Manzanita, Oregon Coast

I'm not even sure where to begin, we had a feeling that this leg of the trip would really affect us in a way that we didn't fully anticipate and I have to say we haven't been the same since. Manzanita, Oregon is one of the most incredible places that either one of us have ever been so fortunate enough to visit. It reminded us very much of the relaxed atmosphere of a little town called Hanalei on the island of Kauai. (Kauai is where my husband and I got married and is very special to our hearts) The amazing thing about Manzanita is that it has the easy going connected to nature attitude of Hanalei and the yet also has the rugged beauty of the mountains here in Utah, which really made us feel right at home.

The Coast Cabins is the name of the place where we stayed in Manzanita. Two weeks before we were getting ready to leave we still had no idea where we'd stay when we got to the coast. Our friends Nate and Alisa showed us a magazine clipping of this place, I checked it out online and is was perfect. Luckily they had those days available, woo hoo!
We ran into a one hour road delay on the way to the coast, which although was somewhat annoying was actually somewhat peaceful being in the middle of an amazing forested mountainside, but the suspense was getting to us and we couldn't wait to see this coastal hideaway. We finally arrived and when we walked into our little studio cabin, I just started crying. This totally took my husband by surprise, and myself too actually. I think I'm a bit of a tender heart I cry at silly things, but walking into this room with the sunlight and the foilage piercing through the windows of this incredibly adorable cabin it was just breath taking and I couldn't hold it in. It was just so warm and inviting, and after all the hours of driving to get here I just couldn't believe the reward of what I had just layed my eyes on. Not only the cabin itself but the stunning grounds of the development just felt like we had stepped into this amazing space that we never could have imagined. We stayed in the smallest cabin the first night and then we moved to the biggest cabin for the next couple nights this was the only way they could accommodate us at such a late date. We didn't mind having to pay more for the larger unit, after all it was my 30th birthday. The people who ran this place were like family, you got the sense from them and the cabins that this was your place, enjoy, relax and feel the love. Billy is convinced that nothing will be able to compare to this place and the way we felt there, although we did say the same thing about Kauai. The gentleman Gary (and I do mean gentleman, he had such a feeling about him) who is one of the owners, showed Billy and I one of the other cabins and told us a bit about the property, Billy loves finding out the history of the places we stay at and Gary gave us the full run down. Also Gary knew it was my birthday and when Billy and I went for a walk on the beach we came back and there was two bottles of wine and some chocolate and a little note that said Happy Birthday. One of the unique things about the Coast Cabins is they had a fire pit that they would get going every night. One night they had all the makings for smores out by the fire, shut up! Who are these sweet thoughtful host?! The funny thing is that the whole time we were there no one but us sat by that roaring fire. Can you believe that? Even when it was raining I kept that fire going, one night I sat out there with a towel and an umbrella.

For the most part while in Manzanita we ate in our cabin, however we did eat at this little bakery called The Bread and Ocean that's only open a few nights a week for dinner and we were lucky enough to catch them for dinner the first night we got into town. Gourmet, healthy, and made with locally produced food, it was a wonderful treat for my romantic birthday dinner. I think we ordered one of everything on the menu. (It was a small menu, I promise.) Also during the week we had breakfast there and took advantage of the fresh baked daily bread specials. Another little place we visited while in town was this tiny, yet charming little wine bar called Vino, where we enjoyed an tasty cheese and cracker app and some beautiful local wines (not to mention the $12 glass of port that my husband spilled all over me....he took a picture of it first though, so at least we had that). Like I said we mostly ate in our Cabin a handful of yummy meals that I made with the produce that I picked up at the Portland farmers market and other items from this awesome Natural Foods market called Mother's in Manzanita. I was able to get a few things there. It's fun when you have to be creative about dinner if your only able to use a few ingredients. In the second cabin (which amazingly enough blew away the first cabin that made me cry) had this wonderful cook book sitting on the coffee table called Sweet Basil, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Chives (Shaw, 1992) it inspired me to cook two yummy healthy dinners. I loved the cook book so much that I immediately ordered myself a copy when I got home.

