Portland Notes: Part 1 was a big hit, thanks for all the feedback! Now feast your eyes on some of the pictures from the rest of my trip.
we sampled every strawberry stand in the market
Early Saturday morning we went to the Farmer’s Market to gather supplies for a homemade dinner. Chris and I had a loose idea of what we wanted to make but we let the best looking produce sway our final decisions.
we couldn't resist the eggs in Martha colors
This was the largest, most impressive Farmer’s Market, even bigger than the Santa Monica and Marin Civic Center markets.
The flowers were the most amazing I have ever seen! Can you believe the size and height of these tulips?
Irisies in every color of Van Gogh’s painter’s palette. Swoon.
A rainbow of ranuculus bunches, closed up tight but just waiting to bloom in a vase on a mantle. With our bags full of farm eggs, wild salmon, flank steak, baguette, local salumi, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, baby artichokes, fingerling potatoes, radishes, sorel, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, strawberries and baby gem lettuce we headed to Chris and Seth’s place to cook.
Here is our final menu! We ended up making a play on Deconstructed Salmon Nicoise Salad.
Aunt Sarah whipped up a stunning flower arrangement to match her Mother’s china that Chris has inherited.
Table was set by Aunt Carol. The only sign that this is a bachelor pad is the Kerr jars used for water glasses, these boys are fancy.
Seth seasoned the steaks which were then grilled in the fireplace. I worked on the vegetables. Drew took pics and helped his mama with the dishes.
Beautiful asparagus skinnies all seasoned up to roast at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Family bonding ensued.
Market crudite with a verdant sorel aioli dip Chris whipped up in one of his marble pestals. He is an Alice Waters devotee and knows her aioli recipe by heart. The lemony brightness of the sorel enlivened the creamy aioli.
La Tur cheese and some yummy locally made salumi served on a slate platter. We nibbled on these all afternoon as we cooked, drank and chatted.
The first course what a duo of vegetables. Fiddlehead ferns sauteed with shallots and butter and fresh baby artichokes cooked in white wine and topped with fresh mint and tangerine zest.
Here is Chris dusting the artichokes with tangerine zest, an inspired last minute addition.
The main course was served family style, above are my “barely” boiled eggs and butter steamed potatoes and the remnants of the sorel aioli from the appetizers.
Here is my plate after all the dished were passed and shared. Everything was so TASTY and paired perfectly with delicious wines.
Yep we drank these… and a few more I think. Thanks to Chris for playing sommelier and treating us to such nice wines.
The next day Janice and I rearranged the living room furniture and added a few new thrift store additions like that chartreuse lamp (love it.) A great way to thank the boys for hosting such special and fun family day and playing tour guide all weekend.
PS- we also ate at a food cart Pod, had brunch at Tasty & Son’s and lunch at Pok Pok which were all awesome. Portland rocks.
PPS- the dream of the 90’s really is alive in Portland, I saw quite a few people drink Cosmopolitans.
xo,
LEH