Making Mochi at Home

Making mochi is not the easiest thing in the world. One would think that with just three ingredients it can't be that bad, but you would be wrong. It's one of the more labor intensive items - hard labor - to come out of our kitchen.

What is it? Mochi is a Japanese dish created from glutenous rice, usually sweetened but not always, pounded into shape, and can be filled with just about anything you desire. Traditionally mochi are made to celebrate the new year and are filled with an - a sweetened red bean paste.

On New Year's Eve Wifey's mom came over and supervised our creating of mochi because, well, we have no idea what we are doing. Here's the basic recipe we used:

1 box of Mochiko 

2 3/4 cups of water 

3 cups of sugar

The first item is this, mochiko - sweet rice flour, and can be found at any Japanese food store (we shop at Uwajimaya in Portland). The above is a little misleading because you need either more mochiko or cornstarch (or powdered sugar, we've read but not tried) for dusting the finished product, plus whatever you are going to use for filling.

You are also going to need some rather unique items, such as these:

These can also be found at a Japanese store and are the Japanese versions of a mortar and pestle. The bowl, called a suribachi, has many thin ridges on the inside in varying directions, which is key for the later steps of pounding the mochi. The stick is, well, for pounding.

You will also need a steamer of some sort and a cheesecloth.

First you mix the box of Mochiko and the sugar together. Add water and mix slowly, until you have a smooth mixture. You may not need all the water the recipe suggests, but knowing exactly how much is a fine line we haven't mastered yet. Wifey's mom was skeptical when we put it all in, saying it was too much, and she ended up being right. I have no idea how to determine what is too much.

After the steamer is ready, put the cheesecloth in it and pour the mochiko/sugar/water mixture in, making sure to keep it all inside the cloth. Cover the steamer and let it do it's magic for 20 minutes or so, until the mixture thickens and becomes more clear rather than milky. It should still be malleable and not completely hold it's shape.

Then you pour the mixture into the special bowl and the fun part begins. At the beginning this will be a little lumpy and the point of pounding the mixture is to smooth everything out. Pound away. Don't stop until the mixture loses any lumpiness and starts to take on an almost glue-like texture.

This may take awhile. Switch hands or switch people, as necessary. Did I mention this is not a one person job? Also, don't get this stuff on your clothes. It's not just "like" glue; I'm pretty sure it has alternative uses.

See this below? It's the an, a paste of red beans (azuki), sugar and salt. There are recipes for this, but it's also sold as a finished product at Japanese food stores. No matter what size you buy it will be way, way too much for a batch of mochi.

After the beating of the mochi, we poured the whole thing out on our marble pastry board we dusted with additional mochiko. For this batch, this was the point we realized there was too much moisture because it was super, super, super sticky. Here you should be able to rip off a chunk (it's still hot, just a warning) and form a nice ball, but ours was simply a sticky mess. We had to use way too much extra mochiko and then wait for it to cool a bit, which isn't ideal.

The general flow is you take a chunk of the mixture, roll it into a ball so the edges are smooth, make a dent in the middle and put in about a tablespoon of an, and then wrap it all up, sealing the edges. Then you get this:

See the one closest to the camera on the left? That was one I did. Don't make them look like that. Instead, they should look like the one to the right of that, which Wifey's mom did. That's the difference between an amateur and a pro.

Mochi food porn shot:

We were making these for the family New Year's celebration, so they got fancy cupcake wrappers.

Gratuitous finished mochi pic:

Super yummy. I'm not even a big fan of an, but once a year, in mochi, it's just the right thing to do.

Remember above how I mentioned all kind of things could be done to the mochi? Well, on the mochiko box is a recipe for Cocoa Mochi - no way were we going to let that go unmade. Plus, it's done in the microwave so it doesn't take very long at all.

Plus, we had some pretty damn good cocoa powder in the cupboard to use. Mmm, Valrhona...

Here is the chocolatey goodness that got whisked with the mochiko.

After microwaving everything together, we poured it into a Pyrex dish with parchment paper on top and bottom so we could easily get it out when it cooled for cutting.

It actually turned out very nicely. It had the normal soft consistency of mochi and a pleasant amount of chocolate flavor; noticeable, but not too much. Unfortunately that's the last picture I have because we were in a hurry when it came to cutting it and heading out to the family function. We kept some extra and set it aside, but notice the part in the recipe at the end where it says "store in airtight container and refrigerate"?

