Baby, It's Hot out Here

It has been a bit hot out here in these parts the last week which has made sitting upstairs in our little computer room not such an appealing idea. It hit 106 degrees last week which was one degree shy of Portland's hottest temperature ever (not just for that day in particular but EVER). According to our paper Portland set a new record for the number of 90-degree days in July with today being number 14. So, all that to say IT IS HOT. I used to make fun of Portlanders for complaining about the heat, but now I get it. Barely anything is air-conditioned, and if it is, those old ACs are not turned down to near frigid temps like they are in the South. Everything is looking pretty parched, and I'm almost ready for a cool, rainy day.

So, here is a fun tip for a hot day Jason found in our newspaper...DASHBOARD COOKING. That's right- when the temperature rises above 95 degrees it is actually hot enough to bake cookies in your car. The web site http://www.bakingbites.com/ has some tips as did the Oregonian (like following a vegan cookie recipe because a hot car might not get hot enough to kill salmonella in the raw eggs). So, if you are bored, and feeling hot this last day of July, try baking some "dashboard cookies" in your car. To see a video about dashboard cooking, go to http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/baking_dashboard_vegan_cookies.html .
Happy summer!

We love our doggie!

*Jason gets all the credit for these fabulous photos of kids, dog, and our garden!

Kurabu

You know your child is growing up when you pick her up from Japanese camp and find out that she rode the city bus to the local pool with twenty 1st graders and ten Japanese interns...and it was "no big deal, mommy."
Rynn spent the week at Kurabu- Richmond Elementary's summer Japanese camp led by the interns who will be in each classroom next year. They did crafts, Taiko drumming (see above), dance, and more all in Japanese. Rynn had a great week, and is excited for First grade. I want to take up Taiko drumming. I think slamming a drum while shouting and using my entire body sounds a bit freeing. Maybe I'd be a nicer person...hmmm....

The final performance this afternoon...

"oh, wait..what was that move again?"

Eleanor got to spend her week at "Box City" camp at her new preschool. The review on that one was not as high as playing at her friend's house today and eating ice cream. I think the week with big sister gone was a little challenging after getting used to playing with Rynn day in and day out this summer.

Hey Whitmans!

Look what the dog dragged in...four cute recent UVA grads. Oh wait! That's Andrew! My girls were quite sad when their cousin had to leave. What a fun time. Thanks for stopping in Andrew!

Canoeing at Lost Lake

Last Saturday we took a spontaneous trip with our friends Lenny, Farooq, Maxine, and "Uncle Mark" (as Maxine calls him) to a beautiful pristine lake up near Mt. Hood. We shared their canoes and went swimming in the lake. Roscoe came on the adventure too, and he had a blast swimming with the children but did NOT care for the canoe. Live and learn.

Eleanor and Maxine share a snack.

The view of Mt. Hood from the lake.

A fuzzy out of focus picture of my dangly toothed girl (that canoe was wobbly!).

the lake

And the conversation on the way home went like this...

Eleanor- "I think I'm going to be a dentist when I grow up, or maybe I'll be someone that makes books that go in the library."

Rynn- "And I'm going to be a veterinarian AND an author."

Eleanor- "RYNNNN, you can't be two things!"

Caroline- "Yes, you can Eleanor. You can be whatever you want."

Jason- "Sure, Eleanor, you can always change your mind and be lots of things."

Eleanor-"Nuh unhhhh...you can't change your mind once your a grownup and you've signed up for something."

LePigeon

Last night, as I was sitting on the back of Jason's bike drinking a cold vodka and sparkling lemonade with some fresh picked raspberries floating on the top (in a travel coffee mug), I decided that I would probably sell my last item of clothing to pay the babysitter in order to have this experience. A deep blue Oregon summer sky and a cool evening breeze carried us through the East side to enjoy an actual date, yep folks, that's right, a night on the town without our two little munchkins in tow. I think the night could have ended right there- with a bike ride for which I was providing none of the sweat and energy to propel us forward- but then we arrived at LePigeon. If you want to be fancy you can say Le Pigeon with an affected French accent like "Le Pi-gyon," which I find much more fun. Jason keeps telling me that all the cool kids in town just say it like anyone on the West coast would say Pigeon and add the "le" for effect.

Thanks to some Christmastime generosity of friends we had a gift certificate to Le Pigeon. Le Pigeon is one of those restaurants that folks describe as New York meets San Francisco but in a uniquely Portland way. It is a place where you make reservations to sit shoulder to shoulder next to strangers at the same long table, or, as in our case, at the bar. And the bar is really not a bar at all, but rather the kitchen itself with its copper hoods sitting like a king's crown on top of fiery burners. While we munched on our cheese plate that had organic goat's milk cheeses from Spain to Oregon we watched skilled, but friendly chefs perform their art and talk to us at the same time. Chefs at LePigeon have won awards such as "Best Chef 2007" from Food & Wine, but for me the true test is what goes in my tummy. Nicked named "Bones" and "Top Shelf," our chefs were intense in their focus and their rhythmic motions making them seem part musician, part artist, and part creative genius. "Top Shelf"'s forearm, tattooed with a butcher knife and vines, never stopped moving as he spooned oil in circular motions over Jason's piece of halibut. With his head thrust forward under the copper hood and his face set with determination, he attacked every dish with an intensity that I envied. What would it feel like to care about something so much? To make such beauty both in process, in presentation, and in consumption that only lasts for a moment on the plate is an art that seems ephemeral like music.

