hoods are here!

When New Seasons puts up its big banner that says, "HOODS are here!", a clock begins ticking. It is the Countdown of Wonderfulness and Delectibility, because when you see that sign, you know that you have entered a very special, extremely short period of the year of eating as many fresh Oregon strawberries as you possibly can before they disappear for another year.

For those of you who don't live here and thus don't know about Oregon strawberries, here's the deal with them: they are the best strawberries you will ever, ever eat. I am not exaggerating in any way. If you've never had an Oregon strawberry, you have never eaten a true strawberry, trufax. No, I will accept no arguments on this point

They're dark, dark red, almost wine-colored. They are red all the way through -- there are no white centers. They're so juicy that the juice drips down your chin when you take the first bite and you will not wipe it off with a napkin, because that would be a criminal waste. Instead, you will wipe it off with your hand so that you can lick off every last bit of delicous berry juice. When they're in season, you will sell your own children for a pint of them. They're that good.

You may not have known Oregon even has these famous strawberries. We didn't, and believe me, we did our research about Oregon before we came here. Even when we got here, it took almost a year before we heard the first whispers of the Mythical Oregon Strawberry. People boasted about them the way they might talk about that record-breaking fish that got away, or sighting Sasquatch on a hike in the Gorge. They'll recount particularly good years like wine vintages: "Ah...1962, now that was a great year for strawberries. I still remember my dad taking me to Sauvie Island that year, and he said to me, 'Son, remember where you were when The Great Strawberry Harvest of '62 happened'..."

They're not a myth, but there's a reason that they're talked about as if they are. The strawberry season is super short, wildly varying based on the spring/early summer weather, and one of the most hotly anticipated of the entire year. And because of that, they don't make it past our borders so no one outside of Oregon ever knows about them. Hell, they don't even make it past the farms, most of the time, before they are devoured by the teeming hordes of strawberry-craving Oregonians. News of the imminent arrival of the strawberries is something that passes by word-of-mouth, and is the kind of thing that you only find out about by knowing someone who knows someone. Ostensibly, the strawberries appear at the end of May through the middle or end of June -- if you're lucky. Sometimes they arrive as early as the 1st of May, sometimes (as it was this year) as late as the end of June. Strawberry season may be a few weeks, maybe (rarely) as many as six. Every year is different.

Impromptu strawberry stands pop up along the highways on the edges of the city and the U-Pick farms at Sauvie Island have lines and wait lists. When they finally make it to the stores, they only last a day before they sell out. Sometimes only hours, especially in the beginning of a short and delayed season. You learn to snatch them up whenever you see them because there's a good chance those will be the only ones you get all year. You buy as many as you can every time -- a full flat, even if you'll be the only person eating them (you won't, but a girl can always dream...). Even if you get them in your delivered produce bin from Organics 2 U, as we do, they'll only spare you a precious handful, not even a full pint.

And if you do get them, you won't sully them with sprinkled sugar or cream or anything else. For one thing, you won't need to, but for another, there's a Secret Strawberry Police who will arrest you and charge you with crimes against food if you do these things. (Although it is considered acceptable to make either strawberry shortcake or fresh strawberry ice cream with Oregon strawberries. These are not crimes, these are sublime. However. They get mixed up with rhubarb and baked in pie? Slap on the handcuffs, buddy, you have committed a crime.)

So assuming you're not an idiot, you will simply fill a bowl with cold water, gently place the strawberries in the bowl and lightly dunk them under the water a couple of times, then gently pour them out into a strainer. Then you will gently place them in a bowl, if you have some modicum of self control, or else you and your nearest and dearest will cluster around the strainer. And you will stand over them, either in the bowl or in the strainer, and you will eat them in solemn, reverent silence, one after the other, respectfully eating no more than your share while quietly keeping track that no one else eats more than theirs. And when they're all gone, you will have a moment of silence in the event those were your last strawberries for the season (even if, lucky you, they don't end up being your last), and will lovingly place the stems in the compost bin, and be filled with such bliss and contentment that you would happily die at that moment with no regrets whatsoever.

lunch, movies, and naked bike rides

[NOTE: Had this all ready to post this afternoon but my phone wasn't cooperating so I had to wait until I got home to upload the pic via bluetooth. A simultaneous "GRR!" and "YAY!" for technology....]

No time for breakfast today so a little bigger lunch. Tuesdays seem to be like that more often than not, mainly because I have a lot of meetings on Tuesdays. More than usual today, since one of my monthly conference calls is today, too. But! CSA share pickup tonight, woot woot!

