Day 321: A Cool Baby Shower, Cookbooks at Powell’s & My Gluten-Free Dinner Party

Sunday, August 3

This morning I got up and prepared a lovely Capresi salad with fresh, red Roma tomatoes, fresh basil from our garden at work, and wet, organic mozzarella drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and high quality balsamic vinegar.  I wrapped up the small baby gifts I got that went into one adorable gift bag.

Then, I showered and got dressed.  I drove out to the SE to friend Vonda’s house for our friend Karen’s baby shower.  You never know how baby showers are going to be.  I hoped that it wouldn’t be smug with lame baby games.  This was actually one of the best parties I had been to in a long time.

First, it was a brunch.  Vonda’s home is completely gorgeous!  I had a cup of Yogi lemon-ginger tea and sat next to Karen to get caught up.  She was a beautiful pregnant woman.  The other guests arrived and we all talked girl stuff.  Not just baby stuff, which we did chat about – and it was fun, engaging conversation, not the smug mommy-baby conversations some types of women befall to.  No, this was different!

We played a couple of games, but they weren’t lame.  We did a name game which was actually functioned to help Karen come up with a baby girl’s name.  We came up with some great ideas that she was actually excited about.  Then, we went around the brunch table, drinking bellini’s and mimosas, talking about the most mischievous thing we did as a child.  It was pretty hilarious, actually.  I told the story of how my older sister and I colored the bricks around the fireplace at our house in Pennsylvania. 

For brunch we had an amazing gluten-free egg fritata topped with fresh basil, my caprese salad, delicious summer baby potatoes (white and purple) in olive oil with herbs, which was fantastic, and then fresh strawberries and cherries.  It was really yummy. 

Karen opened presents, which was really great.  She got all kinds of good stuff.  I gave her a bunch of Burt’s Baby Bee products – like diaper cream, talc, buttermilk bath powder, baby lotion and a lullaby CD.  I really had a lovely time! 

I was going to go up to Yoga Union following the shower, but didn’t feel up to it.  Instead, I went to Powell’s and picked up two great cook books.  For forever and a day I had wanted this great soup book my friend Lota has.  I haven’t ever been able to find it.  But, today, I found an awesome soup cook book called The International Soup Book by Susan R. Friedland, editor.

There are plenty of recipes in this book that are gluten-free; and those that aren’t I can explore different gluten-free flour options.

Then, I got the book the Farm to Table cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally by north westerner Ivy Manning.   It’s a beautiful book with a chock full of recipes and hints, like meet the producer or an heirloom tomato primer, all organized by season.  Love it.

While at Powell’s, I ran into a kind of new friend, poet/artist/musician Jonathan, who I had met a few months ago at the Tea Zone.  Jonathan, because of our conversation, was diagnosed gluten intolerant.  I gave him some advice about eating a mindful, balanced diet.  We chatted for a bit and agreed to meet up soon at the Tea Zone to catch up.  I really like his spirit and feel grateful to have a new male friend!

I met Kerry at the Park Blocks.  It was our intention to play bocce.  But the courts were totally filled up and so we just sat on a bench and people watched.

I drove home to clean up and get ready for my dinner guests, the Dashmores.  I vacuumed, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, then began setting the table.  I put beautiful orange and purple tulips in a vase and placed it on the table with my crystal grape cluster table decorations.  I chilled the wine, pulled out and polished glasses and welcomed them after six.  We sat in the living room and noshed on the gluten free baguette I pulled fresh out of the oven, served with the triple cream Camembert, the Irish hard cheese and the herb goat cheese, sprinkled with dried berries on the cutting boards.  We sipped on the Italian Soave, a light, crisp white wine with good acidity. 

 

 

Next, we sat around the table and I served a mixed greens salad with the heirloom grape tomatoes which added jeweled colors of yellow, green, purple, red and orange, topped with pumpkin seeds and a creamy dill dressing.  I pulled out the focaccia pizzas that I had brushed olive oil all over with my basting brush, then sprinkled some sea salt and added on wet buffalo mozzarella.  When I pulled the pizzas out of the oven I topped with fresh basil from our garden at work. 

 

 

 

I semi-chilled the Barbera D’Alba, as Italian reds need to be served slightly cool.  It was all delicious.  I was very pleased with this gluten-free option!  The pizza was the best I’ve had since having been diagnosed with Celiac disease.

Then, Capri jumped up at the chair at the other head of the table because she clearly needed to feel like one of us.

Next, we ate Tobleron and dark chocolate with Argyle Blanc de Blanc bubbly.  We laughed and talked about high school, which prompted me to pull out my yearbook.  It was a fun evening.  Reminded me that I want to entertain more often.  I love to cook for others, and now armed with my new fabulous cookbooks, I was going to plan more intimate dinners in at my place.  My dining room looked absolutely lovely.  I was very happy, indeed.

