Visiting Pittock Mansion...

It's been a couple weeks since my last post. It's been a couple of busy weeks. Because of Jose's new diet, I'm not doing much cooking experiments either.
Today is Easter, a rainy Easter in Portland. The temperature is back to the 50s. The rain makes it even colder. We went to Lisa's place for brunch. She lives up in the hills around NW 23rd area, just straight west of us. I was never a big fan of living up the hills because of all the story we heard about icing driving conditions on the slops in winter seasons. But as we were driving up the hill, I was captivated by the amazing views and the absolute lushness. It was beautiful.
After food, Lisa took us to the Pittock Mansion, a French Renaissance style chateau on top of the hill just half a mile further. The mansion belonged to the Pittock family. More than half century ago the city bought the estate from the family and established the historic status and has been renovating it. Today you can pay $8 for a self-guided tour. I forgot my camera, so the digi-cam in my phone would have to do.

The music room. Some of the furniture piece were not from the Pittock family, but rather donated to represent the era

There are at least 2-3 full size dining rooms, 5 bedrooms and 3 full size bathrooms in the building. Most of the rooms occupy the first and second floor. There is a lower level, which seems mostly visitor info center and public bathrooms. 
There are also a dedicated music room, a family room, a writing room, two sleeping porches, a child's room and sewing room, two full size walk-in closets and a full-size kitchen, a full size pantry room and a full-size refrigerator room. I might have miss one or two smaller alcoves. Every room seems to have its own telephone. I thought the most fascinating rooms are the kitchen and the bathroom. Funny how that works...

The stove from the earlier 20 century

The full size refrigerator room and the pantry room

A predecessor of modern day body spray shower. But they had something we don't see today, a "Bidet" spray. Yes, you guessed it, it's for cleansing the private area. Unlike Toto's all-in-one super toilet, this is built as part of the shower.

Odd shape for a toilet tank; A dedicated sit-bath. Back then people seemed to take personal hygiene a lot more seriously

A new dining table

I've been eying this table from west elm for a couple years now. Our old IKEA table has served us well for over six years. We entertained so many guests and created countless memories enjoying delicious food with close friends.
Moving to a new place is not easy. We have to build new friendship. I want a better table to help carry on the tradition of good food and wonderful conversations. This table just seems right. It took a bit of convincing to get Jose on board though.
There is a West Elm within walking distance from our apartment. In the store, the table is decked out with matching benches and chairs. We wanted just the table. And that's what we got.
The package was so long, we drove the car home with the box sticking out the back and the trunk door completely open. I waved at whoever was driving behind us at a respectable distance. Should've taken a photo of that. =)
The table looks so much bigger in our apartment than in the store. But we love it. Jose's completely convinced now that he's seen it in our space. The table is solid. It's very simple in style with a lot of attention to the detail finish. This would give more freedom to selecting the chairs to go with them.

3by10

One thing about Portland design community is that it's very tightly knit. The second day after we arrived in the city we were invited to an event titled "3by10". Each month three people each would be giving a 10min talk about design and arts. It's a great way to get to know designers and artists in the city and see what they do. We've made it to every single 3by10 so far.

For March, I was asked to share something from my experience. I chose the topic of "design process, ideal vs. real-world", reflecting on how projects were run at Motorola. It was a fun experience. People seemed very engaged and asked a lot of questions during the Q&A session.

I also really enjoyed the talk from the other two presenters, both are small business owners. One is a ceramist who has her own shop in SE Portland, and the other a custom camera maker. You can check out their website to see the cool stuff they make. Pigeon Toe Ceramics and The Art of the Camera. Even though what I do is very different from what they do, you start to draw parallel when it comes to process and collaboration with other parties. Besides it's just fun to hear stories of how someone took an idea and built a successful business around it. It's very inspiring.

Art Institute of Portland has offered part of their shop space for this event

Q&A session following the presentations

Chinese steamed pork buns

I've always wanted to make these steamed stuffed buns (baos in Chinese). It was one of my favorite childhood memories to help mom make these. Hers were terrific.

I don't remember how she made her dough. So I found a recipe online that was meant for something slightly different. But I tried it anyway. The dough is made from flour, yeast, a little sugar, pinch of salt and warm water. The filling can be anything. I had ground pork, shitake mushroom and scallions.

The making / shaping of the buns is probably more challenging for people who are not familiar with this kind of stuff. I remember never able to do it when I was little. Mom tried teaching me many times. But when I picked up the wrapper and filled it with pork, I immediately knew how to wrap it.

Spin the dough as you pinch the edge together

In the steamer

Each bao has buffed up a little after steaming

the filling is so juicy that it's best consumed immediately =)

Keeping to the spirit of a blooming spring

I took inspiration from a photo of a butternut squash tart I saw on the web. The tart took slices of butternut squash and arranged it to look like a blooming flower. It looked real pretty. So I decided to make my apple tarts that way. Here's the result. It tastes as good as it looks. =)

Taking a spring walk in the hood...

It's a rear thing to have both Saturday and Sunday relatively dry and occasionally sunny this time of the year in Portland. We took a walk to the west of Pearl district around Nob Hill, aka NW 23rd.
The sun really helped to paint the picture of spring in the city. The air is slightly cool and brisk. Everything is blooming.

We love looking at houses in the area. It's definitely different architecturally from Chicago. Most houses are made of wood. Given that it rains here 8 months out of a year, it puzzles me. Brick houses is the dominate Chicago style. Nob hill area is about split between houses and apartment buildings, some old some new, whereas Pearl is mostly higher rise new construction apartment buildings. I like looking at these houses as we might be thinking about moving to this area in the future.

Houses with wood sidings is the most common style. Somewhat traditional for me, but charming in its own way

Occasionally you come across some brick houses. All the roof tops are slanted given the amount of rain it gets here.