Over the past couple weeks I've been to every event possible. This has ranged from Bayside Bowl's birthday to Maine Audubon's Peony Social, Running with Scissor's art space mural reveal BBQ and the opening of Portland Patisserie Cafe. I like to keep busy. Otherwise, it's movie time with the cat.....
In no particular order, but possibly in order of importance, I ate pizza. It was from Bonobo's, interspersed with doing laundry down the block, and it was $7. Every Monday and Tuesday, their cheese pizza is only $7 (normally $9.75). This was the perfect size and the perfect antidote to the necessary evil that is laundry day.
Next, speaking of a deal, The North Point on Silver Street has a $5 mojito night on Tuesdays. There are many flavors to choose from so you can sample one or two each week for a month! Flavors include: classic, raspberry, mango and a few others.
I like celebrations so when I heard Bayside Bowl was having a 5th anniversary party, I knew that I had to go eat some tater tots. This is the only place I've eaten tots in the past 5 years and I want more each time I leave. I brought a book and sat at the bar. The bartender and I started up a conversation about compost and human relationships (two separate but related topics). His point was that no on ever came to his class to teach him about compost in school. He still didn't quite know what it meant. For my job, I was lucky enough to teach local students about compost and its importance in our ecosystem (one of my all-time favorite subjects). Our conversation morphed into the vein of "why don't we teach classes on how to relate to one another" in school too? Healthy relations are sometimes hard to come by these days and this bartender and I both believe that, had we been taught certain things in school, life would be a little more smooth. Luckily, we both attend the school called Life, which accepts everyone.
Speaking of disappointments, here's my second negative review in 15 months: Portland Patisserie. When I heard there was to be a new French bakery, I was a little worried that they would take customers away from the original and incredible Standard Baking Co. Truth be told, I only bought one thing and you should't judge a place by one item. That being said, their ham and cheese croissant was not good. It was overly airy with very little cheese and merely a square of ham (deli meat style...) in one corner. Moreover, the only slightly crispy quality was on the bottom and the residue it left on my fingers was that of imperfection. I found myself driving to Standard for a comparison and rediscovered what this pastry should look, taste and feel like. Their ham and cheese croissant uses prosciutto and Asiago to make an incredibly flaky and beautiful piece. Both are ballpark $4 but at least I felt like I was eating something of substance and quality with Standard Baking Co. As always, these guys win because they don't need a shiny chandelier or lots of room to sit. Standard's simple storefront stands for themselves. I will say however that Portland Patisserie's interior is spectacular. I would love to sit here and read or study a few times a month. The space is warm and welcoming and I love their gold chairs.
One of the tastiest events has been Oxbow Brewing Company's Prom. This was an event at their tasting room on Washington Ave (behind Coffee By Design) for the release of an incredible beer, First Fruits. In chatting with a brewing friend, I found out out some fun facts:
1. Oxbow Brewery is in Newcastle, Maine and has a farmhouse posted on AirBnB if you want to get away.
2. First Fruits is a mix of barrels of beer with berries in them.
3. Berries differed between berries (aka, some barrels had strawberries (from Newcastle garden), others had raspberries (from somewhere else in Maine) or cherries (from Pennsylvania).
4. Barrels were aged different amounts of time with different berries and then were mixed together.
The result was an incredibly drinkable, rose colored, slightly sour but altogether perfect beer. Had work not come so early the next morning, I would have consumed a bit more. The whole event was made better by Salt N Peppa on the record player and a pie bar with rhubarb hibiscus and strawberry pies.
Before I made my way to the Prom, I attended a BBQ for the reveal of two murals down in East Bayside (think bike path). Remember Bread and Butter Catering from the last blog? They catered this event as well and, once again, I was stuffed and elated. On the menu was a fresh salad with tarragon vinaigrette, corn pudding (a first for me and oh so delicious), green beans with bacon, and smoked ribs. Also available was crisp strawberry rhubarb lemonade, which I mixed with Oxbow's Loretta. A summer shandy if you will...Somehow, I managed to come away from both the BBQ and the pie bar at the prom with a perfectly clean dress!
