Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Berries, Tomato, Basil, Cookies & the Columbia River Gorge

First off, I return to with a neat annoucement - I'll be baking cookies, along with Julie Hasson and other lovely gals, for the Herbivore Vegan Cookie Extraveganza on July 7, 2007 at 2pm.
If you're in the area, come check it out, get a sugar rush & a snazzy new addition to your wardrobe.

Of course I wasn't gone long, a mere 3 days, but I was out here....at Skamania Lodge on the Columbia Gorge. Oooo. Ahhhh.
I don't drive, so I don't get a chance to get "out and about" in the Pacific Norhwest much.
It was still for work (convention), but nevertheless, it was pretty breathtaking.

The Columbia River Gorge, from outside the lodge grounds. The rest of my photos are in a set, on flickr, if you'd like to see more~

Back to the food porn business a recent brunch:

Basil biscuit, cucumber, rosemary & basil roasted new potatoes and a tofu scramble topped with a cherry tomato/fresh basil mixture - which you'll be seeing a couple more times in this post.

Look, more cherry tomatoes and basil!
I made a sauce out of the mixture this time, with garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper, sea salt & pepper. It's served on top of Yellow Rose Recipes tester creamy herbed polenta, grilled. Along with it is steamed broccoli.


And more tomato/basil mania over Italian grilled tofu & portabella slices, lightly panfried creamy herbed polenta and fresh baby spinach. Topped with some Follow Your Heart shredded mozzerella.
Currently I have someFYH Cheddar in my fridge, with sadly, no ambition to use the remaining 3/4 of a block.

From the Wednesday farmer's market - chinese broccoli sauteed in olive oil and minced garlic.
So fresh.

I tossed the broccoli into this dinner of tricolor raddiatore (meh), cherry tomatoes, garlic, grilled bell peppers, scapes & green beans. Topped with almondy/noochy 'parmesan'.

Shanghai Stir Fry from New Season's organic wok bar. My first real meal post-trip.

And oh yeah, berry picking!!
We went to a couple U-Pick farms on Sauvie Island last weekend.

Have I mentioned that I had no idea how AMAZINGLY GOOD fruit (really most produce) could be until I moved to Portland?

Marionberries and Raspberries (aka what Thomas ate while I was away)

Strawberries

My favorite, though a bit under-ripe: blueberries

Thomas makes a mean fresh berry cocktail.

So far, I've frozen a some blueberries and we've just been eating the berries as is, or in drinks. I do foresee pancakes, and maybe crepes & waffles in our future. Maybe some raw strawberry pie...

17 comments:

Taylor said...

How about some frozen berry margaritas in your future. Yeah!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

heck yeah!!

I did make a small amount of raspberry puree for martinis last weekend, but I think it was under-appreciated. Frozen Margaritas, however, have my name written all over it. Plus, I have tequila I forget about.

Kati said...

Vegan cookie extraveganza??? OMG!

That view is gorgeous, as are the berries. Have a good weekend, Jess!

laura k said...

The food porn is mouth-watering, as always (especially those pretty berries)... but the Columbia River Gorge is breathtaking beyond words.

Would love to hop on over for the cookie extraveganza--if only!

Sheree' said...

Marion berries are the best. I love marion berry jam.

How fun, Vegan cookie extraveganza!

Wish I lived closer. I would be there in a second. Enjoy and have a great time!

Anonymous said...

I went to the Columbia River Gorge once and I was captivated by it's beauty and serenity. So glad you got the chance to go there. I love the berry picks. We have a blackberry farm that opens on July 2nd and I can't wait. I wish we had more local berry farms but no such luck.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

aahh gorgeous berries - I'm off to the store tomorrow to stock up on some more produce (by the end of the week, the fridge is literally bare... it's a sad sight, ha). that cookie extravaganza sounds terrific!! I wish I could go - post pictures for sure!!

oh and I agree about what you said on my blog about shell pasta - it needs more appreciation, haha. such a great pasta shape; it holds so much sauce!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

p.s. - I love the new colors for your blog

Cherry said...

I recently visited the Pacific Northwest area and saw the Columbia River Gorge...it was absolutely wonderful.
You're right about the produce. We bought a lot of berries when we went there, and they were much better than any I've ever had here in Texas!

Anonymous said...

me and my mom went berry picking on monday and had us a good ole time picking blueberries and red raspberries. i actually don't like raspberry flavored things but heck yes i'll eat 'em fresh.
you should make the Blueberry Scuffins from Vive Le Vegan....ok, i made up the term scuffins...i think i did, at least. i don't think dreena calls them that. they're very tasty though.

Frisky said...

ooh, you're making me so homesick for portland with the berries. strawberries are already done in the midwest, and the other berries and fruits are having a very bad year due to that late freeze. makes a girl want to jump on a plane!

Celia said...

The berries look WONDERFUL. :)

n/a said...

I'm loving the drink at the end! All of the berries look great, as does the other food.

shaun.marie said...

wooeee! good stuff. i am bummed i'll be missing the cookie extravaganza. and i am totally amazed by portland berries... so far the strawberries take the cake for amazingness, but i've also never seen such huge blackberries before.
have you been to dalo's kitchen yet? maybe when i return from cali we can hit it up sometime. yumm!

bazu said...

berries. must. have. berries.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

must. get. more. berries!

I was eating frozen blueberries as an after dinner snack last night. awesomeness.

anna/village vegan said...

Your food always looks so fresh and yummy!