Thank You, Portland.

Despite its dreary winter weather and chilly temperatures, Portland was an amazingly fun time.
Its not an exaggeration when I tell you we literally ate our way through the city.
I am very disappointed that I didn't take more photos, though I guess I could say I was too busy enjoying myself.  The food in every restaurant we ate in had such a focus on individual ingredients and the exploration of new flavor combinations, it was inspiring.
The one restaurant that was in my top 5 dining experiences sadly didn't get a single snapshot.
Le Pigeon, a tiny french restaurant on lower Burnside, is just a small room with high ceilings, one long dining table for sharing, a few smaller tables by the windows in the front, and a chef's bar over the tiny kitchen where we were lucky enough to perch.  
Our meal was amazing, but since I don't have pictures to accompany their description, I shall just leave the mention of it with a smile on my face, and the excitement of returning again.
Upon arrival and our check in at the Ace Hotel, we wandered down to Clyde Common, the restaurant and bar attached to the hotel.  We made it down just in time for happy hour, and a very happy hour it was. 
Matt ate their burger with pickled onions, bacon, and blue cheese. 

I ordered the mushroom and cheddar grilled cheese, and a side of baked macaroni and cheese.  
It was the perfect meal to tide us over for our late night dinner.
Some shots from our meal and the restaurant below:

I only photographed one more destination, which may be the highlight of the trip... coming up next...

Not Your Ordinary Salad.

If I had one week to live and had to select each meal accordingly, at least one of them would include a stop to Abbot's Pizza Company for their specialty salad pizza. 

My best friend introduced this to me about 5 years ago in Santa Monica, and it has since become a go-to.

This pizza might be one of the strangest, healthy-but-not-really-healthy, meals you'd expect to enjoy.  Oh but you will.

First off, Abbots uses a bagel crust.  

Genius! 

This is a no-joke, thin-but-still-heavy bagel crust topped with a thin layer of sour cream and baked through.  Upon removal from the oven, your bagel crust is topped with a massive salad consisting of mixed greens, onions, tomatoes, basil, avocado, feta and a lemon dressing.  Odd?  Yes.  But amazing?  Absolutely. 

Its a good thing we didn't have an Abbot's on my college campus, or the Freshman 15 would've quickly become the Freshman 150.  

We are off to Portland, Oregon tomorrow for a little getaway - I hope to bring back at least a few cheesy experiences to share.  Happy Weekend!

Don't Judge Me.

I know, I know.  It's not real cheese.  The FDA won't even allow Kraft to spell it properly because this processed goop doesn't meet the qualifications of real cheese at all.  But regardless, I refuse to discriminate.  It's just SO GOOD.


I made chili for the first time ever today.  I looked up a couple of popular slow-cooker recipes online and combined them.  For going in blindly I must say, it came out pretty well!  Once finished, we toasted sesame buns, scooped on a giant ladle (or two) of chili, and topped it with none other than the infamous Cheez Wiz.


If Pat's and Geno's use it, why can't I?
Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

Sometimes You Deserve It.

Matt and I both had a long week.  What a better way to unwind on a Friday night than with a bottle of wine and a spread of deliciousness?

Burrata drizzled in olive oil, salt & pepper with prosciutto di parma

Orange and yellow cocktail tomatoes with burrata

Saint Agur Blue

Marinated olives

Toasted sourdough baguette, drizzled with olive oil & fresh pepper (pre-toasting)

Humboldt Fog

Yes please.