Author: The Black Hat Baker

Review #5- Pambiche

/ The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment
Where:  Pambiche, 2811 NE Glisan St., Portland, OR

 

Cuban food is one of those things I THINK I know more about than I do.  There’s a stereotype to be sure- rum, mojitos, lots of pork, absurdly powerful and sweet coffee drinks, and pressed sandwiches. As for Cuban sweets, I guessed there was a lot of dulce de leche (or caramelized sweetened condensed milk,) coconut, palm sugar, and tropical fruits.​

Lucky for me, I got to find out just how right (and wrong) I was.

Continue reading →

Membership Not Required

/ The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment
Good evening, friends and neighbors.
I don’t go to the gym.I was never really a “gym rat” or part of gym culture. For the couple early years I DID have a membership, I didn’t really go there to socialize. The hours I went tended to forbid that. The gym was open 24 hours, and my preferred times were either in the early morning hours (before work) or in the middle of the night (after my shifts at the hospital.​

Here’s the story of how I learned to keep $50 a month in my pocket and still stay fit.

Continue reading →

A Song of Time and Sandwiches

/ The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment
Good evening, friends and neighbors!​When my mother came to visit from the East Coast this past week, her suitcase and two smallish bags had to pass under the paranoiac scrutiny of the TSA. One went unremarked, but the other immediately drew their ire- a small, heavy cooler bag with a pair of sandwiches.

According to my mother, the TSA agent removed the deli paper-wrapped logs.
“What are these?”
“A pair of subs for my son and his wife.”
“Okay…. what, they don’t have Subway in Portland?”
“It’s not the same.”
“… Okay. Here you go.”

Continue reading →