You should definitely do that. We didn't and we got some white spots on our leftover cocoa mochi, so we threw them out before taking another pic (sad face here). Trust me when I say it was really good, much easier to make than the other recipe, and you should try it.

Oh, and if you see this at the store, buy it:

(image from here)

Seriously, just do it. The Kona coffee one (you heard that right) is outstanding and I also really like the strawberry and vanilla. The ice cream inside the mochi is pretty dang good - good flavor, creamy - and one of these little guys is a nice little snack. At only 100 calories (I was surprised too) you won't have to spend too much extra time in the gym either.

So is homemade mochi worth it? I think it is. You can buy it in the stores, but it's honestly just not as good as fresh from your own kitchen. Even if it is a crapload of work.

March Tasting Notes

EAT!

Kenny and Zuke's - biscuits and pastrami gravy, Day After Thanksgiving sandwich, cheesecake: Honestly, both of these items fell a little flat for us. The pastrami gravy was just too salty, which if I had to guess may be because the gravy was properly salted but then the pastrami (plenty salty on its own) was added. I'm probably wrong, because I'm not a chef, but that's how it tasted. It was great for a few bites, but after a while the saltiness was overpowering. The turkey (and everything) sandwich was good, but the elements seemed to cancel each other out, if that makes sense. And it needed more gravy - as in, more than none. The fries with the sandwich were very good. We'll absolutely go back, just order something else. And, as usual, the cheesecake was to die for.

Alder Pastry and Dessert - chocolate croissant, chocolate peanut butter cake: This was our first visit to the new Bakery next to Ate-Oh-Ate on East Burnside and it absolutely will not be the last. Both items were fantastic.

Alma Chocolates - chocolate chip cookie, Maker's Mark bourbon bon bon, salted peanut butter cup truffle: All three of these items were good. The cookie, well, was fine, it's just not as good as ours. I will say it's probably not as easy to make large amounts as it is one dozen, like we do at home. And that's fine, it really is, but it just means we'll probably stop buying cookies. I really liked the bourbon bon bon - had a solid but not overpowering bourbon flavor - and I would get again. The salted peanut butter cup is excellent.

Yuzu - gyoza, tori karaage, kakuni ramen, wiener sausage fry, gyu negima: The gyoza was good, the karaage excellent, and the gyu negima (thin sliced ribeye seared and wrapped around green onion) fantastic. I will say, I prefer the rib eye wrapping asparagaus instead of green onion, but that's a seasonal thing - have to go back in a few months. The sausage fry was interesting, a little greasy, and we probably wouldn't order it again. We both loved the ramen. The broth was rich and flavorful, the pork a little but not too fatty, and the sesame seeds and garlic they serve on the side unexpectedly added a whole other dimension. Definitely recommend.

The Dump Truck (food cart) - "Mr. Ma's special" pork dumplings: These dumplings were, well, marginal. The wrappers were thicker than ideal and we could barely taste the pork inside; the only flavor I picked out was onion. The dipping sauce was okay. Probably won't go back.

Ziba's Pitas (food cart) - combo plate with meat burek and cufte in white sauce: The meat burek we've had plenty of times, but this was our first time trying the cufte (pronounced "chuf-tee"), which are meatballs with various spices. Fantastic! The white sauce was very good with it and the ustipaks (bread - but much better according to the menu) I wanted about 12 more of - they were that good. Very moist, but dense. Next time I might order just cufte and no burek (gasp!).

The Whole Bowl (food cart) - Big Bowl, chips: Continue to love Whole Bowl. Fantastic meal, hearty, and fairly healthy. Great change of pace for us.

Mojo Crepes - S'mores crepe: We've been hearing about Mojo for a long time now, but since it's out on SE 84th and Division - far from home - we hadn't been. Finding ourselves in the area we had to stop to check out these stuffed crepes. And honestly? Not impressed at all. The crepe itself seemed soggy, undercooked, and lacking in flavor. Maybe it was our choice of flavors, but it did nothing to convince us we should go back.

