Dinner with Friends

Last night, we dressed up and drove to downtown LA to go to Cirque Bezerk, a twisted circus. A pretty long winded story but basically I had a coupon for 50% off 4 tickets and when we got to the box office they refused to take it. The box office was owned by Club Nokia and opperated by Ticketmaster. I thought it was BS and I requested to speak to a manager from the show and we got frustrated and decided to go to dinner instead (which was what we were going to do after getting tickets anyways!).

So we walked for about 10 minutes to this little wine bar, CorkBar.


view of the bar

The girls got a bottle of wine and the boys got a bottle and we shared a three cheese's and three charcuterie's plate. As well as these little cheese puffs that were something like "cheddar gogugeres". I referred to them as cheddar boogers. Not because they tasted like booger but because I couldn't pronounce the fancy french gogugeres.


cheddar boogers

Then we all had our own main entree. I did a rootbeer braised beef short ribs over polenta, Jack had pan seared scallops over bacon spinach and turnip puree, and the other couple had hangar steak over risotto.


We didn't have the top picture which I believe is the pork tenderloin. Left is the scallops and right is the hangar steak.

Then to complete it off we had a chocolate board with about six small truffles and a brioche cupcake with caramel and bacon.


cinnamon brioche cupcake with bacon and caramel

It was pure gluttony but man was the food amazing. It's also really nice when you like to go to nice restaurants and you find another couple who's compatible and get down with that. Also, downtown LA is turning around and becoming quite the night spot with lots of fun restaurants and bars. Wish we had a metro that we could take its a little too far for a cab and driving after drinking is never a real good idea.

*all of the pictures are from a random google search of corkbar

Tuesday Night Ritual

I'm a big fan of pizza. Something about it to me is like the perfect combination of stuff. Bread, cheese and some form of tomato. Narm. Usually on Tuesday evenings we have pizza and watch Biggest Loser ( the irony is killing me). Normally the pizza consists of evoo, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato and a sprinkling of fresh basil and salt as soon as its hot out of the oven. Last night the earth must have shifted because I had a taste for a greek pizza ( probably inspired by the nummy looking one our friends got on Sunday). So we tried to re-create it and it tasted pretty darn yummy.


So we snagged a boboli crust at the store because I'm too freaking lazy to make my own and we like a crispier crust rather than a super doughy one. Also, we steamed up some veggies to make it a little bit healthier. Though I'd rather just have pizza. Yeah that's right I'm a semi vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables ( maybe I'm just bored with them!)

Raechel and Jack's Greek Pizza

1 Pizza Crust ( a sweeter whole wheat crust is awesome!)
1 Tomato
1 small container of feta, green and black olives preferably soaked in evoo with Mediterranean spices (We picked ours up from the olive bar at the grocery store . This is what gives the pizza the flavor. A good sub would be flavored feta and olives that are in flavored oil or you could try to concoct your own type of herbs to put on the pizza)

Prepare your crust ( if you made your own-cook it / if you're using a premade - take it out of the bag). Strain the evoo from the olives onto the pizza and spread around the crust. Crumble the feta generously around the pizza and then chop/crumble the olives. Top with sliced tomato and cook pizza on a **stone at 425-450 for about 10 mins.

** now I realize that not everyone has a pizza stone but if you make your own pizza even 1x a week then buy a freaking stone! They're like $10-20 depending on what model you get ( ours came with a lazy susan and a pizza cutter) at Bed Bath and Beyond. Its totally worth it and makes your crust that much better on a pizza.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

So like every other child of the late 80's and early 90's you probably played monopoly with your family at some point. Ok, even if you weren't a child in the 80's or 90's you probably played monopoly. Usually its long elaborate games that NEVER end until someone gives up or ends up crying. This was not the case on Saturday night for us. We played it and I royal skunked Jack. I mean like to the point where he'd land on a spot of mine and owe me like $1800 for rent because I had a hotel on the property and etc..It was amazing to win. I've probably played monopoly 50 times and never ever won or even finished a game. I was a little bit sad that it was over when it was. Its not monopoly until you've played into the wee hours and someone is close to tears because they just want the game to end! Anyways, see the pic below of me winning! Jack's cards are all turned upside down because they were mortgaged to the bank. It was a little sad to see him go out like that but it sure was awesome to win!




Don't worry the loser wasn't sore about it and I made him a tasty seared ahi tuna steak dinner with wasabi mashed potato's to make him feel better. Later we played dijabooty or mancala and he beat me. So it was pretty even at this point!

Cheers

raech

Potato, Asiago, and Rosemary Pizza

Ok write down these lists of ingredients and go make this pizza ASAP! I was so hungry after getting out of Salsa class. It was later in the evening and the store would be closing in a while and I just settled that a homemade pizza would rock my world. To my surprise the heavens opened up and I was born with an idea-Potato, Asiago Rosemary Pizza. To further inspire my idea when I went to the cheese section they had put out a new cheese, Rosemary encrusted Romao. Is this a sign or what? So we gathered up our last ingredients and headed home.

