Hobbies on top of Hobbies...

So I decided that it would be interesting to read something that had to do with me new found hobby. As I was watching previews at another movie, I saw the advertisement for the movie Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts and I decided that, before I saw it, I would read the book. Usually my rule is to watch the movie first then read the book, because the movie almost always fails to accurately represent the book. However, this time I decided to make an exception. I know it doesn't really have anything to do with cooking, but it does seem to be an interesting book so far. I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

On another note, I will soon be posting a blog about the goodies I will be making for my boyfriend for his birthday. I would post pictures about my ideas for them, but that might give away his surprise so I'll just have to wait until after his birthday to post the pictures (Just in case he actually reads my blog!). So pictures to come next week!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Tomorrow is my Grandma's birthday so I decided to make her some yummy cupcakes. A few good ideas came out of my previous blog on the topic, but I decided to go with daisies on top of mini cupcakes. I ran short on time so I decided that cupcakes would be the easiest but still cute! Here are some pictures from the baking process:


Ok ok, so I cheated. I did use cake mix from a box. I told you I was short on time!


I chose to use polka dot mini cup cake papers because I thought they were cute and would match the daisies!


This is the finished product next to directions from a Martha Stewart cake book. I think I need to work on my decorating skills a little more, but I think they turned out cute. I kind of wish I would have done white daisies instead of yellow now, but they go with the theme of the party!


My little daisies up close...I think they look yummy and I think my Grandma will love them! I seem to need a bit more practice, so I suppose I will just have to keep decorating to improve my skills! And since I had a million mini cupcakes sitting around, I made this little present for my boyfriend:

I thought they were so cute! More cupcakes and treats to come later!

Better late than never...

Well here is my very late happy 4th of July to everyone! It was a bit of a stressful day, first in the morning preparing my picnic, then trying to find the fireworks show, but everything actually turned out great! We were going to enjoy the fireworks show and a picnic at Fort Vancouver in Vancouver Washington this year, but they clearly did not know what was going on and blocked every entrance into the fireworks show. We were then directed by a man to go to a nearby mall and ride the shuttle, but when we get there, there were only four cars in the parking lot and it was then that I decided perhaps that man had no idea what he was talking about. So we crossed the river back over into Oregon territory and found a neat little spot right across the river and enjoyed the fireworks from there. There was a lot of people but it was still fun.
As for my picnic, I think it turned out great. For someone who is not the best cook, mostly because I don't get the chance to practice a lot, the meal turned out pretty delicious. I chose to make foods that were cold so they could travel, and were easy to eat on a blanket. I made a spinach dip with feta cheese in it, a cold macaroni salad, some bread sticks, and my most prized creation, some Martha Stewart cookies. The bread sticks were Pillsbury and not that exciting, but the rest did take some time and effort and I was really happy that they all turned out great.
The week before I did some searching online for some recipes that I could use to make my dishes. I found some really simple ones that I think taste great.
First was the spinach dip, which I don't actually care for, but my boyfriend is a huge fan so I included it in my picnic. This was a pretty simple recipe, but I did not include the dill because we're not huge fans of dill. My boyfriend claimed in was delicious though, so it may be worth a try!
Next was the macaroni salad, which I actually ate. Most people call me a picky eater because I do not like a wide variety of foods, including most vegetables, but my goal is to change that. This macaroni salad sure put me on that road because it was very tasty. I would recommend more cheese, but only because I like cheese and less onion. I even put a little too many noodles in and the onion was really strong. Next time I may only go with one tablespoon of onion, especially since I will be using less noodles. Very much worth a try though, and because it's summer right now it's great for the heat and very easy to make!
Finally, what I am most proud of, the cookies. Now let me tell you, I was nervous. Martha Stewart must not actually make any of the recipes she puts on her website because they are hard. This one in particular is very time consuming so make sure you read the directions carefully and have plenty of time to make them. I followed the directions exactly as Martha laid them out in the recipe, but I messed up the ingredients a little. Not to worry though, it still turned out just fine. The ingredients say to use five cups cake flour NOT self rising. Well I only had three cups of the cake flour, which actually is just all purpose flour, and when I went to the store all I could find was self rising flour! Of course I panicked, but as it turns out, there isn't much of a difference between the two, other than self rising also includes baking soda and salt. So I put in the three cups of cake flour and two of the self rising. I then excluded the baking soda and salt called for in the recipe and guess what? They turned out to be very yummy cookies indeed. I beat Martha and I am so proud :)


Here are pictures of my amazing cookies and very tasty macaroni salad. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the cooking stages because I was stressed, and then my food was devoured by my hungry picnic guests so these are the only items left over. All in all, the picnic turned out great and it was a very fun 4th of July. I hope everyone else enjoyed their 4th of July as well!

My camera's fireworks setting is not as neat as I had thought, but here are the some of the fireworks form Fort Vancouver!

Le Bistro Montage

Nestled down underneath one of the many bridges in downtown Portland is a delightful restaurant called Montage. It's not that hard to find once you know where it is, and it has the most delicious food. It's deep south Cajun food, including chicken friend steak and blackened cat fish. My favorite dish however is the old mac (seen below). This yummy dish is simply garlic, heavy cream, and Parmesan and is probably the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. Pricing at the restaurant is fair, I think it's about 9 dollars for a plate of my old mac with chicken, which is really yummy by the way. Service is always delightful, and really quick which is surprising because they are always busy. No matter when you go, there is always a line so don't just stop by if you are super starved. Go prepared to wait in line, but then have your food delivered quickly. What is also really neat about the place is that it's communal style seating, so if that freaks you out you may want to think twice. Everyone sits at big long tables and you sit next to total strangers which is always fun. It's always pretty loud, so this may not be the best date atmosphere if you're looking for a quiet place to get to know someone. This is, however, a great place to take a small group of friends.

Old Mac with chicken, very tasty. I also love that they serve all beer and soda in glass bottles.

Finally, probably my most favorite reason to eat there: all left overs are turned into works of art. The tinfoil, which is what you're taking home, is turned into a number of things such as a flower, a sword, or a squirrel, just to name a few. I got a snail!
So if you're in the downtown area looking for some place great to eat, try out Montage. I would certainly recommend it!