More Muffins--Blueberry-Orange

I set out to make another muffin--something besides the blueberry banana ones I've been making--to keep things interesting around here. I settled on a lemon-blueberry buttermilk muffin, which quickly became an orange-blueberry muffin once I realized I didn't have any lemons. Woops! No worries, they turned out just fantastically.

Makes 12 oversized, strange-looking muffins (try for 14-16)

-1/2 c whole wheat flour
-1 1/2 + a little less than 1/4 c (since you add juice at the end) all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/2 tablespoons butter
-1/3 c unsweetened applesauce
-1/4 c white sugar (or a little less)
-1/8 c brown sugar (loosely packed)
-1 egg
-1 c buttermilk
-blueberries to taste (I used a little less than half a bag of frozen ones)
-the zest of one orange and the juice of 3/4 of it
-the zest and juice of half a lime (or lemon, which I would have preferred but, alas, did not have)

Preheat the oven to 450
-Mix the dry ingredients (flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a large bowl and set aside
-Mix the butter, applesauce, and egg in a smaller bowl until well mixed
-Add the buttermilk into the egg etc mixture and mix until just combined (don't overmix)
-Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just mixed
-Add the zest and juice
-Add the blueberries
-Fill muffin tins
-Bake for 10-15 min

Trader Joes Wine Tasting

I have a new plan! I'm going to try every single $3.99-$4.99 white wine at Trader Joes. I will rate them. Here's the first of it:
-Trader Joes Easy Drinking White Table Wine ($3.99)-easy to drink, mellow, nothing too thrilling. There are better whites out there at the same price.
-Zarafa Sauvignon Blanc ($3.99 I think)-not a huge fan. It was too metallic almost. Not very smooth, harsh aftertaste.
-Villa Cerrina-Chardonnay-Pinot Grigio blend ($3.99)--I liked this one a lot. It's smooth, easy to drink, and not too sweet.
-Contadino Pinot Grigio ($3.99)-it was OK, nothing thrilling, but fine. Actually, my description should give you a good idea--it wasn't very memorable!
-Rene Barbier, Mediterranian White, Catalunya ($4.99)-I really like this one. It's really easy to drink, very fresh and light-tasting.

So to sum things up, my favorite to least favorite, in order:
1.Rene Barbier Catalunya
2. Villa Cerrina
3. TJs Table Wine
4.Contadino Pinot Grigio
5. Zarafa Sauvignon Blanc.

Food Thoughts

Since I've recently gotten into cooking, I've been reading a lot of cooking blogs, watching cooking shows, and checking out menus at various restaurants. Just now I was making some more of those blueberry breakfast muffins and I was thinking that at this point in my life, I would try just about anything. Then I started thinking about the exceptions. As most people who know me will tell you, I'm a rather picky eater and I dislike various "weird" (in other words commonly-liked) foods. For example I don't like:
-bell peppers in every color
-olives
-nuts...yes...all of them. I will eat peanuts in snickers bars and I love peanut butter (creamy of course) and every so often I will eat hazelnuts or pecans in things. Very rarely though, and only a small amount
-carrots (I don't hate them, they're just boring)
-celery
-tomato juice
-sesame seeds/oil
-mushrooms (it's just the texture)
etc.

I also currently do not eat soup. I may branch out though, we shall see. Now I have tried all of these things recently (I was waaaay worse as a kid, like ridiculously picky) and I want to like them, I just don't. However, if they were in something from French Laundry or Per Se, I would totally try them. Other than those things I have already tried and know I don't like, I think I would be willing to try anything new. However, I really do not think I could eat:
-cats
- slugs/grubs or bugs of any kind
-feet, or other strange body parts (like hands or something).

I would probably have trouble with brains, but I would try them.
On a more positive note, here are some foods I would really like to try (that I either have never had or haven't eaten in a really long time:
-steak tartare
-caviar
-figs
-rutabagas
-kiwis
-oysters (raw)

Quick and Easy Pasta Dinner

I really like dishes that are quick and easy to make when I'm really hungry but don't want something frozen. This is one of them. It's nothing too special, but it's good, filling, and done in about 15 min from start to finish.

Asparagus Pasta:
a large handful asparagus, washed and snapped into pieces
a slice of lemon
salt n pepper
a few tsps olive oil
as much pasta as you will eat (and ideally, cheese tortellini, although any kind would work)
grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 375/400 degrees
Put the asparagus in an oven proof dish, drizzle on the olive oil and some salt n pepper and toss everything together.
Throw that in the oven for about 10min (if you like crunchier asparagus, as I do)
Put on a pot of water and bring to a boil
Add the pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes or until done
Squeeze the lemon over the asparagus
Drain the pasta
Put everything in a bowl, sprinkle the cheese on top and enjoy (with a tart white wine).

