Summer Stitch Fix

I received my Summer Stitch Fix box, which is my clothing subscription. I now tend to get once every 4-6 months – you get to schedule them at the interval you want for a box of 5 articles of clothing (and/or accessories or shoes or jewelry) picked out for for men, women (including maternity or plus sized) or kids that sends clothing to your door based on your style feedback and with free shipping & returns.

Now I’ll be honest upfront, this is one box where I only kept one item, and sent the rest back. First, it wasn’t really that summer appropriate since 3 of the 5 pieces had longer sleeves (though one was a cold shoulder look) and with temperatures mostly above the 90s, and probably a couple months more of such weather ahead, I didn’t feel any any of these were must haves for me. Anyway, you win some you lose some – at least it was still conveniently sent to my home for me to try on when I had time and with other items I have, and I provided feedback for each piece to help with future stylists matching me up.

So here are the five articles of clothing I had. I only kept the last one.

Cosmic Blue Love Quinn Distressed Frayed Hem Shorts
These shorts are cute, but just too short for me! I’m not really a shorts person anyway- I prefer wearing lots of sundresses. I tend to prefer clothes I can wear to work and out for fun, and jean shorts that are distressed don’t fit into that category either.
Summer Stitch Fix - Cosmic Blue Love Quinn Distressed Frayed Hem Shorts Summer Stitch Fix - Cosmic Blue Love Quinn Distressed Frayed Hem Shorts

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Feast Fab Collab – and way to win tickets to Feast!

I have been attending Feast Portland for many years now, and am an enthusiastic supporter of the amazing 4 day food festival event that helps brings awareness and raise money for charitable partners fighting against hunger. Feast Portland also celebrates the delicious local bounty of the Pacific Northwest, ranging from producers of food products to those who transform ingredients into dishes on a plate or in a glass – restaurants and chefs and mixologists and more. Most of the events at Feast bring together various makers of food to collaborate to create a limited time offering for Feast. Of the 40+ events during Feast Portland, many are sold out, but there are still a tickets to some events, and there are ways to participate in Feast without a ticket, thanks to the Feast Fab Collab.

Feast Fab Collab 2018 Feast Mode Lager Beer (sold in cans) with 10 Barrel Brewing Co., a lager featuring pilsner malt, flaked rice and a subtle hopping for an ultra light and refreshing beer. $7.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans (so four pints), available at New Seasons Markets + Feast Fab Collab 2018 Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese, available at New Seasons Markets = perfection

Now in it’s third year, the Feast Fab Collab is a collaboration of products you can purchase outside Feast – in this case you can find them exclusively at New Seasons Market. The food items are limited edition just for Feast, and created in partnership with famed chefs and food producers also participating in Feast. And, you’ll still be doing good – a portion of gross sales from all Feast Fab Collab items are donated to Feast Portland’s charitable partners to be part of the fight against hunger too. This year the partners are Hunger-Free Oregon and Urban Gleaners.

For 2018, the Feast Fab Collab items include

  • Feast Mode Lager Beer (sold in cans) with 10 Barrel Brewing Co., a lager featuring pilsner malt, flaked rice and a subtle hopping for an ultra light and refreshing beer. $7.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans (so four pints).
    Feast Fab Collab 2018 Feast Mode Lager Beer (sold in cans) with 10 Barrel Brewing Co., a lager featuring pilsner malt, flaked rice and a subtle hopping for an ultra light and refreshing beer. $7.99 for a four pack of 16 ounce cans (so four pints), available at New Seasons Markets
  • Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches with Maya Lovelace (of famous Southern Appalachian pop-up Mae PDX and coming restaurant Yonder) and Ruby Jewel. The two flavors of mini ice cream sandwiches (it says mini, but they are still palm sized – it is only mini in terms of the ice cream sandwiches at Ruby Jewel are usually even bigger!) include Maya’s Southern Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwich with chewy cornmeal cookies from Bob’s Red Mill and strawberry buttermilk ice cream using strawberries from Oregon Fruit Products. The second ice cream sandwich is Grandma Mae’s Sweet Molasses Ice Cream Sandwich inspired from Maya’s grandmother molasses and apple butter sandwich cookies. If I had to choose between them, I prefer the strawberry one with cornmeal but really it’s just personal preference because I like strawberry and cream more then molasses flavors. Each sandwich is $2.99.
    Feast Fab Collab 2018 Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches, the Grandma Mae’s Sweet Molasses Ice Cream Sandwich with Maya Lovelace, available at New Seasons Markets Feast Fab Collab 2018 Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches the Maya’s Southern Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwich with Maya Lovelace, available at New Seasons Markets
  • Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese. I’m serving it below exactly as they recommended it, very simply just grilled the sausage and sliced it up with fresh pasta, olive oil and some garden cherry tomatoes – sounds simple but it lets the freshness of the summer tomatoes and all the flavor of the sausage really stand out! Maybe in retrospect I should have wilted some spinach, but at this point the sausage was oozing cheese and I wasn’t going to wait any longer to eat it. A package of 12 ounces of sausage runs $8.99.
    Feast Fab Collab 2018 Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese, available at New Seasons Markets Feast Fab Collab 2018 Olympia Provisions Chef Sausage Series with Salumist Elias Cairo + Ava Gene’s Owner Chef Joshua McFadden, a specialty Italian pork sausage spiced with garlic, fennel, chili flake, and stuffed with kale and provolone cheese, available at New Seasons Markets

The beer and mini ice cream sandwiches are available now at New Seasons Markets in Oregon and Southwest Washington states, and the Olympia Provisions sausage will be available this Monday September 3, just in time for Labor Day bbqs.

