Happy Hour Friday. Crazy food combination melts in your mouth.

I admit, I really like food. Just so you understand, I really like to eat. I mean, really. And while I consider myself adventurous, I was still quite surprised when I came across the following on the popular Portland restaurant The Tin Shed Happy Hour Menu. Then I took a bite and WOW. The craziest combination was an explosion of YUM in my mouth.

  

Not hard to replicate--if you can't make it to the Tin Shed try this at home. 

Berry Garcia (their name)
Roasted red pepper, jalapeno, black bean, Tillamook cheddar & berry jam, topped with jalapeno-cilantro creme fraiche. 4-

It's the combination of the sweet pepper, the hot pepper, the creaminess of the cheese, the bite of the bean, and the sweetest of the jam (use just a little) makes it combine to the most delightful flavor. Made from pantry ingredients, a snack that could be made when the fridge is looking sad and empty.

CUPCAKES ARE FOREVER!

Have you been to Saint Cupcake yet? If you haven't you are missing out bigtime.

Stop in today to pick up your sweetie an assortment of bite-sized cupcake "dots" and a small valentine gift card that will be sure to please. Click on any of the photos above to link to other blog coverage of Saint Cupcake.

My personal favorites:
RED VELVET
COCONUT CREAM
FAT ELVIS
HOT FUDGE ON CHOCOLATE

VISIT SAINT CUPCAKE NOW!
http://www.saintcupcake.com/

Mississippi Movie Mondays presented by Moxie Rx

Moxie Rx Presents
MISSISSIPPI MOVIE MONDAYS
7pm to 10pm
(show time 9pm to 10pm)
Moxie Rx Opens @ 7:00
for Nibbles & Refreshments

FREE! Watch movies projected on the side of the Rexall Drugs building (where the Fresh Pot Coffee Shop is located) just up from the intersection of NE Shaver and N. Mississippi Ave. Also available for purchase are amazing nibbles by Moxie Rx and some lovely beverages (they are planning on having a license to serve alcoholic drinks).

July 31st
Silent Movies and Cartoons
with live music by the Evolutionary Jass Band

Future Shows:

August 14th
Joanna Priestley will present a program of contemporary,
experimental animation, including her new film "Dew Line" ("a rich
abstract tapestry of botanical and biomorphic forms that hint at the
loss of botanical diversity") and a few historic gems that are her
favorite animated films.

August 28th
Music films from the collection of Dennis Nyback including Slim
Gaillard, Lester Young, 50's Rock and Roll, Scopitones from the 60's
and more.

September 11th
A series of musical shorts curated by Eric Isaacson of Mississippi
Records

* Special thanks to The Evolutionary Jass Band, Mississippi Records , Joanna Priestley, Dennis Nyback, Video Verite, & a Very Special Thanks to Rachel Elizabeth for curating this event

water slide

Some lucky kids have this excellent lawn water slide.. this is huge improvement over the water spouting clown head from my childhood.

Crafty Wonderland - what I did this sunday in Portland

Today I visited Crafty Wonderland @ the Doug Fir in Portland, Oregon. A monthly showcase of kickin artists and crafters.

I coveted these gorgeous layered resin pendants made by a really talented lady by the name of Faryn Davis from Seattle. Check out her website Fernworks to see her very special jewelry and artwork. They are definately one of my next purchases. I love the new colorful hand painted layered bird and grass themes. (not shown)

Unfortunately I spent all my loot yesterday on mother's day gifts (retro black and lime travel umbrella, special no-sweat garden gloves and a chocolate cupcake) and the most beautiful pair of shoes I just had to own, an unusual occurance for this very picky and usually cheap girl.

My mad-money budget being only $5, I decided on the 3 hand painted button pins made by painter Madoka Ito. She also had some really great original artwork on display in the style shown  here.

Today I will also visit Post Secret -- an online art blog project that intended to be temporary, but instead has spawned art shows, books, and a cult following. Always facinating and updated every Sunday.

Oogle my Kugel - another local food review of Moxie Rx

Breakfast Kugel with fresh strawberries and whipped cream
@  Moxie Rx, N. Mississippi Ave Portland      $4.50

kugel   (kgl) n.  A baked pudding of noodles or potatoes, eggs, and seasonings, traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath.

I pronounce it YUM. Highly addictive. Decadent and very filling. If you still haven't tried anything from this Mississippi area cart you are missing out. Check out previous postings for reviews and the link to the article about Moxie Rx in the Willamette Week. Moxie Rx is now opened Friday-Monday. Hopefully more days added as the weather improves!

New commissioned illustration for KABOO Radio Guide

When it rains it pours! There are a lot of interesting little projects going on right now. Recently I was commissioned (by my sister-in-law Leigh Anne!) to create this illustration for the upcoming KABOO Radio program guide. It will accompany information on the show she is hosting discussing Princess themes in children's media and traditional fairy tales.
Topics will include how the princesses (and princes) have stereotyped roles that are revisited again and again in different stories, as well as the current facination with and popularity of the princess theme within today's hip kiddie culture.

