the Friday.

Next we headed down the hill to downtown Portland. We stumbled upon Cacao (at 414 SW 13th Ave.) a chocolate shop we had read about. We went in and were mystified by all of the chocolate. Christina bought some caramels, with which she was very pleased. And we split "A Flight of Three," which was 3 demitasse cups of drinking chocolate. One milk chocolate infused with cinnamon, one dark chocolate with cayenne pepper and ginger and the third "Rivoli" which was just a dark, 72% cacao drink. All were thick, warm and delicious. The woman who helped us had a bit of an attitude. I asked a question and was rudely corrected by her. Reflecting on her manner outside, as we drank our chocolate, we decided that she had just had a bad day. That was a more pleasant conclusion than her being an unhappy woman, angry with her life. Maybe it was the chocolate.

We decided to go to Powell's again. We looked up books on Portland for more Happy Hours and Chocolate Shops to visit. Also, Chocolate Shops in Seattle, anticipating our weekend trip tomorrow.

Next we walked around, to be completely frank, we were just killing time until Happy Hour at 4:00 pm. We went into an adorable Vintage Store, Portland seems to be full of them. We also went into Pearl Bakery (at 102 NW 9th St.), which we had read about in a book about great Portland eateries. The service here was beyond exceptional. Brittany, the young lady behind the counter was extremely friendly and after we had made our selection of a ginger cookie and a multi-grain roll, told us to pick something for her to sample out. We chose the Almond Cake. It was perfect. Just the right consistency, dense yet light. It was not overbearingly almondy and had a light orange glaze. The ginger cookie was delicious. It had a crisp rim, the middle was wonderfully chewy and the entire thing was coated in crystalline sugar. I haven't had the roll yet, that is for breakfast tomorrow morning.

We then headed back to Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen (at 1038 SW Stark St), another place recommended by a friend. I've found that that's a great way to travel. Ask all of your friends if they've been to or lived in your destination city and what they recommend. But don't limit yourself to just recommendations and be open-minded. Back to this deli. We had passed by it a couple times and it looked fabulous but also had read in a book that it had a great Happy Hour. Being broke, it was the perfect option. We each had a beer. Christina ordered a cream ale and me an IPA. Christina's was much better than mine, it tasted like a cream soda! Christina then ordered the Reuben Sliders. I had never had a Reuben before and was very impressed! Again, the service here was wonderful and when I went to the deli to ask the different between the 2 types of lox, the woman behind the counter gave me a sample of each. We spent a good 2 hours there and were very pleased with our experience.

After "dinner," realizing that I actually only had some of Christina's Reuben, and a beer, I decided I wanted chocolate. A conclusion I often come to after a mini meal, as I'd much rather eat chocolate than most savory food. So we headed back to Cacao and I had a full order of the Rivoli dark drinking chocolate.

We walked back to the Loft and I fell asleep. I woke up with enough time left in the evening to update this blog and plan our Seattle trip for the weekend.

Stay tuned!

Portland - Urban Camping

We are staying in the Pearl District of Portland, at a friend's loft. This couple is fabulous and the first thing I noticed about their loft is that there is no television!! Rather, there are books everywhere! And great artwork on the walls, Picassos, a Breakfast at Tiffany's poster but in Italian (Colazione da Tiffany) and hand woven rugs. My words can do this loft little justice. And photographs would just be cheesy. So you will have to take my word for it.

We woke up much refreshed after our 14 hour day on the road. We had breakfast from Mama B's (Christina's nickname for my mom) sack of food she had packed us and hit the road.

Since we had spent so much time in the car the first day, we decided today had to be on foot.

Our first stop was Powell's Books. The self-acclaimed "City of Books," truly is. We got lost, wondering from the Red Room to the Purple Room to the Rose Room. Any book lover, actually, anybody could find something that suits their taste. I spent over an hour perusing the recipe book section and the books on chocolate. I briefly stopped at the shelf on Careers and Soul-Searching, when I was feeling ambitious but quickly left when I remembered, I don't want a job. Not a job in the traditional sense at least, one that is constricting, or only gives me limited vacation time. I need a job that I set my own hours and am my own boss.

