Several weekends ago, I took a “Mastering Macarons” class at Sur La Table. While we may not have totally mastered them (oh, please, we totally did… ok, I guess that will be determined after we make a second go of it), it was fun learning about a treat I knew so little about! Turns out the teaching chef, Ben Whitten, was a French Laundry alum (& also chef of Candybar — a dessert lounge in San Francisco). That’s one of the things I love about cooking classes, they’re like a fun, easy, and short version of culinary school. One of my 30 Before 30 items was to take a cooking class, and since it was so much fun the first time around, I thought a dessert class should be next.

So here are three cooking tips I learned this time:

1. To separate egg yolk from the white, use your hands.

How do you best remove the egg yolk, leaving just the white? You know the whole “crack an egg and then toss it back and forth between the cracked shell to strain out the egg white” trick? Turns out there’s a better way. Chef Ben taught us a much simpler step. 1. Crack the egg in a bowl. 2. Cup your hand, and scoop the yolk straight out of the bowl, straining out the white. Obviously you need to have clean hands. It really is simpler and since you need to wash your hands after either way, it’s actually much cleaner, as salmonella can be on the shells too.

2. Vanilla extract is the single worst ingredient.

“The more money you spend on fancy vanilla bean extract, the more money you’re throwing away.”  I’ve always been a fan of “true” vanilla extract vs imitation, but “true” vanilla includes alcohol which makes the vanilla burn off anyway if you’re cooking with it. A better (and comparably priced) option is vanilla bean paste.

3. You’re in control of the heat, not the food.

Sometimes when I’m cooking I get a little too busy or if I’m cooking a new or more difficult recipe I can feel like I’m starting to fall behind. At this point, for whatever reason, I often feel like I’m at the mercy of my stove & the recipe (which specifies med-high etc). Note to self: You’re in control of the heat, not the food. Such a good reminder to ignore the recipe, go with your intuition and turn down the gosh darn stove. :)

4. Bonus tip: You can never have too much buttercream frosting.

Yes, I made this one up, and you probably can have too much buttercream frosting, but since there were some leftovers, I felt like grabbing the bowl and running out of Sur La Table was the best option. Instead I stayed and finished building ever last macaron that I could.

Have you taken any cooking classes lately?

Dinners have been a little cheese and carb heavy this week, and for the most part, equally delicious.

Week 3 Menu:

• caramelized onions and blue cheese veggie burgers (2x, I can’t get enough of caramelized onions and blue cheese)
• veggie lasagna (still eating leftovers of this one)
• tomatoes Provencal
• black bean burritos
• brown rice bowl with shrimp, snow peas, and avocado (remind me I don’t like shrimp that much next time)
• catfish with pineapple avocado salsa & arugula side (best meal of the week! The recipe was from Everyday Food, which called for halibut — which I was told at the store is not in season right now. So catfish it was. And it was delicious.)

Thankfully, no accidental mimosa mishaps this week, although I did take a Mastering Macarons cooking class at Sur la Table (more on that soon) last weekend, so the “less sugar” goal was kind of blown out of the water for Saturday, as I sampled my fair share of macarons.

Restaurant Pick this Week:
Mi Mero Mole. Thus far, we’ve been hitting our favorites on our once a week dining experience, so this week we checked out a new place that’s been on my list. I was left with mixed feelings about Mi Mero Mole. They’ve been open for a couple of months and specialize in guisados, which is Spanish for ‘stew’ and apparently popular particularly in Mexico City. The guisados plate (which was kind of like a build your own tacos plate) I ordered was burn-your-face-off hot. Yes, I’m kind of a wimp with spicy food, but it would have been nice to know that I needed to bring a box of tissues with me. :( So I wasn’t blown away, but I’ll give Mi Mero Mole another shot at some point.