The Country Cat - beef brisket sandwich with onion rings, "Hot Brown" sandwich: The brisket was well cooked with great flavor. It had a bit of heat with it which I wasn't expecting but wasn't unpleasant. I'd order it again. The onion rings were very, very thinly sliced - more like ribbons than the rings I expected. Light and fluffy with good flavor. The Hot Brown is an open-faced turkey sandwich with mornay sauce and bacon topped with  bit of romesco. One would think all the flavors would make a rich whole, but for some reason the end result was a tad bland. The turkey seemed a bit dry. Maybe it needed more mornay? Not sure. The home fries are excellent (this was a substitution on our part - who wants salad?).

Immortal Pie and Larder - garlic herb chicken pie, creme brulee pie: Immortal makes pies similar to Pacific Pie Company - small, perhaps individual-sized meat pies, in plenty of flavors. And they do dessert pies. The creme brulee pie was nothing short of fantastic. It seems like it's hard to find good creme brulee around Portland, but this is absolutely good creme brulee and their crust is so light and fluffy. The herb chicken pie was very hearty - Wifey and I split it with a side of veggies and filled ourselves up. AND - it's half a block away from The Country Cat. How convenient. They also sell wines, chocolates, and Belgian beers, among other things, so we picked up a French cotes du rone for a later meal.

Dove Vivi cornmeal crust pizza - corn, quattro fromaggio, pepperoni classico, sausage classico: Dove Vivi won't satisfy a real pizza craving, but it creates one all on it's own. The corn continues to be my favorite, but the sausage and pepperoni slices were excellent as well. The quattro fromaggio, to me, needed something. Maybe more sauce? Seemed a tad dry.

Violetta - corn dogs, yukon gold fries: Corn dogs are absolutely not on my diet (then again, what of this page is?), but when Violetta posted a special for two for $7.50 with the dogs being Kobe beef from Snake River Farms we couldn't resist. Most corn dogs are bad, doughy and greasy disgusting blobs on sticks, but these, these are what people remember when they talk glowingly about the dogs of childhood (provided that childhood was many, many moons ago, and included Kobe beef). That is to say, not my childhood, where I grew up not liking the massed produced crap some pass off as corn dogs. The corn crust on these was very well made, crunchy with a tiny big of sweetness. So. Damn. Good. Oh, and the fries are good too.

Little Big Burger - burger with bleu cheese, burger with cheddar: Something changed with LBB since our first visit, in a good way. The first time we went the burgers were pretty dang good. This time they were excellent. I have no idea what the change was, but I like it.

A visit to Pok Pok merited it's own post.

DRINK!

Wine:

Bergstrom's 2009 Old Stones Pinot Noir: We tried a tiny bit of this wine, but really only bought it to have a red to make boeuf bourguignon. Nothing jumped out at us about the wine itself, but it did great in the whole pot dish.

Ponzi's 2007 Pinot Gris: This was fine. Citrusy a bit, a little sweet, no complaints. Not sure what we liked in it at the Ponzi tasting that made us feel like we had to have a whole bottle though.

Beer:

Bridgeport's Cafe Negro Porter: I wanted to like this one, but it didn't move the needle for me. The coffee was there, chocolate flavors were there, but they didn't seem to mesh very well. I'd drink it again if someone gave me one without any whining, but wouldn't buy again.

Full Sail's Black Gold Bourbon Imperial Stout: I liked this stout, with a nice bourbon flavor and rich chocolate and caramel flavors, but I wanted to love it. I wanted to drink it and say, "Damn - I need to stock up!" That didn't happen. I drank it, liked it fine, and forgot about it. Maybe at $12/bottle it's better that way.

Kona Brewing's Koko Brown: I read about this beer finished with toasted coconut a couple months back and had been keeping my eyes open in the stores I shop at - normally New Seasons and Whole Foods, which stock Kona's other offerings - but finally found it at a closing Haggen grocery. Picked up a six pack for 20% off. It reminded me a little of the Beertown Brown Bridgeport Brewing did last year, which I also liked, but the big difference was the aftertaste of the toasted coconut. Excellent. It's not as good as the Pipeline Porter, but it lives up to the standard Kona has set for itself.

Coffee:

Edenway Coffee - mocha: Shrug. It was near my dentist, so I tried it. I don't need to make a special trip to get it again, and in six months when I go back to the dentist I'll probably try somewhere else. Okay flavor, slightly sweet, nothing special.

