FEBRUARY ROUNDUP: what i ate, drank, and read

$3 katsu sando, kefir, and graphic novels

How does February always feel like the longest month ever, when in fact, it’s the shortest? Here are the highlights of this eons-long month:

What I ate and drank:

• Oyatsupan
  I stopped by this off-the-beaten-path Japanese bakery in Beaverton and was not disappointed in the slightest. For a total of probably $10, I got a chocolate chip melon bread, slice of chocolate strawberry cake, and a pork katsu sandwich. Everything was absolutely delicious. The best way I can describe the melon bread is that it is a soft eggy bun, covered with a sheet of what feels like chocolate chip shortbread cookie dough, making this crumbly, soft treat the perfect snack. The $3 katsu sando was a decent size for a light lunch: a potato slider bun, slaw, tonkatsu sauce, and a thick piece of breaded pork. And the chocolate strawberry cake was the most light, fluffy, delicate cake I’ve ever had, and made for the yummiest dessert. If you’re in Portland, I recommend heading to Oyatsupan on the earlier side; we went at 1pm and mostly everything was sold out.

• Kefir water & BNF kombucha
  I have two new favorite drinks. I found this Driftwest kefir drink at my local co-op and decided to try it because I’d never had kefir (a culture similar to what’s found in kombucha, but more commonly processed as milk. The one I had was water though!). I’ve had two flavors so far: the blueberry yuzu and the guava mango passionfruit. It’s a sparkling/carbonated beverage that tastes like juice and coconut water mixed together. It has none of the vinegar-y edge of kombucha, but it’s not totally milk-like either. It just has a slight tinge of creaminess, similar to coconut water.
  The kombucha brand I tried this month is my current favorite kombucha brand I’ve ever had. I’ve tried the Oregon blueberry and peach rose flavors and the peach rose flavor is the best kombucha I’ve ever had. It is so juicy and delicate and the bubbles aren’t too sharp which is a huge dealbreaker for me. I’m trying to get a growler of this stuff ASAP!

• Valentine’s Day feast
  I already blasted this meal all over Instagram because I was so proud of how yummy it was, but I really cannot recommend these dishes enough: crispy romanesco with pancetta and pine nuts, and blood orange/shallot/radicchio goat cheese salad. I also made cardamom cupcakes (adapted from this recipe, just added ground cardamom to), filled with this pistachio butter, and topped with Oregon strawberry buttercream (creamed 2 sticks of salted butter with 1 pound of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of strawberries that I defrosted from our harvest last year and pureed.)

• Cypress Grove ‘Purple Haze’ goat cheese
  I have purchased three wheels of this goat cheese in the last two weeks and I’m not mad about it. My favorite way to eat this lavender and fennel pollen goat cheese is plain on a sesame baguette, in a citrus salad, or on sourdough toast with sliced strawberries, olive oil, and black pepper.

What I read:

• Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
  This book has been on my TBR for years, and I’m glad I ended up finally reading it because it was a great, short read. It’s comprised of two short stories (I liked the first better than the second) about a makeshift family, grief, friendship, and home in modern Japan.

• Blankets by Craig Thompson
  This graphic novel was a sweet teenage love story that was so beautifully illustrated. I have always thought of graphic novels as really overwhelming (I have to pay attention to the words AND the pictures?), but I finished this in one sitting.

• High School by Tegan and Sara Quin
  This book wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. I was most interested in learning about Tegan and Sara’s musical beginnings and twin coming out stories, but their memoir was mostly about ditching school to do drugs and dating each other’s best friends.

• Good Talk by Mira Jacob
  I got a hard copy of this book from my library for free because of a promo they were doing, and I had seen it everywhere so I decided to give it a try. I liked it! I’m still warming up to graphic novels and the illustration style of this one was quite contemporary which I didn’t love, but it’s about identity in the time of the 2016 election as well as post-9/11 NYC, which are always relevant topics.

• Grand Union by Zadie Smith
  My first Zadie Smith read and I was pretty disappointed. This collection of short stories had more flops than faves, but there was one story that really stuck out to me called Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets, which you can read for free here on the Paris Review.

• Outline by Rachel Cusk
  My first Rachel Cusk read! I liked this book, and am definitely intrigued enough to finish the trilogy. It’s about a writer who travels to Greece to teach a writing workshop and all the people she meets along the way. This book is pretty cerebral, kind of has no plot, and the characters endure no growth or development whatsoever. A Goodreads user commented that it’s as if Cusk is auditioning characters to be in a future book, only writing loose storylines for each.

• My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
  I honestly liked this book. I think that the way Moshfegh writes really matches up with the style I like to read, and I feel like I’m in a huge unlikeable female characters phase right now. I love how off-putting and grotesque her books are. Although, I will say that I think I liked Eileen better than MYORR.

• Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
  This book was so aggressively normal, in a way that was refreshing. I haven’t read a book that was so solidly middle of the pack in so long, and it was great to not have to have an opinion. It’s simply just a book about two kids that catch on fire and how their nanny manages their condition and the mysterious state of their fragile family life. It wasn’t boring, but it wasn’t necessarily exciting. A good blank-slate kind of book.

I did not watch anything remarkable this month, in fact I watched the literal worst movie I’ve probably ever seen called Catfight. Watch at your own risk, otherwise, catch up on Love is Blind on Netflix.