I Crafted This!

So I was grocery shopping at Trader Joe's yesterday (btw, yesterday was awesome I saved $75 on groceries, spent $20 on a new table, and beefed up my wallet with the rest!) and I saw this bottle of Syrah with a smiley face on the front. And it was like BAM! I just had to make it into a "Watchmen" collectible. Observe...

Food & Drink Portland Style

Some stuff I like to eat & drink in Portland:

*Voodoo Doughnuts. Especially the one with the bacon on it. And also the one with the Captain Crunch.

*Mazatlan and their house Margaritas. Oh and anything on their menu with shrimp and/or a sizzling plate is A-OK in my book.

*Mio Sushi in the NW. The wait is long and if you don’t put your name on the list you get skipped (boo!) but in the end it is so worth it. Get the spider roll and the sparkling sake and you will know happiness.

*Todai. All-you-can-eat seafood buffet. That is all.

*Two words: Happy Hour. It’s an institution in Portland. Here are a few of my faves:

-Bridgeport—they make wood-fired pizzas and at Happy Hour they are available for $5 (serves 2). Even the plain cheese is superb.
-Portland City Grill—I had the papaya, cucumber, and avocado stack with fried lotus root. It was delish and cost me $3. The drinks are too expensive but if I had it to do over again I’d still get the lavender martini.
-Deschutes—Thai BBQ ribs and a Black Butte Porter. Awesome. And kind of funny too.

*Fubonn. It’s the largest Asian Market in Oregon and it never fails to capture the imagination. Where some of the parts they sell there come from—even what animal they might have originally belonged to—befuddles me. But the sheer variety available at Fubonn deserves its notoriety and the BBQ duck is the stuff of dreams.

*Trader Joe’s. Small and fresh and fun to shop in. I avoided going here for a while thinking that they’d be over-priced because they sell organic and local. Fortunately I was so wrong. They’re affordable and the shopping experience itself is refreshing. And…wild-caught garlic & lemon marinated tuna steaks for $6!

*Tugboat Brewing. It’s a little Mom & Pop type place that happens to brew a high-alcohol dark beer called Chernobyl Stout—yum. The full-time bartender there is hysterical and his past time is putting pop music to the Planet Earth series. How fun is that?

*I had the best sandwich of my life the other day at this Greek lunch-type place. It was a Halloumi sandwich (I think that’s the name, though it’s probably spelled incorrectly). Ohmygod. It was a sourdough Panini with cucumbers, tomatoes, red and green peppers. It had 3 types of cheese on it and garlic sauce. I am literally drooling right now.

*Homemade Butterfinger ice cream from the Saturday market. If you go with two scoops pair it with the espresso flavor and waffle cone it.

Pasta Everything meets Summer!

My all-time favorite dish is pasta-everything. It was one of the first things I learned how to cook and I continue to make it because it’s easy and fun and different every time. Admittedly, I have taken pasta-everything to places pasta should never go—i.e. that time with the banana peppers (sorry about that Jenna!). That said, trial and error have taught me that pasta-everything needs focus; with summer just beginning and vegetables available fresh and shiny at the market it seems appropriate to make a veggie-based pasta dish. So, I call this Pasta-Everything: the Summertime Edition!

Ingredients:
*Yellow Squash
*Zucchini
*Onion
*Garlic
*Red Pepper
*Spinach
*Mild Italian Sausage
*Butter/Oil
*Salt & Pepper (a dash of sugar, too)
*Penne Pasta
*Asiago

To Prepare:
Crumble the mild Italian sausage into a pan over medium heat and let it get a nice brown on it. While that’s cooking, cut the yellow squash, zucchini, onion, and red pepper into bite-sized pieces and mince the garlic. When the sausage is ready let it drain on paper towels and clean the pan for a second use. Get the pan started with one-tablespoon butter and enough oil to cover the bottom. Cook penne pasta until al dente. Throw all the veggies into the pan and let them cook over medium-low heat until fork tender and then add sausage. Remember to season at all stages. After a couple of minutes have gone by add another tablespoon of butter, a little olive oil, and cleaned spinach. When the spinach begins to wilt fold the pasta into the “sauce”, making sure to coat every piece. Serve immediately and with a sprinkling of shaved Asiago!