Viewing 1 - 5 out of 5 Columns.

You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.



You use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.



You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.



You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.



You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.



You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal.



You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain.



You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.



You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima,
Willamette and Siskiyou.



You consider swimming an indoor sport.



In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark—while only working eight-hour days.



You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.



You are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and
"Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showe
rs."


You have no concept of humidity without precipitation



You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.



You notice, "The mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.



You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.



You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.



You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.



You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or people from California

You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.



You measure distance in hours.



You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.



You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.



You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk season (Fall).



"Vacation" means going to Portland for the weekend.



Your grandparents drive at 65 mph through a rain storm without flinching.



You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.



You carry jumper cables in your pickup and your wife knows how to use them.



There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the Bi-Mart store at any given time.



Driving is better in the winter because almost everybody stays home.



You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel pajamas.




You blame everything that's not right on ex-Californians.



You go to a coffee bar and see two guys get into a fight over who makes the best Pale Ale.



You own more than 10 articles of clothing that have microbreweries/brewpubs printed on them. Bonus for embroidered stuff.



You can recount more than five anecdotes about why the East Side is a
crime-infested jungle
... OR ...
You can list more than five reasons why the West Side is a boring, snobby, white-bread suburb.



You know what is in between the East Side and the West Side, and how to pronounce it.



You are sitting at a red light surrounded by Subaru Legacy Outbacks.



A tree or mudslide has damaged your house or car.



You live equidistant to a symphony hall, a winery, and a volcano.



Your children learned to walk in Birkenstocks.



You complain about Californians as you sell your house to one for twice as much as you originally paid.



You only honk your horn if collision is imminent and never for anything else.



You consider something a "hill" (not a mountain) if it doesn't have snow on it or has not recently erupted, regardless of its altitude.



You find a wallet with $500 and give it back to the owner.



You used to live somewhere else but won't admit it publicly.



If someone ran your car off the highway, you might drown.



You'd be pissed if the store was out of your favorite brand of water.



Every day is casual Friday.



Hear the word "ferry" and think of boats and long waits.



Know at least eight people who work for Intel or Nike, or used to work for
Tektronix.



You think skiing always means being covered from head to toe, in snow or water.



Have ever called your insurance agent to ask if your homeowner's policy covers falling trees, flooding, or mud slides.



You believe swimming is not a sport but a survival skill to prevent boating
deaths.



Obey all traffic laws except "keep right unless passi
ng."


Are amazed by an accurate weather forecast.



You think downtown is "scary" because you were panhandled there....once...




You know that Kindergarten Cop and The Goonies, and The Ring were filmed in Astoria and Cannon Beach, respectively.



You know where Astoria is.



You think that the Beach is the best place to go for vacation, or just for a day off.



You take pride in Lewis and Clark and know who Sacagawea is.



Were excited when the Crater lake, Oregon quarter came out.



You love The Shins...because they live here.



You love the Decemberists....because they are from here...and live here.



You love the smell of rain.



You are the only person in the line at the grocery store who asks for paper, not plastic (because while paper "kills trees" it is recyclable, and plastic bags will sit in our landfills for the next millennia).



You understand the joys of spandex as a layer under pants

You dress in layers (tank top, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, etc).



You know the exact day you had school off because it snowed like....one inch.



You play Tony Hawks Pro Skater and recognize Burnside.




You are sad during Christmas because it never snows in the valley.



You know where the valley is.



You go out of state and wait in your car for someone to pump your gas.



You are more concerned about packing a sweatshirt or a jacket when going to the beach than packing a bathing suit.



You are aware that "The Shining" was filmed at Timberline Lodge.



You say "pop" instead of "
soda.




You smile at people you don't know as you walk by them on the sidwalk.



You know you're from oregon when people call you a hippy and you just smile because you can't hear them over the grape-nuts.



You make subtle remarks about Washington drivers, but save your real road rage for California drivers.



You've witnessed 300 nude bicyclists just cruising around downtown Portland like its no big deal.

 

 

 

Country Cottage of Jacksonville, Bakery & Tea Room

 

The first time I tried to go to eat at the Country Cottage of Jacksonville, it was Sunday morning. Travis, my fiancé and I awoke early and drove out to Jacksonville ready to fill our stomachs with our favorite combination of eggs and cheese. But sadly, the Country Cottage is still operating in their winter hours and they are only open Monday thru Thursday, 11am-3pm. So we ended up back in Ashland at one of our favorite establishments.

 

Thursday, I set out on my lunch break from work, and headed out again to the Country Cottage. As I pull up to the restaurant, I notice that the place is truly a small cottage; it suddenly strikes me how tiny it is. When I walk in the door, the place is totally packed. Not an empty seat anywhere. I go up to the counter where the waitress cheerfully greets me and offers me some tea while I wait on the patio for a free table inside. Personally, I don’t really like to walk into a small space full of people, so even though it was a little chilly outside I was happy to take a seat outside and wait.

