A LONG WEEK!

What a week this has been. Walden's settling in, a little poop machine who jumps all over the place, has atrocious eating habits, and doesn't care where he pees. Beau has been a bit cranky with the little guy, charging him whenever he gets too close. But I now understand that Beau's just trying to teach him some manners. "Stay away from my bowl," the big guy growls at the young upstart trying to steal his food. At first, I admonished Beau, but now I leave them alone to sort this stuff out. Beau won't hurt him, and in fact, is very protective of him in the back yard. But he needs to understand there are boundaries, and Beau is just the dog to teach him. He is cute. I leave him in his crate (with the door open) in the bathroom and close the door because there are only so many messes I can clean up in a day. At first he yelled his head off. Now he has quieted down and stays that way all night. Unlike Beau, Walden plays with his toys and loves fetching this "kosher" bone. He brings it back and chases it down when you toss it to him!

The International Association of Culinary Professionals held their annual convention, and the city was full of foodies from all over the country, including publishers, agents, cookbook authors, food equipment manufacturers, purveyors of cheese, walnuts, smoked meats, chocolates, and other foods, wine makers, etc.

Some of Portland's top restaurants provided some of their tastiest offerings for the opening cocktail reception downtown at the Nines hotel in downtown Portland. I got to meet David Machado, the chef/owner of Nel Centro and Lauro Mediterranean Kitchen--two favorite local restaurants. I also met Anthony Cafiero, chef of Tabla Meterranean Bistro--another new favorite dining spot. The owner of the popular Bunk, famous for its tasty sandwiches, offered substantial, but finger-sized samples of his famous pork sandwich. Many top wine purveyors were pouring and there was a cocktail bar serving to a large and enthusiastic crowd. I spotted Judith Jones, amazingly spry at 79, earlier at the cocktail reception. This famous editor of the works of Julia Child, John Updike, and now Lidia Bastianich, is still a working editor and now a cattle farmer in New England.

My Wiley buddies invited me to join them for dinner at Le Pigeon, a very fine French/American bistro, serving some of the best food I've eaten since I got to Portland. It was also a great night for some foodie rubbernecking, with Ruth Reichl, Gourmet's famous final editor, sitting at the counter. Ann Bramson, the outstanding creative energy behind her Artistan Books imprint at Workman publishing, who I had the privilege of working with at Wm. Morrow in the early 90s, was there with a gang from Martha Stewart Living that included editor Susan Spungen, the glamorously attractive Lucinda Scala-Quinn, who in addition to being a MSL editor, is one of the stars of the PBS series, Everyday Food.

The table shared two excellent appetizers, one a warm salad of local razor clams, bacon, celery root and frisee, the other spaghettini richly sauced with lamb belly, peas and parmesan. With our entrees I sampled a bite from everyone's plate, all first-rate, including a breast of duck with crepes, chestnuts and swiss chard; a long-simmered pork with trumpet mushrooms, broccolini on a polenta cakel; an elegant beef cheek bourgignon, and my own plate of breaded sweetbreads with prawns and roasted asparagus over grits. This was great winter food on this blustery early spring night, creative and warming. However for the second time recently, a top restaurants failed in dessert. The chocolate donut bread pudding was disappointing, bland and ordinary. I've heard raves about their cornbread cake with maple ice cream and candied bacon. It was pretentious brunch food slumming as dessert. What is with all this sweetening of bacon. Stop it!

A lunch at Pok Pok hosted by agent/PR whiz Lisa Ekus was a fun and somewhat rowdy affair with Chronicle Books cookbook editor, Bill LeBlond and cookbook writer, Diane Morgan and a host of other friends. We chowed down on their famous chicken wings (I know there's fish sauce, red pepper flakes and all manner of exotica in these addictive wings) which which we inhaled. There were fresh and spicy chicken salads, a dish of sliced pork and belly bacon, with greens, and Vietnamese iced coffee to finish the meal. Pok Pok makes such appealing Thai food.

I spent Friday at the convention going through the booths, which are fascinating. You could see new colors of Le Cruset , or paw the handsome Kitchen Aid mixer colors and admire their new glass workbowl, which I'm gonna have to get. Cuisinart makes so many appliances now it is dizzying. Always fun to admire the All-Clad pots, Rogue, a famous Oregon cheesemaker, had its fine blue cheese out for sampling and I was wild about their smoked blue cheese, which is actually subtle (smoked over Oregon hazelnut shells). Then there was the legendary Shirley Corriher, author of CookWise and BakeWise making biscuits to support her new biscuit flour, Tenda-Bake. I guess the south has not fully recovered from the loss of the Lily Flour company which is no longer located in the south, and this Southern expert is just the person to restore the luster of Southern biscuit-baking. But I was really there for the authors and publishing buddies. Nick Malgieri was there with his editor, Anja Schmidt, so we had a chance for some good gossip and shop talk.

