Better Late than Never

Finally getting some flowers planted. Red/white/blue for the late July picnic!

Elephants in Portland

Portland is Elephant crazy. Here in the Pearl- at Boyd's Coffee- they even have stuffed Elephants decorating the tables. (note, the Portland Zoo is famous for their Elephant breeding program)

I had an iced tea- while meeting up with Aura.

Window washers in the Pearl

Proof of window washing off the pollen and grime at Madison and Elizabeth's Lofts.

Cafe Akari

The newest kid on the block. In Long Beach, on the approach... the new Cafe Akari. Aura and I enjoyed an early feast of panini, coconut prawns and big glasses of Merlot.

Chinook Nation First Salmon Ceremony

I was fortunate to be an Honored Guest at the Chinook Nation First Salmon Ceremony. More photos to follow.

Annual Paella Night at The Depot

Michael made his annual Paella at The Depot. Brett ordered the Jerk Chicken.

Who invents these things?

This is my nomination for the dumbest product. The size of a compact fridge.... and outfitted with multiple growing bulbs, watering system and a fan. It is marketed to provide fresh organic foods...with savings on spoiled store bought herbs and produce. The cost? $3800.
Did I mention the replacement parts (like bulbs and more seeds)? Those start at $150.

Check out flora-cube.com to see for yourself!

I want you to know I saw the ad for it in both of Martha's magazines.

Garlic, Dancing, Sturgeon and running to Chowder

This is a big weekend for the beach! Many activities.

The annual Garlic Festival is happening in Ocean Park. Long Beach has the Run to Chowder. On the Columbia- the annual Sturgeon Derby - filling up Ilwaco and Chinook. Over in Astoria, the Scandinavians are celebrating midsummer.

State Central Committee Meeting

I traveled to Yakima for the meeting this last weekend.



History was made in Washington State as the Republicans saved the Primary Election. We also voted to give 51% of the popular vote to the delegates.

Note- the Democrats do not chose by the popular vote. They pick their Presidential Candidate by caucus.

Saying Goodbye to Paris

She headed back to Marquette last week.

Pirates around the beach

Olea -becoming a favorite

Paris and Aura wanted to experience Olea in the Pearl too. So we went there late after arriving the night before Paris returned to Michigan.

We even sat at the same table I shared with Elizabeth and the hostess asked where she was!

Aura decided to order Elizabeth's chocolate malted trio. Paris

had the triple sorbet and I had the Raspberry Chocolate sponge cake parfait.

No Knead Bread Takes over the World

I am one of the very last in the country to jump on the 'No Knead Bread' fad. It has been going on for over a year now. Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York perfected the recipe. The minimalist- Mark Bittman of the New York Times did a video you can see on You Tube. Martha Stewart even had it on her program. (Dad watched that and gave me the recipe after he tried it.) They have had bakery contests and dozens of articles.

What captured my attention was when Vogue Magazine did a huge spread on the recipe complete with footnotes. I was spending my monthly hair time in the chair...and flipping through pages of magazines I no longer purchase. Low and behold- there was that crazy bread recipe!

Moving to the beach has one major flaw. We have no decent bakery! Eureka! Could this really be true? All this praise for a recipe with only 3 cups flour, some salt, yeast and 1-1/2 c water? AND NO KNEADING! The water works the glutens over a 18- 24 hour period. You bake it in a heavy casserole dish in a 500 plus degree oven. The result is manna to the heavens that even fashion magazines with anorexic models feature!? But will my garage sale oven produce this nirvana? (note, the kitchen is still a work in progress) (and yes, even my oven produced a stellar result!) The crust is crunchy and the interior is 'open and chewy'.

The photos show my 2nd attempt. The 1st one was eaten so quickly -fresh and warm from the oven-with moans of joy by Paris, Brett, Aura and me. The second batch was actually turned in to a pizza- so technically this is the 3rd. (It was The BEST pizza ever!)

This recipe has spread thru blogs and newspapers, tv shows, radio shows and word of mouth. AND IT DESERVES EVERY SINGLE MENTION!

I plan to scan the Vogue Magazine article- because the footnotes are so incredible, so scientific, so helpful and so fun. If you want a copy in pdf, let me know and I will send it to you . Have you made this bread? Leave me a comment too.

Olea for Dessert

Elizabeth has a dessert/chocolate thing going. We stopped at Olea in The Pearl to enjoy a nightcap. I had an interesting citron vodka-rosemary adult beverage. She had 3 kinds of malted chocolate. The cookies had ice cream sandwiched between, which you can't see from this angle.

Moonstruck Chocolate

Elizabeth can be seen here at her favorite chocolate bar off 23rd in Portland.
How does she stay so small? She loves chocolate!

Holdens Bistro

Elizabeth and I checked out many restaurants in The Pearl.
One evening we dined at Holdens Bistro.