Eat for a Cause August 29 and Help Women!

August 28, 2015 by 7 Comments

On Saturday, August 29, there are two opportunities where you can Eat For a Cause and help women at the same time! Don’t let the weather predictions for some rain and wind deter you.

Ruby Jewel Hawthorne, benefiting Raphael House

First, there is the Grand Opening of the new location of Ruby Jewel Ice Cream at SE Hawthorne, in the Mount Tabor neighborhood. The 4707 SE Hawthorne location is right between Por Que No and Apizza Scholls, both famous restaurants that will be open for lunch (as well as dinner). So then come on over for dessert because as part of their Grand Opening, a percentage of the proceeds goes towards Raphael House, a Domestic Violence agency.

Founded in 1977, Raphael House of Portland is dedicated to fighting the causes and effects of domestic violence. They offer emergency shelter in a confidential location, a 24-hour in-house crisis line, transitional housing and advocacy programs, non-residential advocacy in partnership with the Portland Police Bureau, and also work to bring an end to violence through community outreach and education. Raphael House is the largest domestic violence shelter in Multnomah County. Annually, Raphael House provides 10,000 safe nights for women and children in their emergency shelter and support as many as 5,000 callers on their 24/7 crisis line.

Ruby Jewel Hawthorne will be open noon – 11 PM, so you have plenty of time during the day to make your way here. As part of the celebration, they will have live music by Mo Phillips from 2-4 PM and also a special Mt Tabor Volcano Sundae which you can see previewed by Drew Karney of KGW here and you can see posed here… The Mt Tabor Volcano Sundae is a 2 scoops of ice cream (your choice) with an upside down “volcano” cone, hardening chocolate sauce, double chocolate cookies, and fresh strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

Special flavors above and beyond their regular flavors include
Ruby Jewel Ice Cream flavors for September 2015

September Seasonal Ice Cream

  • Chocolate Chip Squared– Singing Dog Vanilla ice cream with mini dark chocolate chips and chunks of housemade chocolate chip cookies.
  • Double Chocolate Toffee Crunch– Ruby Jewel’s classic Double Chocolate ice cream studded with house-made, chocolate-topped toffee.
  • Coconut Cream Pie– toasted coconut based ice cream filled with swirls of marshmallow fluff, candied coconut and vanilla wafer cookie crumbs.
  • Hazelnut Latte– Nossa Familia’s Full Cycle Blend coffee is paired with Oregon hazelnuts for a smooth coffee treat.
  • Honey Pistachio– Bee Local’s Oregon High Desert honey and pistachio ice cream with roasted pistachios.
  • PB & J Sandwich– Peanut butter ice cream with housemade Concord grape jelly and challah bread croutons.

Dairy Free

  • Portland Soda Works Root Beer Ice– Indian sarsaparilla and warming spices of Portland Soda Works root beer syrups used for sodas, cocktails and now a refreshing, nostalgic ice!
  • Reverend Nat’s Revival Cider Ice– Bold, crisp and full of apple flavor.

Samples of sundes in mini size at Ruby Jewel: Chocolate Chip Squared Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce and Pralined Pecans with Whipped Cream Ruby Jewel's Ice Cream cocktails with Portland Soda Works Root Beer Ice with rum, root beer syrup and orange liquor and Reverend Nat's Revival Cider Ice combined with Prosecco

Potential Ice Cream Sundae Combos

At a media preview, I also got to try some great sundae combinations if you are looking for some ideas. For instance a Chocolate Chip Squared Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce and Praline Pecans with Whipped Cream and an Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream topped with Housemade Marshmallow Fluff and Crisp Chunks (these are mini sample sundaes, the ones you get will be much bigger ;D ). I didn’t try this myself, but there is also for your consideration the combo of Hazelnut Latte ice cream with chocolate dip, whipped cream, and espresso caramel sauce…
Ruby Jewel sundae combo of Chocolate Chip Squared Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce and Pralined Pecans with Whipped Cream Ruby Jewel mini sundae sample of Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream topped with Housemade Marshmallow Fluff and Crisp

Winning Cookie Sandwich!

