mmm...oozing chocolate

My birthday was last week. I've started a couple of posts, but couldn't quite finish them. The sun was shining daily and was, well, hot- like in the south hot. 

Most people take New Year's Day to reflect & make goals, but for me, my birthday is that time of looking back, forward, onward. I had a great birthday week. Lots of calls, drinks, dinners, lunches, packages, emails arriving and going on at various times. It was really nice!

Last weekend, I just got the urge to cook... on a hot, hot day! Made some homemade mac & cheese from The Silver Palate Cookbook and these popular (with my family) melting chocolate cakes. Once baked and cutting into them, the chocolate just oozes out. YUM! I can't remember if this came from Real Simple or Epicurious.com - there are lots of variations out there, but it's easy and just delicious! 

Just a lil' something to sweeten the Wednesday Hump Day!

Melting Chocolate Cakes- makes 8 cakes

10 oz of semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or use chips

4 Tbsp. butter

5 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

Coffee Ice Cream

Preheat oven to 325.

Melt chocolate & butter together over very low heat stirring constantly (or use a double boiler). Remove from heat.

In another large bowl, beat sugar & eggs at a medium high speed until light & fluffy.

Add flour, baking powder, salt & stir in melted chocolate. Mix with a spoon until well blended. 

Lightly coat muffin tip with veggie spray oil. Divide chocolate evenly, but don't quite fill to the top.

Bake about 15 minutes. The cakes will still look moist on the top. Remove & let cool for a few minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Blue

In continuing my obsession with buildings, details and colors, I snapped these downtown recently. The first picture shows just beautiful details in
brilliant blue and crisp white.

and my favorite modern building downtown with its' dashes, dots -
symmetrical, but still off kilter.

Blue Gray Days

The weather has, I believe, made a turn. Today was a bit gray, but also had some blue skies. It's been warmer so I've been trying to be outdoors more. Found these blue gray houses on a walk. I love the intensity of these blues and of course the pink bushes and blooms around them just highlight the color more.

A favorite sign in pdx

This neon sign greets you on the Burnside Bridge as you cross the river into downtown and old town Portland. I had a hard time finding complete information on this sign as it's been changed several times- additions & deletions made over the years.
The Made in Oregon sign was built in 1927 advertising White Satin Sugar (with the lettering "White Satin").
In 1959, it became the White Stag sign in 1959 with a change in lettering and the addition of a leaping deer and the word "sportswear". Then in 1989, the White Stag company moved to California. Huh, my mother had some White Stag sportswear. I remember it being sporty, stylish.
The sign, being one of Portland's best-loved landmarks, was in jeopardy after White Stag left Portland until Old Town philanthropist Bill Naito stepped up to pay the sign's electric bills.
Then with another lettering change in the 1970s for the Made in Oregon company, the sign was re-made again to say "Made in Oregon". The sign uses neon and incandescent light and is 48' tall by 46' wide. The stag's nose has been lit red (like Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer) for the Christmas holidays since 1957.

Gray Days

I have definitely been hit in the last weeks with a case of SADD. I sleep more, have less energy, want more carbs. The days are gray and cold with a few rays of sunshine here and there. It's not the drizzle rain that bothers me, just the overall gray, dark sky. Fortunately the weekends have been sunny and warmer, so at least it gets me through the next week. I'm definitely a southern girl. Nothing like warm sunshine beaming down on me. I'm making myself just go outside and find something happy out there. Not hard actually as Portland's lush gardens, flowers and colorful houses make me smile.

A cheery house in progress

Beautiful colorful tulips

and a hammock brings the promise of summer

another sweet detail

These are a couple of examples of some manhole covers in Portland. A lot of the covers here feature roses as Portland is known as the City of Roses. Washington Park in the city houses the International Test Garden which is the oldest continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States. There are over 7,000 rose plants of approximately 550 varieties. The roses bloom from April through October with the peak coming in June, depending on the weather. New rose cultivars are continually sent to the garden from many parts of the world and are tested for color, fragrance, disease resistance and other attributes.
In 1917 a group of Portland nurserymen came up with the idea for an American rose test garden. Portland had an enthusiastic group of volunteers and 20 miles of rose bordered streets, largely from the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition. Portland was already dubbed "The City of Roses" so this was leveraged to enhance the reputation. Between Portland Parks and Recreation and the American Rose Society, the garden soon became a reality.
Jessie Currey, president of Portland's Rose Society at the time, petitioned for the city to serve as a safe haven for hybrid roses grown in Europe during World War I. Rose lovers feared that these unique plants could be destroyed as a result of the war. Foreign hybridists sent roses for test from many countries and the garden was an immediate success. Today, Portland is the only North American city that can issue its awards to roses of merit throughout the world.

Details, Details

Three houses in a row with their own take on color.
It's all in the small details for me.