Laptop Lunch box:

• ham & cheese wrap
• salad: wild mixed greens, red & green leaf lettuces, sesame seeds (homemade balsamic vinaigrette in the small container in the silverware compartment
• star-molded egg, greens for garnish and carrots as gap fillers to add to the salad
• fresh blueberries; dark chocolate and yogurt covered raisins in the small container

We saw Toy Story 3 Saturday night, and...well, no spoilers here so I'll just say that IT WINS THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE OF PERFECTION AND AMAZINGNESS BASICALLY. And also makes you cry like a fountain. NO NOT JUST ME SAL CRIED TOO EVEN IF HE DENIES IT BECAUSE HE IS A BIG LYING LIAR.

Saturday was also the annual Naked Bike Ride, though we didn't encounter any part of the ride this year. Portland, btw, had over 13,000 riders this year. I don't know how that compares to the turnout in other cities, but wow, that's a whole lotta naked!

The first time we ever encountered the naked bike ride was the about five years ago. We were driving someplace downtown and were stopped at an intersection by cops on bikes stopping in front of us and less than a minute later, this whole stream of naked bike riders went streaking by. It was awesome and hilarious, and I think we must've sat there and laughed the entire time. Portland ftw!

ETA: And thanks to this late posting, I've already picked up this week's share. A couple of new-to-me veggies this week: Italian lacinato kale and French sorrel. How exciting! Wonder if Sally has ever used either of these?

In every share so far, we've had garlic greens and/or spring onions, with those thick, long, pretty green ends that you see in the picture at that link, and they're always poking out of the bag along with everything else overflowing out of the top. I don't know what it is about those garlic and onion greens, but Hobbes goes completely bananas as soon as I walk in the door with them. I can't keep him away from them!

The first thing I do when come home Tuesday nights is march directly to the kitchen with the bag held well out of his reach (as he jumps along the way trying to reach them), pull out those greens and chop off the tops to put in the compost bin. Which then goes back under the sink with a twisty tie around the cabinet handles so he doesn't pry the door open trying to get at them. The rest of the produce is safe from him after that long enough for me to go change out of my work clothes and get a drink of water before I return to clean and store everything from the week's share.

stir fry deliciousness

We had some kale, bok choy, and turnips from our share to use up before tomorrow's new share arrives, so we did a stir fry for dinner last night. When we use the wok, we use Sally's burner that he heats the big kettle with for brewing beer, since A) it gets the kind of heat a wok needs, and B) we don't an overhead vent for our stove. That means doing it outside, which is fun.

For those of you not living here, however, you may not know that this has been one of the coldest, wettest springs in a long time, and June has broken all kinds of records for rainfall and low temps. Yesterday was no different -- gray and damp though it wasn't cold, just cool. Our timing was perfect, though, because we happened to be outside with the wok between drizzle spells. And it was the perfect weather for curling up on the couch with hot bowls of stir fry and rice and catching up on our Netflix discs (the end of Season 5 of Weeds, in this case).

Anyway, today's bento benefits from golden stir fry deliciousness.  Too bad my cameraphone does it little justice.

Breakfast -- cute animals sidecar:

• honey vanilla granola
• mini sidecar with plain honey yogurt and a dollop of strawberry jam

Lunch -- Ms. Bento:

• stir fry -- onions, scallions, lemongrass, turnips, chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, kale, bok choy, sesame seeds, peanuts, and secret sauce
• jasmine rice
• fresh mango in one half, Fuji apple slices in the other half with fresh blueberries as gap fillers

it takes a village

Today was our neighborhood block party. There was lots of food and a bouncy house for the kids, and a makeshift stage for neighborhood musicians, chalk for the kids to draw to their hearts' content and a plant exchange and a map for us to mark neighborhood assets for trade and barter, or neighborhood activities: "Mike and Michelle -- garden with veggies for trade, flowers to share", "Ivy and C -- chicken coop, eggs to barter, cob structure sauna", "Mona -- textiles, music", "Paul and Pete -- carpentry and woodworking, foreign language lessons". Like that.

click to see more picturesBut the main event was the "intersection repair": painting the intersection down the street with a big compass rose design created by a collaboration of neighbors. There were buckets of recycled paint in nine colors and a chalked out design on the street. Everyone brought a brush and spent this gloriously beautiful day painting the hell out of the intersection. Mother Nature herself was completely on board, because she called a temporary stop to the weeks of rain that've put a damper on even the hardiest Pacific Northwesterner's spirits and even intermittently shut down the annual Rose Festival. Until late afternoon yesterday, no one was sure if this long-planned street painting project was going to happen.

But happen it did. With kids running about and a band rocking out in the background. And the end result? Pretty damn awesome.

We stuck around for a bit, but decided to skip out on the evening BBQ even though we'd spent the earlier part of the day making potato salad and cookies for the occasion. We love our neighborhood to itty bitty bohemian pieces, but it was a lot of people, and we already don't get a lot of time together as it is. Plus, with the first nice weather we've had in weeks, our little backyard sanctuary was calling to us.