And now I have a weekend of relaxing in store — Christmas-y stuff/planning, a few more gifts to pick up, Christmas menu to plan, an Awkward Holiday party to attend, some eggnog to make, and a wee bit of design work to finish (No, I’m not a graphic designer anymore, but I do get to do a bit of playing at BootsnAll and one of my favorite travel articles of the year will be sitting riiiiight here on Monday. It’s going to be a pretty one, if I do say so myself).

This week:

Train to Vancouver I flew up to Vancouver (about one hour) and took the train home (about 8-9 hours). Although the train takes ages, it’s a beautiful and relaxing journey. I just love trains. Amtrak now has wifi on some of their trains, and while it’s an awesome idea, it’s a bit spotty still. So I was able to check email and get some work done, but it’s not the reliable constant connection that I was expecting. It would have been frustrating, but ok for personal use, but probably won’t be taking the train and trying to work at the same time until their wifi is a bit better. I still love the train though.

Old travel friends While I was in BC, I went for drinks with a friend I met on my round the world trip, and even though we hadn’t seen each other in 3 years (seriously it’s been that long?) it was so fun to catch up on life.

Conferences Attending a conference solo in a [micro] industry that you don’t know anyone in, can be a challenge. It involves a lot of introducing yourself to strangers for 2 1/2 days. It’s rewarding, but a challenge and exhausting (people who struggle with insomnia should just go to conferences and talk all day. Zzzzzz…) So now I can add “conference speaker” to my LinkedIn profile. In all seriousness, it was a good experience (and slightly terrifying). I think I liked being a panelist better though. Answering questions and participating in a discussion is a bit more engaging than just talking at people. And people said I was funny, a compliment I will accept, even if they were just trying to make me feel better about myself.

Vancouver, BC I was just in Vancouver in June for TBEX, so it’s always kinda fun returning to a familiar city. I ended up going to a couple of the same restaurants as last time just because I needed something close to the convention centre (Giovane cafe), but I did get to check out The Buzz Cafe & Esspresso Bar — where I worked from after I arrived on Monday. Raw Canvas, a wine/art bar in Yaletown. Seriously, I don’t know why Portland doesn’t have one of these. Cool concept, in that you can paint and drink. :) I just got a massive cheese plate, no painting, but looked like a fun place. Granville Island Brewing and their tasty winter ale, along with Roaming Dragon food truck, that was a tasty dinner.

What are you up to this week?

I’m also looking forward to my annual year-end review/planning/goal-setting time. I usually schedule it sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, and it’s such a fun yearly tradition to take a day or so to reflect on all the things I “wanted to do/did/still want to do” and plan for the coming year with a day of Olivia-time.

This week:

Spirit of ’77 Dropped by Spirit of ’77 last weekend for a beer and a snack. Since I’m not sports crazy (wooh! “GO SPORTS!”), Spirit of ’77 is my favorite sports bar in Portland, with a mix of sports, beer and fun. It’s actually fun watching games here. Go figure. And they have free basketball. Gooo sports!!! ;)

The Barefoot Sage Girls night! We took our mom to The Barefoot Sage this week for an early Christmas present. It’d been a couple years since I’d been in, and was just as fun and relaxing as I’d remembered. I generally don’t go to nail salons for mani/pedis, so The Barefoot Sage is a treat for your feet, and really nice to get a foot and leg massage without all the nail polish smells around. So relaxing and fun to sit and chatter on the big couches. A fun splurge.

Crafty Wonderland Crafty Wonderland was this weekend. I had so much fun wandering around looking at hand-made Portland goods and talking with the artists. A December must-see. And here are some of my favorites.

Kitteh Christmas Gifts So I put this hilarious cat teepee on Tumblr earlier this year. Aaand it came up on Fab.com this weekend. Yeah, so Essa has a Christmas present en-route. :)

What are you up to this week?