Manzanita is the kind of small coastal town where all the little shops close down for business at around six o'clock every night, which made for a charming yet somewhat spooky feeling as you walked through town at night. We loved to walk down to the beach at night(especially if it was raining) and it was really peaceful and yet eerily quite at the same time walking down their quite little main street to go and see the sunset on the beech. It was though we had the town to ourselves and we loved it. Manzanita will have a little piece of our hearts and we can't wait to go back.

Thanx Manzanita, until we meet again.

Portland

Wow, who knew I would have such fun on our road trip and after enjoying Boise we were so excited to get to Portland. We had driven a long way that day along the Columbia River Gorge, Billy and I have never been to this part of the country and it was beautiful. It was rainy and windy but when we hit the gorge the sun came out and we couldn't have been happier to experience the water and all the windmills with a little sunshine along this truly scenic drive into Portland.



Well we've arrived in Portland and I am so happy to get out of the car. We stayed at Hotel Monaco which was located in the heart of downtown, which I thought was perfect because the best way to see a new city is by walking it. So we parked the Prius and headed out. It's Friday night and we are starving but first we wanted to walk around to get the lay of the land. There was this huge plaza where all these people were sitting in lawn chairs and eating picnic food they had brought with them. Come to find out this outdoor plaza was showing an outdoor movie on a big screen, which is apparently a weekly gig on Friday nights in the summer, pretty cool. What a great way to spent a evening down town there was so much energy.



Dinner: The staff at our hotel was so helpful and one of the places they recommended was Pazzo, Italian food, perfect. I have to say the whole meal was awesome but my starters were the best thing I think I ate in Portland. It was a plate of local heirloom tomatoes and garlic sauted spinach. The great thing about Portland is that all the restaurant's are doing the locally grown organic thing, awesome! Oh a slight mention to the homemade hazelnut carmel gelato we had for dessert. This and my starters were the highlight of this meal, so good we went back the next night for a repeat of those two dishes, even after we had already had dinner at another location.



The next morning we headed to the Farmers Market, I mean come on I have to check out other cities markets right? Prior to the market we went to breakfast at local favorite called Mother's, this place came highly recommended and it didn't disappoint, we split some warm wholesome oatmeal and a lox and bagel plate. My favorite part of this meal however was the mint tea, it came in a tea pot that had fresh mint leaves along with a peppermint tea bag, it was just so warm and comforting that I'm making it at home now all the time. (lucky for me I can get fresh mint at the farmer's market) Now, on to the Market. The Portland Farmer's Market on Saturday's is held on the Portland University campus. It was shaded by all the wonderful trees and the smells and sounds are familiar to any farmer's market, but it was fun to see how they do some things differently from ours here in Salt Lake. They only sell food, meaning they didn't have of the arts and jewelry booths like they do here at our market, and oh did I mention, they had one thing we don't have here, wine booths! Hello, AWESOME, I bought two bottles from an local area winery to take up to the coast with us. I also grabbed some tomatoes, artichokes, basil and green beans in order to stock up for the next leg of the trip. The other note worthy thing we did that day was we went to a charity jean sale. I know WHAT? There's an organization called Denim for Charity, and they sell designer jeans at the fraction of the cost for charity. Ofcourse I had to help and do my part, I got a great pair of jeans and was happy to get a great deal. Denim for Charity is actually based here in Utah.



The rest of the day we spent in the Pearl District, it's a fun and hip area of downtown with lots of great shops, awesome restaurants, design studios, etc. etc, all in a previosly industrial area that's been revitalized into a trendy upscale part of tow. There are a ton of really nicely done condo developments and great outdoor green spaces, including a natural wet lands park right off of the river front walk, just a really energized part of town that we loved spending the day in.
After walking and exploring all day we were starving so we ate at a place called Henry's Tavern, I had the best veggie burger of my life there. We sat, relaxed, had a few drinks and just soaked up the city night life, what a great town.

Thanx Portland you were awesome, see you next time.

Up next Manzanita.

Here we go!

