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| Sweet Pea Blossoms |
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
a new favorite in the garden
This year I planted a something new in the garden, sweet peas. These beauties have an enchanting fragrance and continue to bloom for weeks and weeks on end if you cut the stems back once the pods form. They are nearly 8 feet tall now and I trellised them using bamboo that I cut from another section of my yard. I can see them through the window of my sitting room, and on warm days they smell so good!
burger cravings
Lately I've been having serious red meat cravings, so last week I stopped in to try Little Big Burger (an outpost of the same joint located in the Pearl district), which opened last month on Mississippi Ave (actually in a spot that I looked at for a possible Red Sail shop). The menu is simple, just six items, so I opted for a blue cheese burger and fries. I have so say, I loved it. At 1/4 lb it was an ideally sized burger for me and it was cooked to a perfect medium (just a little pink), the cheese was flavorful, the brioche bun was soft and light, and the shredded lettuce and chopped red onions added a nice fresh crunch. Well done Little Big Burger. Now I understand what all the fuss is about!
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| Truffle fries ($2.75) and a blue cheese burger ($3.75). |
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
front yard face lift
A few months back I finally gave the front yard a bit of an overhaul. What did I do?
Step 1. I ripped out a bunch of dead plants, four large bushes and a pine tree (demo was very cathartic... thanks for the Sawzall, Thor!)
Step 2. I moved all the random stones from the base of the slope up top, where I used them to outline two raised beds.
Step 3. I dug a drainage ditch (and moved all that dirt to the raised beds).
Step 4. I back-filled with gravel, then laid a low stone wall (I dry stacked 3000 lbs of stone myself), and then laid some more gravel. Building this wall was like doing a giant 3 dimensional puzzle... fun, but exhausting!
Step 5. I planted a ton of flowers (with my sister's help) and vegetables, and now I have a lovely front yard!
Step 1. I ripped out a bunch of dead plants, four large bushes and a pine tree (demo was very cathartic... thanks for the Sawzall, Thor!)
Step 2. I moved all the random stones from the base of the slope up top, where I used them to outline two raised beds.
Step 3. I dug a drainage ditch (and moved all that dirt to the raised beds).
Step 4. I back-filled with gravel, then laid a low stone wall (I dry stacked 3000 lbs of stone myself), and then laid some more gravel. Building this wall was like doing a giant 3 dimensional puzzle... fun, but exhausting!
Step 5. I planted a ton of flowers (with my sister's help) and vegetables, and now I have a lovely front yard!
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| Before |
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| After |
the great sandwich seach
As most of you know I'm serious about eating... I love it. It makes me happy. And I love sharing good food finds (and warning of not-so-good food finds).
Within the past month I've had two stellar and one just OK sandwiches at Lardo, a food cart located at the cart pod at 43rd and Belmont in SE Portland. If you see either of these first two on the menu give them a try! The third, well... maybe not.
Within the past month I've had two stellar and one just OK sandwiches at Lardo, a food cart located at the cart pod at 43rd and Belmont in SE Portland. If you see either of these first two on the menu give them a try! The third, well... maybe not.
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| grilled asparagus, farm egg, arugula, fresh ricotta and crisp prosciutto |
Really good, excellent bun, great contrast of textures. Seeing this picture makes me want to recreate this one at home... immediately!
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| pork meatball banh mi with Sriracha aioli, pickled vegetables, and cilantro |
The pork meatball is well seasoned and the pickled carrots add a nice fresh zing... one of my favorites at Lardo.
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broccoli rabe, sweet roasted peppers, olive tapenade, capers, mozzarella
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Now this one I'm not totally sold on. It was just too bitter for me. I brought half home, scraped off some of the olives, and added an over easy egg and I thought that helped.
car porn
If you have even the smallest appreciation for beautiful cars, and you happen to be in Portland, then you must head to the Portland Art Museum before September 11, 2011. The Allure of the Automobile exhibit is amazing. A great grouping of truly beautiful automobiles... from an era when cars were actually sexy. Here are my personal favorites.
As a bonus, every Saturday classic car owners (different category each weekend) park their cars outside the museum and you can get up close and personal some some real beauties. Can't make it to the show, check out a slide show of the cars here.
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| 1961 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, the paint color was amazing, and I happen to think Gus and I would look perfect in this car... don't you :) |
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1961 Ferrari 250 GT Comp/61 Short, had a great blue racing stripe down the middle |
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| 1957 Jaguar XK-SS Roadster, No. 713, leather straps hold down the hood! |
As a bonus, every Saturday classic car owners (different category each weekend) park their cars outside the museum and you can get up close and personal some some real beauties. Can't make it to the show, check out a slide show of the cars here.
I'm back
After a break of almost exactly two years I'm back to the blog, which I've decided to freshen up a bit with a new design, etc. Life has been good (with only just a hint of bad), and I'll try to bring you all up to speed with some highlights from the last two years mixed in with new news in the coming weeks.
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