Animated

These two videos? <3

Enjoy.

Her version:

I wish my smile was your favorite kind of smile

His version:

More than anything I want to see you go take a glorious bite out of the world.

Farewell!

I’m going to be hiding in the basement until this ridiculous “heatwave” is over.

Too bad I didn't get today's temperatures. It was the worst.

Maybe I can blog from there if the wireless signal is strong enough. Whatever. It’s fucking hot.

Cure It, Pickle It, Jam It

Now, I don’t ask for much (usually, anyway) but there’s this book that I’ve been eyeing for the longest time now.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com

It’s ‘jam it, pickle it, cure it’ by Karen Solomon. A Portland native, I think?

I know. I’m awesome. And broke.

There’s a couple things in the book that I’ve made already (e.g., pickled cucumbers and lemon curd) but there’s still oh-so-many more things that I have yet to make. I won’t go as far as making my own bacon though–I’ll leave that to the “experts.”

I’m tempted to go back to Powell’s tomorrow to memorize (or sneakily copy down…) the recipe for banana cream popsicles. It’s going to be perfect for this ridiculous heatwave taking over Portland right now. Maybe a jam recipe, too. I’ve decided that on top of making cranberry-orange scones for the BF’s parents next week, I’m also going to make fresh jam. For myself–not his parents. Sorry. I’ve been meaning to go to the farmer’s market downtown forever so might as well kill two birds with one stone.

I’ll keep you updated on my kitchen adventures. Right now I’m thinking some pasta with roasted red peppers and kalamata olives.

I’m a BAMF’in Housewife

I passed the housewife test today thereby making me a BAMF’in housewife. (I was already a BAMF to begin with).

I made poppy seed lemon scones–topped with a lemon glaze–this afternoon and I wasn’t expecting the process to require such kitchen skills. I was kneading, busting out the rolling pin, and double-boiling just to make eight scones. Luckily, I had it in me and the scones turned out to be so delicious. Hopefully this isn’t just beginner’s luck…

Ta-da!

They cracked in the middle nor do they have the lemon curd on top yet. I made them a little too fat and I was still making the curd when this photo was taken. Regardless, I assure you that they were delicious. (There’s two missing because my roommate and I had already eaten one each). I’ve been craving pastries for a while. I bought store cookies the other day thinking those would do the trick but nope. I was just disappointed. There’s just something scrumptious about homemade pastries… when they turn out well.

Happy Saturday!

Yesterday

I experienced two “bests” yesterday: the best bikram yoga class I’ve had since I started last week and the best ramen I’ve probably ever had. I guess it was a good day for working out and eating.

Yesterday’s bikram class was the first one where I didn’t sit out on any of the poses or think to myself, ‘How much longer do I have?!’ I did all 26 poses rather well and felt very peaceful despite being in a 105 degree room for 90 minutes. I was surprised by how much easier some poses had become and how much more flexible I was. And I was even more surprised when we reached blowing in firm–the last pose–beause I found myself thinking, ‘Did we miss any poses? We’re already done?’

I really like bikram yoga. It’s a nice way to rid yourself of physical and mental toxins. I always feel happier, healthier, and more relaxed at the end of each class. I’ll even go as far as to say that I “glow” for the rest of the day. I keep trying to convince people to come with me but I haven’t had much luck…

I went to grab some beer and Asian food to celebrate a friend’s birthday afterwards. Instead of getting the Hazelnut Brown (as I always do and I think after the huge mug I had on my birthday I’m set for a while), I tried the Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale. It was… okay.

Waiting for our food.

Anyway, beer isn’t the point–ramen is. We went to Biwa for dinner and it was delicious. I really like the funky, clean, and tasteful decor but I liked the food even more. The small appetizers are good but not really worth the money. The ramen, however, huge servings and so delicious. It was $9 but during happy hour it’s only $5… and happy hour is from 5 to 10pm. Yeah. I know. Who has happy hour then?!

It’s a little hard to get to Biwa if you don’t live in the area and don’t have a car (or a bike) but I think it’s within walking distance of a couple bus lines. I know it’s also received some bad reviews but it’s gotten really good reviews from people who know Japan and Japanese cuisine. I guess you can’t please everyone. Oh well, I definitely want to go back to Biwa.