Swedish Sushi

Only brilliance can happen when you combine Clare Crespo and Swedish Fish. Via Not Martha.

Spanx HQ

Why does my office not look like this?

The East Bay

Pizzaiolo: yum. Rad paella at Cesar. And had brunch at home.

Recession Proof Mixology at Ten 01 - Tonight

Things I like:

1. The kind of sandwiches that come wrapped in cellophane. For instance, you can get a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, wrapped in cellophane, from the Elephants on Wheels window outside of Macy's.

2. Reading Kelley Swenson's cocktail menus. This list of tonight's Recession Proof Mixology drinks at Ten 01 is the most interesting thing I have read so far today. Also interesting is the fact that all of these cocktails are $5 at Ten 01 from 5:30 to 8pm. That is three hours from now.

Aperol Smash
Hand pressed green grapes and fresh local mint kissed with Medoyeff Vodka, Aperol Italian bitters, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a touch of Simple Syrup to balance.

The Viking of Sixth Avenue

Hand pressed hothouse cucumber bathes in an ocean of Krogstad Aquavit, Yellow Chartreuse, freshly squeezed lime juice. Finished with an insightful whiskey whisper

The Jimmy Blanc Cocktail

Aviation Gin stirred swiftly clockwise for exactly 20 seconds with accents of Lillet Blanc and Dubonnet Rouge Made complete with a single magical dash of Regan’s No.6 Orange Bitters

The Last Word Cocktails

Aviation Gin, Green Chartreuse, Maraska Maraschino Liqueur, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

The Florodora

Hand pressed fresh raspberries drowned in Aviation Gin, freshly squeezed lime juice, ginger ale, and Angostura Bitters

Holiday Booze Bazaar - This Saturday

A perfect thing to do on a winter Saturday is wander around Southeast Portland in a drunken haze. House Spirits is your enabler with these three events. The Booze Bazaar, in particular, is not to be missed. It's always fun, but this time there will be Korean tacos!

4th Annual Holiday Booze Bazaar & Whiskey Release!

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 From 12pm - 5pm

@ House Spirits Distillery

2025 SE 7th Ave, Portland, OR - FREE admission, 21+ in age

503.235.3174

we will be tasting and selling 3 different House Spirits Whiskeys

There will also be lots of vendors set up inside the distillery tasting and selling their wares:

Cellar Door Coffee Roasters

Chop Butchery

Garden State

Imbibe Magazine

Jacobs Creamery

Joyas de Panama Cigars

Koi Fusion (outside food cart plus a heated tent!)

Rogue Creamery

Whiffies Fried Pies

Xocolatl de David

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 from 4pm - 6pm

@ Beaker & Flask

720 SE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR

House Spirits Whiskey cocktail hours. Cocktails by Kevin Ludwig & Tim Davey (Beaker and Flask) and Christian Krogstad & Matt Mount (House Spirits)

Saturday, December 12th starting at 7pm

@ Simpatica Dining Hall

828 Southeast Ash Street

Portland, OR

(503) 235-1600 for reservations

$65 per person for dinner and cocktails, gratuity not included

Dinner by Scott Ketterman, cocktails by Evan Zimmerman (Laurelhurst Market) and Christian Krogstad & Matt Mount (House Spirits)

Each course will be paired with a House Spirits Whiskey Cocktail plus a Welcome Cocktail upon arrival

Cherrywood Smoked Duck Breast Carpaccio with Quince, Arugula and Olive Oil

Whiskey Flambéed Mushroom and Fennel Vol-au-Vent

Grilled Piedmontese Beef Ribeye with Glazed Cippolinni Onions and Pommes Rösti

Warm Chocolate Whiskey Cake with Hazelnut Ice Cream

Champagne and Chambolle at Scott Paul Wines

Scott Paul is one of my favorite Oregon wineries. They both produce their own Oregon wines and import wines from France, so you can taste Bourgognes next to Pinot Noirs and so forth. Plus, the folks there are so nice and down-to-earth.

They are doing this Champagne and Chambolle event on the 21st - a great chance to slow down and get out of town with friends before holiday madness begins.

Here is some info:

Date: Saturday, Nov 21, 12 noon – 5 p.m.

Where: Scott Paul Wines, 128 S. Pine Street, Carlton OR, 503-852-7300, www.scottpaul.com

What: $10 tasting fee for 5 wines -- one Champagne, two of our Burgundy imports, specifically from Chambolle-Musigny, a celebrated village in Burgundy, and two of our Scott Paul Oregon Pinots. Tasting fee refundable with purchase.

Guests will be able to taste a lovely and vivacious Champagne from Marc Chauvet, two different wines from Chambolle-Musigny (from Domaine Anne and Hervé Sigaut), and two brand-new releases from Scott Paul Wines own production (2007 La Paulée Pinot Noir and our 2008 Audrey, of which we only make 200 cases). You can read more about the producers and tasting notes on our website at http://www.scottpaul.com/spselections/.

D

Spinach-Kale Turnovers

I love foods that involve seasoned, mushed up spinach. For instance, the spinach pies at Basha's, Andre's mom's spanakopita, and saag anything are all delicious.

After realizing last week that I actually like spending time in the kitchen and don't, in fact, have that many things I'd rather be doing, I have suddenly become interested in the kinds of time-consuming recipes I used to always avoid. Yesterday afternoon I made these spinach and kale turnovers, which involve both dealing with large, unwieldy greens and forming things out of dough. But it was fun and I didn't care! They are a lot like something I would buy frozen to take to work. So I froze them to take to work.

I figured out that a good way to de-stalk kale is to grab the end of the stalk with one hand, grab the leaves on either side with the other hand close to the stalk, and pull down. The stalk strips off pretty easily.

I also used pre-made pizza dough. The recipe calls for those fun dinner roll tubes you hit on the counter, but the store didn't have any. Pizza dough handles a little differently. Here is a video of the process.

All in all though it wasn't that difficult or time-consuming. I would make this again, maybe with a different filling, or maybe just the filling on its own, as a side. The combination of the kale and spinach created such a deep, complex, woodsy flavor, and the feta provided a nice balancing tartness.