Chocolate and Other Tastiness

Over the past couple weeks we've gotten our fill of tasty tidbits here and there (who am I kidding...we can NEVER get our fill!). Between Portland and Seattle we've found some places that are amazing.

Alma Chocolates (Portland): I had never heard of this place, but we were driving around last weekend and ended up not being far away so Wifey suggested we stop. Apparently there are brownies that are to die for here and they are only made on Saturday. And it was Saturday. Unfortunately, no brownies on this day - sad. But, what Alma did have was a fantastic looking chocolate cake, so we got a nice slice of that and a salted peanut butter cup. We ate the cake the next day and it was still very moist. The chocolate filling and the icing wasn't overly chocolatey - a perfect balance. And the peanut butter cup? Wow. Wow.

Pix Patisserie (Portland): Wifey and I have only been to the Williams Street location in Northeast, but we've been there quite a few times. Previously we had just ordered the special desserts, like the Shazam! and the St. Honore (both good), but this time we decided to check out their chocolates. We ended up going with two fleur de sel chocolate caramels (you know, one for each of us - they were small) and a pair of fleur de sel macaroons. The caramels were some of the best I've had, including the ones we tried from Fran's Chocolates in Seattle. As for the macaroons... Pix is known for their macaroons and I really had no idea what to expect. For some reason I expected something full of coconut and crunchy, but I must have been thinking of some other treat. These were soft and moist, with a wonderfully sweet filling and just the slightest crunch to it - amazing. Simply amazing. I love a good patisserie and this is absolutely one of the best in Portland - and apparently they do chocolate good as well.

Sahagun (Portland): Sahagun is another place I've been to multiple times, also not far from where Wifey gets her hair done in NW Portland, right on Burnside. It's a tiny shop and we had always gone in there for drinks. We ordered the iced chocolate once - single origin chocolate and coconut milk - and it didn't really excite either of us. It was probably the coconut milk, something we don't get too excited about. However, their single origin drinking chocolate is very, very good. The last time we were in it was a Michel Cluizel (whose solid chocolates are very good if you have never had them - so are ones by Valhrona) and it was very, very good. There are other places to get drinking chocolate in Portland, but the ones we've had have been way too dark and bitter for our tastes (Coffehouse Northwest does a hot chocolate using Cluizel chocolate that is out of this world). The last time in we also finally tried their chocolates, each getting a Luscious Caramel and a Sun Drop. We were warned to eat them as a single bite and that was definitely a good recommendation - these suckers are full of gooey goodness, so attempting to take a nibble would have made a huge mess. They were both good, but I personally liked the Luscious Caramel better - the sunflower butter of the Sun Drop takes a little getting used to. Good place for a chocolate fix.

Fleur de Lis (Portland): I think we might have just found a bakery to rival Nuvrei. Seriously. Fleur de Lis isn't exactly close by being way out on off Sandy Boulevard, but we found this place through looking up good doughnut shops in Portland. They have yeast-based and potato-based doughnuts, so we had to try them out. Both were good, not greasy, not overly done, with excellent flavor (we opted for cinnamon sugar topping on one each of the potato and yeast, as well as a yeast with frosting). I liked the yeast one better - not sure about the potato one - but Wifey preferred the yeast one frosted, thought she liked the potato one much more than I did. This place seemed to have a very nice vibe, plenty of tables, tons of different breads, pastries, and baked goods. The next time we go back it will be for breakfast to hang out a little bit, rather than a stop and run.

Old School Frozen Custard (Seattle): If you haven't had custard you must go. There are places to get it in Portland (we've been to Tart - it was pretty good), but I don't think they could match this place. Wifey and I got there just as it opened on our Seattle trip and found out the special of the day was orange cream. Yeah, you know, like those vanilla and orange ice cream cups from elementary school everyone love? Well, we did anyway. They also do chocolate and vanilla every day. He offered us a taste of each one - very nice of him, we appreciate that - and even though we thought we'd be getting orange cream, we ended up getting one vanilla and one chocolate. However, that's not a knock on the other orange cream. If I could get this whenever I wanted, I may never eat regular ice cream again. A must visit.

