Birthday Boy

Here's Phil at midday, having a flight of six Deschutes beers prior to his king salmon burger, which was followed by a free birthday dessert of a very large chocolate chip cookie with mocha sauce, vanilla ice cream, and a candle (I did mention to our server that it was Phil's birthday...).

Earlier, we'd traveled by bus and streetcar from NE Portland to the NW part of town, where we had a delicious breakfast at Lovejoy Bakers and a fascinating long conversation with a fellow sitting near us. From there, we walked to Pro Photo, where I bought a new camera that is a serious step up from my present ones. I'd been researching cameras for the past three months, so when I finally purchased my choice, it tok only a few minutes. I'm glad I did all that research, as there was an incredible number of cameras in the store! I'll share more about this major purchase once we're home.

This evening, we returned again to Kerns Kitchen, a 10 minute walk from our little cottage and our favorite place to eat in Portland. We were greeted like old friends there, and relished our "small plates" meal of their extraordinary kale salad with lemon, chopped dates, and sunflower seeds; polenta cakes with beautifully caramelized onions and blue cheese; roasted eggplant enveloping a risotto with farro and nuggets of lamb, served in a light tomato sauce and garnished with feta cheese; and a slice of salted chocolate truffle cake with whipped cream. We both had generous glasses of red wine-- Carignan for Phil, Nebbiolo for me.

We've enjoyed Phil's all-day birthday very much ineed!

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