All of these products will also be featured at the Friday and Saturday Grand Tasting Presented By New Seasons Market, who is the main sponsor of the two Grand Tasting events. Thanks to their generosity, I am raffling off TWO tickets to the Friday Grand Tasting event!

So here’s how you can win tickets –

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Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner

You probably know that I enjoy all beverages – cocktails, wine, and beer. I’ve been a fan of Alto Bajo, a bright, airy restaurant specializing in regional Mexican cuisine and located in the newish Hi Lo Hotel – and I’ve written about it previously as a great hidden brunch gem that takes reservations. I also really like its bar which specializes in tequila and mezcal, also as a hidden gem for classy drinks in a chic atmosphere that is suitable for a nice party of friends or coworkers where you can actually hear each other talk and fit comfortably in the lounge. So when I heard they were hosting beer dinner pairing their modern Mexican food with the beers of an award winning brewery, I was in for the Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner! If you are vegetarian or vegan, you should also know that Alto Bajo offered a vegan alternative for all the courses – I didn’t utilize it, but appreciated that they thoughtfully wanted to include non-meat eaters.

Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner menu

Since I last wrote about it, there was a change of chefs, and now Chef Bryant Kryck leads the kitchen. Some favorites of mine still remain, like the Mayan Sikil Pak at lunch and dinner. Chef Bryant has also increased the protein options. So although my favorite brunch omelette of theirs no longer stars huitlacoche with corn, local mushrooms and poblano cream sauce, now you can choose from fillings for your omelette (or burrito, or rice bowl, or chilaquiles, or other taqueria options) with smoked chicken thigh tinga, brisket barbacoa, pork shoulder carnitas, smoked truffled mushrooms, or red chili shrimp. I’ve been curious about the new menu, and got to sample some of it at this beer pairing dinner, while also seeing some of favorites still remain on the menu.

The Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner started off with a casual reception with Firestone Walker Pivo Pils, a German Pilsener, with Alto Bajo’s housemade chips and salsa roja and salsa verde at a central table where each person could help themselves. I am not ashamed to admit I went back twice. The chips and salsas are just as addictive as they were previously.
Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner, reception with Firestone Walker Pivo Pils, a German Pilsener, with Alto Bajo's housemade chips and salsa roja and salsa verde Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner, reception with Firestone Walker Pivo Pils, a German Pilsener, with Alto Bajo's housemade chips and salsa roja and salsa verde

The first Course was a pairing of Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion #10 American IPA with Pivo Pils braised beef short rib sope. This is not normally on the menu – Alto Bajo did this special dish utilizing beef short rib braised in Firestone Walker’s beer just for this event – and I appreciated that they thoughtfully did something one-off to both highlight the Luponic Distortion while also utilizing another Firestone Walker beer too as a thoughtful partnership.
Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner, a pairing of Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion #10 American IPA with Pivo Pils braised beef short rib sope Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner, a pairing of Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion #10 American IPA with Pivo Pils braised beef short rib sope Firestone Walker and Alto Bajo Beer Dinner, a pairing of Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion #10 American IPA with Pivo Pils braised beef short rib sope

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Visit Swan Island Dahlias

If you love Dahlias, or just flowers in general, you might want to consider visiting Swan Island Dahlias during August and September. Located just 30 minutes south in Canby, the Swan Island Dahlia farms bills itself as the “Nation’s Leading & Largest Dahlia Grower” and offers ~40 acres of dahlias. This post has some photos to show what they look like in early August (I went August 11) and later, photos from quite a few years ago when I went during their peak during the annual Dahlia Festival.

Swan Island Dahlias Swan Island Dahlias

Swan Island Dahlias is family owned and operated and has been so for more then 90 years. Besides selling the plants and cut flowers, they hold a Dahlia Festival every year the last weekend of August and Labor Day weekend that includes three indoor display rooms as well as food, drink, and live music and other entertainment, demonstrations, and talks. But, you can avoid the crowds who also come during the festival by visiting any day 8am – 6pm 7 days a week in August and September, like I did with my sisters last weekend.

Swan Island Dahlias Swan Island Dahlias
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Tortellini Corn and Tomatoes Salad

Besides strawberries,which I’ve already written about a couple weeks ago with two new recipes, the other summer bounty I love so much is summer corn and tomatoes. This recipe for Tortellini Corn and Tomatoes Salad is my favorite go to during summer and fall to really showcase both these ingredients and letting them shine.
Tortellini Corn and Tomatoes Salad recipe, an easy summer recipe that takes advantage of the fresh taste of summer corn while its sweet and heirloom tomatoes at their juiciest and is perfect for a picnic, potluck, and can be served cold or room temperature
Fresh corn during the summer has a wonderful sweetness that you just can’t beat if you are able to get your ears quickly after they are picked. Cook them how you’d like – Grilled is my favorite but I also provide an optional cheat to add a little sear and smokiness if for convenience you steam or boil them instead, or you want to use niblets to save yourself cutting them from the cob.

As for tomatoes, the ones you get from the Farmers Market are the best – you can get all sorts of different heirloom varieties you may never see at your regular grocery store. This recipe leaves the tomatoes raw and asks for grape tomatoes but you can easily substitute larger tomatoes – I just like grape tomatoes more so they can burst in your mouth as fun texture.

Even better, this batches up really well making it perfect for picnics and potlucks with a larger group, and can be served cold or room temperatures.
Tortellini Corn and Tomatoes Salad recipe, an easy summer recipe that takes advantage of the fresh taste of summer corn while its sweet and heirloom tomatoes at their juiciest and is perfect for a picnic, potluck, and can be served cold or room temperature
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