We were sitting there watching the goings on after the painting was finished, just soaking up the moment and the lovely weather, and Sally said, "Sooo...do you still want to stick around for the potluck?" I grinned. "Do you?" "Not really." I had to hug him at that moment, because that's what you do when someone reads your mind and understands everything without you having to say anything. "Me neither."

So Sally threw a few skewers on the grill and I drizzled some fresh asparagus with a bit of oil and sea salt and pepper, then set the little table on our back porch. While we waited for the coals to get going, we did some trimming of the roses in the back corner and walked around the yard and marveled at how much it's changed in the 8 years we've been here.

Then we kicked back on the porch and talked while we took our time enjoying our dinner -- spicy marinated pork and Thai peanut chicken skewers, my famous dill and vinegar potato salad, and grilled asparagus -- the new star-shaped curtain lights for lighting and the local jazz station on low volume for atmosphere.

Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all.

food cart mesopotamia

Taken with my cameraphone at a new food cart pod* near our house, called North Station. There are 14 carts at this location in a small corner parking lot, everything from Venezualan BBQ to mac 'n cheese to Korean vegan/vegetarian. That little teal and white cart in the corner is Wicked Waffles, where we went this morning for breakfast -- the Wicked Perfect, which was a corn batter waffle wrapped around scrambled egg, bacon, and Tillamook cheddar. And the Wicked Waffle original -- vanilla bean batter waffle coated in cinnamon sugar. Wicked delicious!

*(Food carts, if you didn't know, are a booming business here in the Rose City, and we have some pretty darn imaginative and eclectic options. There are several places in town where carts have clustered together on formerly abandoned or empty lots, called food cart pods.)

happy birthday, sally!

I'm excited about the prospect of all the produce we'll be getting this summer, what with our regular bin delivery, our vegetable garden, and the CSA we signed up for this year. May have to scale back our bin delivery until the garden and CSA peter out in the fall, as it's entirely possible we'll be overrun with fruit and veggies, but that's a good problem to have, no? Still a few weeks yet until we'll see anything from the CSA, though, and it'll be a couple of months before the garden gets going, so no need to panic just yet.

But it does mean that every other Monday, my bentos tend to be a little forlorn as they await the arrival of the next delivery. While we had the grill going last night, I had Sally throw on a couple of chicken basil sausages to use in lunches this week.

Breakfast, cute animals sidecar:

• oatmeal, with Braeburn apple chunks underneath
• butter, brown sugar, and raisins in the mini-sidecar to mix in

Lunch, black strawberry box:

• chicken basil sausage
• julienne cucumber and carrot strips from the weekend's sushi party (see below)
• grilled potato with butter, sour cream, and green onion, leftover from last night's dinner
• Braeburn apple slices
• yogurt and dark chocolate covered raisins
• garlic dill cheese curds

Is there anything better than a gorgeous weekend in the Pacific Northwest? NO NO THERE IS NOT.

All weekend we had temps in the mid/high 70s, blue or mildly cloudy skies, and not a breath of wind. Our roses exploded all over the place in the last few days, and combined with the rhododendrons and azaleas and irises, I'm so in love with our house and our neighborhood I could burst. Next weekend we'll be doing some yard work -- weeding the back bed so the plants my mom put in don't get clogged into oblivion, trimming back the lilacs, pruning the apple tree, planting a few new and replacement things, and putting up the twinkle lights in the trees -- but the yard is in good enough shape already that when Sister, Guy, and the Fabulous Miss M came for the weekend, all that was needed was to set the patio chairs out for us to while away some time soaking up the gorgeous, gorgeous weather.

They came for Sal's birthday -- which is actually today; Happy Birthday, Sally!! -- and we had a nice, easy-going time with family to celebrate. Did a bit of running around Saturday-- to Portland Nursery to pick up the gift certificate and two black and blue salvia my mom had reserved for his gift -- then to Steinbart's so the boys could get all atwitter over brewing supplies. We stopped for lunch at Grilled Cheese Grill, which Guy hadn't yet been to, and though we had to wait in line thanks to the street fair going on down the block, we managed to have a yummy lunch all around. Back home to put Miss M down for her nap, and we passed the time at our wonderful table under the apple tree, which is all you really need in life, frankly.

After a run to New Seasons for supplies, and back home for a snacky interlude of bread and cheese while Miss M ate her dinner, she was off to the pre-bedtime ritual of jammies, storytime, and a goodnight song. Meanwhile, we got things ready for Sal's requested birthday activity: a sushi-rolling party! Great, great fun and lots of laughs while hoovering up plates of sushi in every combination we could think of. When the last of the sushi rice was rolled up, we retired to the living room to finish off our plates and watch Louis C.K.'s most recent stand-up show and finished off the evening with four mini-cakes, complete with candles and a rendition of "Happy Birthday".

