A Whale of a Time

Seattle is all of the wonderful things I love about Portland and reminds me of all the fun things I enjoyed in San Francisco.

I had chosen to visit The Whale Wins based on a picture that popped up in my Instagram feed (@thisvalleyblog) a handful of months ago. Naturally, I looked up the restaurant (and its sister restaurants) and obsessed over their menu*.

When I learned of the cookbook Renee Erickson had written, I immediately pre-ordered it.

I got to relive all the dishes I gushed over at The Whale Wins and The Walrus and The Carpenter.

Here are a few pictures of the most amazing meal I’ve ever had. Enjoy.

Things that make The Whale Wins my most favorite restaurant to date:

• the food (the most amazing marrow bones and the goat cheese plate that stole my heart)
• the perfect date night ambiance (look at that kitchen, the lighting, and the patio)
• the wonderful staff (that was so very accommodating)

If you ever get the chance to visit Seattle, go to The Whale Wins. I promise you will have the best dining experience.

*I will fight someone over marrow bones and tartare makes my heart skip a beat.

Baked potatoes and bubbles

You know you’re in for a good night when you leave the grocery store with a potato and a bottle of cava.

Monday was the first day of my externship and it definitely called for celebration. So I did what any starving student looking to celebrate would do- buy cheap booze and even cheaper food.

Happy first day of externship! Only six more weeks to go…

BINGO!

I’d been hanging on to these for a while.

So last Thursday we got a little fancied up and headed over to the Ecotrust building (which is gorgeous).

Jacket: H&M/ Shirt,Shoes: Gap/Jeans: Old Navy/Necklace: Crafty Wonderland/Purse: Fossil

Shirt, Pants: Gap/ Shoes: Steve Madden via DSW

This was the most Portlandia thing that Adam and I have done since we moved here.

It’s called Blind-Tasting Bingo. And, yes, you taste blindly. Fifteen courses of regional Mexican food cooked by the chef at Xico, Kelly Meyers. Fifteen courses of food eaten blindly and without utensils.

Bull Run Distillery was on hand serving up delicious cocktails. That made us happy.

Obviously didn’t take pictures of the food because I couldn’t see and because about half of it ended up on my face or my lap.

If you can score any tickets for Blind-Tasting Bingo, I’d highly recommend it. It was confusing and fun and such a neat experience.

Fig Newmans

Tonight we were going to go to Ox. I’ve had a gift certificate for a couple of months now and tonight was the perfect night to use it. We got there at 5:30 and there was a 90 minute wait. It seemed a bit much so we left. That really put a damper on my date night excitement.

Where did we go to hang our heads in bummed outedness? New Seasons on SE Division! After I bought some veg to juice and Fig Newmans to shove in my face dejectedly, we decided to get back to the West Side and go to Laughing Planet for a bean bowl (let’s face it, all their menu options are bowls/burritos chock full of fiber).

Moral of the story? Get to Ox at 5 sharp and also my Nokia Lumina 920 takes awesome pictures in the dark without a flash.

Happy date night, yo!

Decongestant

Just when I thought I had shaken this cold, round two came from out of nowhere to kick my ass. It completely disrupted my plans for today. Nothing is pleasant when your face is completely stuffed up and you feel like you’re on fire. Nothing, that is, except maybe soup. And the only thing better than that? Hot pot.

Why would you take a decongestant when you can sit next to a boiling pot of broth?! I know…how was that even a question. We had walked by Hot Pot City for months before we tried it. Now it’s a constant craving. It doesn’t get any better than sitting at a table with your own personal pot of broth and a bar full of fresh meats, veg, noodles, and seafood for you to choose from.

You know things are heating up at Hot Pot City when you walk in ten minutes after they open for dinner service and the windows are already steamy.

We can easily sit at the bar for an hour and slurp away at our soup. Each trip we make to get ingredients for our soup gets more and more outrageous. We pile our plates high with lamb, noodles, spinach, tofu, and fish balls.

How is it even possible to leave without having to be hoisted or rolled out?! I don’t even know but after an hour I was defeated and my nose was probably running down my face.

Hot Pot City.

Go. You can thank me later.

Hoppy Holidays!

What better way to get into the holiday spirit than by drinking beer?

It’s not just any beer, but specially made winter ales with high alcohol percentages to warm your insides on cold winter nights. For just $30 a ticket we got 10 beer tickets and, a mug, and free re-entry for all 5 days of the fest. Last Thursday, Adam and I braved the elements and headed down to the Holiday Ale Fest at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

 

 

 

It was awesome! The whole square was covered in white tents so everyone could stay warm and dry and enjoy their beer. We walked around a bit and explored, mapping out where the beer we wanted to try was and what we would save for another night. After three tasters each we called it a night and planned on going back for round two on Saturday.

Going back on Saturday night was one of the worst decisions of our lives. I had only taken a few steps into the tent when I nearly got knocked over. Then I took a few more steps and almost got knocked over again. We decided that tasting probably wasn’t going to happen since there were about 200 more people there and the lines looked like mosh pits.

 

 

 

 

We stood in line for an hour and only got one beer so we dejectedly left the tent.

 

 

Instead of sticking around and being grumpy, we headed for a place we knew we could get beer in peace.

 

Bailey’s Taproom, as always, was at capacity and it was only 7pm (yes, we go out that early). We had a quick beer and we had to leave; Bailey’s doesn’t do food. So we headed over to a cute little place that just opened- Portland Penny Diner. I’d been eyeing it on my way to get my hair done since it opened. They lured me in with their good prices and yummy sounding sandwiches. When Adam and I went to order, the cashier said they were running a special- fried chicken oysters. If you know anything about me, you know I will literally fight someone for chicken oysters. So with that being said…

 

And we were home in bed by 9:30. That is my kind of night.

