Low Tide at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach

July 2, 2021 by Leave a Comment

A few months a year is when you can find super low tide – you can look up online almanacs for daily tide charts for the year. They list daily high and low tides both in terms of the time and amount of feet that is predicted, and what you are looking for are negative numbers. Super low tides tend to be very close to negative 2 feet. It may easier to search for your area (say Oregon Coast or Cannon Beach, or any beach city in the world) and “super low tide” or “minus tide” – to find them. They usually occur for 4 months, over a few days in those months. In 2021 for the Oregon Coast these were April 29, May 27, June 25 and July 24, according to predictions by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, with May and June being the lowest of the entire year. So I planned a trip specifically to check out the super low tide at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach in June.
Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide

Planning

It worked out that it also happened to be during a crazy heat wave in Oregon where we were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s always much cooler at the Coast. Good thing I planned months ahead of time before all the rentals were sold out. Many places during the summer high season want you to stay 2 days, so keep that in consideration if you are going to stay overnight that you may need to stay longer or you will have some limited choices of where to stay. You can drive early in the morning, but as the low tide was early in the morning (around 7 am) I didn’t want to drive in that early, even if it is only 1.5 hour from Portland barring any traffic or accidents.
Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide Haystack Rock and The Needles in Cannon Beach at low tide

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Drina Daisy at Astoria, Oregon

October 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment

When you need a break from eating seafood while exploring the Oregon coast, how about a visit over to an entirely different country with Bosnian food? There isn’t much Bosnian food to be found in Portland, so I was surprised when I saw that Drina Daisy in Astoria not only specializes only in Bosnian cuisine, but got consistently high ratings on Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Zomato. In fact, on Tripadvisor it was ranked the second highest restaurant in Astoria (with understandably Bowpicker Fish & Chips taking the #1 spot).

When I read the description, I couldn’t help but be a bit charmed by it’s sincere heart:

Drina Daisy strives to offer uncommon food that is approachable & satisfying. Our food is prepared & presented with a respect that comes from its ancient roots. We labor to celebrate the dignity of hard work & meaningful service. Drina Daisy is a place to relax with good food & good hearts. Drina Daisy seeks to bridge both time & place.

How fun to go on a little adventure to the coast, and then embedded in that adventure have a mini adventure that takes us to another place in the world. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, we could immediately feel a different vibe from the rest of the Coast, almost as if we had stepped into a portal that had transported us into a little family restaurant in some street in Sarajevo.
Signage identifing the location of Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR Signage identifing the location of Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

The Ajvar that we started out with (a traditional condiment and spread made from pureed fire roasted sweet red bell peppers, here served with bread) is the consistentcy of how I model the adjika sauce that I made previously with burek (though thanks to the use of red chili peppers, adjika is much spicier).

Meanwhile, the Bosanski Sudzuk (a Bosnian Smoked Beef sausage with light garlic and other light spicing) sliced and decoratively arranged with pickled vegetables and Sopska (a tomato and cucumber salad with diced tomato, cucumber, green pepper, and cheese in light sour cream dressing) served as a second shared appetizer for us.

What you see is pretty representative of the starters that Drina Daisy offers, they only have 3 starters (2 meat, and the other is the Ajvar) and they only have 3 salads. The arrangement on the plates was simple and functional – the menu promises that “presentation varies by availability and mood”.
Bread with Ajvar, a traditional condiment and spread made from pureed fire roasted sweet red bell peppers at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR Bread with Ajvar, a traditional condiment and spread made from pureed fire roasted sweet red bell peppers at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR Bosanski Sudzuk (a Bosnian Smoked Beef sausage with light garlic and other light spicing) sliced and decoratively arranged with pickled vegetables and Sopska (a tomato and cucumber salad with diced tomato, cucumber, green pepper, and cheese in light sour cream dressing) served cold at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

Then our main dishes came in huge platters for the four of us- we had ordered 3 mains. The major types of entrees they have fall into a beef stew (the only type we didn’t get), stuffed cabbage leaves (either with beef or vegetarian), handmade pitas/pies with jufka (filo pastry), and a lamb platter.

