Celebrity Sightings!

 

Did you know the University of Portland has its share of celebrities? One is a current student, two are alumni and one is the fabulously hip new President! So far, I've had my photo taken with two of the four.

 

 

Meet Kevin Chung!

Kevin is the star of Ping Pong Playa! Omid, the kids and I discovered this movie back in 2009.

We all fell in love with Kevin and his adorable character. I blogged about the movie here. Kevin also stars in the movie SPORKS which we haven't seen yet, but it's on our list.

Meet Father Mark Poorman!

Father Poorman is the newly inaugurated 20th President of the University of Portland. He is so adorable and approachable and is known for taking fun selfies with students/faculty/staff! I have tried on several occasions to get a selfie with Father Mark, but have been unsuccessful. Lucky for me, my boss is besties with Father Mark & arranged a one-on-one for me to get my photo taken in Father Mark's Presidential office! Thanks, André! By the way, having my photo taken with Father Mark was the absolute highlight of my day!

The other two UP celebrity alums are Raj (Kunal Nayyar) from The Big Bang Theory

 

 

and Erik Spoelstra, head coach of the Miami Heat.

 

I'm not sure how often these two visit campus, but hopefully, I'll be able to take a selfie with them too!

Quince & Clams

 

Don't be mislead by the title!

 

Quince & clams do not go well together...well, at least I don't think they do!

 

We had a busy Saturday at our house. Up at dawn to prep a bag full of quince that a coworker had given Omid. Omid's grandma, Mamani, used to make a most delicious quince marmalade, so we just had to try and duplicate it.

 

We started out by washing & peeling the quince, then chopping them. Have you ever tried chopping quince? It takes brute force! The quince were rock hard, so Omid actually had to do all the chopping.

 

When he was done, he had about 9.5 cups of quince.  We used Fig & Quince's recipe for a start, then Omid decided to add orange blossom water to the mix. That must have been Mamani's secret ingredient, because when we both tasted the finished product, we were nostalgicly transported to Mamani's kitchen.

 

 

After the quince simmers for a few hours, it turns a beautiful ruby red!

Omid actually found this paper with Mamani's handwriting on it.
It says: Mateen Omid.
It accompanied some forgotten food item that she had made for Matty & Omid.
Omid though it only fitting that we take a photo with the marmalade & her handwriting. ♥

Mamani sometime in the 1920s.

After we cleaned up the kitchen, we headed west to Long Beach, WA for the razor clam dig.

On the way to the coast, we listened to the WSU-OSU game. COUGS WON!!! 39-32! We needed this win something bad. It's been a heartbreaking season for the Cougs.

Conditions at the coast were perfect! 60*, no wind, lots of sunshine!
 

Anxious to get our clam on!

We got our limits in 30 minutes and stuck around for a bit to stargaze. It was a beautiful night, and the sky was gorgeously filled with millions of stars.

This morning, we processed our clams. Afterwards Omid flash-fried the clams in butter, alongside a tasty cheddar & red pepper omelet.

 

All in all, a delicious end to a beautiful weekend.