Click the picture for a detailed list. It all cost about $14, 4 of which were those yellow beans. They’re so good!
Oh, hell, I’ll describe them better. They are kinda waxy to the touch, sweet and buttery with just a little bit of a garlic taste. I stuffed some in my lunchbox for dipping hummus.
However, I’ve got a problem. It’s this:
Eggplant is next on my Food Adventure List. But I don’t know how to prepare it. I need ideas, please!
Woke up this morning to a lovely email from my housemate/landlord. Chez Mon Ewe is being sold, and I’ve got 30 days to find a new place to live.
*insert obscenities here*
So, if there’s anyone from Portland (the one in Oregon) scrolling through, and you’re not here ’cause I saw you on Craigslist, and you do know of a house with a decent kitchen and low-drama, queer-positive, gainfully employed housemates looking for same, let me know, please? Pretty please?
And now, Zucchini pr0n.
Sunday after church I text messaged my best friend in the whole world “If you want brunch, call me”. About an hour later, my phone started vibrating.
“Where you wanna go?” BFitWW asked.
“I was thinking Fire on the Mountain.”
“What do they have there?”
“Hot wings!”
Oh, I could HEAR the face he was making over the phone. BFitWW is a very picky eater. ”What else do they have?”
“…hot wings?”
“I’m not sure I want to go there.”
I started scratching my head. There were some new places I wanted to try, but they were of the raw fish variety (see above re: picky eater). “Wanna go to the Kennedy School?” I ventured.
”Okay!”
Back in March of 2005, I was contemplating moving from California (where my family has lived since 1903-ish) to, well, ANYWHERE. BFitWW said, “Come visit Portland!” And I did. And it wasn’t continual rain-drenched mold spot that people in California believe it to be (it’s just a California thing, Californians tend to believe that anywhere that isn’t the Sunshine State is hell). However, even as my last day in Portland wound to a close, I wasn’t sure I could make the far-away move.
Plus, after several continuous days of uninterrupted exposure to BFitWW, I was about ready to kill him (and he was about ready to kill me, we’ve got similar abrasive personalities; we can stand each other for about 24 hours and then we need a few day’s break). We both needed a beer, so we stopped at The Ram’s Head. I got a Terminator Stout, and took one sip and my brain said, “Oh, yeah, you’ll be quite happy in Portland.”
The Ram’s Head is run by the same guys who run the Kennedy School, known far and wide as the McMenamin brothers. They take historic buildings and turn them into combinations of hotels/bars/restaurants/breweries/movie theaters that serve BEER! as the floor plan warrants. I am informed by Those Who Know Everything that the food and beer quality has gone way downhill. My reply? If this is downhill, in its prime it must have been quite close to Heaven.
I have also decided that one of my missions in life is to visit every McMenamins property. Which has led me to discover that the quality of food and service does vary from property to property, as does the menu (well, as much as pub grub can vary. Go see a movie at the Mission Theater for their chili. I swear to God, best chili I’ve ever had).
Anyway, when BFitWW and I go to a McMenamins, it’s always the same thing. I get a bacon cheeseburger, no sauce; he gets the Wilbur burger, which has a fried egg on top, and no vegetables. We both get tater tots, he eats his with ranch, I have Terminator Stout Mustard.
And, at some point during the meal, we will throw things at each other. It just happens.
I’ve spent much of my adult life with a list of foods (mostly vegetables) that I don’t like, but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten. I think it’s time to start confirming or denying that list.
This is a lemon cucumber. It was a quarter. It was cute. So I bought it at the farmer’s market. And then I sliced it up and ate it.
And I liked it.
List 1, Mary Sue 0.
Then, after some adventures, I got pho. Yay! I was over at Fubon, so I went to the Pho Hung location there. It’s kinda fancy, but the prices aren’t. Next time, I need to get the small, the medium was too big.
The thing is, I don’t like tendon and tripe. It’s not on the list of things I haven’t eaten, because I’ve eaten menudo, and I don’t like tendon and tripe. So I ordered the one with skirt steak and regular steak. But the skirt steak was really, really fatty, and down at the very bottom, I found tripe. Which made me go, EWWWW really loudly.
Now, I want an orange-filled marshmallow.
This is what I do when I’m bored and depressed on a Friday night. It took about 15 minutes, and I’d say five of those involved figuring out which plate to put this on.
I also cleaned the stove. That’s why it’s so shiny and black.
I want pho.
Really, really, really badly.
More news as it breaks.
Macaroni and cheese I made with my own two hands. I made a bunch of wee ones in my muffin pan for lunches, ’cause it’s got three kinds of cheese and heavy cream, and that’s just not the kind of thing your arteries like eating in large portions.
My Interstate Farmer’s Market haul. It’s amazing what $11 will buy you.
Bruschetta. I really, really hate raw tomatoes. And yet, I still feel the need to make bruschetta. I don’t get it.
I’ve never played with figs before. Ever. But they’re kinda tasty, and very pretty, and when you walk into New Seasons right now, the whole place smells like figs.
So I took some home.
And then I got fancy with them. If you want the recipe– um, click the picture. It’s ridiculously easy (as is most things I cook).
You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Self, I wonder where Mary Sue gets all these nifty plates”. It’s actually quite a neat story. See, my housemate went to culinary school, but doesn’t cook so much any more. So there’s all these pretty plates and pots and pans and utensils lying about saying, “Put food on us! Make us pretty!”
Who am I to tell a piece of crockery no?
Click on the picture for a complete photo rundown of the evilest dessert I ever made. I’m too lazy to explain it all here (and the photo descriptions include recipes for the ganusse and the whipped cream topping).
After much wandering about the Blogosphere, I discovered the original inspiration for the Berries of DOOM! That goes to Anne’s Food.
UPDATE 11-13-06: ThaiPK is fabulous! Eat there lots! I sure do. I recommend the Cashew Chicken.
UPDATE 9-21-06: Bai Tong is now ThaiPK. I haven’t been in for a while, so I don’t know if it’s still decent.
I work in the SW Waterfront right now, so if I want food, I cruise down Macadam into John’s Landing. The restaurants there tend towards small and stripmall, but there’s some interesting things if you aren’t feeling in the mood for sandwich shops. Bai Tuong is Thai cuisine, and I had an… interesting experience with unusal Thai food several years ago when my then-housemate cooked me a Thai meal. So, whenever I go to a Thai restaurant, I don’t get adventurous. I ordered the Yakisoba lunch plate for about $8. 
YakisobaOriginally uploaded by marysuephotoeth. The noodles were cooked well, and there was a decent amount of chicken, and little cabbage (which is a plus for me). The sauce was tasty, but I have no idea what yakisoba should taste like, so YMMV. They seemed to have a typical selection, and the lunch menu was a couple of dollars from the dinner menu. It’s not something I’ll be jumping up and down to go to again, but if I get a craving for noodles at work, I know where I’m going.
6141 SW Macadam Ave. #106
503-452-4396 ph.
|