I’ve been focused more on cooking at home this month, but there are loads of new restaurants that opened in the last month or so here in Portland, and I’m anxious to start checking more off my list. In time, in time. So without further ado, here are 52 new restaurants I’ve checked out lately:

1. Sweet Hereafter – Crowwwded, but fun new places by The Bye and Bye folks
2. Straight from New York Pizza – also newish
3. Nuestra Cocina – I almost just typed cocaine. Fantastic fish. And best house margaritas in Portland. Been back a few times since this. :)
4. Pie Spot food cart
5. Thai Peacock
6. Ruby Jewels Scoops
7. Prost!
8. Euro Trash food cart
9. Sontum Gai Yang food cart
10. Batavia – Indonesian food cart
11. Da-Pressed Coffee Cart
12. Bar Mingo – atmosphere when we were there was so-so, cheese plate was delicious
13. Vivace – mmm crepes!
14. Everybody’s Brewing, White Salmon, Washington
15. Jimmy John’s – apparently this is a newish chain in Portland. I was waiting for the MAX and ran across the street. They were horrifyingly quick.
16. The Ruby Slipper, New Orleans – quick breakfast service if you sit at the bar
17. JAX Brewery
18. Apple Barrel Bar, New Orleans – sooo smoky, but fun because it’s a different vibe than most of the bars on Frenchman St
19. Capdeville, New Orleans
20. d.b.a. Frenchmen Street, New Orleans – best sazerac in NOLA!
21. Cafe du Monde, New Orleans – a required experience I suppose :)
22. Stanley, New Orleans – seriously tasty breakfast and great location by St Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square (also of note, they have a “Service Bar” next store so you can get coffee while you wait. Kind of like a more formal version of how most breakfast places in Portland offer coffee while you wait).
23. Johnny’s Po-Boys, New Orleans – one of these could feed a small village
24. Three Muses, New Orleans – my first French75 + amazing Gorgonzola cheese fries
25. La Davina Gelateria, New Orleans
26. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, New Orleans – the original dive bar
27. Gumbo Shop, New Orleans – late night mashed potatoes
28. CC’s Community Coffee House
29. 13, New Orleans – so Portland. I’m a little embarrassed that I went back later for the tachos after more Frenchman Street music.
30. Juan’s Flying Burrito, New Orleans – After taking the St Charles streetcar line to the end, we wandered around Magazine Street and decided on Mexican food. :)
31. The Carousel Bar & Lounge, New Orleans – the rotating bar in NOLA
32. The Spotted Cat Music Club, New Orleans – superb music, ok drinks
33. Antoine’s Annex, New Orleans – cute little coffee shop tucked in an alleyway
34. El Gato Negro, New Orleans – more Mexican? Well I wanted breakfast, and settled for tacos and a margarita.
35. Cascade Burger @ Cartlandia – amazing burger, and the owner is a riot
36. Just Thai
37. Burnside Brewing Co – fun newish brew pub in PDX
38. Bamboo Sushi – 5 stars! my new favorite sushi spot in Portland. I have dreams about the Green Machine roll and black cod
39. Rum Club – new spot by Beaker & Flask (and it’s next door) Best Old Fashioned in Portland, in my book
40. Floyd’s Coffee (a new location, this totally counts!) – love this new location though perfect corner window to get coffee, right next to NedSpace on 3rd
41. Kettlemen Bagel Company – not sure how I managed to avoide Kettlemen’s for so long. I get overwhelmed in bagel shops. Too many options.
42. Cascade Brewing Barrel House
43. Trader Vic’s – I attended a Yelp Elite event here. The Mai Tais were nice and strong
44. Monsoon Thai Cuisine
45. Tonic Lounge
46. Roost – newish breakfast place on Belmont
47. Rain or Shine Coffee House
48. Via Tribunali – best new pizza place in PDX? Word. Also $5 pizza Margarita for Happy Hour (I’m cheating on Pyro pizza now)
49. Tijuana Flats, St Petersburg, Florida
50. Pizzaria & Cafe, Tampa, Florida – so descriptive
51. The Castle, Ybor, Tampa, Florida – hilarious
52. Central Cafe & Organics, St Petersburg – I was really hoping to like this place, but they seemed a bit put off by people coming in to order things. Tasty granola anyway. :)

