Je Mange la Ville is going on Spring Break. Back in about a week!

Saturday, jwa and I headed to the Dundee/Dayton area in Yamhill County, where the wine flows like, uh, water or somethng. Seriously, so much wine, so little time. You could not throw a rock and not hit a winery. Add to this, it was a beautiful day (high of 66 and blue skies).

Here’s what we saw and did.

The first stop was at Red Ridge Farms in Dundee. Of course, google maps got us a little lost and it directed us to Sokol Blosser instead of the farm (not necessarily a bad thing) but we eventually found our way to the herb farm.

They had a greenhouse open, along with many herbs, olive trees, herbs, flowers and a small store with olive oil, some art and other things. They were also having a wine tasting — this will be a theme of this post.

View from the balcony. It’s hard to see but the hills are covered with grape plants. Trees? Shrubs? Whatever. It’s all grapes, all the time.

Above the store, there is a great little apartment you can rent. It has a full kitchen, living room and bedroom. But the best part may just be the balcony. It overlooks hills and vineyards — maybe Domaine Serene and the previously mentioned Sokol Blosser, but I could be wrong there. I’m probably wrong. It was hilly and it was grapes. I know I’m right about that, though.

I captured a little bug in this shot

After checking out the farm and walking around, we got back on 99 and headed again to Dundee. Once there, we stopped at Argyle, which is one of our favorite wines.

Here, we tasted some brut, some riesling, a pinot and some merlot. jwa carried the box of six wines to the car afterwards.

The Argyle Nuthouse — unfortunately the Nuthouse Pinot and Chardonnay weren’t ready to taste yet

They also had some cheese, crackers and other snacks out but we were saving ourselves for lunch.

Argyle porch — cute!

Lunch at the Dundee Bistro, which is conveniently across the street.

I started with the cauliflower & manchego cheese soup — which was amazing — and a glass of the Ponzi pinot.

Then, we moved on to halibut fish and chips (jwa) and coq au vin for me. Both were really good.

How to finish the day? A slice of lemon-marscapone cheesecake with an espresso crust, bittersweet chocolate drizzle and white chocolate shavings.

Yeah, it was really good. After all that, we drove back to Portland (well jwa drove back as he just tasted at Argyle and had ice tea at Dundee Bistro). Not a bad way to spend a sunny St. Patrick’s Day Saturday afternoon!

Places:
Red Ridge Farms
5510 NE Breyman Orchards Road
Dayton, Oregon 97114

Sokol Blosser
5000 Sokol Blosser Lane
Dundee, OR 97115

Argyle Winery
691 Highway 99W
Dundee, Oregon 97115

Dundee Bistro
100-A SW Seventh Street
Dundee, OR 97115

Google Map of Red Ridge Farms and Surrounding Wineries

Like last night, I chose to watch 30 Rock (Liz Lemon!*) instead of doing a Super Foods Friday post. So, instead of that, enjoy some pictures I took at Whiskey Soda Lounge a month or so ago and never got around to posting about.

Grilled prawns — they were HUGE! The whiskey and soy marinated ribs are in the background, waiting to be devoured.

jwa’s Bloody Mary

My drink — the vodka plum collins.

Tom Saep Neua — Hot and sour Isaan style Cascade Natural beef soup (with a little coconut rice in it) it was really, really good.

Pok Pok Affogato — Condensed milk ice cream with Vietnamese coffee and a Chinese fried donut. Enough said.

* I find jwa’s TV-crush on Liz Lemon very comforting — 1. she’s fictional, 2. she’s at least 35, 3. she wears glasses and 4. she’s funny. Hooray!

Super Foods Friday overslept this morning and then took the day off. Lazy Super Foods Friday! SFF should be back next Friday. Sunday night the Pear Ginger Pie should be up. Really.

Next week: fondue, a creme brulee and who knows what else!

Ashland for the Shakespeare Festival
I recently got an e-mail from the Winchester Inn (which we call “The Winchester Mystery Inn”, having lived in the Bay Area), offering one night’s lodging, $30 coupon towards dinner in the dining room — hey, it’s about a free bottle of wine — tickets to a play for two and a hot breakfast the next morning. Needless to say, I picked a date, a room from the Web site, decided which play I wanted to see and called jwa to let him know about this mini-getaway all in a span of 30 minutes from getting the e-mail. I’m very easily convinced to return to places we like a lot.

On April 15th, while others are slugging away on their taxes (due Tues, the 17th this year) we’ll be kicking back in Ashland, enjoying a lovely dinner at the Winchester and seeing Tracy’s Tiger. This works out very well, as it is sold out for our traditional Ashland trip in October and I couldn’t get tickets, which made me very sad. Now I am happy.

