pimientos de padron

Coming soon!

As I tweeted yesterday (yes I tweet occasionally, yesterday I was exceptionally talkative on the interwebs) I am quite sad that my beloved garlic scapes have left the farmer market booths. However, that signals the heat, and the return of peppers to the market! As I left the market with a half flat full of various berries, I paused near the shelled English peas. I almost talked myself out of buying some, but the cash in my wallet cried to be let out (I hate to disappoint money from embarking on its travels). After I purchased the peas I inquired about when their season would end. As luck would have it, this was the last day they were to be sold! Viridian Farms is known locally for their unique products, and despite my sadness at the changing of the produce season, I remembered the delicious samples of their signature pimientos de padron from last year! Now, my mouth is watering for some salty sauteed peppers...

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The Story of the Curious Oysters

Unbeknownst to me, oysters on the open flame are amazingly easy and delicious! After a couple years working at a seafood restaurant, shucking oysters in a hurry became another skill tucked into my toolbelt that rarely gets exercise. I was pleased to learn I've still got it!

My buddy from back home who is living in Seattle now, drove down this weekend to join my friends and I camping on the Oregon Coast for the holiday weekend. I rounded up the extra spicy cocktail sauce, lemons, and started shucking! Dave had the idea to throw them on the grill, and surprised us all when they started popping open, ready to eat.

I enjoyed their gently cooked plumpness. The black ringed edges frilled up like a lovely skirt. Next time I'll report back with proper food porn.

See the cute little baby barnacles attached to the oyster shell? We also took a little day trip down to Seal Rock state park, to wander in the tide pools and make new friends with anenome, starfish, and dozens of other tiny creatures!


I don't think I will be making any more trips to the coast without picking up a couple pounds of oysters... way too easy and delicious to pass up for a quick camping appetizer!

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Blue Steel

Pedalpalooza 2010... The one ride I managed to attend exceeded any expectations! Next year I will make a concerted effort to attend as many as possible. Making friends and riding across town with a bike gang is just so cool. The pace is slow and leisurely, tunes are pumping out of the car battery powered stereo, what more can you ask for? Okay, a tutu perhaps,  but that is another ride in itself!





















 Video footage is awaiting editing and compiling... coming soon.
 Click on any of the images for more play by play commentary!


Upon deciding to name my bike Blue Steel, a google search eventually led me to this gem (random):

Backlog of Fun

I am overdue a flurry of blog posts, I have pictures queued up for miles!
Enjoy these amazing pictures from BikePortland.org featuring a killer bike ride up one of Portland's resident dormant volcanoes, and I will process my pictures sometime this week.

(that's me in the pink skirt and yellow pannier!)

We followed the big bright arrows

All the way to the top!

I made new friends (oh I how I love fellow bike nerds!)
Made it all the way to the top, without stopping! Many red faces greeted me with sweaty smiles.
Played my new ukulele.
Flopped around in several handstands.
Shared so many yummy foods in our celebratory potluck... a latecomer even brought shortcake with homemade strawberry-rhubarb sauce!!
We whizzed full speed down the mountain with the twinkling city lights in the distance.
Came down to earth, had a beer and glided home, back to bed for another day of bike mania fun.

When summer hits in Portland, b*tches go crazy!

Photos © BikePortland.org

Surf's up

So ready to hit the coast... see some sun and blue skies. I can't help but think of these images though, when I see our beautiful, clean sand. Clean water. Clean islands, beaches, animals.

Last weekend was a sunny, happy weekend, which I spent coughing, sneezing, and mouth breathing. I appreciated the opportunity to lay in my hammock and enjoy the yard, but sometimes you almost prefer rainy drizzily days when all you can do is curl up in bed. As it happens, my laptop is in the "shop" at Apple, getting a part replaced (thank you AppleCare!) so I was unable to blog, waste time on facebook, etc. I read a gigantic epic book (yes about dragons) and did some yoga homework. My third weekend of teacher training is coming up this Friday, hooray!

Fourth of July is just around the corner! I have two campsites reserved on the coast for all kinds of shenanigans. I didn't surf last summer, so I am definitely planning to take advantage of any opportunity this year! A friend recommended getting a lightweight wetsuit for the icy rivers up here, I love swimming so much, that is one of the things I truly miss about the South... warm, lazy rivers.

Image: Otter Rock, Oregon 2008