EatRetreat: Day 3

I am writing this while in a pleasant hazy blend of beer, itis, and the sleepiness that comes after wading around a shallow river in the sun. Honestly I'm not sure why Portlandians are so big on weed when they can just do this whenever they want.

Today started with an early morning as I assisted a few of my fellow Retreaters execute their vision of a mixed-culture breakfast. The food was a bit Oxacan, a bit Jewish, a bit Mediterranean, and a whole lot of deliciousness. I mostly helped make the drinking chocolate, but after the fact I wished I had more to do with the fava bean and chickpea dish because I could have eaten that for DAYS. It was somehow improved by both ancho mole and tahini sauce. And don't even get me STARTED on the flavored challah.

Next we moved into a food photography workshop where I picked up some tips to up my Insta game, then onto storytelling where I made a friend while we interviewed each other. She told me a bit about the year she took off to travel around the world between graduating college and starting her career and I empathized with how badly I want to do the same. She essentially poked holes in all the excuses I have about why I haven't tried yet and said that if I want to do it, I absolutely should. So that's giving me something to think about.

After that we moved into the beer workshop, which unsurprisingly was my favorite of the day. We discussed some basics in the lodge then went down to the river to taste in a picnic area before lunch. I got to try a couple of the craft beers my fellow retreater worked on as well as a local brewery in Portland and all I can say is OH. MY. GOD.

I don't like most beers.

I don't like most IPAs.

Today I tried my favorite beer I've ever tried as well as an IPA that wasn't overly bitter and was genuinely enjoyable. Like, what?! I've literally never experienced anything like either of them before.

The sour beer I'm currently obsessed with was called Zester Girl and it's infused with fir needles and aged in large oak barrels. At first I couldn't even put words to it. It sort of reminded me of a Chardonnay pet-nat from California but it had this undeniable citrus and grassiness that was reminiscent of a Sancerre, then it finished with salinity like Muscadet. My jaw literally dropped. I could drink that stuff all day long, except there's only a few bottles left. You can bet your ass I'll be scouring each beer shop in Portland before I leave tomorrow trying to find one to take home!

After a delicious lunch of slow fire-roasted pork and veggies, a few others and I went down to the river to take a dip. Was the water freezing? Yes. Was the air so hot it felt amazing? HECK YES. I love the smell of rivers; it takes me right back to my childhood when I'd splash around in the brook in our front lawn during hot summer afternoons. More people joined us and brought out some boxed wine and beer so we could keep relaxing while we relaxed...it was really perfect.

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Okay so shortly after writing that we started a beekeeping lecture and I nodded off into a sun-drenched beer-soaked power nap in my seat. I attempted to take notes regardless, and it did not go well...

...Oops.

Anyway. We finished that lecture then moved outside for charcuterie and other snacks and eventually started making pizzas in the wood-fired oven. Including smoked pineapple pizza because that shit is delicious. Yeah, you heard me: if pineapple pizza is wrong, I don't want to be right.

At one point the grown-ups at my table started talking about their kids and spouses and stuff and passed around pictures on their phones which was cute. I sat there in my twenty-something singleness and listened and smiled but if I'm being wholly honest with myself, I wished I had someone cool to talk about too. I've had a lot of fun times and interesting thoughts this week and I wish I had someone to go home and tell them to over wine in our PJs. I'm fortunate enough to have a couple awesome friends that I've been keeping updated while I'm here and I've made this blog for exactly that reason but it's not quite the same. I'm proud to say it's still irrelevant to my overall happiness for the week though, so I digress.

On the other side of that, I've made really amazing new connections here. I've learned about some super unique products, tried some foods and activities I never thought I would, and I'm going home tomorrow with a bunch of rad ideas for this website and beyond. I have my peers here to thank for that; peers I would not have thought I'd have access to six months ago. Hell, some of them are peers in facets of the industry that I didn't realize existed six months ago. When it comes down to it, we may all have vastly different interests but the thing we have in common is that we picked our own little niches of the world to become supernerds about and nothing makes us happier than sharing that niche with others. The best part is that I went into this retreat thinking my niche was over in la-la-land compared to everyone else's, but it turns out I'm not nearly as removed as I thought I was. There might be a lesson in there.

So consider yourselves welcome in my niche any time, winos. There's always a bottle in the fridge or the rack and I've always, always got a wine key.

Love and chicatanas,

D