Strawberry Rhubarb Fools

The Hood Rivers are here! The Hood Rivers are here! I speak, of course, of the Hood River strawberries, available to us Oregonians for a short period at the beginning of each summer.

Sriracha Ranch Popcorn

My friend emailed me this popcorn recipe from The Curvy Carrot on Friday just in time for my movie weekend with the hubby. How did she know I was tired of the same old butter and salt routine? Her quote..."our popcorn love is just in sync with each other." That it is.

I finally took a picture

Parsley & Walnut Pesto

Pasta with egg and bacon on top...not for the weak of heart (or those on cholesterol medication)

Healthy White Bean, Avocado & Tuna Wraps

The sun has finally appeared in Portland! As the pasty, white skin makes its way out into public and hipsters all over the city spend lazy warm days sitting on patios of various microbreweries, it's time to start thinking about ways to make dinner on a budget without the use of the oven (you know, so I can join those cool people and up my beer budget).

Paella Night...Ole!

One of my favorite special occasion dishes is paella. My mom and I usually make it together, and when I was living in Spain, I either had it out or made it with my uncle. I don't even know if I've ever made one alone now that I think about it! Anyway, we were having our friends Dan and Nora over before life becomes really busy for them and they welcome their first baby in early May. We planned to do a Sequence night awhile ago and just got around to it this weekend. Given our unusually lovely spring weather, I wanted to make something on the grill and decided a paella would be perfect for the occasion. Hearty and delicious, yet even better made on the grill, allowing us to enjoy our bit of nice weather.

Pancetta and Asparagus Fritatta

I was in charge of the majority of Easter brunch this year since I was off the hook for making much of our Easter dinner the night before. As was the request last year as well, I made my grandma's ricotta cheese pancakes. Someday I might feel generous and give you all that recipe. And remember to take pictures...that day has not come. I did, however, manage to remember to take a couple of shots of our frittata. I started off thinking to make this lovely quiche, care of the talented Sacha over at Eating In or Out. But I thought better of it after the pancake request and the fact that we already had a lot of carb and fat deliciousness happening with the pancakes. 

Ganache-Filled Cupcakes

Last week was not only St. Patrick's Day, but also one of my best friend's birthdays. Since my husband and I officially became a couple more-or-less on St. Patty's Day (7 years ago!), we didn't always get to celebrate with her. The festivities would also almost always fall on the night before the Shamrock Run, an annual run in downtown Portland that I had done for 7 years. This year, I decided to skip the race since it was the day after St. Patty's Day and I wanted to be there for the party. My friends have an ideal house for a party and there was plenty of Jameson to go around. I wanted to make something fun and delicious to go along with the party's obvious theme. I found this recipe for a so-called "Irish Carbomb" cupcake recipe on Pinterest (follow me!) and thought they would be perfect for the party. I ended up going back to the original Smitten Kitchen recipe and ended up following that one as I couldn't tell what the "adaptation" from the original recipe was and I trust the Smitten Kitchen recipes a little more, having some experience with her recipes.