Husky Deli (Seattle): This place out in West Seattle was supposed to be the cat's meow. It's a deli that does sandwiches in addition to all sorts of normal deli stuff, but also does their own ice cream. And is very, very popular for it. We ordered chocolate chip cookie dough - a favor we both agree on and love - and yes, it was good. But it's not like it was the greatest thing I've ever eaten. For one, the custard above was better, and then I don't necessarily think it was any better than Tillamook, Portland's local favorite and one readily available just about anywhere. Again, I want to stress it's not bad - but it's not drive-to-Seattle-good either.

Theo's Chocolates (Seattle): I'll admit it - we went here expressly for one thing the Big Daddy chocolates. We've had and liked various Theo's chocolates here in Portland and from other stores in Seattle (Chocolate Box Cafe is excellent), but nowhere other than Theo's own store do they carry these Big Daddy Peanut Butter cups and Smores bars. Was it worth the driving all over Seattle? I'm not sure. I mean, we liked both of these (I actually like the Smores one more, Wifey likes the peanut butter cup more), but I'm not sure it's worth the drive. I'm still trying to decide that...maybe I'll have to eat more of them...

So there you go - get out and there and increase your blood sugar!

Seriously, Por Que No?

I gotta admit something - I got inadvertantly spoiled when it comes to Mexican food when Wifey and I went to Hautulco (southern Pacific Mexico, about halfway between Acapulco and Guatemala) last year. Before then I liked Mexican food, but never really got it when people talked about "authentic" - to me, it was all burritos and tacos.

How we ended up in Huatulco is a crazy story too, because I will venture a bet that 99% of you have never heard of it. But you have heard of Puerto Vallerta and Cabo San Lucas, right? Huatulco is another area the Mexican government has chosen to turn into a tourist paradise, but it's never really taken off. They get tourists, but more of them seem to have come from Europe than come from the United States.

Still, we had never heard of it. So how did we get there? (Besides the obvious smartass answer of "plane" via Mexico City?)

Two years ago we had some work done on our house - painting, yardwork, remodeling, that kind of stuff. At the recommendation of our real estate agent we hired a company called Move-In Ready. They did a great job and Berenice was very helpful - good stuff. Turns out Berenice was born in Mexico and she kept talking about this place she had in Huatulco. She had also just bought a condo there and told us we could stay there if we ever wanted to go. At the time we smiled and said thanks, but a few months later when we wanted to plan our next vacation, we thought why the heck not?

So we went and it was great (hot as hell), but the food was absolutely amazing. I can't even remember what all we ate, but not one meal we had was bad. Fresh seafood, Oaxacan cheese, different types of beef - all inexpensive and all amazing.

After that, when we returned to Portland, none of our old haunts could measure up. Sad, right?

So through various blogs and food sites we kept hearing about this place in North Portland on Mississippi Avenue called Por Que No. Supposedly it was THE place to go in Portland. Skeptical a bit, it took us a while to go - and not least because it's not the most convenient place from our house.

Finally, this past Saturday, we decided to check it out. And yes, it was awesome.

Some things to know about Por Que No:

1 - It's always busy.
2 - You must wait in line and order before taking a table.
3 - The wait staff is friendly but efficient.
4 - It's well worth it.

We waited in line - in 95 degree heat - for about 10 minutes or so (there were about 5-6 orders in front of us). The place isn't air conditioned, but it wasn't horrible either.

We ordered a few different things to share: flautas carnitas (fried mini tacos with pork), a carnitas taco (with queso fresco), a carne asada taco, a pollo asado taco, and a glass of their sangria (the red, though the bianca looked good too).

The sangria we got immediately, and it was nice and fruity - a nice cold drink for the hot day. Our food took about 15 minutes or so to come out. We were splitting everything in half, so I attacked the tacos first while Wifey went for th the flautas (there were three of those).

All three tacos came on fresh corn tortillas, and all three were perfect. I used to hate corn tortillas, but then again I didn't know they could be so yummy - I need to find a place to buy them to use at home. I'm beginning to think the ground beef tacos with flour tortillas I make at home might not be all that authentic...and they definitely aren't as good as these morsels of scrumptiousness.

If I had to pick one of the three I liked best it would be the carnitas one, but that would be a crapshoot, really. And while those taco cart tacos were good, they weren't as good as these. The meat was cooked perfectly, tender and melt in your mouth good.

