courtney jade’s blog

Being an artist seems to come with a few fun, yet random, perks. One of my favorite (and this one is not so random), is having a good network of creative friends. I am constantly inspired, challenged, and encouraged by my creative network of friends (I will now refer to them as my CNF), and I often find myself feeling very blessed to know such talented and amazing people.

Some of the people in my CNF I have known since childhood, others, I happen to meet here and there, and everywhere (Thank you Dr. Suess!). More recently, at one of our favorite “spots”, Jade, we met Josh. Josh was our waiter the first time that we went to Jade, and he was probably the friendliest waiter I’ve ever had. You can read more about our first trip to Jade here.

Anyways, Josh is a foodie himself. I’m not quite sure if he refers to himself as that, but he definitely knows the best places in Portland to eat good food. He has a blog called PDXploration where he writes and posts photos of his dining experiences. Check it out, he has some great info and his pics are awesome! He sets up group dinners once in a while for his CNF, and I was lucky enough to be added to the list!

This is the first of the group dinners that we were able to attend, but it definitely won’t be the last! A group of fun, creative people, delicious food, and a warm inviting atmosphere is sure to mean a good time!
And now, I will relish and reminisce all about our fabulous, awesomely delicious dinner ::siiigghhh::

Taste Unique
Just a few blocks (literally) from the house that I grew up in, in my old neighborhood, there is a freshly renovated strip of buildings. In that little block, is a cute little place called “Taste Unique”. They say themselves that “Taste Unique isn’t a real restaurant. If you walk in at lunchtime we will seat up to 10 people and you can choose
one of our daily specials, but our appearance places us somewhere between a Bistro and a Deli.”

They have an array of delicious dishes that you can take home and reheat for your family as well. They also offer cooking classes, and hold special dinner events once in a while. Check out their calendar for the most up to date happenings!

The owners, husband and wife, are extremely friendly! They are kind, warm, and well, let’s be honest, who doesn’t get that cozy new best friend feeling when being fed amazing foods by someone? Ok, maybe it’s just me…. hahaha! Anyways, they are great! Lawrence is from Rome, Stefani from Italy, and together, they create some fantastic dishes!

We started off with the Millefoglie di Verdure- delicious multilayered casserole of 7 different vegetables.

This was INSANELY delicious!! Each vegetable is cooked separately and then stacked, so you get the most flavor out of each  different ingredient. (Mark’s favorite was the zucchini on top- YUM!) Stefani explained to us that when she was in cooking class, they spent a LOT of time practicing cutting vegetables, so instead of tossing them, she found a way to make something delicious out of them… ok, well she was modest, I added the delicious part! I can’t help it! I felt like a judge on Iron Chef eating this one, superb quality.

Needless to say, I don’t think any of us left a morsel of this dish on our plates.

Next was the Risotto con gli Asparagi- Risotto with asparagus and a drop of lemon. Topped with real home ground Parmigiano.

Ummm, can you say “comfort food”??? This dish was something I could eat on a daily basis. The cheese, the asparagus, the risotto… mmmm it was all just sooo yummy!

Up next, just when I was almost full, came the next dish- Fettine al Marsala Beef cutlets cooked in Marsala and served with ‘summer style’ mashed potato side.

I also snagged a couple shots of them preparing this dish in the open kitchen

This dish was incredible. The food was all so simple, so pure. The flavors were bold and rich, you could really taste the Marsala, the beef, the potatoes mixed with celery root. Truly gourmet food.
They also served us fresh foccacia bread (baked every hour, fresh) with an olive oil and some type of salt sprinkled on top. I’ve never had bread that wasn’t garlic bread that was SO good!!

For dessert, we had -Maritozzi con la Panna -fresh baked sweet bread stuffed with whipped cream. One of the most famous Roman traditions.

Simple, light, fluffy, a tad bit sweet… I could have eaten about 4 of these they were so good! Lawrence was telling us that in Rome, they are no kind of delicacy at all, more that they are “street food”, served in bars, dunked in coffee (which would have also been REALLY good).