I saw Deborah Madison and bought her new Fruit Desserts cookbook. I worked with her years ago on a small vegetarian cookbook for Chronicle Books. She's a fabulous lady with a huge gift and I've been buying her cookbooks for years. We had a lovely catch-up conversation. I bumped into Rose Levy Bernanbaum on my way out. Rose had won the cookbook of the year at the IACP's ceremony honoring the best and the brightest the evening before and was glowing. ROSE'S HEAVENLY CAKES is a beautiful book full of wonderful, creative cakes and a lovely bookend to her classic CAKE BIBLE published more than 20 years ago. We haven't seen much of each other in the ensuing years. I placed the book in my top picks of the best cookbooks of 2009 in my stovetopreadings blog and she wrote me a lovely note after reading it.

Then on the spur of the moment, bought Jim Lahey's brilliant MY BREAD: The Revolutionary No-Work, No Knead Method. Foodies may remember Lahey's no-knead bread caused a sensation with Mark Bittman published his version of making artisanal breads by employing a long rising period with an unusual amount of liquid to produce a dough that was wet and not easy to handle, but when allowed to rise unattended for 12 to 18 hours and then baked in a large Dutch oven, produced an exceptional artistanal loaf of bread, dark and full of holes and somewhat chewy, I've made Lahey's bread dozens and dozens of times, with great results. I was so taken with his recipe for a Roman-style pizza baked in a rectangular pan that reminded me of pizzas I ate at the famous Forno Campo Dei Fiori in the heart of Rome's historic district, that I prepared his Pizza Patate on Sunday. This crusty, thin pizza with slices of potato, onions and rosemary, and slicked with olive oil was fabulous.

And just after completing my winter jam chores in February, along comes my buddy Kent with twelve more pink grapefruits. This time I double-batched 'em and now have 12 jars of the stuff. I don't want to look at any canning equipment before the end of the summer planting season.

WALDEN COMES HOME

Tonight Walden arrived just as Dancing with the Stars dumped Kate Gosselin. There was no time to gloat. This little guy is so adorable, that my happiness over Kate being finally jettisoned from the show had to take a back seat to this seriously cute little puppy. Walden's arrival is something of a crisis for Beau who had a really bad day. I went off for a business lunch and Beau, angry and spiteful, peed on the dining room rug. He's done this before, and when I got home and noticed the smell in the dining room, I went to investigate. I was very angry when I realized he had peed in that same spot again. It was spiteful and I really gave him hell about it. Beau is a very sensitive Frenchie and he pouted all this evening. Suddenly there was a little black creature in the house getting all the attention. Beau was very curious at the sight of Walden, and sniffed him. Walden began to follow him around immediately. Walden walked into the living room and Beau followed him, but quickly lost interest as he always does with other dogs. I put both of the dogs on my couch and here are the first photos. Both dogs are very calm. I can pick up Walden and he doesn't flinch at all. He's quiet and very quiet. He's lively and interested in all around him, but like Beau, he is in the words of Cesar Milan, "calm and assertive"--a lovely trait in a 12-week-old-puppy.

Oh...Walden left a wet deposit on my Indian rug in the living room. I guess it means I'm going to pay for avoiding Beau's early first year.

FIRST SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT/PET FAIR/NEW PLANTER BOX

Well it was bound to happen sometime. I went to a local pet fair with the woman who gave me my new puppy Walden yesterday. It was held at the Portland Exhibition Center, and as I got to the window to pay my admission, my eyes scanned the various admission prices. They charged $8.00 for a single adult ticket and $5.00 to anyone over the age of 50. When it was my turn, I told the woman in the booth that I had no age ID on me, but I would turn 60 in June. She didn't bat an eyelash or look at me suspiciously (which admittedly was somewhat disappointing) and handed me the admission ticket. I told her I was a bit disappointed that she didn't try to argue with me. She laughed. I thought I was aging well. So I guess today's 60 isn't yesterdays 40 or 50 for me!

Beau went to the pet fair with me, where he was petted, and wondered over through much of the afternoon. Kimber, who is the young woman I adopted Walden from, is a bit of a free-spirit. She rescues dogs all the time, finding them on streets and sidewalks and moving them to the safety of her house while she networks on the Internet to find their owners on Craigslist or other sites. She's very good at helping people re-unite with their pets. Kimber works by day at a doggie day care and pet grooming shop. Her husband also works there as does her mother. This family is critter crazy. Kimber, her mother, Toni, Kimber's husband and daughter, live with their grandmother in a rambling five bedroom house around the corner from me. They are wonderfully eccentric. There are six dogs and an equal number of cats living in the house. To say things are chaotic in that household would be a gross understatement. Kimber's friend Stephanie picked us up with our two dogs in her wizened old Toyota and headed for the exhibition, but not before picking up her two large and clumsy but lovable dogs (one a pure pit bull; the other another mystery mutt mutation). Lots of dogs at pet fair, big and small. Beau walks well with other dogs, but the rest of the time, he would rather ignore dogs than be friendly or playful. I'm told Frenchies can be aloof and that is Beau's way of behaving around his fellow canines. We walked up and down aisles and aisles of doggie treats, pet food, leashes, dog coats, and other dog paraphernalia.

