Eastbank Esplanade Bikeride in Portland, Oregon

If you're ever in Portland and you want to see the city from a bike, here's the way to do it. You can start at the Fire Station at S.E. Madison and S.E. Water Avenues. It's the beginning of a great bike ride on the Eastbank Esplanade
The Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon, is a beautiful walking/bike riding route that runs around the city. (Turn down the sound if you don't want to hear the wind).

You can ride your bike past OMSI and hop onto the Springwater Corridor. It's a comfortable, flat terrain ride that allows you to see the city from your bike without any cars.

Well . . . there's one small spot where you have to travel on the roads/streets of Portland to make a connection from the Esplanade to the Springwater Corridor. But, it's not a very busy strip. Here's what that connection looks like:


You'll find plenty of parking on the east side. Just park on Madison and then ride your bike to the Fire station and this is what you'll see.



Then you'll ride past OMSI


Continue on the Springwater Corridor for about three miles, until you reach Oaks Bottom and you can ride right up to the entrance of Oaks Park.

This is that 3 mile ride:



So, if you visit Portland, Oregon, this is one way to see the city sights without spending any money.

I SHOULD Have . . .

I SHOULD HAVE NOT . . .

It's that one four-letter word that keeps giving me problems. But I can't seem to help it. I have a fault--maybe even a double-fault:

F. O. O. D.

That's why Fry...day is such a problem in my house. Yep, you guessed it. That's the one day of the week when all I can think about is yummilicious goodness. So once again this is another

FEEDING FRENZY FRY...Day





Can I help it if I love to bake? I guess the real problem is that I love to eat. Plus, like I said, it's FRYday! Which always makes me think of crunchy, crispy, deep-fried food.

And I've never been one to fight...my urges. So, I asked myself, why not make a few fondant flowers and create a flowerful feeding frenzy to start the weekend?


Food...food...food. . .

That's what I was thinking when I should have been at Pilates doing my hundreds.

I tried to distract myself by thinking of fields of beautiful aromatic flowers...

but then they were . . . Fondant flowers. . .

That's why I played hookey from my fitness class. I know I should have been working out but I never said I was perfect.

So, instead of doing what I should have done, which I'll probably regret at my Weight Watchers weigh-in this weekend, I sat down at the table and pulled out my dough.

And, I should have felt guilty but I guess I never do what I should. Instead I was doing what Mom used to tell me NOT to do--I was playing with my food again.

And, it was like turning back the clock four decades and enjoying that old favorite "PlayDoh" again.

I just wish I could eat like I did back then, when I was a kid: without fear. Back then, when I was around eight, nine or ten, I never worried about finding a few extra pounds. Now, there's no need for any games of hide-n-seek. No searching required, I can find those pounds without even looking.

But, I can't help it. I still love to play with my food. And baking makes me feel like a kid again.

And, if you're like me, and you like to bake too here's how I created my very own play...dough play date.

I frosted my cupcakes with my homemade cream cheese frosting (which was designed to be the flavorful glue for my flowers to stay stuck to their cupcake) then I rolled out the fondant and cut or pressed the flowers into a funciful plateful of flowerful food.


How 'bout you, is there anything you've done lately that makes you feel like a kid again?

And, if you're curious about this culinary creation, here's my own recipe for

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

1/2 package of cream cheese
1 stick of softened butter
1/4 cup of milk
1 2 lb package of powdered sugar

Cream all ingredients slowly, so the powdered sugar doesn't go flying into the air and making a mess you won't want to clean up. After the sugar is incorporated into the dry ingredients, mix until smooth. Now use the frosting like paint and create your own little slice of delicious pie...ces of art.

And have some Yummmilicious goodness - even if you shouldn't!

Flowers, Fruit and Homemade Jam

It was a wonderful weekend filled with flowers, fruit and yummilicious freezer jam. We went for a drive out to the country and spent some time walking through the fields of flowers and, then, when we were driving home we saw a cute little place blooming with berries. We had to stop to pick some Marionberries. Marionberries are a hybrid blackberry created at Oregon State University.

It was a fun, fruity and delicious day.


But what to do with the berries?

I had to make some freezer jam.

Unfortunately, the jam smelled so good Sasha snuck one of the containers off the table. Luckily, she didn't get it open. But, if you look closely, you'll see the bite marks on the lid.