 

Hugs, Hops, and Happiness!!

Road trip! Day One..

Yesterday Adam and Sierra came to visit!!!

We are staying in the Gaslamp District of San Diego at a hotel chain that we absolutely love. It’s Sierra’s first hotel stay and I was a little scared she wouldn’t like elevators or being in a hotel room. But she actually enjoys elevator rides and the big comfy bed.

After we got settled, we walked Sierra around the block. A lady with a dog told us about The Park at Petco Park. As it turns out, it’s only a block and a half away from the hotel so we took a nice little walk through the park and Sierra loved it.

We went to a fun little gastropub last night that we’ve already decided to frequent while we’re in town. Partially because of the shuffleboard and partially because their mac n cheese is to die for delicious.

Stay tuned for day two…

Go green!

Check it, yo!

Here’s to a Savory St. Patrick’s Day!

That’s This Valley Couple’s corned beef!!

We are pros at corned beef. We’ve made it every St. Patrick’s Day for four years. Want to know the secret? Cover it in a bottle of beer. Keeps it juicy, tender, and flavorful!

Happy St. Patty’s!!

Seven Day Countdown

I don’t know if you’ve noticed (you probably have) but Thanksgiving is a week away.

This time of the year always throws me into a panic. Maybe it’s because it is the official start of the holiday season; maybe it’s because now it’s socially acceptable to inundate people with Christmas music, decorations, and gift buying. Heck, I already have New Year’s Eve plans.  I don’t know why this would freak me out… I like planning.. Maybe it’s the fact that THE YEAR IS ALMOST OVER! But I digress…

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. People get together and eat and drink and be merry. Wait. Wrong holiday. People eat until they have to unbutton their pants and need to be rolled home. Yup. Nailed it.

It’s never been my favorite holiday as I have always had a love-hate relationship with food and because I get so overwhelmed with needing/having to eat. Thanksgiving is that friend who is constantly peer pressuring you to do things you don’t want to.

“Eat potatoes! Eat stuffing! Eat everything on the table!!”

“No Thanksgiving, I don’t wanna!!!”

Or something like that…

Also it’s a dinner. You sit around starving all day because you obviously aren’t allowed to eat anything you can smell being cooked in the kitchen so come meal-time you gorge. It’s just bad form, Thanksgiving. Don’t be a honey badger*, Thanksgiving. You’re supposed to be about giving, Thanksgiving, but you never give until I’m passed out on the couch from a hypoglycemic dizzy spell. Also, because I take after my dad, I get quite grumpy when I’m hungry..so there’s that.

If I could host Thanksgiving (which i really want to when I have the counter space to and when people decide that coming out to The Valley isn’t that bad) I’d hopefully do it differently. Not like order in or anything.. although turkeys suck to cook. Maybe a very tapas thanksgiving. Yeah. Making tiny plates of things so no one has to go hungry or eat too much of anything. Ugh. But then I’d have to make dozens of tiny things. Scratch that. I would have a traditional turkey feast. Even though I’m not a big fan of turkey. Yeah. I said it. Turkey is overrated and it’s a pain in the ass to defrost/cook.

Let’s say I had a fully defrosted turkey and my electric oven/stove was having a spot-on day and I had pumped all my friends and family with healthy pint glasses of Celebration Ale and topped off flutes of bubbly this is what I would serve… (thanks to my unhealthy obsession with Pinterest) I give you my version of A Very Valley Thanksgiving.

Turkey-

So let’s imagine you buy a turkey and you have some friends over and, even though it’s not fully defrosted, they got super drunk and decided it would be an AWESOME idea to smoke the turkey. So they put it under water, defrost it, and then take it outside. After realizing they needed to take the insides out, they make you do it since you’re the only one who’s ever cleaned out a turkey. Then everyone passes out an hour later and leaves you to smoke a turkey**.

So we will do that except just when it’s almost done we will cover the top in bacon and cover the bacon with melted butter drenched cheese cloth.

Potatoes-

My favorite ever. I can eat potatoes forever. When I’m sick, all I want to eat are mashed potatoes from a pouch. Classy. For A Very Valley Thanksgiving I think we would go a little pretty to look at/ lighter than mash and make this Potato Bake I found here.

Cranberry-

I am a sucker for a good cranberry sauce. Trader Joe’s has a great cranberry orange relish i used to eat straight from the container. Yes, I did just admit that. Moving along… I’d make this because it has such easy ingredients and I love whole berry sauce.

Veggies-

I love a good side dish. And I think it’s so important to balance out turkey and potatoes with a couple good veg options. I love Brussels Sprouts. I love how their color really punches things up. Also, they’re delicious. Try them. I’m serious, they’re great.

Maybe a little more root action. Look at the colors. I love a good roasted veg.

Breadstuffs-

You need a good roll. People like rolls. For like putting butter on and stuff. Or the next day for Leftover Sandwiches. These probably suck for sandwiches but how awesomely delicious do they look.

Dessert-

I am a HUGE fan of the dessert. The key is to keep is classic and not too heavy. People will be so stuffed that all the effort you put into your dessert won’t be appreciated. So make it pretty enough for them to be intrigued by it and make it take-away friendly (preferably have it packaged up before dinner). Like this apple pie. Also a good way to shove stragglers out of your house so you can take your shoes off and put your feet up and admire the mountain of dishes you have to clean.

Or maybe package something for their Black Friday morning.

Booze-

What good family get together is without it? So grab some Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale or some of your favorite bubbly and start toasting to being thankful! Or you can get fancy and make a signature concoction with all the flavors of fall.

So, happy Thanksgiving countdown. Relax, grab a cocktail, and start planning!!

*Honey Badger don’t care

**True Story