Why do people walk in twos? You give 'em four feet!

That was my first memory of portland.  Some crazy lady yelled that sentence to us on our first walk downtown.

I don't have any picture to post just yet.  I need to load the software for my new camera onto the computer.  Suffice it to say that I had an amazing time in oregon.  There was so much to see and so many things to do there.  Plus, it was amazing to just relax and take in the surroundings. i tried a lot of new things, foodwise, including rabbit, latkes, moroccan food (yes, we ate with our hands, sans utensils) blood sausage, oysters, and roasted grapes (weird, huh?).  amazing, AMAZING, coffee and espresso, great beer, and the best public transportation I have ever seen.  I also had sausages that were on a par with my own, so that was really nice.  

We walked almost everywhere, sometimes taking the light rail and trolley.  I think that we figured we had walked about 30 miles.  Ten of those felt like they were straight up.  We also saw a japanese garden and a chinese garden, both of which were stunningly beautiful and made you feel like you were not in the states.  

There was a jewish deli that we ate at almost every day that we were there.  They had awesome breakfasts that I am still thinking about (and still full from!)  Their corned beef hash had big chunks of brisket and potato with caramelized onions and tomatoes.  I had a hard time veering away from that stuff.  We celebrated our birthdays while we were down there.  I bought wife a sweet pair of boots that she had actually been wanting for a long time (we were walking by a shop and they just happened to have them in the window.) Amy bought me a new staub dutch oven (8 quarts of potential bliss!) and some really nice clothing and I treated myself to a new global cleaver (watch out, chickens, your non-segmented days are numbered!)  All in all, It was a much needed, blast of a trip.  Better load that software now.  peace

Open Mic Night??? I'm totally there!

Pork Chops...Pork chops.  Oh, sweet pork chops!

Bake the Yukes of the most golden variety

Chayote, Chayote, O ancient Squash 

knife. fork. taste. chew.

The Food Cocoon cracks 

The Food Butterfly Emerges

New life flutters its glistening wings

Taste. Drink. Eat. Swallow. Stomach.

Happy is the Frog who spots the helpless butterfly.

     He is the lucky one.  Today...for now...goodbye frog.

      

...and Dewey holds a special place in my heart.

made some get well soup (viking stew) last week to get me out of my exhaustion funk.  Never lets me down.  I think this gets better every time I make it.  This time I used beet tops as the green.  Wife swears that this version is the best.  I think that there are three variations that have become my favsies.  Beet tops, Kale, and Dandelion Greens.  Ideally, it would be kale in the winter, dandelions in spring, and the beet tops in summer/fall.  I think that a lot of people do not realize that they are actually edible.  They're quite good, really, and not just in soup.  I actually like them sauteed with shallots and simply seasoned.  Try them out.  they'll rock your face off.  The roots are good too.  Try those matchsticked and tossed in a salad with some feta and raspberry vinaigrette.  I am so excited to be going somewhere new in a couple of days.  We have sort of a loose schedule, a lot of food stops, naturally.  It's going to be pretty sweet.  I just hope that we can enjoy it and slow down after all of the overtime we have been putting in.  

ps.  I got a new Camera (nikon dslr...super sweet.)  expect righteous pics very soon!

Whoa...Whoa...Whoa, pump the brakes, son!

ok, so it's been forever since I last posted something.  I have an excuse...trust me.  Last week I worked 78.5 hours.  yes, you read that right, almost 80 hours in one crazy, exhausting, ridiculous week.  7 days straight, with almost 12 hours (sometimes longer) every shift. i still haven't had a day off yet (Not until thursday and then I go on vacation!) and I am somewhat surprised that I am still able to function.  It was rough, there were a couple of times where martha and I were so tired that we got the sillies and were laughing uncontrollably.  I think, for the most part, that we did an awesome job this past week.  It was definitely a challenge, but we overcame it and I think that we became better bakers for it.  Amy even came in on sunday to help out.  I don't think that she will be seeking a career as a baker anytime soon:)  She said we were crazy for liking that job, but she was a great help to me in that one set of footprints time.  The other thing about this last week that rocked is we have been eating like kings at the bakery.  We got sick of making sandwiches all the time so we started bringing in different vegetables and making things with eggs to snack on.  Tasty squared.  To the food:  This picture is from last monday when we had our friend angela over for dinner.(she is going to watch buster while we are on vacation, he can't wait.)  I shredded some red cabbage and sauteed it with thinly sliced onion, salt and peps, a little sugar and some balsamic.  I also grilled some super thin pork chops and made a gastrique (reduction of balsamic vinegar and pomegranate juice) to drizzle over the meat.  The potatoes are simple roasted tates with heavy cream and parmesan.  Pretty good food all around.  ok, more posts...

High steaks...big breaks.

I heart beef...I heart steak.  This was a most definite juicy ribeye.  I made a melange of rootin tootin root vegetables.  I also tried something new and made a simple vinaigrette with mirin (sweetened sake).  It was really good, but you have to be careful with it, it's super sweet.  like type 2 diabetes sweet.  other news:  Martha cooked a beef heart the other day.  I tried it and it was actually very good.  I almost didn't, but I figured, hey, how often do you get the chance to eat something like that?  I have more posts, delicious, exciting posts, but I have no time and I'm hungry.  don't worry, things will be back to normal soonish.