But, no thanks to Sasha, we still had lots of jam. So, then, what to do with the jam?

We had to make Danish crepes for a fun dinner.


Here's one of the finished crepes.

Then we spread some jam and sprinkled sugar over the top



Then we rolled it up


And spread a little more jam and sprinkled a little more sugar


FREEZER JAM:

5 cups of berries
2 cups of sugar (this is about half the sugar of "normal" recipes)
1 package of gelatin
1/2 cup water

Boil water and add sugar
Prepare gelatin (following instructions on package)
Combine fruit and gelatin
Cool and then keep in fridge

CREPES:

1 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
zest of 1/2 of orange or lemon
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup of beer
3 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients and zest, gradually beat milk and beer into flour mixture until smooth. Beat eggs and add to batter. Grease a flat pan (we prefer cast iron but it's heavy). Pour enough batter to make a thin coating on the pan. Fry until the batter starts to "sweat" or moisten, flip it over using a large flat spatula. Serve with jam or syrup or even a cream cheese filling.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

A Spoonful of Reading

Want to make a bookmark for a going-away gift??? Here's how I did it.

Once again, Mackenzie is heading for France, and I wanted to give her something to say "Have a nice trip". And, since I love reading, what did I think of? Yep, a bookmark. Plus, I figured she'll have plenty of time to read on the planes and trains or any time she's traveling. So, I took some ribbon in her favorite color: PINK!

And, stuffed it with lavender - so she can smell the wonderful aroma whenever she's reading.


Plus, I tied a spoon with Lady Liberty on one side and a "France" spoon on the other.

So now she'll always have something to eat with, especially while she's reading...

I know, it's no wonder I'm so chubby, but reading and eating are two of my favorite past times. And I hope Mackenzie will enjoy a few of my favorite things too.

Have a FUNtastic trip Mackenzie!!!

We Did It - 26 miles

The crowd is ready to get going on the 16th Annual Providence Bridge Pedal. Providence Bridge Pedal is the second-largest community bicycle ride in the country and the third largest in the world. More than 18,000 cyclists were expected to participate this year and the crowd was estimated at near 20,000.

Pedalers are getting antsy waiting for the start of the Providence Bridge Pedal


Riders pedal away from Portland toward The St. John's Bridge.


It's a beautiful way to spend a day - seeing the city from atop a no-car bridge


A peek of the city from the St. John's Bridge


I probably could have prepared better. Three bike rides: one in Sunriver (13 miles) and two on the Springwater Corridor in Portland, Oregon (each 10 miles). Not nearly enough to prepare for scaling 8 city bridges and a 26 mile bike ride but . . . I did it.
Finally . . . the FINISH LINE!!!

The hardest bridge for me was the St. John's Bridge but I shifted down to first gear and made it the entire way...without walking. That was my goal. And, the slow, steep terrain took its toll on me. I was definitely feeling the burn...but I didn't give up. I just kept telling myself, "If I can run a half-marathon, I can ride a full one." I just didn't take into account the different muscles you use for biking, as compared to running. And, I'm hoping I'm not going to be too sore tomorrow.

Monday Mountainside

This was the sight that greeted us as we climbed out of the car.


It was a gray day but we brightened it up by visiting the Mountainside Lavender Farm. It was beautiful but I really wish you could smell the aromas wafting through the air when we opened the car door. It was wonderfully awe...romatic!

We walked through the fields, reading the labels of the different varieties of lavender and cutting the flowers to make bouquets to take home.

Earth-Friendly Friday

Some women love to sew others love to bake and still more love to garden. And we all want to share our passion with other people. So, here's one way you can make friends, share your passion and help protect the planet all at the same time: simply share seeds.

I like to call it sowing seeds of friendship. Most plants will produce seeds and there are usually so many seeds no one person could use them all. And, why would any gardener want to see their little "babies" go to waste? They wouldn't. So, why not dry the seeds out then put them in envelopes and give them as gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions?

Giving seeds will cut down on your gift-giving budget, reduce your consumption of costly mall products and be earth-friendly too.

Do you share seeds, cuttings or even flowers/fruits/vegetables from your garden?

If you do, this is an easy step: simply sow your seeds and build a community of gardeners.