Portland: Day 1

Well the 18 hour drive is over...for now. Our dinner reservations were made for 7 o'clock, so when we were passing through hood river we knew we had to stop at Full Sail once again for lunch and refreshments. For those of you who have been living under a rock, or just Mormon, full sail is a famous independent brewery, shipping their godlike nectar all over the nation.

I couldn't handle a full on pint so early in the afternoon, so me and Zach vouched for one of their two sampler trays: the reserve that contained special brews of different brew-masters as well as their delicious barley wine I have not been able to find anywhere else but the restaurant itself. I also really enjoyed the Belgian ale that utilized smoked hops. The food was also amazing, and much better then the ribs I had the first time I went there. I had a rueben with brisket and bacon. I'm drooling again....

For dinner we went to a restaurant and meat shop: The Laurelhurst market. I am a little ashamed to admit it was one of the most anticipated restaurants of the vacation, but certainly should not be the best. The environment was relaxing and the smells were wonderful, but by new york strip did not deliver and nothing better then I could have gotten at Jeffery's back in Moab. I was honestly disappointed they cut if before serving it to me and the flavor was just not there. However, the potatoes (Roasted French Fingerling Potatoes -- Black Garlic, Hazelnuts, Basil) were amazing, and the boys enjoyed their dinner. 

We wrapped up the night with the talk of the town ice cream shop: Salt & Straw. Salt & Straw serves only fresh homemade ice cream using seasonal local ingredients all the while coming up with some wacky flavors. I have been excited to try the Chevre Malonberry Habanero Jam flavor which turned out amazing. I wish it had been a little more spicy but it's hard to find others in the west with a palate like mine. Danzig had the strawberry ice cream w/ balsamic glaze. Luckily we didn't have to wait for an hour, and the line was much more mellow then Voodoo Doughnuts. 

Maiden

Through out my twelve or so years of internet memories, I started and unfortunately faded away many blogs. These included Diary Land, Live Journal, Word press, but not blogger! Okay I lied I just deleted my lame ass blog for college English and some other random project that only went four posts far. My problem may have had to do with creativity, interesting material, probably presentation most of all, but I have started to not give a shit-because this blog is really only for myself and close family and friends.

I have had a major desire to get back on the blogger scene mainly do to my upcoming vacation (back to Oregon), and through Seattle. I also had the AMAZING opportunity of seeing Iron Maiden live one week ago in SLC's USANA Amphitheater.

In other news (besides work and stress-fully packing all my shit), I take a few moments out of my day to tend to the garden. I'm sure I should be spending more time but between gym, work, and kiddo what are ya gonna do. My serranos are growin-growin and a few eggplants will be ready to harvest soon. Can you see Parmesan eggplant on the dinner table? No, well screw you I can. 

Vacation begins in four days, and you can beg I will be posting some amazing shit.

Bundles of poems

Money

I crawled out of the covers today

thinking of money

scratched at my face

but it had not left

Deceitful images of hard work

leading to prosperity

let's not forget success

It insisted staying for breakfast

demanding coffee and cereal

such a common meal for something so serious

And yet it lingered

like a horrible rash

or even pink eye-

for all to see

what to tell others but only truth?

Only time will tell with money

forces you to keep it around

even if you stuff it in the back of your dresser

and your mind

worry will come

what if's?

& not to forget:

“If I just work a little more...”

______________________

Macchiato

This town is dead

It's Winter after all

The snow won't even visit this year

no one

I wound up at the cafe

was served a milk stained espresso

then shoes out

“Go home.”

On the drive home

I could feel someone

invisible

pressing against the back of my seat

reminding me how trapped

caged

closed

my mind is

In Winter

Happy New Years! w/ Sake Mojitos!!

Now this I am ecstatic about. After mixing a mojito way back with store bought mojito mix, I was really grossed out and thought they weren't all they were cracked up to be. Well of course almost everything is better fresh, and after seeing a recipe for Sake Mojitos somewhere across the internet, i decided to make my own.

As you can guess, living in Utah means limited choices. The state liquor store has a very selected few bottles of Sake. However, the ever growing popularity of Sushi and Sake in our town means they have to have something decent.

The hubby picked up Snow Maiden (Tozai), a milky rice wine with very subtle flavors of banana and nutty aromas. It was amazing how easy it was to drink. 

Sake Mojitos: (Makes 1 Drink)

6 Ounces of chosen sake
1 t sugar
7 mint leaves & one sprint of mint for garnish
1/2 lime sliced into three pieces
Ice
1/4 cup club soda
Drink shaker




Squeeze the lime pieces into the shaker then drop the pieces in it. Add sugar and mint leaves, close shaker, then toss them together for a moment.
Add ice and sake to the shaker and shake for 30 seconds. Poor into a glass filled with ice, top with club soda, then garnish with mint sprig.

