The Wild Things are Almost Here

I know I have had a lot of movie posts lately, but I am really excited about this one. I can't wait to take my nephews to see this.

Away We Go

My sister Chelsea alerted me to this - another movie I am excited for. From writers Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Jon Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Ummmm. Yep. Everyone I love in one movie. This comes out June 11th.

Don't Forget the Tap Project

All this week at participating Portland restaurants.

A Jewel in the Freezer

Have you tried Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwiches? Perfectly wonderful, handmade treats. Today I had the Dark Chocolate Cookie with Fresh Mint. The cookies are chewy and big. The ice cream is fresh and sweet.

I first discovered Ruby Jewel at the farmers' market and am delighted that they are now available at Zupan's, Whole Foods, New Seasons and Fred Meyer. You will never go back to those regular old ice cream sandwiches again.

With such flavors as Lemon with Honey Lavender, Double Chocolate Cookie with Peanut Butter and Cinnamon Chocolate Cookie with Espresso, why would you want anything else?

Finger-Licking Good

If you drive far out to Driftwood, Texas, there's this great place for barbecue. Ansley gave me the heads up about Salt Lick BBQ and when our first BBQ experience was crap, well, we just happened to be a stone's throw from Driftwood.

Salt Lick is far down the beaten path and besides a few residential areas nearby, there's not much around.

You know the place has to be good, though because when we drove up, the place was packed. On a Monday afternoon. In the middle of nowhere. And they have all these rules: cash only, your time is limited to 1.5 hours, no separate checks, gratuity is added, bring your own beer. All of these rules and the place is still packed.

The atmosphere is incomparable. Check out the pit - have you ever seen anything so beautiful? Even if you didn't like barbecue, you'd get a little crush on it just from looking at that thing.

Ordering is pretty simple. I got a trio of meats, ribs, brisket and sausage with potato salad, coleslaw and beans. This time around, the rib meat fell off the bones easily - no slipping out of my hands this time! The sausage was deliciously peppery and the brisket was absolutely divine. The potato salad was more like mashed potatoes, but cold and with a splash of vinegar - it was tangy and absorbed a little heat from the sauce. The beans were dense and deep with flavor. The coleslaw I think had fennel seeds in it and it was so crunchy and fresh - almost Asian in taste with the dressing.

Amie ordered the chicken, which when she got the plate, you could tell had been freshly carved. This here was fresh food.

We ate our fill and left full. Isn't that the point?

Have you seen this person?

Some one from my high school class sent me a link for a cause on Facebook the other day. Normally I ignore stuff on Facebook, because then you end up spamming your friends, etc. But last night I clicked on this particular link on accident. It was a cause to help Find Nancy Moyer.

Nancy was in my high school class and middle school class. She was always nice to me - a lovely person. She disappeared from her home in Tenino, Washington on March 6th under suspicious circumstances. She has two little girls. I don't know what I can do to help, besides post about her here in the hopes of getting her picture out there, just in case. For more information, go to www.nancymoyer.com.

Tap your compassion for some thirsty kids.

A couple of years ago I walked a half marathon in hot weather. I was so freaking tired. And thirsty. My mouth was dry, my lips cracked. My throat hurt from the dryness of the air. What I would have given for a glass of water at that moment. Of course, when I finished the race, I had as much water as I wanted. But for many children, there is no water, no matter how thirsty they get. I can't imagine being in that thirsty state every day all day. Can you?

Millions of children go without clean, safe water every day. And even when you are here, in our lovely city of Portland, you can help bring clean, safe water to children in need all over the world through The Tap Project.

In many Portland restaurants, the week of March 22 - 28, you can pay $1 or more for the tap water that you normally get for free and that money will go to UNICEF to bring good water to these children who need it.

In these times, money is precious and not easily spent - but just once during that week, please, eat at one of the participating restaurants in Portland and add $1 to your bill for your tap water. One dollar will provide safe drinking water for one child for 40 days. Forty days. You can do that.