Feb 27, 2009 1
Eric and I ventured downtown Portland today, first to meet my dear friend Megan from high school to do a portrait shoot - she’s so cute! Eric was my dutiful reflector-holder, and it was the first time he’s been along on a shoot with me!
After the shoot, we walked around a bit and then decided that we wanted to eat at the highly-acclaimed Kenny and Zuke’s Deli, located between 10th & 11th on NW Stark.
Feb 22, 2009 0
Eric and I had a discussion the other day: What meal is your favorite? We both settled on breakfast. I see lunch as rather expendable, because I think of sandwiches and other typical “lunch” fare as being just a means to an end, a cure for hunger.
Because of this apathy toward lunch and dear love for breakfast, brunch is the ultimate meal for me. It’s breakfast food at lunch time, which means that if you time it right, you can have two fantastic meals in one day instead of settling for dumb lunch in the middle. A perfect food day is possible. And you can sleep in.
Feb 5, 2009 1
Eric and I have established a routine here at the beach, and what that means is that we’ve been cooking a lot, but we’ve been cooking on a budget and making one meal last a few days by making lots and eating leftovers. It’s not too exciting, but it does save up money for the grad school tuition “monster” that we see looming in the distance.
This week, we made turkey chili from a recipe we found on Chow.
Jan 26, 2009 0
This weekend we took a little jaunt up the 101 (doesn’t it just remind you of the song from the O.C.?)
While we were in our old stomping grounds, Aberdeen, I had the pleasure of shooting a wedding with the fabulous Molly from Portrait Expressions and we had loads of fun (minus the bad shoes, which I don’t want to talk about - neither do my feet). You can check out some more wedding photos from my shoot on my photography web site.
Then we journeyed back, of course, and happened to hit the Oregon Coast drive right at sunset, which was quite magnificent. We even checked out one of my favorite Oregon Coast spots - the Hotel Elliott in Astoria! I’m writing a story about them, so needed to stop and take photos.
Now we’re back at the beach, where it’s very quiet and we’re buckling down and working hard! Eric made chicken parmesan for dinner tonight with green salad, which was quite delicious. More from our exciting lives tomorrow!
Nov 23, 2008 5
I have a syndrome I inherited from my mother. Let’s call it “busy hands syndrome.” What it means is that whenever I’m coping with something, I like to keep very, very busy. So when my dear Grammy passed away early this morning, we both went to work. My mom worked on logistics of taking care of Grammy’s things; Eric and I started to cook. (Below, some pretzels Eric and I made last night).
Cooking is great for “busy hands syndrome” when you’re using it as a coping mechanism for something like losing a dear family member, because it serves two purposes. First, it keeps you busy and keeps you focusing on the task at hand. But it also offers a chance to keep the rest of your family fed and together. So Eric and I set out to make a dinner that would keep everyone comforted and together, at least for the evening.
We made a pork roast with thyme and mustard, roasted fingerling potatoes, carrots and brussels sprouts and bourbon pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Everything turned out pretty well, although the best part was being able to be together with my family as we all figure out what it’s like living without Grammy, who we will all miss so much.
She was really a remarkable lady. She was born in 1920, lived through the Great Depression, lived in Nebraska, Colorado, California, Oregon, Massachusetts and more, had three kids and eight grandkids and three great grandkids and really lived her 88 years of life.
The other thing about my Grammy is that she was a “pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps” kind of person, the kind who taught herself to drive on her way to the courthouse to get her drivers license, made more than 100 Christmas cookies every year, plus handmade ornaments for family and friends, and always had her to-do list. Maybe she had “busy hands syndrome” too.
