Last meals of 2010: Alexis & Lauren eat Seattle

My first time trying macaroons (pike place): vanilla, raspberry, pistachio, and cafe.

Curry soup with tofu (downtown).

Sushi in Ballard.

NEW CAMERA

My parents gave me a new DSLR for Christmas, so I've upgraded from my Nikon D40 to the Canon Rebel T2i and so far I love it!! I took this photo of my friend Alexis today as we were walking some trails. It was a mess up as I was testing my lighting, but I like how it turned out.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

For Christmas my grandma gave me an ice cream maker so today I put it to the test and made a simple vanilla ice cream. Mmm mmm mmmmmmmm so simple, so good.

When life gives you lemons...

PRESERVE THEM!

GIMME A BEET!

Last week I picked up these beautiful locally grown beets at PCC and after some motivation, I made pickled beets. This was my first time pickling ANYTHING and I think the recipe turned out pretty well, there are only a few alteration I would make for next time. Overall a great success!

I will love anyone who shops at Field House, Ballard-Seattle.

My sister has a street style blog, Seattle Street Style, and while we were in Portland we scoped the city looking for some good lookin' people. This is Megan, 20 and Bryant 18, both are photographers in Portland, and may I add, they look pretty fly.

ROAD TRIP TO PDX

I went down to Portland this weekend to visit family and do some tax-free shopping, I also discovered that I love Portland. I've been going there for years, but as I've aged, so has PDX's coolness factor. I took some photos of my trip tooooo....

My seestar, Kyla, in Belmont.

Laughing Planet is the best, ever. There are 6 locations within the city and each one is a twist off of the others, fresh and funky. I ordered a burrito with spinach and other veggies, and it was deliciousss.

My aunt took us out to breakfast at Gravy, on Mississippi.

I wasn't able to take a photo, but for our last dinner in Portland we went to the Irving St. Kitchen which I think is now on my list of favorite restaurants. We went all out with a cheese plate, a beet salad with truffle balsamic vinaigrette, wild salmon with lentil salad, follow by butterscotch pudding. Oh my yum!

Even the dogs in Portland are cute.

Portland, I love you.

I was inspired to make candied oranges by this blog http://ceramiccanvas.com/2009/10/chocolate-covered-candied-orange-peels/ featured on Food Gawker. The oranges took a surprisingly long time to make, but they are well worth it. The outcome taste like an orange version of sour patch kids, gourmet edition.

After all of the stress of final exams I am FINALLY home from University for Winter Break. To celebrate my return (to the Island) I made my first batch of butternut squash soup--a bit after season, but hey, I've been deprived for months. Here's what I did:

1 large Butternut Squash

1 medium yam

1 medium white onion

1 cup of veggie broth

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

After peeling, and cubing (about 1 inch) the yam and squash, place in boiling water until soft. Also cube the onion and place in oven (at 350 F) for about 30 min or until nice and soft. *note: you can stir fry the onion as well, but I prefer to bake in the oven because it gets a slightly better flavor. Once the squash and yam are soft, drain off all of the water (but save it for later use), and in batches, put the onion, squash, and yam into a food processor (or blender) and puree until desired consistency. Transfer the puree back into the soup pot.

Combine the puree with one cup of veggie broth and use the left over squash/yam stock to bring the soup to your desired consistency. Add in the 2 cloves of crushed garlic and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with herbs of your choice, and voilá! Soup á la butternut squash.

Sad Song - Au Revoir Simone

Still My Number One