UniBrain Trust » Portland

USS High Point coming to Portland

Jim — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:32:56 +0000

When I was a kid, yeah that long ago, I read everything I could about the Navy Hydrofoil Patrol Craft USS High Point. High Point was decommissioned and eventually stricken from the US Navel Register. According to Wiki, she was purchased in 2002 with the intent to restore her. Today while out for lunch I saw a flyer asking for volunteers for the restoration crew. According to the website, she is moored on the Columbia and will be moved to Portland to make it easier to work on and to have a greater pool of volunteers.

Nadya said I needed another hobby.

Morning sky

Jim — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:10:08 +0000

Some mornings the sky looks better than other mornings. Today is one of those days.

Antique Powerland

Jim — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:41:13 +0000

One of the places in the area that I’ve been meaning to visit is Antique Powerland. This weekend was a big truck show so I decided to do a little photo trip.

Video of the Steam Powered Sawmill

Movies on the roof

Jim — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:51:04 +0000

Movies on the roof on a warm summer night sponsored by the NW Film Center. The evening feature is Duck Soup.

Portland Farmers Market

Jim — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:52:13 +0000

On the first sunny Saturday in what seems like a long time, Nadya and I went to the Portland Farmers Market to do some shopping. The season is still young with a lot of leafy greens, meats and flowers.

Photo Day

Jim — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:29:29 +0000

Nadya and I went over to the Pearl on one of the first sunny days of the spring. There is a new sculpture being placed that spices up the cityscape. Unfortunately it is surrounded by CAUTION tape. Oh well, just consider these shots as samples.

Snow walk

Jim — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:59:24 +0000

Fat City is open so Nadya and I walked uphill in the snow to have breakfast and buy Christmas present.

Temperature peaked at 23 degrees today with the weather guessers projecting freezing rain and sleet for the next day. At least we got out today and it was pretty.

For a bunch of pictures of

Snowpocalypse!

Nadya — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:14:17 +0000

Weather service is calling it 8 inches. Who are we to argue?

Snowed-In Neighborhood Party

Nadya — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:13:27 +0000

What to do when everyone’s Saturday before Christmas plans were cancelled? Have an impromptu “bring what you were going to bring to your other party” neighborhood party. We were the lucky hosts. Everyone else had to tromp through 8 inches of snow.

Successful Dinner Party

Nadya — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:11:48 +0000

We hosted some friends for a dinner party this Friday. Given the weather, I’m glad they all lived very close! As I tend to forget these things I’m blogging the menu:

Appetizers:

Rosemary/Lemon White Bean Dip
Crostini
Bias Cut Carrot Slices
Maple Spiced Nuts (I added a bit of cayenne as well.)

Dinner:

Beef Tenderloin with Roquefort Sauce. From 150 Best American Recipes and oh so good. We forgot to add the creme fraiche to the sauce but it was so good I’m not sure it’s worth it to add the creme fraiche. I was nervous about cooking my first tenderloin and it turned out fabulous. Jim did most of the actual cooking on this one – so I can say that without blushing.

Wild Rice Pilaf (Gourmet Cookbook – a fine basic pilaf. Recipe said it served 8 and it would have served 12 easily)

Sauteed Red Kale with Pancetta (Adapated from Gourmet Cookbook Kale with Bacon)

For dessert we had Cranberry Poached Pears. I took the advice of one of the reviewers and added a bare touch of ground cloves. This was a nice, refreshing dessert after the rich tenderloin. We garnished with a dollop of creme fraiche and chopped toasted filberts. A sprig of mint would have have been nice.

Beth brought a great Casa la Postole Cabernet and I opened an ’05 Caymus Cab. The Caymus needed decanting and breathing and turned out fine after a few hours. I preferred the la Postole but they were both great with the beef.