Third and Fairfax

At 3rd and Fairfax you will find a little place called the Grove/Farmer's Market. This is another place that I used to frequent as a teenager living in Hollywood that has now become a tourist attraction and home of tv's Extra (why??). But it still has a soft spot in my heart and I love roaming the stalls at the Farmer's Market and trying some new delicious meal. Although, let's be honest here- most of the time I end up at the French crepe stand. Look at the goodies we found!

On this particular day it happened to be very hot outside so my sister and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice air conditioned lunch at the French restaurant inside the Grove. I adored their wall near the entrance and had to snap a shot...

I love how perfectly imperfect it is. 

Well, that's all for now. Have a great evening!

The Good Urth

Oh, Urth Cafe. I loved you long before you became a mecca for the "see and be seen" crowd that flocks to you in hopes of accidental fame these days. Your strong Italian lattes stole my young heart when I was only fifteen years old and I will never stop loving you. Your bake sale pastries and deserts fill me with joy and you are still the only place I will order a restaurant pie. Mr. Butter and I often catch ourselves saying "if only we could go to Urth Cafe right now..." and daydreaming about the treasures you offer. 

Note to visitors: My favorite treats are the decadent chocolate pound cake (they give you three huge slices) and the deep dish peach pie. Always ask for your treat warmed- it will make it taste 1,000 times more delicious! The belgian waffle with strawberries and bananas is also delightful!

These visions of creamy coffee treats are going to dance around in my head as I drift off into sleep tonight...

Let the Good Times Roll

Last weekend I decided to throw a little birthday bash for myself and celebrate another year on this beautiful earth with a few friends. I haven't thrown a party in a long while, but I certainly enjoy doing so! I tend to go a little overboard, and the perfectionist in me comes out. 

I am surrounded by all kinds of awesome creative inspiration at work every day and it gets my mind racing with ideas! We have festive tissue pom poms hanging in one of our windows, and I decided I had to learn how to do them and make some for the party. Then I found an awesome kraft paper flag that I decorated with muted pink and green paper and some sparkly alphabet stickers. The obsessive side of me even wrapped the wine bottles in matching paper. 

Oh, but it couldn't stop there. I had to coordinate the dishes, the cocktail napkins, and even the iced tea. I'm not a huge fan of cake (don't get me wrong, it's good stuff, just not my favorite) so I prefer pie on my birthday. My favorite recipe as of late is a peach and nectarine combo. Mmm! 

A few more photos:

And you better believe the night ended like this:

Oh How Time Flies!

My oh my! The past week and a half has been so busy and as a result I have sadly neglected my little blog. So much to catch up on!

I started my new job last week and so far it has been great! I am adjusting to a new schedule and to commuting via public transportation, and my poor feet are exhausted! On the upside, I am learning so much and getting to be surrounded by creative people and projects every day!

Also, I discovered Native Foods Cafe last week and I keep wondering why on earth no one told me about this delicious establishment before?! It's all vegan and oh-my-gosh-so-good. Seriously, check out this menu. I am forcing myself to bring my lunch to work or else I will be eating/spending all of my money here every day. I am going to make it a weekly treat though!

More posts are on the way!

A Celebration

The absolutely lovely place I currently work at threw myself and a fellow co-worker/friend of mine a farewell party on Friday. It was such a sweet gesture and it felt good knowing they were supportive of our future endeavors. She will be starting a full time graduate program and I will be starting my new job in one week! I am so excited and feel blessed to be given an opportunity to utilize my creativity each and every day and such an inspiring setting!

We were asked what kind of tasty treats we would enjoy for our good-bye-and-good-luck party and we chose french macaroons and mini pies! They were adorable and oh so delicious! A big thanks to them for their support and encouragement! And for being so thoughtful as to throw us a farewell event!

Aren't they lovely? :)

Delicioso!