After I got halfway through each taco and Wifey had polished off half the flautas, we traded. The flautas are pieces of meat tightly rolled in a tortilla, then deep fried. They came topped with a fresh salsa and crema (similar to sour cream, but not as thick and not as strong of a taste) on top. These were amazing. The deep frying - which I'm not a huge fan of in general - wasn't too much; it added the perfect amount of crunch and flavor to complement the meat, not overpower it. The only bad thing I will say here is the meat at the end of the flauta - which is already cooked before being rolled up - might have been a tad tough due to be open to the high temp fryer. And no, that's not a good reason to knock them, but I'm throwing it out there.

We got the perfect amount of food too - and still had some room, which was good for what else we had planned in the neighborhood. Four tacos would be a good meal, six if you want to be stuffed silly - and they have enough kinds they could all be different.

As I said, we are almost never in this part of town, so we decided to explore a tad. This area seems to have been revitalized a bit recently. The idea of revitalization in itself is something I'm not entirely sure I fully endorse - rarely does it help the people, only the area, simply pushing the people in these poorer areas that get revitalized someplace else when they can't keep up with the rent - but you can't argue that it gives those who can afford it some nice new options.

Holy crap that sounds pretentious - not how I mean for it to come across. I'll have to work on better words.

We walked up the street and stopped at a coffee shop called The Fresh Pot. We ordered a mocha - they use the ubiquitious Stumptown Coffee - with a small dollop of whip cream. Definitely a good cup. Also grabbed a lemon poppyseed scone, which came from Nuvrei - again, one mark of a good coffeeshop in our mind is they serve Nuvrei's fantastic pastries. The scone was good, though it wouldn't be at the top of my list to get again considering all the other good things they do.

Our next stop was a place called The Meadow. Wifey found this place from another blog or magazine or something, and it instantly became some place we had to check out. I mean, a store that sells different kinds of salts and high end chocolates, plus wines and flowers? How could that possibly be bad? And no, it's not bad, not bad at all. Well, except for the impact to my bank account...

We picked up some fleur de sel since we were about out, as well as some truffle salt. This stuff is not cheap, but being infused with bits ot truffles it's easy to understand why. We wanted it, but haven't used it for anything yet...what's good enough to be finished with truffle salt? Have to think about that some more. Also picked up some chocolate bars from Michel Cluziel and from Valrhona, as well as a couple chocolate caramels topped with finishing salt and bacon flavored chocolates (!!!) from Xocolatl de David. This store was air conditioned, so that was a nice respite.

They also have tons of other salts, such as various kinds of smoked salts and even one infused with the flavor of Japanese plums (it was nice and pinkish-purple). They also sold salt finishing sets, had a huge wall of various wines, and even have pink salt blocks you can buy to use for cutting foods on (to give them another bit of flavor). Someday.

As we walked back towards the car - with a few more places to add to our list to come back to Mississippi Avenue for - we passed this place called the ReBuilding Center. We didn't go in, but people remodeling can bring old anything there to be re-used - doors, lights, you name it. It caught our eye because when Move-In Ready was doing the work on our house Berenice mentioned they could take the stuff we didn't want here. That was fine with us, especially since it was a trek from home them taking it worked. She also said we should go out there and look for stuff, and then try this great little Mexican place across the street. At the time we just wanted the work on our house done, so forgot all about it.

So as we are standing in front of the ReBuilding Center, we looked across the street...at Por Que No. Berenice, we're sorry - we should have listened to you. If we had, it wouldn't have taken us two more years to find this fantastic food spot. She was right about all the suggestions in our house, she was right about a vacation in Huatulco, and she was right about Por Que No.

Now, one would think that would be enough for a day, but our hedonistic (when it comes to food) tendencies don't allow for that, especially when it comes to an area of town we really don't get to very often. After getting back to the baking car, we drove about ten blocks (seriously, it's hot, give me a break) to another coffee place, Albina Press. I can't honestly say I wanted coffee at this point, but it was close and supposedly as good as Coffeehouse Northwest, which we love.

We had to try, right?

They also use Stumptown, so we got another mocha (see, that's what we get at new places - easier to compare when you get the same drink across multiple shops). It was, again, excellent. I don't know that it was markedly better than The Fresh Pot thought - either place is good enough for me. I will say the barista at Albina Press did a fantastic job with the art from the steamed milk. Good enough for a picture, had I brought my camera (seriously, one of these days I'll learn).

