Hello Hello! I hope you all enjoyed reading about what we did in Portland because now you have what we did in Eugene, Oregon. My brother lives in Eugene and both Rose and I had never been there, so we definitely wanted to add that to our trip. I am happy that I got to see where my brother lives and explore Eugene a bit. We don’t have too many pictures from Eugene as we were only there for a couple of days but I hope you enjoy the ones we did manage to capture!
We arrived around lunch and Tyler (my brother) took us to Cafe Yumm for lunch. It was really delicious and we discovered a fruit we didn’t know existed: the marionberry. Apparently it is a type of blackberry that is ever so popular in Eugene. Once at Tyler’s we were greeted by these two crazy dogs that soon became our bffs. Boomer, the one in the chair, loved to jump up in the chair you are sitting in and snuggle up with you while Ritzy ran around the room chasing and light that she saw. For dinner we all made some super delicious pizzas topped with everything you could imagine…
The next day it was raining (surprise, surprise) but Tyler drove us down to the coast nonetheless. It was an amazing view even and the rain seemed to hold off enough for us to enjoy it for a little while and eat some sandwiches.
Mind the wind blown hair!
Boom want’s in on the action too
That night we went to a cider house called WildCraft Cider Works with my brother and his friends. The food was delicious and the cider was amazing. Rose and I both got hooked on real cider when we studied abroad in London but haven’t been able to find anything comparable here in Boston. There are a lot of cideries out west and we definitely enjoyed being able to quench that cider thirst.
After that we had to wake up early and catch our flight to our final destination: San Francisco! Check back to see what we did there!
As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m trying to finalize my menu and get everything ready so I know what to make ahead of time and what has be done the day of.
I love to plan things, but I’m not the best at executing them. I’ll spend days looking over different recipes online trying to find the perfect one that fits well with everything else that is being made. Usually I save a few and go back and forth between them before I throw in the red flag and give up on it all.
As I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year, I am determined to not give up! I have all my recipes planned out and I won’t let myself change them up last minute… although I did just find a mashed potato recipe that looked better than the one I chose…
I’ve got plenty of delicious looking sides and my mom is graciously going to help me with the whole turkey situation as that is foreign territory to me.
For dessert, my family always loves a classic apple pie, so I will gladly make that (and eat it too)! But, after talking to Rose, who is baking 2 desserts for 3 people (I’m cooking for 5) I’m suddenly worried I won’t have enough desserts for everyone to enjoy. I mean, you always want leftover desserts to go with your leftover turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes, right?
Rose and I have the perfect extra recipe that can be added last minute to anyone’s Thanksgiving menu and is guaranteed to go with everything. What is you ask? Well, popcorn is involved… and apple cider.. yep, we made an apple cider popcorn! It is crunchy and sweet and full flavor, perfect for a pre-dinner appetizer or an after dinner sweet treat.
Apple Cider Popcorn (serves 2)
There you have it! A, what I would call, perfect addition to any Thanksgiving feast! It is quick and easy to make and can be made ahead of time as to not add to the Thanksgiving cooking stress, although I can’t guarantee that you won’t be tempted to eat it all before Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!
