Hwy 58 to Crater Lake

April 20, 2023 by Leave a Comment

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

April 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

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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Creative Mexican by Clandestino PDX

March 27, 2023 by Leave a Comment

On Monday – Wednesday you can find creative Mexican plates and glasses of intriguing wines from Clandestino PDX, a pop-up now in residence at Lil Dame by Dame Collective (in the old Beast/Ripe Cooperative space). If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit, make a date for these weekdays to treat yourself to a cozy dinner and a food and wine mini adventure.
Clandestino PDX - Left Ceviche of yellowfin tuna, guava, avocado, lime on tostadita, Right Carne tartara - beef, yuzu kosho, serrano on tostadita Clandestino PDX - Quesadillas - carnitas, quesillo, guacachile

Clandestino joined the collective to start serving up Mexican inspired dishes in December to rave review by tastemaker and written word wrangler Karen Brooks of Portland Monthly who called Clandestino Portland’s Best New Mexican Restaurant. Try to make reservations as the space in inclement weather is very cozy and with recent media coverage may even be full for the night, even on a Monday. You can see how small the open kitchen is, so they also can only realistically do only so many covers per evening. As spring and summer weather open up the outdoor seating and they dial in their menu they’ll have more capacity.

Be sure to try several half glass pours during your visit! You can trust and after selecting your dishes let the staff pour their recommended pairings – you can even ask for a different pairing per person like we did for each dish. Not only are the selections carefully curated to be all winners with the food and diverse in provenance and flavor profile, but that helps support both sides of the collective.
Clandestino PDX - part of the Dame Collective

The way it works is the food sales are kept by the chef, Dame keeps the beverage, and overhead and staff costs are split by both resident chef and Dame. So patronize both with your check! I’ve always been a fan of the pop-up model (I even used to cover pop-ups for Eater PDX) – restaurant industry life is hard in terms of long hours and margins in balancing inventory with limited shelf life. Pop-ups allow for some reasonable work time boundaries with more control of when open for business and taking breaks, and an ability to get some work life balance. It’s great business sense for the brick and mortar owners and visiting chefs and part of PDX’s supportive hospitality community.

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Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration

March 19, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Starting Monday March 20 Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Teamaker have collaborated to bring you some incredible spring seasonal drinks! I love the concept of bringing these two local businesses coming together to bring their quality products into my mug. Here’s a look at the five Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration drinks available. The beverage are available hot or cold but they are shown all as hot drinks here.
Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration

Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea share a history in both being based in Portland and were founded in 2009, both founded by veterans of their Coffee or Tea industry. Both companies are dedicated to producing high-quality, artisanal beverages using traditional methods and premium ingredients and have won numerous awards. Both are also committed to using sustainable and ethical practices in their sourcing, production, and packaging and work with small-scale farmers and producers who use organic and eco-friendly methods.

These espresso and tea combinations are made similar to making a latte. The barista will brew a shot of espresso and prepare tea separately that are combined in a cup and topped with frothed milk (optional alternative milk of course or no milk). The caffeine content of can vary depending on the ratio of tea to espresso used. Usually the beverage will have a higher caffeine content than a traditional cup of tea, but slightly less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee. If that’s too much no worries – some of the seasonal drinks are creamy milk and tea combos, aka tea lattes.

Strawberry Chamomile Latte with Steven Smith Meadow Tea, freeze dried strawberry syrup, espresso and milk is a creative combination worth trying.
Water Avenue Coffee and Smith Tea Collaboration, Strawberry Chamomile Latte with Steven Smith Tea Meadow, freeze dried strawberry syrup, espresso and milk

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Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

February 17, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I am a supporter of all things delicious – including craft beer, with special appreciation for those female brewers out there who make it in what is a male dominated field. Being a woman in engineering, I have to support and applaud their resilience, naturally. Whitney Burnside has been an award-winning Portland brewmaster that I have followed for many years and now she recently founded along with the other half of power-couple duo husband chef Doug Adams, the brewpub Grand Fir Brewing. Recently they launched a collaboration beer with longtime friend Ben Edmunds of Breakside Brewery a new collaboration brew called Chef’s Kiss! They decided to celebrate this launch with a five course Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner.
Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner Menu of the pairings for the Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

If you have not been to Grand Fir Brewing for Doug’s BBQ Wednesdays, you are missing out! Every Wednesday there is a new barbecue special on offer to enjoy with the refreshing and approachable beer lineup of Grand Fir, adding to the regular menu which offers a small curated list of a handful of small plates and handful of large plates. But a beer dinner with multiple courses that were created to pair with specific beers – yes, I was excited. And I was extra excited to see that there was smoked rib on the menu for this collaboration dinner – the 12 hour slow cooked beef rib with green sauce with tortilla was my favorite dish from the smoker from his previous restaurant Bullard Tavern, and I’ve really missed it.

Well, let me tell you this whole dinner met and went beyond my expectations.
Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner Menu of the pairings for the Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

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