taking stock

There is a first time for everything and I plan on doing more of these firsts. A new favorite was making my first roast. I gathered a handful of friends last minute, with galoshes and baskets for mushroom hunting in the woods, but decided that before we left, we must make a roast and put it in the oven before we headed to the forest.

This made me nervous at first, my landlords wouldn't be happy to find the house burn down, and neither would I. but this seemed more common place in the past, to leave your food baking for long slow hours, and now we rely so much on microwaves (which I have not ever owned and will never), and on fast food, and take out and chips and salsa!



here is the wine/tomato sauce cooking and reducing so flavorfully on the stove before poured over the large chunk of beef..

it was so mouthwateringly delicious, I plan on making another for the holidays this year.

home made pizza.

I have an allergy to something, whatever it is, as soon as i eat it a terribly burning rash breaks out over my cheeks and around my mouth. my suspicion is that it might be tomato based products, one of which goes traditionally on pizza....
so we made an olive oil base under the feta, caramelized onions, red peppers and artichokes!!

Matt's first pie crust

As a tasty way of getting to my heart, as anyone who knows me at all, is probably at least partially through my stomach, my sweetheart made his first pie crust ever and picked apples off a neighbor's tree.

the crust he put in plastic in my fridge and we planned on rolling it out and finishing the pie together, but instead I made a peach custard pie for a party with his amazingly flaky crust.
the apples were later made into a crisp...you can just feel the love: steamy and spicy!

empty fridge

it has been a few months since I actually went to the store and bought more than one bag of groceries.
I like to go everyday depending on my whims and what my stomach is growling for.
still, out of this empty mess, I made a delicious breakfast of fried eggs over toast and salad.

Broder

There is something to be said for presentation. Actually, i find that if the food looks disgusting, no matter how delicious, it will most likely taste worse than the same delicious food prepared with delicacy and care towards the presentation. 

At Broder,  at 2508 SE Clinton, they do both: dish up tasty Danish food that makes your mouth water and your stomach happy with small but perfect portions and the BEST potato pancakes in town, and make your eyes glint with love for the design of the space, and the classic dishware. 

And mostly they make the tastiest bloody mary's in town. I have had 3 of them over the last year, and one was a little too spicy, but they are strong on the alcohol and garnished with housemade pickled cucumbers and golden beets....

perfect for an autumn breakfast. 

a housesitting dinner

I house sat for my lovely friend Natasha in september, and had the opportunity to play house in the most marvelous way...
this is one of the many meals I shared during that week.

natasha bought me the Cameroni rose´ as a gift for staying with her cat... it was delicious.

fancy tights...

the last light of summer on skin...

The Break up Diet

The Break up diet, week 2.

For being the most commited gastronome I know, the break up hits every aspect of life with hurricane force winds. and my appetite suffers.
if it weren't for my friends dropping by and making sure I eat, I would waste away, like all the organic local produce and delicious leftovers in my fridge.

Today, "the Splendid Table" on the radio, reminds me of that love I've lost. The flavors my tastebuds are desperately missing.

I am raising my water glass, to rediscovering tastes that take me on romantic adventures.

fried bees

Tonight I am in Las Vegas on the 32nd floor of the Signature at MGM Grand. It is midnight, and all day I worked at Project tradeshow selling organic cotton sweatshirts and dresses, by the amazing Seattle based brand Prairie Underground.

Now, in the comfort of my king sized bed, I watch a man on the Travel Channel eat fried bees in Taiwan. Salted Pork that sat out for 2 weeks, and chicken uteri soaked in cinnamon.

I barely have a TV at home, and generally prefer to travel in real life, but there is something about the scaliness of Las Vegas , the 107 degree heat, the neverending chill of miles of AC and even more miles of fake women, and more gladiator sandals than anyone should ever see in their lives, that makes me want to curl up in short shorts and drink wine in bed and watch a thick and smiling white man devour bizarre cultural delicacies .

