Pecorino with peppercorns from the Eastbank Farmer's Market, August.
I didn't keep track, but I must have eaten thousands of dishes in 2005, and tried hundreds of new foods. While I won't admit to how large a percentage "toast with peanut butter" and "breakfast: one cookie, one coffee" were in my personal dietary pie chart, I will offer up some of the unarguable highlights. The following is a photo essay on some things that warmed my stomach oh-so-well in 2005.
Marinated
salmon and onion with citrus and cucumber, Tani's Sushi,
November.
Crisp, melting, sweet, tangy, citrusy, flavorful, refreshing. One of my favorite dishes in the
city.
Stumptown Coffee latte in the rain. February.
There's nothing so delicious as a well-made latte in the cold rain.
Chocolates from Hot Chefs at the farmer's market. December.
Sure, part of the appeal of these chocolates is their contrast with the lovely red paper cups. But part of their appeal is also their deliciousness.
Lamb sausage wrapped in pastry and baked in a wood-fired oven at the Portland Farmer's Market, December.
Oh, how lyrical the fatty, smokey, lambiness. Oh, how it warmed my tummy on a cold day. Oh, how I long for more of this.
Blue cotton candy at the Oregon State Fair, September.
Cotton candy isn't hard to do right, as long as it's whipped up that instant, pastel-colored, mesmerizing with its airy stickiness.