Here, you can see the vegetarian entrees were placed together along with some green salads and various fruits: it was so old school style.
Jagnjetina Na Rostilju, Zeljanica and Sarma Sa Povrcem at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR Zeljanica and Sarma Sa Povrcem at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

Zeljanica is a cheese pita of Jufka folded and baked around spinach, farm cheese mixed with eggs. They had a version without spinach (listed as Sirnica) and a version that included ground beef and onion (Burek).
Zeljanica, a cheese pita of Jufka folded and baked around spinach, farm cheese mixed with eggs at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR Zeljanica, a cheese pita of Jufka folded and baked around spinach, farm cheese mixed with eggs at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

The favorite of the 2 vegetarian options was the Sarma Sa Povrcem, Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Italian arborio rice and Vegetables and spiced with Mediterranean spices.
Sarma Sa Povrcem, Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Italian arborio rice and Vegetables and spiced with Mediterranean spices at Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

Three of us also shared the Jagnjetina Na Rostilju, a Rotisserie flamed roasted whole fresh young lamb rubbed with Mediterranean spices and roasted in their special large rotisserie. These are a Mediterranean style cut aka mixed pieces cut from the whole lamb, for a platter for two.
Jagnjetina Na Rostilju, a Rotisserie flamed roasted whole fresh young lamb rubbed with Mediterranean spices and roasted in their special large rotisserie. These are a Mediterranean style cut aka mixed pieces cut from the whole lamb, for a platter for two. At Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR Jagnjetina Na Rostilju, a Rotisserie flamed roasted whole fresh young lamb rubbed with Mediterranean spices and roasted in their special large rotisserie. These are a Mediterranean style cut aka mixed pieces cut from the whole lamb, for a platter for two. At Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

Finish off with Kafa, a Sarajevo style Minas coffee. Made and served as it was when Sarajevo introduced coffee to Europe in the 1500s. Made and served in traditional dzezva, includes mineral water, sugar cubes and lokum (a cookie). They also Baklava if you want an actual dessert option.

Kafa, a Sarajevo style Minas coffee. Made and served as it was when Sarajevo introduced coffee to Europe in the 1500s. Made and served in traditional dzezva, includes mineral water, sugar cubes and lokum (a cookie). At Drina Daisy, a Bosnian Restaurant in Astoria, OR

Other unique  beverage options include Cockta (a Yugoslavian soft drink produced in Slovenia flavored with 11 different herbs with dog-rose berry, vitamin C and caramelized sugar providing much of the flavor. No caffeine, no corn sweeteners or phosphoric acid) and Kiseljia, Bosnian Mineral water that can be mixed with their fruit syrups including strawberry, blueberry, and rose petal. A dozen Eastern and Central European beers and spirits and wines of Yugoslavia rounds out the beverage menu along with the regular teas and American sodas.

Drina Daisy Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Have you been to Astoria? What was your favorite eats there?

Have you been to Drina Daisy, or had Bosnian food before?

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Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe in Astoria

March 31, 2015 by 19 Comments

Are you traveling to the Oregon Coast? Going to or passing through Astoria?

Let me share one of my favorite places in Astoria: the Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe. If the parking lot for Pig ‘N Pancake is full and there is a line out the door, consider going down just 5 minutes further to this gem. You can gaze at all the goodness of the menu on the chalkboards and the baked goodies lined up like treasures in the L shaped case as you approach the register, where you will order, pay, and get a number to get your food and drinks delivered and then bus your own table. Here’s what we had on our Saturday morning visit (same morning as the Fort George Festival of the Dark Arts, but that’s a future post).

exterior of Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe in Astoria Some of the baked goods you can ogle as you approach the register of Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe to order

Yes, the banners do say Pastries to Die For and Bread to Live For. We had 3 different pastries while we were there in Astoria for Valentine’s Day weekend/FODA and they were all moist, flavorful, and could easily use the adjective “to live for”. Let’s take a look at what’s behind the case. Is that a Savory Croissant that includes pesto, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, asiago cheese, and egg? Did that not even last 24 hours in my possession? Yes.
Some of the baked goods you can ogle as you approach the register of Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe to order Some of the baked goods you can ogle as you approach the register of Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe to order. Including a Savory Croissant that includes pesto, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, asiago cheese, and egg

What, Cubes of Deliciousness (gluten-free, it uses tapioca starch and potato starch, but contains hazelnuts)? F and I agreed after devouring one that the name is completely correct. And holy moly look at the size of the scones and rolls (ranging from mini  to regular size Cinnamon Walnut to Cardamon Almond) and Almond Bear Claws…
Some of the baked goods you can ogle as you approach the register of Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe to order. Including these gluten free Cubes of Deliciousness

Don’t worry, they have plenty of beverages for you to enjoy with your food, including various caffeines from $2-6 or smoothies, various lemonades and ice tea, kombucha, even beer or wine by the glass. Seating includes tables as well as a children’s play area with little couches and toys, and also some seats at a counter by the window to gaze out at the sea just a couple blocks downhill.
All the beverages at the cheery and homey Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe are written on the chalkboard above the register Interior of Blue Scorcher Cafe

Our breakfast included Almond Milk Mocha, fresh rosemary lemonade, and OMG this super moist merely $3 Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cake, SO good. So DELICIOUS.
Almond Milk Mocha in all it's beauty at Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe in Astoria, Oregon This super moist chocolate cake made with apple sauce at Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe in Astoria, OR. SO good. So DELICIOUS. This super moist chocolate cake made with apple sauce at Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe in Astoria, OR. SO good. So DELICIOUS.