So with a tired head and body, a belly full of room service, and clean cotton sheets heavy over me, I travelled to Taiwan and could almost smell the steaming soups. The aromas drifting through the vast market places wrap me in sweet slumber.

taking in beauty in all things

whiskey with my water
sugar in my tea
my sails in rags
with the scatters and the jags

i dream
a highway
back to you.
(lines from a gillian welch song)

this photo was taken by my friend matia kelly, at her dad's ranch in eastern oregon. myself and jessica by the pool after a day of hiking, drinking wine and lovely conversation. oh and naps....
i left my camera the other night at a friends house, on her porch, it will return shortly. until then:

poetry
Las Vegas
105 degree weather
new love?
rain on my tomatoes
and very sound sleep....

seeking nourishment

mouth seeking nourishment:
seeking something soft and wet
something healthy
seeking a cooler today, so things might have been different.
seeking strength

belly seeking fulfillment:
all the peach crisp in my kitchen
and i can't take a bite.


picture of joni mitchell to inspire my spirit and remind me to eat...

a good bye dinner

making peach cobbler from scratch...
oh the bounty of summer! the way tiny tomatoes burst in your mouth!
I grew basil on my balcony this summer and made really garlicky pesto! and then made pesto pasta. here are all the stages...yum


my friend Eliot Rose moved to Berkley California to attend grad school, and we ate fantastically as always in his presence to send him off to new friends, adventures and learning.
Eliot is pensive about something....and Jeevan is wondering who is making the mojitos.
my friend jessica made lemon feta a few days before, and I decided to try my had at it. i soaked the feta and oil with lemon rind and whole lemons.
Eliot made tilapia fish tacos with delicious accoutrement...

a green sahara

Mike Hettwer / National Geographic Society

Archaeologist Helene Jousse holds up a belly plate from a soft-shelled turtle found in a Tenerian garbage dump.

Scientists uncover skeletons thought to be as old as 10,000 years, when monsoon rains created a 'green Sahara.'

wowow!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-sahara15-2008aug15,0,583067.story

beast, oh my god

i have the menu,
and I will enter it in tomorrow. now it is 12:33 am, and I just rode my little brown raleigh bike home from the best dinner i have ever eaten.
it was at beast, the fixe prix establishment operated by Naomi Pomeroy, and I have been there 2 times before, but this blew it out of the water!


i am excited like the breeze cooling down my room on this sweltering august night!
the food made me blush like a thousand roses in bloom!
the wine pairings danced in my mouth with grace and precision!

pictures and menu and story to come later.....

oh
my
god.
yum!

Kir

On First Friday on east Burnside, Matt, Abe and I walked around to a few galleries and stores. The drummer for Love Menu, Emily Baker, opened a boutique where she sells her wonderful jewelry and other lovely things. I had a few watercolor paintings on the wall.
After looking around and saying hello, and eating homemade tartlets, we walked over to a new little wine bar called Kir, that is in the old space on 7th and NE Burnside where L'Astra used to be.
I went to the opening a few weeks ago with my friend Natasha who knows everyone.
above is the trout salad.
Matt really loved the red wine that the sweet owner suggested.
Abe got the same one. yummy.

1920's soiree

Matia and I in the women's lounge

Jessica Moskovitz is one of those wonderful women who always has put the right amount of thought into the details. For her birthday this year, she asked everyone to join her at a prohibition inspired speakeasy called The Secret Society Lounge on N. Russell above Toro Bravo.
She asked for no gifts(with the exclusion of good booze), but she did request all invited to dress the part. She did not call the bar to let them know that her entourage would show up dressed to the 9's in our 1920-1940's regalia.

The cocktails at the bar were all prohibition era, and with the recently legalization of Absinthe, and a local distillery, Integrity Spirits, making beautiful artisanal bottles called Trillium.
www.integrityspirits.com

The drink I imbibed was titled: The Corpse Reviver #2.
This drink is direct from the 1800's and was suggested to be a fantastic hangover remedy. So I could have one for breakfast?
here are the indredients for the yummy cocktail:
Aviation Gin
Lillet
Lemon juice
Trillium Absinthe

I suggest you seduce all your friends to dressed up, and either head to this bar, or make your own prohibition party and celebrate our freedom to drink!

I just got off the phone with the sweet manager of the Ballroom and Lounge, she told me it was her birthday yesterday and they also celebrated there.