Portlanders are dog nuts and their dogs go everywhere with them. It's amazing after living in New York so long to see dogs are part of the social fabric of this city. You can bring a dog to a local pub/restaurant if it has a backyard or a sidewalk cafe. In New York the dog can sit outside the barrier of an outdoor cafe, but not in with other diners. It used to upset me because Beau is so spectacularly well-behaved, but viewing other owner's lack of instilling discipline in their animals, I am not surprised that in a city of millions, rules have to be applied for the few who break them. Dogs are barred from the big farmer's market in Beaverton, but all-in-all, Portland tolerates dogs with good humor and affection.

Walden moves in on Tuesday, so I'll be going to Pet Smart later today to buy a crate, doggie doors to confine him in the bathrooms during the day while he learns where and when he can do his business, and doggie pads, which I hope will effectively minimize accidents. I missed Beau's puppy years, and I'm dreading Walden's just a bit. I'm looking forward to being able to walk Beau and Walden together in the neighborhood. I hope they get on well and form a strong bond between them. I expect some jealousy, but they are both calm little guys, so we'll see.

Kyle is nearly finished building my raised planter just outside my kitchen. It's made of cedar wood and is gorgoeus. He's got finishing touches to put on it, and found some ads on Craigslist offering "free dirt," which is great, because this "coffin" of a planter is going to require a lot of dirt. I've got seeds for French breakfast radish, Cosmic Purple carrots, Golden and Chioggia beets, Italian parsley, basil and red peppers. I might try to grow some jalapena peppers, if there's room. It measures 12' x 3' feet. Looking forward to seeing how my summer garden will go. I've been pruning back the holly tree which was threatening to take over one side of the fence on one side of the garden. Gave myself a bruise cutting down all that holly to fit into the yard debris container provided by my garbage service. I'm going to put a rustic gazebo in front of that tree, so it will require some periodic pruning. And so will the Camellia, which needs to shaping after it's big flowering season. The white Camellias were gorgeous. Now it's a sodden mess of spent, rusted and rotting flowers that are all over the ground surrounding the tree.

Planted my first hostas, some Lily of the Valley, another Euphorbia, and some herbs that had already been started at the nursery. Purple sage is gorgeous. And variegated thyme, was bought because it's so pretty, but I wonder how to cook with it. I have lot of thyme that survived the winter, so I'll just let this new variety get bigger. My rosemary didn't fare well, and I had two different types bought last year as well as a pretty topiary that is nearly dead now. Since rosemary grows so well out here, I think it needs to go into the ground to survive and not be put in pots. So I'll get a bigger one and plant it and see if it survives.

Had my first mishap on the grill last night. The rubber gas line running from the propane tank to the gas jets that heat the grill caught on fire. I caught the flame, and thinking about it, wondered that it might have exploded. Scary. Must call Weber on Monday. The grill has been working well. I'm sure I did something wrong--just not sure. Will have to get to the bottom of that problem so it doesn't happen again.

Big week ahead. The International Association of Cooking Professionals (IACP) is in town for their annual meeting. I'll see lots of publishing friends this week with lunches and dinners planned. Should be fun. I should have bought new business cards with my stovetopreadings.com cookbook review site on them. Will just have to write it out on a bunch of cards, until I get new ones.

I discovered a Fattoush Salad in this fabulous new cookbook called INSALATA MEDITERRANEAN TABLE by Heidi Insalata Krahling. You can buy it at Chef Krahling's well-known Marin County restaurant or on Amazon.com. It's self-published so is probably lacking distribution in most bookstores. A Fattoush Salad is Arabic and one of its most distinctive features is toasted or fried pieces of pita bread. The rest of the salad is this gorgeous combination of romaine lettuce, English cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, feta cheese, black olives, halved cherry or grape tomatoes, freshly chopped mint and cilantro with a dressing of warmed minced garlic in oil, lemon juice, toasted and freshly ground cumin seeds, salt and pepper. It's addictive, easy-to-make, could be a complete meal by itself. I made it on Thursday, and made another one on Friday because it was that good. This salad could replace the Caesar--it's that good. I'm gonna review the book over on www.stovetopreadings.com this week, and the recipe can be found over there--look for it on Wednesday.

TV IS BACK!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Scalloped Potatoes

Roasted Asparagus

Glazed Ham

Croquetas (with leftover Easter ham)

I love Easter Sunday supper. Or at leas the idea of it. I'm not religious. But every spring, I look forward to this harbinger of spring and it makes me want to get into the kitchen. Ham may be preserved, but asparagus means spring. There are unbelievable flowers in the markets that always delight me. Years ago I bought a terra cotta rabbit with three baby rabbits at Pier One across the street from my New York apartment. Like other holiday rituals, this spring tableau would emerge from storage and be placed on my dining table or on the sideboard. This spring, my first in Portland has been particularly special. As I walk the neighborhood with Beau, admiring the flowers, trees and shrubs with all the intensity of colors--so much different from fall colors--I can only marvel at what a special time of year this is. And that means a great Easter Sunday supper.