The next morning, Guy treated the chef (and the rest of us) to a fabulous breakfast -- yeasted waffles with lemon-poppyseed creme -- and then it was time for them to head home. Afterward, I retired to the nook for a bit to edit while Sally read some of his brewing books out on the front porch. We moved to the patio, where I did so more editing, though mostly I just kind of sat there in contented silence, trying to absorb just how absolutely perfect the day was. We grilled for dinner -- steaks and potatoes, with some steamed broccoli and green onions from our bin. And though I had website work to do, I did absolutely none of it, opting instead to watch a movie and fold clothes (I am determined to stay on top of the laundry, dammit!), get to bed relatively early, read for a bit, and get a good night's rest. Website work will be there tomorrow, and anyway, I knew it was supposed to rain today. How's that for procrastination?

is the universe trying to tell us something?

I worked Friday almost non-stop from the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning to 6 PM when ProcrastiGirl arrived to keep me company while I ran around the house throwing things into boxes and bags for our trip. And helped me plow through the ridiculous pile of dishes, and very politely and kindly ignored the tumbling tumbleweeds of cat hair and layers of dust thick enough to plant seeds in. I am still mortified that I left the house in such a state for a friend kind enough to watch it and the cats for us while we're gone, but I suppose at some point you have to admit that life sometimes gets the better of you and trust that those closest to you will overlook it and not use it for blackmail. I don't know what I ever did to have such dear and generous friends, but I am grateful. (Who also, ALSO, brought delicious homemade cookies and treats for us DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN HERE?)

Anyway, I managed to have everything packed and ready by the time Sally arrived home that evening, and we had the car loaded in short order, said our goodbyes to the kitties and ProcrastiGirl, and were on our way at a quarter after eleven Friday night. It was rainy, but by the time we got onto Hwy 6 and started our way up into the Coast Range, encountering some slush but nothing worse, made the (hilariously mistaken) observation that if the roads were no worse than that, then we should be okay going over (compared to our trip two years ago almost to the day, when we drove through there late at night in the midst of a snow storm because that's just how we roll). Twenty minutes later, Mother Nature laughed in my face. Snow and rain coming down so hard we were driving blind at times, the road covered in a layer of white just thin enough to make driving extra dangerous but not thick enough to let you get any kind of traction, and of course all through an area that's nothing but steep drops and hairpin turns. The next forty minutes were very tense and silent as we navigated our way up and over, and I admit my stomach did a somersault or ten. But we arrived safely in Tillamook about 2 hours after leaving home, a trip that only took about 30 minutes longer than it would've under better conditions.

Now, there are only a few stoplights in all of Tillamook to begin with, pretty much all along where the 101 goes through town and since it was after midnight, the stoplights were blinking. And as you cross the 101 coming from the east, there are actually two stoplights right in a row, less than a block from each other, so of course they were both blinking. Which is no big deal, but I think after that drive, Sally just had his guard down or something, and there was no traffic (it's Tillamook, at 1 AM on a Friday night), and he was just focused on that second flashing stoplight because the first one looks like a warning that there's a stop coming up, not as a stop of its own.

You can see where this is going.He had just started to say as he was going through the first one (not speeding or anything, just 20 or 25 mph) without stopping that he should've stopped (which I'd been wondering if he'd noticed it, but didn't want to nag him about it since he'd just driven like a champ through such challenging conditions), when right behind us, of course, red and blue lights go off. I'm sure they must get quite a few people with tickets there, because that cop was just sitting, waiting. (Which...nothing against him or anything, but we were clearly fish in a barrel.)

He was a nice guy, though he did go ahead and issue the citation instead of a warning. A $297 ticket, to be precise. For running a red light with no traffic in Podunk, Oregon. (Yes, yes, still dangerous, still a traffic violation, yada yada.) Again, not knocking him -- we'd clearly run the light and it was a legitimate stop -- it's just...well I mean...seriously, Universe? Srsly? And since we obviously aren't going to make a trip out here for traffic court, our options are basically to plead guilty or no contest (the latter being an option that may give us a lighter fine, and to which we can send in a letter to argue for reasons why we should). Well, we'll do that, but we did run the light no question, so it's unlikely we'll get a reduction.  Which officially makes this the most expensive trip to Oceanside we've ever made.

But we arrived in Oceanside at last, almost 1:30 in the morning, to relatively low winds and semi-clear night skies (a surprise, considering the storm that had come through earlier that day). We'd just started unloading the car, however, when it started to hail. YES WE GOT THE MESSAGE UNIVERSE.

