summer begins in my mouth

we woke up early (for us, which was around 10:30) on a sunny saturday and rode out bikes to Pastaworks to pick up things for an afternoon picnic.
dolmas, feta, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, pickled onions(we made by marinating the onions in red wine vinegar for about an hour)
then our friends Nathan (who plays violin in many local bands: The Maybe Happening, Nick Jaina, and others), and his lovely lovely lady Ingrid who works at the Portland Art museum and loves to play cribbage, invited us over for a BBQ.

we attached the spread of yummy food onto my bike basket and we rode the 20 blocks to their house in SE.
we all drank rose' and white wine out of mugs and Nathan grilled corn until he burned a little hole in the front deck....
the wine made Matt and I sleepy so we went upstairs and took an hour long nap in Ingrid and Nathan's bed, until we were awoken by the claps of thunder and a downpour.
this is portland in May afterall....

lovely ladies surprise with lunch

my friends Erin(not pictured), Annie, and Jeevan showed up at my apartment on this pleasantly warm May afternoon for lunch and fresh baked scones.
homemade scones with fresh apricot preserves. the scone recipe came from wholefoods. the dishes are from the goodwill, the one on the left is handpainted!
Annie and I somehow totally matched without planning it. grey sweatshirt, white dress, charcoal tights, and brown boots. wow.

Cannon Beach

we were invited to a weekend at the beach. this is the view from the house. yes, there is haystack rock, made infamous in the cult movie "Goonies"
while a few of us planned and prepared dinner, the rest of the group watched Planet Earth on the tv. here they are watching me for a moment for the picture.

we made sauteed radishes in butter and salt, and lasagne, and one girl made the most delicious tequila shrimp. we had all the ingredients together for the lasagne, zucchini, ricotta, loads of mozzarella cheese and a slow cooked red sauce. the oven was hot, and then it was not.

we decided to improvise and heated up the grill. it worked! we covered the lasagne with tinfoil and put the glass pan on the top shelf of the grill.


here are the shrimp marinating in lime and tequila!

Korean In NYC

I arrived in Nyc on April 6th. The red eye flight, the early morning cab ride argued with my stomach. A small nap, and then off to a trunkshow at a boutique called Kaight in the lower east side. i sold a fair amount of clothes, and that made the long long day seem a bit better. 

My hostess in Greenpoint is a lovely woman named Eileen who also runs an eco-showroom called Origin 23. 

we met only briefly in LA a few weeks before and she was so gracious to put me up, bring me tea when I was not well, and introduce me to her favorite haunts. 

one of these places was a Korean spa in the shadow of the Empire State Building. 

At 10:30 pm we met her friend Isa at a little market where we bought tall jugs of tea, and then descended into the basement of a tall tall building and into a tiled room where there was a small asian man who took our $30. 

we spent 3 hours scrubbing ourselves, steaming, sauna-ing, and lazily talking about our lives. 

after all of this, we were starving, and they took me to a cheap and delicious 24 hour spot called Dou Wip or Wha Doop or something...the food was more memorable than the name....