Last Thursday

Today I've been feeling very cantankerous and grouchy, so will instead focus on yesterday.


Yesterday was the last Thursday of the month. Here in Portland, that means Alberta Street turns into a big hippy/art/drink/fire dancing/food/etc party. This happens every last Thursday during the good months, folks.

It's awesome.

I met my brother and sister-in-law for a bite to eat before we were to venture down. My friend Shelley joined us. We ate at the Vita Cafe on 30th and Alberta. This place is one of the oldest, that I know of, vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Portland. It's the first one I ever went to, at any rate.

As a snack, my brother and Michelle and I decided to share the Spicy Tempeh Sticks with a peanut dipping sauce:I think it's their "chicken-fried steak" tempeh, just cut up into strips, but it was pretty good. The peanut sauce was a little thick and not very peanut-y, and the whole thing could have used more of the hot sauce, but honestly, any time I get a plate of fried tempeh I will probably be pretty happy.

Shelley showed up and the two of us split a Supergrain Salad--black and white quinoa, currants, pumpkin seeds, some other stuff I don't remember, and a carrot ginger dressing. Nice and lite. Great meal to split after deep fried tempeh.

After dinner, we meandered over to Tour de Crepes a few blocks down. My friend Marcy and her husband John own this adorable little shop. You've got to go out back to this food cart thing, order, and then take a seat at their tables-half of which have old awesome doors as the table top.
We shared a vegan crepe (!) that had hazelnut liquor and dark chocolate. Mmmmm. Marcy, you're a genius.
Michelle, Shelley and I also had a champagne cocktail. I had a belini--peach puree, a slice of peach, and champagne. They both had the raspberry lime belini. I definitely recommend stopping by here (closed Mondays and Tuesdays I think.)


We wandered a bit after that, every single bar was at capacity, and it seemed the streets and sidewalks were as well. After Shelley and I stopped by a party for a minute to say hi to our friend Maryanne, (and have a pint of IPA), we headed down to the Bye and Bye on 10th and Alberta.
All vegan bar, all the time. This place is AWESOME--it's always so packed, and is frequented by meat-eaters and veggies alike. They have a killer meatball sub, and make some delicious braised greens and tofu.

I had a perfectly tart and sweet margarita, and was ready for bed.

Also, this really awesome thing happened to me yesterday: My review of Alu Wine Bar on Yelp was the Review of the Day! That made me pretty dang happy all day. Go check it out!

The Wednesday Dance

I woke up at 8:30 today, ate some cereal, and hopped on my bike to distribute the Hawthorne Day Street Fair posters all over town. I tried to hit up REI (open at 10:00 am. Lame.) and did manage to get to The Ecotrust Building, Whole Foods, the downtown library, and my friend Melissa's burrito cart. Not as prolific as I was hoping.

HOWEVER, I stopped by the Wednesday morning Farmer's Market, which I haven't been to in quite awhile, due to my usual Wednesdays: The kegs come into the Ale House on Wednesday mornings, and I've had that shift for the past month or so; it's nice smelling fresh lavender and tasting ripe blueberries instead of pushing kegs around.

Everything was beautiful. The produce, the flowers, the people, the weather; it made me so appreciative to live in Portland in the summer time. I didn't buy anything, but I took a few pictures.
















Man, so gorgeous. It was a lovely way to spend a morning. After that, I placed myself on a bench in Pioneer Courthouse Square and finished writing a letter to Abby, who is in Mexico and doesn't have too much english in her life right now. (Which is wonderful and frustrating at the same time, I'd imagine.)

While I was at work today I saw a beautiful looking pasta with broiled mozzarella go out. It looked delicious as only melted cheese does, but instead I opted for the spaghetti and red sauce, with mixed veggies--cremini mushrooms, zucchini, basil, and red pepper flakes. Yum! I felt so much better after eating that than I would have after eating a mound of cheese.

So--good news--I just got a phone call from a pay phone at the Plaid Pantry on 23rd and Glisan--Ingrid and her boyfriend Jameson and her two pets have made it safely down from Alaska, and are coming to get the keys to our new house! I am so happy to finally see Ingrid--it's been 2 years, and now we're moving in together--what joy!

And what good timing, as I'm a bit sleepy.

