Cronuts, shmonuts

You may have all heard of Voodoo Donuts.  A yeast and sugar emporium that has developed mythical status.  100+ people are regularly standing in line for that coveted pink box filled with a voodoo doll donut (complete with a "pretzel" pin for sticking), maple bacon bar, Tex-Ass Challenge donut (equal to the size of 6 yeast donuts combined) or one of many other cheeky-named favorites. These are not vegan, gluten-free, nut-allergic or paleo friendly and in Portland that is testament to their yummy, guilt-ridden goodness.  You gotta go once for the donut and the spectacle.  We made the pilgrimage on a previous trip to the Rose City.

However, this post is not about the voodoo they do, but instead about a new haute donut entrant in Portland called Blue Star Donuts.  If you are hip, hungry for a designer fried dough circle with a hole and you are also well-funded...make the trip to Blue Star.  They purvey made-from-scratch-daily brioche donuts fried in rice oil with unique combinations of icing and/or ingredients.  We ventured into the bright, clean donut and coffee shop with our Amex card and hoping they would not notice our many degrees of separation from hip.

Understated, white box of yummy goodness.

Blueberry/bourbon/basil glazed, maple bacon and a hard cider apple fritter were our selections. The flavors vary based on their whim and available ingredients.  YUM!!! $8 is pricey for 3 donuts and a short-term sugar rush, but we both agreed it was worth the experience.  Even for a Top Pot lover like myself, the brioche donut was a delicious departure from the norm.  Their hours are listed as "8am - out".  Arrogance or confidence? Probably both.  There are other chef's that have it going on outside the Big Apple.

From top, Blueberry/bourbon/basil, hard cider apple fritter, maple bacon...stop drooling.

Nature and Music

We have found that Portland has an abundance of both.

On a recent venture to another one of Portland's cool districts for the Mississippi Street Fair, Mike noticed a flyer stapled to a corner telephone pole or cylindrical billboard as it had become.  Come enjoy the spiritual music of Bruce Springsteen.  As Mike is a dutiful follower of the prophet Springsteen, it was a must see.

MUSIC:  The setting...a grassy courtyard, shade growing as the evening approaches, a few folding chairs, a grassy center available for a more communal blanket experience.  Any age, socio-economic level, social and religious preference are welcomed.  All of this beneath the shadow of a historic stone Episcopal church whose congregation was established in 1856.  What could be more spiritual than that you ask?  Five or six extremely talented local musicians and groups performing Bruce Springsteen songs.  It is an annual event that selects various mainstream musicians who have a spiritual lesson to teach.  In between sets we were treated to the 10 Commandments of Bruce Springsteen, readings focused on trials, tribulation and redemption that are present in his songs.  It was actually quite moving at times.  The finale was wrapped up with a group sing of Thunder Road.  Truly a spiritual experience.

NATURE:  A random Groupon purchase put us onto a 3 hour float trip down the Santiam River. It has been in the 80's almost every day that we have been in Portland so it seemed like a nice day trip to float lazily down a 63 degree river in a raft and enjoy nature.  Our "float" trip included approximately 8 class 1 and 2 rapids in individual inflatable kayaks.  After a quick paddling lesson we began our adventure which was a little short on floating and long on paddling and avoiding rocks and boulders and not falling into the very cold river.  The trip was not short on natural beauty though.  While Mike scoffed at the rapids and whitewater, I was a little less sure of my abilities to navigate.  Backwards and stuck on rocks at times, I am proud to say I did not dump my kayak and made it to the end without a rescue by the guides.  By the way, the guides and the trip were a great little unplanned event and I would definitely recommend it.

Whitewater just "before" our put in spot. Yay.

The tranquil Santiam river lazily floating us to our next white-knuckle whitewater, very deceiving.  Not really that bad.

