breakfast: french pressed Stumptown coffee -good times
later:Double Americano -12 oz at the downtown Stumptown. I think. Hell,maybe I just got normal coffee....
lunch:I'm thinking it was tacos from Jarochita's. Two fish, one chicken. Delicioso. Con salsa verde y un poco de limon. estimated price: $4.50 damn good. Go there already.
dinner: at Sophie's house. Mashed potatoes and portabella mushrooms. Good? No... effin' Fantastic Yes, with a capital f. I forgot exactly what was on them- I will edit it in later. Sophie cooks real good. She makes delectable vegan meals and desserts. I sure as hell love dairy products and couldn't rule them out of my life but if anyone would make me think there was a reason to, it'd be Sophie. If she wants to be my persoanl chef forever I can commit to a mostly vegan diet. Though I know I would have to get some fish tacos, sushi, and ice cream from outside sources at least every now and then. Having Sophie and Jesse as dining companions is the main event, the meal is secondary. I am dining there to see them, not actaully to be fed(if I showed up and they handed me a bowl of cereal I'd still be happy). I bring a bottle of Jerry Garcia wine. Red. I forget what type. Not bad though(It wouldn't go well with cereal, so it is good that Sophie made a real meal).
dessert: oh my god in heaven.Sophie rocked this recipe for a chocolate beet cake. She frosted it with not one but two (!) tastetastic frostings, and I ate two pieces...quickly...and vowed to return the next day to "help" eat more. Jesse and Sophie surely could do without me invading their dessert supply...but, hey, I loved that cake. One day Sophie might go pro..and I can say "I knew her way back when", right before leaning over and procurring a few bites of whatever goodness she has just whipped up.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday's Stew
Ok...where was I? After consuming one can of Pabst(standard size, not a tall boy) at the polo game I decided more drinking was in everyone's best interest. So I went to the "across the street store" to pick up some beer for the crew of miscreants that make up the polo men(and sometimes women). After doing a careful price check I discover that while one could get a 12 pack of Miller Genuine Draft for $9.84, one would be an idiot to not obtain a 18 pack of Miller High Life for $9.99.
Now, I should pause to inform you, dear reader, that I am not so much a fan of cheap beer. I like beer. By which I mean I like to drink good beer. When I am buying for my own personal supply I purchase quality beer such as anything made by Full Sail, Bridgeport, Sierra Nevada, and some other breweries. If Chimay is on sale, I'm all over that. If I'm feeling sentimental about certain vacations I'll hunt down some Hoegaarden-a tasty Belgian white beer that was consumed in mass quantities whilst in the Netherlands back in 2001.A brief stay in Belguim of course heavily influenced my taste buds to seek out several variations of that country's beers.They know what they are doing when it comes to beer. Except with that frambroise merde, or any of the real sweet fruit beers-that just isn't right.But if you spy a Westmalle Trippel sitting at your grocery store, try it out. You're gonna like it, if you really like beer.
However when buying beer for a group of guys, who just spent a few hours having fun whilst engaged in an extreme sport, I choose to be pragmatic. Will they drink cheap beer? Yes. Will they like it? Yes. Should I really invest anything over $10 in buying beer? No. So the decision is easy enough. There is a part of me that feels guilty, as if I should provide an alternative to bad beer, but I guess I don't care that much. Or my bank account isn't big enough. Either/or.
Sometimes I bring my own beer to ensure quality drinking, but sometimes you have to have a pack mentality. If I didn't plan ahead I'm certainly not going to buy myself a good beer and hand over the cheap stuff to them, that just isn't good manners.
As I cross the street with box o' beer in hand, "Danger" is approaching, planning on doing the beer run. Seeing that I have the task accomplished he forks over $5 to the cause. We return to the house ready to imbibe.
Talk of stew making had permeated the polo courts earlier and lo and behold, it is actually going to happen. The chefs will be Ben and John, with the occasional contribution from Drew or some random person. "Too many cooks spoil the broth" and I've never made a freakin' stew before so I stay out of the kitchen, except for the occasional wandering over to the pot to smell, inspect and taste the broth as it is on its way to being dinner. Chef Miller mentions the possibility of making rice to accompany the stew and eventually does so. Chef Campbell announces that the key ingredients to a good stew are celery, onions, and carrots. I think that is what he said anyhow. I made a mental note to remember this should I ever want to make my own stew, but as I'd checked my beer standards in at the door I was busy drinking. The result being, of course, that I can't remember precisely what he said.
As the stew simmered away an intoxicating smell filled the kitchen and living room and caused me to realize I was very hungry. Someone had the good thinking to get chips and salsa so there was available snacking. Not wanting to spoil my dinner, I only nibbled on a few chips.