Virgo and Pisces

Oh man. So I ate that Lemon Dill Pasta at work today, but today was one of those days where you're hungry all day long. Don't you hate that? I had that pasta, then some blueberries, then a small piece of vegan beer bread, then a spoonful of broccoli soup, then another spoonful, then an apple cinnamon lara bar, then I was still hungry. Geez. So I ordered a small mixed green salad with cucumbers, carrots, and tomato dressed in a marionberry vinaigrette and a side of kettle chips. Yum!

That did me for awhile.

When I got off work, I took the 15 bus homeward, changed into casuals (which includes pink converse rather than my black mary janes. Ugh.) and biked over to Pisces and Virgo, on 21st and Glisan.
I like this place. I've been here once before, but I like any restaurant with a dueling astrology logo. I came to meet Craig Steele.

He had already eaten a tempeh platter and had obviously had a few drinks. I was in need of a tempeh platter and a few drinks. We met in the middle.











The bartender--Kate--was gorgeous, was wearing a western-style shirt, and spoke with a slight lisp. I loved her immediately. She made me a martini, which was on the bad side of not delightful. (I couldn't even drink it. You know something is wrong when I can't even suck it up.) I decided on a glass of white wine and a $3.00 fried Oto Tofu appetizer with 3 dipping sauces. YUM! You know how good the food is here because I forgot to take pictures. I was too enamored with the eats.

Then Craig and I got to talking about stuff--the bathroom sculpture, veganism/vegetarianism (we got into a slight disagreement where I wanted to storm out in a huff, but ultimately we both had valid things to say. He's a vegan, I'm a veg*n, I'm more lacadasial about my views, he's more passionate. We agreed to disagree.), the cute girl who bartended at Life Of Riley on 11th and Everett-ish vs. Kate. We love both of them.

I had some more white wine, he had some more jack and lemonade (fresh lemon juice and sugar. DELICIOUS. I wholeheartedly recommend one if you haven't tried it yet.).
We ordered the tempeh dish again. I didn't take a picture, but here's the description:

Tempeh Napoleon of basmati fried rice, roasted tomatoes, sesame sauteed spinach, and miso vinaigrette.


YUM! It was spicy and flavorful and Vegan! You must try this out. Great options for vegans and vegetarians here, though you wouldn't know it to walk by.

Anyway, didn't get many pictures, but I did capture one of the statue in the bathroom.
















Then I rode my bike home and joyously remembered a cookie sent home with me last night.
A Pina Colassus Cookie. It hit the spot.












I'm sleepy now and have to wake up early to bike around and hang up Hawthorne Day Street Fair posters all over downtown Portland and NW.

Will probably head back to Virgo and Pisces again soon--great happy hour, friendly staff, and awesome-er than previously thought vegan options.

Lemon Dill Pasta

Today's my Monday. It's also my longest day at work, and when I'm there for awhile, I start munching on things I shouldn't. So I usually try to pack my lunch, which just leaves me to fend for dinner. The Ale House has some great vegan/vegetarian (veg*n) options, but there's only so much a girl can do when she eats there every day. One of the cooks, Leslie, makes a killer vegan pizza for me at least once a week. I'll try to post a picture of one of her creations soon.

I'm trying to use up my food stuffs here at home to make it easier for the move. So I threw together a lemon dill pasta with broccoli, peas and spinach. I put in a little bit of the veggie broth I made yesterday, a touch of earth balance, a spoonful of dijon musturd, and tons of garlic powder,fresh black pepper and nutritional yeast. Oh! And I cooked up a Quorn Micro Protein patty (which sounds gross, I know, but is a pretty awesome addition to pasta dishes, or just by itself when you're hungry.) I just threw in the random noodles I had--there are some farfalle and some veggie spirals in there. I took a taste and I can say that I'm definitely looking forward to work now! (Or at least the eating part of work.)

White Sangria

Today, in honor of Blog Day, I made some sangria for me, my brother Ahimsa and my FSIL--favorite sister-in-law--Michelle. We needed something summer-y and refreshing.

I put in about a cup of blueberries (left over from a great deal I found at Fred Meyer last week), one peach (it wasn't quite ripe, but for some reason I thought the alcohol would ripen it? Weird. It, obviously, is still a little crunchy.), and one sliced lemon.
I used a bottle and a half of cheap white wine from Trader Joe's, a half cup of "Grand Monarch" (cheap Grand Marnier) and a splash of club soda.

Chill, and enjoy.

On that note, I still have a few lemons and some blueberries to use up. Ideas? I was thinking a blueberry lemon pound cake, or blueberry cornmeal muffins/cupcakes with a lemon glaze. I might just buy a bottle of rum and make a blueberry-lemon infusion.