Beatniks at Bethany Vineyards

Sunday night found us at Bethany Vineyards for a Beatnik's Concert...Dan & Cindy came with us and we enjoyed a fun evening which included food and wine and a little bit of rain...

Make a Smilebox photobook

scary french food

So, I have made beef bourguignon (or beef burgundy for those who cannot pronounce bourguignon) two times and each time I thought it was pretty good. What's not to like beef cooked in red wine...more specifically Pinot Noir. YUM. I really like the challenge of cooking foods that are specific to a country such as the food of my parents culture...Indonesia...it has been fun for me to figure out the recipes from one of the books that my aunt sent me from Holland. All the recipes are in Dutch and when I feel like I need to brush up on my Dutch I grab those books and read thru them and try to decipher words that are unfamiliar. Italian cooking is fun too, not just spaghetti, but things like bolognese sauce and other interesting pasta sauces are fun for me.

Now, one of the baristas at our Starbucks is French and I have talked to him about food a time or two. Last Spring I made Ratatouille for an event we had at church and I asked Stephane what it was supposed to look like because really, who would think that Ratatouille is for real? Turns out my ratatouille was the closest to what it was supposed to be than the others that were offered that day. Score for me! To make matters more interesting I decided to make another batch because I had not really had any of the first batch and brought a portion to Stephane for his scrutiny. He took a look at it and said it looked and smelled right. A HA! Then I started to worry...a few days later when he was finally working again (I was afraid that I might have caused him to be ill) he said it was VERY good. Evidently he shared his thoughts with a couple of the others at Starbucks and they said he was pretty excited over that. Cha ching! I score again!

We had the Roberson's and Baumann's over for dinner this past Saturday and they all seemed to enjoy the BB. I had promised Stephane that I would bring him some if there was anything left over and he seemed to be happy with that. Dinner was served and there was more than plenty left to share with him so I packaged it up and told Tom "No touchies". I brought it to Stephane on Tuesday and he was pretty excited about it. We discussed what our guests thought and I told him they liked it and even had seconds...so it couldn't be that bad. When he said he thought his wife hadn't had it before I was relieved, but then he remembered that his mother had made it on their last visit to France...OH NO! Now I'm worried again...

It's been a couple of days and I may not see him again until next week. So until then I'll be fretting over what I thought was pretty good beef bourguignon. I think I'll stick to the easy stuff from now on ;)

Weekend Fun

Friday Night was the Portland Twilight Criterium - Yesterday we went to the Providence Bridge Pedal Health and Wellness Expo at the Double Tree across from Lloyd Center. That was loads of fun, I got a massage, had my gait analyzed so I know what sort of running shoes to invest in and I had my blood pressure taken - 104/82 pretty good for an old chick! We got to look at some really cool hand made bikes at the expo too...sooo cool and amazing! A handmade bike would be a special luxury investment...drool drool drool...

Afterwards we checked in at the hotel and then ventured over to Thirst Wine Bar and Bistro for a couple of flights of wine and some antipasto. We spied a Cascadia Cabs pedicab going by and decided that it would be fun to go for a tour of the Waterfront. Naturally when we were ready for a ride there was no pedicab in sight so we hoofed it over to the Salmon Street Fountain and sat around waiting for one to show. We must have been there for 45 minutes when this little scrawny fella came riding up and parked it waiting for his next fare. We went for it, but just opted to be taken back to the hotel instead of going for a mini tour. He was so scrawny that we had to get out and walk up the rise in the path...besides towing us, the cab itself weighs 200+ pounds. I didn't mind walking...I felt bad for him. It kind of felt like we were in a parade as we passed by people along the RiverPlace Esplanade.

The start of this years 11 Bridge route started at the Kerby Street on-ramp to the Fremont Bridge. That was totally cool because it was a straight shot to the bridge and onto 405 to the Marquam which was totally cool to be able to do that! Man oh man, 405 is quite bumpy and I had a hard time just because I felt like I was going to shake my fillings right out! The entire route was pretty well lined out and the signage was excellent, hardly any time spent waiting to get on a bridge or anything - that was a plus! 3 hours later we arrived at the finish and it was so fun!

I'm tired tonight though, the bed at the hotel is not comfortable compared to our new mattress, so sleep will come easily this evening.

Will be commuting most days this week and then gearing up for the Vine Ride on Saturday and will be signing up for the Mt Hood Jazz 5K on Sunday.

I love August!

YUM!

I subscribe to www.winecountry.com and get some neat recipes...this one will definitely be on our table in the near future!

http://www.winecountry.com/about/food/recipes/0706/goatCheeseDressing_0706.html