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. 

Knee Deep

....In teething.

I can't even think straight because a certain someone is having such a rough time with his two front teeth. He's been a pathetic mess all day and only wants to put his head down on my shoulder or his high chair tray. I feel terrible, but I'm about to go all great-grandmother on his gums with the back of a metal spoon. Okay, not really, but I am being very permissive with the objects that he chooses to gnaw (belt buckles, wooden spoons, shoes, towels, and even plastic bottles).

For the most part he's been a trooper, but today was pretty rough. Even after two doses of ibuprofen, he was frazzled at best. J and I were counting down the minutes until his bedtime this evening (even though I know bedtime for us will not be restful).

A couple of weeks ago, I was the lucky recipient of this book (via a Facebook contest). It's by the same author as the book that Eric & Lea gave us for Christmas, which I have loved. I decided to put one of the recipes to good use. We had some extra watermelon and pineapple in the fridge, so I pureed it up and popped it in the freezer in some ice pop molds. I'm hoping it will be a nice (if messy) treat for the little dude tomorrow. I altered the recipe slightly and eliminated the honey and lime since they've not yet been introduced into his diet. I have to say, I'm not sure they would be necessary, as the pineapple watermelon puree is pretty darn tasty on its own. I'll make sure I post on other recipes from the book as I try them throughout the summer!