August 2006 Archives

So, I thought of a way to make you know how much I love you.

I love your Kung Fu.
I love how you make meals in bowls.
I love how I find your socks everywhere.

I love the pots and pans.
I love the bathroom products.

I love the magazines.
I love the the airline rides.
I love the Rosenberg.

To the Greatest of all time.
Master of Everything.

I am humbled by your love.

Happy Birthday Robin.

Labor Day is just around the corner so while you are swimming, drinking, camping or whatever, don't forget your racoon. Here is a great recipe for the holiday and I plan on posting some other great game recipes for the upcoming months.

1 small coon or hindquarter and loin of larger young coon 2 to 2 1/2 lbs.
3-4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp. Salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 pound pancetta
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery diced
3 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 pitted prunes
Six leaves fresh sage, chopped
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Olive oil

Set oven to moderate heat (375 degrees) 10 minutes before baking. Dress coon carefully so as not to leave any clinging hair. Remove scent glands and kernels under legs.

Wrap coon in plastic wrap or foil and chill thoroughly or freeze for several hours. Trim off all but a thin layer of fat and any discolored spots. Wash well in lukewarm water.

Cut whole coon or hindquarters and loin into 4 pieces with kitchen scissors or heavy butcher knife. Brown coon pieces with olive oil in a dutch oven over meium/high heat. Remove browned coon meat and ad the pancetta to the pan. Cook for two minutes, then ad vegetables. Cook for five minutes, then deglaze the pan with the wine. Return the coon pieces to the pot and add the salt, pepper, stock, vinegar, sage and prunes. Bring to a boil then cover and set in oven. Cook until tender (1-2 hrs depending on age of animal). Remove meat from pot and put on serving tray. Cook down the sauce over medium high heat until it thickens. Pour over meat.

Polenta or mashed potatoes would go good with this. An Oregon riesling or Pinot Gris would round it out. Serves 4.

Don't forget to check out two new sandwiches this week - carnita style pork with mayo, provolone and jicama slaw; and turkey with figs, sherried oions and dried california jack.

I am very excited to plug the release of Old Joy, a film by Kelly Reichart, based on a short story written by Portland's own Jonathan Raymond. Both Kelly and Jon are good friends, and big fans of our Work, so it felt very natural when Kelly asked if we might collaborate on a project. The idea was simple--while the film was being shot, we would make food, which the cast and crew would then eat for meals. It was a radical method, but one that worked simply because...people need to eat. I was thrilled to work so closely with Kelly and I like to think that our halibut provencal and strawberry-rhubarb pie contributed something to the film's search for meaning and authenticity in a disconnected world.

In addition to the catering, I also had the honor of playing a truck stop waitress. Our day of shooting at the Linnton Cafe on Highway 30 towards Skamania was one of the highlights of 2005 for me. For a few short hours, I got to shed my role as "authority figure" and actually follow someone else's directions. Switching from helping 4 customers at once to a focusing on one single effort (standing on my mark at a precise angle that would keep my left breast from taking over the whole shot) was difficult, but exhilierating. And working with Will Oldham and Daniel London was just a total thrill. Even if my acting did not impress them, I believe I scored some points with banana pudding.
If you're in Portland, please come see the film at Cinema 21, premiering on Friday August 25th. If you live elsewhere, check out the playdates at the website. And look for Half & Half in the credits!!!!

My friend Scotty emailed from Vienna this morning to inform me of the new Half & Half group pool on Flickr! Some of these photos date back to the old "Crowsenberg's" days, which feels simultaneoulsly like yesterday and a thousand years ago. If you have any photos of special times you've had at Half & Half, please join the group. Thank you kevincrumbs for starting this archive, I want to buy you a sandwich!

It's good to be back at the Half & Half. I didn't think so when, while collecting my bags at the airport, Amanda called to tell me that someone spilt a sweet tea all over the cash register and credit card machine. But since we've already gone through 3 cash registers under these exact circumstances, everyone knew exactly what to do: turn all electronics off and wait for them to dry out. Miraculously, the credit card machine turned itself back on and batched out right on schedule. The cash register refused to recognize the "0" key for one day, but by Sunday it was as though that iced tea never happened.