We've been trying to make more meals at home and eat healthy foods here at the Donahue house and it has actually been quite a bit of fun trying out new recipes! It's even more fun when the sun is shining and we can enjoy our dinner out on the balcony with a glass of crisp white wine.

About 5 or 6 months ago I started eating a primarily vegan diet. I say primarily because I still eat fish and am not 100% strict with it. I started the diet because I was having some health issues and this change in lifestyle was a good alternative to taking a bunch of medication that I didn't really want to take. And it has definitely been working, so I decided I would just stay on this path! At first switching to a vegan menu was really challenging- I felt like I couldn't eat anything. But then I became more adventurous and invested in switching out some key ingredients in our fridge and cabinets. For the most part, Mr. Butter has been eating the same foods as me and I am very proud of him for being so adventurous and supportive!

Some of our favorite dishes include: Creamy polenta with roasted bell peppers and veggie sausage, Basil pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts, Tomato bruschetta drizzled with balsamic vinegar syrup, all kinds of variations on tacos, burritos, and nachos, lotsa' bean chili (not so much Tim's favorite, but I like it!), BBQ "chicken" sandwiches, "Turkey" burgers, Peanut butter cookies, Peanut butter bread, Strawberry mango salsa with homemade cinnamon sugar pita chips, and salad with strawberries, walnuts, and shallots.

I look forward to sharing some of these delicious recipes with you this summer! They are light and easy to make, and enjoyable for non-vegans as well!

Chocolate Extravaganza!

Oh my, it has been quite the busy weekend! Friday evening I had the pleasure of attending a Chocolate Extravaganza party with the lady Donahues. Tim's father bought tickets to this lovely event at an charity auction a while back and kindly handed them over to the ladies in his life. It was my first event of the sort and I was not disappointed. There was a heavenly chocolate punch, chocolate dipped strawberries, mint chocolate brownies, flourless chocolate cake, chocolate cake with flour, cheesecake, and some kind of fluffy meringue cake concoction that tasted wonderful even though i wasn't quite sure what was going on with it. The only thing missing was a chocolate fondue fountian. I was really hoping there would be one so I could entertain myself with dipping various tasty treats in it. Another time, another time...

Here's some proof that this delectable event did in fact take place (since it sounds too good to be true!). I recommend a chocolate party to all!

This one was my favorite! Key lime cheesecake with a chocolate crust, topped with blackberries and lime zest. Yum!

Mmmm, chocolate.

xo!

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Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

I truly believe these to be the best peanut butter cookies I have ever tasted. They are soft and chewy and oh-so-peanut-buttery and not too sweet. And they are vegan.

Benefits of the vegan part: 1. You can eat the cookie dough raw! and 2. You probably already have all of the ingredients in your cupboard. No need to mess with eggs!

I get requests for this recipe all the time. But it's not my recipe! I got it from the absolutely wonderful all vegan blog Chocolate Covered Katie. She practically saved me from starvation when I decided 5 months ago to start eating primarily vegan. Her recipes are innovative and delicious! Do not be frightened by the fact that these are vegan/healthy cookies- they are the best! Mr. Butter can't get enough of them.

Here is the recipe for her Secret Peanut Butter Cookies.

Try them and thank me later for the suggestion, but really thank Katie for her delicious recipe! :)

Photo via Chocolate Covered Katie. 

And It's Monday Once More

I hope you had a great weekend filled with sunshine and mexican food! Luckily we had both of those! I also made waffles with our brand spanking new waffle iron purchased by my sweet and loving husband. After a delicious brunch o' waffles we took advantage of the gorgeous sunny weather here by enjoying a cigar (i know- but it's actually fun! It's one of those manly hobbies my manly husband enjoys every once in a blue moon) out on our balcony with our good friend Chris.  Afterwards we visited the Donahue side of the family for the first BBQ of the season and oh my was it delicious!

Ah but alas, Monday has come again. Thankfully the week ahead looks quite promising, including a chocolate tasting extravaganza this Friday night.

