Newest Obsessions

This past week I've been on a pumpkin seed binge.  They're so simple to make and are a perfect healthy snack.  

To make mine, I thoroughly rinsed the seeds and let them dry overnight.  I added a little olive oil to them- not too much, you want them to be crisp, not soggy. Next I added salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, chipotle, and cayenne; you can use any combination of these.  Next, toss them with the kicker- tabasco sauce! Mix them up, spread on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, shuffling the seeds around half way. They're spicy and smokey and I just can't step away.

My other obsession is Mama Lil's Kick Butt Peppers.  I first had these on a pizza at Apizza Scholls (the amazing Portland pizza joint featured on Travel channel's No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain episode "Pacific Northwest").  I immediately went out to buy them.  They're made locally in the Northwest, Seattle to be exact. I've found them at Whole Foods and specialty grocery stores so if you live outside the area you really have no excuse not to run out and buy these.  They're a little pricy- around $7 or $8 for a small jar, but totally worth it. 

You must try the "kick butt" variety.  I've tried Mama Lil's bread and butter pickles & peppers and they're nowhere as good as the spicy ones.  I put these on sandwiches, in omelettes, on pizza, bruschetta, pasta, hell i'd even put them in my cereal if it no one was watching.  These peppers are spicy, a little sweet, and the oil they're packed in is perfect for tossing pasta with.  My mouth is watering just thinking about them. GET THESE! 

Vermicelli in Peanut Sauce

This past weekend Zephyr and I took our annual fall weekend getaway.  Last year we stayed in Bend, OR when the leaves were at their peak colors.  This past week we headed north to Snoqualmie Falls, WA.  It was a rainy trip (surprise surprise!) but the falls were beautiful nonetheless.

The lodge at the top of the falls is gorgeous.  I enjoyed some time in their spa getting a pumpkin scented massage! A-MAY-ZING! So relaxing. The next day we kicked around Seattle, and ended the day with a long hike in Forest Park back in Portland and carved our Halloween pumpkins that evening.

Carving pumpkins: not my strong suit.

I've been itching to cook up an Asian feast lately, but it's so hard to find certain far eastern ingredients in standard grocery stores.  I discovered my new favorite store- Fubonn.  It's located in Portland's Asian district (no, not Chinatown.  This is located on SE 82nd ave between Division and Powell).  It's AWESOME.  I honestly felt like I was back in China or Vietnam when I was browsing the aisles and didn't hear a word of English.  You've GOT to go here! The meat counter has everything from pig's tongue to Korean short ribs.  The frozen section is abundant with dozens and dozens of varieties of pot-stickers and dumplings.  My goal was to find a good fish sauce, and I left with over a basket full of items.  Here's what I made last night...

Vermicelli in Peanut Sauce

8 ounces vermicelli rice noodles

Juice of two limes

Splash of fish sauce

3 Tbs soy sauce

3 Tbs brown sugar

3 Tbs vegetable or canola oil

3 Tbs peanut butter (I prefer crunchy!)

1 red bell pepper, julienned

3/4 cup sliced scallions

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/4 cup chopped mint

1/2 cup peanuts, chopped 

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.

2. Whisk the lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, and peanut butter in a sauce pan over low heat until warm.  Add the cooked noodles, bell pepper, and scallions to pan, stir to coat. 

3.  Transfer noodle mixture to a bowl and mix in herbs.  Serve topped with peanuts!

Butternut Squash and Kale Gnocci

Somehow, in the midst of Portland's change of seasons, I found myself in a place with practically one season, south Florida.  I had a business trip to the Ft. Lauderdale area last week.  The temperature didn't drop below a humid 90 degrees the whole week.  It was the type of weather where you rush from your car into the office, in hopes that your sweat doesn't embarrassingly soak through your nice new blazer.  Despite the heat, I loved walking around the little beach town where my hotel was.  The ocean water was crystal clear and practically the temperature of bath water.  There were some great restaurants too, including a trendy sushi bar I ate at called Buddha Sky Bar.  They had a "menage a trois" roll with spicy salmon and crispy salmon skin inside, and salmon sashimi outside- to die for!