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Day 320: Shopping for Food & Wine, A Child’s Birthday Celebration & A Proposed Set-Up

Saturday, August 2

Wow.  Kerry and I stayed out later than I had intended.  It was around 1:30 when I got home and got into bed.  I slept in until 10:30, which was actually pretty nice.  I must say, I have been sleeping really good.  I have this crazy cool fan in my room that plugs in and between the reverberating hum and the cool wind it produces, I sleep like a baby.  When I woke up, both kitties were snuggled up against me.  I pet them and was just very happy.  It was a little overcast out.

I ran the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, wiped down the dining room table, then got dressed and left to run errands.  I deposited a reimbursement check at Bank of America and then headed for the northwest in Portland.  I went to New Cascadia Gluten Free Bakery and picked up four focaccia and one baguette.  I stopped by Trader Joe’s and picked up three cheeses, a triple cream Camembert named St. Andre, an Irish hard cheese and a goat cheese with herbs.  I also got heirloom grape tomatoes, two bottles of Italian wine – a Soave and a Barbera D’Alba.

By the time I got home, the sun had emerged from the clouds, which whirred eastward, and I took a mini ‘power’ nap, which was divine.  When I woke up, I got dressed for my friends’ five year old’s birthday party in Dundee.  It was a fun party.  His parents, Erik the assistant winemaker at work and his wife, my dear friend, Carolyn, made delicious sangrias.  I brought a bottle of the Elyse rose that I got when I was in Napa a year ago. 

I played with a bunch of kids, bonded with some of the parents – one couple, in particular, was bent on introducing me to their single friend who they described as: smart, thin and active, into sports, really into working out, high energy, works in sales, travels a lot, loyal good friend and looks like Justin Timberlake.  I gave them my card with my email and phone number.  They suggested hosting a party where we could meet.  But, I know how this usually goes.  People always want to set up the single girl who they don’t understand why is single.  It never happens, anyway, and that’s okay.  I don’t exactly rely on others to make my romantic life happen.  Still,  I handed over my card in that mix of what if and why not?

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Day 319: An Evening Wandering in the Pearl

Friday, August 1

 

I was stunned at how quickly the week passed.  The week had been really pleasant with 70+ degree weather and perfect blue skies, only to meet an ending of gray.  It drizzled off and on and then was just gray and cloudy for the rest of the afternoon.  I kept hoping the sun would break.

 

I initially told my friends I couldn’t go “out”, mainly because I am trying to be better with my money.  So, we were going to meet up by the rose garden after work to play tennis.  Only, by the time I drove off from work, the plans had changed and we were going to meet up at Grand Central Bowl.

I got home, cleaned up some kitty fur ball puke, and then changed about three times.  I ended up with my Nike jacket on until I talked to the girls who were at Bar Mingo having cocktails.  So, I put on a fun top with a cool jacket, touched up my make-up and headed off to Bar Mingo.

There, the girls were sipping on wine and finishing up salads.  They were sitting in the lounge area, people watching and gawking at the very handsome men.  It was a date place with handsome men on dates with pretty women or equally cute guys. 

 

I ordered a Maker’s Manhattan and the house made sausage with polenta and sauteed spinach with garlic, and an insalata mista.  The sausage was so ridiculously delicious that the girls wanted to split another one.  After, we walked up to 23rd Street and got gelato.

 

Susan was exhausted and bid adieu.  I gave Kerry her birthday present a week late, the ceramic wine cooler I painted for her, a bottle of Argyle Extended Tirage, and a collection of food and wine writing from Gourmet, including excerpts by M.F.K. Fischer, James Beard and literary writers covering food.

Kerry and I then walked through the Pearl in search of a cool place to hang out.  We walked past Blue Hour, The Vault, District, Teardrop – nothing was really calling us, we just weren’t feeling the vibe.  We passed Deschutes Brewery, which was more or less dead.  We walked up toward Powell’s where the street had been closed off for a crazy event for some vampire book release, and we continued along toward Clyde Common, also not the right vibe.  We turned around and headed back down toward Glisan, where we both had parked over by Andina.

 

On our way, we passed a cool looking spot that appeared to be open.  At first, we weren’t sure if it was a bar or a hair salon!  We climbed a couple of stairs and saw, clearly, the cool bar area and lovely restaurant spot called 50 Plates, just opened on Monday.  We sat at the tall table with stools right by the kitchen with a view of the chefs wrapping up for the night.  Kerry and I both ordered the sipping chocolate.  They had a cool late night menu, too.  All in all, it looked like an interesting place, we chatted at length with the guy doing the wine list.  We’ll be back for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

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