Summer Saturday Evenings

You could say this is part two of our great Saturday on one of the hottest days of the summer. The temperature got up to 95º yesterday, which doesn't compare to the scorching temperatures other parts of the country, but was pretty huge for us. We went to the park with Miles in the morning, but by 10:30am we knew it was time to close down the shades, turn on the fans, and move like turtles, so not to work up a sweat. Miles took a two hour nap after our romp in the park, which left him with a hollow leg. He proceed to eat anything put in front of him (with bamboo fork in hand) -- a scrambled egg, some watermelon, 4 or 5 silver dollar pancakes, blueberries, and some graham crackers. 

We were a little nervous that he might have used up all of his nap time in this early long spurt, leaving him cranky and restless for the BBQ we wanted to attend in the afternoon. So, after the large lunch and reading A LOT of books, we took him out to a different park for about 30 minutes before nap time. He ran around again and by 3:30 he was exhausted and happily went down for his afternoon nap. He woke up cheerful and ready to party. YAY!

We arrived at the BBQ around 5:30 and our friends Rhiannon and Josh had set up a kiddie pool for the boys. The water was a little cool for Miles to take a dunk, but he happily played on the edges as Ethan and Daniel happily splashed around and handed him any toy that he wanted. Miles ran and ate like he had a second stomach to fill (growth spurt maybe?). The weeks leading up to his first birthday have maybe been the best yet. He's happy and playful and seems to get smarter by the minute. This week alone he's started to use a spoon, learned to drink from a straw, and learns new gestures almost instantly. 


My mom is coming into town tomorrow and my dad is soon to follow. I can't wait for them to see what a different baby he's become! 

First Bites

This evening after work, J and I threw Little Duke in the backpack and headed down to the Deschutes Street Fare for beer, music and tasty food from top-notch food carts around town. The evening was a fundraising event for a local family services organization here in Portland, so on top of all of the above, an all around good night. 


Our first food and beer pairing was from Fuego de Lotus, which served up tasy arepas (a Venezuelan-inspired street food) paired with Deschutes Cascade Ale. The arepas -- white masa cakes filled with tasty goodness -- were fantastic. I got the chili chicken and J sampled the pork belly. Yum. We will definitely go back, because Little downed half of my arepa and was kind of ticked that I dared to eat the rest myself. Also, for those of you who are interested, their arepas are gluten free. 


Second beer and food pairing was from Perierra Creperie. They served up both sweet and savory crepes, but there was no question which one I would get -- the sopressata, brie, pear, and pepper flake crepe (when matched with banana and nutella) was the winner hands down. M gave it 10 fingers up. I said Yum and was inspired to create our next pizza with similar ingredients. The crepe was a revelation, but so was the beer pairing. Deschutes Pilsner was surprisingly good. I'd actually order it again, which is saying a lot, because I just don't think that many American beer companies can compare to their German counterparts. Well done, Deschutes.

And the final food and beer pairing was more for M than for me and J, Nutella sandwiched between two waffles from the Flavour Spot. The waffles were crisp, tasty, and delicious. M loved the carb/Nutella dinner and smeared it all over his face and backpack. He then rubbed it in his hair for good measure. Of  all the food carts that we sampled tonight, Flavour is the one that I'll most likely seek out, because I'm on the search for a place that can make waffles that even come close to the ones we had in Ghent. I'll need a few more samples before I can decide if they stack up! 


J stayed to listen to the live music and I headed home with M in the backpack. He bobbed and clapped all the way home, just as he did to music at the street fair. He was pretty tired when we came home and gave me hell changing his diaper before bed, but as I kissed him goodnight I got a whiff of waffles and hazlenut -- all was forgiven. 

Rough Mornings (and Afternoons)

As I've mentioned before, J usually takes Little for the first hour or so in the morning after he wakes up so I can get a little extra sleep. Yesterday morning though, 7:30am came rather early and I was pretty bummed to find a very fussy baby staring at me as I walked into the living room. The situation called for a trip outside for some fresh air and a way for us spend time together without Miles clinging to my body. I happily lugged the stroller downstairs and we set off to the Lovejoy Bakery. 

