Magical Popsicles

I know Septemnber isn't really the ideal time to be writing about frozen treats but here in P-Town it's actually just become summer. Enter Zoku. The instant (7-9 minutes) electricity free popsicle maker. Don't ask me how it works, it's magic. And you need one. Couple things though, the directions tell you to not fill above the fill line and to not put water into it (ie: make ice popsicles). Those are important directions to actually follow. For real. Not that I know from spending 30 minutes trying to get ice out of the popsicle maker or anything...

Manzanita

Back when I used to nanny the family I worked for (for the longest and to whom I was the closest) had a couple beach houses on the Oregon coast. In the Summers I would spend weekends or even entire weeks laying in the sun with a light breeze touching the backs of my legs or walking down to the water with tiny little hands in mine then shrieking and running from the incoming tide. When it got cooler we would bundle up and play for as far into the year as possible. When it got too cold for playing on the beach we would go down for weekends in the Winter and snuggle up in the house with cocoa and movies and just be away for a bit. Some of my favorite memories are from times spent on the coast.

One of the places we stayed often was Manzanita, OR, the perfect beach town. There's a section of the West side of our state that is most frequented by Portlanders looking to escape the city and within that part of the coast most of the weather is pretty similar on any given day. The thing about finding the perfect beach in Oregon has everything to do with the land surrounding the beach. In Manzanita everything aligns perfectly to keep it warm but breezy. It's also one of the few coastal towns I've seen with locals that don't make me feel like I'm in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are some cute restaurants, a great ice cream parlor with a garden to eat your sweets in, a game store called Overboard, and the requisite super crowded grocery store. And! You can have bonfires on the beach! This past weekend I loaded up on cough syrup, decongestant, nasal spray, and cough drops and decided to show Trista, Johnathan, and Craig the close to my heart Manzanita...check out Tiger helping bring kindling to the fire pit.

What I'm Wearing Today (is back!)

Guess who's feeling much better...after two weeks of painful coughing I think I'm ready to get back to the blog.

I'm so super into this outfit. The dress was originally $248 at Anthropologie but was marked down plus I got my 40% off so it ended up being around $35 and is sooo pretty. Perfect for Summer and Spring or with tights in Fall and Winter. I'm already planning on pairing it with non-solid black tights (lace? chevron print?) and brown leather boots. The cardigan was also an on sale item at Anthro and I got an additional 40% off so I got three of them in various colors for about what one cost originally. The one I'm wearing today is more of a "greige" color but I can't for the life of me find an image of it so... The bracelet is a belt, the necklace is my new favorite thing ever and the sandals have been my go with everything summer staple. The fringe purse is still getting tons of use mostly because I'm too busy to move everything over to a new bag.

Seaside

Even though I was feeling like an old broken lady this past weekend I had promised Craig months ago I would pick him up in Seaside after he ran Hood to Coast (it's this miserable endeavor involving running from Mt. Hood to the Oregon coast with a team in legs of a race). So Tiger and I headed out for the beach. We went to Gearhart and laid in the sun for a bit before heading over to Seaside to meet up with Craig and a couple other people. You guys, my dog loves the beach like nobody's business. It's insane.

What I'm Wearing Today

What I'm Wearing Today

Bragging Rights

This weekend I did major cooking. And I loved it. I had a little get together on Saturday night for screenprinting but if I'm honest my motivation for having people over was more so I could cook food.

I wanted everything to be very snack-able and finger food-y so we could art project and eat at the same time. And I wanted it to be really summery fare. I decided on mini burgers and then as a substitute for french fries (which are a pain to make if you do it right) I wanted to do baby twice baked potatoes. I also made individual caprese salads, fruit skewers, salad skewers, and pasta salad.

I made these skewers using blackberries, kiwi, nectarine, and plum. I am pretty sure I could have eaten the entire plate. I originally intended to use watermelon as well but I think they turned out beautifully this way.


Javier and Tiger are always my favorites but they can be crazy face sometimes. When I cook they both just calm down and lay in the kitchen with me. It makes me happy.



I wanted to make a pasta salad but my goal was also to make everything edible sans utensils. I finally realized I could make it work by mixing together all my pasta salad ingredients minus the pasta and stuffing it in shells. It actually worked brilliantly and tasted wonderful. I made a mixtures of cheddar cheese, celery, carrots, black olives, and mayo seasoned with salt and pepper. Super simple.


I made these tiny individual caprese salads by coring grape and cherry tomatoes and then stuffing them with fresh mozzarella and basil. Before serving I drizzled basil infused olive oil (the same one I use in spaghetti sauce) and topped with fresh cracked pepper and salt.


There's this fantastic hidden little restaurant in Portland in the Pearl called Via Delizia. They used to just be a gelato and coffee shop but they started serving food and it's delicious. They have a salad there that consists of greens topped with pear, beets, and roasted carrots. And it's divine. I decided to use that as my inspiration for these skewers. I roasted the carrots in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary then let them chill in the fridge. Later I skewered them with pears and beets, drizzled them with a blush wine vinaigrette, and topped them with crumbled gorgonzola.


I made these twice baked potatoes by roasting red potatoes. I then cut them in half and used a melon baller to scoop out the insides (worked a thousand times better than a spoon). I threw all the inner potato into my Kitchen Aid mixer with carmelized onions I had made earlier, a bunch of grated smoked gruyere, some butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper and mixed it up with the whisk attachment on low. Then I scooped the filling into a ziploc bag, cut the corner off, and used it to pipe the filling back in. I baked them for a second time and topped them with diced chives. Everyone was a fan. The smoked cheese made it taste like there was bacon in there as well but kept them vegetarian.


I made the burgers using a Le Creuset grill pan I have for indoor grilling. I made tiny patties with a small pat of butter inside and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I'd actually never made real hamburgers before but apparently I'm good at it. I used dinner rolls from a local bakery as hamburger buns and made my secret delicious hamburger topping made from pimento stuffed green olives and mayo.

(Super Secret Editor's Note: I use those little bowls for dips and condiments all the time. Everyone thinks they're super gorgeous but they're actually candle holders I bought on sale at Anthropologie.)

This wasn't a part of the party but I was craving something sweet last night and since I tend to have nothing sweet but maybe some sprinkles for decorating in my home I had to make due with what I had. Also Craig had eaten all my popsicles. I decided to make a s'more in a jar by doing a graham cracker crust topped with mini chocolate chips then topped with marshmallows. I baked it in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes and it was perfect and amazing and delicious.