They also debuted the winning social media contest winner of the #betweentwocookies suggestions from the public: the winner is chocolate chip fudge chunk cookies with fluffernutter ice cream submitted by Chris Zales.
Ruby Jewel #betweentwocookies winner, the chocolate chip fudge chunk cookies with fluffernutter ice cream submitted by Chris Zales

Dairy Free Ice Cream Floats

They also had two wonderful ice cocktails (aka the dairy free ice creams float): Reverend Nat’s Revival Cider Ice combined with Prosecco (YUM) and the Portland Soda Works Root Beer Ice with rum, root beer syrup and orange liquor (quite a bit stronger than prosecco).
Ruby Jewel's Ice Cream cocktails with Portland Soda Works Root Beer Ice with rum, root beer syrup and orange liquor and Reverend Nat's Revival Cider Ice combined with Prosecco   Ruby Jewel's Ice Cream cocktail of Reverend Nat's Revival Cider Ice combined with Prosecco Ruby Jewel's Ice Cream cocktail with Portland Soda Works Root Beer Ice with rum, root beer syrup and orange liquor

EastBurn, benefiting Portland Women’s Crisis Line

Next, hop on over to Eastburn at 1800 East Burnside Street for their 2nd Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational! 9 establishments throw down at EastBurn to see who has the best grilled cheese.
Eastburn Grilled Cheese Invitational 2015

Participants include so far

  • Meat Cheese Bread
  • Bazi Bier Brasserie
  • Brunch Box
  • Big Ass Sandwiches
  • Gaufre Gourmet
  • Zeek’s Cheese Grill
  • The Blue Plate
  • Gil’s Speakeasy

It’s 5-11 PM and all ages. A $20 ticket gets you a scorecard, where you will then go to each competitor’s hole (apparently it’s set up like a golf course, thus the golf club with a grilled cheese in the poster) to try each grilled cheese. Then, you rate their grilled cheese based on taste, originality, presentation and best overall.

All proceeds go to the Portland Women’s Crisis Line. The Portland Women’s Crisis Line (PWCL) was one of the first five sexual violence crisis lines in the United States. PWCL provides services to the Tri-County area made up of Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties, and its toll-free number can be called from anywhere in the state. PWCL provides social services such as crisis intervention, in person response for survivors of sexual violence, emergency housing resources, danger to safety transportation assistance, safety planning, advocacy and support, and agency and community support groups, as well as being a social change organize to not only empower those who experience violence, but also to end the oppression and violence which causes them to seek out our services.

If you can’t make the invitational, at least stop by during the month of August (I know, only a few days left) because every $5 Grilled Cheese at Eastburn this month also has the proceeds go towards PWCL.

One of my favorite things about Eastburn are their swing seats, which you can find by the front windows when you first walk in and also in their back patio!
Eastburn Exterior Eastburn Exterior EastBurn bar
EastBurn front window tables with its swings for seats at the tables! EastBurn back patio with its swings for seats at the tables!

I hope you can join me in eating for a cause in supporting both of these very important and worthy non profits and help them continue to make a difference every day.

Disclosure: I was invited to a media event for Ruby Jewel Hawthorne’s Grand Opening to preview the September flavors and menu offerings, but I was not asked to write this post, and I threw in EastBurn as well because I think both are amazing events that you might consider for Saturday. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

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PDX Beer Week 2015 and other Drink Festivals of June

June 8, 2015 by 6 Comments

This year, PDX Beer Week 2015 falls upon this coming Thursday June 11 – Sunday June 21. Yes, it’s more than an actual week/7 days, but I have forgiven that long ago. You can see the full event list here, but I wanted to point my personal top picks. And, not all of them even involve drinking beer – there is for instance, also beer food.