And oh, just this lil plate of French toast with brioche, homemade whipped cream, and local boysenberry and a dusting of powdered sugar served with maple syrup.
Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe, French toast with brioche, homemade whipped cream, and local boysenberry and a dusting of powdered sugar served with maple syrup Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe, French toast with brioche, homemade whipped cream, and local boysenberry and a dusting of powdered sugar served with maple syrup Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe, French toast with brioche, homemade whipped cream, and local boysenberry and a dusting of powdered sugar served with maple syrup

We’ve only been to Astoria twice, but both times we stopped at Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe, and I’m pretty sure every future trip, we will also be stopping in. Blue Scorcher is open every day, 7 AM – 3 PM. To give you fair warning, this is a worker owned co-op so the people who serve you may vary on the knowledge of what’s in any of the food item if they were not involved in making it.

Everything here is sourced to be organic and mostly local. Everything is also vegetarian, so even on their pizza of the day or reuben, there will be no meat (the reuben is made of tempeh). If you are looking for big portions at a good value, you should go back to wait in line at Pig ‘N Pancake. It is a cafe so it might be hard to accommodate big groups, and there are times, just like any cafe, that you may be sitting at a 4-top and share the space communally (it’s seat yourself).

If you are in Astoria, definitely consider stopping in!

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Travel food… part 2. Oregon Coast, Austin, DC.

May 31, 2010 by Leave a Comment

After our squirrely friend and a tasting at Flying Dutchman winery where we really liked their Wild Blackberry port (this was one of two tasting rooms we visited during the Coast- the other was Nehalem Bay with amazing light mixable wines), we went to our Moolock Shores hotel for our themed rooms to drop off our stuff and try to find dinner. Since the men were in the front, even though I handed a map to the front they somehow missed the "Historic Bayfront" signs along the street and on the map. We ended up at Panache because I had remembered it from a bit of internet browsing the day or so before and I had at least caught some signs mentioning the Nye Beach area. It has a cute interior as it exist inside an old English styled house. The chef started out by sending out pairs of tasters of the roasted tomato seafood soup and the New England clam chowder with bacon. I hadn't had good chowder in a while, so I chose that as my starter (it came served with a Parmesan crisp) before my lamb chops. The salads also each came with a Parmesan split, even the split portion of the Caesar, and the greenery was fresh and crisp. The entree of the risotto and polenta cake dish was really great as a vegetarian dish. The dessert was just as beautifully presented.

  
   

   

 

The next day, we spent it in Newport, with the highlight being the Yaquina Head Lighthouse- we had visited Yaquina Bay earlier, but my reading of the map saw two lighthouses, and the one we had been admiring from our beach motel view was exactly Yaquina Head, not Yaquina Bay, lighthouse. The beach there is all rock, which made it hard to walk but unique from normal beaches that have sand, and there was lots of cool smoothed by the sea driftwood. Whenever the waves would crash, it "played" the rocks as it retreated back which was very peaceful along with the sounds of the winds, surf, and birds. Unfortunately it was pretty windy and chilly the entire time we were at the Coast. Once we walked to the lighthouse, we almost felt like we were watching something you'd see in National Geographic or BBC's Blue Planet with the seabird colony.

After the coast, I was off to Austin, Texas for work. Since it was a touch work week, I didn't get to really research any place good before I arrived. I was lucky enough to try barbecue twice though: once at Uncle Billy's and the other time at Salt Lick. I couldn't decide which bbq meat to try, so I went with the 2 meat special each time. That is very filling by the way as a lunch item.

 

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2010-05-19 13.19.38

 

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2010-05-20 15.42.43

 

I arrived back on Friday to go off to the Umqua Valley Wine Barrel Tour. I'll write a separate post on that. I'll just skip to after the weekend, when I was in the DC-Baltimore area. The highlight meal was at Central, Michael Richard's more casual restaurant since Citronelle was not in my budget. The Faux gras terrine and country pate was my appetizer: the faux gras terrine really does deserve all the praise and hype as it really is amazingly smooth and rich. The country pate wasn't bad, but I'm spoiled by Chop at the Portland Farmer's Market and when I can get it fresh like that, Central can't compare. The lobster burger was ok, certainly not worth the price tag- give me a lobster roll instead please. The fries that accompanied the burger were nothing to write about- even Chicago's Rockit Bar and Grill can do better as they offer wonderfully crisp truffle fries with their lobster burger, and it's tastier as well as cheaper.