After this we just had one more stop, but we had to drive a few miles to SE Division Street to get there. We took a roundabout drive through some neighborhoods, looking at houses. Not that we are buying, but seeing the different areas was intriguing. As we came up to Burnside Avenue - Portland's dividing line between North and South - we noticed we were right next to the Laurelhurst Market.

By day the Market operates a deli where you can get all kinds of meats in various marinades, things you won't find at a grocery story like pate and foie gras, and they make sandwiches. By night they operate a full restaurant. It's also owned by the same people who run Simpatica, so you knew we had to stop. Again, we weren't hungry...but we got a couple half sandwiches to bring home and put in the fridge anyway. Those are today's lunch, so maybe next post. (Nah, I'll just update this one. One sandwich was a turkey and bacon one, the other was a BBQ Beef one - slab with a bit of sauce, not shredded. Both were good sandwiches, but I don't think I need to go way, way out of my way like that for them. However, we will eventually go back to this place for dinner, and possibly some crazy stuff out of the deli case.)

The final stop was a place called Tart. They are known for frozen custard, something we had never had - but considering frozen custard is creamier and higher in fat than ice cream, there is zero chance that could be bad.

When we walked in the first thing we were asked is if we had been there before. Just a note, but even if you have a "No" will get you samples of the frozen custard and frozen yogurt. I like creamy, so the custard was better in my mind.

We both ordered the Saturday special, which was a medium order of custard with two cookies from Two Tarts Bakery, who specializes in miniature cookies. Wifey ordered plain vanilla and I ordered a vanilla/chocolate swirl - we both picked Two Tarts mini Oreo-like cookies for our "garnish." You don't normally get to pick your cookies - it's supposed to be the mini chocolate chip ones - but they were out, so he gave us a choice. And an extra one each, because they were out - like I needed that (but say no? yeah right...).

This was fantastic - creamy goodness all the way through. However, a medium, after all we had already eaten, was seriously too much; we should have shared. Did that stop either of us from finishing it? Of course not, that's silly!

Tart also has a Clover coffee machine, which supposedly makes the smoothest coffee ever. We tried this on one of our tours at a Starbucks in Seattle (Starbucks now owns Clover and is putting machines in select stores nationwide). Wifey likes it, but I'm not so sure. To me, it's almost too smooth...like whatever it does to the grounds takes out some of the uniqueness to those particular beans, or something like that. I think I need to try it once or twice more to really wrap my head around it.

Yeah, like we needed more coffee at this point.

We then managed to get back to the car to get home...we didn't make any more stops, but we did see something on. We passed a recent accident - police were on scene but that's all - where a Subaru wagon plowed into the side of a Lexus SUV (the big one, but the older model, no idea what it's called).

As we came up from behind all we could tell was the Subaru had T-boned the Lexus. As traffic moved past the accident we could tell the Subaru was done - it's entire front end was just destroyed. Now, it had hit the driver's side of the Lexus, so I fully expected to see similar damage on that vehicle.

Nope. Not a dent. Heck, I don't even think there was a scratch. That car probably drove away after the pesky Subaru had been cleared away. Apparently those Lexus SUVs are made out of the same thing as a tank...maybe I need one...

And the last thought of the day...

Wifey's mom has been staying with us through this hellishly hot weather, and she elected to stay home with the cats and dog while we went on our foodie adventure. We left Ruby in her crate, since she's big and can still intimidate, but apparently she also whined a bit while were gone. That is, until Wifey's mom began reading her poetry out loud.

Who knew our dog was so cultured? She doesn't like people or dogs much at all, but she's all for a rousing round of Japanese haiku.

The dog is almost seven years old and we still learn something new every day. Crazy.

Opening the Screen Door

So my whole idea with starting this thing was to track where I've been, what I've done, but at the same time you have to start somewhere, right? How far back do I go before I just cut it off and have to hope the memories still resonate in my head somewhere?

Apparently, that date is last Saturday. Before that, who knows what happened. I mean, it was almost a week ago.

So last Saturday some friends came in from out of town - Shameless Plug: if you are in Seattle, you have to do this! - and we agreed to meet for a brunch/lunch at a place called Screen Door. After reading about the place we decided we should probably get there a little early because there is always a line, so we did. Our friends were delayed, so we had some time to kill, and it turns out there is this little place nearby called the Waffle Window. Well, who doesn't love waffles, right?