We were both dog tired but also wound up, so we didn't hit the sheets until 3:30, and ended up sleeping in yesterday morning. Which is why it took until late afternoon yesterday to really sink in that we were actually on vacation. In fact when I woke up, I was disoriented and confused about why I wasn't in my own bed and it took a few minutes to figure it out.

Nonetheless, we've both had a chance to unwind and unclench a bit from the hectic pace we've been at for the last few weeks. We've had great stormy weather and the tides have been way, way high. It's pretty great, actually. We did our smorgasbord late yesterday afternoon while it was storming outside, rain pelting the door and windows of the cabin, and watched Charade, all snuggled up and cozy. (nothing like a good classic movie on a blustery day) We walked the beach in the rain and picked up a good rock for the garden, and watched some favorite shows and played some games and stayed up late like errant teenagers.

click to see full photo galleryIt cleared up a bit this afternoon so we went up to Cape Meares to take some pics with the new camera (and see the damage those two shitheads did to the lighthouse). We're now back to the cabin with our signature crockpot supper simmering away. And it's quite nice outside right now, overcast but warm and not windy, so we'll probably get a bit more time on the beach before dark or before the next front moves in, whichever comes first. We had a nice breakfast this morning as we sat at the table by the window, watching the waves roll in, and then I was hit with a great inspiration for part of book 2 that's had me stuck for awhile, so I'm making some progress there. I'll make some cookies for a treat tonight after our dinner while we watch a movie, and maybe if it's clear enough, we'll walk the beach in the dark.

juggling with one hand tied behind my back

So. Today is the culmination of a very stressful and jam-packed week, and is the last day that I'll be in the office before next week's vacation. Which would be a busy, hectic day anyway, but in addition to it being billing week (and all that entails), and a pile of things that I have to get done somehow before I go, I also have two(!) presentations today. I just finished the first one (and kicked ass, if I may say so) and the other will be right after lunch, which meant I had to pack something to eat that could be scarfed down quickly in between AND that could keep me going long enough to get done everything I need to before I leave today. Oh, and I had to do it with the very, very last of anything edible in the house (no time to go to the store), so...considering what I had to work with, this is actually one of my more impressive lunches.

Using my "Deli Club" box today, which has been a bit neglected with the addition of all the new boxes to the mix.

• smoked sausages and molded egg with peas underneath and broccoli as gap fillers
• peas and carrot sticks
• dried mango and dried cherries, with a wee dark chocolate bar from Equal Exchange that was included in our organics bin awhile back

The Oregon Coast awaits me in just about 36 hours, and I've already planned that when I get home tonight, I'll run a bath, use one of my bath bombs I got for my birthday, and enjoy a Velvet Painting cupcake from Cupcake Jones as a reward for getting through this day/week. I figure with all that to look forward to, it'll be juuuuuuust the incentive I need to accomplish the impossible at work today.

Go by train

Hello, internets!!! We are back from our Weekend Trip of Delight and Wonders. I highly recommend such a trip if you're looking for a vacation. Of course, you'll have to find your very own sweet and awesome and funny and generous Cat to host you in order to have as great a getaway as we did, because I'm not sharing, but you know, good luck with that.

So we went by train, which was pretty nice. Not quite as roomy as I expected -- I was expecting something a little more like European trains -- but definitely WAY more comfortable and roomy than an airplane. Also, never underestimate the luxury of being able to use your cell phone whenever you'd like without the threat of somehow interfering with the vehicle's navigation and plummeting to Earth in a fiery crash. (I've always been pretty dubious about that claim anyway, but whatever.) I don't even use my phone all the time or anything, but even being able to just check my gmail account real quick was nice.

Plus, you don't have to get there nearly as early -- we arrived about 30 minutes before departure -- and the whole carry-on/baggage thing isn't at all the hassle it is with flying. It's all just very low-key and uncomplicated. (Also, I just really love the great old Union Station here in Portland, and I hope the King Street Station renovations can really return that building to its former glory. Never underestimte the romance of an old train station.) With an iPod and a book, the trip passes quite nicely.

We arrived on time in Seattle to the lovely Cat waiting for us right there -- ANOTHER lovely thing about going by train, having your loved ones able to greet you right as you get off. She whisked us off to her home so we could offload our stuff and relax for a bit before going to get lunch. Chatted, relaxed, then she took us to the Baguette Box* for delicious, delicious sandwiches. The overcast cleared a bit while we were there, so we decided to check out Discovery Park since we'd never been, which was very nice, and we stayed until it started to sprinkle again. A bit of a warm up seemed called for, and of course she had the perfect antidote, a place called Chocolati, which specializes in (you guessed it) hot chocolate and handmade chocolates. Oh lordy, am I ever spoiled for hot chocolate now. Mine had orange zest incorporated into the chocolate, and that combination is pretty much my favorite combination ever ever ever.

