Sunny Saturday!

Another beautiful 60* day in February! We have been so lucky this past month, while the Midwest & East suffer.  I can't remember the last time we had such a dry & sunny winter. The forecast for the coming week looks beautiful too. Thank you, God! ☺

Omid and I took full advantage of the sunshine. We worked outside in the yard for a bit and on the boat; then decided we better eat at Lardo. We've been meaning to go for weeks, but never had the time. And wouldn't you know, Alton Brown came to town last week and beat us to Lardo. We were so mad that the Food Network star beat us to the punch! Oh well, better late than never! That being said, have you been? If not, go! This is my new favorite place and I can't wait to go back.

Waiting for our lunch in the gorgeous sunshine, with a Boneyard IPA. Nothing better!

Omid got the Pho'Rench dip (to die for!) & I got the pork meatball bahn mi. Very good, too, but not as tasty as Omid's.

But wait! There's more!!

We forgot to order the 'dirty fries' and had that after our sandwiches. This may have been a mistake. These are a meal on their own. Good, but next time I'll stick with the sandwiches.

 

By this time, we were so full, we walked up Hawthorne to try and feel better. We stumbled upon this guy....What do you think he said to Omid?!

After walking a bit, we decided we needed to finally try Salt & Straw. We drove to 23rd and walked along there for a while. Right before Salt & Straw, we saw our old friend Papa Haydn. We made the decision to visit memory lane instead of Salt & Straw. Papa Haydn it was!

For the last 20 years, I have ONLY ever ordered panna cotta at Papa Haydn. It's the best and is not to be missed. Of course, it pairs nicely with an Italian muscati. Omid got the bourbon ball (chocolate mousse with bourbon). So dense!

YUM!

Our neighbor at Papa Haydn. ♥

Hike to Oneonta Gorge

Omid, our friend Tammy & I stole Matty's awesome idea of hiking to Oneonta Falls today. We hiked to the upper falls to get our cardio on (yay for us!). The path is very narrow and on the way down to the parking lot, we saw a young father & his toddler slip off the path and tumble down about 75 feet to the street below! That was awful! So, so scary. Thank God no cars were coming, they most certainly would have been hit. Omid went to check on the two and reported back that the toddler just had a scraped knee (but was very shaken up) and the father was scraped up all over. The rest of their party caught up to them and hopefully they are doing okay tonight.

After that scene, we hiked over to Oneonta Gorge. This was an awesome hike. Scary at times, because of the unknown, but a lot of fun! Before you can reach the waterfall, you have to climb up two boulders to reach a 15 foot high log jam. That was scary for me. It took me a while and thankfully people were patient. You have to go slow as there is foot traffic going both ways. Once you tackle the log jam, there are a few pools of knee deep water, then a pool of chest high water. The rocks are unstable & slippery, I didn't want to twist my ankle or knee, so I walked very carefully. It was definitely an adventure! One thing we noted: everyone had a smile! I'm really glad I went. Thanks for the idea, Matty!!!

 

If you go...wear TEVAs or KEENs! Water shoes are a MUST and YOU WILL GET WET & DIRTY. Don't take anything that shouldn't get wet, like phones or cameras! Don't forget the towels! Make sure to leave them in the car. They will just get wet & will be useless if you take them along. ☺

 

Watch the video to see how much fun we had!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71oDKrKxAKE&feature=youtu.be

 

Dinner with Friends at Le Pigeon!

This past Saturday, our good friend Katie visited from Spokane. Lin, Tammie & I decided a few weeks ago that Katie's visit called for a trip to a 'fawncy' restaurant. Lin suggested Le Pigeon, we made the reservation and started our "countdown to Katie!"

 

Le Pigeon has been ranked the #1 restaurant in Portland for the past few years. The executive chef, Gabriel Rucker is a two time James Beard award winner. When I called to make the reservations six weeks ago, there were only two slots left for November 2nd. A 5:15 p.m. slot or a 10:00 p.m. slot. If you want to go, make your reservations early!!

 

 

Fun fact: Katie and I have been friends for 17 years!

I love these ladies!!♥

Once we arrived at Le Pigeon, I was surprised at how tiny it is. The restaurant fits about 45-50 diners, maybe. Tables are 'family style,' so you will sit with strangers. It's also a bit noisy inside. This is not the place if you want a quiet, romantic dinner for two. It is, however, out of this world delicious!!!

We all agreed to order the five course tasting menu. It was the best way to taste many things on the menu. One note: in order to try the tasting menu, everyone in your party must order it.

Our first course was deep fried rock shrimp with pickled mango, green onion and a tarragon greed goddess dressing. The dressing was the star of this course. So tangy.

First course

The second course was a pan fried sea bass, served with turnips and mushrooms.

Second course

The third course was Wagyu beef, pan fried foie gras and deep fried shallots. This was the first time I had ever tried foie gras. It was out of this world delicious!  The foie gras was the best part of this course.