Sure to be a button pushing Disney-centric discussion about how princesses aren't fullfilled until princes save them from a life of slavery or sleeping and how princes are man-boys until they have found the woman to give them direction. It is going to be really cool, so check it out!

Eat like a gourmet for under $5. Moxie Rx's yummy tomato tartlet

Tomato and goat cheese tartlet with white bean salad
@  Moxie Rx, N. Mississippi Ave Portland      $4.50

Eating well on a budget can be hard. I have tried to convince myself that coffee and an oatmeal cookie constitutes a meal. (There is some logic to this when the cookie is larger than your hand.) Other times it seems that a slice of pizza or fast food (gasp!) are the only options for a quick bite that doesn't leave you without any money left to do happy hour that night with your friends.

Enter the Moxie Rx food cart, located on N. Mississippi Ave. in the lot next to the Fresh Pot Coffee Shop. Each scrumptious item is worth every penny and is made fresh with the best ingredients. Another plus - you will be supporting another local small business. Nancye is the owner and genius behind ever single delicacy. If you haven't already visited for an affordable meal or snack you are missing out bigtime. Options include breakfast, lunch, homemade muffins and scones, cookies, smoothies and more. Currently only open Fri-Sun, but better weather will bring additional days.

Read about Moxie Rx in this week's Willamette Week.

art review: a polar explosion resulting in evil bunnies and a giant bear with a door for a tummy

The entire gallery looked like the North Pole exploded and some of the animals went rabid. And not just the walls, but the floors, the ceiling, everywhere you look there were animals and sparkly winter wonderland. There was never a place for the eye to rest.

Vicki Lynn Wilson  Love in the Wild @ Blackfish Gallery
420 NW 9th, through April 1

I know I probably shouldn't have taken this photo all on-the-sly with my camera phone. But I wanted it to be my cell wallpaper because I was truely enchanted. Honest! So here, up front, is all the artist and gallery information to ease the guilty pinch a little.

What I did not realize was that there was a whole performance art aspect to this show that I missed when I arrived late on opening night many weeks back. I remember being worried that I wasn't dressed nice enough with my sneaks and messy hair because the gallery was in the Pearl. Instead I was greeted by an entirely empty gallery and the artist dismantling her costume and makeup. She seemed honestly upset that I had missed the performance. Performance art not being my thing, I wasn't really all that upset. But now I wonder what I missed based on the enthusiasm of the artist. The Mercury didn't write anything up on this show until this week, not mentioning the performance art piece either. Curiosity builds.

 The Mercury review called it "amateurish". But I call a giant polar bear with a door for a tummy that easily out-sizes the average home refrigerator, simply just "delightful". (Granted, the bear was bowing under its own immense weight - with out a doubt testing the limits of plaster and wire.) Another corner reveals a grouping of white deer with a dotting of red eyes staring back at you. It is enchanting and creepy all at the same time - one of my favorite combinations - and nary a goth black item to be found. Check it out while you still can.

You can read the Mercury review here.

rummage this weekend:

I came across this adorable little ewok in the coffee shop.

 

The trees have popped all over the city.

This hat was a distraction from the old lady furs I not-so-secretly
coveted and modeled in the mirror like Lindsay Lohan.

But the hat's off to the bazaar cobra in a bottle of liquor. Drink that.

Sadly I had to walk away from a perfect condition fur cape and a fur shawl combo that included the most-amazing-muff-in-the-whole-wide-world-with-a-little-pocket. But I did come out with a few things; the highlights being a lucious burgandy eel skin clutch, a dainty ceramic dish with a sleeping pig on the top, a ceramic owl for my collection, and a tiny painting of a ship.

portland weather has bipolor disorder

It is bright and sunny at the moment, but earlier it was snowing.

It is funny to see the trees budding, the flowers blooming and it is snowing outside. I love real seasons.

when blogs collide - Urban Honking

Back in November I was walking down the street with my friend Ryan and we came upon his friend in the midst of a shoe crisis, one that was also being chronicled for her blog. You can read about it here and see a funny photo of me in the background.

She did finally retrieve her shoe. I have since figured out that she is also one of the exclusive bloggers on Urban Honking (an invitation only site for those that want to contribute) that is getting a whole lot of attention. Read the article about Urban Honking in the Willamette Week.

What a beautiful day!

Today is a fine example of why I love living in Portland. So beautiful, so green, so sunny. Got a fantastic nosh at the Moxie Rx food cart next to The Fresh Pot coffee shop on Mississippi Ave. Open only on weekends and some sunny days during the winter. Don't worry, you don't have to pick between the cart and the wonderful people at The Fresh Pot. You can get Fresh Pot coffee  and a scrumptious raspberry crumb muffin to go right from the cart.

A fine PDX perk - the creative and independant businesses that make living here so special.