On The Town

It's been awhile since we've been out to dinner in this trendy area of Portland called The Pearl.  We decided to take our 'starving college student' KTB, to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant called Andina.

The interior was very warm and inviting, and even at 5:30 PM on a Tuesday, the place was filled up to the point where we barely got a seat.

Andina offers full sized meals, but also offers Tapas in the Spanish tradition.  We opted to go the Tapa route and weren't disappointed. We ordered four medium size plates to split between the three of us, and everyone had more than enough to eat.

Tabule De Cereales Andinos quinoa salad served with cotija cheese, avocado, and olives.  This was so yummy, I actually thought the cheese was crab

I'm not sure what this is called.  The top was tuna, on top of crab and potato.  The crab and potato was fantastic, but I didn't go near the seared tuna since I don't like raw fish.  DH and KTB raved about it though.

Anticucho de Pollo marinated chicken kebobs, served with a spicy salsa de rocoto.  This was wonderful with the spicy salsa.  However, my favorite was the Empanadas Caseras de Carne, which is a flaky pastry filled with slow-cooked beef, raisins, and Botija olives. Amazingly, I didn't get a photo, but the complexity of spices with the sweetness of the raisins, made for a delightful dish.

Finally, we opted for three mini Creme Brulees.  As you can see, by now the family was pretty tired of my staging photos, and just dove into the desserts!  One was a cinnamon custard, one was a rum raisin concoction, and one was a chocolate bliss.  Not the real name, but it was chocolate and pretty blissful.  All were definitely worth the carbs.  If you're in Portland, I definitely recommend Andina-I can't wait to go back!

On the way back to the car, I paused to take photos and check out some shops.

Doesn't this 'Vintage Living' shop loook like a fun place to return to?  I did get a quick walk through before they closed and found it to be full of treasures. 

Finally, I love the colors and lines in these city shots.  Can't wait to sketch.

Watercolor Journey-Show and Tell

It was my turn to host our watercolor meeting.  I had missed our last gathering and it was fun to catch up with my art buddies and see what everyone's been up to.  At our last session (which I missed), everyone taped a photo to a piece of watercolor paper, and then painted an extension of the photo.  Dinah painted a garden scene that reminds me of 'Where's Waldo?'  It's hard to see where her photo ends and the painting begins:

There were lots of "Oohs" and Ah's" as we tried to find the original picture?

Judy shared this photo of branches

This looks like a fun technique to try.

  Below, Joanie, who just returned from Mexico, had a tropical painting to share.  I loved how she used both a dry brush technique and wet brush on wet paper, to give the effect of a breezy sunny day.

Joanie, also shared this great sunflower from Jude Siegel's last class, where everyone used glitter to enhance aspects of their paintings.  Cute idea for a greeting card or tag.

Below, JoAnn shared the detail in her painting of Russian Dolls.  It's hard to imagine that JoAnn never painted before, although her Mom is an artist so it must be in her genes.

When I see her amazing work, I always think she could be an illustrator.  Note the cool borders, which are a often part of her style. 

Below, Roberta and I share our rendition of wine bottles painted from a photograph.  Roberta heard somewhere that it's always better to show the illusion of writing, rather than the words themselves, otherwise the writing is the focal point!   Oops!  I didn't get the memo...it does make sense though. 

Roberta used white crayon to keep the white places white. 

If you find yourself in the Portland area between March 29 and April 27th, check out the Docent Art Show.  Judy's awesome original painting was chosen for the invitation!! 

Chinese Gardens

Last month we took a couple of days of 'Staycation' and decided to explore some Cheap Dates in Portland.  Katie had the day off from school, so we invited her to join us.  I remember hearing all the buzz about the Chinese Gardens opening downtown, but couldn't believe that it had been nine years ago, and we still hadn't paid a visit so it was high time! 

In keeping with an Oriental theme, we checked out some downtown restaurants where we could grab a quick lunch before heading to the garden.  I went to the Internet and found Chef Naoko-natural and organic cuisine, at 1237 SW Jefferson St.  We decided to give it a try.  Don't let the innocent building or its small size fool you.  Once inside, you will be warmly welcomed and will find lots of attention to detail.  Aside from their regular menu, there is a Weekly News sheet full of interesting food tidbits, Japanese historical facts, and a hint of what's coming soon for the restaurant.

The food was fresh and delicious and came in a cute Bento box.

Rick and Katie had the Teriyaki Chicken

And I had a grilled natural chicken in a tomato sauce, with lovely spices, and a interesting bread pudding like 'thing.'  It was a great place, with fresh, organic ingredients, and everything prepared to order.

The Chinese Gardens are really amazing- truly an oasis within the city. Hard to believe they fit everything in one city block!  We just had time for a short visit, but it's worth planning to stay for tea, and to try going back for each season to see all the varieties of plants and trees in bloom.

I loved all the tiled roofs

They say that there's 52 windows/openings in the gardens and that no two are alike. The many points of interest were full of symbolism and stories, so it was nice to have the written guidebook to point things out.

I love the clash of culture and the mix of the old and new.

Not to mention all the beautiful details.  Everything is very authentic, since workers and materials actually came from China during the construction of the garden.