Sean R. MgGrath is a local comedy writer, actor, and all around wise guy...can't you tell?

blood orangeses, or "if it feels good..."

summer begins in my mouth

we woke up early (for us, which was around 10:30) on a sunny saturday and rode out bikes to Pastaworks to pick up things for an afternoon picnic.
dolmas, feta, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, pickled onions(we made by marinating the onions in red wine vinegar for about an hour)
then our friends Nathan (who plays violin in many local bands: The Maybe Happening, Nick Jaina, and others), and his lovely lovely lady Ingrid who works at the Portland Art museum and loves to play cribbage, invited us over for a BBQ.

we attached the spread of yummy food onto my bike basket and we rode the 20 blocks to their house in SE.
we all drank rose' and white wine out of mugs and Nathan grilled corn until he burned a little hole in the front deck....
the wine made Matt and I sleepy so we went upstairs and took an hour long nap in Ingrid and Nathan's bed, until we were awoken by the claps of thunder and a downpour.
this is portland in May afterall....

lovely ladies surprise with lunch

my friends Erin(not pictured), Annie, and Jeevan showed up at my apartment on this pleasantly warm May afternoon for lunch and fresh baked scones.
homemade scones with fresh apricot preserves. the scone recipe came from wholefoods. the dishes are from the goodwill, the one on the left is handpainted!
Annie and I somehow totally matched without planning it. grey sweatshirt, white dress, charcoal tights, and brown boots. wow.

Cannon Beach

we were invited to a weekend at the beach. this is the view from the house. yes, there is haystack rock, made infamous in the cult movie "Goonies"
while a few of us planned and prepared dinner, the rest of the group watched Planet Earth on the tv. here they are watching me for a moment for the picture.

we made sauteed radishes in butter and salt, and lasagne, and one girl made the most delicious tequila shrimp. we had all the ingredients together for the lasagne, zucchini, ricotta, loads of mozzarella cheese and a slow cooked red sauce. the oven was hot, and then it was not.

we decided to improvise and heated up the grill. it worked! we covered the lasagne with tinfoil and put the glass pan on the top shelf of the grill.


here are the shrimp marinating in lime and tequila!

Korean In NYC

I arrived in Nyc on April 6th. The red eye flight, the early morning cab ride argued with my stomach. A small nap, and then off to a trunkshow at a boutique called Kaight in the lower east side. i sold a fair amount of clothes, and that made the long long day seem a bit better. 

My hostess in Greenpoint is a lovely woman named Eileen who also runs an eco-showroom called Origin 23. 

we met only briefly in LA a few weeks before and she was so gracious to put me up, bring me tea when I was not well, and introduce me to her favorite haunts. 

one of these places was a Korean spa in the shadow of the Empire State Building. 

At 10:30 pm we met her friend Isa at a little market where we bought tall jugs of tea, and then descended into the basement of a tall tall building and into a tiled room where there was a small asian man who took our $30. 

we spent 3 hours scrubbing ourselves, steaming, sauna-ing, and lazily talking about our lives. 

after all of this, we were starving, and they took me to a cheap and delicious 24 hour spot called Dou Wip or Wha Doop or something...the food was more memorable than the name....

Bands eat.

from left: Steve, Emily, Bob, Bobby. 

My band, Love Menu (also the title of this blog), was in Olympia recording our first album. 

These are the things we ate. 

How we get through the day

Tradeshows can be long, boring and fruitless. I was working at my booth in the Cooper building during LA market, trying to sell my clothing line. but it was very slow in the Eco showroom we were in. I made friends with Mark, who co-designs an incredible collection out of San Fran called Turk and Taylor.

He was the best part of the week. and every morning he brought homemade bloody marys. yum! at the end he said: "making a new friend is better than writing 20 orders". well, yes to the heart in that.

After, Gretchen and I ate at a hipster Silverlake vietnamese place on sunset blvd. i have eated there a few times, and this time, we sat next to a guy that Gretchen went to college with in Colorado. small world.

Yum! Ginger!

Sushi in LA

After the night before cooking for many people, we decided to get sushi at a place in Silverlake that one of our friends recommended. unfortunately when we arrived they were done seating, so we got takeout.
every bite was so delicious and fresh!
another night of eating at the house on Portia st!

Sushi Love

A last minute party. 

Matia and I called people on Friday night and by Saturday we had 10 friends ready to eat lots of sushi. 

Pearl unfiltered Sake from a local producer, yummm. raw fish the color of smiling gums.