Under a Red Roof

So Much to Say!

October 21, 2011 in Celebrating, Eating, Remembering by Colleen | Permalink

Seriously, if I spoke all of this week’s typed words aloud, my throat would hurt. Actually, my throat does kind of hurt. The lovely Maren, my Arts & Letters partner in crime, is in town and we’ve been having fun adventures and yakking it up, though not a single word about A&L. How funny is that? Our conversations take place everywhere but there. Yakkety-yak and a jolly good time.

Speaking of jolly good times, the hubster and I spent Tuesday evening at the Willamette Week’s Secret Supper for Restaurant of the Year, Podnah’s Pit. It’s a beyond delicious barbecue joint in a beautiful space in Northeast. I must admit I was a tad disappointed with the choice because it is somewhere I’ve eaten numerous times and kind of wanted a new experience. However, both of the other restaurants local eaters love and felt more deserving of the honor, St. Jack and Little Bird, are places the hubster and I have enjoyed equally stellar meals. So, no matter what, it would have been a repeat for us. What are you gonna do?

That being said, it didn’t make it any less fun or crazy delicious. We were lucky to be sandwiched between some really nice people, software developers and non-profiters on one side and psychiatrist wine makers on the other. I know – interesting combination! The wine, beer, and conversation flowed, majorly (Not a word? Really?) so, and we chatted like high schoolers in the cafeteria while digging into a meal that can only be described as epic and bordering on the hedonistic.

There was wedge salad with creamy chunky blue cheese, corn bread, mac and cheese, collards (the only item I didn’t like – I want beans with my BBQ, not limp greens!), brisket, prime rib, pulled pork, and ribs, which maybe doesn’t sound like a lot when in small portions (or if you’re a linebacker), but the plate was absolutely piled with food. We had to get strategic so as to keep everything on the plate and still eat. I ate all I could and felt full and belchy (classy!) until the end of Last Call with Carson Daly, which, just in case you aren’t in the know, is over at 2:35 in the AM. That’s a meal and a half, my friends.

The photo is what we took home, the heaviest to go box of our lives: lunch and dinner for the hubster on Wednesday, a late morning snack for me, and lunch again for the hubster on Thursday. Like I said, epic.

Part of the magic of the evening was that we knew not a soul, yet felt wholly at home with our table mates. Portland is chockablock with neat-o people. I love you, Stumptown. We also had a small world moment when I discovered that one of the psychiatrists at the table (for my family – think half Joe, half Bush 43 wearing Daddy’s cowboy hat!) practices in the same building as a doctor I saw years ago. What are the chances?

Sadly, however, Dr. Newton died just two weeks ago. It came as quite a shock, and my heart ached at the news. Here was this guy who helped me through a very dark period, a psychiatrist without feeling like one. He talked about the outdoors and visiting Yosemite and getting sun in winter. We talked about everything, big things, but mostly little things, triggers, and ways to overcome them. Minor shifts in perspective that created great breakthroughs in my overall wellbeing. “Instead of thinking that roadkill is dead, think of it as sleeping, forever. Oh look, that squirrel is sleeping!” He was the first psychiatrist to make me laugh (squirrel!) and truly help me see that I was okay and needn’t take drugs to feel better or worry so much or bury myself in guilt or doubt. I was and would be fine. And I am with much thanks to you, Dr. Newton. Peace to you in the sweet hereafter.

Let’s just keep the love going a moment – thanks to you ALL for reading and being my friends. Big hug!

Tags: Portland, Restaurants

Good to the Last

October 17, 2011 in Cooking + Baking, Eating by Colleen | Permalink

Good morning and welcome to our Saturday night! A bit of a tomato fest, it was. We were meant to have friends over (though they couldn’t make it), and when I was trying to think of what to serve, I got this picture in my head of a glass of red wine, pasta with red sauce and sausage, garlic bread, and Caesar salad.

Does your mind work this way? When I have ideas, I see a lot of pictures and then try to make the world match what I see. Sometimes it is hard, as I do not know where to find the picture or how to make it, but most times, I am lucky, and it all works out. For this, I picked all of our remaining ripe tomatoes off the vine and made, quite literally, the best sauce the hubster and I have ever tasted. It was simple, just a little bit of olive oil, five cloves pressed garlic, one pound spicy Italian sausage (via Afton Field Farm), red wine, a pinch of herbs and salt, the tomatoes, and a whole day to bubble over the lowest possible heat.

As for the cake, I had a ton of green tomatoes, and I remembered my friend Lori posted a recipe for a cake last year, so I adapted hers. If you have any green tomatoes still clinging to the vine, I highly recommend making it and put the recipe below. You will never ever know there are tomatoes in it, and, at times, it seems almost banana-y, crazy pinkie swear! Dang, I think that’s my first ever pinkie swear, so you know I mean business.

In response to my absence last week, we were busy, busy, busy. We got a new fence to replace the one nearly blown over in a windstorm and are finishing our basement (the house is eighty years old– it’s about time) and had to get ready, which meant cleaning out the garage so we could shift former basement items there, then clear the basement of about ninety percent of its contents, which was an awful lot of crap, truth be told. The process took three whole days, one of which I was on my own, which was kind of a drag, but I managed. Thankfully we were able to recycle, sell, or donate most of what we had. To let you know the sad state of accumulation, we still took a whopping 520 pounds (!) to the dump, most of which was leftover from the previous owners, a large roll of carpet and some “I made them myself!” cabinets of the heaviest and ugliest variety. We are glad to be rid of them.