 

I waited about 10 minutes sipping on my earl gray, until a table was ready for me. The décor inside is modest, perfect for the first day of spring. Pink linens on the tables under glass table tops, with white plastic chairs. There is large beautiful mural on one wall depicting a country setting. Large vines are attached to the ceiling and walls, with faux flowers on them. The crowd inside is definitely the older set. By the looks of it, I am the youngest one there aside from the kids that are out to lunch with their grandma.

 

The menu consists of lunch items, as they are currently only open for lunch. There are plenty of hot sandwiches and gourmet salads to choose from. All the soups and salads are homemade. I see that a woman at a table near me is eating the Chili and Corn Muffin Bowl; it’s a homemade three bean and ground beef chili, with shredded cheddar cheese, red onions and a corn muffin. I eyeball the salad side of the menu, there’s a Chinese Chicken Salad, and a Pepperoncini Salad that looks good, it has smoked turkey, mixed greens, pepproncini, tomato, jack cheese, red onion and ranch.

 

Since I’ve been dieting a lot lately, I’m going to take a break from salad and go for the hearty stuff. I decide on the famous lunch special for $8.95. It’s half a sandwich, with choice of a green salad, potato salad or cup of soup and a cookie. The sandwich I chose was an Italian Hoagie, it has pastrami, melted Swiss cheese topped with grilled onion, pickle, and tomato with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. The waitress said that it was her favorite sandwich.

 

By the time I got my plate the whole lunch rush had cleared out. I had the place all to myself! The waitress did a good job of keeping me well supplied with hot water for my tea. I have to say; it was a really big half for half of a sandwich. It had nice thin slices of meat and big chunks of tomato. Man, was it delicious! Also I chose to get potato salad with my sandwich. The potato salad was really yummy it had the potato skins in it and not very much if any mayonnaise, just the way I like it.  Somehow they also managed to get vegetables that are way fresher than I’ve been able to get at the grocery store. Really crisp cucumbers and radish slices garnished my plate as well as fresh fruit.

 

The new owner has been running Country Cottage for only about a year. At the front counter they also have a glass case of wonderful bakery items, moist coffee cakes and cookies. Apparently their baker is also a teacher at a local elementary school and she comes in at night and bakes all their bakery treats.

 

All in all it’s a great place to at least stop for some tea and a baked goodie. I know I’ll be back when I have more room in my stomach for some of the treats.

 

Choose your own adventure at The Oregon Chocolate Festival

Remember the ‘Choose your own adventure’ books from the ‘80’s? You know you read a few pages, then in italics at the bottom of the page you get to choose where the rest of the story goes. Like, “To go with the pirates go to page 36, To keep hiding on the ship go to page 56.” Shields had the great idea that I write my experience at the Chocolate festival that way. It’s my first try so be easy on me. Here we go!

Once a year the Ashland Springs Hotel holds a festival of pure delight. A chance to sample some of the best made chocolate in the state. Chocolatiers from as far away as Portland were in attendance, but many based right here in the Rogue Valley came packing delectable treats.

 
As I walked into the main lobby of the Ashland Springs Hotel, I was immediately confronted with a huge colorful sculpture, made of solid chocolate. The sculptor is Jeff Shephard, of Lillie Belle farms, Central Point. Wandering around the lobby serving samples of butterscotch and chocolate sauce are the very symbol of Spring and chocolate…rabbits, not just rabbits, but silly rabbits, I will get to them later.

From the lobby, I got my pass, and headed upstairs to the Grand Ballroom.

To tour the tables outside the Grand Ballroom continue reading.

To go straight to the Grand Ballroom go to paragraph 2.

Outside the ballroom, above the lobby was…..well no chocolate… no real chocolate that is. The first the delicious morsel I reach to put in my mouth is a ceramic chocolate. Lisa Strout of Portland, has a business called Tilefish art (see www.tilefishart.com ) Not only does she do mosaics, but sculpture and installations of handcrafted tiles. Imagine getting a room tiled in ceramic chocolates and decorative truffles!

Also in the hallway is Emily from our local Emz Blendz with chocolate soap! You can really smell the cocoa butter in it! Mmm, so good for your skin. She was cleverly giving a way little slivers of samples. Next, was soap’s friend in the wax world: candles, chocolate and brownie flavored. Of course scented candles aren’t ground breaking my any means, but all these scents were getting my mouth watering.

Next table was Waterstone spa. There were samples available of cocoa butter scrub and body cream. They were also offering their chocolate inspired treatments at the spa. Chocolate decadence is a 30-minute chocolate mineral bath, followed by an exfoliating chocolate scrub and finish with a chocolate shea butter cream body wrap and chocolate mousse mask. Which made me think: Doesn’t chocolate make you break out?

