waffles, carts and the portland street

if you live in or have ever been to portland you know that there is a food cart culture here. food lovers with a vision take over little pieces of land, often vacant lots on a street with lots of foot traffic, park a trailer and start making food. i like this for a couple reasons.

1. low risk. the price of starting up a trailer restaurant has to be so so much less than starting a traditional restaurant so this allows for people to actually get into the food game without a trust fund or going into crazy debt. i imagine this brings a diversity to the ownership that you can't find in the regular restaurant business.

2. the carts are cute. having a sweet little cart, some seating and decor filling up a vacant lot on a walking street is brilliant. a neighborhood can blossom without a lot of capital rich developers coming in. it also adds a wonderful vibe to the street to have people working outside, you can wave at them when you walk by. i like that.

3. food container innovation. there are so many more ways to serve food than just on a plate. i particularly love food wrapped in a small piece of paper. little waste, including the water and soap used to clean real plates. plus there is an opportunity for artistic expression.

What do you like about street carts? What are your favorite carts?



this is a waffle from Little Blue Waffle Wagon* near my house. it is beautiful, the ladies who made it were lovely and it tasted supper yummy. there are a few reviews on yelp and they pretty much say it all so I'll pass you over there. *LBWW did have a website I could find. boo!

stay tuned for more reports from the street carts of portland.

*LBWW did have a website I could find. boo!

what to do with all the corn? Sweet Corn Ice Cream of course!

we have a fridge full of corn due to the super funness of picking it straight from the stalk. Now I am wondering if we can eat it all, but I just came across this and man, now I know what to do. I'm hoping I can find a recipe that dosesn't call for an ice cream maker.

Leah from Spicy Salty Sweet (who's blog is lovely and inspiring) also wrote about Cucumber Sorbet! I get excited for cucumber water so the thought of this melting in my mouth sounds heavenly. It reminds me of an amazing tomatoes and basil sorbet hubby and I had a couple years ago at Marjorie. We still talk about it when the topic of best desert moments comes up. If you haven't been to Marjorie it is a little known Seattle Must Do. The atmosphere, food and people are wonderful. You won't be disappointed.

Happy Monday!

Portland Pie-Off

I'm entering a pie contest this weekend! i just came across the posting on yelp and i am so excited. i will use my famous crust and probably an apple/cherry combo, but i'm not sure yet. wish me luck! I'll post photos afterwards.

fennel in the mary.

look at this. doesn't it look yummy? maybe it's just already a long week at work, but yum.

this little piece of heaven is found at Matchbox Lounge that is near my house. the people on yelp say the burgers are awesome.

i haven't been here yet but i am on a quest to discover my new town. i'll tell you if this little beauty is as good as it looks.