MUSIC:  Another concert at quaint outdoor venue hosted by an eco-conservatory group just a few blocks from our condo included a bluegrass group named Wayward Vessel and Crystal Bowersox -was headliner. You may remember Crystal as a non-winner of American Idol.  If Melissa Etheridge and Janis Joplin had a baby it would have the soulful sound of Crystal Bowersox.  Her second set was acoustic, just her playing guitar to very personal lyrics that put you right in her dreadlocks, shoes and her life for the 3 minutes of her song. Her last song was Me and Bobby Mcgee, she wailed and she rocked it.  Good show.

MUSIC:  Free jazz festival at Cathedral Park.  About 15 minutes northeast of Portland under one of their many bridges crossing the beautiful Willamette River we arrived at the small park that is delightfully situated under a very large large bridge whose supports are reminiscent of cathedral architecture, hence its name I suppose.  Although it was rather steamy, the music as good and we were once again amazed by the musical talent we have seen in this town.

NATURE:  I am not sure if our trip to Bob's Red Mill natural foods and breakfast mercantile belongs under "nature", but it's my blog so I am putting it there. :-)  I am sure you have seen their all natural whole and milled grains in your local supermarket.  We planned our trip to strategically arrive for breakfast at their cafe as Mike had a hankerin' for their flapjacks with 100% natural maple syrup.  Then we would go to the mill for the daily tour.  Breakfast was divine, filling with delicious buttermilk pancakes and whole grain biscuits as big as your fist.  Needless to say we hoped the tour included nap time, but alas it did not.  Bob and his 100% employee owned company are true disciples of natural, healthy rice, grains and legumes.  They have also embraced the gluten-free phenomenon and it seems the glutenless have embraced them as well, that line of business has increased 50% in last couple of years.  Bob and his wife seemed to be ahead of their time really, they have built a thriving business with a profit for good philosophy.  It works and it is also good for you.  I am too now a disciple of Bob's Red Mill.

Cafe and mercantile store.  Breakfast, lunch, all products (bagged and bulk) and Bob's Red Mill swag available here.

Bob's flapjacks and biscuits, a carbloader's dream.

Blog post for Good

Today I reminded of the self-indulgence of blog posting.  I had that feeling about other posters before me and now that I am a poster of personal drivel I find it funny that I have contracted amnesia about my historical feelings on the topic.  It happens, people change.

However, today's post is not about us.  Today our thoughts are going to a beautiful young lady who happens to be the daughter of our very good friends.  M (as I did not ask if I could use her name virtually) had surgery today and while we have gotten word that it went very well, I wanted to let her and her family know that our thoughts are with them today and through her speedy and successful recovery.  

We had the opportunity to host M at our house in Seattle and show her around.  She is a charming, witty, empowered and beautiful young lady.  For all of you who read today's post, please send your warm thoughts to M too.      

These boots are made for walking...

Portland and its various districts are uniquely situated to make it more convenient to walk than drive your car and park.  Every path we have taken over the last couple of weeks reveals another eatery, happy hour or farmer's market or pastry shop we want to try.

Last Saturday we went to a totally awesome farmer's market near the PSU campus downtown. There were incredible fruits, vegetables, meats (smoked and fresh), cheese and prepared foods.  I could not pass up another pint of fresh marionberries that were heavenly. I made them into jam and we have slathered it over toast and drizzled over a chocolate flourless cake for dessert.

 As luck would have it, one of the food trucks I had on my radar, Pine State Biscuits, was sporting a 20 person line for their breakfast sandwiches.  I had my eye on "The Reggie", fried chicken, bacon & cheese topped with gravy all tucked between a delicious homemade biscuit.  I know you are saying to yourself, "That is a heart-attack on a  plate!"  Well, maybe, but I am going to go out happy now I can assure you.  It was delicious and met all the hype I had bestowed on it.  

Mike was a little more of a traditionalist with an biscuit, egg and cheese, but he seemed happy as well. A serious restrictive diet is in our future, but the food is just too amazing here.

