April 5, 2011

Joy Retreat: Part 1

So after my lunch at Broder, I drove to Manzanita. The weather was kind of crappy….rain with lots of crazy big lumber trucks and me in my dinky rental car with some good music. There were a few moments where I thought I would fly right off the road but honestly, I really enjoyed the drive. It was so cool to see random waterfalls on the side of the road! There were some cute little farms too! After 2 hours, I arrived safely and dove right into the retreat. Met all of the ladies and went outside and took this photo with my phone. Hello Manzanita! How you doin’?
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out & about, Uncategorized

April 4, 2011

Broder- Portland, Oregon

I’m baaaaack! There’s TOO much to tell you; I don’t even know where to start! My batteries are finally recharged but I’m kinda having a hard time getting back to reality. So much laundry to catch up on, a toddler with a temperature and sooo much to unpack. It will get done. Yes, Tracy. It will get done. Tonight I was looking through my pictures, thinking… How do I even start? What do I tell you first??!

Why don’t we just start at the beginning? That seems like the best idea.

I flew to Portland, Oregon on Wednesday and had lunch with my dear friend Jessica & her adorable daughter. A few months ago, she took a few snapshots of her breakfast at Broder and I was intrigued by all of the cute dishware! I put in a request to go there for our lunch because I had to see one of their egg skillets in person. What a treat! The food was tasty and I thought of Megan the whole time. Have you been, Megan? I bet you have & I bet you had a good time.

There were soo many cute details! Let’s take a look:
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Photography, Uncategorized

April 2, 2011

365-Week 12

A food related photo every day til 2012. Here’s week 12:

89/365 BUTTER for coffee cake.

Uncategorized

March 30, 2011

Be back soon!

Hey! I’m at the Oregon coast right now teaching a few cooking classes at the Joy Retreat this week with Mati Rose & Hula. The next few days of my life will be geared around food, painting, polaroids, and JOY. Let me tell you that I’ve been looking forward to this for MONTHS. This mama SOOO needs her girl time! Things might be quiet ’round these parts, but brace yourselves…there will be LOTS of photos headed your way soon. I’m so excited to get my ART on with 19 other talented women. I’m also really looking forward to sharing my love of food with these ladies & teaching them a few things in the kitchen.

Wanna see what we’re working on in the kitchen this week? Come take a look!

recipes, Uncategorized

March 29, 2011

Blueberry Yogurt Cake

There are a few things I can guarantee in life. I can guarantee that my fingernail polish won’t last for more than a day. I can guarantee that it will rain the day after I wash my car. I can guarantee that I will always pick the worst lane to be in at the grocery store. I can guarantee that my brother will always open my fridge the second he walks into my house, and I can pretty much guarantee that this cake won’t last long in anyone’s presence.

See this cake? It’s a very moist cake filled with fragrant blueberries. A cinnamon spiced walnut layer is slugged right in the middle and a crunchy layer rests on top! I cut out a hunk to take this picture, and when I went to focus my lens on the pan, I suddenly noticed that almost half the cake was missing. Cooper and Casey were standing there… guilty. But really, who can blame them? The house smelled so good and they had to wait 45 painful minutes for it to finish!! If you make this cake, you’ll clearly see why I had none left only a few hours after it came out of the oven. Also…save yourself a few corner pieces. They will blow your mind.

around the home, Uncategorized

March 28, 2011

Found: At work!

Today I was searching for a pair of headphones at work and found this in a drawer. Baker’s Chocolate. UNSWEETENED. 4 WHOLE packages. WHAT?! I should mention that I work with my Dad and this is HIS drawer. If you’ve had Baker’s chocolate, you’ll know it doesn’t taste good. It’s not for eating. IT’S FOR BAKING! My brothers tricked me into eating a chunk when I was a kid and I’ve tried to avoid the stuff since. Seems that my dad eats a chunk every single morning. He says, “It helps lower my cholesterol and has a lot of fiber too!” I think it’s pretty gross, but now I know where I get my food hoarding problem from. I also know why he has chocolate breath when we are going over spreadsheets together. Thanks, DAD.

BTW, it’s in the top drawer if you ever need to steal some chocolate for baking.

around the home, sponsored

March 27, 2011

Our new fridge is here!

Our new Electrolux fridge is here and I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE with it! It has exceeded ALL of my expectations!

Our old fridge had a side by side door configuration. Freezer on the left, fridge on the right. I always felt frustrated trying to organize with this configuration. It was really hard for me to see what I had in my fridge at a glance and don’t get me started with how irritating it was to put beverages away! Since the old fridge was so narrow, I had to be clever at putting stuff away. As a result, food was hidden back in the deep crevices of my fridge…rotting away. It’s kind of like how you get excited because your new apartment has really deep cabinets, but you end up losing everything in the waaaaaay back cuz you have stuff blocking your way to get to it. Needless to say, I wasted a lot of food as a result.

And here we have the new configuration…french doors on top & a pull out freezer on the bottom.

This is what I see at eye level. THE WHOLE DANG FRIDGE!! Oh my gosh you have no idea how much of a difference this makes. I can see ALL of the fruits & vegetables I have…all of the beverages…all of the condiments…pretty much EVERYTHING. It makes grocery list making a snap now!

It was really easy to put all of the food from my old fridge into the new one because there are so many levels and layers of organization. It’s like getting a new purse that has every pocket you could possibly need or want. I’m still learning all the nuances of the new fridge…what should go where, what each drawer is good for and what all of the little buttons do, but I’m happy to report the fridge is installed and I’m totally loving it. I can’t wait to show you the inside of my freezer. It’s my favorite part!

It has already changed my life. Thank you, Electrolux!