*(Albino: it was just down the street from that coffee shop called Bauhaus that you and I and your friend walked to from our hotel)

Then it was back to her place for the evening to relax. While Sal took a much-needed nap, we chatted while she prepared dinner -- roast chicken, spinach gratin, and pilaf. Freaking delicious, by the way, which is pretty redundant when you're talking about food Cat makes, but it bears repeating. (Oh, and dessert later on were these amazing chewy chocolate sandwich cookies with ganache in the middle for filling, the extras of which she sent home with us on the train and which I am eating at this very moment and crying a little bit from the perfection.) Anyway, we had a really great visit that was like our hours long phone conversations but better because it was in person.  We solve the problems of the world during these conversations, y'all, so be glad we have them.

Cat got a fire going in the fireplace and we watched Chocolat while we ate dinner, which Sal and I had never seen. We're both kind of appalled that it took us this long to see it, frankly, and I feel like we ought to relinquish some awesomeness points for being so lame. Holy CRAP what a great movie. (I know, welcome to the world, right?) Stayed up late visiting, then finally got our bed setup in the living room and went to bed to the flickering of the fire. That was a pretty fantastic day.

Yesterday, we took our time getting going and then made our way to the International District to this great Vietnamese deli for our first banh mi sandwiches, which I've been wanting to try for some time. Love them so much that we're going to have to find a good place for banh mi here in Portland. Headed over to Uwajimaya to buy a bunch of random fun stuff for no other reason that it's a fun thing to do with a bunch of foodies. We stopped at the Daiso across the street first to see what kind of bento selection they had. A nice selection, actually, though nothing I really wanted (other than some short picks that I wish I'd gotten now, but we were going to a bigger Daiso store later so I figured I'd find them there and then didn't). We came away with about five different Pocky flavors, shrimp-flavored chips (always wanted to try them and didn't think to get a bag when I was at the one in Beaverton; pretty tasty, it turns out), crazy gummi flavors, "chocolate finger-flavored orange" treat things ("I don't think I want to find out what finger-flavored tastes like" "maybe the orange flavor makes it better?"), kimchi noodles, nori-wrapped sesame sticks, black-colored cola carbonated gum, and some other stuff I don't remember.

From there, we made our way further into the heart of downtown to go to the Daiso at Westlake Center. Along the way, we stopped at L'Occitane, where Cat introduced us to sinfully wonderful French bath and body goodies, as well as to Lush, which we'd heard about but never been to. OMG LUSH WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. I've never been to the one in Portland, but unfortunately for my checking account, I will be a frequent visitor now.

The Daiso had some good bento stuff, and I (finally!) picked up the specific assortment of silicone cups I'd been looking for, some mini spoons/forks I needed for future boxes that won't come with utensils, and! a small box for breakfasts that will fit the bill for what I'd been looking for.

This means I won't have to order nearly as much from J-Box when I order the three other boxes I want. So even though I didn't find any more regular-size bento boxes that I wanted, it was still a successful foray. From there, we made a stop at City Kitchens, because duh. Convinced Cat to buy the perfect all-clad saucier that was on sale and that she needed because I said so, Sal found the spaghetti attachment for his pasta maker he'd been looking for, and I got some bright, pretty colored napkins to use just for my bento (both as furoshiki and napkins) that were on sale, as well as a cute, smaller stainless steel water bottle to use with my Ms. Bento and other boxes that don't have a drink bottle -- see above. (We use cloth napkins at home, but I wanted to get some specifically for my lunches because just using one from our sets of two or four means that there's always one in the laundry so we can't use it for dinners or whatever. This way, I'll have some specifically meant for my lunches. Plus, pretty colors!

So it was a fun and productive day. And by productive, I of course mean consumer-iffic! Not our normal activity, but it's fun sometimes to be happy little capitalists and buy things that strike our fancy, non?

We spent the evening all cozied up at Cat's, she and Sal cooking up a storm in the kitchen -- marinated shrimp and flank steak, both done on the grill, and cheesy grits with jalapenos, and bread pudding for dessert -- and me handing them samples from our various Uwajimaya purchases earlier. We watched the pilot episodes of "Burn Notice" and "Friday Night Lights" -- two of her latest obsessions -- while we ate and enjoyed them immensely, then visited until the wee hours until the fire finally burned completely down and we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. (FNL has been in our queue since forever so we'll have to bump the DVDs for all the seasons that are out up to the top, along with BN. As if we didn't already have enough shows to catch up, yeesh! :)

This morning was another late and lazy morning, with a simple, civilized breakfast of toast and jam and tea, packing things up (making room in our bags for all our newly-acquired Stuff), and a stop at the Vietnamese deli for a couple of banh mi sandwiches for lunch on the train, then all too soon, our lovely vacation was over and we were saying goodbye and giving squeezy hugs to Cat.

