Aquamarine

She bought a sun dress, it was the color of the sea, summer didn't seem so far away then.

Cupcake Wednesday

Something cute and sweet for the belly.  

Not from a box.  

     Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

Basic Lemon Cake Batter

(this is for a layer cake, I halved it to make 12 cupcakes)

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon extract

3 cups cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

 Preheat oven to 350.

 Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

 Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

 Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat a medium-low speed just until blended after each addition. (batter will be thick)

 For two 9 inch pans, cook for 32-36 minutes.

Strawberry Vanilla Buttercream

 1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar

1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, chopped

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with strawberries, beating at low speed until blended and smooth.

Rumi Poetry

Poems I found today in my wanderings

A thousand half loves must be forsaken

to take one whole heart home

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent minded.

Someone sober will worry about things going badly

Let the lover be

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere

They're in each other all along

------------------

People want you to be happy

Don't keep serving them your pain

If you could untie your wings 

and free your soul of jealousy

you and everyone around you

would fly up like doves

-----------------

Speak quietly

and say nothing that is not true

Things not found in Oregon

Lemon Trees

Clock Tower at UC Berkeley

Cute Shoes from H&M

southeast 28th

in the pink

Life Path Exploration

All roads lead to the same point.
All paths are true.

Broke and Interesting

So you're broke and living in Portland. That doesn't mean you have to stay home, eating Ramen noodles and watching daytime tele. I'm compiling a list of fun and interesting things to do for less than 7 bucks.

• Kennedy School Soaking Pool- Daily 10am-10pm $5.00
• Dodgeball at the Friendly House- Fridays 7pm-9pm $2.00
• Yoga classes at People's Yoga- Daily $6.00 drop in rate
• MAX ride to IKEA for dinner- Daily 10am-9pm $2.00 MAX ticket+ $5.00 meal
• Learn ancient chinese game of GO at Powells- Tuesday nights FREE
• See an indie flick at Living Room Theatres- Monday & Tuesday All Shows $5.00
• Throw your own Game Night- Any evening $7.00 for snacks, BYOB
• Throw your own Themed Movie Marathon- Friday or Saturday $7.00 for rentals

Know of other rad stuff for under $7.00? Add to my list!!

Meet SEXTREME!!!

A sample of cover shots for our debut album!

manchego

Cheese: Manchego (Sheep's Milk) Aged 4 months
Origin: La Mancha, Spain
Price: $16.99/ lb

Adrift in the fancy cheese aisle of New Seasons, a young tattooed grocery clerk caught my eye and smiled inquisitively. He must've recognized my hapless expression because he immediately offered his services in cheese identification. Upon further inquisition, I mentioned I had started a cheese blog and was reviewing different cheeses each week. He laughed and asked if I had tried cheese from sheep's milk. He said that it was his favorite. "If you're going to start trying sheep's milk, you have to start with Manchego," he said with confidence.

Manchego is a semi firm cheese made from the milk of Manchego Sheep in the La Mancha region of central Spain (of Don Quixote fame). It's cave aged from 3 to 6 months which determines the robustness of the flavor.

As my new friend Charles was giving me a quick overview of spanish cheeses, another grocery clerk became interested in our jovial discussion. "You have to eat it with quince, it's how the Spanish do it," he interjected. Quince I learned, is a pear like fruit of Asian origin which has a figgy sweetness when made into a paste. "What do you eat Manchego with?" I coyly asked, directing attention back to Charles. "Crackers, bread...?" I trailed off. "Wheat Thins," he quietly admitted. "Wheat Thins? Really?!" I laughed. "My friends make fun of me because of my somewhat white trashy background but I like em," he explained further. "Well, that wouldn't be my first choice but I"ll try anything!" I encouraged. In the end, I purchased both the Quince paste and the Wheat Thins. This is the post modern era after all, the exquisite and the banal can make a happy couple.