March 2006

There were 24 posts published in March 2006 (this is page 3 of 3).

Food Day

Saturday was a brilliant day. The sun shone. We worked in the yard. We listened to opera. Best of all, we indulged in some of Portland’s finest food.

Sahagún
Sagahún is a tiny chocolate shop located just north of Burnside on 16th. (The actual address is 10 NW 16th Ave.) I’ve been hearing about this place for weeks. On our drive to pick up AmyJo, I had Kris read a doting profile of the owner to me out of a local hispanic paper. ExtraMSG, a Portland-area foodblog, recently raved about Sahagún’s hot chocolate:

At $4.00 each, they aren’t cheap. But they’re unequivocally worth every penny. Easily the best hot chocolate in this survey and truly ruined me for the others since I had this one first.

You all know how much I love my hot chocolate. I went in prepared to be blown away.

I was disappointed.

This was not the best hot chocolate I’d ever had. It wasn’t even the second best hot chocolate I’d ever had. It wasn’t even close. Don’t get me wrong: it’s fine stuff, but it’s no better than my dear-departed chantico (though it’s a different kind of drinking chocolate, to be sure), and it’s certainly not worth the trouble, the time, or the cost. The stuff I make for myself at home is still the best hot chocolate ever; why should I drive all the way to downtown Portland to spend $4 on an inferior cup of hot chocolate? Answer: I shouldn’t, and I won’t.

We also picked up some miscellaneous chocolate bits at Sahagún, including the pepitapapa, which is a candy made from bittersweet chocolate, chili peppers, and pumpkin seeds. Again, this wasn’t as good as I had hoped. Nor was the cherry-cashew cluster.

Sahagún let me down; I feel deceived by the hype. My expectations were too high. I may return again, but it’s not a priority.

Ken’s Artisan Bakery
Ken’s Artisan Bakery, on the other hand, is sure to become a regular stop for me and Kris when we’re downtown. This homey little bistro is located a short walk from Sahagún, at NW 21st and Flanders. Many people seemed to be picking up bread products to go, but there are several tables available for those who would prefer to sit and chat with friends.

Ken’s offers an assortment of fresh crusty breads, of course, but there’s so much more to choose from: tarts, croissants, pastries, and more. (I went home with a lovely brownie.) On Monday nights they do pizza! (I’ve got to try that.)

Kris had a savory ham-and-cheese filled croissant. I tried a bite and wished I had ordered one, too. I contented myself with a cinnamon roll, but not a gloopy gooey cinnamon roll. (Not that there’s anything wrong with gloppy gooey cinnamon rolls.) It was a light, flaky cinnamon roll with a sugary glaze. Different, but delicious.

In many ways, Ken’s reminded me of Willamette‘s Bistro back when it was a swank little coffee house (as opposed to now). I love that the bakery’s web site features little essays on baking.

Ken’s Artisan Bakery is a gem.

Pix Patisserie
On a whim, we stopped by Pix Patisserie on north Williams. “This place is good,” Amy Jo told us, enthusiastic. Pix seemed like a cross between Sahagún and Ken’s Artisan bakery: there was a case of hand-made chocolates, but there was also a case of pastries. And behind the counter was a vast assortment of liquor. Is the place also a licensed bar?

I loved what little I saw of Pix Patisserie. I loved the gaudy red wallpaper. I loved the absurd chocolates for sale. (Buy hand-crafted chocolate chess pieces for $20 per set.) I loved the various savory croissants that were available. (I took home one embedded with chorizo sausage, which made a nice breakfast Sunday morning.)

We didn’t spend much time here, but I’m sure we’ll return soon.

Sinju
To cap off our evening, we joined the Gingeriches and the Proffitt-Smiths at Sinju to celebrate Jeremy’s birthday. We’ve been to Sinju once before (with Dave and Karen), but it didn’t leave any sort of impression, for good or ill. This time it did.

This time, Sinju was simply amazing.

As before, we were ushered to a private, screened room. We took off our shoes and sat at the recessed table. I ordered sake. “I’m getting better at sushi, but I still can’t eat it without alcohol to grease the way,” I explained. “Hey — this is hot,” I said when my sake came. The rest of the party laughed. Apparently it’s supposed to be served hot. And you know what? I liked it this time. (I’ve never liked sake before, but I’ve only tried it cold.)

We ordered appetizers: chicken karaage (fried chicken with garlic ginger sauce), gyoza (pan-fried dumpling filled with beef, pork and vegetables), and the ahi tower. The gyoza was outstanding. While we waited for our meals to arrive, I shared the special sake I’d brought for Jeremy: Scottish Lagavulin sake!

Dinner was alarming. The waitress kept bringing more and more food. Had we asked for all this? First she brought individual dinners for those who had ordered them. Then she brought a boat of sashimi nearly as long as the table. (Seriously: this was a boat — a stylized wooden ship.) Then, to top it all off, she delivered a heavy tray packed with sushi rolls.

The only disappointment of the evening was the salmon teriyaki portion of my combination dinner. The chicken teriyaki, on the other hand, was wonderful, sweet and smoky and cooked to perfection. The sinju steak was good, too, pungent with ginger and a little bit crispy from the bread coating.

After dinner, I joined Jeremy outside for a brief smoke. I bathed in the scent of the cloves. “You reek,” Kris told me when I returned to the table, but I didn’t care.

What a marvelous day for a food-lover.