So I'm off to pack myself something for the office tomorrow. and not really ready to go back to work, but I suppose what goes up must come down, eh? Yay for new bento stuff, at least!

Yes, even salad can be yummy

Meeting Sister tonight for pizza and girl talk (YAY), and we have some lettuce in the fridge to eat up, so I figured I should probably have a good salad for lunch today. Not very pretty as I didn't have a lot of time last night/today to put it together, but I'm okay with that. Still delicious and pleasant-looking (certainly moreso in person). And you can see my Fit 'n Fresh, which is technically my first bento box, and which sees way more action in the warmer months. (The built-in ice pack divider thing is awesome.)

clockwise from top:

• simple salad of red leaf lettuce, carrots, and celery with maple-smoked cheddar grated on top
• two more of those mini blueberry muffins I made earlier this week and five(!) kishus -- it's like eating M&M's, if M&M's were juicy and healthy ;)
• the last of the dyed molded eggs -- This is the heart-shaped one, which I made the other night when I made the star egg for yesterday's, but the yolk went all wonky. I molded it anyway and it came out funky, but kind of a happy accident so I turned the "wrong" side up. I probably won't really do dyed eggs much now that I've gotten it out of my system -- they take extra time and it kind of goes against my unprocessed, all-natural, organic food philosophy to make it a regular thing. I may do it occasionally for fun, but mostly I just like doing the molding part. Also in this container: cut-up whole wheat naan, more maple-smoked cheddar, a little salt container (for the egg) and a dressing container of a simple balsamic (extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, bit of salt, shaken well to emulsify)

Tomorrow we're headed to Seattle BY TRAIN to visit the lovely Cat for a couple of days, since Sal has MLK day off. It'll be the first time I've been on a train in 20 years, my last train ride having been a night train from Pisa to Paris. We've wanted to take the train forever, and I'm really looking forward to not having to sit in a car for 3+ hours, being able to read and take story notes in my little journal. I'm even toying with taking a little travel bento, but we'll see if I actually get that organized or not. Regardless, SO VERY EXCITED OMG.

Bento 2010

Woohoo, first bento of the New Year! To celebrate I made my bento extra special by...doing absolutely nothing special whatsoever. Eh, first day back to the office since a week at the coast, whaddya expect? It's amazing I came back at all.... :)

clockwise from right:

• beef stew -- Our patented Coast Crockpot meal, which Sal made the last night we were there. If you can make them out, those eensy weensy orange bits are carrots cut into 1/8" cubes. Not created by some special contraption found in 2 AM informercials and dubious mail-order catalogs, but diced by the chef and his Knife O'Doom into the cutest pile of wee carrot cubes you ever saw.
• flour tortilla, with maple-smoked cheddar slices on one side and sesame sticks on the other side
• Pinova apple slices and in the side container, half dark chocolate-covered raisins and half yogurt-covered raisins

*True story: when he was in culinary school, his Knife Skills class required what are called proficiencies in a whole list of specific shapes and sizes. Grades were given based on accuracy, precision, speed, efficiency, and consistency. For weeks, everything in our fridge was cut into all kinds of shapes and size whether it needed to be or not. :)

Fun Fact: The 1/8" dice cut is called brunoise. There is a smaller dice that was a proficiency requirement, called a fine brunoise, which is a 1/16" cube. Get out your ruler and look at how small that is. On a regular ruler, it's the smallest tick mark on there. Yes, that one.

The coast was fabulous. We had great stormy weather for three days, though it cleared up enough late Thursday evening (very light sprinkles, light wind) that we could head out to the beach to greet the New Year. There was fog and the moon peeked through enough to light up the waves a bit, the waves themselves were still pretty sizeable, and it was chilly but not miserable. Magical, in other words. And I needed that. Don't we all?

Got some writing done (including 6 pages on [spoiler]), did some reading, watched lots of shows/movies, ate some great food. Saturday was beautiful so we got a chance to spend some time on the beach and takes lots of pictures to add to the hundreds (thousands?) we already have. And of course Sunday it was even more beautiful just as we were leaving. We lingered a bit to soak it up before driving off.

It was hard to leave, as always, but we were glad to get home to our beloved house, cozy bed, and snuggly kitties. They make us completely crazy most of the time, but we miss the little bastards when we're gone. And thanks to our very good friend, we don't have to worry that they're going to set the place on fire, which is only a slight exaggeration of their diabolical tendencies. If Hobbes ever developed opposable thumbs, we'd start sleeping in shifts.

new years' from the coast!

click to see full photo galleryHappy New Years' Eve from the glorious (and very stormy!) Oregon Coast!!