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I'll cover the Umpqua Valley wine trip and the tour I went to next post. Like last time though, I wanted to end on an amusing note… my new over mitt, courtesy of the Saturday Market (which we went to on Sunday)…

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2010-05-16 20.44.41

 

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Countdown to the Coast…

May 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

For the first time, my parents-in-law are coming to the northwest, and as part of their week here we are taking them to the Oregon Coast. I actually haven't been to the coast for years- the first couple times I visited here, I usually got at least a day trip, but when it actually came time to investigate moving here and now having lived here, I never went.

The last time I went, we drove with friends from Seattle and stopped at Camp 18. I still remember how crunchy and perfectly executed in a non-greasy fashion the fried halibut sandwich with sharp Tillamook cheddar and super crisp steak fries were. Every single steak fry was extra crispy crunchy, not a soggy one in the bunch.

We are doing a very similar drive this time, though obviously our starting point is Portland this time. We'll be swinging past on 26 to Camp 18 for breakfast and then onward to Cannon Beach, and down the coastline, stopping at Tillamook (where I will find room for a Tillamook Grilled Cheese, and ice cream, thank you) for sure but also any other places we see fit (like Devil's Punchbowl and Mo's Clam Chowder snack at Otter Rock) and wrapping up at Newport with a visit to Rogue. We also have the Newport Aquarium in our sights but only if we get in early enough and not distracted by the coastal beauty- which really depends on the weather.

I am not sure what exactly my parents-in-laws like to eat, but as a snack to have around the house, besides lots of lemonade and a carton of OJ and lots of beer and wine, I also went to the Portland Farmer's Market (I go so often I don't even bother to post about it) and picked up some cheeses (Chipotle Cheddar and Rosemary Cheddar from Rogue Creamery and blue cheese from my usual dairy lady of Jacobs Creamery) and as another bonus, boar and apple pate and farmer's pate from my favorite meat vendor, Chop Butchery. The poor guy (Eric Finley) was just getting overwhelmed today- it's always a popular one for people coming to taste, and they always taste all of the pates he has out which can be 4-5, so he's chopping and answering questions and trying to see whose orders he needs to take. One guy kept asking him what was each pate displayed, even though ahem, there were clearly signs in front of each block of wood with the pate offering and he tried to tell the guy to just read while at the same time dealing with a woman who was asking about his sausages, wanted one he was out of then wanted to try one that he didn't have for sampling while half a dozen more people were crowding just our inner circle of 4 in front of his table.

I just tried to get in and out of there as fast as I could with my pates (ok, maybe I threw in a duck confit for myself), not wanting to be a bother. It was a bit sad because I've actually stopped here a dozen times, but he never has time to really talk anymore, unlike when he first opened the stand. Though hey dude, maybe you should consider bigger signage. The flowers I purchased just had a big blue paper where with marker was written simply "1. Pay for a ready-made bouquet or 2. Tell us your custom order and we'll build it for you now or you can pick up later" so that despite the language barrier of the little flower factory they had going on, you knew exactly what the system is. Signs are so cheap and can really help a farmer's market vendor out. I know he uses the same chalkboard thing since he started, but when you have people surrounding you 3 half-circles back you need to get people to process information and make choices faster. I do appreciate that most of his stuff is $5, making for easy cash transactions. 🙂

The Portland Farmer's Market is just not a place that you can always take the time to know your vendor anymore. They doubled the size compared to last year, and although there are some new vendors they didn't add double the vendors, they are trying to allow more spacing. Still, with the number of people who come to the market now, it is still really, really crowded, too crowded for relationships with the farmers and more just a economic market of buyers and sellers just trying to get things done, though it is a very happy family and friend time on the buyers side. Lots of families with their strollers or kids, which I appreciate seeing future generations appreciating their food coming from the land and not a shiny corporate grocery store. When I was growing up, my mom stopped at several family owned groceries and farm stands (my favorite one was one where I always wanted to get fresh apple cider).

I miss that personal part- even though I go every Saturday, I know the farmers can't possibly remember me with everyone they see in that half day- but I'm glad that so many people are supporting them, even and especially in this economy. Hopefully, this will mean even more growth next year, and continues the cycle of appreciating what food should look like and come from. I suppose if I really wanted to talk, I could get my butt up earlier in the morning too. Very early when it is just opened, or in bad weather, are my most leisurely experiences with the market. If we have a chance, it would be nice to take the inlaws to the market, but knowing that the experience will be so crowded, it's not a top priority- Saturday Market is more that browsing feel we are hoping for.

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