Posted 5:50 PM

polenta, cheddar, green chiles: very good. add a fried egg & chili oil. WOW. breakfast of champions.

Posted 4:17 PM

the most delicious thing i've made lately: breakfast tacos. hardboiled egg smashed with chili oil folded into an overheated tortilla that transforms into a soft but crunchy taco shell. credit to 101 Cookbooks, because I never in a million years would have thought to use a hardboiled egg in this way, but as a breakfast food i can boil several eggs beforehand and assemble while still asleep.

Posted 9:40 PM

this worked way better than i expected:

break some dark chocolate from christmas into chunks. cover with half & half. microwave until Sven shouts "it's foaming!" in alarm. pour the whole thing over some haagen dazs vanilla ice cream. swoon.

i didn't realize i was sort of replicating the "hot chocolate pour over" from cacao, but now i can't wait to procure some salt & straw olive oil ice cream & some candied cacao nibs. wow.

Posted 8:03 PM

my mushroom brandy sauce was MUCH too salty, but the texture was perfect and the mushroom were stellar.

Posted 8:03 PM

guy from NW elephant's deli now works at CLSB!

Posted 8:57 PM

boy, i wish elephant's deli in the CLSB was open after 7 p.m.

Posted 10:18 PM

i worked so hard and so late today that when i finally did eat i felt nauseous.

Posted 10:17 PM

we got an electric tea kettle at work and everyone is terribly excited.

Posted 10:56 PM

i ate a reese's peanut butter cup from the halloween stash. i wish halloween candy tasted as good as i remember it tasting when i was 15.

Posted 9:51 PM

i wish i liked hot lips pizza, because it seems to be the go-to pizza of events.

Posted 12:52 PM

if you put a mason jar lid in the bottom of a pan, you can use it to create a scrambled egg disk that is perfect for an egg/cheese breakfast biscuit. now i have to make more biscuits.

Posted 2:20 PM

i've lived my whole life thinking palmiers are totally incomprehensible. about as good as those butter cookie tins which aren't even worth eating, tasteless and dry.

then, two timely miracles: i ate a palmier i didn't hate at a recent event, and i ran across a stunningly simple recipe for them. two ingredients: puff pasty & sugar. and i suddenly realized: THAT'S THE WHOLE SECRET. good puff pastry makes good palmiers.

i keep a supply of good puffy pastry in our freezer, the kind that tastes like something other than book pages kept in a dusty room. the one i get from grand central bakery tastes richly of butter and crisps to a toothsome golden brown. and sure enough, they make incredible palmiers.

a secret like this requires great restraint and judicious portion control. i hope to acquire those traits quickly.

Posted 8:08 PM

sven & i made grape juice today from the grapes on our porch.

Posted 3:18 PM

"that's probably not something i would eat again," sven said. "it's got some weird seafood flavors." i had just fed him a bite from my bowl of pasta w/ spinach & pine nuts. i thought it was pretty good.

Posted 10:33 AM

breakfast burritos are better with sausage, but they're pretty good without. i dice a small potato, cover it with water, and by the time they are done cooking in the microwave, the rest of the burrito is ready to be assembled. i use the salsa from the farmers market, scrambled eggs and grated cheddar. it rolls up into a substantial stubby lump which is tossed into the toaster oven for a little crisping.

Posted 10:59 PM

biscuit sandwiches are very satisfying and easy to make if one keeps frozen biscuits in the freezer.

Posted 8:59 PM

WHY do people put whole peppercorns in sauces? I picked most of them out but I would discover I missed one when I bit into something that was like a spicy dusty bone that crumbles into dust when you pick it up from the side of the road.

Posted 9:09 PM

mcmenamins makes a really good mustard.

Posted 5:29 PM

the ground cherries went over so well today i think i'd like to bring an unusual foodstuff for every event i'm a liaison for at ohsu.

Posted 9:18 PM

if you can't go to an event yourself, send homemade hummus in your place. it will be the first thing devoured at the potluck.

Posted 7:19 PM

tart and rich, the apple slaw at cheese plate was even better than their whiskey peach grilled cheese sandwich, and that thing won the grilled cheese invitational.

Posted 8:36 PM

i just sent someone my recipe for shepherd's pie, which is essentially just a meat mince topped w/ mashed potatoes & cheese. i remember the first time i ate this at geoffrey's house; when i finally realized i could make it myself years later, it was a revelation.

* Get yourself a rectangular casserole dish, because if you're bothering to make shepherd's pie you might as well make a lot of it.

* Make a meat mince: ground beef (or grounds for vegetarians) mixed with onion, carrots, peas, mushrooms. I often leave out the mushrooms if we don't have any. Flavor w/ worcestershire sauce & steak seasoning. A little rosemary & thyme can be nice but are not necessary. If you have leftover tomato sauce or wine from another project, you could add that, too.

* Top with a layer of mashed potatoes.

* Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

* Broil until cheese is delightfully brown.

* Top with green onions if you're feeling fancy.

* Serve.

Posted 8:09 PM

sushi & cherry pie seem like appropriate choices when you unexpectedly find yourself in a hospital cafeteria.

Posted 10:56 PM

"i'm from new mexico and i eat that pecan tart almost every day," he said. but i thought it had too much squishy filling and not enough pecans.

Posted 8:41 PM

today truly seemed like the beginning of autumn, so it's the right time for pho. even a pre-packaged one.

Posted 8:45 PM

sven thought hummus and apples would go well together. he was wrong, but we are both still glad to have a snack on our 4.5 hour equinox walk on powell butte.

Posted 9:13 PM

woke up with a powerful urge for an omelet, a foodstuff that is ridiculously easy to make and very satisfying.

Posted 9:55 PM

when faced with unfortunate gastrointestinal distress, it is natural to want to want to  point fingers: was it the lasagne for breakfast? was it the starbucks frappuccino? was it the grilled cheese? the cookie? the iced chai? the deviled eggs? the toast point? the cupcake? so many possible vectors.

Posted 9:25 PM

seaweed is magically transformed from slimy wavy into something green and salty and sweet and crinkly.

Posted 6:54 PM

there are TWO starbucks in the CLSB now: a kiosk and a cafe, less than 500 feet apart.

Posted 9:03 PM

yes, diet soda is terrible, just terrible. won't make that mistake again.

Posted 5:57 PM

crispy spicy chicken and a biscuit is a treat after work. hard to eat in the car, though.

Posted 11:11 PM

i want to eat these blistered green beans every day by the pound.