Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

Living in such a great food city such as Portland and enjoying the richness of food and drink experiences available here, it may be hard to fathom that as we debate where to eat next on our wishlist, also here in the Portland metropolitan area there are children and families who go hungry. Many schools in the East Multnomah county have students living below the poverty line. 1 in 5 Oregonians live with food insecurity. Not so long ago Oregon even ranked #1 in childhood hunger in the United States. The just released Upcycled Ice Cream Series by Salt and Straw is the theme for June 2023 of their monthly rotating seasonal flavors, and helps spotlight a local non-profit helping to fight food insecurity and bring awareness to food distribution. Salt & Straw also created flavors with 4 other partners also promoting food sustainability and reducing food waste. The flavors are available starting today, May 26th – just in time for world hunger awareness day on May 28th.
Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

At Urban Gleaners, a non-profit founded in 2006 by the inspiring Tracy Oseran, collects fresh food before it can go to waste. The difference from other food banks is that Urban Gleaners collects perishable food, bit by bit from grocery stores and restaurants, corporate campuses, event sites, colleges, farms, and food wholesalers, aka gleaning what is left behind after a harvest for charitable use.. The food tends to be fresher and healthier because of its fresh perishable nature. During my visit we saw not only fresh fruits and vegetables but also breads, cakes and pies, sour cream and milk, and salsas and guacamole. Within a couple days, food that comes in goes out as Urban Gleaners sorts, prepares some ingredients into convenient packaged meals thanks to volunteer chefs, and others are offered “farmers market” style. Recipients can pick what they want – no set food boxes or limitations.
Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

Multiple items are high quality – from organic produce to speciality coffee beans, fresh ingredients that are systematically sorted and labeled by when they came in and stored in several cooler rooms to go out first in first out or based on how much longer it will last (so that guacamole will go back out very quickly). Donors include Whole Foods, Zupans, New Seasons, Pastaworks, Odwalla, Dave’s Killer Bread, Elephants Deli, Intel, Nike, Lewis and Clark, Reed College, Portland Farmers Market and more.
Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw Urban Gleaners, collecting and redistributing food before it can go to waste in Portland, Oregon, and a partner for the Upcycled Ice Cream by Salt and Straw

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Winston’s Fish N Chips

Feeling like a little bit of a taste of England after seeing all the coronation photos and gossip this past weekend? Check out Winston’s British Fish N Chips, the first food truck of many to come – they are looking to open more in the US. The truck and fish and chips are named for Winston the Royal Corgi of Chef Darren McGrady’s YouTube channel.
Winston's Fish N Chips food truck - Fish N Chips with Mushy Peas Winston's Fish N Chips food truck - The Royal Sampler

Chef McGrady prepared fish and British chips as Personal Chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, Princes William and Harry, and others at Buckingham Palace including five US Presidents and now brings these recipes to US, and serving them through mobile restaurants, at the insistence of Winston! Also Winston is adorable – you can find his friendly face on the food truck and if you bring a lil one, acquire a mini-Winston.
Winston's Fish N Chips food truck Winston's Fish N Chips food truck Winston's Fish N Chips food truck Winston's Fish N Chips food truck

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Views at Crater Lake

In my previous post, I provided some of my research in traveling from Portland to Crater Lake National Park by car and some stops along the road trip you could take along Highway 58. In today’s post, I’ll share some stops along the scenic and historic Rim Drive and the views of the different blues you may see depending on your weather conditions. The Rim Drive is 33 miles of road that goes around the whole of Crater Lake, with plenty of pull-outs and parking and 30 overlooks with lake views and vistas to see along the loop. I will cover what we did when there was not enough visibility to view much of Crater Lake, and then the brilliant views at Crater Lake that include the most beautiful blues when we finally got a sunny third day.
Views at Crater Lake National Park, view from nearby Discovery Point at sunrise Crater Lake National Park, view at Crater Lake from Sinnott Memorial Observation Station, a stone shelter built 900 feet above Crater Lake on Victor Rock in 1930, from a spot on Rim Village Promenade

