03.15.15

#seaPDXsfo: Coffee, Eats, and Serenity in Portland

This is Part 3 of my #seapdxsfo vacation, dedicated to the coffee & food of Portland. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

In the second leg of my #seaPDXsfo trip, I rode into Portland on a cheap bus ticket. Nearly immediately after I went from one bus stop to wait for the city bus, it began hailing. Yes, hail. I thought, in April, that I had escaped hail. After all, I had left Chicago in search for warmer parts.

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07.09.13

How to finish 12 pounds of strawberries in less than a week

I have been seriously slacking on my blog posts. They’re now just building up in my head until I’m sure I’ll do a word vomit in one night. Recently (and by “recently,” I mean “two weeks ago”), I went strawberry picking with my friend, Niki.

The last time we picked strawberries, we were ambitious and naive.. so we picked 36 pounds of strawberries and lugged home 18 pounds each. To be fair, it’s charged per basket and if you pick six baskets, you only need to pay for five. This year, though, we were smart. We each picked 12 pounds instead. If you’re looking to go strawberry picking from Chicago, Thompson Strawberry Farm is your best bet. And go fast, because strawberry season is soon ending!Read More

06.04.13

Brunch it out: The Publican

The Publican has been on my Chicago restaurant list (to be published soon) for the last three years. The restaurant seemingly comes up in conversation at least once a week and I’ve heard enough mouthwatering menu items to finally make it out to a brunch. After thoroughly enjoying a full meal with some close friends, we all agreed that we needed to return for Sunday brunch, a dinner, and a pig roast. We were suggested to eat in family-style so we ordered up one appetizer, three entrees, and backended the meal by donuts, of course.Read More

05.08.13

Lofty desires: Potential birthday gifts

My birthday is coming up really, really fast. If I go by tradition, I would be planning to spoil myself for it, which oftentimes include: birthday shoes, birthday dress, birthday mani-pedis with friends, birthday dinner, [and more recently] birthday massage. The dress and shoes may still happen, mostly because the heel fell off of one of my more comfortable shoes- it’s lingering somewhere on Bryn Mawr between the train station and Walgreens. The dress would happen, well, because I want it to. What can I say, I like pretty things.

The point is, I’m creating this post for those people who love me & want to give me something that is so outlandishly expensive that I probably won’t be able to accept it. Probably. Here are my lofty birthday gift desires:Read More

02.27.13

RECIPE: Frozen marshmallows dessert

For record’s sake, I’m going to be writing up recipes that I’ve found to be tasty & useful. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I love making food from scratch. My palate tends toward the adventurous side, but I also don’t shy away from intensely sweet desserts, either. Everything in moderation. People still say that, right?

Dieters, you should stop reading here.Read More

02.02.13

January dranks, eats, makes

We’re one full month into 2013 and for this week’s post, I’m taking a look at my drinking, eating, and making consumption in January.

So that idea that I wanted to try a new roaster (designated by NR) every month more than succeeded. Favorites are designated by asterisks. What did I drink/eat/make this month?Read More

07.15.12

Coffee & Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe

I’m a pretty picky coffee drinker. So when my coffee beans go two weeks over the roast date, I just don’t want anything to do with the beans anymore. Unfortunately, this means that at my very slow pace of drinking one cup a day, I tend to have coffee leftover. What do I do with the leftover coffee beans? I bake! Recipe for the fudge is after the jump.

Here’s my supereasy recipe for making fudge. Makes 24 servings.Read More

02.15.10

Snickersprodoodle

If you’re a coffee elitist like me, you balk at using beans more than two weeks past the roasting date. But what if you don’t finish it all? I usually pawn them off to friends who aren’t as picky as me. All that coffee gone to waste. Why not put the beans in food?

I’ve always loved baking. And what’s bettter than adding coffee to the mix? Coffee-flavored food items (ice cream, cheesecake, chocolates) seem to run high on my list of favorites. If given the choice between a mocha cheesecake and a fruity one, I pick the mocha. Anyway, I’ve been craving some snickerdoodles lately and finally had some time to make them. Never made them before, but hey, why not add some coffee, too? So here’s my recipe for some yummy snickersprodoodles.

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