rebbermade

I took Calder up to Portland on Tuesday because he and Papa had made plans to ride MAX to Finnegan's and do a little shopping. Of course it meant we'd be in town for 24 hours and would get to do a bit more than just ride the train to the toy store.





After dinner at home we drove up to Hoyt Arboretum/Forest Park to see the mountains from the Overlook Trail and sit for a bit in the meadow on a lovely evening.



Then my parents indulged my need to track down a French macaroon/macaron. I knew Pix had them, but we were on the west side so we thought to check at St. Honoré first. Unfortunately they only make them for the holidays, so off we went over the Fremont Bridge to the east side. We pulled up at Pix on N. Williams only to find that they were closed - this evening only - for a staff party. Dang! But I suggested there was one other place we might try, Petite Provence on Alberta. Sure enough, they were still open and serving at 8:30. And they had giant French macaroons. These guys were traditional in concept, and maybe even in flavor. I don't know, is chocolate passion fruit traditional? Where they veer from tradition was in their size. They were 6" in diameter! But boy was it tasty! Okay, so maybe the flavor combo was a little odd to me, but I can now tell that these treats are worth trying over and over again. Did anyone else out there think they were made up of dry, crumbly meringue? Well, they're actually fairly moist, deliciously almond flavored and dense and they can sandwich any number of familiar or intriguing flavored cremes. And now I've had one... finally!



Oh, and then the next day Calder and Papa had their train ride to the toy store where he got to choose both an articulated dump truck and a cement mixer. Clearly a pretty sweet trip for both of us.