Potato Pillows

So, last month I took a cooking class and I forgot to take photos or make a big deal out of it but it was awesome. It was a fish cooking class and we made Crispy Skin Salmon with Shiitake-Cream Sauce, Sesame Crusted Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Soy Sauce, Classic Fish and Chips, Grilled Fish Tacos, and Pan Fried Sole with Lemon-Butter Sauce.

I've looked for awhile for a cooking class I wanted to take. And by awhile I mean like, years. Obviously this wasn't super intense looking but still. The thing about finding a good cooking class is they're all led different ways. I wanted something hands on, with food I could eat (no meat for me), a reasonable price, a subject I was interested in, and during a time convenient for me. I decided to go for it when I found a Saturday evening class where I would be able to actually cook everything rather than just watch, I could eat everything, and the whole thing was around $70. Plus I am awesome at making vegetarian food but I don't have a lot of knowledge about cooking fish, which I occasionally eat. And here's where we get into a tangent because I know someone is going to be curious or outraged at my eating fish.

I was raised vegetarian from birth. When I got into high school I was going out with friends more often and it was harder to always find a vegetarian option. I started eating chicken and fish for a brief time but never ate any red or dark meats or any white meat other than chicken. Later I stopped eating chicken and most fish. I now eat fish occasionally when it's of very good quality. I call myself a vegetarian because I think saying I'm a pescatarian makes me sound like an asshole.

Alright, so the fish cooking class was so awesome I decided to come home and immediately sign up for more classes. I registered for a gnocchi class and a handmade pasta class that will take place in November. This weekend I took the gnocchi class and it was super fun. We made two kinds of gnocchi, a traditional potato gnocchi and a gnocchi gnudi, which is gnocchi made from cheese. "Pillowy" is the word most often used to describe gnocchi but pillowy gnocchi is pretty rare. I've had it once and it was one of those meals I still think about and crave. I guess since making traditional gnocchi pillowy was so difficult someone decided to use ricotta to make gnocchi, which is called gnocchi gnudi. So, we made the traditional potato gnocchi, a spinach ricotta gnocchi gnudi, and three sauces. A marinara, a hazelnut gorgonzola cream sauce, and a browned butter sage sauce. My favorite was the spinach gnocchi with the marinara sauce.


These are the spinach gnocchi after they were cooked.



Potato gnocchi with the gorgonzola sauce.



Gnocchi in a pot.



Potato gnocchi prior to being cooked.



Spinach gnocchi prior to being cooked.

I actually didn't like the gorgonzola sauce at all. It had some lemon in it that was really weird with the gorgonzola. And I looooove gorgonzola. This was also sort of a difficult thing to do as a class simply because one of the things we learned was that it's really important the gnocchi all be the same size. Otherwise when cooking some will be perfect, some gummy, and some hard. In a class setting with 16 people making gnocchi it's impossible to make them uniform. The gnocchi gnudi was a lot more forgiving I think which may have been why that was my favorite. I'm excited to try the potato gnocchi at home where I have more control over how they all turn out.

This is something I learned at my last class but I've been excited about it since I heard it. It's "called" FAS. Basically it's like a little reminder of how to fix things while cooking. The F stands for fat, the A for acid, and the S for salt. If while cooking something tastes too fatty you add acid (citrus, tomatoes, etc.), if it's too acidic add salt, if it's too salty add fat (olive oil, butter, etc.). See how it goes in a circle? I seriously think this is the coolest thing ever. I also learned at the gnocchi class that when something calls for anchovy paste it's in an effort to hit a savory note. Artificially this is what they do with MSG. If you want to avoid using anchovy paste (which I actually think is fantastic) you can use miso paste.

Alright, now I'm just rambling but if you're interested in taking a cooking class I highly recommend taking one at Sur La Table.

Something Gross

I'm pretty good with the new shoes thing. I've gotten shoe purchasing down to a science that rarely results in painful feet even on first or second wear. The last time I remember shoes actually hurting my feet I was maybe 19. I wore some really painful flats to class. They tore up the whole backs of my feet. Teen me didn't have a car so I would take the bus. I remember starting to walk home from the bus stop that day and I finally just took off my shoes and walked barefoot even though it was raining.