Even baby Maya loved it!

We were also served fresh Caffè, which is more amazing than regular espresso or coffee. First, the little cup is coated with a sweet cream, then the espresso is poured in. The sugar in the cream stabilizes the shots of espresso so that it doesn’t turn bitter, and it also leaves a beautiful creme on the top. Y-U-M! Mark doesn’t even like coffee, but he didn’t leave a drop of this liquid deliciousness behind!!!

The restaurant itself also has a warm charm. It is decorated with old family photos and real kitchen gadgets that have been handed down from generations before. They even have some articles of clothing hanging from the ceiling that were given to Stefani from her family. Their logo is brilliant, a silhouette of Stefani’s mother, from an old photo of her cooking. They also have an awesome chalkboard menu. I love chalkboard menus.

All in all, if you aren’t drooling by this point, then something must be wrong with you! If you live in the Portland area, stopping by this fabulous little joint is a must. Eat in, take something home and be the “dinner hero”, or sign up for a class. Stefani & Lawrence, the owners, are genuine and kind, and they clearly just want to share the love of good food. Mark and I will be going back for sure, Italian is my favorite, and this place is a home run! Thank you so much for your hospitality and delicious food!!! Taste Unique gets an A+ from us both.

<3

Yesterday my bestie Ben, and his sister Jenna introduced me to what is now my favorite restaurant in all of Portland: Jade Teahouse & Patisserie

Located in the adorable Sellwood neighborhood, off of 13th and SE Lexington, is a beautiful green building. One of the reasons it was love at first site was the design of everything. From the moment you spot the place driving by, to the second you walk through the door, it’s beautiful. The colors, the lighting, the furniture, even the fonts on the menu board create such an upclass, yet homey feel. You can tell that everything has been carefully thought out and cared for with a whole heart. These people want you to feel comforable!!

The atmosphere is completely beautiful and warm. There’s a peace about it, and there are fun little details everywhere. Just look at the rack of loose leaf teas!

And the menu, oh, the menu!!! Mark and I have a hard time finding a place with food that we both LOVE. Sure, there are places that he loves, and I like, or visa versa… but this place is the perfect fit! They have menu items that are more traditional or basic (but still completely flavorful and delicious), and also items for the more adventurous tongue, and everything in between. I don’t know anyone who couldn’t find something here that they didn’t absolutely love.
They have a huge variety of asian influenced dishes, as well as baguette sandwiches, soups, and delicous baked goods! The head chef pours her heart and soul into every single dish that’s prepared, and you can tell 100%. Everything tastes and looks like it was specially prepared just for you. The people are extremely friendly, and go above and beyond the norm to tell you about the cuisine, even recommending things! All of the ingredients are fresh, and though I’ve only been there twice now, it seems as though they make most everything from scratch! They have a bakery downstairs where the head chef (who apparently studied the art of french baking for a time in France [i think, can't remember exactly what our server said about this.. but I know she studied it over in Europe for a time]) prepares delicious baked cookies, macaroons, and other tastey treats!
I could go on and on all day, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves

Mark’s Thai Iced Tea & my fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade

A few cute shots of my markie <3

Our delicious food!!!

Hands down, best Pho I’ve ever eaten. Mmmmmm so good

And of course, we had to have dessert!!! Jenna was raving about their traditional cake that they make! It’s green due to the banana peels that they use in it, and it tastes like a light vanilla. The cake is moist and fluffy, and the buttercream is smooth and creamy. There’s a surprise crunchy layer in the middle of some sort of flaky pastry, and white chocolate shavings on top To. Die. For. And not too sweet either!

We also tried this traditional sesame ball treat, which I forget the name of! It was awesome!! It was like a rice/bread doughnut-like ball that was crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and it was filled with some sort of yummy almond paste and coconut. Then it comes with a sweet glazey honey caramel sauce (I think that’s what it was… it was all so delicious and went so fast I can’t be positive!).