The Mike

The Reggie

To get back to my walking theme, we also explored the beautiful Columbia River Gorge National Park.  The park is filled with beautiful waterfalls and a 700 year old ancient forest.  It is so dense and massive that photos just do not do it justice.  I will share a couple of my amateur snaps just to give you some idea of its beauty.  We only ate trail mix on this day to counteract the previous days intake. :-)

   Another day took us to Mt. Hood.  The height assigned to its peak is 11,249 feet.  It is home to 12 named glaciers and snowfields and is the highest point in Oregon.    The drive there was breathtakingly beautiful as we caught glimpses of the still snow covered mountain as we curved up toward its base.  We drove to Timberline Lodge, on the south side of the mountain.  In the summer months you can take a ski lift ride to approximately 7000 feet and experience the incredible view. We did so and decided to hike back down on the trail provided.  There were many snow boarders and skiers still getting in reasonable summer skiing on the mountain.  It was totally amazing to see in July on an 80 degree day.  

View on our approach to Mt. Hood

The lodge was rustic and beautiful inside. The stone fireplace served two floors of the lodge, it was incredible.  An interesting tidbit, it was the lodge used for the external shots in the movie, The Shining.  REDRUM...

Timberline Lodge in summertime, beautiful, not creepy

Fireplace on main level

Portland is berry cool

Feels like rain....it was actually a balmy summer evening in Portland for the last blues set of Saturday evening which included a magical rendition of Feels Like Rain by John Hyatt.  His normally gravelly voice with occasional high notes betrayed the age of the blues man, but it was a perfect ending to a starry night in the river. On Sunday, we went to church with Mavis Staples mid-afternoon and the last night of the festival treated us to a capacity crowd and the soulful voice of Robert Plant with bluesy arrangements of old favorites.  

July is berry season in Oregon.  Blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, marionberries...I could go on.   Instead, I made a boysenberry pie about it.  A boysenberry is a cross between a European Raspberry, a Common Blackberry and a Loganberry.  For the record, this cross bred berry makes a yummy pie.  We enjoyed every bite.  Here are pics for your virtual enjoyment.

Plump boysenberries getting all chummy with some sugar, lemon juices and other goodies.

Finished pie, still warm from the oven.  

Independence Day

I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July.  We arrived safely in Seattle on July 1st for a quick overnight stay.  Our car arrived back from Honolulu where we picked it up at the port on July 2nd as planned to make our way down to Portland, OR.  We made a brief stop to pick up some sundries in Seattle.  (Thanks to those of you who helped us out by storing and transporting our stuff for us)  Our drive through Ballard brought back nostalgic thoughts of Hattie's Hat happy hours and weekend farmer's market meandering.  It is most certainly still one of my "happy places".  We could not leave the Seattle area without a stop at the Red Mill Burger for a burger and a shake.  AAHHHH that hit the spot. Cholesterol spiking we were now able to forge ahead on the 3 hour trip to Portland on a beautifully sunny afternoon.

The drive down is mostly highway but on special sunny days there are these amazing treats all along the way.   Mt. Ranier as you leave Seattle, then Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood rise intl the sky and show their still snow covered peaks.  Really awesome.

Arriving in Portland is like staying with an old friend.  It is laid back, unpretentious, teeming with energy and its own unique vibe.  It is a live and let live kind of place that accepts you for whoever you are.  It feels comfortable.  Our condos is in between the Pearl and Alphabet districts and is scores high on walkability.  We arrived during a hot spell but the nights are cool enough for a light jacket.

Our first planned event was to attend the annual Waterfront Blues Festival (July 4th-7th).  We attended several years in a row while living in Seattle and always looked forward to the beautiful waterfront venue and great music.  Of course, we were not disappointed this year.  If you like blues/folk/kick ass guitar players, check out artists like Huckle, Blind Boy Paxton, Joe Louis Walker and Soul Vaccination.

There is always a transcendent, simulcast fireworks display on July 4th shot from barges on the Willamette river as part of the festivities.  It is second only to the fireworks display we used to watch over the Washington monument when we lived near DC.

Mike is busily planning day hikes, foodie indulgences and other excursions for our post festival time in Portland.  I am sure the month here will fly by.

Crowd at one of the 4 stages of music.

Boats rafted to each other for a long weekend of water, sun, music and possibly some  boat drinks.

Happy 4th of July!