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...

Aybla - Food Cart

My friend introduced me to this food cart, in the downtown section of PDX food carts. Aybla is a Greek/Mediterranean food cart, and they serve gyros and falafel and other scrumptious delights.



I am now a lamb fiend. Yes, me, the girl who was vegetarian for six years, now cannot stop eating delicious baby animals. Sigh.











You would understand, though, if you tasted the Super Lamb Gyros from Aybla. It's a little pricey, for a single wrap ($7 or so), but that sucker is HUGE, and they aren't stingy with their lamb. It comes in a space blanket, with pita bread, cilantro, and tomatoes, smothered in sauce.

There are several Aybla food carts: SW 5th and Oak (my previous frequent stop), SW 9th and Alder, and SE 43rd and Belmont (my new frequent stop).

Greek Pasta at the Cousins'

My cousins invited me over for a great dinner:

A Greek pasta salad, with angelhair pasta, spinach, chopped tomatos, olives, onions, avocados, and of course, feta cheese! There was also yummy french bread, and white wine aplenty!

I showed up late enough that it was being served almost immediately. I had just enough willpower to take a photo of mine while it was still pretty before gobbling it up!

I spent the rest of the night taking photos of cousins with spaghetti noodles dripping down their chins, to put on Facebook. How devilish of me. :)