I am totally excited to report that Bridgeport Brewery's new seasonal beer is a Belgian! YAY! (Also, how awesome is it that the Oregonian has a designated beer writer?) Jesse and I are going to swing by the release party tomorrow night to try out samples and pick up a bottle (or eight) of the Stumptown Tart Cherry Wheat Ale. According to Bridgeport brewmaster, Karl Ockert, the Stumptown Tart is their (excellent) Fallen Friar Trippple that has been aged an additional three months and then infused with 2,000 pounds of Oregon sour cherries. Here's a video of the interview from today's Oregonian (for some reason the video wouldn't embed). In other beer news, Jesse discovered on a recent business trip (from a bartender in San Francisco) that Belgium has a beer weekend every year. Guess what? We arrive in Brussels on the first day of the 11th Annual Belgian Beer Weekend. What luck?! I had no idea about the festival when I booked our airline tickets to Belgium way back in February. This afternoon I'm doing some research to find a room in Brussels for the weekend. I hope it's not too late, given that we're only about three months away from the big trip. Three months! I can't wait. I just got a newly released edition of the Rough Guides travel book for Belgium and Luxembourg. The festival is a good reason for me to crack it open and read it from cover to cover.
Well, not for a long entry today, but I'm definitely back to the blog. It's been a great two weeks. We've had so many friends in town that I have literally not had an extra second to blog about all of the fun I've had.
Kyle and Sally were in town last week for work and play. I think we've convinced them to move to Portland. Of course, I think that I've convinced everyone we know to move to Portland. Why wouldn't they want to? It's awesome here. Not only would it be great to have Sally and Kyle here because they're great friends, but I also forgot how awesome it was to have a couple to play cards with on the weekends. I'll keep my fingers crossed!
As K & S were leaving, Lauren was landing in PDX. It has been really wonderful to catch up with her this weekend and show her all around our new home town. I'm sad that she's leaving today, but it was nice to know that we can just pick up our friendship where we left off last -- it kind of felt like we were neighbors again, if only for the weekend.
This afternoon, I have a babysitting date with Anna & Brian's little dude while she attends one of her first grad school classes! Speaking of classes, I registered for an Urban Planning course at Portland State University today. Since I've officially been under-employed for over nine months, I'm thinking it might be a good time to rethink my career path. I'm not giving up on preservation, but exploring some broader options. More on my class later though.
After babysitting, Jesse and I are off to a kickball game where we will hopefully make lots and lots of friends. It's a busy Tuesday, but it feels good to have lots of things to do! Now I'm off to hang out with Lauren for the morning before dropping her off at the airport.
As I mentioned earlier, June has been (and will continue to be) the month of guests. Saturday night we had Larson, Serena, Brian, and Anna over for dinner. I was incredibly excited not only to hang out, but because this was the first dinner party that I've had since we've moved to Portland.
I spent most of Friday afternoon prepping for the meal, so I could actually enjoy the company rather than slaving in the kitchen all night. With my farmers market finds on Wednesday, I made a Greek Mixed-Green Pie (like a giant Spanakopita) with kale, arugula, fennel, and fresh parsley. On the side we had a Tomato, Cucumber, and Pita Salad, and fresh watermelon. The watermelon was a last-minute, yet incredibly tasty accompaniment. For dessert, we had a strawberry tart with mascarpone cream filling that I found in the Oregonian. It was delicious!
Of course I failed to take very many photos, so no picture of the Greek pie or the strawberry tart. They were both pretty easy to make and not terribly heavy. It was a great summertime dinner. Today, I'm knee deep in laundry and tasks around the house. Our fridge is pretty bare, so I'm off to the grocery store for some grub. I certainly could use a slice of the strawberry tart to get me through the afternoon!
Last night Jesse's good family friend, Tracy, was in town on business. After her meeting, she met us over in our neck of the woods for a walk and dinner. We took her up to the International Rose Test Garden and the Japanese Garden (I know, I was just there last weekend, but I could definitely go every weekend this time of year). The sun finally broke through the clouds and all of the roses were glowing in the sun and smelled delicious. This time, I remembered my camera and found a couple of contenders for Jesse's mom's garden:
The Grandifloria "About Face," Winner of the World's Highest Rose Award. It has a bi-color pedal and is absolutely gorgeous. It has a nice smell too. Definitely worthy of Mary Ann's garden.
The Floribunda "Julia Child," also a winner of the Worlds Highest Rose Award. This rose is a beautiful buttery color and has the most amazing fragrance. The AARS describes as licorice, but I thought it was more like a spicy banana. It's amazing how rose scents can vary. After the gardens, we walked around the Pearl District, stopping to peer into my favorite tile shop, Ann Sacks. For dinner, we decided to check out a Vietnamese restaurant that I'd been eyeing for a while and it was delicious! I had such a nice time last night just walking around in the nice June weather and getting to know Tracy a little better. It felt a bit like a kick-off for the coming weeks ahead. Larson & Serena landed in Portland this morning, our friends from D.C., Kyle and Sally arrive on Monday. We won't actually have anyone staying with us for now, but there will be lots of activities! I can't wait!
Portland's Wednesday downtown farmers market started back in May, but it wasn't until this afternoon that I finally got a chance to check it out. The weather was pretty grey and drizzly, but the lure of fresh veggies and fruit got me out of the door. Luckily, the market is located a park space along Main Street under a great grouping of giant trees. Even with giant drops pouring down, I stayed relatively dry while drooling over all of the gorgeous greens.
I love greens and this has to be one of the nicest bunches of kale that I've seen in a while. Next to it is fresh basil, tomatoes, a red onion, and fresh garlic. I've never actually seen garlic in this form before, which is probably due more to the fact that I haven't been to a lot of farmers markets rather than a testament to it's rarity. At first, I thought the bulbs were small onions due to the lack of papery skin, but then I picked one up and felt the clove lumps inside. I'm kind of curious about how difficult it is to grow garlic around here? I think it would definitely be a staple in our future garden.
I'm thinking that my farmers market finds will definitely be a part of a delicious meal this weekend! In addition to the veggies, I picked up two pints of strawberries that will make a delicious summer tart. MMM. I can't wait to get started cooking!
I am totally excited to report that Bridgeport Brewery's new seasonal beer is a Belgian! YAY! (Also, how awesome is it that the Oregonian has a designated beer writer?) Jesse and I are going to swing by the release party tomorrow night to try out samples and pick up a bottle (or eight) of the Stumptown Tart Cherry Wheat Ale. According to Bridgeport brewmaster, Karl Ockert, the Stumptown Tart is their (excellent) Fallen Friar Trippple that has been aged an additional three months and then infused with 2,000 pounds of Oregon sour cherries. Here's a video of the interview from today's Oregonian (for some reason the video wouldn't embed). 
