The Lazy Margarita

What with summer winding down and the reality of “back to school” or “back to work” or whatever you are back to, even if that means cold weather and short days, here’s a tip I thought up on vacation and tried when I got home.

I call it “The Lazy Margarita”.  Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing like the real thing, especially when the lime juice has been lovingly  hand squeezed by some sweet boy named Rico.  But when you are back to reality and grasping at the final straws of summer, this can do the trick.

I was sitting in a hotel room after a long day of exploring Portland and had a few cans of Santa Cruz brand, organic ginger ale.   I took the plastic cover off the plastic cup and filled it with the ice that I had gone what felt like three blocks to collect from the ice machine.  That was always my favorite part about being on vacation as a child, getting a Coke from the vending machine and drinking it with the free ice!  To this day I can’t drink a Coke ( not that I drink much Coke any more, but you know, once in a while) without it being severely watered down!

So as I drank my ginger ale from my plastic cup, all I could think about was how good this would probably taste with a shot of Tequila in it!

When I got home…….that’s exactly what I did!  And it was GREAT!!  And a perfectly respectable “Lazy Margarita”!

So fill the glass of your choice ( actual glass works fine too) with a lot of ice….even crushed iced, if you are more ambitious.  Pour in a shot of Tequila and then pour the ginger ale over it.   Let it sit just a little till the ice melts a bit.  Keep adding a bit more of any of the ingredients as you drink until you get the exact tastiest balance!

By By sweet Summer!!

The Lazy Margarita: Santa Cruz Organic Ginger Ale and Tequila

Laurelhurst Market Restaurant and Butcher Shop

We figured on our last night in Portland, we would go big or go home!  Wait…we were going home! 

You know what I mean!  It was our last night so we wanted to make sure we made it worth our while!

And now that our Cuban Sandwich and fries had worn off, it was time to get back to some serious eating!

We ended up going to a place called “The Laurelhurst Market Restaurant and Butcher Shop“.

Which is right on the edge of a unique Portland neighbourhood by the same name of Laurelhurst.

What is really interesting about this resto / Brasserie is that as you enter, it also has a full service Butcher Shop.  So you know your product is fresh!!

We opted to sit on the patio, to squeeze out those last hours of our summer vacation!  I was so pleased and surprised to see apples and pears growing right along side the fence!  Talk about “local produce”!!

Pears

We started with “Fleur de Lis Breads — with Housemade Ricotta and Olive Oil”

This cheese spread was SO wonderful.  It was creamy delicious and had a hint of lemon!  SO good!!

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I ordered “Steak & Greens — Piedmontese Bavette, Local Salad Greens, Ancho Chili Romesco, Jacobsen’s Oregon Salt”

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The Chef got “Grilled Brandt Flat Iron — Sauteed Chard, Cipollini Onion Jam, Madre Terra Olive Oil”

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And then we shared a couple of sides “Mac & Cheese with Tim’s Chip Crust” and “White beans with ham hock and pickled vegetables“.

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It was all a wonderful treat!  So much so that we were too full for dessert!

And I thought it was so cute how the check came on a little chopping block!  Nice touch!

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And so that is it for our little Oregon vacation.  By no means do I recommend eating like we did these last few days,  all the time, but sometimes you have to let ourself enjoy life just a little.  Sure we’ll be back to our brown rice and kale when we get home.

Eating is one of the true pleasures in life, so please do it well.

The Burger Lunch

After our stop in Lincoln City we headed East into Central Oregon.

We made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in a town called Corvallis, home of Oregon State University.

And you know where there are students, you are going to find some good and reasonably priced food!

We stopped at a place called McMenamins.  

What I thought was just a local pub but turns out they are a Oregon chain.  As a rule when travelling, we try not to eat a chains because we want to give our patronage to local business.  But we soon found out that this definitely qualified.

“We offer Northwest-style pub fare that incorporates the freshest seasonal ingredients from local and regional growers and producers (including Tillamook Cheese, Tillamook Ice Cream, Pleasant Valley Pickles, Sheridan Fruit Company, Country Natural Beef and many others). We make everything onsite, including pizza, soups and more. Weekly specials round out our menus – ask your server for details.

Gluten-free buns available! These light, crisp, locally made products are available for an additional charge with hamburgers and sandwiches – just ask your server.”

Click here to check out their menu.

I started with one of their local beers and then after last night’s artery clogging dinner, I decided to try their “The Grateful Veg Burger“.

The Grateful Veg Burger

It was delicious!

I really feel that I personally have no luck with “veggie” burgers of any kind, either making them myself or purchasing them in restaurants, but this one was great.

It was just a great burger, regardless of what it was made of.

And on the home-made fries I had this great local natural  ketchup!

Portland Natural Ketchup

The Chef on the other hand, he went for the full on “Wilbur’s Jumbo Deluxe Burger”.   His reasoning, he’s on vacation!  But he found it worth the effort.

Wilbur Jumbo Deluxe Burger

It was well worth getting lost in Corvallis!