Snapshot(s):

Time: 6:28pm-8:56pm
Place: Little Red Bike Cafe
What: Grub, Friends, Conversation, Music, Throw-Downs, Libations


Wasabi Deviled Eggs
with sesame, smoked salmon and fish sauce

Creamy Wild Mushroom Polenta
with gorgonzola, olive oil, and toasted walnuts


Meatball Arrabiata
beef, pork, veal, pecorino and arugula

Chicken and Biscuits
rustic chicken stew served over two sweet-cream biscuits, bacon and rosemary

Slow-Baked Banana Cake
with coconut cream cheese frosting

Chocolate-Bourbon-Pecan Pie (v)
pecans, chocolate, bourbon, pie crust, coconut-milk whipped cream


Time: 9:47pm-9:50pm

After-work libations part I

After-work libations part II

Tutorial: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In honor of this great man, we made his favorite food today: pecan pie. Or, as our friend Neil likes to call it, peCAN pie. Thank you Dr. King for inspiring us to always do more.

Naturally our pecan pie contains bourbon, which is optional if you don't consider yourself a sinner. Here's our adapted recipe for glory:

PeCAN Bourbon Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups pecan halves
2 tablespoons good-quality bourbon (We like Buffalo Trace)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 9-inch deep-dish pie shell (I'm fortunate enough to have a man in the house who can make these for me)

1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, eggs, pecans, bourbon, vanilla and salt and stir until combined. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell. In a separate bowl combine beaten egg and water. Set aside.

Place pie on a heavy-duty cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove pie from oven and brush egg wash along the crust. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes. Pie will be golden brown and set. If not, bake a few minutes longer until done. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Serve with bourbon honey-whipped cream.

Bourbon Honey Whipped Cream
1 cup (cold) heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1/4 quality honey
1 tablespoon bourbon

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and add to cream and bourbon. Using electric mixer, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add honey; beat until stiff peaks form.

Coming Soon To a Menu Near You?

While in the midst of making this Sunday's brunch menu I had to pause to make myself some food. After all, one cannot write and obsess over food without indulging in some from time to time. At first I was slightly disappointed upon discovering that this was all our home fridge had to yield:

Sauteed Spinach Quesadilla
with Blue Cheese and Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce

Once I settled into eating, I couldn't get past the fact that what I tasted curiously (but ever-so-enticingly) reminded me of eating Buffalo Hot Wings (something I haven't done since I was like ten years old, and which probably took place at my soccer team's end-of-the-season party- trophies included), though this was decidedly much better. The combination of the tang from the blue cheese with the spice from the chili was gloriously intoxicating. I suddenly felt like my "bummer" lunch was secretly the best thing that's ever happened to me on a gloomy January day. My dreary meal suddenly had an instant shot of "pop," and I couldn't help but feel like I was eating some really amazing bar snack-which felt completely naughty and exhilarating at 11:30 in the morning. I absolutely adore when food does that.

Without too much hesitation I was able to convince myself that these flavors must make their way on to the menu (whichever menu), perhaps with the addition of some sweet roasted butternut squash, sour cream, and celery sticks on the side. So keep an eye out; this one is too good not to tweak and share.

In Case You've Been Wondering...

Nighttime at LRBC

Here's a little pictorial of what dinners have been like recently...

Deviled Eggs
with chives and malt vinegar

Cranberry-White Grapefruit Sorbet w/ Chilled Vodka (v)
(Playboy glass not included)

Roasted Beet and Green Bean Salad
with lentils, hard-boiled egg, basil, green goddess dressing

Fried Egg with Wilted Greens and Anchovy
on garlic toast

House Pâté Plate
pork liver mousse or lentil-pecan (v), pickles, mustard, red onion, hard-boiled egg, bread

PDX Coffee
Courier Coffee Roaster's espresso, bourbon, chocolate whipped cream, orange

Polenta with Roasted Pepper Ragout (v)
sauteed chard, toasted pine nuts, olive oil

"Everything" Potato Chips (v)
served warm

Chocolate-Espresso Pudding
served chilled with whipped cream

Truffled Grilled Cheese Sandwich
with beet marmalade and garlic-mustard

Lemon Curd Pie
with graham-cracker-pecan crust, macerated berries, whipped cream

You should come on down and visit us. We'd like to show you what else we've been up to.

Little Red Bike Cafe
4823 North Lombard St.
Portland, OR 97203
Open for Drinks and Snacks
W-F (to start)
6pm-9pm

Directions Here

(v): vegan

A Quiet Opening...

Would you believe me if I told you that these pecans were roasted for you? Given how long it's taken us to bake them I wouldn't be surprised if your answer was "no." But guess what, it's true. After months of deliberation and a few setbacks along the way, these nuts have finally come into fruition. They belong to our dinner menu...and we'll be serving them tonight, along with a few other things we've been hiding up our sleeve.