How it all started: I had a goal to visit one new restaurant a week.
1-52: Go To 52 New Restaurants – 30 Before 30 List
53-103: 52 [More] New Restaurants
104-156: 156 New Portland Restaurants, Bars, Coffee Shops in 299 Days
157-208: 208 New Places in One Year
209-260: 52 More New Restaurants: Portland, San Juans & Vancouver, BC
261-312: New Restaurant Fatigue #312!
What new restaurants have you been to lately?

This week:

-Florida – I spent eight days in the Tampa Bay area for Thanksgiving, meeting boyfriend’s family and friends and enjoying the Sunshine State. There’s something incredibly reassuring about meeting your significant other’s hometown friends and finding them to be just your style, isn’t there?

-Oranges, Alligators, and Manatees – My Florida checklist was along the lines of: see an alligator in the wild, pick oranges, see a manatee in the wild, eat Cuban food, go to the beach. And I’m pleased to say I did all five, and I got to visit with some pelicans too! I was also wanting to do a standup paddle boarding thing around Fort Desoto area, but the weather wasn’t cooperating the last two days in town. Next time!

-Pinterest – Yes, I joined Pinterest awhile ago, but wasn’t using it too much, because of Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr and Instagram and this here WordPress blog. But thesoybean is a big fan so I decided to give it another go, and it’s easier/more fun than using Picasa Albums to accomplish the same thing. So add me my fellow pinners.

Gifts, gifts, gifts - Two weeks ago, I wrote a wishlist post on WhyGo Portland about Portland gift ideas, featuring 14 of my favorite made-in-Portland items. Aaand some of the companies and artists featured offered up some giveaways (hello Stumptown Coffee, Freshy Fig and more), so go check out the post and like WhyGo Portland on Facebook to enter the giveaway by Dec 9. You’re welcome.

BikeCraft 2011 – Dropped by BikeCraft this weekend. Sometimes I’m so proud of all the cool crafters and artists we have in town. :)

Coming Home – As much as I loved getting the chance to wear my sundress, shorts, bikini and flip flops in Florida, I’m still a total sucker for coming home and bundling up in skinny jeans, boots, scarves, and my coat and sitting around the fire at Doug Fir drinking a Bourbon Sour. Remind me I said this in March.

What are you up to this week?

Prompt #22: The word travel comes from a French word meaning “work” and sometimes getting there is work. Between crowded buses, long airline delays, overnight trains and crazy rickshaw rides, transportation can be stressful, but it can also be a rewarding part of the tip. Tell us about a time when the journey became more important than the destination.

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” –Don Williams, Jr.

I’ve learned to appreciate the process of “getting somewhere” from traveling. Today it’s my turn once again on the BootsnAll blog, so go check out Enjoying the Journey at Home, about embracing transit and my transition from traveler to car-free.

What’s your favorite method of transit?

Join the 30 Days of Indie Travel project and share your story.

Prompt #15: What is your favorite (or least favorite) city and what do you love (or hate) about it?

“… I could spend my life arriving each evening in a new city.” –Bill Bryson

My favorite city in the world is Portland, Oregon. I’m over on my work blog again today prattling on about why Portland is my favorite city.

It’s as glowing as whenever the New York Times mentions Portland.

“I love the fall in Portland (87 reasons I love it, actually). I love biking in Portland. I love the food in Portland (and food carts). I love how acceptable it is to be an odd duck in Portland. I love the rivers of Portland. I love the bridges of Portland (especially riding my bike over the Hawthorne bridge at night). I love the public transit in Portland. I love being roughly an hour between both the mountains and the Oregon coast. I love the music scene in Portland. I love all the beer in Portland (all of it!).” -me, me, me

What’s your favorite city?