Oh. Also one time I wore some very cheap shoes from Target as part of a Halloween costume that was meant to make me look a little cheap. They were black patent peep-toes with a wooden stacked heel that was about five inches tall. I was also wearing fishnets and at one point my feet hurt so badly I took the shoes off and walked through downtown not barefoot, but with fishnets. Which is worse. Because when you step in something damp and you don't know what it is you can wipe your foot off. Fishnets just stay wet.

I told you this was going to be gross okay?

Anyways, I have very little tolerance for foot pain so I make sure that shoes aren't going to hurt my feet before I wear them out. I must have been a little rusty though because those beautiful tan sandals from yesterday? They tricked me. I figured they were flat, leather, fit well...no problems. But by mid morning my toes were really hurting. There wasn't much I could do though because I needed to run some work errands. After work I needed to run some personal errands which is when I discovered my toe had fallen off.

Not really but that's what it felt like. I'd had a blister that had popped on it's own and the skin was all coming off. I had no choice but to tear it off and continue wearing the shoes. Which meant I walked around with an awkward limp and I'm sure people were wondering what was wrong with that poor girl.

Last night my foot was hurting enough I was having trouble sleeping but I'm lazy and um, tired in the middle of the night so I decided to ignore it until morning. That's when I discovered this.

WARNING! This is totally gross and involves an open blister (obviously) so if you're going to throw up on your keyboard or something go grab a trashcan before looking. If you're wishing it would be more gross I apologize for the less than fantastic cell phone pictures. If you feel the need to see things in more detail clicking on the pictures will help.

Here you go.



And in more detail.



I have to admit I'm sort of proud of the fact that my nail polish and injury match.

What I'm Wearing Today

It's going to be 82 here today. Which is absolutely ridiculous given it's a few days from being October. As I've mentioned five jillion times before, I hate the heat. So today I decided light and floaty sundress was the way to go.


Crinkle Floral Dress by Free People in Orange Combo


Hey Girl! flat by Jeffrey Campbell in Tan


B.P. three quarter sleeve cardigan by Nordstrom in Black

I'm not colorblind. I swear.

So, earlier in the summer there were pink lemons. Now apparently there are yellow watermelon.

This weekend I was watching the girls I used to nanny and we were getting dinner ready. And by that I mean we were taking the food their parents had bought out of the containers and putting it on plates. Anyways, one of the munchkins asked if we could have watermelon to which I answered hell yeah we can have watermelon.

I grabbed it and a cutting board and started that super satisfying first cut into a melon when the halves parted and rolled back onto the board. That's when I felt crazy. I have never seen the inside of a watermelon be anything other than pink. At first I thought maybe something was wrong with it. Then I tried it and realized everything about it was right.

This was the best watermelon I have ever had. In my entire life. Ever.

Apparently this breed? of watermelon is called yellow crimson. Which makes basically no sense but whatever. In the small amount of Googling I did I discovered it is known for having a sweeter and more honey flavor than traditional red watermelon. Let me tell you, this thing tastes like candy.

I found out later that this one was purchased at the Farmer's Market but if you can find one yourself somewhere you must try it.

If Dorthy had been a fan of gold...

We've got another 80 degree day here in Portland. My whole tights and boots forcing the weather into Fall idea wasn't super effective...mostly I just ended up sweaty. So today I decided I would just succumb to Summer is September. The sun also made wearing these flats fairly awesome.


Kinnetic Flats by Steve Madden in Gold Multi

What I'm Wearing Today

I am desperately craving Fall clothing. I'm at the point where I've decided to ignore the weather forecast and just wear tights and boots regardless of the nearly 80 degree heat.

Also I bought new boots and not wearing them was proving increasingly difficult.

So this morning I decided to just go for it. It's September and I'm done with Summer.

