Itty Bitty Blackberry Cobbler

On my way home from work, I often pass a patch of blackberries that no one but the birds ever seem to eat. Occasionally, if there is a significant handful ready for the plucking, I take advantage. Usually I wolf them down before my feet have scarce reached the next block.

Today, I managed to get all these beauties home:




Not nearly as impressive as my mom's blackberry-picking pursuits down in S. Oregon -- 6 full pies worth -- but my cobbler is cuter. :)

Southpark

I spent my day off rambling around downtown with my mom today! She suggested that we go to the restaurant "with the big brass fish sticking out of the building." Why not? So we found Southpark seafood grill (which, coincidentally, is on SW Salmon St. downtown) and settled ourselves at a lovely patio table with a striped umbrella.

Since I read about cold soups and gazpacho in the Oregonian Food Day last week, I have been thinking I should set about trying some! Crazy random happenstance: Southpark had a delicious Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho on their menu. Here you see my mom modeling it:




Otherwise, I had an Oregon bay shrimp and avocado pita wrap. The balance of the two turned out really well, actually. The wrap was creamy, and the soup was tangy. Good stuff!

Ramen w/ Lemon Herb Cream Sauce

So, there is this phenomenon that occurs, in which college students tend to be poor. Amazing, isn't it? Quite a common ailment.

In such cases as these, it behooves one ("one" being the college student, and in this particular case: me) to eat Top Ramen from time to time. As most of you who have eaten Top Ramen know, it is not a particularly delicious or healthful food.

BUT! I am here to bring you glad tidings, and tell you that, with a little creativity, and some help from yummy food staples, ramen can be quite good.


This is the first step: take out the little packet of MSG that comes with your Top Ramen.


Step two: put it where it belongs. Yes, I know there is paper in my trash can. It's art, people! 'Twill be remedied in good time.

The rest is pretty simple. Instead of water for the ramen, use milk, and use like a third cup less liquid than the ramen "recipe" always calls for. Add a little pat of butter - this helps the sauce congeal. My friends tell me I should not use that word when discussing food, but it so perfectly describes what I want my pasta sauce to do! "Coagulate" is my only acceptable alternative, and I have a feeling they wouldn't like that one, either.

In any case. I put some thyme and rosemary from my garden into the sauce, and squeezed about a third of a lemon in as well. (I really made this up as I went).

And here is the end result! The salad is spinach, and snap peas, with tomatoes from my little garden! Usually I don't condone my food touching, but for the sake of aesthetics...

Home life: Mango salad, rosemary cod

So, I am poor. You know how college students are.

In lieu of going out this week, I have decided to provide you, dear gluttonous readers, with something of my own design: this mango and red pepper and spinach salad which I made up, well, today.

It contains Trader Joe's mangoes (thank you guys for the spark for the idea!), red pepper slices, and spinach leaves. I also made a mango vinaigrette (more of a chutney, really) with finely diced mango slices, lime juice, white wine, and a dash of olive oil.

The fish is Alaskan cod, which I pan-seared with rosemary and thyme from my garden, and dill and pepper and such! Turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.

Hawthorne Cafe

While shopping for a gig bag for my octave mandolin, I stopped by the Hawthorne Cafe. It's a very cute, quaint little place, rather like a cottage by the sea. There is an outdoor patio seating area, and their indoor seating area has tons of windows and lots of light. Perfect for a morning coffee.


Raspberry mocha: I would recommend this for everyone, even people who don't normally like flavored mochas. This one was incredibly raspberry-ful. :)

Mekong

So, my dad and I thought it would be interesting, based on today's experience, to see what studies have been done, or to do a study on what makes a restaurants tick.

After checking out bikes at Sellwood Cycle & Repair, we asked the girl who worked there which food places were the best, in the area. She directed us to Jade Teahouse and Patisserie, just down the street. It was absolutely packed. We decided it would take too long to order, so we meandered back down toward the shop to see what else there was to be found.

We found Mekong, which is a great little Vietnamese restaurant right across from the bike shop. It was almost empty; there were two people eating inside. The food was pretty good -- I had the grilled garlic shrimp skewers, and Dad ordered some appetizer rolls, and chicken skewers.

The interesting thing is that, even though it was right across the street, and had pretty decent food, and was in basically the same location as Jade, Mekong was empty at lunchtime, and Jade was overcrowded, and the first recommendation to come from the bike girl's mouth.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Answers? Have you noticed this elsewhere?