Little zoned out in the stroller and I reveled in the silence of our neighborhood at 8:00am. He ooohed when trucks would go by and I took the occasional break to poke my head around and say hello. Once we got to the bakery and I ordered breakfast, we parked ourselves at a cafe table that was just feet from the road (not an ideal location for most, but perfect for our purposes). Miles squealed with delight at the passing cars -- especially the streetcar -- and I read the Washington Post on my phone. We shared a cinnamon swirl muffin and washed it down with coffee (for me) and water for Little in his sippy cup. He'd point his finger at my plate and grunt, a form of communication that he uses a lot lately to signal MORE MORE MORE! He also flaps his arms around like a little bird to signal when OH MY GOD I'M FINISHED WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO FEED ME?!

Anyway, back to the bakery. I'd hand him a bite, he would examine it in his fingers and stuff it in his mouth and give me a sweet little grin. I think he was unsure about the cinnamon at first, but then realized it was a baked good and, like his father, was helpless to its powers. Little polished off about half of the muffin and then chucked his last bite out of the stroller and flapped his arms. Finished, moving on. We stayed for a few more minutes so I could chug my cup of coffee and turned around to head home. Little somehow found a pacifier in his stroller and made his little sleepy sounds (like a car with a dead battery trying to start) all the way home. I crossed my fingers that he would not fall asleep in the stroller. Once home, I fed him, rocked him and he went down for a nap without a fuss. He was so tired, yet only slept for 40 minutes (smacks head in frustration). We made sure to administer a full dose of ibuprofen before his next nap (damn you teething)!

Today was a much better day. I actually got work done, thanks to my friend T, who so kindly offered to watch the dude for a few hours this afternoon. I know I complain a lot about teething and we have more than half to go before they're all in. Maybe I should buy stock in Advil. It's going to be a long haul.

Kimchi Love

I've been sad since one of our most interesting restaurants in the neighborhood, Tanuki, closed down its northwest Portland location. It served Japanese drinking food -- lots of spice, salt, and interesting ingredients -- and prided itself on "no sushi, no kids". Needless to say, we didn't frequent much after M was born, but I remember the few meals that we ate there fondly, particularly the kimchi fried rice. I think about it often. 

A few weeks ago, I decided to purchase a jar of kimchi for just this purpose. I've been a little nervous about trying it, I'm not sure why because I love kimchi. Perhaps it was the fear of failing to even come close to the dish at Tanuki. What prompted us to make it was one unusual ingredient (other than kimchi) that we added to the refrigerator this week -- quail eggs. When we were buying our fresh eggs at the local farmers market on Thursday, the farmer added a little bonus to our bag. I've never had a quail egg, so we wanted to make a special dish to highlight this special ingredient.

The fried rice (recipe below) was quite simple and came together in about 15-20 minutes including prep time. Jesse was the wok master and I orchestrated the ingredients. M loved watching and flapped his arms around as the wok sizzled with each new ingredient. After the rice was done, J fried four quail eggs sunny side up to go on top of our bowls. The final product was quite beautiful and tasty, but I'm not sure we're quite there yet in terms of matching Tanuki's greatness. I'm okay with that though, because it means I don't need a babysitter to have kimchi fried rice.


Brasilliant's Kimchi Fried Rice


3c. cooked rice (we used brown basmati)
1c. kimchi, chopped
1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1T soy sauce
2T butter
1/3 c. tiny Pacific shrimp 
1 fried egg for each serving (we used 2 quail eggs)
2 green onions, thinly sliced for garnish


Saute kimchi and onion in a wok over medium-high heat until liquid evaporates and onions are translucent. When onions and kimchi look sufficiently cooked down, add 1T butter, soy sauce and garlic. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. 


Add shrimp and cook until curled, just a minute or two. Toss in rice and another tablespoon of butter and stir to combine. Fry the eggs and place on top. Sprinkle with green onions.


Enjoy!