Here's some highlights from the weekend:

I love this photo of our friend Chris because it really captures what a fun and happy person he is! He definitely brightens up our lives with his infectious laughter!

I'm keeping it gansta at the Donahue house.

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Happy Lazy Saturday!

Today I took part in what I have named "The Lazy Saturday." I got out of bed at a reasonable hour, but shortly after kissing Mr. Butter good-bye as he headed off to work I decided to simply relocate to the sofa and eat a bowl of cereal and watch some TV. After that exhausting endeavor I debated whether or not it was too early to take a nap and decided that yes, indeed it was. However, it was not too early to take a bubble bath, eat macaroons, and watch my favorite guilty pleasure show. So I drew myself up a oh so delightful bath, got out the last of my macaroons, and put on Gossip Girl to watch while I lounged around in my warm tub. It-was-great! 

Post-bath I decided it was time to repaint my nails and went for a bold gesture with half hot pink, half black. I thought it was fun and unexpected but when Mr. Butter came home he proceeded to ask me "What's on the tip of your nails?". I took that to mean they were not approved. What do you think?

After the nail update I came to the conclusion that it was now an appropriate time to take a nap and snoozed for a bit on the couch under our cozy faux fur blanket. Ah, but the laziness had to end. I finally rose from my slumber, did a load of laundry, made the bed, and walked over to the grocery store to pick up some treats for today, the fifth of May. I made us a feast of chips and guacamole, vegetarian tacos with all the fixins and some "cold beer" per the husband's request. 

I picked out a mixture of beers because I wanted to try a few kinds and we don't really have a favorite. I got one called "Lucky Buddah" (despite being told by the grocery store worker that "it was awful") because let's be honest here, the bottle is awesome. And it was cheap. So even if the beer was awful the bottle rocked my world and it would be worth it. By the way, it kind of just tastes like Coors Light. 

That husband of mine had to run back up to work after dinner so now I am finishing up my Buddah beer and waiting for him to return home to me. I don't know how on earth it is possible but I am ready for another nap. 

:)

NYC: The Final Chapter

I might have gone a little overboard on documenting every little thing we did in New York, so I will wrap up the tale of our journey. We made our obligatory pilgrimage to Times Square and made a visit to the discount tickets booth for a Broadway show. We ended up seeing a small off-Broadway musical, The Fantasticks, and I was reminded of my days spent at my musical theater focused performing arts high school in LA. It's always fun to catch a live show.

On one of our many subway adventures I was greeted by a big fat rat while reloading my Metrocard. I hear this is a true NYC experience and even a sign of good luck (???). I squealed like the girl that I am and I am fairly certain that it was Tim's most cherished memory from our trip. 

We also indulged in a little retail therapy in SoHo. New York is one of the lucky few cities here in the US that is home to Sabon- one of my favorite stores in the world. Not only does NYC have Sabon, they have multiple locations. I loaded up on all of my favorite goodies including a honey peach scented mineral powder for bath time, and some of their amazing sea salt scrubs. I also visited Madewell and TopShop for the first time and loved both! 

We had a fantastic dinner at Cafe Cluny in the West Village, and I fell in love with the tree lined neighborhood streets and adorable homes. Food was a big theme for us and we took advantage of all New York had to offer. We indulged in pasta and gelato in Little Italy, macaroons at La Maison du Macaron, and the amazing deserts at the Magnolia bakery. 

Here's some more photos of our Big Apple adventures:

We can't wait to go back and explore more of the city that never sleeps! 

Coming soon: The Rome Guide continues!

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Brooklyn

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the highlights of our trip and something we had been looking forward to for quite some time. We started our Brooklyn experience off with some out-of-this-word-oh-so-delicious pizza at Grimaldi's. There was a long line but it was worth the wait! After stuffing our bellies full of the mouthwatering pies, we burned off the calories with a walk across the historic bridge. 