I did manage to bite the head off a customer, first thing, on my first shift back. Typically, I open up 5-10 minutes early, or try to serve someone if they happen to come in before we're open. But, I do feel an obligation to tell them that we're not 'officially' open, so that 1) they know we're really, really nice and 2) they know not to expect to be let in early every time. So, when I suddenly detected the presence of "attitude" by someone needing to be at work at the same time we open, whilst still gaining my bearings, and still hanging on to a little venom from the two days we spent trying to get back to Portland, I turned uncharacteristically hostile. And it felt great. For like, 2 seconds. And then I spent the rest of the morning trying to defend myself to every other customer who came through the door, while really getting back in touch with my nice side.

Whilst vacationing, it's a natural and necessary habit to take note of your surroundings and see what influence they might have on your life back home. For instance, I have brand new resolve to turn the shed in our back yard into a livingroom/cabana. But mostly I am checking out restaurants, to see what some are doing right and/or doing wrong so that I can either obsess over what we need to change, or feel smug in our awesomeness. Archie Moore's, a small chain of bars in Western Connecticut, has an inspiring daily special: From 4pm-6pm every day, they set out a chafing dish of all you can eat chicken wings. This place is not a dive, not particularly cool, but a sports bar that also has a monitor on CNN and the decor is vaguely Applebee's, but steeped in Connecticut paraphernalia. Our friends live literally across the street, on Willow Ave. in New Haven. We stopped in at about 3:50 on a Thursday afternoon, after taking a 2 hour stroll in 103 degree, cloudless, moisture laden heat around the Yale Campus. Of course, it's air conditioned, as no place on the Eastern Seaboard can function an longer without it. No one is in the place at 3:50, but by 4:20, every table is full. The table behind me is occupied by 4 guys who can't be older than 17 (I think this place qualifies as a restaurant, so minors can hang out). Each has his own personal pitcher of soda; they're drinking from them with straws. The wings are, shockingly, very tasty. Not quite on par with my favorite from Sinnot's Lil' Cooperstown on NE Halsey and 58th, but better than I've had at most places. And they're free, and there's no limit. I heard they go through about 3000 wings a week (or is it a day, or is it 30,000?), a little factoid which does tug at your conscience more than a bit, but when you've just broiled your own body, and you're re-hydrating with a bud light (tastes weird, less filling), and you're eating for free with good friends, you're not steeped in conscience. Jeff, by my estimate, probably had at least 20 wings, and our friend Matt might have had more (he's there every day, mind you). Ashley and I kept it under 10 a piece. Nachos were on the way, and I was saving up for the lobster.

There were people there not buying anything at all, just dining on wings, and they staff didn't seem to mind, or notice. I wonder when did they start this as a special, and is this why they have four locations? Because it is just such a nice gesture that people spend a lot of money and tip extra when given something for free? My experience is usually the opposite, especially when it comes to catering, but maybe there is something to this. What kind of "happy hour" (I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to advertise for happy hours in Oregon) special can we offer? The only logical choice is deviled eggs. But there's no way we can sustain an all you can eat situation, for several reasons: we can only make so many eggs at a time, and it's just not safe to that many deviled eggs. But I think we'll have to have a deviled egg afternoon special when we get back. Any suggestions?

It's not laziness, or lack of motivation that it's been nearly 2 weeks since our last post: Jeff and I are on vacation in New England. While we are sweating through humidity and eating as if every meal might be our last, Half & Half is in the very capable hands of our staff. I spent the first day of vacation worrying, and since then it's honestly been hard for me to think about work--at all. Which is ok, right? Right?

It's a little too late to post an eating blog of New England; just as well, since we're about 50/50 on good meals, but I would like to share that I have ate TWO lobsters for dinner (disclaimer: not big lobsters) here in Maine, as well as a fried lobster plate at lunch, and there will be some butter-laden lobster rolls in my future tomorrow. I also had my first whoopie pie today: nothing at all like a moon pie. I had no idea--it's like a gigantic round devil dog, or an inverted hostess cupcake, but in any case far more dangerous and delicious than either of these. I ate one after the fried lobster, and I ate all of it because it was so good that I couldn't stop, and the rest of the afternoon was a washout. A nap and a sweaty walk through historic Hallowell didn't improve the situation. Now that I've experienced them, I think I'll stay away from both fried lobster and whoopie pies for the rest of my life. But I could easily another two or more lobsters in one sitting. It's a cleaner form of gluttony.