View from my hotel

But back to the northwest... Don't you just love fall?  The leaves are starting to to brilliant colors here. Just take a look at the ugly Costco parking lot I found myself in the other day, somehow turned beautiful by the bright red leaves:

Fall means lots of yummy food.  I went out yesterday and stocked up on apple cider, pumpkin ice cream, and tons of cool weather fruits and veggies.  I particularly love squash, it is such a versatile food.  My farmer's market houses dozens of varieties, but one of the more common one you can find at grocery stores is butternut.

Butternut squash with kale and gnocci (serves 4)
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 a medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 Tbs dried sage
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/4 cups chicken broth (sub vegetable broth for vegetarian)
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and roughly chopped
1 package gnocci (generally they come in 17.5 oz packages) I used fresh, but packaged is ok, too.
1 cup parmesan

1.  Preheat your oven broiler.  Add olive oil to dutch oven or ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Stir in onion and squash.  Cook until soft (about 8 minutes).
2.  Add the garlic, sage, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.  Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
3.  Add the chicken broth.  When it starts to simmer, add kale and cook until wilted, 2 minutes.  Add the gnocci, stir, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Uncover and stir in 1/2 cup parmesan.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup parmesan, transfer to the oven and broil until bubbly and brown, 4 minutes.

This recipe is filling, healthy and SO quick!  It probably took me less than 1/2 an hour to make.  I've been trying to cook more vegetarian lately.  You will not miss the meat in this hearty dish!  Happy fall!

Honeycrisp

This weekend felt like the first few days of fall.  What better way to spend an October weekend than go apple picking?  Zephyr and I headed out to Hood River on Sunday for a celebration of all things fall.  I love Hood River.  It's breathtakingly gorgeous, with a million things to do and amazing restaurants and breweries for a city of it's size (roughly 7,000 people).
We started the day with caffeine at Doppio on Oak Street.  I got a yummy pumpkin latte, and we climbed to the top of the street and sipped our coffee on a park bench while overlooking the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.  Just across the Gorge in Bingen is a pizza joint called Solstice.  Their "country girl cherry" pizza was recently voted the best pizza in Washington.  Naturally, that's where we went and what we ordered for lunch.

Delicious! The cherries put this pizza over the top!

After lunch, we drove back across the river to Oregon and began our apple picking at Kiyokawa Orchards.  The orchards are located in the "fruit loop" around Mt. Hood.

About to rain, boo! Beautiful views nonetheless. 

Yay honeycrisps!

Picture perfect apples.

It started pouring.  Zephyr called this my "old Russian woman" look.

After picking more apples than we know what to do with, we headed to Stevenson, WA to Walking Man Brewery for a pint.  The views from the town were pretty, even if the sun never came out.

Eventually we headed home and cooked up a yummy minestrone full of tons of farmer's market veggies.  Warm soup was the perfect way to end a rainy fall Sunday.

Warms my soul.

I made some pretty good apple cocktails at the end of the day, you've got to try these!

Must be drank with a pumpkin spice candle burning nearby. 

Applejack cocktails (makes one cocktail)
2 oz. Applejack liqueur
1 oz. lemon juice
Grenadine
Hard cider
In a shaker filled with ice, combine Applejack, lemon juice, and a splash of grenadine.  Strain over ice.  Top with hard cider.
Note: I used Strongbow cider, a drink I became slightly obsessed with after spending some time in Edinburgh this year.  It's available at better grocery stores, but Vermont's Woodchuck brand might be easier to find.

Happy fall!




Cafe Dopio
310 Oak Street
Hood River, OR 97031


Solstice Wood Fire Cafe
415 W Steuben Street (Hwy 14)
Bingen, WA 98605


Kiyokawa Orchards
8129 Clear Creek Road
Parkdale, OR 97041


Walking Man Brewing
240 SW First St
Stevenson, WA 98648