Bars I Like

Here is a list of my favorite bars in Portland...I will follow it up with the best, least known (or rarely found online) happy hours.
Bars I Like:
Dive:
-Bar of the Gods: the decor is kind of awesome--grape leaf lights wrapping around the ceiling beams? Yes please! The bartenders are friendly, the people there seem fairly normal, and the drink selection is decently priced...also their happy hour is excellent.
-The Vern: not only is it super close, it has really awesome drink specials, free pool, and free foosball. It does have a weird crowd, but I have a soft spot for it
-The Pub at the End of the Universe: for whatever reason I really love the layout of this bar. I'm not sure why, but I do. I have a fondness for it since it's a Reed bar and the only one of those I really like.
-The Tube...maybe this is slightly nicer than dive, but too bad
-Gold Dust Meridian

Nicer Than Dive But Not Super Fancy:
-Victory
-Sidestreet
-The Nightlight
-Bonfire
-Kells
-The Shanghai Tunnels
-Slowbar
-The Goodfoot

Classy Bars
-Vault
-Teardrop
-Olive or Twist
-Portland City Grill
-Matador

Restaurant Reviews!

Well, kind of. Here are a list of my top 3 breakfast, lunch, and dinner places in Portland.

Breakfast:
1. Screen Door. I just went for the first time. It was fantastic and man alive I want to go there every single day and get really, really fat. It's glorious, delicious Southern food.
2. Cricket Cafe. Not only is it right near my house, but it's got stunningly good sweet breakfast foods (pancakes, french toast...)
3. It's a tie between Pine State Biscuits and Detour Cafe (I love Pine State but the line is awful and it's a little pricey. However, their biscuits are fantastic. Detour is a better value and they have really, really good breakfast sandwiches)
*However, I have never been to Genies...

Lunch:
1. Edelweiss (a close second to Otto's on Woodstock, but this one is better. They might just have the best sausages I've ever had).
2. The Waffle Window (It's this weird little window with various savory and sweet waffles on Hawthorne and it's awesome).
3. Best Baguette (Yeah, yeah, I know, this might sound lame, but I'm sorry, if something is under $ for a deliciously filled baguette, it's high on my list of great places. They have french-filled/inspired baguettes as well as Vietnamese ones--which I prefer. They make their own bread and it is pretty darn good).

Dinner:
1. Paley's Place (I just went here for the first time over the weekend. It was one of the best meals I have ever had. The food was decently priced and majorly delicious. They do all season, local ingredients, the servers are nice, and to top it all off, they had the best gin gimlet I've ever had, too).
2. Oba (I believe it's Spanish inspired? The meat is spectacular and the prawns I had were as well. It's rather fancy and a bit on the expensive side, but totally worth it).
3. Pok Pok (They have mind-blowing food. Get their chicken wings. I personally prefer the Muh Stay...yes, I cannot really spell or pronounce that but it's delicious).
(4. Pambiche--Cuban food. They manage to have not only a nice variety of unusual and fantastic good, but they have amazing desserts as well)
(5. Everett St. Bistro--I haven't been here in a while, but if it's like I remember, the pasta dishes are great, as are the burgers and fries)
(6. Montage--I love mac n cheese. This is the best I've had. The end.)

Lovely Easy Fish For One Person

I really like fish, I do, but since I rarely buy meat-for various reasons ranging from price to amount of meat you have to buy at once-I don't eat it very often. I've learned that more often than not, fish doesn't need much to taste good. I had left over tilapia from our fish n chips, and found a super easy recipe for lemon-garlic tilapia so I rolled with it with added/subtracted to my personal taste.

Here is the result:
Tilapia for one:
-1 fillet of tilapia or any white fish
-Half a lemon
-Less than a tablespoon of butter (but almost one)
-Salt
-Lemon pepper (or reg. if you don't have it)
-Half a clove of garlic, smashed and finely chopped
-Dried tarragon*
-Dried thyme*
*Obviously fresh is ideal...

-Preheat the oven to 375
-Coat a baking pan with nonstick spray
-Wash and dry the fillet and put in the pan
-Season each side of fish with salt and pepper
-Sprinkle the garlic on
-Sprinkle on tarragon and thyme to taste--I did a few pinches of each
-Squeeze lemon juice on the fish/herbs
-Drizzle on the melted butter
-Cook for 20-30 min until fish is flaky and white
-Enjoy with a side salad of baby spinach and tomato with a rasp. vinaigrette