Cake and Commerce

My sister's dog looks like a chocolate lamb

And here's the proof.

My favorite Purveyor of Cute takes food pix too!

Christina Gordon is obscenely talented. Her prints are gorgeous - her images of lost, doe-eyed girls captivate me in a way no other contemporary artist has as I usually despise the contemporary girl habit of drawing innocents with doe eyes. Christina's work really stands out for so many reasons. I just find her prints very striking and evocative.

But not only is she a printmaker, she's an incredibly creative Blythe artist (I'm really not sure what a Blythe artist calls herself, do forgive me) - that's right, she makes some of the most amazing clothing and dioramas for Blythe dolls that I have ever seen (caveat: I haven't seen many, but hers are wickedly impressive). Her blog is wonderful - combining photos of her Blythe work, her prints, and whatever else is on her mind.

While I was looking at her photos on flickr from her recent Japan trip, I came across her photo of some delicious looking eclairs from Sadaharu Aoki...so good looking, in fact, that I've renewed my resolve to get back to Japan to eat and perhaps take some lessons from Elizabeth Andoh. Ah a girl can dream.

Portland Farmers Market, June 2007

Late spring is an incredible time to go to the farmers market in Portland. I went on a Saturday morning, the first in June, and was blown away not only by the produce but by the artisan food products, from bakery to cheese to pizza to bread to jam. The only disappointment was coffee - someone, not Stumptown, was selling just the most mediocre brew.

I took a lot of photos. Here are just a few from that day:

Heavenly Mexican...in the exurbs of Portland, OR

Usually I don't talk too much about restaurants I've visited. What's the point? But on a recent visit to Portland, my old friend John took me out to some town that was en route to some fantastic waterfalls for an amazing lunch.

The place? Salvador's

John waits impatiently

The food? Amazing, fresh, bright, glowing - like the decor!

These photos have me dreaming all over again of that incredible meal...

This cake has a butt!

From Naomi's divorce party:

Suckered into shilling for da man

I generally align myself with products that I care about...but every once in a while a friend calls in a favor, and I make myself useful, despite my lack of genuine interest in the product.

Back in May I played host - surprisingly - to a Dove Chocolate-sponsored event at a hotel in downtown Chicago that I didn't even know existed. The hotel room was completely decked out in chocolate - Dove's new 'origins' chocolate (chocolate that indicates country of origin) and their filled caramel chocolate. There were samples everywhere, and they paired everything with wine and cocktails.

Here are some pix of the guests, enjoying wine with their chocolate:

The best part of the evening happened after the Dove folks gave us our goodie bags and the party ended. We stumbled, quite by accident, into a grand re-opening party of the hotel's terrace. Models strutted around in some kind of fashion while we grubbed as much free food and liquor as we could find.

There was an ice sculpture:

And, of course, a group photo:

Although I'm in the picture, you can't see me.

That's it, I'm done shilling for other people! Unless I've got corporate sponsorship, I'm not going to smile for a corporate behemouth who isn't paying my way. Bah!

Where does the time go?

My sister's new blog spurred me to action. If she, with her busy, jet-set life, can find time to write about her dog in Berlin, then I too, with my 'watching Hell's Kitchen just to see people cry' lifestyle can find time one in a while to write a blog entry. It isn't actually entropy that's tripped me up. I can't use disease, depression, or death as excuses either. I've just been lazy and tired - moving out of a place I've lived in for three years to a new place was pretty exhausting.

That's not to say I haven't been doing food-related things...I have, really, I have. I went to Portland, Oregon and ate the most fantastic strawberries.

I visited a friend's gorgeous bakery and took a lot of pictures.

I ate Mexican food in a town outside of Portland and it was truly unbelievable. My tomatoes have been delicious and plentiful. I even managed to grow a couple zucchini before the squash borers destroyed the plant. And I went to the Fancy Food show and found one of the most absurd new products, which, knowing my track record as a futurist, will probably be huge. I also had a chance to eat at Grom, the gelato place in NYC, but forgot to take pictures. Duh.

So now that I've moved in to my new place, have pretty much settled in, and have a routine (again) there will be updates and entries a-plenty. I know you've been holding your breath.