I think I might be drooling a little...

A sunset stroll across the bridge would make for a lovely date night! Or perhaps a picnic at the park nearby on a sunny afternoon. Oh the possibilities! 

xo!

MoMA

Friday afternoon Tim and I took off on our own little adventure to eat at Shake Shack and visit the Museum of Modern Art for their free Friday nights (score!). I have never seen so many people packed into a museum to look at modern and contemporary art. It was really refreshing! 

It was one of the biggest and best collections I have seen. There was an excellent Cindy Sherman exhibition on the top level and it was such a treat to see the entire span of her work over the years. I also enjoyed Monet's water lily pieces including the one photographed above. Impressionist works are reproduced so often that they start to lose their beauty. Seeing this work in person was an entirely different experience- it was breathtaking. The brushstrokes are fabulously abstract and the colors seem to glow on the canvas. The large scale also allows you to get lost in the work and just enjoy the beauty of the painting. 

There was also an excellent Mark Bradford work on display. I find his ideas regarding abstraction and craft intriguing- particularly his view of the map as an abstract grid. He takes collage to a higher level and inspires me to do the same with my own works. Let's "zoom" in to the piece:

It's madness. I love it. 

A few more:

Let's also talk about the wonder that is the Shake Shack. It had been such a long time since I indulged in a cheeseburger and it was worth the wait. It was just the right size and super tasty, and to top it all off I also ordered a peanut butter shake. Yum.

I am going to go dream of delicious burgers and fries now. Mmm....

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EATALY NY

Yes, I am dedicating an entire post to a marketplace dedicated to the finest ingredients and Italian foods. Why? Because I love food, I love Italy, and I fell in love with this market! I could easily spend an entire day roaming around this lively marketplace, filling up my shopping cart with the finest salami, mozzarella, fresh produce, chocolates, fresh pastas, and delicious wines. And since shopping is such an exhausting endeavor I would simply have to stop at one of the many eateries inside the market to replenish my weary body. I would also need to refuel with a creamy latte and perhaps a scoop of gelato while I am at it.

Let's take a moment to enjoy the beauty of this fine establishment:

Eataly offers surprisingly affordable cooking classes as well as a walking tour of the market. I would love to take this class or perhaps The Art of Risotto. The walking tour would be a blast too since you could easily miss out on some of the treasures hiding out in this huge maze of a market- check out this map if you don't believe me!

Let's drool some more:

Thank you Eataly! I hope to visit you again soon!! 

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Mangia!

It basically goes like this: espresso, pizza, gelato, pasta, repeat. 

The food in Italy is amazing. I mean really truly madly deeply amazing. But beware: there are many cheap (or not so cheap) impostors! A good rule of thumb is if you spot a restaurant with any of the following qualities, just stay away: menus on large boards with photos of the food, anything in a direct line of sight of any major tourist attraction, or men who are basically trying to grab you off the street and into their restaurant.

Let me introduce this first restaurant by stating that I once went to Rome solely to eat here. Yes, it's that good. You will probably want to visit it more than once, so plan accordingly. La Fraschetta (Via San Francesco a Ripa 134 in Trastevere) looks like a tiny hole in the wall from the outside but is a treasure trove of delicious Italian food on the inside. You must, and I mean MUST, order the bruschetta al pomodoro (see below). It may appear to be simply bread with a tomato on it but do not be fooled. It is heavenly bread drizzled in the most delectable of olive oils, toasted in a wood fire oven with the juiciest slices of seasoned tomatoes on top. Just do it. Don't feel bad if you want to order it in place of desert. It's worth it. My favorite pasta is the Fettucine alla Boscaiola with mushrooms, peas, panchetta, and a tomato cream sauce. The pizza is amazing as well. Tim ordered a simple pizza con prosciutto and I couldn't stop stealing little bites. They have great house wines and the panna cotta would be my choice for desert. 