When the stew and rice were finally ready everyone dug in with fervor and I'm pretty sure the consensus was the stew was a success. Of course, I wasn't actaully chronicling what anyone else thought. More beer had been purchased-and as cans were cracked open, bowls were refilled and all seemed right in the world.
Or at least at la casa de polo.
Now, I should pause to inform you, dear reader, that I am not so much a fan of cheap beer. I like beer. By which I mean I like to drink good beer. When I am buying for my own personal supply I purchase quality beer such as anything made by Full Sail, Bridgeport, Sierra Nevada, and some other breweries. If Chimay is on sale, I'm all over that. If I'm feeling sentimental about certain vacations I'll hunt down some Hoegaarden-a tasty Belgian white beer that was consumed in mass quantities whilst in the Netherlands back in 2001.A brief stay in Belguim of course heavily influenced my taste buds to seek out several variations of that country's beers.They know what they are doing when it comes to beer. Except with that frambroise merde, or any of the real sweet fruit beers-that just isn't right.But if you spy a Westmalle Trippel sitting at your grocery store, try it out. You're gonna like it, if you really like beer.
However when buying beer for a group of guys, who just spent a few hours having fun whilst engaged in an extreme sport, I choose to be pragmatic. Will they drink cheap beer? Yes. Will they like it? Yes. Should I really invest anything over $10 in buying beer? No. So the decision is easy enough. There is a part of me that feels guilty, as if I should provide an alternative to bad beer, but I guess I don't care that much. Or my bank account isn't big enough. Either/or.
Sometimes I bring my own beer to ensure quality drinking, but sometimes you have to have a pack mentality. If I didn't plan ahead I'm certainly not going to buy myself a good beer and hand over the cheap stuff to them, that just isn't good manners.
As I cross the street with box o' beer in hand, "Danger" is approaching, planning on doing the beer run. Seeing that I have the task accomplished he forks over $5 to the cause. We return to the house ready to imbibe.
Talk of stew making had permeated the polo courts earlier and lo and behold, it is actually going to happen. The chefs will be Ben and John, with the occasional contribution from Drew or some random person. "Too many cooks spoil the broth" and I've never made a freakin' stew before so I stay out of the kitchen, except for the occasional wandering over to the pot to smell, inspect and taste the broth as it is on its way to being dinner. Chef Miller mentions the possibility of making rice to accompany the stew and eventually does so. Chef Campbell announces that the key ingredients to a good stew are celery, onions, and carrots. I think that is what he said anyhow. I made a mental note to remember this should I ever want to make my own stew, but as I'd checked my beer standards in at the door I was busy drinking. The result being, of course, that I can't remember precisely what he said.
As the stew simmered away an intoxicating smell filled the kitchen and living room and caused me to realize I was very hungry. Someone had the good thinking to get chips and salsa so there was available snacking. Not wanting to spoil my dinner, I only nibbled on a few chips.
When the stew and rice were finally ready everyone dug in with fervor and I'm pretty sure the consensus was the stew was a success. Of course, I wasn't actaully chronicling what anyone else thought. More beer had been purchased-and as cans were cracked open, bowls were refilled and all seemed right in the world.
Or at least at la casa de polo.
All our yesterdays
I couldn't get access to the computer to update this, so now I have to backtrack. However I only have 7 minutes until I need to be in class, so this is only going to be a "little tiny" blurb-about Sunday's food intake.
I ride over to Albina Press as planned and down one double Americano-12 oz-mais oui and one cheddar jalapeno bagel, toasted, with butter. Yum, yum. A glass of water is also consumed. the coffee was good, and I liked the space. The bagel was typical of good coffee shops. remeber when Broadway bagels used to be downtwon? One coudld just swing by and pick up a bag of day olds for sumthin' like three bucks? Ah, those were the days...Cheddar jalapeno is always my favorite. onion, everything, sesame, blueberry are all good too. The best was when you would get a blueberry bagel toasted with strawberry cream cheese. Oh my god.Those days are gone now. BB, where'd you go? I can't even picture what is in the space right now cos I have blocked it out-it isn't what is supposed to be there, afterall).
