The Chocolate Festival is being held for the benefit of the World Forestry Center. What a way to indulge your chocolate cravings and help a good cause.
January 21- 23, 2011 at the OREGON CONVENTION CENTER

First things first. Lunch was at Bunk Sandwiches where I had the house specialty Cubano Pork Belly Sandwich. It was an indulgence totally worth the fat content! Marcel went the healthier route with a Vegetarian Torta.

The chocolate bunny welcomes the guests

Chocolate overload…

Not only were they delicious but also beautiful!

Classic church architecture in downtown Portland

Streets of Portland in the winter

This is a test drive of our new Canon G12 and we love it so far! It has a very “intelligent” automatic feature.

One of our favorite Friday night activities is the wine tasting at Whole Foods Market (Tanasbourne). It costs $5 and you get to taste 5-7 different wines plus some delicious pairings such as fruit, cheese, chocolate, and pastries. It is held at the bar and starts at 6:30 pm. We have met quite a few friends there who have become “regulars”.

If you want frugal entertainment, I highly recommend this event. Just make sure you don’t shop for $100 worth of goodies you don’t need right after the event

To keep things simple this year, we combined homemade and store-bought dishes. We roasted a whole turkey, made some mashed potatoes, and candied yams. Everything else was purchased from Whole Foods Market.

Golden Roasted Turkey. Recipe adapted from Whole Foods Market
Wine: 2008 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping. Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

Mulder enjoyed his dinner as well – plain versions of everthing including canned pumpkin, mashed potatoes, and boiled peas/carrots. It is not healthy for dogs to have too much salt, fat, or spices just like the humans, except we still do it anyway