Portland[ia] – Revisited

June 9, 2013June 7, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 2 Comments

Last year when we visited Portland, OR, I was in the throe[up]s of my first trimester of pregnancy with Margot. I was horribly repulsed by the smell of any fragrant foods, and the last thing I wanted was a hot lunch on a hot day from a food truck. It was a missed opportunity, that wasn’t really missed at the time. This time around, even with baby in tote, I was not going to pass on some of Portland’s famous grub on the go. My Chicken Pesto sandwich and side salad was quickly and deliciously prepared, and tasted more artisanal than food from most sit-down restaurants.

I wish I had pictures to share, but I don’t. As soon as the food was placed into my hands, it was devoured. Sorry, not sorry. I think my husband, sister-in-law and I shouldn’t have skipped breakfast. Maybe then we could have savored lunch a little more. At least we didn’t miss a great opportunity to celebrate Donut day with a trip to VooDoo Doughnuts!

We also happened upon an estate sale in a (mini) mansion near Forest Park. The three story home, with epic views of a lush valley below, contained mod furniture for sale, top of the line gym equipment and a closet full of designer clothes–nearly all in my (current) size. I picked up a pair of designer jeans that seemed to be sent from God to fit my awkward post-pregnancy body.

Lucky, lucky, lucky.

The weather, food, sights and sounds were all agreeable in Portland; but most things are when you aren’t thirteen weeks pregnant.

Homemade Iced Vanilla Latte

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 4 Comments

I’m too caught up in the weather. I have a dozen or so cities saved into my weather checker favorites so I can regularly envy someone else’s weather. Santa Fe, NM, Bakersfield, CA, Oklahoma City, OK; you all seem to be having warmer weather than Washington State. I by no means miss the warm weather, but I do miss enjoying a cold beverage on a hot day, or walking out of an icy-cold movie theater into the sweltering summer heat. Those are the fondest memories I have of beating unbearable summer heat.

In honor of those missed (or hopefully, upcoming) summer days I’ve whipped up a delicious iced coffee drink; a subtle reminder that the seasons are changing. It’s brilliantly simple, and positively refreshing.

Iced Vanilla Latte Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Cold Brew Concentrate:

1 cup fresh ground espresso roast coffee (or the equivalent of making 8-10 cups in your coffee maker) – must be dark!

Cold water, enough to cover the grounds and fill the french press to the brim.

For the Latte:

One extremely generous splash of Vanilla Creamer, or a few pumps of vanilla syrup if you’ve got it. As you can see, I like my coffee drinks VERY WHITE.

1/2 or 1 cup cold milk, I use 2% — again according to preference

1/2 – 1 1/2 cups cold brew coffee concentrate, depending on how strong you like your coffee beverages

One small splash of half and half (optional)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

For the cold brew, grind espresso beans in grinder according to manufacturer directions. I use the setting to ration out grounds for 8 cups of coffee. Pour grounds into French press, add cold water to saturate the beans completely. Fill French press with water, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow coffee to steep for 8-16 hours at room temperature.

Then use French press plunger to separate the grounds from the brew. Pour into container with a lid to store in the fridge. I used a clean Nalgene water bottle.

Fill glass with ice, pour your preferred amount of coffee concentrate over ice. Add milk, creamer, vanilla extract and half and half, if using. Stir, and enjoy!

Still Life

June 2, 2013June 2, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 5 Comments

Resistance is futile; when flowers collect in vases under my roof my camera comes out and the shutter clicks like the baseball card in the bicycle wheel spokes of a pre-teen.

Flowers are an optical playground; exposure, saturation and aperture all waltz around one another, creating almost audible images. I love it. And so I share, once again, a ton of photos without purpose.