Hipster Thanksgiving

Man, you know what’s gotten way too mainstream?

Thanksgiving in November

So overplayed.

Dude, you know what people don’t celebrate as often in Portland?

Canadian Thanksgiving.

Oh yeah, it exists. It’s ok if you haven’t heard of it. Not many people have. But it’s huge in Canada.

And so much less commercialized. I hate overplayed Thanksgiving has gotten. It used to be cool you know?

I can’t believe people still wait till November for it. You realize celebrating in October also helps subvert Columbus day too? Don’t even get me started on Columbus. Friggin’ colonialism.

Know what else is overdone? Roses.

Dahlias are way better. Plus I got mine from a small farm. You’ve probably never heard of it.

I debated between PBR and a barrel aged sour to go with dinner, but the co-op was closed so we were stuck with wine.

Symphony is kind of a rare varietal. It’s ok if you haven’t hear of it.

(if you look closely there’s a chip in the wine glass. Cause it’s vintage)

For desert we had pie that I baked while my husband watched football. But I baked it in a totally subversive way, I swear.

(pumpkin pie is so overdone. Apple pie is where it’s at)

And then we watched Win a Date with Tad Hamilton on HBO.

Ironically of course.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Negation

If you’ve been reading this blog for very long you know I live in Little Beirut (aka Portland, Oregon).

And if you live in PDX you may have also figured out I’m a westsider.  Which is how I had no clue there were TWO Petit Provences on the eastside-thanks to my far smarter local readers for letting me know in the comments!)

I know that there’s all sorts of cool things on the eastside of Portland.  I do.

But I buy my jeans at Costco.  I’m not cool.

So we hang out in our hood.  We like our hood.  Plus, walking to dinner totally negates the calories you consume.  It’s a fact.  (I should add that to my rules)

So recently we had these amazing calorie free sandwiches at Caffe Autogrill

Delicious (pancetta and turkey)

And even more delicious (ham and salami)

Plus, the other perk of going places you can walk?

You both get to drink.

(The walking burns off those calories too.)

And yesterday we had a happy hour at Salvador Molly’s.  We’ve been there before a few times.  Food is absurdly cheap, so you gotta get a bunch of things.  Like pulled pork

and fries

and duck wings

(plus the quinoa in the background)

and tempura apples

The quarter mile walk home totally works all that off.

And if you have a few drinks with your happy hour (because again, walking = we both drink!), it’s hard to resist stopping at Baker and Spice on your way home. Especially when there’s a whoopie pie with peanut butter cream in the middle

and ganache on top.

Plus a chocolate cream pie

With possibly the most amazing chocolate cookie crust ever.

And since we walked there?  Calorie free!

I’m thinking it may be time to go get some no-cal Baskin Robins now.

That .15 mile walk means I can get a large shake, right?

Are there spots in your hood you walk to?

Balance

I’m all about balance in life.

Like our lazy Indian meal last week.  Chicken with marsala sauce, curried cauliflower and spinach, and rice

Plus dal

It wasn’t too mild, it wasn’t too spicy.

It wasn’t too fatty, but it was rich enough to be tasty

There’s a shot of cream in there.  Cream is good for you, I swear.

There was enough meat to make my husband happy, and enough veggies to make me happy

And since it was homemade with some trader joe’s thrown in, the prep time was also just right.  Balance is good.

When it comes to feeding my husband, it’s about balance too.

Did you know when we first started dating he told me he didn’t like pie?

I mean of all the foods he hates, pie is one of the weirdest to me.

When it comes to feeding him foods he doesn’t like, I try to take a baby bear approach.  I don’t want to push it too much.  But I also don’t want to never get to have pie.

So when I made the apple pie on Monday, I told him I didn’t expect him to love it.  But I wanted him to at least try a bite.

And because he’s good on balance too, he said he would finish a whole piece, to give it a real chance.

(how can you say no to this?  I don’t know….)

And the results?

He liked it!

(we also ate the pie after going on a run.  balance friends, balance)

Balance also comes in the fact that when dealing with my migraine of doom my husband mixes letting me wallow in bed with making me laugh (“you realize that throwing up in the parking lot of Fudruckers sounds like it should have a really good story to go with it”)

(yes, I threw up in the parking lot of Fudruckers.  Like I said, migraine of doom)

And it’s also balancing things that make me feel alive

With my husband running to the store to get me things that make me smile.  Like popsicles and this

Seriously.  A pumpkin!

He may not be able to totally balance out the migraine, but my husband does a darn good job trying.

What’s been balanced in your life lately?

Anyone else get migraines of doom?

Pie? Oh my!

Sunday morning after breakfast

(Bob’s Red Mill mix Whole grain waffles with raspberry POM sauce-yum!)

I figured out it was Pi day (3/14…)

Sad I’d missed a chance to eat pie for breakfast (it’s fruit and grains, just like my waffle!) I racked my brain figuring out what sort of pies our day should involve.

This is complicated by the fact that the fiance is quite sure he doesn’t like most pie.  (Pumpkin?  Nope.  Apple?  Heck no.  He’ll do blackberry if I make it, marionberry, and chocolate pudding.)

For dinner we did some Shepherd’s Pie

(It is not photogenic.  And remember, I’m blogging with my cell phone these days) I put cheese on top and set the oven to broil for the last few minutes-wow!  Crispy cheese is pretty much the best.

And, in an act of laziness I made a mini chocolate pudding pie, with pat in pan pastry (ingredients mixed up in the pan, using oil instead of butter)

It was tasty!  I love the saltiness you get from pastry against the pudding.

After the lazy pie (the crust took all of like 2 minutes to make, and the pudding filling was instant stuff) I was in the mood for some real cooking.  Browsing Pioneer Woman I saw a recipe for homemade refried beans.

I promptly ignored the directions, and made up my own version.

Immersion blenders are amazing!  And guys these were SO GOOD.  The fiance and I were both snagging bites straight from the bowl.  It was just cooked beans (I store red beans and pintos together, so it was both of them), garlic, a touch of smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin and salt.  SO GOOD.

They were my favorite part of dinner.

What random things do you make from scratch?

Pie Day

Today, friends, is an important holiday.

Pie Day!

Not Pi day mind you, which is almost two months away.  And also a great time to eat pie.

We hit up Baker & Spice, where they were celebrating both pie day and their fifth birthday.

Turns out most of Hillsdale wanted to join us.

Really, who wouldn’t want to have a case like this to choose from?

And that was just the cold case… There was a whole ‘nother one of fruit pies and pastries.  Mmm.  Health food.

We braved the line and got a chicken pot pie

puff pastry?  Yes please!

And a chocolate cream pielette

Because if it’s miniature, it’s gotta be low cal.  Right? Right?

We also worked on our yard today.

I was working along the side of our front porch

AND HOLY CRAP I FOUND A WINDOW

This is under the far right side of the picture above.

Know where’s its not?  INSIDE.

Seriously-there’s no window there inside.  Crazy!

So that’s been my saturday-pie and crazy windows.  How’s yours going?