We were walking around when we saw a long line in a plaza downtown. Our curiosity got the best of us and we wondered over, only to discover a semi-truck with the two magical names "Ben & Jerry's" printed on the side, parked in the plaza. There were people wearing bright red t-shirts handing out free ice cream. Jack pot. We got in line. I spotted street vendors selling food. My friend, who lives in Portland had recommended them for great, affordable food. Christina stood in line while I went and got a burrito from a vendor advertising "Honkin' Huge Burritos." I ordered a vegetarian burrito (there was no other option) on a whole wheat tortilla with plain yogurt instead of sour cream and both pico de gallo and a more traditional hot sauce. When asked what kind of salsa I wanted, I asked for my options and the woman responded by pouring both salsas over a plate of tortilla chips. Smart woman, not only did she earn herself a tip, she also gained a loyal customer, who believes in word-of-mouth and word-of-blog, so if you are ever in Portland, look for Shelly's Honkin' Burritos, or Shelly's Burrito Garden. Although I had ordered a small burrito, it was huge, and enough for Christina and I to share, and follow with our (free!) scoop of Ben & Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.

Photo worthy street sign(s)

With our bellies full, we headed for the Portland Public Library. A beautiful building with an adorable gift shop run by the Friend's of the Library. I had never seen a gift shop at a library! I love public libraries. All libraries for that matter. It was too cold in the library, and so we decided to go look for a park to read. In between napping and reading, we enjoyed the Southwest park of Portland.

We then decided to wonder around some more. We stumbled upon Benessere, an olive oil and vinegar shop at 907 SW 9th Ave. What a surprise! We sampled honey ginger balsamic vinegar, strawberry balsamic, truffle oils and many more. The shop keeper was very friendly and I highly recommend this shop for Portland visitors, food connoisseurs or anybody for that matter! All of the oils and vinegars were neatly arranged in metal barrels with spigots for pouring, on two aisles in the center of the store. We left the shop with our tongues tingling from drinking balsamic vinegar out of tiny plastic sample cups. Very worthwhile.

Next we stopped at Anthropologie, my favourite clothing store, and we bought matching shirts, again. Christina and I now have about 5 articles of matching clothing in our wardrobe, all from Anthro. :)

It was Happy Hour, so naturally, we had to find a restaurant for a drink. There are literally thousands of restaurants, pubs, bars and cafés in Portland. We stopped in a cute Latinesque restaurant called ¡Oba! Christina is acquiring a taste for beer and so she ordered a Widmer Hefeweizen, a local beer and I had a lemon drop. And then I had an Oregon Marionberry Margarita. We sat at a table on the side of the restaurant and enjoyed the afternoon sun. The service at this place was great and the drinks delicious.

We then walked to Trader Joe's to pick up dinner fixings and headed back to the Loft. Christina made sautéed chicken and vegetables with Dijon Mustard and basil dressing with wild brown rice. We spent the remainder of the evening reading and then decided to take a night stroll. Our stroll turned into circumnativating downtown Portland and picking out places to visit the following day.

We learned from our experiences today that Portland is much smaller than we expected and very easy and convenient to travel by foot.

Day 1 of Road Trip

I sit here in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, at an adorable coffee shop (Soco Coffee Co.) with great pastries and very tasteful decor. It's right off I-5 and well worth the stop. We stopped in as we needed a break and some caffeine. The original plan was to camp in Mt. Shasta. But we arrived in Mt. Shasta much before we expected to, and decided to soldier on, and make it to Portland in 1 day. Christina ordered a huge, crispy peanut butter cookie and I had a Not So New (day old) [but just as delicious!] pastry, an Orange Chocolate Explosion (if I recall correctly) which was a moist orange bundt cake with chocolate frosting.

Christina and I departed from Pacific Grove a few minutes after 6:00 am this morning. Our car was packed with camping gear, a duffle (each) of clothes, our backpacks which contained our precious computers, a cooler and sack of food packed by my Syrian mother, God forbid we get hungry. And, everybody knows that there are no places to get food from Pacific Grove, CA to Portland, OR. In her defense, she wanted to save us money, to spend on other things, like chocolate, well, she didn't say that, but I will. We drove, and drove, and drove through thick fog leaving PG, and then through hot sun in the central valley. We were in awe of Mt. Shasta, which we nicknamed Shasty baby or Shasta Bear.

Shasta Bear

We stopped in Shasta and had a little picnic. Smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwhiches along with carrots, overlooking the Lake and dam. We loaded ourselves back up in the car and were off, again, our next stop being Myrtle Creek. We listened to David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day." If you have not already read it, I highly recommend you do so. I recommend even more that you listen to Mr. Sedaris on tape, or MP3, I guess this is the 21st century. We were listening to him as we drove into Portland, we were screaming of laughter and my eyes were so full of tears I thought I might wreck the car. Needless to say, we made it safely.

Me, taking photographs with my cell phone,

to send to our less fortunate friends,

who have things like work and responsibilities

and could not accompany us on our trip.

If one must pose for photos, and does not possess model capabilities for posing...