Beer and Food

  • My favorite event of PDX Beer Week is always the Portland Beer and Cheese Festival. I always go to this event, and you can see my previous recaps from the Portland Beer and Cheese Fest 2014, then 2013, then 2012. As usual, it falls on Father’s Day (Sunday June 21st) from 12 – 5 PM. This year it takes place at the new The Commons Brewery location on 7th and East Belmont. For $35, you get to try 10 paired craft beers and cheeses: the 4 ounce samples of beers come from 10 different breweries and your cheesemaster for the pairings is the famous Steve Jones of Cheese Bar and Chizu.
    Portland Beer and Cheese Festival 2014, a pairing of beer and cheese, here Pfriem Family Brewers Saison with Satori – Pastorale – cow and sheep – Wisconsin Portland Beer and Cheese Festival 2014, a pairing of beer and cheese, here Double Mountain Brewery Carrie Ladd beer with Isle of Mull – Cheddar – cow – Scotland Portland Beer and Cheese Festival 2014, a pairing of beer and cheese, here Lompoc Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Side Porter with Cascadia Creamery – Glacier Blue – cow – Washington
    As in the previous year, you can enjoy complimentary free charcuterie from Olympia Provisions. And new this year you can also nosh on complimentary chocolate from local makers Woodblock Chocolate.
    Olympic Provisions was on hand with a meatastic display of charcuterie for participants to graze on to balance out the beer and cheese tastings Olympic Provisions was on hand with a meatastic display of charcuterie for participants to graze on to balance out the beer and cheese tastings Portland Beer and Cheese Festival 2014, an event pairing beer and cheese, and you can graze on Olympic Provisions charcuterie
    This is a 21 + only event. Tickets are on sale now and they usually sell out so buy ahead of time.
    Portland Beer and Cheese Festival 2015
  • For an alternate Father’s Day celebration where you can bring the whole family, consider the Father’s Day Brewgrass and BBQ. On Sunday June 21st Portland Brewing is celebrating dads with live Bluegrass music from 1 – 4 PM, BBQ Specials all day, and kids eat for free from their kids menu with each paying adult.
    This entire month of July 2014, Portland Brewing is donating a portion from every case or growler of ZigZag River Lager (growlers must be purchased at the Portland Brewing Co Taproom, cases must be purchased in the state of Oregon) sold back to our Northwest waters via Sandy River Basin Watershed Council. This entire month of July 2014, Portland Brewing is donating a portion from every case or growler of ZigZag River Lager (growlers must be purchased at the Portland Brewing Co Taproom, cases must be purchased in the state of Oregon) sold back to our Northwest waters via Sandy River Basin Watershed Council.
  • There are two Food Cart + Beer events on the calendar for PDX Beer Week. These events will be hosted by Steven Shomler, author of the book Portland Food Cart Stories and the new book Portland Beer Stories, as well as the host of Tasty Tuesday Radio Show on Portland Radio Project. Steve is a great guy who really goes into the stories behind food and beer, aka the people, the idea, the passion and hard work. He has invited other Portland culinary authors to these events, and the Food Carts at these respective Food Cart Pods are working on special dishes to go with the beer.
    • June 17th 6-10 PM the Food Carts and Beer event is at the Carts on Foster Food Cart (52nd and Foster) featuring beer from Sasquatch Brewing Company with additional watering hole beverages by Pod Bar, fantastic breakfast and brunch food from Egg Carton, the crazy good burgers from Angry Unicorn, and desserts and sweets by the food cart Sugar Shop.
      The Angry Unicorn food truck's Unicorn Burger, made with Unicorn meat a magical meat with ground bacon, strips of bacon, cheddar on a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut
      The Angry Unicorn food truck’s Unicorn Burger, made with “Unicorn meat” a magical meat with ground bacon, strips of bacon, cheddar on a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut
    • Then, June 18th 6-10 PM the Food Carts and Beer event takes place at Pod 28 (28th and Ankeny, just off of Burnside) featuring the beer of Coalition Brewing and Pod 28 participants like the outdoor beer garden with Captured Beer Bus, the tortas of Guero Food Cart, grilled pizza from Pulehu Pizza, and vegetarian and Middle Eastern food from Wolf and Bear.
      Pizza and breadstick from Pulehu Pizza along with beer from The Drinking Lot
      Pizza and breadstick from Pulehu Pizza
  • Throughout June 11 – June 21, Bunk Sandwiches is offering 2 sandwiches, with Bunk Bar Wonder serving both and Bunk Bar SE Water only serving the official Portland Beer Week Sandwich. Check out pics of the sandwich (as well as the ice cream and donut I mention below) at the beer blog Portland Craft Beer article Portland Beer Week Special Creations Preview
    • Official Portland Beer Week Sandwich: Beer Braised Brisket & Gravy Po Boy with Bitter Green Slaw and Herb Salad (made with Good Life Pass Stout) – $11 (Available at Bunk Bar Water and Wonder)
    • Extra Credit Beer Sandwich: Deluxe Queso Dip with Beer Braised Brisket (mMade with Good Life Pass Stout) – $8.50 (Available only at Bunk Bar Wonder)
  • The Portland Beer Week Ice Cream comes Salt & Straw and is a Citra Hop Ice Cream made from Breakside Tall Guy single hop Citra IPA and specked with actual Citra hop flakes. Available at special Portland Beer Week parties only, such as the Portland Beer Week & Fruit Beer Fest Kickoff Party & Pig Roast at Eastburn on Thursday June 11 6-9 PM or the Fremont Brewing & Breakside Brewery: Beer, Ice Cream, Donut Party on Saturday June 13 5-8 PM at Belmont Station.
  • The Portland Beer Week donut is the Blue Star Donuts Hopworks IPA cake donut with crumbled salty pretzels and is available starting June 11.