(And remember: we squeezed in sod-removal, too. Amazing!)

p.s. Apparently Sinju has a second location at Bridgeport Village, the new mall in Tualatin. We may have to add that to our list of regular restaurants.

Sod Off

Today is shaping up to be one of those perfect days: a pleasing blend of work and fun. I had intended to post about our Foodie Field Trips, but that will have to wait until tomorrow . We found time midday to perform a much-needed yard chore: clearing sod for more garden space.

In the past — at this house and the house in Canby — I’ve dug up sod by hand. I’ve used my shovel, wheelbarrow, and back to clear space for flower beds, berry patches, and vegetable gardens. Kris and I have been itching to expand our current vegetable garden, and to add an herb garden, and the sod-removal for these spots has been daunting. “We should rent a sod cutter,” she keeps telling me, but I pooh-pooh the idea. Why rent when I can do it on my own?

Well, when Mike and Rhonda expressed interest in splitting a four-hour rental with us, the idea became more appealing. And when we realized that it was a gorgeous afternoon, and that tomorrow (our planned sod-cutting day) is supposed to be wet and windy, we shifted into high gear. The four of us tackled both yards, ripping up sod like pros.


Mike wrestles with the sod-cutter

It’s amazing how quickly the work goes with four people on the job. We had our garden space cleared out in forty-five minutes.


Click on this image to open a new window with an annotated version at Flickr.

When we were finished, we had cleared a space seven feet by thirty-five feet, 250 square feet of new garden, all of it already in full sun for most of the day.


Up on craigslist tomorrow…

We’d also cut a smallish (80 square feet?) angled patch for the herbs.


I can’t wait for our herb garden; we’ve been two years without one

At Mike and Rhonda’s house, we took up most of their back yard, as well as the parking strip in front of their house. It’ll be great for Rhonda to have some room to garden. For her, the worst part of their recent move was sacrificing her lavish established vegetable and flower gardens.

It was great for us to squeeze in some much-needed yardwork between delicious food excursions (about which more tomorrow or Monday).

On the way to Mike and Rhonda’s, the pickup truck in front of us lost part of its load: a long narrow box fell into the road. I had about two seconds to decide what to do. I couldn’t veer to the left (oncoming traffic), and I couldn’t veer to the right (parked vehicles). I could have tried to slam on my brakes, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to stop in time or that the car behind me would have trouble. I chose to run over the box, and pull to the shoulder. The box scraped along under the car.

I hopped out of the car, but the car behind me — an upscale sedan driven by a posh young woman — was cranky with my open door and honked. I could read her lips: “Fucking asshole.”

I leaned over and said “Relax!” as she drove by. To my delight, the back windows were down.

The driver of the pickup had run to the box, which contained a brand new weed-whacker. “You think it’s okay?” I asked.

The young man punched the air. “It’s shit now,” he said, and for a moment I thought he was angry that I’d run over it. (I realized after a few seconds that he was just mad at the situation.)

“What an adventure,” Kris said as I got back in the car. We drove to Mike and Rhonda’s for more sod-cutting fun.

Liquid Gold

O, foldedspace readers, behold: Liquid Gold!

[three bags of chantico mix]

It’s true. Two kind and crafty readers of this weblog (who shall remain nameless) heard my cries of woe when Starbucks stopped serving chantico and, can you believe it, mailed me three bags of chantico mix. Three bags! I think maybe now I know what to do for my birthday: throw a chantico party.

Thank you, A. and J.! This is a wonderful gift. I aprpeciate this more than you know.

Birthday Dilemma

You know, it’s easy to dig yourself into a hole if you keep making the same promise for six years.

To my mind, the most important holiday each year is a person’s birthday. The most important holiday for me is my birthday. The most important holiday for you is your birthday.

Six years ago — when I turned thirty-one — I threw myself a birthday party. “I’m going to throw a party for all my prime number birthdays,” I told everyone who would listen. “Next up: thirty-seven.” I invited a whole bunch of people over for a day of “guilty pleasures”, which mostly meant lots of brownies and cookies and frozen pizzas and pop. I set up a computer network in the family room and let people play Unreal Tournament, blasting each other to bits. It was fun.

(Two years ago, Kris and I held Chicken Noodle Fest near my birthday, though it wasn’t meant as a birthday party.)

Now time is short for me to decide what to for birthday celebration #37. I’ve had six years to plan, but wouldn’t you know it? I’m drawing a blank. I guess that’s not entirely true; I have plenty of ideas, but none of them really scream “pick me! pick me!” Among the options I’m considering

  • Guilty Pleasures II — Essentially a repeat of the shindig I held six years ago, but without the networked computer games. I’ve actually had a few people request this. They think it sounds fun.
  • Chicken Noodle Fest III — This is a distinct possibility: it’s family-oriented, so kids can be involved. It’s easy to prepare large vats of soup, and we have plenty of space for kids to play if it’s dry outside.
  • Game Night 2.01 — I intend to bring back regular game nights, and this would be a great time to do so.
  • Gourmet Potluck — I want to hold a gourmet potluck, but the drawback is I have a very specific guest list in mind for such an event: foodies only. This is too limiting.

Other possibilities include some sort of wine-tasting thing, or a poetry night, or a trip to a miniature golf course, or or or OR

I DON’T KNOW!

What I do know is that I want to do something for my 37th birthday, and I want that something to involve as many friends as possible. I’d like to include kids, but it’s not a requirement. (If I don’t include kids, that’s going to knock out a bunch of the parents, too.) I also know that I need to decide this weekend. Time is getting short.