I only had four around the table for dinner but we had a big glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, roasted asparagus, a big green salad and Red Velvet Cupcakes. Good dinner. Of course it rained, and rained, this is Portland, after all. But all was good inside.

DANCING WITH THE STARS came back four weeks ago and tomorrow night is the start of the new season of GLEE. Don't nobody call me. DWTS has been fun except for Kate Gosselin who drives me nuts. The time she wastes whimpering about her ex-husband and their endless, boring custody battles, could be used to improve her dancing, which is just awful. She's a klutz and she has only gotten worse these past weeks. Meanwhile you can't get away from her. I was at the checkout of my local supermarket and she's on every celebrity and and tabloid magazine cover. Why? Because she has fans who support the unfairness of her marital woes? Her husband was a dick. She's a dick. These two losers got a TV show about their married lives and the overwhelming job of raising eight children. Too bad they were the wrong family turn into icons of domesticity. As usual, TV unfairly elevates the untalented, uninteresting, and the dull.

My Portland kitchen has made me a very ambitious cook. I made bread in fits and starts in New York. Now I'm making bread every week, both by hand and by machine. I never made gnocchi in New York and I've done so twice now with unbelievably good results. Saturday I had leftover ham from Easter I wanted to use and so settled on classic Spanish croquetas, which combine minced ham, turkey, onions, and a bechamel sauce, which was then refrigerated for at least three hours before tablespoonfuls were formed into ovals, rolled in flour, egg and panko crumbs before being fried. Fantastic! And for that same meal, I saw rhubarb in the market, brilliantly colored and on sale. I grabbed a pound's worth and baked it with vanilla bean, sugar and a small amount of corn syrup. I had only cooked rhubarb once before in frozen form for a rhubarb/strawberry pie. This rhubarb was tart, sweet and addictive.

Elephant Foot Palm

My friend Kent dumped twelve giant ruby red grapefruits on me, along with a huge knob of fresh ginger and a big bag of brown sugar. He wanted more grapefruit marmalade. So Sunday I made a double batch while watching the Master's tournament. Four hours later I had six full pints of Pink Grapefruit-Ginger Marmalade. And I have eight more grapefruits to transform!

Mailed off the tax payments from the sale of my New York co-op. Ouch. But it's done and quarterly taxes are paid. That's a huge load off my mind. Now I can concentrate on the back yard. Looked at pavers for the new patio. So many to choose from. Still refining the plan with a small gazebo-like structure to put the table under with a kind of barbecue barn for the grill. While looking at pavers, I found the ornamental cherry tree (it's a weeping cherry) I've been searching for and grabbed it. Right now it is in a pot at the front of the entryway to the house. Will need to dig a big hole for this in a few weeks.

Last week I did a third stint guest lecturing for Kent's publishing marketing class at Portland State University and I had a really great time. I've done a lot of these talks at NYU, CCNY and various professional groups, but Kent's class is smaller this semester--only seven in my class, and instead of hiding behind a lectern, I thought it would more comfortable to address the class at a desk facing the students. Now that's teaching. There was a level of directness with the class that was exhilarating.

What to do with leftover Easter Ham? This salad has ham, hard cooked eggs, cucumber, asparagus, avocado, roasted red peppers and a creamy vinaigrette with sherry wine vinegar.

Next week the food community will descend on Portland for the annual meeting the International Association of Cooking Professionals. I have meeting with clients, and will meet with friends and colleagues in the publishing field who have contributed to much to helping me with my www.stovetopreadings.com blog. Will have some fun meals around town and will report on the experiences. I also have to shop for a small doggie crate, doggie gates and doggie pads in anticipation of Walden's arrival at the end of the month.

Gotta call for some promising new business this morning. It's been this way since January.

Does this man the recession is over?

Oh god, Kate Gosselin just survived a fourth week on DANCING WITH THE STARS. I gotta go back to literary fiction.

The Cherry Tree

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Walden, age 2 months, one week

Well I've done it this time. Beau and I were out walking through the small, unpaved street around the corner from my house when we encountered our neighbor, digging a grave for a squirrel she had found on the road, still alive near her office. She wrapped the unfortunate creature in a towel, but by the time she was at her office, it had died. She and her daughter are well-known for their rescuing of dogs. At any given time, there are at least seven dogs and six cats in their home. Whenever they spot a dog on the street they scoop it up and run home to put the word out on Craigslist and other rescue sites. Getting caught up, she told me about recently rescuing a small Pomeranian/Yorkie mix and two days later she gave birth to seven puppies. Daddy is a poodle/dachshund mix. I said to her when she told me about the puppies that Beau and I would be by in a few days to see them.