 

Third course
 

The fourth course was venison with a bone marrow pumpkin pie and brussel sprout cole slaw. The bone marrow pumpkin pie was my favorite part of the fourth course. Sweet & savory.

Fourth course

At this point, we were so incredibly full, but there was one course left: dessert! Dessert was a cream puff filled with foie gras ice cream and served with salted caramel sauce. We also had a pumpkin pots du crème. It was 3/4 filled with the pumpkin mousse, 1/4 filled with whipping cream and topped with a crumbled gingersnap cookie. I wish I had one right now in front of me. It was just delectable.

Fifth course

After we thought we couldn't stuff another bite into our mouths, the waitress brought us camembert cheese filled chocolates. They were surprisingly good.

Our dinner took three hours from start to finish. Katie and I got the wine pairings with our dinner. I am so glad we did. I didn't recognize any of the wines on the menu at Le Pigeon (many being French). All of the wines were delicious.

Stuffed, happy mamas!

If you get a chance to dine at Le Pigeon, DO! It was a lot of fun and the food was amazing!

Visit to Mt. Tabor Park

Today was one of those beautiful sunny winter days that we absolutely love here in the PNW. It was too nice to stay inside, so we decided to go for a walk. We didn't want to do our usual walk down by the Columbia. I consulted my friend Sarah's blog for something fun & free to do. After blog stalking on her site for a while, we decided to visit Mt. Tabor Park in Portland. It looked like a fun hike with beautiful city views. A plus was that Matty could take his longboard & skate around the park.

 

 

When we got there, Omid challenged me to a race up to the top. Loser had to buy lunch. I wasn't worried, as I had worn my tennis shoes & was feeling quite competent. I didn't get a photo of the stairs at the bottom, as I was sure I would have time to get a photo from the top...of Omid still climbing the stairs. Well, I was wrong. Omid won!

 

I win. You buy lunch!

We trudged along for a bit, huffing & puffing - trying to catch our breath from running up the stairs.

You go this way, I go that way.

 This statue is of Harvey Scott. Early editor of The Oregonian newspaper.

 

After we caught our breath, we walked over to see the view of downtown Portland.

Gorgeous sunshiny day!☼

Warty looking trees.

There are 190 acres of Mt. Tabor to explore, so we did just that.

Look behind me: a Christmas tree!

Matty - taking a break from long boarding.

 

 

 

We finally made it down to the upper resorvoir.

 

Mt. Tabor houses several resorvoirs that supply drinking water to parts of the city.
No throwing anything over that fence. There was a security guard + lots of cameras on site.

Lower resorvoir.
We never made it down the steps; afraid that we wouldn't make it up again.

Matty pinning 'Camas' on the 'Where are you from?' map at the Visitor's Center.

From here, we went to look for the 'cinder cone volcano.' We were sure we found it, but since there was no sign, it could have just been a dirt hillside. Now that we're home, I checked the internet & found out that the dirt hillside was the cinder cone.

Omid enjoying the sunshine.

We spent about three hours total at the park today. I seriously could have stayed another three hours. We were all starving & since I lost our bet, it was up to me to pick the restaurant & pay up. Naturally, I chose Best Baguette. ☺Though Omid was a gentleman & paid for our lunch.♥

The best banh mi in town!

 

I can't wait to visit Mt. Tabor Park again, next time with Remy (as he would love it!). Thanks Sarah for the fun idea!☺

Cargo!

Matty & I took a field trip into Portland today. We found a very interesting store called Cargo. It's full of fun, functional & eclectic things. If you go, bring plenty of cash. While some things were reasonably priced, most of the items were expensive. Cargo is located on 13th & Flanders in The Pearl District.

Here are a few of the things I liked.

LOVED these Santos heads (pricey, so I only took photos).

Japanese rubber stamps. So cute.

These eyelid pendants really closed. Freaky & yet I liked them at the same time.

Cargo had lots of Christmas things. These glittered reindeer ($10) were exactly like the ones featured in
this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine.  I love advent calendars (without the chocolate!!). There were 3 Victorian designs to choose from - all darling. It was hard to choose just one ($6).

Cargo had a great card section. Here are some that I liked. ☺

Japanese Daruma dolls. Always fun! The giant Daruma was $240.

The Grotto

The kids & I decided to visit The Grotto today. We hadn't been for several years and thought it would be fun to walk the 62 acre park.

The beautiful Grotto.

Elevator: 110 feet to the park above.

If you go, take $4.00 to ride the elevator.

The money is used for

maintenance of the Grotto & the surrounding park.

Meditation Room

Grotto Monastery

New last year: The Grotto Labyrinth

Fun Fact: I found out today that my friend Sarah got engaged at The Grotto.

I love that!

Spotted in the park: a monk!

St. Thaddeus

Not being Catholic, I wasn't sure who St. Thaddeus was.

According to Wikipedia, he was one of the 12 Apostles.

Spotted near the elevator: a nun!

Prayer candles

Our prayer candle

No words needed.

Close up.

It was good day to reflect on what we're thankful for & for remembering the people/things on our prayer list.