weekend fun, then back to the grind

I purposefully chose the Ms. Bento this morning as a motivator to get myself out the door at lunch and eat at the park. I haven't had a chance in awhile to do that. It's so easy each day for me to get to a point where I just can't get away and end up eating at my desk, so sometimes I just have to Have A Plan. And the only way I could drag myself out of my comfy bed this morning, after such a fun weekend, was to promise myself that I would eat lunch at the park today, dammit.

lunch, Ms. Bento

• stir fry -- kale, rainbow chard, bok choy, onion, garlic, chicken, broccoli, snow peas, peanuts, secret special sauce ;)
• jasmine rice
• half a Jazz apple (the other half, along with some blueberries, served as breakfast)
• chocolate covered raisins

So Cat arrived Friday evening and we headed over to Screen Door, which was her suggestion. She'd heard about it online somewhere -- she has a love and fascination for all things Southern -- and we'd never been there, so it was perfect. Always love trying a new place, but especially with someone who's as interested in a new culinary adventure as we are.

There was a half hour wait, so we walked down the block for iced tea/coffee until our turn for a table came up. We were lucky to get a table on the patio, and the evening was just absolutely PNW perfect: mid-70s, no wind, sunny with a few high clouds. So glad it wasn't hot, because I just have no appetite in the heat and nothing on the menu would've sounded good to me. When she was here this time last year, we were in the midst of 100 degree temperatures, and it sucked.

Unhampered by heat, then, we proceeded to order a gazillion different things: hush puppies and fritters, corn on the cob and buttermilk fried chicken, and a banana and caramel and shortbread pie thing that we probably would've sold ourselves into indentured servitude for. Sally had to work, so we decided early on we'd start a box of leftovers to take home for him, which freed us up to oder so many dishes...win/win!

We rolled out of there stuffed and content and headed home to relax and visit until Sally got home. We probably could've talked well into the wee hours, but since we were planning to spend our Saturday in the Gorge, we decided to be responsible adults and turn in for a good night's rest.

Saturday started out cool and overcast, then cleared and warmed up later, which seems to be the pattern for the last week or so. Cat had never been to the Gorge, nor seen Multnomah Falls, so we decided this had to be rectified immediately.

So we spent the day on a leisurely drive on the Historic Columbia River Highway, stopping at different view points and landmarks along the way, as well as each of the falls that lead up to Multnomah. While we were up on the ridges portion of the highway, there was no wind at all -- unusual for the Gorge -- so it made the stop at Vista House in particular especially nice.

We stopped for a picnic at Wahkeena Falls, then on to Multnomah at last. Which...well, the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful day by then, but we were reminded why we've never been there on a Saturday at the height of tourist season. HOLY CRAP! People everywhere, and the bridge across the falls was packed, and it eliminated any desire we normally have to linger and enjoy the view the way we usually do when we're there. Despite the hordes of people, however, we did still get lots of beautiful pictures.

We kept going east to Hood River, where one of Sal's former students had recently opened a bakery and he was hoping we'd be able to stop in for a bit. Except he couldn't remember the name. So Cat and I both googled madly with the vague clues for some hint of what the place was called and where we'd find it. Thank goodness that man has passengers with unstoppable google-fu or he'd never find anything....

But find it, we did. Unfortunately, the bakery was closed for the day, but he could see someone (not his studen) inside working some dough. He didn't want to disturb them, but Cat and I insisted that we knock on some windows, find a back door, something. Which earned us designations as rabblerousers, like that was a bad thing. Joke's on him.

We were let inside and got an after hours tour of his former student's bakery, met both her and one of her pastry chefs, talked about the challenges of opening a bakery in a small town, providing product for less traditional-pastry-educated palates, the differences between East Coast and West Coast, and the surprising things that do and don't sell. It was a great experience to see the effect of Sal's work, and how much he inspires his students, and how much they look up to him.

We ended up back at home later than originally planned so scrapped our original dinner plans and instead (thanks to the gracious suggestion of Cat, who is the most thoughful house guest imaginable), opted for pizzas from Pizza Fino and a homemade salad. We were able to eat outside on the patio, then once the mosquitos drove us inside, changed into our jammies and curled up on the couch to visit until bedtime.

Her departure on Sunday morning came all too soon, but such is the way of things when you have a dear friend visiting. We're so fortuante to have friends who visit as often as they do, and who welcome us for visits, too. Now if we could just get that whole "independently wealthy" gig going so we didn't have to limit ourselves to weekends in between job obligations, we'd be able to make those visits far more frequent....