Grilled Tacos

Last weeks wonderful weather found David at the grill and my dear friend, Katie, and I in the kitchen whipping up some salads. Our new freezer was delivered that day and we thought we should celebrate with a dinner of grilled steak tacos, Ina's guacamole salad, brown rice pilaf and wonderful company. We had a blast eating, sharing stories, laughing and chatting until late in the evening... I do love summer!

Laundry Soap

As I mentioned in my counter spray post, I make all our own cleaning products, and have for some time now... which we love! They are very easy to throw together and I am always pleased with the results.

A few days ago I decided to make a few large batches of laundry powder after seeing this post. Her recipe is very similar to the one I have used in the past, however, my recipe made a smaller batch. Since it is summer (yippee) I have a little more time, okay a lot more time, on my hands and I thought it would be a great idea to make three large jars, all with different scents! I know this will come in handy once school starts again and I am up to my ears in first grade fun! Once all the ingredients are out, the powder come together in a snap. I like to use my cuisinart to grate the soap and then I switch to the steel blade and process the grated soap for about a minute. I then mix it all in a large bowl and place it in my jars. This time around I made non-scented, lavender and peppermint!

Dinner Out

A couple of weeks ago David took me out to a wonderful dinner for my birthday. We started with drinks at Wildwood and then we walked across the street to Paley's Place for one of the best dinners we have ever had!

amuse bouche: Creamed Goat Cheese, Beet Salad, Sprouts

cocktail: Clear Creek Pear Brandy Kamikaze

salad: Grilled Asparagus with Proscuitto, Soft Egg, and Mustard Seed Vinaigrette

dinner: Mediterranean Blue Mussels, Hand-Cut Fries and Mustard Aioli (mine, I didn't get a good picture of the mussels, but they were delightful)

Rabbit Ravioli, House Bacon, Local Mushrooms, Spring Garlic (David's, below)

Dessert: Warm Chocolate Souffle Cake, Toasted Hazelnuts and Honey-Vanilla Ice Cream

after dinner bite: Almond Short Bread

As you can see, the table became darker with each passing course... but oh did we have a great time. What way to celebrate a birthday!

Happy Father's Day Papou

Father's Day found us with two of favorite people! We stopped a Camp 18 for brunch and then we were off to Cannon Beach for the day! We walked up and down the main street, stopping in many shops, had an ice cream cone snack, a walk on the beach and an early dinner of clam chowder at a little restaurant before heading home. It was a great day!