  • If you are looking for more sweetness than the donuts, consider pFriem Beer & Dessert Pairing Flight . All PDX Beer Week from June 11 – June 21 you can visit Bar Vivant/Pix Patisserie to try a flight of Pfriem Family Brewers beers paired with three bite-sized Pix desserts. Available all week for $20.
  • The 3rd Annual Mussels from Brussels at Bazi Bierbrasserie on Wednesday June 15 5 – 9 PM features 4 Oregon breweries each creating their own secret sauces to be used with 1 pound of mussels served with fries, and paired with their Belgian-inspired beer. Who will win the title of “Mussels from Brussels”? The previous two times this event was held, Upright Brewing won – will it be a three-peat? Tickets will be sold for one of the multiple seatings, which are in shifts.
  • If you are looking for a beer pairing dinner, The Lion’s Supper features Firestone Walker beer and David Walker, co-founder/owner of Firestone Walker Brewing and is hosted by Old Salt Marketplace with food by Chef Greg Smith from Grain and Gristle. Reserve your seat for Thursday June 11 6:30 pm ($75 per person for 5 courses and beer pairings) by emailing alex at oldsaltpdx.com
  • Sounds like a very nice Father’s Day gift: a reservation for the Lompoc Beer Whiskey Cigar Dinner at Radio Room on Tuesday June 16, 2015 7:30 PM The price of $69 you get a four course meal with Lompoc beer and High West Premium Whiskey pairings and at the end of the night a handcrafted cigar. Tickets available at 503-287-2346 or info at radioroompdx.com.

Beer Festivals

  • Rye Beer Fest at Eastburn from Friday June 12, 2015 4 PM – Saturday June 13, 2015 2 AM. The Festival is a benefit for Dawn to Dusk paddle fund for the Children’s Cancer Association. This festival, as expected from the name, feature more than 20 rye beers as well as rye cocktails, rye themed food and live music. The $10 admission fee includes a commemorative rye beer fest pint glass and eight beer tickets.
  • Portland Fruit Beer Festival in the lot of Burnside Brewing Co. featuring fruit beers, so it’s really one of a kind already, and add to that nearly every beer or cider featured at the festival have been brewed specifically for the Fruit Beer Festival, so a lot of one-off unique beers you may only see here this one time and that’s it. This festival is all ages and includes on-site food vendors though you could also choose to dine at Burnside Brewing’s restaurant. The festival runs in the evening on Friday June 12 4 PM – 9 PM and then opens at 11 AM – 9 PM on Saturday June 13th 11 AM – 9 PM, then on Sunday June 14th 11 AM – 6 PM. Cost is $20 for 12 tickets and a glass, tickets are on sale now. This years festival is 40% larger in space as they have expanded to an additional lot. I will have a post on Wed with some highlights from the Fruit Beer Fest list.
  • This free event (pay for the beer you drink) is The New School presenting their annual New Breweries Showcase at Bailey’s Taproom and The Upper Lip. Featuring 10 breweries that have opened within the last year from all over the state of Oregon with two beers featured from each one of the new breweries. The event runs all day but you can meet-the-brewers and The New School team from 5-8pm at Bailey’s.
  • I am pretty excited about the free event (pay for the beer you drink) of The Weird Beer Bonanza at Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom on Wednesday June 17 5 – 10 PM. The event promises to offer beers that have interesting combinations, such as
    • Upright Orange Dream – farmhouse ale with an addition of Townshend’s No.72 herbal tea
    • Breakside Cedarbaumbier – amber wheat ale made with foraged Western red cedar tips and fresh ginger
    • Fort George Spruce Budd – a hopless brew made with nothing more than organic two-row malt and Spruce tips for ingredients
    • Ninkasi Ground Control Imperial Stout – brewed with yeast that’s been to space and back, hazelnuts, coca nibs and star anise
    • Payette/Ninkasi Magic Gardens Asian Pear and Lemongrass IPA
    • SixPoint Ever Upward Fuji Apple Wheat
    • Coalition Dill Dose Sour Pickle Ale
    • Oakshire Raspberry Ginger Berliner Weisse
    • 13 Virtues Morocco Mole Dunkel
    • Burnside Silence of the Lambs Irish Stout brewed w/ Grilled Lamb Hearts

