Crema is a popular Kerns bakery, which we haven’t had a chance to return to in three years.   And except for its increased popularity, its basics remain the same: an impressive counter and display of great looking pastries, and chairs/tables reminiscent of an institutional dining hall.  Like most of the bakeries we’ve visited, homey hang-out amenities are missing, without hurting their popularity. Huddled around a table, today’s discussion hit on a series of diverse topics:  E’s having lost his suitcase and laptop at the beginning of a Seattle conference where he was a speaker, nevertheless pulling off a well received session, and just now being informed that his belongings were found in another room of the hotel; our frustration that Sen. Wyden and Rep. Blumenauer support fast tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership;  M’s report on a great Dog Mountain hike, and D and he searching an I-phone app to ID a wildflower that was new to M; and E’s enthusiasm over two unorthodox new building designs by developer Kevin Cavanaugh: The Zipper under construction on NE Sandy/28th, and a soon-to-be-built multi-story project that resembles a barbell for inner SE. 2728 SE Ankeny       http://www.cremabakery.com