La Scala (Piazza della Scala 60 in Trastevere) serves some nice and simple pastas that are great for lunch. I enjoyed the spaghetti with olive oil and red pepper flakes and find that sometimes the dishes with the simplest ingredients can be the most difficult to make. But if you chose only one place in Trastevere to eat at, make sure it's La Fraschetta.

If you're out and about sight seeing in the city center I would stop by Colline Emiliane (Via degli Avignonesi 22). Established in 1931 this small restaurant is somewhat hidden yet conveniently located near some of the top sights. The pumpkin ravioli would be my pick!

I am also a big fan of visiting the local supermarkets for lunches and snacks. Since I lived in Trastevere (and it's also one of my favorite neighborhoods) I frequented Supermercato Standa on Viale di Trastevere 60. You can enjoy great breads, cheese, salami and wine on a small budget. If you're in the city center near Piazza Navona or the Coliseum I would stop by Despar (via Giustiniani 18b). It's a basic grocery store but can be a life saver in the land of over priced fruit stands and cafes targeted at tourists. While shopping on Via Cola di Rienzo you can pick up some afternoon snacks at Billa (Via Cole Di Rienzo 0171-173 located inside of the Coin store.) If you want a fresh market make sure to visit Campo dei Fiori (which we will visit again in the shopping guide!) or pop into the local cheese or butcher's shops. Just be ready to test out your Italian skills! 

For local treats to take home I like to peruse Castroni (via Cola di Rienzo 196). They have great dry pastas, spices, chocolates, oils, balsamic vinegars and limoncellos. These make great gifts for your loved ones!

Make sure you enjoy a lot of cappuccinos, lattes and espressos. Drink them at the counter like a true Roman or you'll end up paying extra for table service. I like to try out all of the different pastries each cafe has to offer. I usually wander down windy side streets until I find a cafe that has some charm and looks interesting. I don't think I ever came across a cafe that wasn't any good. The espresso is so good that they would have to try pretty hard to make it bad. 

The same goes for gelato. I usually pick spots based on how fluffy and rich their gelato displays are. There are some famous spots (I'll let the existing guide books tell you about those) but I recommend discovering your own! I came across a fantastic little spot nestled against a cobbled wall full of ivy that I would have never found in a guide book. I stumbled upon it while browsing tiny streets full of antique shops not too far from Piazza Navona. My favorite flavors are pistachio, Nutella, coffee, or lemon on a hot day. If you are near the Trevi Fountain you can stop by Melograno Gelateria on P. Di Trevi 101. Near the Vatican there's a great little spot called Blue Ice (Via Ottaviano n.7) that serves up a good gelato as well as some other sweet treats.

Enjoy and buon appetito! 

Chocolate and The Meadow

Salt. Chocolate. Fresh Flowers. Perfection .

Although my trips may be infrequent, I really enjoy The Meadow on NE Mississippi in Portland. They have an entire wall dedicated to every type of salt one could imagine, and another wall dedicate to artisan chocolates. Right in the middle of it all you can find a wide variety of gorgeous fresh flowers. 

I love all three of these things so it's no surprise that I adore The Meadow. I highly recommend a little trip over to the NE to walk up and down Mississippi. There are so many unique and fun stores to visit, including an ice cream shop that makes a honey lavender flavor that is to die for!

Speaking of chocolate, I will forever be grateful to my good friend Susan for introducing me to Dagoba Organic Chocoalte. More specifically, their Lavender Blueberry Dark Chocolate bar. I was skeptical at first, but it's so good! I recently picked up two new flavors to try: Roseberry and Beaucoup Berries. I picked these up at the New Seasons Market. They carry a large variety of Dagoba flavors I have not yet tried and they have them in individual bite size pieces too...! What's a girl to do?! 

I like trying unique flavors when it comes to sweets. Do you have any favorites? I know Bacon Chocolate is the hot item right now, but I'm just not ready for that quite yet.

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