You heard it HERE first: Dinner begins tonight from 6pm-9pm and is open to the public. There was some debate about where to announce our opening. We opted for the blog rather than Twitter because we owe it to you dear readers, who live both near and far, and who have been along for the long journey with us. As you very well know, we have been anxiously anticipating the initiation of this service for months (even years). So thank you for your patience and please wish us luck! XO

Snacks

Deviled Eggs $3

with chives and malt vinegar

Roasted Pecans $3

Semi-Sweet Pickle Plate $4

made with banana vinegar

Salt and Pepper Potato Chips $2

Plates

Fried Egg with Wilted Greens and Anchovy $6

served on garlic toast

Vegan Caesar Salad $7

with romaine, butter lettuce, and olive-oil croutons

Roasted Beet and Green Bean Salad $8

with lentils, hard-boiled egg, and green goddess dressing

Grilled Cheese Sandwich $8

with beet marmalade and garlic-mustard

Meatball Arrabiata Sandwich $9

beef, pork, veal, pecorino and arugula

Desserts

Sweet Potato Cupcake $2

with toasted marshmallow icing

Chocolate-Espresso Pudding $4

served chilled with whipped cream

Portland Coffee $7

espresso, bourbon, chocolate whipped cream, orange

Drinks

Lager $2 IPA/Stout $3 Wine $6

So Long, 2009 (Part I)

I certainly think the toughest part about starting a blog post after such a long break is beginning it. This one will have to be broken up into two parts; I just don't see any other way around it.

So many things have happened between today and the last time we spoke (...like a whole year...), so it's hard to know where to begin. But we're old friends by now, so forgive me for just jumping in. After all, the waters of 2010 promise to be much more desirable than the icy abyss of 2009.

2010 snuck up on me. Especially given the fact that the close of December 2009 will forever be remembered as the shortest month of my 27 years to date. But let me be clear: I was ready and anxious for the turn of this new year more than anyone I know. And when you take in to account my mom's cardiac arrest, the crash of our computer's hard-drive (and subsequent loss of my manuscript), the cafe's flood (and our subsequent "divorce" from our landlord), paired with the ill timed loss of a friend, well, I guess you can understand why I was beckoning 2010 to come early. But December had to come first, and even I was left in awe of how swiftly the month proceeded.


As you might recall, we started the month in San Fransisco in order to reunite with family and celebrate (over dim sum) Evan's Dad, Mark's, birthday. While there, we scoured the Farmers' Market [@ the Ferry Building Marketplace] and even managed to score artisan marmalade and chocolates;


and reunited with an old friend over spaghetti and meatballs and (one too many) drinks [@ Emmy's Spaghetti Shack]; and later trekked out to The Mission in order to commend the beauty of perfect bread [@ Tartine Bakery],


and re-salute Brussels sprouts as the most underrated and unappreciated vegetable [@ Delfina Restaurant], and bow down to ice cream as our official most favoritest dessert ever [@ Bi-Rite Creamery]. We also had an opportunity to love on, and talk family, art, and B.S. over brunch [@ La Note] with some of the coolest cats we know in the East Bay;


and check out what all the buzz is about [@ Blue Bottle];

while falling in love with coffee, food, and seasonally devoted delights all over again [@ Farm Table]; all the while (nearly) dodging seagull droppings over chowder [@ Fisherman's Wharf]. What can I say? We're travelers at heart and firm believers in leaving no stone unturned.

We spent the middle of the month in Portland surrounded by friends and family, the first ones being our solid LRBC crew. We couldn't help but feel incredibly blessed and relieved that we found such a devoted group of individuals to represent us, and serve you, while we were away. We returned home from San Fransisco to a cafe that was clean, orderly, and obviously cared for by loving hands. We are so grateful for those hands. If not for them we would be landlocked, unable to explore the world that always inspires us to return home and create.


We also had the opportunity to get a jump start on holiday celebrations with our dearest ones, who also happen to members of "the industry." Joel kicked off the festivities by graciously hosting a fabulous fondue soiree where Marion Cunningham (along with help from Matt, Daphne and yours truly), the "Fannie Farmer of today," saved the day by making the suggestion of adding warm wine to a seizing fondue. Okay, the warm wine may have been her suggestion but we generously added the entire bottle, which rounded out the meal quite nicely. We spent the evening dining fireside, listening to Joel's vast collection of the greatest old Christmas albums of all time on his (two) turntables. It was a beautiful night really and the perfect way to initiate that good old sense of nostalgia.


The festive mood continued by another dose of holiday cheer at Jamie's, Evan's sister's, holiday party at Visual FX Salon. Jamie put on a beautiful spread and not only were we able to witness the hottest new salon holiday trend of 2010 (chilling champagne & cider in wash basins), but we also got to rub elbows with Santa and happily indulge in some of Marylin's (of Piece of Cake Bakery) stellar cakes.


Not Too Shabby. And with that we had two holiday parties under our belt.

Our luck got even better when we were able to get some quality time with D & G, who invited us over for our monthly session of relaxation/venting/marveling at the cutest baby and greatest guard dog (ever). While there, we also managed to fill our bellies with homemade sausages, fresh baked bread, and butternut squash lasagna whilst daring to dream (out-loud) about our mutually exciting projects and futures.


Yes, all in all I'd say the middle portion of the month of December was spent reestablishing the thing in life we are most grateful for: our friends (family included).


And then it happened; one minute we're counting our blessings, taking off our party shoes , and crawling into bed for our annual viewing of (Irving Berlin's) White Christmas, and then the next we're packing our suitcases again for what will forever be remembered as a generous, twelve-night, eye-opening excursion.


to be continued...

Refreshed

Howdy folks!

We've left the land where frogs look like this...


...and we are excited to be returning home, the place we know and love, and where the coffee tastes like this...


Congratulations to everyone who survived the holidays. Hope you're hungry, 'cause we've got a lot in store for 2010.

Happy New Year!