Autumnal Happenings in Eugene

Mr. Monkey perfecting a Saturday morning omelet with tomatoes and basil (still) freshly picked from the garden in October!

I'm getting my running routine back in action. Easy to do with skies like this at the track on Polk St. last week.

Mr. Monkey sorting through the colorful pepper haul at the Lane County Farmer's Market.

He did the planting and watering and I did the picking. We thought the rain was coming but we're still picking tomatoes off the vine!

Sorry for the feeble blogging as of late. I took a little break from the blog to enjoy the kitchen, our community, and enjoy this gorgeous fall that we're having. Here are some recent pictures of this seriously amazing October weather and the Eugene sights from around town. All the way down at the bottom is a silly picture of the boxes that just arrived on our front step. Looks like Mr. Monkey and I have a job to do this evening! I had to wait quite awhile to buy this next set of 2 wire bar stools from Modernica. I thought it was actually going to be a longer wait but a couple of weekends ago Modernica kindly had a 20% off sale. The sale saved us over $100 big ones! We're pretty happy that our fall entertaining now has seating for 4 at the magnificent island that Misters Schmitz and Plummer made.

Spectacular view of the sun and clouds doing a dance from up top the Margarita Holding Area (MHA).

Two boxes - two stools - two happy monkeys!

Blueberry Margaritas Being Held in the Area with a Chaser of CB2 Inspirations

Blueberry Margarita.

Sad to say the summer's climax (labor day weekend) is upon us. It's also the very end of blueberry season. If you're not sure what to do with the final few blueberries you can always make a blueberry margarita and take it up to the top of your local Margarita Holding Area (MHA). If you don't have one of those maybe you have a Blind Pig in your neighborhood. Perhaps it's housed in a friend's garage or the patio of a loquacious neighbor. Either way it seems that blueberry margaritas are meant to be shared. If you want the recipe you'll have to contact Miss Single USA who first shared a pitcher with the Board of the MHA. Way down at the bottom of this post you'll find some more recent pictures (June) of the MHA. It's been awhile since the MHA has made a post around here with all the glitz and glamour of the kitchen to share. I wanted to let you all know that the MHA has definitely not been overshadowed. We make regular trips up top. Sometimes just to stretch after a run, sometimes to read, sometimes to watch the sunset. Earlier this summer we were inspired by advertising (sad to say) from CB2 (but they do such a nice job) and in fact Mr. Monkey made Watermelon Margaritas to quench our thirst in Tucson. The point is if you haven't made margaritas yet this summer, find your closest, freshest fruit, friends, a decent place to sit, maybe in the shade or the sun if you prefer, take a deep breathe and enjoy. 

Blueberries at the start of the season from Mr. Monkey's garden.

One blender of margaritas looks something like this with the sunset in the background. 

Welcome to the MHA!

Golden Raspberries at the foot of the MHA, under the pear tree.

Come again!

Modern Frozen Yogurt Eugene-Style: Sweet Summer Start

If there was any food category that needed a modern facelift - it was Frozen Yogurt, you know, FroYo, that delectable sometimes healthy, sometimes not desert. It's highest peak in fame came in the late 80's. Being a SoCal girl by birth I can claim to be made of FroYo just as much as corn or my paternal and maternal genetic material for that matter. Needless to say I hold a special place in my heart from FroYo, despite the fact that there are many examples of bad, bad FroYo out there. Because friends don't let friends have bad FroYo and good friends guide you directly to good FroYo, we ended up at Vanilla Jill's on a Sunday night (that's the link to their facebook page). Here's a link to reviews on Yelp of Vanilla Jill's. More onthe Fro Yo in a minute but you have to admire the design of the wee yogurt shop too. Great colors, pained concrete floors, nice graphics all together this makes for a great yogurt eating experience.

I know New Orleans has beignets, Boston has Boston Cremes, and now Eugene has frozen yogurt made from locally made organic KEIFER!!!! Yup, that's right you aren't dreaming, I know it sounds weird but it is so tasty and well I don't want to talk it up too much but it's made with Nancy's Yogurt. In Oregon Nancy's Yogurt is pretty darn famous with a long hippie past. What's great about Vanilla Jill's is that they are taking 2 already good things, frozen yogurt and keifer and making them both so much better with the addition of syrups like basil and green tea. Did I mention I had blueberry yogurt with lavender syrup and fresh raspberries on top? D-lish!!!

With Vanilla Jill's, Ninkasi and Oakshire Breweries, local wineries with in-town tasting rooms, plus the many farmer's markets, CSA's, and our growing restaurant scene (Belly being my current fave) Eugene is a wonderfully modern place to live. You can live, ride your bike, walk, or take to bus to all of these places in a matter of minutes. And if you're downtown at Skinner's Butte you might catch a glimpse of the Bald Eagle couple raising their eaglets. Good food, booze, nature, and people - sounds like the makings of an excellent summer to me. I'm so glad Vanilla Jill's is now a part of the equation. I know they've only been open about 3 months but I'm ready for the satellite shop so that I can truly ride my bike and be there in 15 minutes flat. Stay tuned . . .