This past month flew by and I’ve been enjoying cooking comfy and cozy meals. With Canadian Thanksgiving upon us, I’m so excited for turkey AND all of the amazing side dishes that come with it.

So grab a coffee and come on over for Autumn food inspiration and all of the #foodlove from our Oregon trip!

In mid-September we headed to one of our favourite places, the Oregon Coast. We spent a few days on the coast, walking the beach, taking in the ocean and eating all of the seafood we could.

We stayed in Cannon Beach and to be honest I think it’s one of the most magical places. The scenery is spectacular and if you love the ocean like I do, it’s complete ocean heaven. In the morning’s we’d grab a coffee and then walk the beach for hours. Then we enjoyed a variety of seafood throughout the days.

We made a quick pit stop on our way from Cannon Beach to Portland at Tillamook Cheese where I was in grilled cheese heaven.

Then we drove to Portland for a couple of days where we prepared ourselves to eat all of the delicious things at Feast Portland! This was our third trip to Portland for the Feast Portland event; every year we go we have such an awesome time and enjoy the unbelievable food that we decide to go again. And this year it didn’t disappoint (again!)

We enjoyed our first night’s dinner at Beast, a restaurant I’ve wanted to go to for ages. Each night is a set 6 course menu based on seasonal ingredients and wow did we ever luck out on the beautiful late-summer ingredients. Everyone sits at communal tables which I really enjoyed because it was like being at a dinner party; the people we sat with were fantastic to chat with too AND of course the food was absolutely divine!

Our weekend was a combination of eating and walking the city! On Saturday we had brunch at Tasty n’ Alder. Then, our evening was spent at Smoked, a Feast Portland event where chefs do their take on barbecue. Let’s just say we ate all the meats and enjoyed a number of fabulous cocktails.

The next day we went to my favourite event, Brunch Village! Imagine just cruising around from booth to booth, mimosa in hand, trying creative brunch dishes from local chefs. Hello heavenly!

Two of the highlights for me were the Breakfast Taco from Smokehouse Tavern and the ‘Yolko Ono’ egg sandwich from the food truck, Fried Egg I’m In Love.

And to top off our weekend of indulgence we attended the ‘Feast Like an Italian’ dinner which was hosted in a beautiful garden nursery.

We started off the evening with a delightful cocktail. Then we thoroughly enjoyed the family-style Italian dinner with all of the other attendees at our table.

Needless to say, it was another amazing trip out to the Oregon Coast and Portland. We’ll absolutely continue to go back!

And with Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, many of the recipes in my ‘What’s In Season – October Recipe Ideas’ include ingredients that are the perfect accompaniment to your turkey dinner:

Apples: Apple Cinnamon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Brussels Sprouts: Prosciutto Parmesan Brussels Sprouts

Carrots: Roasted Harvest Vegetable Bowl

Pears: Cranberry Pear Chia Seed Jam

Sweet Potatoes: Bacon & Sage Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes: Roasted Tomato Soup

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post What’s in Season – Monthly Favourites appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

When I travel I love to explore each location’s culinary offerings – I think it’s one of the best ways to experience the place you’re visiting!

A couple of years ago my husband Scott and I drove up the Oregon Coast, finishing our trip in Portland where we ate some of the best food we’ve ever had.  We checked out the famous Voodoo Donuts along with a couple wonderful local restaurants but my favourite food experience when we were there was attending the ‘Sandwich Invitational’ at the food festival, Feast Portland.

Now you’re probably thinking, Sandwich Invitational, what on earth!? Picture this – almost 20 chefs setup at different stations in an outdoor venue, putting their spin on the classic sandwich and you get to sample ALL OF THEM along with craft beer, cocktails and wine, then you get to vote on your favourite! You literally get to eat all the things and enjoy an array of creative sandwiches.

What I love is a lot of the chefs are from Portland so you get to discover all that Portland has to offer along with which restaurants each chef is from, adding it to an ever-growing list of places to check-out afterwards! My personal favourite from the event was an ice-cream sandwich which had cinnamon-sugar toasted brioche bread, layered with raspberry jam and peanut butter ice cream, then topped with crunchy peanut butter nuggets and whipped cream – it is still to this day one of my favourite bites of food!

I have so many fun memories from the Sandwich Invitational, like this photo Scott and I took in their kitchen-themed photobooth.

And since we only got a taste of the festival in 2014, we are going back this year and going back big! We are going to start our Feast Portland weekend off with this year’s Sandwich Invitational and follow that with a couple of other events including:

Night Market

A Latin-themed outdoor event, ‘lit by festive stringed lights’ and with food from over 20 chefs – ‘it’s a taste of Latin America, Spain and more.’

Bon Appétit’s ‘Inside the Test Kitchen’ Hands-On Class

‘Bon Appétit’s food editors offer guests a glimpse into the recipe process (lots of cooking—and tasting!) as they explore some of the dishes developed for their October 2017 Issue.’

Smoked!

This is ‘Feast’s over-the-top take on the backyard cookout of your wildest imagination…It’s every carnivore’s smoky dream sequence—but you’ll be fully awake, wandering from grill station to grill station in a meat-fueled blissful state.’

Brunch Village

There’s always room for brunch. ‘An eye-opening international food and beverage dreamland, led by master brunch makers from New York, New Orleans, Austin and, of course, many of Portland’s brunch mainstays.’ 

Scott and I cannot wait for our trip to Portland AND all of the events we’ll be attending! Follow along on our trip, starting in Seattle and making our way along the coast and inland to Portland on my Instagram stories and Facebook page.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Will Travel For Food – Feast Portland appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.