Join the 30 Days of Indie Travel project and share your story.

-Sunny biking – Saturday was sunny and gorgeous again. I don’t know how many more of these surprise sunny fall days we have left (November in Portland is the last hurray of sunshine), but I hope there will be more. Took a ride through all the beautiful leaves out to the Montgomery building in NW, along the river, and in SE on Saturday.

-The Maldives – Saw The Maldives at Mississippi Studios last weekend. I think I saw them in passing at Bumbershoot last year, but I really liked their show here. On an alt country kick lately.

-Halloween & the 99% – As mentioned, I’m not a fan of Halloween. So I decided on a Halloween costume about 2 hours before we left. I decided to be the 1% — because it’s hilarious. It made me laugh anyway. I also drew on some wickedly large eyebrows. I scared myself every time I caught my reflection.

What are you up to this week?

-Tasty n Sons – It’d been a year since I’d had breakfast at Tasty n Sons. I should really go here more often. The cast iron frittata [with roasted squash, caramelized onions, piment d-espelette (of course we all know that is variety of chili pepper that is cultivated in the French commune of Espelette. Hmmm...), feta, and fried sage] is fantastic. I also love the sweet biscuits with berry topping.

-Nuestra Cocina – seriously love this place now. I’ve been on a margarita kick lately (yes, slightly odd for fall), as their house margarita is probably the best in Portland. Cheap and tasty.

-BFF is moving to Hawaii. Le sigh. We decided to go on one last close-to-home overnight getaway to Grand Lodge (McMenamin’s), and from here on out we’ll only be traveling together when we meet up to go on vacation. le sigh

-Fall biking – I love it when the weather cooperates and we have beautiful fall weekends to ride around town with friends. Did a bit of beer cycling last weekend, and tried a new brewery, Cascade Brewing Barrel House in SE.

-Apple Tasting Festival – Apple and pear season alert! I missed the apple tasting festival last year, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this year’s. Went last weekend and felt like I ate a pallet of apples through the tasting line. Yum.

-Meet, Plan, Go Portland – My big work event finally arrived. For all the time and worry, everything came together in the end and it was an awesome night. We had over 100 people show up and it was super inspiring to talk to so many folks interested in taking a career break. It’s been a few years since I took my career break trip, so it’s fun to see people in the planning and wonderment stage again. I was really pleased with how the panel/speakers turned out too… Chris Guillebeau did our opening keynote, and was inspirational, as usual. Then we had four panelists — I had selected Kim because her and her husband are still in the planning stages of their trip, so I felt like they would be able to relate easily to all the people who are just considering a career break (as after you’ve taken one, sometimes your mindset changes a bit, as to how easy things seem). Next up was Russ and Laura because they’re doing kind of an unconventional career break, by pedaling around North America versus the typical RTW trip which I love because it shows how a career break can be just taking time to focus on something you’re really passionate about, whether that’s biking or international travel. I rounded out the rest of the panel by selecting… myself as the third panelist. :) I felt mildly odd about at it at first, but the one spot I most wanted to fill was someone representing the solo female traveler perspective.  And after a few people fell through, we decided I would fill that spot. And it ended up being awesome, I’m really glad I got the chance to speak at a “conference”, it was a fun challenge.

-Cheapskate signage – I was also thrilled with how the signage turned out at the Ace Hotel space. I didn’t really have a budget for this event (as most of our budget went to paying for the space) so I ended up wrapping a stripe around two sides of the walls of windows by taping up 40 11×17″ black and white papers — alternating quotes, MeetPlanGo.com, and a world/suitcase image. For a grand total of $8! (Picture above by Russ & Laura).

-iOS update – LOVE! Love the camera options from the lock screen, the choice of 3 routes on Google Maps, and the new notifications options. I don’t even care that I don’t have the iPhone 4S.

What are you up to this week?