    Imperial Bottle Shop and Taproom presents The Bruery and Coquine Beer Pairing Dinner. Here for course 4, Bruery Geriatric Hipster Club - beer equivalent of an Old-Fashioned; oak, bitters, orange peel

  • Then a few days later, on Saturday June 20 12:00 noon to Sunday June 21 10 PM Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom is at it again with the Sour Solstice Berliner Weisse & Gose Festival. Taste 10 tart and refreshing, German-style sour wheat beers brewed by breweries across the States. They promise to have a selection of syrups for use in Berliner Weisses, including woodruff, Oregon berry, peach and others. Tickets will be $20 and include entry, commemorative glass, and 5 drink tickets.

Not PDX Beer Week… but also other Beer Events coming up…

There are two other events that are coming up, as long as I’m talking about beer.

  • The Oregon Garden Brewfest falls upon June 19 – June 21 this year, though given the location of the Oregon Garden in Silverton it’s not really part of PDX Beer Week. The festival is held indoors, but you can also explore the 80-acre botanical garden with your beer, so it’s lovely. The Oregon Garden Brewfest boasts 68 breweries, and live music, and on Sunday only since it’s Father’s Day, minors will be allowed (not allowed Fri or Sat).
  • The Portland International Beerfest at Holladay Park by the Lloyd Center on June 26 – 28, 2015. As previously the 3-day beer festival specializes in 200 world-class beers, several which are rare, hard-to-find, exotic beers. The beer festival is free to enter, has free parking, AND is across from the Max. You have to pay for any beer you drink, and the festival proceeds benefit Pet Cross and includes live music and some games (real darts, ping pong, croquet, cornhole, various other pub games etc.). A chance to try some rare beers and bid on baskets/snuggle puppies for charity? I’m there.
    "International International Beer Fest
    There are usually copies of the beer list at various bars (you will probably come across it at establishments you visit during PDX Beer Week in fact) – it is printed almost like a newspaper – so you can peruse the list and see what interests you.

Not Beer… but also other Delicious Liquid Celebrations of Portland coming up…

There are two other events for June that are not beer, but still full of delicious liquid celebrations.

  • Cider Summit on Friday June 19 and Saturday June 20 at the Field Neighborhood Park in the Pearl district. This year’s event will feature over 150 ciders from producers around the country and around the world to sample in 4 ounce pours.
    Reverend Nat's Hard Cider booth Atlas Cider Co ciders in bottles
    There will also be entertainment via live music, a special Fruit Cider Challenge that you can vote on ciders brewed specifically for Cider Summit, and the DoveLewis/Unleashed by Petco Dog Lounge. The event is 21+ only, but dogs of all ages will be allowed on event grounds.  Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 (cash only) at the door and are available online via Stranger tickets – admission includes a 5th anniversary souvenir tasting glass, 8 tasting tickets, and a $1 donation to the event beneficiary pool.  Cider Summit Portland benefits the Northwest Cider Association, The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research, DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital, and the Cascade Blues Association.
    Attending Cider Summit with a sample of cider to try. The event is 21+ only, but dogs of all ages will be allowed
  • On Thursday June 25, is the return of Saké Fest Portland. This classy celebration of sake takes place inside the Sentinel Hotel in Downtown Portland in The Governor Ballroom. Admission includes all food and all saké sampling stations (24 producers, and over 130 samples of saké, plum wine and beer varieties) as you learn how to pair the traditional Japanese drink with a wide variety of food, including cheese, desserts, chocolate and a wide range of fusion, Asian and continental cuisines.
    Sake flowing from Sake Fest 2014. Image courtesy of 750 Media Sake flowing from barrels at Sake Fest 2014. Image courtesy of 750 Media
    Photos by Hung Q Phan
    There are two tiers of tickets (both on sale now), Regular and the limited Early Admission. Some of the amazing participating restaurants include biwa and Noraneko, Chizu, Smallwares, Yakuza Lounge, American Local, Hokusei Sushi and more, as well as craft artisans representatives from Batch PDX, Yume Confections, The Meadow, Uwajimaya, and others to offer 19 different tables of food pairings. Saké is not a beverage you often get to sample so many varieties at once, so this Saké Fest is really a unique opportunity to learn what is out there and start to decode the mysterious types and labels to better pair with your sushi and more!

 

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