The first order of business for me when we go on a trip is the food, ofcourse. Well I guess we have to find places to stay first and then find the best food in those areas. I'll do a trip breakdown and then highlight each of the places we visited.

Day 1- Drove to Boise and stayed the night

Day 2- Drove to Portland and stayed two nights.

Day 4- Drove to the Oregon Coast (Manzanita) and stayed for 4 nights.

Day 8- Drove back to Boise, spent the night and drove home the next morning.

BOISE: Who knew that we would find such a gem of a place in Boise. We kept hearing that Boise was pretty hip and we now have to say for ourselves that it defintely is a very cool little town.

Stayed at: The Modern Hotel, this place reminded me of an old fashioned motel I'm sure we have all stayed at a time or two when we were kids on a road trip with our parents. The difference is that this old roadside motel was updated with midcentury modern appeal.

This was a truly hip joint where all the locals hung out on a Friday night for a drink at their on-site bar/restaurant in the courtyard of the hotel. On our way back the night we stayed here again and on that night the Bike Coalition of Boise was having a fundraiser in the parking lot with live music and events, it was a great time.

We ate at: The night we got there I had found a local pizza hangout, and trust me when I say I don't have to twist my husbands arm to have great pizza! The name of the joint was called The Front Door, the veggie pizza was awesome, not to mention the excellent draft beer selection and our server was super friendly and gave us great recommendations for breakfast the next morning.

The next morning we went to Goldy's, everyone suggested this place even one of my clients from Salt Lake. Well it was a hit, even if we had to stand in the rain for a half hour to get in. The staff was so friendly and the food was great. I had a veggie scramble and one egg on the side and Billy had a breakfast burrito that was so big we had to take half of it to go. When you eat at the local places you get a unique experience and usually the best food in town..

On our way back through town at the end of our trip we wanted something different for breakfast, so I did search on my phone and found a place that was within walking distance of the Modern Hotel, a little joint called Big City Coffee.

This place was awesome, I ordered steamed eggs that came with avocado and salsa, steamed eggs? Yummy! And Billy ordered 'the usual' which was a bagel with cream cheese and tomatoes and the secret seasoning (delish!) with some fruit on the side. Also they have this huge desert case with mountains of scones, rice crispy treats, brownies and the like. Usually I have no problem resisting these kinds of temptations, but it was the end of our trip and I wanted to soak up every last bit, so I ordered a peanut butter bar and this scrumptious butterfinger brownie... there are no words that could accurately describe just how good that brownie was, absolutely amazing. We had seen that they were recently in Sunset Magazine which after having eaten there I can see that it was a well deserved mention.

Up next Portland.

Well 30 here I am!

That's right I'm 30, 30. When my husband asked me how I felt about turning 30, I said" well I earned everyone of my twenties so bring on the 30's." Since my husbands birthday is two weeks before mine and my mother and father in laws is a week before that were usually partied out by the time it gets to my birthday. Well not this year we wanted to do something fun to welcome age 30 in right, so we took a road trip to the Oregon Coast. I have to say I'm not much of a road tripper but this has to be one of the best trips I've been on. I know Billy felt the same way. So sit back relax and take a little drive to the coast, food, charities, free hugs and all! Don't forget the rain!

Letter to the Editor @ Sunset Magazine ( I had to write this for school)

Dear Katie Tamony:

I want to start off by saying how much I love my Sunset magazine, it was given to me as a gift a few years ago and I have kept my subscription renewed ever since. Countless travel, food, and gardening ideas have been inspired by your magazine. Thank you and I look forward to each issue.

In the September issue I enjoyed reading the article “Broccoli By the Sea,” about Darryl Wong’s business “Freewheeling Farms,” a farm that delivers their food by bicycle and also operates a CSA group. The thing that prompted me to write in was to respond to Darrly’s question “how can we get this food into Schools? Into Hospitals?”

I am currently enrolled in a Hollistic Nutrition School and the issue of getting healthy, fresh, food onto the plates of children and hospital patients is very important to me as well. A couple of ideas came to mind as potential avenues to look into.

