Tattooed Librarians of the Pacific Northwest or: How You Can Help Me Graduate

As you might be aware from all of my excuses when I'm not posting, I'm currently in semester 4 of 6 of a Master's of Library Science program. I love food, but I also love libraries. Anyway, I'm really enjoying it, even if it stresses me out. One thing that's really cool about being in this distance program is the ability we have to plan our own graduation...but that also means we have to pay for it.

Enter the Tattooed Librarians of the Pacific Northwest Calender! Most of the photos were taken by my friend Lisa at the Pacific Northwest College of Art library and even though we do look amazing, we are looking amazing for a purpose. Proceeds from calendar purchases help fund our graduation. With shopping season upon us, don't you want your money to go somewhere useful and give your friends and family an awesome present?

Yeah, you should. And spread the word! My friend Turner wrote a post about this as well, which has more details, or just check out the calendar page.

Thank you all so much and I promise the next post will be about food.

PS: I'm August.

Mississippi Street Fair

This year I went to the Mississippi Street Fair on N. Mississippi Ave and it was amazing. Mississippi isn't too far from me, about 20 minutes walking, and is full of great food and cool shops. There was food, music, vendors, booze, and a ton of people, yet it didn't seem too crowded. This was such a gorgeous day and a nice welcome back to Portland for me.







And of course there was amazing food. This is pineapple-jalapeño ice cream from Fifty Licks
. Yes, pineapple and jalapeño. There were chunks of jalapeño in there, but it wasn't overwhelming. It was sweet and spicy and so perfect.

Not all of the food was fantastic though. There were a bunch of BBQ carts, but this was clearly not the greatest one.


However, this was amazing. This is a Spicy Thai peanut butter sandwich from a new cart on NW 23rd, PBJ's Grilled. It was amazing. You can't see our faces very well (because Corey was making a dorky one), but we are thoroughly enjoying this. It's challah bread (good challah. And I know my challah), orange marmalade, sriracha, fresh basil, curry, and peanut butter. Holy crap! so good! It's sweet and spicy (kind of my thing at the fair, I guess) and the peanut butter is just perfect. I can't wait to try some of the other ones, like the Betty or Cream of the Crop.

Overall, it was a great time and I'm looking forward to next year where I can try crazy new foods and enjoy a celebration of my almost-neighborhood.

The Visiting Librarian's Guide to Portland

Okay, so this isn't food related at all (maybe a little), but I'm just so damn proud of this video, I had to post it here. The Public Library Association (PLA) is having their annual conference in Portland this week and a few of my classmates and I put together a video showing off Portland to all the librarian's coming to our fair city.

I do eat cupcakes in it. And talk about doughnuts and coffee. There's also some beer. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, watch it. If you have, watch it again. I'm okay with it. :)

Widmer Brewery Tour

The Friday before Aaron's birthday (I know, I'm behind. Grad school.) we went to the Widmer Brewery because a) it was almost Aaron's birthday, b) we both love the heck outta Widmer, and c) it's right down the street. Oh yeah, and d) it's free!

And it was awesome! We got the usual rundown of how beer is made and the "please taste from lightest to darkest" speech, but all of that stuff is fascinating. I also discovered that despite my previous proclamations that I don't really like IPAs, I really dug Broken Halo. Like, a lot. Like way more than I ever thought I would.

After learning lots about beer, we crossed the street and went into the brewery itself, where we got to see huge silos of grain, so much beer, and many, many things made out of metal that turn grains, yeast, and water into delicious magic. Plus, we got to smell hops. It was a fantastic time.

See, giant silos of grain

Aaron and the mash tun

Aaron's hand and hops

My hand and more different hops.

One of these was the spicy hops, which smelled amazing. I wish I could remember which was which, but that's what happens when you take a while to post.

Barrels and barrels of delicious Widmer Bros. beer

This is when the tour got even better! Not only did we get to learn a lot about beer in general (like why IPAs exist in the first place), but then, at the end, our guide says thanks for coming and oh yeah, you get a free pint glass and key chain bottle opener. Yeah. We were stoked.

Cutest picture of Aaron ever. Aww!

After the tour, totally excited by our swag, we decided to go drink some more beer at their restaurant, the Gasthaus. And it happened to be happy hour! Yes! Aaron's drinking Drop Top Amber Ale and I'm having their special blueberry honey mead. Oh yeah, it was good. And then we had a pretzel, Aaron bought a growler of hefeweizen, and we walked home, tipsy and happy.