Background

Crater Lake National Parks’ deep blue water and caldera walls have attracted people for thousands of years. Crater Lake formed when 12,000 foot Mount Mazama imploded 7,700 years ago, leaving a huge hole with cliffs almost 2,000 feet high walls. Over 300-400 years, rain and snowmelt filled the basin to create Crater Lake. There is no other water source into Crater Lake, which means there are no other inlets or outlets, just precipitation in the waters, with no sediments or minerals or such from streams or rivers. With a depth of 1,943 feet, it is North America’s deepest and clearest lake. Visibility at times can be 140 feet.
Crater Lake National Park, view from a spot on Rim Village Promenade

Old growth forests surround the lake and support a diversity of Cascades plant and wildlife. Crater Lake NP is the only national park in Oregon, and being established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth oldest national park in the US. You will be taking the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway into the park. This byway actually extends 500 miles south, continuing from Crater Lake National Park south through Lava Beds National Mounument all the way to Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. Like all scenic byways, the road itself is a destination, not just the volcanic parks in this case anchoring the volcano to volcano at both ends of the drive.

In my case entering from Hwy 58 from Portland and the North Entrance, along the way towards Crater Lake, you can view areas burned by wildland forest fires and a pumice meadow called Pumice Desert. Because the valley here was buried by possibly 200 feet of pumice, plants have a difficult time growing and you will see a noticable low plant covered area with only 16 documented species of plants that can live there.
Pumice Desert and some snow still in the first week of July at Crater Lake National Park

Overcast Days at Crater Lake – Other Things Besides the Lake

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Hwy 58 to Crater Lake

In July of 2022, I took a trip to one of the top of my Oregon wishlist destinations – Crater Lake. I had always wanted to visit since I moved to Oregon 13 years ago, but I also specifically wanted to stay inside the park at the only lodging with views of the lake, Crater Lake Lodge. In this first post of my series, let me walk you through some logistics of planning in case it will help you plan your Crater Lake adventure. In particular, I will highlight the route from Portland using Highway (Hwy) 58 to Crater Lake.
Crater Lake, Oregon Hwy 58 to Crater Lake - on the way visit Lowell Covered Bridge, the widest covered bridge in Oregon Hwy 58 to Crater Lake - on the way visit Salt Creek Falls, Oregon's second highest single drop waterfall (after Multnomah Falls), cascading 286 feet.

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Vegan Paella and Barcelona Mystery Box

Recently I hosted a Finders Seekers Mystery night for six people at my house. Finders Seekers is a monthly subscription box (though you can skip boxes anytime which I do) where each month the mystery takes place in a different travel destination in the world. This box was for Barcelona. I decided to make a vegan paella for our little party.
Vegan Paella recipe Vegan Paella recipe

With each box Finders Seekers provides some suggested immersive experience ideas for the travel destination in the form of a music playlist on Spotify and food and drink recipes. We used their playlist from their Barcelona immersion ideas, but the recipes for Spanish meatballs, Ham croquettes, Pan con tomato, and Patatas bravas was too much work to make so many different tapas. I thought a paella would be perfect because it’s one main dish that doesn’t require too much effort during a get together – in fact a critical point is not stirring the paella while cooking.

My take on Vegan Paella is based mainly on my friend Plating and Pairing’s own take on a vegetarian paella with artichokes, but I swapped out the artichokes to use some roasted broccoli, and used fresh red peppers instead of piquillo peppers. That was just my preference instead of using jarred ingredients, and you could add in any veggies of your choice really. I also used bomba rice instead of arborio rice, because that’s what I had and it’s the rice native to Spain- it has a more firm texture then arborio which is more typically used for risotto but arborio (though it’s Italian) is a fine substitute and is more available in stores and priced a little cheaper.

I also used a vegan mayo base for the garlicky aioli side, and since only 1 person in our party was vegan, I sauteed some smoked green chorizo (chorizo made with spinach) on the side that people could also add to their dish. I offered a side of roasted asparagus, either plain with just olive oil and salt and pepper, or with a tarragon dressing. If you’d like though Erin also suggests some additional dishes to serve with paella.

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