This is loosely the recipe that i followed. Its pretty hard to mess up a homeade pizza, especially when you are using a pre-made crust..ahem. Its quick! Don't judge me :)

Pizza Crust ( I used whole foods pre-made)
1 small Yukon gold potato ( extremely thin sliced)
1 hunk of rosemary crusted romao for shredding
Asiago/Parmesan shredded cheese
2 large garlic cloves
Crushed Rosemary (or fresh if you have on hand)

Brush your pizza crust with olive oil and I used a micro plane to grate my garlic cloves on top of the pizza ( so they were like a paste) and used a knife to spread it into the olive oil.

Top the pizza with extremely thinly sliced potato slices ( they will cook quicker). Shred the Rosemary encrusted romao over the potato slices and I mixed in the asiago/ parm so it wouldn't be sooo powerful. Dash with a little bit more rosemary if you so choose.

Bake at 400 ( or wahtever your pizza crust recipe recommends) and finish off with some salt and ground pepper.

Kids this has to be my new favorite pizza. It would go great with a nice cold crisp wine. We had pizza and a bowl of watermelon last night. It was the bees knees.

Not my picture but one stolen off of google so you can get an idea. I was too hungry to get the camera and take a picture before I snarfed it.

Portland - "the city with the nicest people in the world..."

Portland, Oregon, what can I say? I think I left a huge chunk of my heart there when I got on the plane this morning to come back to LA. I loved it! I can't imagine living anywhere else now! People are so nice but so elegant at the same time. I love love love it! Lets take a look at my journey from Saturday-Early Monday morning.

Saturday- arrive early (9:30 a.m. ) and rent a car, drive to the hotel and check in and decide to head down to the famous Saturday market. This was the first view as your heading down the stairs under the tunnel to the market.



This is the market ( not my picture but a great one for the feel of it!)



I thought it was a farmers market but its really an art fair/food fair. Lots of good local grub, artists and locals..

Our first bite of local...spring roll from this cart where the whole family works and makes the rolls hot and fresh...sooooooo good!




An adorable hippie child walking around the market. So cute!



Local artist..sir pug le suitcase(jk...just a cute pup sitting inside his musician parents suitcase..maybe he sits on the money!)



Then we had a delish elephant ear that was made for us hot then dipped in brown sugar and butter. Yummmmmm...Everything at the market was homeade, local, and yummy.


Cute old man looking at the tied dyed stuff.. Maybe he could use a little color in his safari wardrobe....



We walked to the harbor and this was the amazing view of the water and city! What a sight to see.


I've seen these bikes before in So Cal but never had an opportunity to photograph someone on it. I'm very intrigued on how to get up and down on it!



Old Church. Love the contrast of the buildings in downtown. From very modern and chic to so country and old to even very industrial. Love it!



Old Industrial



This part of the journey where we forgot to take pictures. We drove further inland and went wine tasting at three wineries. I loved the second one. Maybe it was the barrels so full of wine that the edges were stained purple, or it was the ferns that lined the outside of the building. It was breathtaking and refreshing! The third winery also owned a bistro about 40 mins away. So we headed out to Dundee Bistro for some delicious late lunch/early dinner.



I had this wonderful blue cheese dressing blueberry salad. It was so good and fresh tasting. For dessert had an amazing olive oil cake. I kinda drool thinking about it. yum! We headed back to Portland after lunch. This is the part that I tell you we got all dressed up and went out to eat but ....unfourtnately, we fell asleep at the hotel and slept for 14 hours! eeek! Fear not, we made up for it on Sunday. It was gorgeous and we decided to spend the day in the country. On our way out we saw this city. It is an odd name but to us it is home. We are from right below Milwaukee, Wi.



About 15 miles outside of Portland it was this beautiful countryside. We got off the hwy a few times and drove on some small local roads. The landscape was amazing..


Local flavors again. Berries are huge up there. Especially Marion Berry. We just stopped and bought a pint of blueberries.

Yum



This placed has so many types of different jerkys, fruit, etc...

Sign from the hwy.



Watermelon



Plums




Sheep from the blueberry farm





Finally what I had been hoping for! Rain and lots of it!!!



Farm on the side of the road. I loved the high contrast of the blue in the sky and the gold in the field



Berry Haven (this place was kinda a lie....when we stopped she only had blueberries and strawberries!! there were no other berries like the sign claims..sigh...)




The Tillamook Bridge




Pretty Forest on the drive



Us in the forest. I happen to love this picture of us!



Finally we make it to Cannon Beach and we stop to get some java from this famed coffee shop



It was delicious but maybe I was partial since he made a heart in my latte foam



This is what make Cannon Beach famous. These giant rock formations. They were gorgeous. I would have loved to gone out in the ocean and gotten up close to them, but they are protected from climbing and etc.. but still amazing to look at none the less



So many dogs on the beach. I love it. I wish we had that here!