Okay, enough with the hall….time for the Grand Ballroom! All this messing around the hall with chocolate ceramics and chocolate scents is making me want to get the party in my mouth started.

(2) To my left as I walk in is Branson’s Chocolate from right here in Ashland. They sell their chocolate at Mix Sweet Shop and Greenleaf. I grabbed a truffle from a tray and popped it in my mouth. Finally sweet milky, silky, chocolate happiness unraveling. On down the line we move, going to another table, The Chocolate Beagle out of Central Point. The owner Greg Tribbett started this business a little over a year ago, and he’s already selling his chocolates in Albertson’s and B.Cazwell’s flower shop. When I tasted his chocolate, I was stunned. I really felt like this was the best ever, but I’ve only tasted one other chocolate so far!

Moving right along, there is a man giving out samples of vanilla ice cream with a choice of two chocolate sauces: chocolate peppermint and dark chocolate. The man says you can put chocolate sauce on anything! Waffles, bananas, strawberries, brownies, crepes. It makes me stop and think about how much I need to increase the chocolate sauce usage in my life.

After a few uneventful tastings, I come upon a rather dapper man in a tuxedo with a lime green bow and cummerbund. He has a chocolate cocktail concept. His name is Jim Sanders from Portland and he calls his company Brownie Shotz. Two products he has available to sample are the Chip & Ale brownie shot and Guiness and chocolate chip. See www.brownieshotz.com As of March 1^st you can order right from their website, other flavors include: Irish Coffee Brownie Shot, French roast coffee flavored brownie with Irish cream flavored chocolate, nonalcoholic. As well as the Manhattan Brownie Shot, which has Bourbon flavor with maraschino cherry and coated in cherry chocolate.

As I move to next table, my attention is directed towards the middle of the room, where we have live music being played by a man with a guitar, a young lady playing a violin and a boy playing the saxophone. They were playing all kinds of festive music. I was devouring a sample of a flourless chocolate pudding cake.

To stay in the ballroom and keep tasting chocolate keep reading.

To go into the courtyard go to paragraph 3.

In the corner, what do I spy out of my little eye but another chocolate sculpture, and one of the largest sampling set ups. It’s KeKau from Eugene, the sleep deprived owners, Shane and Anne admit that they stayed up until 4am putting their sculpture together. Kakau had wonderful chocolates but something different was their Drinking Chocolate Mixes. With a small straw you sip out of a little tube a chocolate liquid in flavors like Orange and Pink Peppercorn or Dark Chocolate Hibiscus Mint. Honestly, the word on the street was ‘not so good’. But they looked pretty spiffy! They did have marvelous chocolates like one called the Earl Grey’s Blues, Earl Grey tea scented with bergamot milk chocolate. See www.kekau.com .

Also fascinating were the different shapes some of the chocolatiers would put their chocolates in, my friend picked up one thinking it was a little chocolate grenade, but alas just an easter egg. I stop off at Silly Rabbit Chocolate Company to sample some Blood Orange Basil with Red Chile Flake chocolates. Surprisingly tasty! Also set hopping around mingling are his silly rabbits. “Bunnies” I cry out, wanting an interview with one, two hop up, serving trays in hand. They tell me that they are working with Silly Rabbit, but also for Relay for Life, for the American Cancer Society. The hourly wage they are earning through Silly Rabbit will be donated. Cute little generous bunnies that they are.

Next up is one of my favorite pairings! Marshmallow and chocolate. Pete’s Gourmet from Medford is displaying a chocolate salmon. The salmon turns out to be pure chocolate, no salmon flavor. Bring on the marshmallows! He makes a rocky road with espresso flavored marshmallows, vanilla marshmallows and toasted almond. I have to say, it’s right up there with moose munch, good stuff!!

(3) I wander into the entryway to the courtyard, where there is guess what? Even more chocolate, but one of my other favorites, wine. Front in center is the beautiful Stephannie Collier with long wavy red hair offering a taste of Rising Sun Farms, wine, along with their Chocolate Mocha Cheese Torta. Yes please! She pours a generous cup with a smile on her face, answering questions about the wine from the crowd. See www.risingsunfarms.com for more of their Cheese Tortas.

Next to Stephannie of Rising Sun Farms, is Jim and his wife from the Chocolate Dude Tempering machines. From Roseburg they sell and rent Chocolate tempering machines. To rent a chocolate tempering machine from Friday to Monday, costing only about $50 you can get all your Christmas chocolates done in one weekend, or rent it out for a party. One of the samples they had were cinnamon bears dipped in chocolate. Jim insisted on taking my picture, while I sampled one, he said he wanted to see my eye light up. It’s strange picture of me to say the least. Thanks Jim!