We arrived yesterday, car fully loaded with necessities, entertainments, and food (mostly food), in our beloved Oceanside. It was a beautiful afternoon, actually, quite warm and no wind at all, with some sun and clouds and the tide the lowest we've ever seen it here: out a good 300 yards or more. So after we unloaded the car, and had a little snack, we headed out to the sand to walk about a bit and explore parts of the beach that are normally underwater.

We spent the evening enjoying the chef's incredible and incredibly famous wings while we watched Pride and Prejudice. (The Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth version.) We'd bought it last year to watch at the coast, but ended up doing a marathon of Boomtown instead, so I've been looking forward to a P&P rewatch all year, and have kept the DVDs purposely unopened for that reason. A man who enjoys watching Jane Austen movies...he's a keeper alright.

Woke up late this morning to the promised storm well underway. Rain has been coming in sideways -- strong, strong winds from the south -- and the tide is super high, all the way up to the base of the bluff. Big swells, too. In short, I am in bliss.

It couldn't come at a better time. I won't be sorry to see 2009 go, and I am desperately hopeful that 2010 is a much different -- much better -- year.

Not just for me, but for all of us. Whether you had a good year or a bad one, or a mixture of various proportions, I hope all good and wonderful things for each of you, and that you may be as richly blessed as you have blessed me. With your friendship, your generosity, your support, your understanding, your wisdom, your laughter.

Not sure if the storm is supposed to continue all day/night, but if it's the tiniest bit clearer, we will head out to the beach near midnight with a bottle of sparkling cider to mark the New Year. For many, many reasons, it will be the perfect end and start, and though I don't put much stock in portents and superstitions, I'm hoping the symbolism of it will have some kind of mystical effect on my upcoming year.

So here I sit at the tiny table set beneath our little cabin's window, typing away on my next book, my story notes journal and iPod at hand, with a little plate of sesame sticks and yogurt raisins for a snack until we dive into a the plethora of cheeses for our smorgasbord lunch. I am grateful.

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

-- Gaelic blessing

This may or may not be a good thing

I was in jest about doing bento for the days I'm working from home, but I've decided I'm going to go ahead and do that as a regular thing. It made such a difference Monday and I noticed the difference even more yesterday when I didn't do one. Especially because yesterday was so lovely, and it would've been perfect to take a break from work, walk down to Cathedral Park, and have a nice little lunch break, which I hardly ever do at home (I have lunch, and I may even be away from my computer during that time, but I'm still within hearing distance so I can listen for an email ding; I think I shall be changing that habit, however -- it's become a tad too Pavlovian for my comfort level). It's another pretty day here, so I'm headed out to eat my lunch. ;)

clockwise from right:

• small baked potato with a lattice of colby cheese strips and maple-smoked cheddar shapes -- my lattice doesn't look quite as nice as it did at first since I put it on while the potato was still warm, so it melted in the middle
• peas with a border of pickles; carrots would've been better contrast than pickles, but I'm out and have held off buying any groceries for awhile in anticipation of Thanksgiving, since we'll need every spare inch of space to store food (Hall-Smiley Thanksgiving Extravaganza WOOT WOOT!)
• left side: strawberry yogurt with little flowers designed from pomengranate seeds; right side: mango slices with pomegranate seeds as gap fillers

The pomegranate in our last organics bin was ginormous. Took me about 40 minutes to seed it. What's in the container is less than half of what I ended up with. No complaints here because I lurve me some pomegranate, especially juice, but it's no wonder pomegranate-anything is so freaking expensive -- seeding the darn things is labor-intensive!

Someone asked me about the container sizes* and overall between the three containers, the Ms. Bento holds about 710 mL to 770 mL**, depending on how full you fill it.The soup container, which is the smallest (the one with the potato in it in this pic), holds about 6 oz. The large, middle container (peas) holds closer to 11 oz., but the way the lid works you can't fill it to the brim because the lid is insulated (thick) and sits down inside the container, so you lose volume to that. Generally, I think you can fit about 9 or 10 oz. in it. Then the divided container holds about another 9 oz.

*Read here for the whole philosophy of sizes for bento, if you're not familiar. Hence, the Ms. Bento packs about a 710 calorie meal if you follow the 3:2:1 guideline. (I play kind of fast and loose with that guideline since I tend to have more fruit/veg and less protein in mine than called for.)

**The specs from the booklet put it at 840 mL (soup bowl: 6.8 oz; middle bowl: 10.5 oz; divided bowl: 11. 2 oz.) but I measured it when I got it and it came out closer to 710 mL to 770 mL (24 oz to 26 oz) if you measure to the levels you can actually fill it. Also, since lunch is my main meal for the day (when I've packed one), I treat it as my food for the majority of my day. That means a snack and/or breakfast/morning meal. Oftentimes, I don't get an opportunity to eat more than once during the work day, but I do spread it out if I can.