First, a friend of mine here in Salt Lake City, Utah is hosting a public pot luck picnic in association with “Slow Food Utah” to raise awareness for congress to pass a better child nutrition act that brings real food to schools. For more information go to schools.slowfoodusa.org/timeforlunch. I think this is something we can all get behind and support, children need to have proper nutrition in order to allow their bodies and brains to develop and give them the energy that they need to get through the school day.

Second, I recently read an article in the August issue of Vegetarian News, which referenced a group in the San Francisco area called “Physicians for Social Responsibility” who work with local hospitals to put forward menus that promote “healthy, environmentally conscious diets with less meat and more fresh veggies.”

I am excited to see that organizations like these are getting behind the need for real food in our schools and hospitals. Hopefully Darryl could find similar organizations in his area that could help him promote the message and help him push the envelope of his farm.

Brooke

Salt Lake City, Utah

Where has the time gone? Check these out!

Did I miss August? No, I've just been so busy I had a slight breakdown last week! I have a lot to catch up on but first I want to share a few things that you might want to check out.

FIRST: On Monday Sept. 7 a friend of mine is hosting a public pot luck in association with Slow Food Utah at the International Peace Gardens (1060 so. 900 w.) to raise awareness for congress to pass a better Child Nutrition Act to get real food in schools. Everyone is encouraged to bring a dish to share. Billy and I are going, hope to see you there! http://www.slowfoodusa.org/timeforlunch

SECOND: Another friend sent me a link for a trailer on You Tube called "Tapped", it's about the bottled water problem we are facing. It's effect on us and our health and the health of the planet.

Blog Disclaimer

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting in bed blogging. I should tell you I'm sitting in bed so I can enjoy our new bedroom that my husband and I spent all last weekend working on. New paint, flooring and furniture. We are still waiting on the bed frame so our bed is on the floor right now which I don't mind, surprisingly! (remember I'm a control freak about many things my space being one of them!). Acceptance is the first step right?! Anyways on to the disclaimer, this month has had new challenges for me, a new location for my job and starting holistic nutrition school. So when my life gets too overwhelming I try to simplify, I need balance or I'm not my best. My blog is one thing that falls off the list of 'to do's'. Sad for you and more sad for me, I deal with guilt issues when I'm not able to do it all. I'm sure at times we all feel this way but just know that my blog means a lot to me and it means a lot that you are interested and making the recipes I share. This blog is about food and life and how the two can intersect in a healthy chic way that is responsible to those around us and most importantly ourselves. All I can really say is that I'm still making amazing things and sharing culinary delights with those around me, but in order to have order in my head I haven't had extra time to blog. I'll share a list of what's been happening in my kitchen and I'll make a good effort to follow up with the recipes. If not we'll move on and let go of the 'to do's!

P.S. I have some new pictures of the market, ENJOY!

-What's been Happening-
1. Grilled Pizza: We did a pizza on the grill for my mom's birthday, it was awesome the sweet roasted veggies and the crispy smokey crust were a huge hit. If you have not tried a pizza on the grill, HURRY summers almost over!

2. Peanut Putter Chocolate Cake: This was also for my mom's birthday, as if the pizza wasn't enough we finished the meal with a huge piece of this cake and loved every minute of it. (I found this recipe in Sunset Magazine)

3. Gazpacho: Surprising to me some people have never heard or tasted this wonderful cold summer vegetable soup. WHAT? Easy, delicious, healthy, light and refreshing, this has been our lunch for the past two weeks.

4. Wild Mushroom Ravioli: This is like summer in your mouth! Buy your favorite homemade ravioli, cook according to directions and set aside. Mix up 3 T. balsamic vinegar, 2 T. olive oil in a bowl add fresh lemon, sweet or regular basil, cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, toss with the ravioli and serve. Amazing flavor it's light and can be made in bigger portions for friends and family gatherings. (don't forget to add salt and pepper to taste) My husband thinks this dish tastes gourmet. Thanx sweetie!

5. Fresh Garden Saute: I took tomatoes, baby yellow squash, and tri colored green beans and whipped then into a saute with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Topped it with local beehive aggiano cheese. How lucky to have such fresh, flavorful food right out my back door.