Moving on, a little beauty: before I started my new job last Saturday, I had a good amount of time off. This time found me wandering around city streets in search of nature and on the beach soaking up the sights. I found flowers budding with raindrops, tree bark bursting with color and lichen life and feathers among wave-smoothed rocks.
In no particular order, but possibly in order of importance, I ate pizza. It was from Bonobo's, interspersed with doing laundry down the block, and it was $7. Every Monday and Tuesday, their cheese pizza is only $7 (normally $9.75). This was the perfect size and the perfect antidote to the necessary evil that is laundry day.
Next, speaking of a deal, The North Point on Silver Street has a $5 mojito night on Tuesdays. There are many flavors to choose from so you can sample one or two each week for a month! Flavors include: classic, raspberry, mango and a few others.
I like celebrations so when I heard Bayside Bowl was having a 5th anniversary party, I knew that I had to go eat some tater tots. This is the only place I've eaten tots in the past 5 years and I want more each time I leave. I brought a book and sat at the bar. The bartender and I started up a conversation about compost and human relationships (two separate but related topics). His point was that no on ever came to his class to teach him about compost in school. He still didn't quite know what it meant. For my job, I was lucky enough to teach local students about compost and its importance in our ecosystem (one of my all-time favorite subjects). Our conversation morphed into the vein of "why don't we teach classes on how to relate to one another" in school too? Healthy relations are sometimes hard to come by these days and this bartender and I both believe that, had we been taught certain things in school, life would be a little more smooth. Luckily, we both attend the school called Life, which accepts everyone.
Speaking of disappointments, here's my second negative review in 15 months: Portland Patisserie. When I heard there was to be a new French bakery, I was a little worried that they would take customers away from the original and incredible Standard Baking Co. Truth be told, I only bought one thing and you should't judge a place by one item. That being said, their ham and cheese croissant was not good. It was overly airy with very little cheese and merely a square of ham (deli meat style...) in one corner. Moreover, the only slightly crispy quality was on the bottom and the residue it left on my fingers was that of imperfection. I found myself driving to Standard for a comparison and rediscovered what this pastry should look, taste and feel like. Their ham and cheese croissant uses prosciutto and Asiago to make an incredibly flaky and beautiful piece. Both are ballpark $4 but at least I felt like I was eating something of substance and quality with Standard Baking Co. As always, these guys win because they don't need a shiny chandelier or lots of room to sit. Standard's simple storefront stands for themselves. I will say however that Portland Patisserie's interior is spectacular. I would love to sit here and read or study a few times a month. The space is warm and welcoming and I love their gold chairs.
One of the tastiest events has been Oxbow Brewing Company's Prom. This was an event at their tasting room on Washington Ave (behind Coffee By Design) for the release of an incredible beer, First Fruits. In chatting with a brewing friend, I found out out some fun facts:
1. Oxbow Brewery is in Newcastle, Maine and has a farmhouse posted on AirBnB if you want to get away.
2. First Fruits is a mix of barrels of beer with berries in them.
3. Berries differed between berries (aka, some barrels had strawberries (from Newcastle garden), others had raspberries (from somewhere else in Maine) or cherries (from Pennsylvania).
4. Barrels were aged different amounts of time with different berries and then were mixed together.
The result was an incredibly drinkable, rose colored, slightly sour but altogether perfect beer. Had work not come so early the next morning, I would have consumed a bit more. The whole event was made better by Salt N Peppa on the record player and a pie bar with rhubarb hibiscus and strawberry pies.
Before I made my way to the Prom, I attended a BBQ for the reveal of two murals down in East Bayside (think bike path). Remember Bread and Butter Catering from the last blog? They catered this event as well and, once again, I was stuffed and elated. On the menu was a fresh salad with tarragon vinaigrette, corn pudding (a first for me and oh so delicious), green beans with bacon, and smoked ribs. Also available was crisp strawberry rhubarb lemonade, which I mixed with Oxbow's Loretta. A summer shandy if you will...Somehow, I managed to come away from both the BBQ and the pie bar at the prom with a perfectly clean dress!
Moving on, a little beauty: before I started my new job last Saturday, I had a good amount of time off. This time found me wandering around city streets in search of nature and on the beach soaking up the sights. I found flowers budding with raindrops, tree bark bursting with color and lichen life and feathers among wave-smoothed rocks.