Well we went, and tiny Walden was put into my hands. He's calmer then Beau and really cute. Next thing you know, I'm saying, I'll take him. If Beau is miserable, they insist that he can come back. But for now, he's mine and I get him in three and a half weeks when he's 12 weeks old

By the way, the little Gerber baby is my neighbor's two year old. She's been over-run with seven puppies in the last couple of months, but is clearly pack leader of this bunch.

Walden, being crushed by little Summer

I've been sampling new restaurants in Portland, and judging the design of many attractive books for PubWest's annual Best Books Design of 2009, as well as a visit from a New York friend.

Willamette Weekly has just published their list of top Cheap Eats in 2010, and there are a lot of interesting places. While there are many Asian and Mexican places, loads of coffee shops, my favorite pizza joint (Gladstone Coffee and Pizza) made the cut (as well it should), and a number of fine barbecue, pizza and bakeries are listed too.

You can spend a lot of money, a la New York, in Portland. But you can also eat at a remarkably wide variety of restaurants in this town without a reservation and the food will be mostly of excellent quality, served in a friendly manner, the whole experience leaving you feeling like you've spent your money wisely and well. So here's what $20 got me last Saturday night:

Smoky Mountain BBQ is in the Clinton district, a very attractive enclave of old Portland Homes with a restaurant/shopping area at its center. Only about a half mile from my house, it's a terrific place to find inexpensive places that serve good food including Dot's, a popular sports bar/cafe; Sub Rose, an Italian that specializes in pizza and pasta, and it's newest neighbor, Smoky Mountain BBQ. Richard Day-Reynolds is a transplanted Tennessee barbecue master who has lived in the Portland area for more than 30 years. He's found a popular and likely permanent home on the corner of SE Clinton and 26th Avenue. The dining area is small with only about 12 tables and a full bar. There are three flat-screen TVs that air sports programs. They have a wide selection of locally brewed beers, some wine (including a modestly good local Pinot Noir, also modestly priced by the glass or bottle), plus other libation. Day-Reynolds is an experienced smoker with his "carbon-black Traeger" grill that greets you as you enter. On Saturday, I decided not to order the highly praised brisket, which was sort-of a mistake. I got the pulled pork instead, and it's tender but a little anonymous and a tad too cool. It was served with an excellent side of coleslaw in a vinegar sauce. My side was a combination mash of sweet and regular potato with lots of garlic. It was flavorful and surprisingly subtle. My two companions wasted no time with one ordering the brisket by itself and the other requesting the brisket sandwich. All three entrees were $6. Darren wanted to sample the Cajun sausage, which he thought was spicy, but the two bites I took seemed tame. It was $5. They also ordered the sweet potato fries, which arrived hot, crunchy and dusted with a little chili powder. They were special indeed. John and Darren had two beers while I threw back two glasses of that local Pinot Noir. The total tab was $20 each. The menu also lists Andouille sausage, smoked meatloaf, barbecued chicken and pork ribs with sides that inlcude dirty rice, red beans, collard greens, BBQ black beans, cornbread and smoked mac and cheese.

Wednesday night Jean-Francois, Jay and I were out to dinner at Tabla Mediterranean Bistro, a restaurant that is widely admired. Located near Laurelhurst, this is a casual, modern restaurant and very serious cooking. Jean-Francois had chosen it because he had been impressed with their three-course dinner menu priced at a shockingly low $24!

Tabla Mediterranean Bistro turned out to be a first-rate dining experience with one important, but not deal-breaking complaint (see below). The dining room is very contemporary with warm colors, and a simple pared-down, nearly industrialized look. The wait-staff is excellent--knowledgeable about their menu. They enjoy helping you make your selections, and there are about five selections for each category--appetizers, pasta and main courses. The appetizer was Seared Ricotta and Nettle Gnudi was my choice with wild mushrooms, an almond enriched mayonnaise for sauce (more of a smear on the plate) and tiny arugula leaves. The little dumplings had a fresh green taste from the finely ground nettles; the cheese providing a salty, rich under note. The wild mushrooms grounded the dish with a pleasing earthiness and the arugula added a touch of pepper. The pasta course was sooooo simple: tender, house-made trenette noodles with truffle butter and Grana Padana cheese. The portion was just enough to wish you had a bite more, but grateful you still have from for the main course. I don't know why I chose Crispy Sweetbreads with Romesco sauce enhanced with red peppers, but I'm so glad I did. Crunchy, golden on the outside, the sweetbreads were soft and creamy inside. The Romesco pepper sauce with its ground almonds added a complimentary layer to the dish with braised Brussels sprouts finely dusted with smoked paprika giving it that extra feeling of Spain. Jean-Francois had the grilled steak, which he was pleased with, but Jay chose a warm vegetarian terrine with leeks. I liked my bite of the leek terrine, but Jay seemed unimpressed. We were wine whores, which kicked the bill higher.