If you live here and haven't done it yet, go! If you don't live here, come visit and then go. They have tours every Friday at 3 pm and every Saturday at 11 am and 12:30 pm. Call ahead to reserve a spot and that's it. Check out their site for more info.

Bob's Red Mill Factory Tour

This past week, I got to do something amazing with my friend Brittany. I got to tour the factory of Bob's Red Mill. Yes, that fabulous purveyor of whole grains (including steel cut oats!) is stationed in Milwaukie, Oregon, which is not very far from me. I learned a whole lot about whole grains, saw some interesting equipment, and, oh yeah, met Bob! Yeah, Bob! He was coming through with some Scottish people as Bob's Red Mill recently won the Golden Spurtle (first place) in the World Porridge Making Contest (read more about it here). They wanted to see the factory and we got to see Bob. He came over to our tour group just as Brittany and I were squealing. It's so strange to meet someone whose face you've seen time and again on your flour bags. Anyway, it was a great day.

The following are all pictures taken by Brittany, except the one with her and Bob, obviously.


The tour is about to begin!


Quartz millstone


Here comes Bob!


Brittany and Bob


Packing my favorite steel cut oats


Far too excited about my free sample of muesli and free bowl scraper


Out front (and staring into the sun)

To Market, To Market

This is an I love you to Portland. I love the farmer's markets here. They are so full of amazing produce and weird things you wouldn't have thought of ahead of time. I really enjoy looking at all the colors and shapes and think about how much hard work, time, and effort went into such tasty, tasty food. I think having parents who farm probably helps me in this regard.





Anyway, I went with Aaron last week (and I went again yesterday, but I'll be getting to that in a different post) and even though it was a bit cloudy and slightly cold, the place was packed and people were smiling. We sampled quite a bit (ILY Rogue Creamery) and picked up some produce. Something that is very important to me is not only supporting naturally grown/organic food, but also local farmers. I like that my food doesn't need to travel a zillion miles to get to me. It tastes better, fresher, and it's just good times.



I also picked up some starts from a farm in Forest Grove. They are currently living on my back porch area and (mostly) seem to be having a good time. We shall see.

Anyway, I love your farmer's market and I love you Portland.

Petisco

I've been meaning to blog about this place for ages (okay, a few weeks), but kept forgetting (so me!). Anyway, Petisco is a very, very tasty and new sandwich place very close to my house. I discovered it through the hive mind that is the livejournal community DamnPortlanders. One recommendation and one half of a turkey and brie sandwich on baguette with potato cheddar soup later, I was hooked. I ate there twice in one week. I think about it all the time! Well, okay, not all the time, but often.



I've had the turkey and brie, which comes with honey mustard and is to die for. I've also had the tomato and mozzarella, which is also amazing. Carrina has had the roast beef with manchego cheese, or rather, as she said, "Make that rare roast beef with manchego and HORSERADISH CREAM!" What makes Petisco so good is very high quality ingredients at not such a ridiculous price. I love cheese (check the bio) and I love it when restaurants care about their cheeses. The bread is crunchy and perfect, the cheeses are creamy, the meats are perfectly salted. The side salad is substantial and tossed with a nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The soups are also amazing. I've yet to check out brunch, but I'm sure I will soon.

The sandwiches are like a siren song, calling me. I'll be back and not just because the brie is so delicious.

Le Happy

Another cheater post. Sorry!

Yesterday was my 8th anniversary with Aaron (our wedding anniversary is in August) and while we kept the whole thing rather low key, we did want to eat something nice for dinner. But we waited...and waited. And then it was close to 10 pm. After our trip to Europe, I had been wanting to take my husband to Le Happy. We ate quite a few crepes in France and they do make for a fancy meal. Anyway, Le Happy is open late, even on Mondays, so it made for the perfect choice.



This was only my second trip there, but it was as good as I had remembered. It's small, but cozy. The red walls make the whole place seem just that much more romantic. There are a ton of crepe choices, both savory and sweet, or you can add to any of them, or make your own. There are also cocktails and beer galore.

Everything is so tasty. Aaron had Le Trash Blanc with the half steak and salad and I have Le Cinq with caramelized onions added in. I had a Pilsner Urquell to wash everything down. When our plates arrived, there was a brief moment of reverence and then we dove in. The crepes were the perfect thickness, the perfect amount of salt, and the perfect amount of filling. The fillings themselves were evenly spread throughout, so each bite was delicious.



For dessert we split the Citron Strawberry and I must say it was difficult to not just lick the plate when we were done. It was so good!

The whole experience was wonderful and I cannot wait to go back. It has also inspired be to try to make crepes on my own, so hopefully there will be a post about that in the near future.