Since we do go to Ashland every year, I figured I’d throw out a few recommendations. Although, be warned, lodging reservations should be made as early as possible. Depending on when you go, things might be booked up to a year in advance. Seriously. I know. I was shocked too when I had to scramble one year to find a place to stay. This is especially true for the first weekend in October.

Winchester (Mystery) Inn
A cross between a B&B and small hotel. Breakfast is included in the morning and is big and satisfying. Usually a choice between some sort of pancake/waffle option and a savory egg dish. Includes fruit, coffee and juice. We’ve only stayed in one room — The Sunset Room — which was very nice, albeit a bit small.

The Sunset Room

There is an awesome, private balcony though, so it was worth it. The rooms are a bit pricey though,$145 - $250, so you may want to save it for a special occasion.

Abbott’s Cottages
Our new favorite place to stay. They fill up very quick, though. Studio, one-bedroom and multiple bedroom “cottages” with kitchens, tile floors, balconies/patios and cuteness. Behind Al’s Pancake World. Okay, fine, Al’s diner. We’ve stayed in the Egret and the Duck. Rates are very reasonable, starting at $110 for a studio cottage and going up to $230 for a 3-bedroom rental house.

Casa Bella — Backyard Bungalow
We stayed here once and it was very, very cute but a little small. Lots of character. There’s a small kitchen, a small bathroom, closet and a bedroom/sitting area. The price is very good at $85-125/night (depending on season) and there is a parking spot located a few steps outside the kitchen door. It’s attached to a larger rental house, but still managed to seem pretty quiet and private. A good deal for Ashland. The Web site doesn’t seem to work anymore — not sure if this place is still available.

Fiddle Family Inn — The Cottage
Small one bedroom cottage, with a back deck and a soaking tub. We stayed here once and while it was nice, it was nothing special for the price of $150/night. Based on the outside, which is very cute, I was expecting more from the inside, which just looked like an ordinary, “first apartment” type interior. Also, there was no parking spot included. Not a big issue as we had no problem finding a spot on the street, but for $150 I’d like off-street parking. The owner was extremely nice though, so it’d be an okay choice if you looked and looked and everything else was booked.

Manor Motel
Ashland on a budget. We stayed here last year three nights and saved enough money to splurge and stay at the Winchester for one night. This is a very good deal. Rooms start at $65 a night and go up to $95 for multiple bedrooms. The website makes it look slightly nicer than it really is, though and the kitchens are very dated. That said, it was a perfectly nice place to stay as long as you’re not expecting a $150/night type of room. I did really like sitting at the kitchen table in the morning, having coffee and reading. There is also a picnic table outside and a back gate that leads out into the neighborhood.

I forget the room number that we had…

The owner was very friendly and out in the morning doing yard work on the property. I could not, however, stop myself from wondering how nice our room would be with new carpeting (or even better, hardwood floors), some bright wall paint, new artwork and a new, unstained chair. But then again, if you’re looking to save a few bucks and don’t care about fanciness or cuteness in your lodging, this is a great option.

Places we haven’t stayed at but I’d either like to or have heard good things about…

Ashland Springs Hotel
Right downtown, looks very nice. One day we’ll splurge and try it.

The Palm
We almost stayed here the first year we went but then I found a rental cottage to stay at instead (that place is no longer available). This looks like a great deal and people on Tripadvisor.com seem to like it too. It’s probably a bit longer walk to downtown than most places we stay at but then, walking is good for you so that’s not a bad thing. $64 - $169/night.

Restaurants coming soon…

Anthony Bourdain on Paula Deen (ew!): “I’m reluctant to bash what seems to be a nice old lady. Even if her supporting cast is beginning to look like the Hills Have Eyes–and her food a True Buffet of Horrors.”

Read it all at here: A Bourdain Throwdown on Ruhlman.com.

I had no idea that it was supposed to snow today, Neither, apparently, did Trimet. It started out as a nice walk in the snow at 7:20 AM, down to the bus stop at 34th & Hawthorne.

Once there, I only had to wait about 5 minutes before a bus came. It was packed but I got a spot right in the front, standing just a hair behind the yellow line. Good for me but bad for everyone at stops past 30th, as we had no room and he didn’t make any other stops.

Once we hit Madison though, it was all backup and no bus lane. So, I decided to get off at Grand and walk the rest of the way into work. So did a lot of other people. I even beat the bus across the bridge by walking it.

Got to work at 8:20 so it took me about 60 minutes. It usually takes 30 minutes so not too bad.

Another bridge picture.

View from my office window.

Around 11:10 I decide to go out and forage for lunch, walk around and take a few pics.

Snow covered octopus outside Greek Cusina.