Seriously. Best. Restaraunt. EVER. I’m officially in love, and SO excited to find a place that Mark and I are both totally blown away by! I can’t wait to go back, and I was just there 2 hours ago!!

Until we meet again Jade… <3

valentine’s day is my most favorite day of the entire year.

What other day do you get to indulge in all of the hearts, pink, love, and romance you can imagine!?

Ok, ok, so maybe I do that more than just one day a year, but it’s nice to have a designated day set aside to plan for it I didn’t get to do or capture nearly as many valentine-y things as I wanted this year, but I did take a few pics this weekend.

My friend Jenn came over, and we decorated cupcake valentine’s! It was super fun, and there was a LOT of pink happening!!! I didn’t snap any photos of my cupcakes (i know, shame on me!), but I did snap a couple of Jenn’s! Here are some of her fabulous and adorable cupcakes!

First, I just want to say that my boyfriend is the best boyfriend ever. I seriously can’t believe sometimes how lucky I am to  have found such an amazing person to share my life with.

We have been wanting to go to this one particular restaurant for over 5 years… now you might be thinking “5 years is a really LONG time Courtney… just go to the dang restaurant!!”, and I know. However, being in college, broke, always living paycheck to paycheck, etc. we just could never bare to “afford” it. Our anniversary happens to lie on the same date our lease is up, so we’d either be broke from moving or just not have time. And as for other special occasions, it just never worked out right.

I’m happy to say that the stars finally aligned, and we were able to enjoy an incredible dinner together at The Melting Pot! I brought my camera along, but I knew it would be SUPER dark down there, so I wasn’t expecting any amazing shots, but I did catch a few good ones. Here are some fun moments from our Valentine’s day dinner!

We started with the cheese fondue. Not my favorite, but Mark sure liked it! they give you breads, green apples, and raw veggies to dip. I did like the apples with it, but I knew there was so much more on the way and wanted to save room.

Next we had salads, I took a photo but didn’t export it, lol, they weren’t anything amazing, just plated yummy dinner salads. Then the next course: MEATS!! Look at all of that delicious raw meat, just ready to cook. We chose the “Bajo Style” broth, it was a citrus-y garlic broth, and completely delicious!!! Our plate included lobster, filet minon, new york strip, kielbasa, shrimp, garlic chicken, and raviolis. We also got some raw veggies to cook, and a variety of sauces to dip the meats in after they cooked.

And last but most definitely not least: DESSERT!!! This was my most favorite part of the entire meal (of course), and I would go back a million times for it again!! Our server brought out the chocolate and then poured in the fire!!!

a little stir…

a lot of delicious things to dip…

and mmmmmmmm two very happy valentine’s!!! We chose dark chocolate with marshmallow cream

they give you SO many fun things to dip! Cheesecake, strawberries, bananas, pound cake, brownies, rice krispy treats, and different marshmallows… can you say heaven?? They are also all refillable, excluding the cheesecake.

SO yummy!!!

And of course, we had to take a pic of the bill. This is the most expensive meal Mark and I have ever indulged in to date. It might not seem like a lot, but I guess you can say we live on the conservative side. Oh yea, that doesn’t even include tip, hahaha… so awesome. Like I said, my boyfriend is amazing.

Then Monday I had the day off, and I was a total and complete BUM all day. I managed to take Quincey over to my cousin’s house to play with their pup (Quincey’s cousin and BFF) Rufus, so that was fun. I also did ALL of my laundry and folded/put it away. As well as re-arranging our bedroom. But BUM city it was, and it was amazing.

Overall it was a great Valentine’s weekend. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to document more! How was your Valentine’s weekend??

Now it’s time to get ready for Costa Rica!!! I leave in less than 4 weeks now- CRAZY!!! I’m so excited, but I’ve never travelled outside of the country. Advice? Tips? I’d love to hear them!! Also, what’s one thing I should make sure to do while on Vacation? I’ll be staying in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

<3