birthday picnic.

I turned 26 yesterday, and the highlight of my lovely day was a dinner picnic in Laurelhurst Park.

We decided to meet by the duck pond, but walking down the path, we saw the area cordoned off with metal fences and, to our sadness, the pond was completely drained! No water, no ducks...just a big mud puddle. I'm slightly relieved though, because last time we were there, signs posted all around the pond warned of toxic algae. Even despite the signs, a group of park-goers pulled out some fishing gear and cast into the murky waters. The murmurs I caught going around the lawn included, "crazy!" and "can't they read?!" I don't think they ever caught anything, and if they did, it probably had two heads.

So we went a little further and spread the blanket on the edge of another lawn, surrounded by giant trees, with enough room for our good friends' two kids to ramble and play. And plenty of room for the ladies to relax with their wine and the guys to get a game of bocce ball going.

Out of the picnic basket (and bags) came prosciutto and turkey, assorted cheeses, a seedy baguette, rice crackers, two bottles of wine, fruit and vegetables, and cupcakes!

Jericho being a good big brother.

Lily doing what she loves best - eating!

Chocolate coconut spelt cupcakes and almond vanilla spelt cupcakes with huckleberry frosting. In the words of Tiffany, "TDF!!" (To Die For)

You can find the recipe for the cupcakes on Jen's blog. Tiffany made them, and she just subbed spelt flour for wheat flour and omitted the almond meal, using almond extract instead.

Which brings me to what I should have asked for for my birthday...

The Cup A Cake!

(via)

I could have really used this today. I wanted to take a cupcake with me when Andy and I went out for coffee this morning, and it would have been so much better to have had a custom case instead of a lame little tupperware.

And I don't really know what the purple hairy frosting is on the above picture...sadly, the Cup A Cake people need some major restyling.

So celebrating 26 was just how I wanted it: low-key and centered around food.

A very good day.

little kitchen.

We are moving out of our place in Irvington after a little over a year here.

It's OK though, we knew we would...

only then we thought we'd be headed for Japan at the end of this month!

Instead, a grand tour of Europe in two...

I'll miss my little kitchen.

But not the little part.

Paris City Notebook

Our landlords/friends gave me a "bon voyage" gift tonight after a lovely dinner at Belly:

The Moleskine Paris City Notebook.

Ahhhh. I'm in love. Now I want them for all the cities we'll visit. I might sneak a few dollars from the savings bin for this one...or go back on my adamant denial of any birthday gifts this year (14 days!)...

farm visit.

Andy and I both had the day off last week, so we decided to finally fulfill our mutual quest for getting our hands on some raw milk.

There are so many reasons why we wanted to try it out. First, we are both pretty sensitive to dairy and have had a lot of problems for the last several years. From what I've read, people who can't tolerate dairy can often tolerate raw milk products just fine. Since we both do very well on raw milk cheese, we decided to take it one step further.

Dr. Mercola says "the butterfat in whole raw milk, particularly butterfat in milk from cows that graze freely on green pasture, contains unique nutrients that support thyroid function and help your body develop muscle rather than fat." Both good things for us.

Organic Pastures says this of raw milk: "Natural organic raw milk has in it vitally important living things. These include the following: beneficial bacteria, enzymes (including lipase, protease. and other), lactase forming bacteria, and many enzyme based pathogen killing systems. The common practice of pasteurization inactivates or dramatically reduces the effects of these important active (living) elements. As a result, you may be lactose intolerant when drinking pasteurized milk, but not lactose intolerant when you drink raw milk. This is because lactase enzymes are being formed when you digest raw milk."

Mercola also says, "While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that raw milk can carry disease-causing bacteria, what they completely overlook is the fact that these bacteria are the result of industrial farming practices that lead to diseased animals, which may then in turn produce contaminated milk. You never want to get your raw milk from a feed-lot cow."

So we set out to visit a farm near Portland that we found after some web research on the Real Milk website.

We drove along the crunching gravel driveway to a farm tucked back in a small wooded area, lined with vinyl fencing on both sides through which we saw numerous frolicking goats, and soon the wooded space opened up into a meadow, with the farmhouse sitting on the perimeter and horses out to pasture underneath the grand view of Mt. Hood.

We bought a gallon and a half. One for us, and a half gallon for our friends, whose little boy is dealing with some health issues that we're hoping raw milk can help resolve.

We walked through a little pasture to a clearing in the wooded area where we met the cows supplying us: Honey, Blossom, and Patty. They are big, gorgeous Jersey cows with gigantic brown eyes, beautiful color, and huge udders. They looked happy, healthy, and content to eat all the grass in sight.

The owner said we came at the right time of year; the grass is growing so rapidly and is so green and nutrient-rich from the rain that the girls' milk is at its peak. Later in the summer, when the green grass starts to become drier and more scarce, the milk will lose a little of its sweetness.

We packed our liquid gold in a styrofoam cooler with ice, placed it gingerly in the trunk, and couldn't wait to get home and try some, where, when we finally got inside, Andy poured himself a big glass and took a fearless gulp. So pleased. My turn next, and my first response was, "Delicious." Andy agreed. "A little grassy, but in a good way." "Sweet." "Yummy."

Safely home and in the fridge...mission accomplished!

The cream of the milk is a buttery yellow color, it sits like silk on top and smells so good, it's hard to not dip your fingers in and get a taste. We stirred the cream into the milk with a whisk, but Nina Planck recommends spooning some out over strawberries.

Then came the waiting game! We waited, for over an hour, to see how we felt. Nothing! Gloriously nothing!