Since I remain a silver lining type person, I must say that despite the exhaustion from all the work and the steady stream of people at the house, it was an awful lot of fun to drive our neighbor’s big F150 (Thanks, Kelly) hither and yon to get rid of stuff. It is the one vehicle the hubster absolutely does not like to drive and I absolutely relish. Slovakian farmer roots, maybe?

Lori’s Green Tomato Cake

4 cups green tomatoes, small dice

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon nocino (I know – not something most have, but since I made some, and I love it, it’s a good use for it. Use vanilla if you don’t have it.)

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Brown Butter Frosting

1/2 cup butter

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons nocino (What can I say? The stuff is awesome. Use milk if you don’t have it.)

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Place chopped tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt. Let stand ten minutes. Place in colander, rinse with cold water, and drain.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8″ or 9″ round pans or simply grease a 13×9.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, nocino or vanilla, and beat until creamy. Sift dry ingredients together, add walnuts. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Dough will be very stiff. Add drained tomatoes and mix well. Spread into prepared pan(s). Bake the round pans for 20-25 minutes, the 13×9 for 40-45. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Allow round pans to cool 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Cool 13×9 in the pan.

For the frosting, melt the butter in a small pan over low heat until it is lightly browned. This takes 10-15 minutes. Place sifted powdered sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, add melted butter, and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add nocino or milk, the optional vanilla, and whip until spreading consistency. You may need more nocino/milk. Spread over the cake, as desired.

Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Recipes

Bright White, Green Pickle

September 7, 2011 in Cooking + Baking, Eating, Friendship by Colleen | 2 comments

Will ya looky there? I can finally see my reflection in the bathroom. Huzzah! No more dashing for the best light. Many thanks the hubster, my worker extraordinaire, who did a fine job hanging said mirror and painting this weekend. We edge closer and closer to a finished bathroom, my friends. One fine day!

While he painted (the black window – his work!), I canned. Eight pints garlic dills, six pints spicy dills, seven pints bread-and-butter, two pints pickle relish, four half-pints Hatch chiles, and two quarter-pints jalapeños. Seeing the jars lined up in the cupboard is highly satisfying. Being burned by hot vinegar solution is highly painful. My thumb will recover, however, and I will be ever more careful.

We also spent a lovely day with the Twists, enjoying excellent company, the serenity of country living, grilled steaks, fine whiskey, home grown blueberries, a sky full of stars, and a visit from an owl! Its profile was reminiscent of a cat atop a tree, and a big one, too. Very cool.

Here’s hoping you had a lovely weekend and are keeping safe amid all the fires and storms. Be well!

Serendipity II

August 23, 2011 in Eating, Friendship, Traveling, Writing by Colleen | 2 comments

Transported

Over wrought

Built square

Keeping in, keeping out

Shaded

Medicated

Well read

Wet

Stone

And a new season

Of chutes and ladders

Big butts and bridges

Cold feet and smiles.

The Fork in the road

Fork the man

Fork the condiments.

Are we just rats

With no escape

Conned into luxury

Dreaming of beauty

Dreaming of what might be

Or just looking, playing, spinning silly yarns?

Tags: Poetry

Serendipity I

August 22, 2011 in Eating, Traveling by Colleen | 2 comments

Back when I got home from my Shiva Rea yoga retreat, and I nearly drove the hubster nutty singing the praises of Bellingham and all its treasures, we scheduled a trip to prove I wasn’t hallucinating or a liar (tee hee), in what seemed a very far away time, at the height of summer. That far away date came in the blink of an eye, like so much in life, this past weekend, and I couldn’t be more pleased at the timing. Who knew in April that we’d be tearing our hair out at the comings and goings of plumbers, tile layers, and contractors and in dire need of a break from the house? Who also knew that it would be very Portland hot while we continued on our Goldilocks streak of weather in Bellingham? Someone very very kind, I should think, and to whom I extend my sincerest thanks.

We left in the pre-dawn light Friday, the hubster sleeping a little while I mastered the cruise control and softly sang Radiohead tunes (Not just once, not just twice…) and enjoyed the exquisite beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I love this place: the light, the trees, the smell. It’s home. We arrived first at Mount Vernon, a cute town about a half hour south of Bellingham and to the aforementioned Goldilocks weather after some heavy fog had me waxing poetic and slightly panicked, “If only you could see how beautiful it is right here Buddy. Mountains almost like Switzerland and sweet farms and the bluest sky!”

The shots down to the Telephone are the very Mayberry feeling Mount Vernon. This is the train station, probably the most modern building we saw.

You look mahvelous considering you’re nearly 130 years old. Hardly any wrinkles!

I love neon, even in daylight.

This place looks very quaint and sleepy but is actually quite large inside and packed with people eating delicious smelling food and the biggest cinnamon rolls we’ve ever seen.

The photo does not do it justice. It was tasty, but not as good as our favorite Grand Central Bakery variety. Since it was also very sticky, and I was dumb and didn’t request napkins, I washed my hands PWT style in a nearby fountain. No shame or class!