Emily and Linda’s Travel Blog

Today we had a wrap-up including a few very thoughtful case studies and a fabulous session on ways to avoid wasting food.  My favorite- keep the ends and peels as well as the wilted,but not not spoiled vegetables in a "stock bag" in the freezer. Then when there's enough and you have time, throw it all in a pot or slow cooker and make great vegetable broth which can also be frozen for later use. The head chef also showed us a fabulous recipe for using the tops of carrots to make pesto with mint and pistachio nuts. Tasting was part of the demo. Definitely going to try it out.

There was also a great session on taking "food as medicine thinking" into the community.  One thing I respect about the faculty is that many of them employ what my mother used to call the Robin Hood strategy - they work part of their time among fairly affluent people and then can give some part of their week to service in struggling neighborhoods.  Some are working in clinics that serve the uninsured  a few have been spending time teaching mind-body trauma recovery techniques to Syrian refugees, and another group is working with a large urban hospital to revamp their food service so patients actually get food that's good for them.  

 After one last session where we learned about laughter therapy by doing some, we had one last fabulous lunch together and the said our goodbyes. Menu for today's lunch: gaspacho with avocado crema, spinach and herb frittata, roasted edamame with herbs, quinoa with grapes, and gluten free chocolate date cherry truffles.

Today we had lectures on Phytonutrients, Prenatal Nutrition, and Laboratory Assessment. Also two cooking demonstrations. We learned to make 2 kinds of sauerkraut- one from beets and another from a Salvadoran recipe to go with papusas.  Lots of fun. They also served another spectacular lunch (we get all the recipes in the syllabus package so I'll be dishing some new dishes when we get back). 

For dinner, Linda and I went to a restaurant she found in her ramblings today - an entirely gluten-free Mexican restaurant called Verde Cocina! House made corn tortillas and they even had gluten-free beer - a real treat since haven't had a beer in over a year and it's 85 degrees out here. Good foraging on Linda's part and totally in keeping with the theme of the conference.

One of the topics much discussed today was the Mediterranean diet so Linda and I were inspired to have dinner at Meditteranean Exploration Company.  Lovely space with a really interesting menu with dishes from Greece, Israel,Turkey, Lebanon, And Morocco among others. We had a number of small plates, all delicious and concluded that we might have to come back and sample more of them. Our favorites: lamb ragu with humus and tahini and a beautifully cooked Persian chicken kabob with mint and saffron yoghurt. 

Oh, and I managed to handle the unisex bathroom just fine. 

Conference off to a good start. Topics included Origins of Human Diet & Brain Physiology, Mind Body Nutrition, and Sleep and Brain Health.  Consistently good speakers with strong expertise and evidence to back opinions (so refreshing). I also appreciated their general agreement that eating should be fun and diet plans shouldn't be punitive. 

My favorite quote of the day: "Franks and Beer eaten with joy and cheer Are better than beans and bread eaten with fear and dread"- John Bagnulo 

Best cartoon of the day:

So we slept an astonishing 10 hours(we were bone tired) and eventually headed out to use our TriMet phone apps to access the transit system. It's pretty cool actually. The Portland system involves buying and franking a ticket, but you don't give it to anyone.  You just have to be prepared to show it if an inspector comes on board ( or pay a stiff fine).  To use the phone app, you buy a ticket online and then activate it yourself before you board.  If the inspector comes, you have to show an active ticket on your phone.  Worked pretty well.  

Our destination was the Pearl District, formerly an industrial neighborhood, now filled with shops, galleries, eateries, and the venerable Powells's Books -  an independent new and used bookstore that takes up a whole block and is still alive and kicking. Breakfast stop was at Isabel, a mexican cafe followed by a pilgrimage to the temple to sensible shoes - the Keen Garage.  We had a great time playing with features like the crank it yourself pulley shelves and the shoebox chute. 

Had a long, but uneventful trip to Portland, OR and arrived at about 4:00 PST. It seems the locals refer to the city with the airport symbol, PDX or anyway that's what a lot of the blog posts and sites like Time Out call it. The hotel is a little more design conscious than most of its ilk. Lovely room and elegant common spaces.  The downside though is there are lots of smooth elegant surfaces, but nowhere to put stuff and one of the lounges is filled with beautiful chairs so low they'd need to get a crane to get me up again. No art without suffering I guess.

Last night we entered "Vietnamese restaurant" into Google maps and found Luc Lac a great local spot with $2 small plates. We got to try 5 dishes and the whole meal with wine was $32 for two people and really delicious (we thought of you, Chris). Got to eat a new food - betel leaves- which always pleases me. These were betel leaf wrapped rolls in a tasty sauce.  They don't look like much, but the flavor was very complex with sweet, spicy, sour, and umami all in one bite.  Good find. 

Today we're off to try out the phone app metro pass system they have here. Buy the ticket on your phone and just show it on and bus, light rail, or street car.  Pretty cool for a couple of 61year olds. First stop the Pearl District- home of Powell's Books and many other interesting shops and eateries. 

Today was more laid back. Linda and I had another round of massage, hot tub, and sauna while Max finished her vacation book. Hopefully we recharged our batteries sufficiently for the next round of "real life". We had gorgeous late-day sky views both here and at our dinner spot (Swallow East - closed on our last attempt). The restaurant had a small plates menu that was kind of like East End tapas. Nice feel and right on the marina. Tomorrow we head back to the City and hope to miss the Hamptons traffic madness. We shall see. 

Many of you know that it's usually my job to take the travelogue pictures while Linda prefers to concentrate on her art. Here are a few of her shots out here in Montauk

Thursday we visited the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill. The building is made to look like a potato barn. From a distance the walls look like weathered boards, but close up you can see that it's actually textured concrete. It's a lovely space with an interesting collection. I particularly liked the exhibit centered on ideas of home. We experienced the April vacation effect once again though as about a third of the museum was closed for installation of new exhibits. In fact they gave us free admission passes so we could come back to see them once open. 

On the way back we had a very good tacos lunch at Mercado and then meandered around East Hampton to window shop (window-shopping only in $450 T-shirt land).  We met up with one seriously pampered pup waiting outside Citarellas