Mommy Visits Portland: Part II

It's sometimes amazing how fast a week can go by.  I just dropped the mother off at the airport and am feeling melancholy.  A blog post is in order then, to revisit some of the happy times of the week.

Tuesday - Thursday

The weather was really not very good for most of the week so we stayed in a great deal.  Sometimes we ventured out to run some errands, but for the most part, we cooked and chatted and worked on sudokus and watched movies.  My mom would run the vacuum around the house while I was at work in the mornings (this actually seems to be a trend for people who visit me...) and then I would fix lunch for us when I came home again.  All very pleasant.

Friday

In the afternoon we made a small batch of zhong zi so my mom could show me the proper way of wrapping them.  I was quite impressed, it was obvious the way I had been doing it before was totally wrong.  She made really beautiful pyramid shaped ones.  I asked her why she never made these for me growing up and she just laughed and shrugged.  The nerve!  

We then headed to the Portland Museum of Art, but unfortunately once my mom found out it was NOT in fact, free friday, she was resistant to going.  So instead we walked about the downtown area and then went to Stumptown for cappuccinos.  She agreed the coffee was tasty, but then declared that she could make it herself as she had a milk frother at home.  I was skeptical and told her to practice so she could make one for me the next time I came home.

Later that night, we went to a french bistro called Little Bird for an early mother's day celebration.  My mom never likes to spend money on going out, but once we were there, she enjoyed herself quite a lot I think.  The place was very charming and the staff friendly.  Most importantly, the food was completely delicious.  I thought the appetizers sounded more interesting than the entrees so decided to order 6 little plates and a dessert.

We had:

Grilled lamb belly, peas, mint, whipped creme fraiche

Sweetbreads, roasted mushrooms, marrow onion puree

Escargot, garlic cream, gourgeres

Roasted marrow bones 

Beets, mache, hazelnuts, goat cheese cream

Lavender creme brulee with riesling strawberries

(and I forgot to take a picture of the mussels, green garlic, lemon fries)

We ate ourselves silly and had some to bring home for lunch the next day.  It was such a nice time and I'm already looking about for another interesting restaurant to take her to the next time she visits.  She's fun to go out with because she appreciates novel foods and new places (even though she puts up some resistance initially).