Snow outside Tabor Cafe where I grabbed some lunch

Art-y snow pic back by office, across the street from Mother’s.

The awesomeness of the Schnitzelwich — more on that tomorrow.

Get back to work and find out we all get to leave at noon. Yay! Eat half of lovely schnitzelwich and tasty sobe green tea and check the Trimet page for bus tracking. It said there was a Hawthorne bus due at the corner of SW 2nd and Alder in 10 minutes. I’m somewhat skeptical, though, as it had said this for the last hour. Got my stuff and started out anyway.

When I get there, it’s chaos. There’s 25 or so people standing about and a Trimet dude trying to help people with the new bus stops downtown. I asked him if the transit tracker was lying when it says there was a 14 coming in 10 minutes. Two ladies waiting for the 15 laughed. They had been waiting for the Belmont bus already at this stop for 1 1/2 hours. They had not seen a 14 come by in all that time. In fact, no buses had been by at all. I start walking home.

Called jwa and informed him of my new (and improved?) transit plans. He said he’d leave the house now (he had a full, work-from-home snow day), and that we’d meet on Hawthorne and walk back home together. How sweet.

Looking back at downtown.

We met up around SE 18th and stopped in Starbucks so that my legs could warm up, as they were frozen by this point. Got a green tea latte, defrosted a bit and headed back out. Further up Hawthorne, around 25th, a bus has wiped out and was blocking the right, east-bound lane. Now it just sat there, deserted, stuck and forlorn.

Boo.

We got home around 1:30 and now I am going to curl up on the couch with a book, Tim Powers, Three Days to Never, which I highly recommend.

Hmmmm, wonder if tomorrow will be a snow day too?

These were a holiday experiment that turned out very well — so well that I plan on making another batch very soon. You see, I am always looking for uses for my huge, 3.5 foot tall, 4 foot round rosemary plant outside. So, aside from rosemary being my favorite herb, it is also the herb that I have the most of. Just like spinach, I like to sneak rosemary into many, many things.

How about cookies?

Rosemary-Brown Sugar Shortbread
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour (+ more for rolling)
2 tbsp chopped, fresh rosemary leaves

Beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugars and beat about 1 more minute. Add egg and mix. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix until just combined. Now, comes the chopped rosemary. Mix it in and stop. The dough may look a little crumbly, but it will come together.

Turn out onto a floured board and roll to 1/4″ thickness. (I always roll mine a little thin — try to stop yourself before you do this). Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter and create small circles. Mine had fancy-pantsy scalloped edges.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 until the edges get a little golden.

In Other News…It’s so Little and Cute!

I finally leapt into 2007 and bought an ipod. An ipod nano.

A super-spiffy red, 8GB ipod nano. Oh and hey, $10 of the purchase price went into the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. And in keeping with the spirit of the food blog, her name is roma-tomato.

Right now she has the unabridged audio book of Wuthering Heights (never read it, will try listening to it), Mark Lanegan, Area, Belle & Sebastian, Counting Crows, The Cure, the Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Iron & Wine, Kate Bush, Sufjan Stevens, Unbunny and the White Stripes.

Would have had Jolie Holland too, but jwa riped that CD as .oogs instead of .mp3s. But regardless, there’s so very much room left on roma! Yay!

Tomorrow: Super Foods Friday is green.

Je Mange la Ville is going on a break until the 26th or 27th of December. I hope everyone has a great few days. My first post next week will probably be of our Christmas dinner: Roasted Cornish Game Hens, Creamed Spinach and Roasted Root Vegetables. Mmm!

I was asked in the comments section the other day about Portland area cooking classes and I half-assedly recounted seeing something about this one — but I couldn’t remember where I had seen it. And I wrote, “you should call Pastaworks and ask about it…”.

Today, I got this in my email, courtesy of the Pastaworks e-newsletter that I get every so often. Thus endeth the mystery of where I had seen the class mentioned. And uh, apparently, don’t call them and ask about it.

Here’s the info from the email:

Cooking with Navarre’s John Taboada from The Silver Spoon cookbook
John’s idea is to explain what does and doesn’t work for the home cook when working with cookbook recipes. Food will be prepared using the Pastaworks’ pantry, and appropriate wines will accompany the recipes and food.

Contact John directly (taboadajohn@gmail.com) to sign up for the class. Please do not call or email Pastaworks regarding this class.

What: Cooking from The Silver Spoon with John Taboada
Where: Pastaworks on Hawthorne, 3735 SE Hawthorne
When: Tuesday, December 12th, 7PM
How much: $40

John will divulge how you will be able to receive a discount on your purchase from Powell’s if you wish to purchase The Silver Spoon at the class.