Since we were having lunch soon, we split a Razzle Dazzle - and wow. Wow! They aren't that big, but it was plenty for two people to split for a little snack. There was just enough lemony goodness to go with the raspberries and cream, but the waffle was super good just itself. At $4, you can't beat that. We'll absolutely be going back...

So we still had some time to kill, so we drove by Screen Door and there wasn't much of a line. Figuring that was a good sign, we drove out north and stopped at Pix Patisserie for a yummy treat for later. You know, because we weren't eating enough stuff that is detrimental to the goal of being trim. After browsing the treats, we picked out something called a Shazam! - good choice by us. Good job us...very nice move. This was our second foray to Pix...if you like chocolate and pastries, 12 thumbs up.

So after this we got back to Screen Door. We were still a little early, but now there was a line, so we put our name on the list. We waited about 15 minutes for our friends, then about about another 45 with them, before finally getting a table. Outside in the 93-degree sun. Oh well, we got to sit down, right?

Screen Door serves Portland's Stumptown Coffee. I don't know what blend it was, but it was excellent. I've now had Stumptown about 7 different places and the only place it wasn't good was at...wait for it...Stumptown! I have heard this is true, but it seems a tad counterintuitive doesn't it? Well, it's true. I have resisted buying their beans because of a bad experience at their coffeeshop downtown - and by bad experience I mean the mocha wasn't good, not that they beat and berated me for being a coffee novice among the realm of the truly better than me - but I may have to re-think that. Maybe after the Theo's blend runs out.

So Screen Door serves SoCo food (Southern Comfort - like the whiskey, sort of) and is well known for their chicken and waffles, so that's what I got. My better half ordered a fried chicken biscuit and gravy, which came with pan fried potatoes.

Since it was busy it took awhile to get our food, but the coffee and conversation was good so no big deal. As we were chatting the waitress brought something to another table, something huge. Apparently it was what I had ordered - a Belgian waffle with a mountain of chicken. Oh, with a steak knife jammed through it (steak knives scare me, but that's another story) to make sure nothing fell off the plate. Our friend leaned in and said, "Oh my god...I think that's what YOU ordered!"

A few minutes later it became apparent she was right. There were four chicken breasts on top of my waffle. Yep, breast meat - none of that cheap brown meat here, and absolutely no bones. About damn time someone made fried chicken from good meat - and the seasoning mixed into the breading was perfect, a nice blend of savory flavors. I was surprised, but absolutely in a good way. It came with a nice maple syrup that tied it all together with the seasoning.

Yes, the breading came off the chicken when it got cut, but with no skin it doesn't have much to adhere to. Some people may not like that, but the fact it was breast meat and had no skin is much better in my mind. Oh, and the meat was so juicy! None of that overdone crap here.

My better half's meal was excellent too. Her fried chicken had a little less kick than mine, but the sausage gravy was amazing, the biscuit fluffy and yummy, and the potatoes seasoned just right with a good amount of crunch.

It should probably come as no surprise after reading all of this we loved it and will absolutely be going back. 14 thumbs up for brunch...next time we might tackle dinner.

Now, you might think we'd call it a gastronomical day after that, but no, not us. As if we hadn't had enough coffee, we stopped by Coffeehouse Northwest on the way home. They serve Stumptown, though the owners are reportedly starting their own little roaster soon. Either way, this is the best coffee in Portland, with all due respect to Barista, which is also good. The Cluziel mocha at Coffeehouse NW is just chocolatey goodness - best dark chocolate mocha I have had.

And it wasn't just coffee...

See, there is a bakery in the Pearl District called Nuvrei. They have a tiny place to buy pastries, but they also provide baked yumminess to coffee shops all over the downtown and NW Portland area. Yep, including Coffeehouse NW. So, since it was the 4th of July and Nuvrei was unfortunately closed, we could still get our treats. We picked up an almond crossiant, which we had never tried but is supposed to be Nuvrei's specialty. It was yummy - big shock. We also got a berry scone, which is basically the best scone I've had that didn't come out of our own oven. It's hard to put it into words - just get it.

After that we decided to call it a day. In completely unrelated news I had gained three pounds when I woke up Sunday morning. No idea why.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, no, we didn't eat it all. I think it ended up being something like four meals, or parts of four meals. Not bad for $30...