After the bike ride I hit up the taco joint on Mississippi with a member of my bike team, er rather an expat..she is moving on to another team, but still plans to rock the road with whomever she pleases. Yes, this is the way we roll.Anyhow- at the taco place-Porque No?,I believe is its not very clever name, I inhaled two tacos-one veggie, one de pollo. They were not bad, but the service was a lil sketchy-we had to wait a bit to find the waitress, after she already knew we were there and were wanting to order...More water was consumed. I think the total cost for los dos tacos was 4 or 5 smackers. I had been there once before, it is alright, if you are in the neighborhood and need something fairly quickly...but out of all the taco places in this fine city I wouldn't exactly suggest going there first....(I'd say go to Jarochitos-the taco cart on 5th-if its business hours on a weekday-I think it is open on Saturday as well. get whatever. the tacos are good, but so are the tortas, and if you ask Lupe what you should get, she'll suggest sumthin'-order it and try it out-what do you have to lose?).
Ok-dinner on Sunday was beef stew-and I have words to write about it, but I am now 3 minutes late to my class. So, that'll have to wait.
I ride over to Albina Press as planned and down one double Americano-12 oz-mais oui and one cheddar jalapeno bagel, toasted, with butter. Yum, yum. A glass of water is also consumed. the coffee was good, and I liked the space. The bagel was typical of good coffee shops. remeber when Broadway bagels used to be downtwon? One coudld just swing by and pick up a bag of day olds for sumthin' like three bucks? Ah, those were the days...Cheddar jalapeno is always my favorite. onion, everything, sesame, blueberry are all good too. The best was when you would get a blueberry bagel toasted with strawberry cream cheese. Oh my god.Those days are gone now. BB, where'd you go? I can't even picture what is in the space right now cos I have blocked it out-it isn't what is supposed to be there, afterall).
After the bike ride I hit up the taco joint on Mississippi with a member of my bike team, er rather an expat..she is moving on to another team, but still plans to rock the road with whomever she pleases. Yes, this is the way we roll.Anyhow- at the taco place-Porque No?,I believe is its not very clever name, I inhaled two tacos-one veggie, one de pollo. They were not bad, but the service was a lil sketchy-we had to wait a bit to find the waitress, after she already knew we were there and were wanting to order...More water was consumed. I think the total cost for los dos tacos was 4 or 5 smackers. I had been there once before, it is alright, if you are in the neighborhood and need something fairly quickly...but out of all the taco places in this fine city I wouldn't exactly suggest going there first....(I'd say go to Jarochitos-the taco cart on 5th-if its business hours on a weekday-I think it is open on Saturday as well. get whatever. the tacos are good, but so are the tortas, and if you ask Lupe what you should get, she'll suggest sumthin'-order it and try it out-what do you have to lose?).
Ok-dinner on Sunday was beef stew-and I have words to write about it, but I am now 3 minutes late to my class. So, that'll have to wait.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
the morning after
Oh, so last night when I was tired and hungry and not wanting to cook those frozen black bean and cheese taquitos from trader Joe's seemed like a great idea. Zap em in the hotbox for a couple of minutes and insta-snack! Followed by some Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch icecream. Oh, yes, I was caught up in the moment.This morning I'm sneaking out, with no note...
I will try to purge my poor food choice by eating well today. kicking things off with a bowl fo granola should be a good start. I must head over to NoPo to get coffee at Albina Press, there is a bike ride to go on after I get caffeinated. I've never been to AP, so it will be nice to try a new coffee shop.
My aim is to note all of my food experiences here. the good, the bad, the ugly. I may not always be proud of what I eat, but at least I'm honest.
I will try to purge my poor food choice by eating well today. kicking things off with a bowl fo granola should be a good start. I must head over to NoPo to get coffee at Albina Press, there is a bike ride to go on after I get caffeinated. I've never been to AP, so it will be nice to try a new coffee shop.
My aim is to note all of my food experiences here. the good, the bad, the ugly. I may not always be proud of what I eat, but at least I'm honest.
Toast!
Everyone worth their weight in flour knows that one of the easiest, tastiest snacks to sink your teeth in(excluding fruits and veggies that are ready to eat) is toast. What they also should know is that toast sans butter is a sad scenario. Even if one has quality bread, without butter (or your topping of choice) it just isn't the same. Unfortunately I have found myself in this predicament. I'm not at my place and the people who live here are out of town for the weekend, and they took their non butter spread with them. There was one stick of butter, and the dog swiped it off the counter earlier. I meant to grab the stick I had over at a friend's place when I was there earlier but alas, I forgot. There is no 24 hour store nearby, otherwise I'd jump on the bike and straighten this all out. If this was my neck of the woods-well, I'd have butter in my fridge for starters and if I'd somehow run out I could be to the QFC and back in a matter of minutes.
