I love havarti cheese

I recently found out that I'm lactose intolerant. Worst day of my life. To make it even better I found out while I was at a cheese factory. I know. The hour drive back home was not fun for anyone.

I've been slowly trying to figure out how to eat and remember to check ingredients for milk. Its a struggle.

Tonight I cooked up a grilled havarti cheese sandwich with grilled mushrooms and onions and a cold tomato. Mmmmmmm. It was yummy. I had a sick guy at home so we had that with a side of crab tomato bisque. Great way to end the week :-) Nom.

Cheers to beautiful Portland night and a yummy meal.

The weather has been perfect recently. High 70's low 80's with a nice night time breeze. We found Watermelon last weekend at our weekly trip to Krugers and It has been the most delicious addition to the yumminess I have been cooking. If you haven't checked out a Krugers Farmers Market yet, I would highly recommend sampling their food. Everything is fresh and local. Nothing against the Farmers Markets we have all around town, but Krugers feels like home.

We actually stumbled upon their Hawthorne location about two months ago while on a run. The run was killer. We did 6 miles from PSU to Hawthorne and like 33rd and back. In case you were wondering, we haven't done that since. Who would have thought Hawthorne was up hill both ways??

When we ran past this place, both P and I did a double take. There is a cute little fish market that shares the same land with them, and its fun to go in and shop for the local yummies. Watermelon and a fresh chicken salad sounds like a great meal. Nom.

Dry Rubbed ribs

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I dry rubbed this slab last night and it is going to be amazing tonight when P grills it. I'm not a big griller. I love how things taste after they've been grilled, but I just don't have the finesse it takes to grill. Okay fine, I don't have the patience. At least in the oven I have to go through some effort if I want to burn my finger tasting the yumminess. When its on the grill, there isn't much effort but just as much ouch. So I'm staying away from grilling. 

My dry rub was pretty simple: Chili Powder, Lawrys Seasoning Salt, Dry Parsley, and Salt and Pepper. We picked up two of these monsters from Gardners and its great because even though we can throw down, this is at least 4 night worth of din din. 

Keep an eye out for my follow up post for pictures of the finished product! Nom.

African Peanut Stew

I can't remember the first time I made this, but I remember the last time I did! They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and I have definitely cooked my way through P's and I like to thank this dish for that.

This stew is comforting, succulent, filling, romantic, non-shareable, and most of all delicious. I found the recipe here. It is definitely not meant for a hot night, so with the recent weather we've had, I would recommend waiting until one of our wet Fall Portland nights. 


Here's my version:




Mine is a little thicker and spicier than the recipe, but that's how I like it :-)

Ode to Reggie

I have a lot of older pictures that I feel need a story behind them, so here is story number one:

PINE STATE BISCUITS


~ P and I love Pine State Biscuits. If you've never had them, please check out this website. You don't even have to read the menu. Just look at the picture on the front page. Go. Now. I'll wait..

Now please wipe off the drool from your keyboard, it's awkward to see adults drool. There are so many things on their menu that I haven't tried yet because all I ever want to do is dominate the Reggie Deluxe (with extra gravy). One time, I found myself reading the calories on one of those bad boys and I decided to stop reading for two weeks. Nothing is going to get in between me and my Reggie. They have a couple of locations in Portland, but the thing that got me the most was their to-go cart right at the Portland State Farmers Market every Saturday morning. Guess who lives a stones throw away? Ding ding ding! Reggie knows how to make a hangover disappear.

Unfortunately, Pine State Biscuits disappears from the Farmers Market during the winter months, and although P and I were able to make it to their store locations a couple of times nothing beat the Saturday Morning Food Coma. So I decided to make it! Nothing will ever compare to Reggie- he's probably the most delicious, gooey, not good for your heart, breakfast sandwich out there.

I made the cheesey biscuit from scratch and gravy, fried chicken in a honey marinade crisped up some bacon, fried up and egg, and VIOLA! Nums.

I have an addiction to food. Its true. But even worse is my addiction to taking pictures of my food. Now I'm not one of those weird people that want to take pictures of other people's food because it " Looks so pretty" . I just like pictures of my food because its mine. And it tastes amazing and pictures are almost like being able to taste it a second time. I'm also not a foodie. That word sounds so snobbish.


I decided to stop harassing my Facebook friends with pictures of my dishes and post it somewhere I can constantly come back to and think "yum". So here's to keeping my friends and enjoying lots of food :-)