On to something

This fall I went to a Halloween potluck.

We were asked to bring one dish to share.

It was quite the spread.

There wasn't a chip in sight.

Little did we know, prizes were given to the best savory and the best sweet items brought.

Guess who won for best savory?

Little ol' me.

Maybe there's something to this buddha bellies

My prize for best savory item

Monumental Birthday

Anyone who has a birthday on Halloween usually has a spooktacular birthday celebration. But this year it's a monumental birthday, in that Mike has to work for the first time ever in his life, on his birthday.

So no dressing up or carving pumpkins But here's wishing you a wonderful birthday anyways Love

Hats, Shoes and Gloves

Hats, shoes and gloves - oh my! The bbq and patio furniture has been put away for months. The garden has been harvested. Now it is time to put away our summer clothes and pull out the cool weather items - or is it? The weather has been absolutely beautiful, allowing fall to fully arrive and be enjoyed.

We feel so lucky to be here to enjoy it.

So for now we will pull out the winter clothes to stay warm, but all the while knowing the hats, shoes and gloves are only temporary.

Buddha....Where's My Bellie?

After over 5 years of opposite schedules, different days off and seeing each other either early in the morning or late at night, excited doesn't begin to explain how we feel about spending the next few months alone and constantly around each other. It will be a good time to see if we can be around each for more than a few hours at a time and actually talk face to face and not via text or instant messaging. But for now our schedules are on fever pitch with Mike working 10 hour days for the next 14 consecutive days.

Even the cat misses him

Rolling with the Homies

We're getting our fill of all our favorites before we hit the road. And being the Mikexican that he is, a good al pastor burrito always hits the spot, so we headed to King Burrito. It may be out in No Po (North Portland), but believe us it's worth it. I have yet to eat a quesidilla that has avocado sauce, not guacamole - avocado sauce; that is not completely soaking in grease by the time you reach the last piece at the bottom! I have the feeling we'll be rolling with the homies quite a bit until we leave.

P-Town Props

We thought with the Northwest rain upon us, we would be even more ready to start our travels. But the glorious fall weather has us only feeling lucky to see the autumn in our glorious town. The farmers' markets are in high harvest mode and the variety of great produce available during this time of year makes us anxious to hit the wet markets all over Asia. We continue to be busy with travel research. Not only does Portland have a fantastic library system as seen from above, but p-town public television is also fantastic. To add to our over-anxious excitement to hit the road, OPB is broadcasting a travel series by Rudy Maxa which is really great! His recent show about Bangkok, Thailand made us drool for days. Try and catch his show if you can - the open air market in a little town outside of Bangkok, which refused to move when the government wanted to continue the railway line is worth seeking out his travel show for that alone. I found the "train runs through it segment" on Youtube! Check it out! If you are lucky enough to live in P-land his series airs on Fridays at 6:00pm on OPB. Have a great fall everyone, the crisp autumn air has us longing to rewind and start our summer all over again!

Pop Quiz

Pop Quiz: What is the number one item we've been asked to bring back? Sorry, this items is now closed for requests.

Reminder

Thank you Buddha Bellies, we needed that

Dropping the Buddha Bellies Bomb!

As we sat and ate our take-out dinner; debating if the restaurant seasons their burger patties and if the chicken is pre-breaded or floured and seasoned in-house, we realize who are we kidding? With a name like Buddha Bellies and our friends saying, after they regretfully decline one of our party invites, "oh... but I'll miss all that great food" - it won't come to any surprise we hope to open our own food establishment soon. Thank you all for not shouting out the obvious sooner, though some of you have tried, with copious amounts of alcohol, to get us to slip and tell! The decision to drop the Buddha Bellies Bomb about our new business adventure is due to the fact that I've been wanting to post about this and not have it feel like a food blog.

We've also wanted to post about our plans to explore the food heaven that is SE Asia. We hope to find inspiration and evolve our existing recipes and techniques. Until we leave for our big adventure we have a lot to take care of. One of those things is to eat all the food we've got in the cupboards. We found this to be a good exercise in dealing with food waste and managing food costs. Here is one of our first successful items made purely from left-overs, think daily special some day.

M.I.A

We know, we know - we've been M.I.A for a month! But from our last post we've been soaking up the sun and all that summer has to offer. We've also been busy with mundane life that never seem to inspire any need to post. But we'll recap anyways – 1. We've been watching the developments between Cambodia and Thailand disputing over ancient temples (we are planning to cross between Cambodia and Thailand in January) 2. As well as the developments of an attempt to overthrow the current Thai government in Bangkok. Travel advisories are now in effect for Thailand - Boo 3. We've been cheering on the Jamaican Women's Track and Field Stars at the Olympics. Jamaican Women Rule! 4. Crying ourselves to sleep over missing his show and their show. 5. Entertaining Family. 6.Making rendez-vous plans. 7. Tighting up the travel budget and finalizing arrangments. We've also been monitoring Kenya's disasterous post-election events and hope the country soon resolves the disputes and end the tribal clashes. Our African friends and families are in our hearts and minds. We hope to see you soon. Now, how about you? How's your summer going?