Are you my twin?



Awesome driftwood that to me looked like a big seal staring at you!



While we were at Cannon Beach. We did run into a a little bit of the thug life. This little guy thought he was so street



After the beach excursion, we had to another famous beach spot. Mo's Chowder. Apparently, its been around since the 70's. It was tasty but not amazing. The views were gorgeous and the staff seemed to have been there since the 70's. So it was quaint.


Crab melt, crab stuffed avocado, coleslaw with mini shrimp on it and some type of local amber beer.



So its still Sunday afternoon and we had back to Portland to go check out the Pearl District. We first headed straight to a famous donut shop where not only can you buy donuts...you can also get married!



Ok folks, just to clear the air. I am not married but did have a delicious donut.



We walked down by the Whole Foods, Sur La Table, theater (see below)


and other places. This happens to be one of my favorite times in Portland. We crossed the street and there was this man giving away bunches of lavender. He gave us some and like a nerd. I asked to take his picture. He was so interesting to look at and of course the thought of someone giving away something is so odd to a person from LA. It really brightened my day! Too bad I had to leave the lavender at the hotel room!



Now, we have Noodles and Co back where we are from, but the building was so unique! The shutter happened to be on the wrong speed but I love how just the sign is illuminated in this picture



We headed back to the hotel room at this point and decided to get dressed for a fancy night out but almost all the places we wanted to go were either closed or only serving bar food. So we headed back Downtown and we drove to several places. I had bought a pair of shoes at Buffalo Exchange ( new ones!) and worn them and they were cutting of my toes circulation and squeaking really badly. So by the time we tried our third restaurant. I was pissed and sad that we weren't going to go somewhere really unique and we'd end up eating wings at the bar. So I took of my shoes and threw them to the corner. Now, that is kinda embarrassing that I got this mad but I swear these shoes were bad luck! I put on the flipflops I had kept in the car and we drove to one more place and it was still closed, but the people outside suggested Blue Hour. We previously thought that they were closed but we called and they were open! Apparently it had been so crazy busy they decided to stay open 3 hours later then normal! Yay for us! Amazing photos on there website. http://www.bluehouronline.com/

We went there and sat at the bar where we had the friendliest bartendar on earth. I was surprised because in LA. If you go somewhere posh, you must realize you probably wont get the best service if any! So we ordered a bunch of appetizers ( some recommendations from the bartender and some our own) and drinks. We had an amazing wine and relaxed and talked about our trip to Portland and how much we really loved this place. Even when we had our problem(finding a restaurant) Portland gave us some amazing locals to redirect us to BlueHour. It was as if Portland couldn't let us dislike it!

I love Portland and would move there in a heartbeat! There is this pure energy from the people that live there. So who knows maybe when LA has worn me down enough I'll pack my bags but for now I know I will be back!!






http://www.bluehouronline.com/

I am ok with

Blogging once a week. If i can stick to this regimen I will be happy blogisticker.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I decided that I want to continue selling things on Etsy. I haven't made any cards in a very long time ( February) and I want to start back up and maybe sell oddities that I find too. I think Etsy is a great second job to pick up some cash and be creative. I might put up some of my photographs to sell as well.

Today, is kind of sad day. My friend Tolga is moving back to Turkey. We are having a dinner tonight and he's going to cook us some authentic Turkish dishes, which I am soooo excited for!!

ALso, yesterday, I stopped in MAC store, started twitching. I managed to get out with only an undercover eye stick and some new lipglass.... its hotness friends.


Alright, bloggity bloggers. I've gotta get this ass in gear and do some craftizations.

Sunday Mornings

So, I know I don't blog for 10 years and all of the sudden i write 2 in one day. What are things coming to?
After my og post, we made some breakfast and we had elephant eyes, eggs in the basket, whatever the f- you want to call it. It was delish. Of course, I had my coffee and kombucha fix and some farmers market cantaloupe. YUM.



After breakfast, we headed out to the farmers market and picked up our weekly produce. I'm not sure if its cheaper then shopping at a big chain grocery store but as far as shopping at whole foods/wild oats. Its wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy cheaper. So we spent $47 and the bulk of the money went to flowers $12 and berries (3 boxes) $11 and then the other $24 went to other veggies and fruits

So here is the famers market booty! IN my uber cute riesenthal shopping bag.





So, if you want an idea of how much it bought us

1 peach
1 nectarine
2 lemons
2 pluots
1 yellow raspberrie box
1 red reaspberry box
1 blueberry box
1 bunch of grapes (about 1 pound)
1 bunch of radishes
1 bunch of leek
1 bunch of basil (yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)
1 green onion bunch
3 corn on the cobs
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of dill
1 bok choy
2 avocados
1 head of broccoli
1 bunch of spinach

4 flower bouquets


And, took a cute picture of the puppers. They were waiting to get a little bit of our left over elephant eyes.