Then the three of us ordered one dessert, and here's my one complaint. It was lousy. The devils food cake was a hard little loaf that lay on the plate like a brick, and wasn't all that flavorful. It came with a bland and far too gelatinous panna cotta, clearly the pastry chef had a heavy hand with the gelatin, or worse the panna cotta had stayed too long in the fridge. I'll save money on dessert the next time I dine there. It certainly didn't affect my feeling about the delicious courses I had before, or the seriousness of the chef responsible for 90% of my dinner.

The next day I met my old friend, Tina Jordan, who was in town for a librarian convention. Too bad the great weather of the day before didn't hold up. We started to go downtown so she could experience Powell's Books. After about ten minutes in the rain, we decided the hell with that and I started to search for a place to have a glass of wine. We ended up at Jakes's a famous old restaurant that specializes in fresh seafood. It's been on my list for a long time, but we were not there to eat. We drink a superb local Pinot Noir and got caught up before jumping in a cab for a tour of my house.

In deciding on a place for dinner, I again chose one of my local restaurants, Lauro's Mediterranean Kitchen over on SE Division. I've been here at five times since I moved to Portland and I always enjoy the experience. It's owned by David Machado, whose portfolio of Portland restaurants includes the newly revived Nel Centro and Vinadaloo, an Indian-style restaurant on my list. I like the dining room, but I prefer to sit at the counter overlooking the open kitchen. On one side is the guy in charge of salads, desserts and pizzas. He also assembles and bakes the tagines in his brick pizza oven. To the right are two blazing hot stoves and a grill where burgers, pastas and meat dishes are cooked. You can watch the show while you peruse the menu, sip some wine, and make your selections. Being a girl who likes to watch her figure, but also has a sweet tooth, Tina opted for a salad of butter lettuces, blue cheese and candied pecans. I think they make superb salads here, so that same salad got me started. This salad was excellent, the lettuce had crunch and softness. The blue cheese is local and addictive, with a pecans adding a sweet crunchy touch of their own. I think they use grapeseed oil and maybe sherry wine vinegar. It's a great combination. I also had as steaming bowl of penne with broccolini, garlic, an prosciutto and a warm broth. Dusted with some parmesan, it was perfect. Tina had her chocolate and ice cream fix while I chose another glass of a fine temperanillo from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain. This is the kind of ideal neighborhood restaurant every neighborhood needs. It's utter simplicity and thoughtful service coupled with it's good food and sensible prices, keep it busy day in and day out.

My friend Kent Watson hosted a dinner party of Portland publishing types on the eve of his PubWest Design Awards. I brought along my famous rice salad, which is loaded with Arborio rice, roasted cubed beets, radishes, celery, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, scallions, parsley and chives. Sometimes I add edamame, or chopped artichoke hearts. It feeds a lot of people and they always want the recipe. Let me credit the amazing Lidia Bastianich as the inspirational source for this wonderful salad. Best of all, it can lay out on a table in your backyard in the middle of summer without worry of making your guests sick as a salad with mayonnaise can.

At 8:00 AM the next day, Kent was at my door to take me to Portland State University where the judging of the books submitted was to take place. From 9:00 to 4:00 PM, we pawed over many books judging the quality of their spines, paper, quality of their covers, or binding or the type face chosen. It was a fascinating day. I've often admired the books publishers produce and can name books that I've found especially beautiful over the years. The exercise could make me critical of publishers who cut corners on beautiful books. How could a publisher charge $75 for a book a most of the hardcover was made of paper, while another chose the most exquisite and subtle of endpapers for their book. We could admire he layout of recipes in a cookbook even as we dismayed at the washed out quality of the photos. I had a partner in the the three categories we judged. Her name is Jen, and she's a young publisher that I bonded with instantly. We laughed and giggled, but I also saw a very serious young woman who had a superb eye and recognized quality as instantly as she recognized dross. A very enjoyable afternoon spent admiring the craft of books.

The weather has turned to crap just when I'm hoping to get to the second level of gardening. I have lots of things that are placed where they need to go in the garden, but need to actually go into the ground and the rains are not cooperating. Beau has to be carried out of the house because he hates the rain and downpours really freak him out. I captured some more photos of spring and I'm waiting for a break in the rain because tulips are out in full force, and I saw some iris blooming the other day (I can't imagine the short hail storm we had on Wednesday did them any good. Then late yesterday afternoon, I noticed the first lilacs and dogwood of the season are beginning to bloom. So weird, this early in the year. Can't wait to share those photos.

These were supposed to be hamburger buns which I recently made from scratch. They weren't not that big so I'm thinking, maybe I need to make hamburger sliders. In any event, the rain cramped my grilling style, and I made a meatloaf instead. The next day for lunch, these came in handy as meatloaf sliders, a recipe that I think is somewhat original.

I wish I had a garden like this one. There's always lots of things blooming here.

Is there a more elegant flower than a tulip? I don't think so.

And finally, I got the tax bill for the sale of my co-op in New York. OW...OW...OW!

I FINALLY MADE IT TO POK POK!

