A Social Experiment…henna for tips

I'm not the first and I'm sure I won't be the last. Last what? A henna artist that works for tips. I admit that this isn't the first time I've done this. The very first time was about a year ago at a henna party. Everyone there came to have their henna done by moi, and I said name your price. Some were generous and of course you'll have those few who are stingy, but hey I did say tip so they tipped. 

Last week I set up a table at a street fair type event. It was free to set up, and there were plenty of prime spots (it was 80+ that day). I kept it simple with a sign on a tip jar. Grammar Nazis feel free to jump on my sign, I usually don't make mistakes like that but I was fasting so forgive me. 

It wasn't long before I had my first customer a whopping $9 for a $5 om symbol, a nice generous tip. I won't go tip by tip, tattoo by tattoo but by the end of the night I was happy. I pulled lots of bigger designs out of my festival design books but I must have missed one because I was on these large floral strips for about 20 minutes (I pulled it and tucked it away). I had customers pay $20 for $5 designs, and one stinker paid nothing for a $10 design. The average tip was $10/person, and I found the tips starting to thin out a bit by the end of the night. I made more than my normal hourly rate and had customers from start to finish. I'll probably try this again at this same event next month. 

If you're a budding henna artist, hennaing for tips is a great way to get started. 

Salt and Straw Portland OR

Alberta street is the place to be if you want to sit and watch hipsters be "cool".  I do remember a time when Alberta street wasn't like that, oh the memories…

Ok so on with the review. After having dinner at a local food cart (which I'll also review), I decided to take a nice stroll. As I as continued to walk, happy smiling faces licking ice cream cones were everywhere, and then it hit me. I want ice cream!

Salt and Straw is a local spot boasting unusual flavor combos.The first thing I noticed was the line trailing out the door. I wasn't phased, I needed that ice cream, so I joined. The line moved quickly and I had a delish cone in my hand in no time. 

I had the almond brittle with salted ganache. OMG! One of the tastiest flavors I've had in a long time. Love love loved it. 

I can't wait to go back. My only complaint is that the little paper menu was confusing to read. The new flavors with beer immediately stick out while the others (beer free) are in the back. I was a little confused and ordered the first flavor without alcohol in it, which ended up being AMAZING. Once inside, the menu on the wall makes a lot more sense. 

Customer service is excellent. Price is what I expected $4.75. Oh, and did I say that ice cream was amazing? Yes, it was. 

• Salt and Straw gets a 9 out of 10 in my book. 

Stumplings Food Cart Portland OR

I'm a gigantic fan of Asian street food. Dumplings, bao, tea, and whatever else they can steam I'm game for it. Stumplings food cart is located in a small pod with three other carts in the Alberta Arts district in NE Portland. I originally found them on Facebook. 

Stump comes from "stumptown" one of Portland's many nicknames, and lings because well…they serve dumplings. 

This review is just after my most recent visit (it was my third). I keep coming back because I love the food, and the service is good. There is another local dumpling business called Steamers, the food is mediocre and their customer service sucks big time. But this review isn't about Steamers so let's proceed. 

I ordered 9 dumplings (6 spicy chicken, and 3 spinach), one coconut custard bao, creamy peanut sauce, and a Thai iced tea. I once tried a tandoori chicken bao they made but they didn't have it this time (it was super salty anyway). It took less than 10 minutes for fresh hot food. Whoo hoo! 

First thing I noticed as I bit into a chicken dumpling. Filled with juice, not something that happened the first two times I ate there. It was really hot juice. Not a big deal, they are steamed so…

The spinach dumplings were meh, no hot juice in those. I probably won't have the spinach again. Nothing wrong with them per se, just not right for my taste buds. Everything else was perfect. Bao steamed to perfection, and Thai tea on point. The chicken dumplings were not over cooked, steamed just right, and very tasty. Unlike steamers who seems to over cook their dumplings to rubber, but again this review isn't about sucky Steamers. 

I decided to sit and eat at the shared outdoor dining area. Well…out of the four  food carts in the pod, someone needs to pitch in and clean daily. Food on the tables, flies because there's food on the tables, dead leaves around (it's summer, sweep already), storage for art (not what that area is for), and storage for a late 90's model big screen tv (really? Come on). I won't sit and eat again. 

The Stumplings food cart is really clean and professional looking, that's a bonus. So my recommendations…please serve edemame instead of cabbage as a green, warn about the hot juice in freshly steamed dumplings, talk to your neighbor carts about keeping the dining area clean for customers, and please keep up the good work. I'll be back! 

Prices are very reasonable. Total came to $10.75 for my very filling tasty meal. This visit gets an 8, and one bonus point for having compostable containers.