Cheese Board

My dad made these cutting/bread boards when I was a kid.  He did a lot of woodworking and we had booths at Saturday Markets and craft fairs .... it was a blast!  I still remember bringing in the final cuts after the glue dried and sanding and sanding and sanding these until they were smooth.  I have two of them and can't bring myself to cut on them!  :-)  So we use them as cheese boards.

Tonight, cooking just didn't feel like an option, so I stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up what you see here.  TJ's has the best prices on cheeses and meats and wines ... not over-priced and just plain delicious.  In-home movie date night for us!  

Cheese Bar Quickie

Our Day in Portland is coming to a close, we've decided to head to the restaurant to see if we can find parking on Burnside and possibly get a seat at the counter to watch the chefs cook.  But our last stop is Cheese Bar on Belmont.

We decided to be authentic and just order the cheese boards.  They are simple, no-fluff, straight about the cheese.  I like that.  They have awesome wines, microbrews and ciders available and the atmosphere is very cafe-laid-back.

The staff was super excited when we wanted to taste some cheese in the case while we waited on our food.  They interpreted my 'I like the crunchy cheeses...." perfectly and found exactly what kind of cheeses I was talking about.  These people KNOW CHEESE.  No one made me feel like an idiot for only knowing the common everyday cheeses, they just enthusiastically offered me options and steered us expertly toward exactly what we wanted.

We ended up buying three cuts of cheese that we can't wait to make a cheeseboard at home with .... we enjoyed our time here and the staff .... just awesome.  I can't wait to go back and try some of the other things on the menu!

Stop by and get your cheese on!!!  I guarantee you'll learn so much and come away with something amazing and mouth-watering!

Sweet Red Bistro

We haven't had a date in a long while, we were due!  Tonight we chose Sweet Red Bistro in Albany, Oregon.  This wasn't our first trip to the restaurant, but I thought I would share a little about it here.

This space was home (for years) to the old Boccherini's Coffe & Tea House.  It's always been a quaint and relaxing space to spend time in.  Albany-ites were so sad to see Boccherini's go but now .... we have Sweet Red's in its place!

You can order from a list of beautiful wines (lots of sweeter dessert options here) or you can even bring your own bottle and they will open it and pour it for you.  I always like to try one or two of their wine flights to taste which goes better with what I'm eating and tasting.

Tonight I also decided to try the tomato basil soup - I was starving.  It was delicious and full of basil flavor!  

We ordered the cheese board, knowing that it would fill both of us up and we felt like playing and flirting and creating fun combinations of nuts and cheese and fruit.  It was perfection!  

The atmosphere here is perfect for a romantic date night.  The lighting is low, you can tuck yourself in the back and enjoy your food.

The staff is so friendly and knowledgeable about the wines and food!  They answered all of our questions without a blink and when my flights of wine came, I got to hear all about each of them. 

Tonight we also did something we rarely do:  we ordered dessert!  No need to order coffee, the wines went wonderfully with our chocolate dessert!

Overall, we adore this place.  The art on the walls, the ambiance, everything just screams 'relaxing sexy date night'.  It was perfect for our mood!  Love it!