I finally made it to Pok Pok on Tuesday night. My buddy Joan Vogel was in town on business, and staying with me. We love to eat (her husband Fritz, is a knowledgeable food lover and a great pal to dine with too!). I decided on Pok Pok, a Thai-influenced restaurant with a food cart vibe and lots of imagination and care in the kitchen. It's been a huge hit since opening in 207, and is up for a bunch of awards and was named restaurant of the year in Portland in 2007. How does one describe it? It's a kind of casual, shack-like place with tables and booths in the small dining room and then picnic tables outside with heaters and clear plastic vertical blinds that keep the cold at bay (we ate outside)--it makes you feel like you're in college. On frantic nights, I could see why a young girl with a head-set was standing outside with her clipboard dealing with people who want to get in. But it wasn't frantic tonight, just busy. They take the food very seriously here without turning it into a religious rite.

We drank Thai beer while looking over the not-extensive menu. We arrived hungry and so we began with the restaurants famous Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. Six huge steroidally large chicken wings marinated in fish sauce, garlic, and sugar, deep fried and the tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad got my attention. Funky, slightly crispy and sweet-chewy skin and meltingly tender wing meat told me everything I needed to know about Pok Pok. The ultimate snack food, I want these wings delivered to my house at least once a week. Hoi Thawt came next and is a combination of crispy broken crepe with steamed Prince Edward Island mussels, eggs, garlic chives and bean sprouts served with a Sri Racha suace. Again, you had the tender mussels, and soft scrambled egg that played off of the crunch of the bean sprouts which were zapped with the kick of the spicy hot sauce. Yummy. A salad called Papaya Pok Pok is a mouth festival of green papaya sticks with tomatoes, long beans, Thai chili, lime juice, tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar, dried shrimp and peanuts. Explosive and refreshing at the same time. Chat Ca La Vong was another winner with the catfish pieces marinated in tumeric and sour sticky rice, fried in tumeric oil with scallions and dill and dumped over rice vermicelli with peanuts, mint and mam nem (?). Sounds like a lot going on in this dish yet it was mild and soft and delicious and balanced all the riot of flavors of the other dishes.

By the way, the the owner of Pok Pok is also the co-owner of Foster Burger, which I recently wrote glowingly about.

Milk Chocolate Hazlenut Panna Cotta

Had friends over for dinner on Sunday night. Sarah is feeling a bit blue, understandably with an ill father and the unexpected loss of her beloved Doberman, the elegant Gina. She was 14 and lived a good life. So Sarah and Carol were at my table along with Kyle and with nice weather, I decided it was time to grill a leg of lamb. Butterflied, and marinated in a home brew of garlic, kosher salt, lemon peel, fresh rosemary, some olive oil and some balsamic vinegar, this gorgeous piece of meat got the right amount of heat (I'm pretty good for a beginner with my new grill!), and tasted fantastic. In Patricia Wells' BISTRO COOKING is a recipe for a potato gratin that I've been making for years. You layer thinly sliced potatoes, sliced onion, chopped garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper and when finished, you drizzle olive oil over the top and about 2/3 cup of white wine and bake in a hot oven for about 40 minutes. Wells' recipe also calls for sliced tomato on the top, but since tomatoes are not in season, I did without and with no loss of flavor. The top layer of potato gets crispy and below is all flavorful soft goodness. A platter of fresh green beans with lemon and butter finished out the savory part of our meal. I found a recipe in the New York Times last week I just had to make: Milk Chocolate Hazlenut Panna Cotta is an astonishing creation from a cookbook called THE CRAFT OF BAKING by Karen DeMasco (Clarkson Potter). Go to the Times website and download this unbelievably thrilling pudding. It's a simple but rich mix of gelatin, Nutella, kosher salt, heavy cream, vanilla whole milk and toasted hazelnuts (optional). I've never tasted such a spectacular pudding.

Shepherd's Pie

The best part of the dinner was that I had lots of leftovers and so made a shepherd's pie the for the next night and had some more lamb to slice for sandwiches!

Put the nearly finishing touches up on the guest room by springing for some window panels. I don't love curtains, but these matched the copper, and were handsome as well as affordable.

And now for some truisms about home ownership: You never stop working on a house--never. There's always something that needs attending to. So now it's the garden, and a strip of grass in front of my house on the sidewalk, which makes me cringe in embarrassment every time I see it. That little strip out there is like a jungle. And where are these leaves coming from? The trees are only beginning to leaf now.

Laundry truism #1: If you want white, white, white underwear and socks, you have to use a longer soaking cycle in the laundry, which I guess is why all my tighty-whiteys have been gray all these years. But now that water is so expensive, I've had to just accept that they will be less white.

Laundry truism #2: Don't dry your bottom sheets with a load of laundry unless you want everything to emerge from your dryer wrinkled beyond recognition. I just bought a longer clothes line for those pesky sheets. I'm sick of looking so wrinkled and I'm not ironing.

