Nuvrei's MAC BAR in the Pearl

                   

Nuvrei Pâtisserie & Cafe has decided to step up their game and provide Portland with it's very own MAC bar. I had the privilege of attending a launch party where I was able to sample croissants, macarons and bagels...all house made. I have only visited Nuvrei one other time and clearly, I have been missing out. The almond croissant I took with me barely made it out of the car. I mean really, a fresh croissant needs to be eaten on the spot. 

When I arrived, my mouth was welcomed with a buttery, warm croissant (yup...I had two) before I even had a chance to walk in the door. Oh yeah, why am I here again? The macarons...let me get back on track. Nuvrei has always had a great reputation for their perfect macarons and now they have a special  MAC BAR to feature all their incredible flavors. My favorite of the night was chai but I also sampled chestnut, hazelnut and white chocolate. Next time I visit, I want to try earl grey and espresso. Nothing like having dessert for dinner! My kind of night. 

This is great place to stop and cozy upThe Pearl District or if you are looking to give the gift of dessert, stop in for a dozen macarons. Oh and their coffee is from Heart Coffee Roasters, which is a bonus!

Nuvrei

404 NW 10th Avenue

Portland, Oregon

503.972.1700

open mon - sat 7am - 5pm | sun 8am - 5pm

Seasons are changing. Lets bake.

Well...I have officially welcomed Autumn with my first baking session of the season. I must thank Ina Garten for this yummy apple crisp recipe because I was too lazy to think up something on my own. Yes, I know what you are thinking, apple crisp is not a difficult recipe to throw together. Well I was lazy so I needed to rely on the Barefoot Contessa for this one. I will step up my game this season, I still have plenty of time.

                   

Welcome to the season of butternut squash, pumpkin, apples and cinnamon!

See everyone at Feast Portland tomorrow! Can't wait for al the events...stay tuned for this weekend's post. 

Willamette Valley: Carlton Bakery

Portland is lucky to have a local bakery or coffee house on every corner and I wish we had more places like this in the Willamette Valley. Fortunately, we are getting closer with new places like,Carlton Bakery. It is about a 25 minute drive from Newberg, on the back roads of Hwy 240, but it is well worth it! The route is scenic, through beautiful farmland, and the pastries are absolutely divine!

This husband/wife duo recently opened this bakery for their love of perfect pastries and even better baguettes. Neither of them had culinary or baking experience but fell in love with a bakery in Japan and knew that it was time for a career change. Tim would wake up early each morning and head to the local bakery to learn how to make the baked goods from scratch. With lots of practice and a couple years of baking classes, Tim and his wife, Ahmee, decided it was time to open their own bakery! They settled on an old gas station, which had since been converted to The Filling Station Deli. Eventually, they decided to change the name to "Carlton Bakery." The old garage was renovated into a working kitchen and their dream of making fresh pastries, baguettes and croissants came true!

Since I have a problem making decisions when it comes to food, I tried a little sample of everything. The BLT sandwich, on their house made baguette with Carlton Farms bacon, is fantastic. They even have a simple, French baguette with cheese and ham that makes you feel like you are traveling abroad. Do not get me started on the pastries, please. I tried the fruit tart, sesame pastry, croissant and the chocolate croissant. No, I did not eat them all to myself. But next time, I am going back for the walnut bread...and some other Gorgonzola pastry that looked fabulous.

Carlton Bakery

305 W Main Street

Carlton, Oregon

503.852.6687

open Wednesday - Sunday 

Check out their Facebook page for more photos.

Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes...better than muffins.

Thanks to a friend and the Two Peas & Their Pod blog, I have discovered a new favorite pumpkin recipe! To be honest, I haven't come across a pumpkin recipe that I didn't like, but this particular recipe is easy and delicious. It is a baked donut hole...with pumpkin! Technically, you could call it a muffin because you use a mini muffin pan, but it is so much more!

via two peas & their pod

The recipe calls for all the basic ingredients (most I already had in my kitchen) finished with a sweet coating of butter, cinnamon and sugar. The full recipe is here and it yields about 24-32 muffins.

One recommendation: if you plan on sharing this pumpkin goodness, I would either bake them the day you plan to share with friends or bake the night before and do the coating the next day. Otherwise, they get slightly soggy from the butter. Don't put them right in a sealed container like I did...let them cool on a wire rack.

So happy I found this great recipe! Happy fall baking!

Enjoy.

Baking with berries - Berry hazelnut honey crisp

Summer is upon us and sadly we only have a few weeks left...but lucky for us Oregonians, we have a great berry season! Last year, I went berry picking at Rowell Bros. in Hillsboro, Oregon, but this year I headed to the farmlands at Crawford's Produce in Cornelius, Oregon. They have a stand at the Orenco Station Farmer's Market with all kinds of berries and other produce. So we headed out to the farm and ended up picking 12lbs of berries, including blackberries, boysenberries and blueberries!

My craving for berries came from a Blackberry hazelnut honey crisp recipe that I found in Sunset Magazine! It looked fabulous...so I found a similar recipe online and improvised (if you have read my blog before, you know I like to find multiple recipes and make my own creation).

Find the full recipe here, but below are the ingredients and my modifications:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (I used boysenberries) 
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 4 tablespoons white sugar (I used wildflower honey to sweeten instead) 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups butter

PLUS - add 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts to the mixture. YUM! 

This recipe was delicious and did not take long at all! As usual, it was easy...because I like simple and quick recipes.

It is a great dessert for a dinner party or a summer BBQ. I prepped it in the pan ahead of time and then after dinner I put it in the oven 30 minutes and it was ready to go! Have it with some homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Do you have any great berry recipes you love? I still have about 8 more pounds of berries to use :)