Luckily the bread I've toasted up is of a good sort. I picked it up from La Petite Provence earlier today.It is walnut currant bread, and it tastes great.I'd noticed the shop on Division a little while back, and shortly after I read a raving review in one of the local weeklies.I've been meaning to hit it up for its "divine pastries" but I keep forgetting about it. Besides the bread, I grabbed the last almond croissant sitting in the display, and it was scrumptious. Yes, I said scrumptious.I have some opinions about croissants. Don't eat that shit from the supermarket if you can help it, ok? Don't go to any old bakery and assume their croissant is good, just cos you don't know any better. You want a fucking good almond croissant? Go to the Pearl Bakery. That is what I've been telling people for years. But now...I'm gonna have to bump them down to notch number two. Go to Petite Provence and try it for yourself. They have lots of other little treats that looked delectable but I didn't need to sample those fares justyet. I'll go back later and see what else they have, but for now I'm hapy with the items I got.
I noticed a few other changes on the street. Victory, a bar that has apparently been open for a month now on 36th and Division, seems mostly to be a wine bar but they have food and beer, too. I ordered one of the draft beers-it was listed as "The Beliver" but I think it was supposed to "Believer". I already forgot what brewery made it, it wasn't one I had heard of before. But the winter ale that I drank was delicious. Cold, crisp, and perfect. I wanted to order the spaetzel but they were already closing down the "kitchen" so I vowed to return at a later date. I sipped my beer, reading from Anthony Bourdain's "The Nasty Bits" and was tempted to grab another beer but I wanted to get soem food. I'd been eyeing this restaurant up on 41st and Division that had a sign declaring "late night food" in the window for the past couple of weeks. I decided to brave the cold and hustle up the street. To my dissapointment the joint was closed. Late night food, my ass. I don't know why they would be closed at 1 am on a Saturday. I might try ot go there again, but I was pretty miffed that a place declaring its late night menu wouldn't be open on one of the busiest nights of the restaurant world.
This is how I wind up throwing bread in the toaster and being annoyed that the butter is missing.I'm going to have to eat something else, most likely requiring that I actually prepare it, which isn't a problem in and of itslef, but...I wanted to get someone else to do the dirty work...
"Coke & wet bitch /guns nigga/holla!"-Spankrock (these lines in the song make me want someone to serve me some caviar and a magnum of champagne..that'd go reaaal good with toast, dontcha think?)
Luckily the bread I've toasted up is of a good sort. I picked it up from La Petite Provence earlier today.It is walnut currant bread, and it tastes great.I'd noticed the shop on Division a little while back, and shortly after I read a raving review in one of the local weeklies.I've been meaning to hit it up for its "divine pastries" but I keep forgetting about it. Besides the bread, I grabbed the last almond croissant sitting in the display, and it was scrumptious. Yes, I said scrumptious.I have some opinions about croissants. Don't eat that shit from the supermarket if you can help it, ok? Don't go to any old bakery and assume their croissant is good, just cos you don't know any better. You want a fucking good almond croissant? Go to the Pearl Bakery. That is what I've been telling people for years. But now...I'm gonna have to bump them down to notch number two. Go to Petite Provence and try it for yourself. They have lots of other little treats that looked delectable but I didn't need to sample those fares justyet. I'll go back later and see what else they have, but for now I'm hapy with the items I got.
I noticed a few other changes on the street. Victory, a bar that has apparently been open for a month now on 36th and Division, seems mostly to be a wine bar but they have food and beer, too. I ordered one of the draft beers-it was listed as "The Beliver" but I think it was supposed to "Believer". I already forgot what brewery made it, it wasn't one I had heard of before. But the winter ale that I drank was delicious. Cold, crisp, and perfect. I wanted to order the spaetzel but they were already closing down the "kitchen" so I vowed to return at a later date. I sipped my beer, reading from Anthony Bourdain's "The Nasty Bits" and was tempted to grab another beer but I wanted to get soem food. I'd been eyeing this restaurant up on 41st and Division that had a sign declaring "late night food" in the window for the past couple of weeks. I decided to brave the cold and hustle up the street. To my dissapointment the joint was closed. Late night food, my ass. I don't know why they would be closed at 1 am on a Saturday. I might try ot go there again, but I was pretty miffed that a place declaring its late night menu wouldn't be open on one of the busiest nights of the restaurant world.
This is how I wind up throwing bread in the toaster and being annoyed that the butter is missing.I'm going to have to eat something else, most likely requiring that I actually prepare it, which isn't a problem in and of itslef, but...I wanted to get someone else to do the dirty work...
"Coke & wet bitch /guns nigga/holla!"-Spankrock (these lines in the song make me want someone to serve me some caviar and a magnum of champagne..that'd go reaaal good with toast, dontcha think?)
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