They are addicting....

OCI Restaurant Review

As i mentioned in an earlier Portland review, i was unfortunate to have gotten food poisoning. It was actually the day before my very important tour or Oregon Culinary Institute: the culinary school i have been dreaming of going to for the past two years. We were scheduled to eat in the student-ran restaurant after the tour. I could hardly stand up due to stomach pains and hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. However, i was determined to make the best of it.

I mainly want to talk about the restaurant, which is open to the public upon reservation. They are open during the week twice a day. They have everyone sit down at the same time so the students get a feel of the lunch & dinner rushes of a real restaurant. We of course had our two year old with us, and the server could tell right away he was a little antsy (what toddler isn't) upon sitting down. She immediately offered to grab some fresh fruit form the kitchen while we waited on our food. So someone literally cut up some fresh fruit for him without my request. I thought this was exactly how customers at restaurants should be treated, especially at "high-end" ones.

We had a few different choices to choose from on the menu. We were able to have a three course meal for free as something they offer to possible students. However, it only costs 9 dollars regular price for one person and the money goes towards benefiting the school. My husband and I both chose the BLT salad and BBQ pork sandwich.

Of course i did not feel like eating, i really wish i did! The few bites that i took were soooo delicious, not only because of the pork but all the other components. The bread was fresh and flavorful. The herb butter they brushed on it before toasting it on the grill was an amazing touch. The potatoes chips they kept in a basket by their open fire on the line was also delicious.

I was so pleased with the service and the food. If these students keep up the amazing work i have no doubt they will go far.

Portland, OR: I like Thai Food

 

 Our food experience in PDX was very short lived. Though that was a giant reason for our trip, i unfortunately received food poisoning from some random Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of the city. However, after eating at 'I like thai food', we swore that we had to come back to the food carts and try something different before we left. (located near SW 10th and Alder)

Me and my husband our big Thai food fans, and our favorite dish is Drunken Noodles (or Pad Kee Mao) which is a dish that consists of wide rice noodles usually cooked with fish sauce or oyster sauce, chilies, and basil. 

It was freakin SPICY, but i couldn't stop eating it. The sauce was little more tomato based then i have eaten before, but my sister-in-law who happens to be Thai reminded me there is a difference between authentic and American styles of Thai. O my goodness it was so good, and we only payed 6 or 7 bucks for a crap load of food. I can get a lunch special for 9 dollars at our local Thai restaurant but wouldn't have leftovers and the dinner entree is about 15. It only took about 7 minutes to get the food after we ordered (luckily we did not have to wait in line). This would have definitely fed both my husband and I. Now i understand all the hype about PDX carts-i was not disappointed.

Newport, OR: Local Ocean Seafoods

The closest i have come to the beach is The Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi, TX many many years ago. So, when we visited Portland i was ecstatic to take my son and I to the coast. It was hard to choose which small town to visit-i was leaning towards Cannon Beach, OR. However, i decided upon Newport so i could take my son to the aquarium.

Of course the ocean was amazing, but i could hardly wait to eat some fresh seafood. Being from Utah, i never ever ever ever get to experience the joys of wild caught fish. Let me say now that i was disappointed with the main strip of Newport. Yes the view of the ocean was amazing, but i expected more of a typical dressed-up tourist town. Everything looked a little blah and ran down.

We finally found the restaurant on bay front area next to a board walk, where all of the fishing boats sat selling their product. The strip of restaurants and shops were bustling with that magical energy you can't quite describe. Any disappointment of Newport's lack of glam our went out the window.

So we sat down and at the Local Ocean Seafood. I had researched restaurants online and thought this was our best bet for a delicious, sit down meal. Of course the prices were quite high, which was what i had expected. All of the slightly nice restaurants in Oregon seem to be expensive unless you are eating at the food carts. My husband ordered a hamburger because he isn't much of a fish person. I ordered the pan fried oysters. The restaurant was small and there weren't too many people. We seemed to get very slow service considering their were three servers for such a small amount of people. There has also been many times where our family has been treated with prejudice-in the sense that we are very young with a young child and look very plain. I have a feeling that the servers did not find us very important. It took them a very long time to even get my husband a refill, and i did not get my cup of coffee until after the food came.

As for the food, it was good-but not amazing. I think this was partly my fault for being a little money worrisome and settling with the battered oysters instead of the dungness crab that i actually wanted. The hamburger was just a hamburger, though it definitely didn't lack meat. I would recommend it someone but only because i have no knowledge of other Newport restaurants. If anyone has any suggestions on Oregon coast restaurants-please speak up!