On the other side of the room was Rogue microbrews Chocolate Stout. I love me a good stout, it’s a pretty smooth drink and Dave Chappell, of Rogue was good to check ID’s while he was talking with me. I looked at the woman next to me and said “what do you think of it?” She said. “ I don’t know, I’m a little high.”

Across from Rogue’s table is a familiar logo; Lulu’s Raw Chocolate Alchemy. A product I’m used to seeing sold at the Chai Hut. What makes her chocolate raw? Lulu only uses raw, organic ingredients for her chocolate. Her ingredients are Fair Trade and from eco-aware sources. The chocolate is sweetened with raw Agave Nectar and includes Maca root, a Peruvian superfood. Her chocolates come in flavors like; Velvet, Peppermint crunch, cayenne kiss, vanilla rose and lavender blueberry. See www.luluschocolate.com

As I wander out of the courtyard and back into the ballroom to get to a few tables that were a bit too crowded for me earlier, I find myself at Cary’s of Oregon. A sign at their table reads “Recently chosen Snack of the Day on the Rachel Ray Show”. As I chatted with Cary he tells me that Rachel Ray’s dad is a big fan of Cary’s Toffee’s and recommended them to Rachel, so they asked for some to try then featured it on her show. Cary goes on to say that he’s attended the Oregon Chocolate Festival for all 4 years now, and today’s attendance of people is the most he’s ever seen. I asked him why he thought that was, and he replied that “ Americans are developing a more refined taste in Coffee and wine, but also chocolate. Also Karolina of the Ashland Springs Hotel, does a lot of promoting of the festival and has done a great job of developing it over the years.”

Phew, by this time all the chocolate and wine, is making me want to take a nice little afternoon nap. I straighten up when I see officer Marcus Williams in full uniform walking next to me. He’s brought his daughter to festival, as we chatting a lady comes up with a little girl. She says the girl has lost her parents, and wants to know if the officer will help her find them. Officer Williams, smiles and has his daughter take the girls hand as they head downstairs to find mom.

Well the festival is starting to wind down as it approaches 4pm. I gather my companions and head downstairs. I come out of the Ashland Springs Hotel and walk out onto the sunny sidewalk. I don't know that I've ever had so much chocolate in my life, and I don't regret a single piece of it!

Tags: Chocolate Festival Oregon

My co-workers and I at the Tidings :)

 

http://www.dailytidings.com/gallery/main.php

 

Wanting old-fashioned deli fare? Look no further than downtown Medford.  Deli Down one of Medford's little known lunch destinations is hidden in the basement of the Main Street Market building.  “Fresh” best summarizes’ the Deli’s flavor. Along with your average deli sandwich choices, you are offered a choice of Soup, Salad, or Pasta Salad with your Sandwich. The pasta salads are unique to this Deli. Dan, the Owner for the last 21 years, changes the pasta salad menu seasonally, offering heartier choices in the winter months, and light choices in the warmer months.  Recently lunching there with my mother and stepson, I looked undecidedly at the menu, eventually settling on a fresh pastrami deli sandwich with pasta salad consisting of spinach fettuccini, blue cheese, black olives and garlic. It was heavenly. My stepson, Julius with his seemingly endless appetite opted for the buffet-style pasta bar, fresh pasta made at the deli with your choice of marinara or cream-based sauces and meatballs along with garlic bread.          

Deli Down is better known for their specialty in catering. For 12 of their 21 years, Deli Down has catered for the Britt Artist’s that have performed in Jacksonville.  As a result the Deli’s brick walls are lined with autographed photos of the various talents that have graced our Valley.  Near the table we feasted, I observed autographed pictures of INXS, Bela Fleck, Ani DiFranco, John Lee Hooker, and Bill Cosby, to name a few.          

Considering the Deli’s open hours are 10:30am – 3pm, service is fast and friendly. It took about five minutes waiting in line to order and maybe five minutes after that we had our entrees. If you are in the mood for a hot open face sandwich they make a killer roast beef with cheddar, red onion and mild horseradish on sourdough.  If you aren’t a fan of red-meat may I also suggest another favorite: the Mediterranean chicken sandwich, that comprises pesto chicken stuffed in pita bread, with tomato, feta cheese, black olives, mushroom and fresh spinach. Let me tell you, nothing hits the spot on a cold winter day like Deli Down’s fresh made hearty soups.  Regular choices are: tomato bisque, cream of potato w/bacon, red bean and sausage and—of course--clam chowder.

          The atmosphere is intimate and inviting, with a wide variety of patrons, from construction workers to office personnel. Deli Down is located in the historic Main Street Market at 406 E. Main St, Medford.