Today I'm wearing this dress. I have to say it is one of my favorite pieces of clothing and I have it in three different colors (I've posted about the white one before).


Paisley Necklace Dress by Free People

I'm also wearing tights. Black ones. My most favorite tights ever are the Spanx Tight End Tights. Not even because they're Spanx but because they're one of the only tights I've been able to find that are truly opaque and don't run or snag easily. The almost $30 pricetag can be a little much if like me you wear tights often in the cooler months and also hate doing laundry. Hue also makes a great opaque tight but they will eventually tear and snag. For the $8 or so they cost though it's not a terrible option. They also can usually be found at Nordstrom Rack in lots of colors. My favorite other than black are all the dark purples and eggplant colors.

Of course I have on a black cardigan but I'm also wearing these, my new most favorite footwear:


Toni boot by Gee Wa Wa in Tan Rodeo

Clothes That Make No Sense

I'm really into the whole Winter shorts thing right now. I mean, not right now right now because Portland has decided after a Summer of days in the 60s that now, in September it is going to be 80 degrees out. But for the (hopefully) coming cold weather, I am really into shorts made of wool and tweed and all the heavier Fall and Winter fabrics. I'm loving the idea of shorts with slouchy knee high boots and a big sweater or shorts worn with opaque tights and flats. It's very Blair Waldorf in a way that is far more wearable that say, a giant bow headband.

So I started looking at Winter appropriate shorts like these.




Both above models in Tweed Short by Sanctuary in Pepper. At Nordstrom this short sells for $42.90, at Free People $86


Cocktail Shorts by Literature in Black

Now apparently somewhere along the way some designers decided they were going to play a very cruel joke on consumers are try to make this happen.

Leather shorts.


Leather Short by Trouve in Black


Shakuhachi Leather Short by Free People in Brown

Seriously? Why is this happening? Look at that first model, she's physically pained by wearing these shorts. Am I the only one that thinks this looks like just about the least comfortable thing ever to wear?

I will admit when I saw this photo I was in love with this girl's outfit.


Denver Leather Short by Joie in Charcoal

But I'm also going to suggest the shorts in this photo have been photoshopped beyond recognition. Because the shorts in that photo of that lovely girl looking so effortlessly chic and sexy as she walks down the street obliviously checking her Blackberry, those shorts theoretically are these shorts:





Which makes zero sense. Also I'm just going to throw out there that for $378 my ass better look a whole lot better than that.

"People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is."

So I did it. I'm officially a redhead.

It's the kind of red that's dark and deep and rich. One of those colors that doesn't scream what it is. My hairdresser did a better job than I can describe getting me to a color that's definitely red but not so far away from where I was that I suffered shock. This photo doesn't demonstrate truly how red the color is but the sun is nearly down and also I'm too lazy to go outside and take a photo. Perhaps tomorrow though.

I feel like a new woman. A new sassy woman.

Update: My hair in the sun.

Hair Extrordinaire

I change my hair a lot. Not drastically but I like playing with colors and bangs and lengths. My most recent hair obsession is red. I'm thinking I want to try this thing out. So far these are the colors I like. Feel free to give any and all advice/criticism. Better before than after right?

For reference you can see me here.


I think this is my favorite and would look great with some highlights the color of Isla Fisher's hair in the other photo.


This would be a little more daring for me but would be a more true red which could be fun.


I really like this sans the dirty boyfriend.


Love, love, love.


This might be a little too edgy but could also be really fun.

Pickle Butt

The other night I had a friend over and we decided we wanted to watch a movie. Only it was 11pm and we couldn't rent the movie we wanted so we decided to drive over to his place because he owns it.

Well, turns out he doesn't own it. Or he lost it or lent it out but we picked another movie and went back to my place.

It was late and I'm not really sure why but as soon as we walked into my apartment I greeted Javier with "Hi Pickle Butt!"

This sent both of us into fits of giggles and the whole rest of the night, and the next three days, were spent fitting "pickle butt" into any and all conversation.

Just another nickname to add to the always growing list.