Summertime!

So I'm glad that I gave you the heads up back in April (was it April?!?) when I last posted that I'd be on a bit of a hiatus while all these major life changes happened. Since then I've finished my thesis, finished my job, finished my two internships, packed up my stuff in my parents' wee little Mazda, collected my boyfriend from the airport and drove my worldly goods halfway across the United States. So you may be able to understand if I've been a little AWOL. My next posts should be more along the lines of the recipe-per-post sort of thing but this one is going to be a bit more like a pictorial diary of what's happened between April and now.

THE ROADTRIP
 (in no particularly coherent order):

A visit to Taos pueblo. I haven't been back for so long; it's always really strange to sort of half-remember a place and to remember where certain streets or shops are but not the overall layout. It was a beautiful morning stop between Santa Fe and Laramie. 

Downtown Santa Fe. So incredibly beautiful. 

 Got a turquoise ring from one of the vendors in front of the Governor's Mansion to help remind me of Santa Fe. It's always been a big source of inspiration to me.

 Clouds in Colorado on our way to Wyoming.

This is Buddha, my friend Upton's adorable half-husky, half-wolf puppy. Don't let that cute expression fool you--this guy was very skittish and barely let us pet him. He just sort of peered at us through doorways. 

 Peter and I stopped at Trinity Brewing in Colorado. We were pretty tired, but there was good food and good beer and this fun little doorway.

A cactus bloom on our hike with Peter's parents in Laramie, Wyoming. 

 A puppy and a window in Taos pueblo.

 Santa Fe.

 St. Jerome pueblo, Taos pueblo.

 The amazing view from Upton's driveway in the hills outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

THE NEW HOUSE

Our new house is on Alberta street, which is in pretty much the epicenter of all that is cool and happening in Northeast Portland. It's two stories and is in a constant state of having various "projects" done to it. Katrina and Todd are both pretty crafty (Katrina may be the craftiest person I know) so already they're paving the side of the house to create a patio and sanding boards to build a fence in the front and they're building bookshelves and renovating the basement. It's all very exciting to get this glimpse into adult life that I hope isn't too far off for me, either. I think my main job at the house is to make sure that everyone has sweet snacks to munch on as they pass through the beautiful, open, light-filled kitchen. And that's just fine with me. 

The best part about living here is the sense of community. We host a lot of cookouts and cookoffs (the taco cookoff in July was one for the ages.) People stop by unannounced and walk away fed and happy. We bring food out to the folding table in the front yard and dine al fresco. Katrina's always painting, Peter's teaching music in his room. It's a happy place to live.

 Beer tasting and barbecue night on the front stoop.

 The tile backsplash I'm designing for our bathroom.

 My lovely little bureau setup with all the leaves and things I've collected and the butterflies Peter has bought me for my birthday and Christmas.

 The bed setup--I decided to be very clever, so when we drove through Pendleton I stopped at the woolen mill and instead of buying a $70 pillow I bought a $10 dish towel with a cool pattern and made it into a pillow myself!

 Evening light in the kitchen.

 The rose garden within walking distance from our house.

 Time for a cookout.

Which brings us to....

THE FOOD!
Obviously there's been a ton of barbecuing and cookouts. We had an epic taco cookoff in July that featured some amazing dishes (the winner, Tory, did a deep-fried lobster taco.) Peter's been doing some great soups and I've been stocking the cookie jar with Toll House Cookies every week because I live in a house of cookie hounds. Been doing a lot of light salads and experimenting with different summer flavors--but if I told you I haven't been dreaming just a little bit about bacon-infused fall stews, I'd be lying.

I've been reading David Tanis's One Good Dish and tried one recipe from Fuschia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice that didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped it would, but I'm going to give it another shot or two anyway. So much to do and make!

 So I made this fig, olive oil and sea salt challah again. And it was still fantastic. We made it into French toast. That was also fantastic.

 I made the Canal House's poached chicken with tarragon mayonnaise (though mine was more of an aioli). It was really delicious--served it on a bed of arugula and the dressing worked so well with both the chicken and the greens. Recipe for that is below!

 This was a really delicious espresso-laced fudgy chocolate mousse cake from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. I came home last night and it was gone.
  

 Peter's been doing wonderful things with his baking. Using the celebrated no-knead method he's really been honing his technique and has been turning out some amazing loaves of bread that tend to not last very long at all because everyone eats them in like a day or so.

I also made these rhubarb tarts again. Dee-licious. 

 We live around the corner from the Albina press. I am generally not a huge coffee drinker but the latte I had the other day was amazing. And pretty!

Something else that I've discovered this summer? Gin. Todd keeps making me these amazing mint-muddled concoctions that taste like summer in a glass, and who am I to refuse? 

Also, thank God for Salt and Straw and their weird, wacky, delicious flavors. 

 I can't remember what these were for, but there were chocolate chip cookies and brownies and coconut cookies. They were eaten.

Peter found this recipe for kale pesto in my Sprouted Kitchen cookbook. We paired it with some fresh mozzarella and some huge heirloom tomatoes we found at New Seasons. It was incredible. 

THE RECIPE
Since it's been so long, I didn't want to send you away without a recipe. Since I bought it Canal House Cooks Everyday has been one of my go-to books as far as inspiration and as something I can always trust to bring home an amazing meal at the end of the day. Some of their recipes are no more than two or three ingredients, but they're always used in surprising, delicious ways. Ugh, I love them. Anyway, here's something I made for dinner the other night that was elegant, easy and tasted like straight-up summer.

Poached Chicken on a Bed of Arugula with Lemon-Tarragon Aioli (adapted from Canal House Cooks Everyday)

 For the aioli:
1 lg egg yolk
1/4 garlic clove, minced
salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh tarragon, chopped
1/2 cup chives, chopped

For the chicken:
2-4 chicken breasts, bone-in
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 rib celery, halved
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, chopped
arugula, to serve

For aioli: Whisk together egg yolk, pinch of salt, garlic and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Mix oils together, and, whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the oil into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It will begin to thicken. Once all the oil has been added, taste and add salt and more lemon juice to suit your preferences. Stir in the chopped tarragon and chives. Refrigerate until use.

For chicken:  Put all ingredients in a large stockpot and cover with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low and poach 15-2 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool, then tear into small strips. Arrange over a bed of arugula and drizzle with the aioli. Enjoy!