Jason ordered Blood Pudding for an appetizer which, in case you are wondering, is just that ...pig's blood. And the scary thing is it was unbelievably good. All this was just a drum roll, though, for my meal which was PIGEON! I was a little worried that maybe Venice was getting a bit fed up with their pigeons in San Marcos square and maybe had entered the business of selling fat, tourist fed pigeons to unsuspecting foodies in the Pacific NW. But all my fears were abated when I took that first succulent bite. Putting aside any thoughts of nasty little birds eating the leftover lunch of a homeless person, I bit in with gusto. I can say that the little guy, complete with his feet sticking up in the air (which Jason ate) met a good end in this excellent restaurant.

So, while we were finishing up our meal on some Lavender Panna Cotta that tasted like some pure form of my favorite scent, who should start snapping pictures in the restaurant but a photographer from Gourmet magazine. I briefly considered tossing my hair, flashing a smile, and then throwing myself at her feet begging for a job.

http://www.lepigeon.com/

It's Berry Season in Oregon!

West Union Farms- a berry farm outside of Portland (about 15 miles) with all organic berries (raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries, loganberries, currants, and more)
We got over nine pounds of berries for only $1.40/lb. AMAZING. All organic, huge, juicy berries.

Just for some perspective on the size of the raspberries we picked...that is MY hand.

Blackberries

a very eager berry picker

Black Raspberries

Settling In

. What a wonderful Fourth of July Weekend it has been- relaxing, warm, and lots of time just being around the house playing with our new dog. These pictures are for you Ingrid! Thank you so much for giving us such a sweet boy who is so gentle and calm. Roscoe is settling in great. He's been on a run or to the park every day and catching lots of cuddles, naps, and loves at home.

I know it is officially summer when I can sit down and devour a book in a weekend. While at times exasperating my children ("Moooommmmyyyyy, why do you have to keep looking a that book with no pictures??"), I have unashamedly been lost heart and mind in Susan Rebecca White's book, BOUND SOUTH. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun,easy, summer read with very believable characters. It is written by a girl I went to Westminster (my high school) with many years ago. Sitting on my front porch, so far away from Atlanta, I felt like I was transported back to my youth, to the city that shaped me, to characters that I almost could have named by their real names. Even one of the main characters is named "Caroline," and, while she and I are different in significant ways, we share so many similar experiences. Reading the book was like sitting down with an old friend that knew me intimately. I realized, as I read it, how accustomed I've become to no one knowing the Caroline that came out of Atlanta. Even in Chattanooga- only an hour and a half north of Atlanta- my life as a pastor's wife living in Brainerd was a far distance from the experiences I knew in Atlanta, going to Westminster, attending friends' debutante parties, eating the very buttered saltines at the Driving Club that White mentions in her book. Now I am far away from all that not only in experience, but in time and geography. I, like the characters in this book, once fled Atlanta and all about it that I felt I didn't measure up to. And yet, in the distance, there is a nostalgia for it as I walk through a novel whose characters and setting are so similar to the life I knew twenty years ago. It is strange to look at my little messy haired, bow free girls and realize the life they will live may be quite different from mine. They may one day long for a damp Oregon evening in the same way that I get nostalgic remembering the sweet smell of honeysuckle on a humid summer evening. But even in the nostalgia, I'm so glad for the journey my life has taken, for my precious husband, for the different experiences that my children are having, and for the wonderfully rich life we are leading together in this amazing city called Portland which is starting to feel very much like our home. My only wish- that family was closer! All of you guys!

Cherry Picking

Isn't there a saying, "Don't cherry pick?." Perhaps there is some wisdom in that...
Eleanor and our neighbor Elizabeth watch Jason risk his spinal cord for a few -O.K., a lot- of cherries from the neighbor's tree. Remember those cherry blossoms I posted a few months back? Now they are boasting their yummy, melt-in-your-mouth fruit flavors.



Rynn catches the falling cherries while Roscoe enjoys snacking off the ground. He LOVES fruit!

"Did someone say Cherry???"

In other news, today I looked through a microscope for the first time in, oh, TWENTY YEARS. Yep, that's right, folks, 1989. Ninth grade. That was the last time I took Biology until today when I swabbed a few cheek cells from my inner left cheek and actually looked at them under a microscope! How cool is that. I could see the little nuclei and even some bacteria. When I last took Biology I was in a cheerleading outfit and computers were the stuff of the movie War Games (remember that flick?). Now my textbook has images of electrons taken with computerized microscopes that can see all kinds of things. I had to concentrate so hard today in lab trying to figure out my microscope that I had a headache by the afternoon. Taking a science class has been a good dose of humility pills in regard to my intelligence. IT IS DIFFICULT and this History major is not used to thinking in these terms!