Feast Portland-Get Ready to Eat

There are few moments in life where I have been completely and utterly full, but still longing to eat more, to savor just one more bite of congee, or perfectly cooked lamb, or just one more sip of rum punch out of a fresh cracked coconut. “Just one more taste!”, my heart and my mouth beg! My stomach gives in, hesitantly.

This was Feast Portland last year, and if you checked out my Instagram feed that rainy weekend last September or read my recap, you recall how I fit in some of the best food a gal can get her mouth on.  You drooled along with me as I ate foie gras mousse with pears and pickled mustard seeds on crostini at the Grand Tasting event, and the Sweet Breads Al Pastor at Smoked when I was lucky enough to score a last minute ticket. For 4 delicious days you followed along with me as I traipsed along the streets, many bars, and fields of Portland eating my way through Feast.  You held on through the very end when I wrapped it all up at the Brunch Village, enjoying one last coffee and mimosa while nibbling on beignets dripping seductively with raspberry jam.

And oh dear reader, it was good. So good.

So good in fact that it’s time to go back, and I’m going to show you so much more this year!  Starting Sept 14th, I’ll be back at Feast checking out my old favorites with the Grand Tastings both for Friday and Saturday bringing you live updates on beers from Burnside Brewing (Sweet Heat anyone??), Migration Brewing, and so many others.  I’ll be sipping wines from Owen Roe and so many other wineries that I haven’t heard of before (you can check that list out here). The folks at Bulleit and Buffalo Trace will be in attendance as well as smaller batch distillers like Flooded Fox Den Distillery. There’s something for everyone, or at least one gal with a pension for cocktails and delicious beer. I’ll be at Smoked again, savoring so many plates from chefs outlined on the line up here.

I love my old favorites, but I am ready for something new, too. Last year I didn’t give myself nearly enough planning time to attend some of the other events you can find at Feast.  Not this year though! This year I am on a mission to do it all and bring you all with me!  I’ll be on a bar crawl with the folks from Reyka Vodka, attending Drink Tank events through Feast checking out topics on pilsners, and new ways to enjoy my personal favorite, gin. I’ll even be checking out “Ham and Eggs”, which is described as “a celebration of 1980’s excess featuring caviar and jamon”. This event had me at the 80’s, but I won’t say no to the rest!  Cue the Whitesnake, please!

Is that it?

No! A girl has to keep some surprises for you, right?

Ready to join me? Check me out on Twitter and Instagram via the handle @makemendgrow for live updates, and insight into all the food and drinks you can handle (or that I can!!).

And just in case you need a little more eye candy, here’s a few extra shots to entice you into joining me, or at least keeping an eye on what I’ll be up to!

Yours in delicious food,

Raina

As 40 creeps closer…

It’s been  a year since my 40 by 40 list post was created and I am slowly getting through the list! I still have a lot of work to do, but have ticked off quite a few big items. One more year to go to as 40 creeps closer!

38 was the year of bills and home improvements. I paid off a small left over mortgage loan, and paid for a chimney rebuild and a new roof. That will be a lot more money in my pocket in the long run, but it sure was hard to say good bye to all that cash.  It’s also really nice not to have a failing roof, and a leaking chimney (hooray for maintaining structural integrity of this money pit…um, house!)

It was also the year of pushing myself-to learn more, do more, be more. You know, without getting all sorts of overwhelmed.

I also traveled alone, including business trips to Portland for Feast and Vegas to eat and for the Vegas Food Expo. I’ve never really been somewhere by myself, and so this was pretty huge for me!  Feast was my first time away from Izzy and while I was both terrified to be without her, I was so excited to be away and treat myself to a weekend away. Turns out taking a bath by yourself after eating a few thousand calories and then not sharing a bed with a tiny, raging octopus/toddler all night is AMAZING. That trip really prepped me for Vegas, where I hit quite a few of my goals-eating an amazing dinner, getting my first tattoo, singing loudly in front of strangers, and dancing in a huge sea of people.

I wrote more and collaborated with brands while not losing out on any of my creative desires. I spent more time learning herbal medicine and did a lot of wild crafting. I spent time nurturing my heart by making herbal goodies for friends, which reinforced how much I enjoy chemistry, biology and botany!

I built up the farm, too! I brought in 2 rabbits, which led to even more rabbits (see that whole thing here), and worked hard to not screw up growing carrots and peas. My corn thrived and grew taller than my house. I fed neighbors with the extra vegetables, and ripped up my lawn for more gardening space. It felt good to get up and out and push myself physically to make my home what I wanted it to be.

I participated in activities that fed my soul, more than fed my bank accounts. Let’s look at what I’ve been up to this year…the bold, italicized items are completed!

1. Do something that scares me, often!
2. Go to a ridiculously fancy dinner
3. Finally get that tattoo!
4. Pay off a large bill-not super exciting, but getting rid of any bill is more cash for fun
5. Be more accepting of my body, strengths and flaws
6. Go overseas again/travel more
7. Continue to get in shape -eehhhhhhh. A work in progress.
8. Skate more
9. Learn to knit
10. Make sourdough, actually keep it alive for more than 1 week
11. Do 5 push ups, well. Yeah, I said it. 5.
12. Do more karaoke
13. Make a blood orange olive oil milkshake like the one at the Olive Pit, in California-so good!
14. Fix up the garage and make it into a studio
15. Raise rabbits
16. Make more quilts
17. Finish up my herbalism classes
18. Eat fewer processed foods
19. Rock climb again
20. Hunt a deer and properly butcher it
21. Write more (hmmm…check?)
22. Make cheese
23. Go clam digging
24. Set up a friend version of Outstanding in the Field.
25. Teach Izzy to fish
26. Find more happiness-actively seek it out, and hold it tight
27. Successfully grow peas and carrots, and not little dinky ones
28. Bring Izzy backpacking
29. Take a photography class
30. Dance more
31. Build the fence that has been sitting in raw materials in my garage for 10 years
32. Kayak on Lake Washington
33. Ride in a hot air balloon
34. Go to Disneyland
35. Camp on a beach
36. Buy more nice knives
37. Teach more
38. Hike to a hot spring
39. Take a train ride
40. Read more

So what’s on tap for 39? More travel, more food and more finding and keeping what makes me happy. I’ll continue to tick things off of my above list and keep reporting back on all of my adventures!

Yours in squeezing all we can into life!

Raina