Labor Day [And Peanut Butter Dip]

Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you’re not laboring [Sorry, Allie!].

I just finished a lazy breakfast. At 10:40am. On a Monday. This is glorious! I kept thinking I had to wake up early to go to work, but thankfully remembered to turn off my alarm before passing out face first into the pillow falling asleep.

I think this is the first time I’ve really spent time with my laptop all weekend. Have I gotten as much reading and/or Italian lessons done? No, but that’s beside the point.

Friday — Our office closed at 1pm in anticipation of the holiday weekend. Love that. I had a coupon for free lotion at Aveda and a $20 Nordstrom gift card burning a hole in my wallet, so I capitalized on that since I had time to kill before traffic killed my evening [Fun Fact: did you know that Portland has the most congested stretch of traffic on I-5 between Seattle and LA?]. I had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes with some friends and their son because I can’t say no to all you can eat salad [and cornbread and muffins and good conversation about nature horror stories and crafts made out of paper plates]. I wish I would have snapped a photo of the salads I concoct from there. They’re massive. I came home to watch the second half of USA vs. Costa Rica [Andrew was at that game with his parents, lucky!]. I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up to a face very similar to this:

Saturday — Dog walks. Worksouts. Farmer’s Markets. Sleeping in is overrated. Clearly. I’m ashamed to admit that this is the first time I’ve been to the Portland Farmer’s Market. I was overwhelmed the second I could see it. I knew it was a big market, but it’s like 150+ vendors big, spanning two park blocks. It’s a serious self-control challenge to not buy up so much stuff there. It’s not just fruit and veggies, but a ton of bread, cheese, meats, eggs, beers, wines, pastas, ciders, ice cream, and flowers. I think you could almost get away without hitting a traditional grocery store. Because of the competition of so many vendors, prices are really, really good. Thankfully, my friends Mike and Casey are market veterans and could show me the ropes before I was left to my own devices. Again with no photos. I’m terrible. After prepping my stomach with a breakfast burrito [sans cheese. Sigh.] and samples of some ridiculously good seafood vegetable soup that was prepped in a chef demo in the center of the park, I walked out with a huge bunch of spinach, a bunch of carrots, two ears of sweet corn, a pint of golden plums, and some fennel salami.

The evening was spent watching Oregon v. LSU [of which I could care less] in the company of friends, mini cucumber sandwiches, buffalo chicken and steak salad pizzas, and peanut butter dip in preparation of the night’s birthday festivities for Kali.

>insert typical Saturday night bar crawl here that ends with you eating chocolate cashew biscotti and curling up with your dog on the floor when you get home<

Sunday — I finished up some cinnamon pull-apart bread for my grandpa’s birthday [recipe to come, promise!]. Then made this amazing breakfast that I’ve dubbed the Farmer’s Market Hash.

Sauteed yellow squash [from my grandma’s garden], carrots, spinach, fennel salami topped with two eggs. Served with a piece of toast and two golden plums and a large jar of Courier Coffee. Breakfast of champions.

Spent the rest of the day with family–eating my weight in cinnamon pull-apart bread, carrot cake, and carne asada tacos.

Now if you’ve managed to stick with me, congrats. You’re having an even lazier Monday morning than I am. For that, I give you peanut butter dip that tastes great when used with pretzels.

Inspiration: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients

• 8oz cream cheese, softened [I used Tofutti so I could actually eat it]
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/3-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• pretzels, graham crackers, or apples to serve

Preparation

1. Put all of the ingredients except the chocolate chip in the bowl of a mixer.
2. Mix until nice and creamy.
3. Pour into a serving dish, top with chocolate chips, and place in the freezer for 1-1 1/2 hours before serving.
4. Enjoy peanut butter bliss.