Not for the weak of stomach

193 days into our parenting adventure, Darr and I were lucky enough to find friends (i.e., Noodle and her parents) willing to watch Monsieur Henry so we could attend Taste of the Nation. It was the first time Henry has gone into the world sans parents. I did my best to warn Noodle's parents ahead of time of potential problems. H has entered the 'I fear strangers' part of infanthood and usually cries when other people hold him. And that's when we're standing right there where he can see us.

I met Darren outside the Oregon Convention Center and once the event started, we commenced eating as if we had been told we had one hour left to consume food before all food would cease to exist in this world. Tarts and cupcakes and cured meats, oh my! It was fantastic. I highly recommend this event to anyone who likes to try foods and local beverages of the alcoholic nature.

Some of the favorites consumed:

• Bluehour's Veal Short Ribs braised in Pinot Noir and served with herbed whipped potatoes and celery root slaw (I had mine minus the slaw.)
• Bread and Ink Café's Belgian Sugar Waffle Hot Fudge Sundae
• Baker & Spice's Rhubarb Buckle
• Caprial's Bistro's Smoked Onion Tart with warm bacon and watercress salad
• Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen's Pastrami Sandwiches
• Simpatica Dining Hall's Fried Raviolis stuffed with ground pork and parmesan
• Timberline Lodge's Douglas Fir and Pinot Noir Granita
• Viande Meats and Sausage's Wild Boar Rillettes on Gougères
• Piece of Cake's Marionberry Poppyseed Cake
• Paley's Place Bistro & Bar's Almond Financier, Rhubard Compote, and Mascarpone
• Mint/820 Guava Cosmos with grapefruit vodka

Some of the things we missed:

• Newmans at 988's Organic Fingerling Potatoes with pepper bacon (How did we miss that?)
• Pho Van/Silk's Grilled Lemongrass Beef (How did we miss that?)
• Ruby Jewel Treats' Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches (How did we miss that?)

For anyone interested in going next year, if we can get five couples together, we can purchase a table and get in early for a VIP champagne reception that includes exclusive bites and a few special surprises. (I saw one person's gift bag and it included a bottle of wine. Mmmm...wine.) Keep in mind 100% of the proceeds go to the cause.

After an hour of gorging we missed Henry and were too full to eat anymore so we left to go and grab us a baby. When we arrived, Henry was chillin' in the Baby Björn, looking content. We were told that Henry performed fabulously and that Noodle was a most excellent babysitter helper, for which she earned a dollar bill. With a little encouragement from her parents before we left, Noodle gave Henry a kiss goodbye. It was very sweet. (She actually gave him two or three kisses because I was less than speedy with the camera and we wanted to capture the event on digital media.)
Many thanks to Noodle and the gang for taking such fantastic care of our little one. We appreciate it more than you know. If you ever need us to return the favor, we would love to have Noodle over. We'll be sure to get the inappropriate baby pictures first thing in case you show up early because you miss your kid.