Of course, in Oregon, raw milk is "for animal consumption only." Let's just say we have a lot of "cats" to feed.

Do you want to support a local farmer and try raw milk for yourself? Visit Real Milk or email me!

The girls getting their fill of fresh green grass....

The boy loves to feed animals...

And there were goats! New babies, they were frolicking all over the place and calling "ma-ma!"

These goats clearly had affection for each other...

second wedding of the season!

First of all, I have so many things to write about!

I'm only going to handle two tonight.

First:

A few days after my cousin's wedding, featured a few posts ago, my other cousin had her baby! A sweet, perfect little baby girl named Ellie Kay. She was 8.8, 20.5 inches. And I had the honor of videotaping the whole thing. It was a special experience, as I stayed with her up until the birth and a few days after. Such a funny thing, we have pictures together running around when we were little girls, and now she has one of her own. I wonder if our kids will be as close?

The birth itself was a positive experience for everyone involved; the doctor and staff were helpful and supportive, and the environment was relaxed and family-oriented. I came home that night from the hospital and was still running on adrenaline, so I started on lasagna and manicotti at 10 p.m. to stash in their freezer for those nights when she can't-or doesn't want-to cook.

I miss little Ellie already!

Second:

Second wedding of the season! A lovely, thoughtful wedding of one of our home community couples that was just a pleasure to witness and a fun-filled evening with good company. You could definitely feel the love present through this whole affair.

David & Kim Sheern

6.26.10

Artemis catered. It was glorious.

Pulled pork sliders.

I kept stalking her for a picture, but she was too fast!

Oh, the Sangria. It was good.

Jackknife - a local PDX bluegrass band.

Now why is Lauren's plate (scroll down) so perfectly arranged and mine is just PILED?

Coffee favors.

We got to take home the centerpieces. They are stunning, and I really don't want mine to die.

Congrats, David and Kim!

un bon repas, en français.

*Je écris en français parce que j'ai besoin de commencer a utiliser la langue. C'est un gaspillage de ne pas le faire - mais je ne suis pas française donc je suis désolée si je ne parle pas couramment. J'irai en France cet automne - après qu'il serai mieux! Si vous êtes français, envoyez-moi un email si je ne l'écris pas correctement, s'il vous plait! Merci! *

Ce soir nous sommes allées avec la famille d'Andy au restaurant Everett Street Bistro. Ce mon restaurant favori! Nous avons partagé quelques plats comme un steak tartare, les pâtes carbonara, les travers de porc, les coquilles St-Jacques, et la saucisse avec la choucroute, ainsi que le bon vin. Pour le dessert, nous avons partage deux petits godets de crème chocolat. C'était un très bon repas, comme d'habitude.

Je regrette les mauvaises photos! J'ai les pris avec l'appareil photo de le portable d'Andy. Mais on peut voir les couleurs de la nourriture - c'est belle, n'est-ce pas?!

(I write in French because I need to begin using it - it's a waste not to - but I'm not French so I apologize if I don't speak "couramment". I'm going to France this autumn - after that it will be better! If you're French, please send me an email if I don't write it correctly. Thanks!

Tonight we went with Andy's family to Everett Street Bistro. It is my favorite restaurant! We shared a few dishes like steak tartare, carbonara, ribs, scallops, and housemade sausage with sauerkraut, and some good wine. For dessert, we shared two small pots of chocolate cream. It was a great meal, as usual.

Sorry for the poor photos. I took them with the camera on Andy's cell phone. But you can see the colors of the food - it's beautiful, isn't it?!)

a good morning.

I had a great Wednesday morning. Not only was it not raining,

it was also our third wedding anniversary.

Eggs Florentine at Cricket Cafe on Belmont. Tasty potatoes and

a fluffy buttermilk pancake, too!

I love it when breakfast has legs!

Onwards to Heart Roasters. Such a good coffee space - lots of light and decent music, so they don't have too many hipsters going emo all day and ruining the atmosphere.

What a cool old-school roaster. Andy had jealous feelings.

Whilst enjoying coffee, being entertained by WW's Chance Meetings columns. So funny...but seriously if someone wrote one for me and they weren't a creep (and I wasn't already taken), I'd so go for it.

hubble.

My family came to town this weekend for soccer, and it also happened to be a birthday weekend for my dad and brother. We took the whole fam to the OMSI IMAX theater on Saturday night to watch Hubble. It was incredible!

"Recounting the amazing journey of the most important scientific instrument since Galileo's original telescope, viewers will experience firsthand Hubble's awe-inspiring imagery, from the heart of the Orion Nebula and our Milky Way to the edge of the observable Universe".

Yeah, those are real, and YEAH, my brain exploded too!

See more pictures at the Hubble Heritage Site.

Credits:

NASA

Hubble Heritage

enjoying the sunshine...for there is snow in the forecast.

We had last Sunday off together, so we decided to make the most of the sunshine and head to the great (urban) outdoors! Our morning began with breakfast at The Stepping Stone Cafe in NW Portland for "The Other Dilemma" and "Cinnamon Roll French Toast". With real maple syrup and plenty of coffee, of course.

Then off to explore Forest Park. It's bigger than New York's Central Park!

Still trying my hand at sketching. That darn tree, and the sun kept moving!

One of the Audubon volunteers had brought out a spotted owl - look at those eyes! I'm sure she is very wise, but she didn't know the answer to the burning question I had: how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?

After our little hike, we went to NW 23rd and shopped around. We each found shirts for $10 that were reduced from $84 and $48, and I also found a pair of ballet flats for $10 at one of my favorite little shoe shops.

It was a good Sunday.