I keep buying these terrific chickens at Trader Joe's and end up making chicken pot pie from the leftovers. I keep mixing up ingredients for the top crusts. This one has jalapeno-jack cheese in the crust and some cornmeal. Mighty toothsome.

Chicken Pot Pie

LOTS OF THIS AND THAT

I haven't been happy with the arrangement of furniture in my living room since I moved in. Then while watching TV a few days ago, I came to the realization that the large china cabinet in the living room was sucking all the air out of the room! It's now in my garage. I re-arranged the room on Sunday and I'm amazed at how open and airy it now looks. Of course, this goes under the sage observation from Maryann. "Boy do you have too much time on your hands!"

I hate to paint. I find nothing more boring. I have to force myself to do it such a tedious chore. But when it's all done, I wonder what I was bitching about. Besides, I love this color--the same as my bathroom in New York.

I was a bit startled to pick up the paper yesterday and note that Justice Roberts is disturbed by President Obama's using the State of the Union address to criticize the five conservative supreme court justices who voted to allow rich corporations and other powerful organizations to spend money on political campaigns. I mean the State of the Union address was nearly two months ago. What took him so long? We all know he was peeved. And then he had the nerve to say that President was dressing down the entire Supreme Court. I don't recall that Justice Scalia was present, and everyone else knows President Obama wasn't dressing down the entire Supreme Court. If you can't take the heat, Justice Roberts, get the the hell out of the kitchen.

I really don't blame Palestinian President Mahoud Abbas for refusing to participate in peace talks with Israel after the country announced it's decision to expand Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem with 1600 new homes. Does that mean I'm no longer a supporter of Israel? No. But it does show that Israel is no more serious about peace then its Arab neighbors. I'm disgusted with the whole political situation in the Middle East. The capacity for misery in this area of the world is astounding.

Away from politics, the unexpectedly fine weather we've been having for the past two weeks has prompted me to do some gardening and organizing of the front and back yards.

I planted three rose bushes on the side of my driveway, which probably gets the best direct sun on the property. Honestly those are rose bushes. I'll send photos when they finally bloom.

I also went to the Portland Nursery and bought this small shrub, called a Hebe 'Nana'.

The camellia in my front yard was probably at its peak last weekend. The blooms are beautiful.

I also found two mophead blue or pink (depending on the acidity in the soil) hydrangeas, and a lilac bush. And I found a bunch of mature blooming daffodils at my local Walgreens on sale. I figured I'd plant 'em, cut back the tops in the late spring or summer and have bulbs next season. Right now they are in a planter in my back yard, so I'll get to enjoy them for another few days. And in a Costco run, I found Dahlia bulbs. I'm definitely in my first-garden-no-sense-of-order-get-stuff-I-love mode. I'll impose some self-discipline around the end of the summer when I'll have found out how much work I've created for myself. In the meantime I'm looking at the possibility of a new deck or a patio for the backyard. And I'd love to create a path made of bricks for the yard areas. I'm giving up most of the grass, which doesn't want to grow anyway because of the acidity from my massive Cedar tree. So there will be a small patch for Beau to pee on.

It's also been a busy week, writing proposals for new projects to replenish the coffers, painting bookshelves and CD shelves for the guest room, putting the finishing touches on the newly painted master bath, continuing work on a fascinating new book about the many farmers, winemakers, dairy and livestock farmers, cheese makers and so many other local artisans in EDIBLE: A Celebration of Local Flavors from the Edible magazine network. The book has stunning photos, profiles of these artisans, and wonderful recipes. Out in April, it should have a wonderful reception.

My brother has a friend named Kyle, who has recently moved here. Kyle is looking for work, and in need of a place to live. So he's helping me with all these various house projects that I won't do while living in my basement. He expects to be here for about two months. He'll probably help me finish a "fourth" bedroom down there while I close off the storage area, and install a new bathroom. I have a toilet and shower stall there now, which will be closed off, tiled and with new bathroom fixtures, giving me a four bedroom, three bath house. That will be good for extra guests, or even a possible roommate at some point. I love living alone, but I would enjoy sharing the house. It just as easy to cook for two as it is for one--in fact, easier. And as we get closer to summer, I want to build a real patio with my grill closer to the house. I'd like to move my outdoor dining table and chairs away from the driveway!

Meanwhile, Kyle has a cat--his name is Bit and he's a fluffy long-haired gray and white guy with a big black blotch for a nose. He's adorable. He's also a bit skittish and sudden noises make him bolt. I wasn't at all worried about his getting along with Beau. Beau mostly ignores him and when he does pay attention, he makes Bit a bit worried. But Bit is getting relaxed and enjoying himself. Today he slept on one of my dining room chairs. Beau slept under the same chair. And now for an "Aw!" moment. Here's the photo.

Beau doing what he does best--sleeping. His influence has extended to Bit.

Beau the slacker is typically unconcerned that he's got a cat hovering over him.

Bit is shy and he's warming to us slowly. He's intrigued by Beau but keeps his distance.