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You are here: Home / Incorporating Vintage at Home in Portland / 9/11 AND GENEROUS PORTLANDERS

9/11 AND GENEROUS PORTLANDERS

September 14, 2017

gifts from Rebecca

I’m constantly amazed by the generosity of those around me.

Take this past week, in point.

Last year I met this lovely Brazilian woman when she answered a post I wrote on a local bulletin board asking for donations for a family in need.

Isabel and Al, Stranger Donations

She invited me to her home and gave me hundreds of dollars in gift cards for this other family she’d never met– and our friendship was born. I’ve since invited Isabel and Alan to my home and we’ve shared cocktails and conversation.

Tomato Bruschetta with White Bean Puree and Smoked Almonds

This past week she returned the favor and invited my whole family for a Brazilian dinner.

She lives in a gorgeous home with such lovely details

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and she spared no expense or effort to make sure we were comfortable and incredibly well fed.

There was a generous cheese platter with quince paste

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and Brazilian cheese breads called Pao de Queijo — chewy little Parmesan-studded breads made with tapioca flour and baked until crispy.

Brazilian cheese breads

We were also given Caipirinhas (Brazil’s most famous cocktail) made with Cachaca, a sugar cane liquor.

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Isabel’s daughter and family were also there, and her son-in-law is a bartender at Pok Pok so of course the cocktails he made were fantastic.

He made three different versions of a Caipirinha: one with lime, one with coconut, and one with a passion fruit and condensed milk base (my favorite).

cocktails from Brazilian feast

And then, as if all this wasn’t enough food, she started to pull together the rest of the food: a Feijoada Feast.

Brazilian feast

Apparently this national dish has a Portuguese origin and it features prominently a black bean soupy base studded with a copious amount of sausages, pork and beef.

IMG_0063

It was crazy delicious and we stuffed ourselves silly, filling out our plates with collard greens and more meat.

Brazilian feast

And just when I thought I couldn’t eat more, she brought out desserts: a flan and passion fruit puddings topped with fresh raspberries

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as well as two different kind of truffles.

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Superb cocktails and appetizers, a blow-out feast, and then four different homemade desserts.

And such a pretty table to enjoy it all.

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What a fabulous night with these lovely people, and as if their generosity that night wasn’t enough, she sent me home with tons of leftovers and even dropped off more soup and the passion fruit puree I loved so much the next day.

Isabel drop off fruit puree

(Thank you, friends!)

And then it was suddenly Monday — and I was reminded that it was 9/11.

Long time readers will remember that this is a day in which I (like so many of you) take stock of my surroundings and acknowledge all the good around me.

In years past, I’ve made feasts for firefighters,

Girls at Firehouse, Portland

bestowed soup and notes to dozens of neighbors,

Thank you notes and Soup for Pay it Forward Friday

hosted bake sales benefitting fire fighters organizations,

Bake Sale Portland

and invited gal pals to lunch.

Greek Lemon CHicken Soup, Portland

This year I mixed it up a little bit,  reaching out to those in my circle I don’t see nearly enough, and giving away treats to strangers.

I started my day with the latter.

My husband had found a couple on Craigslist to do some repair work on our grill

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and when they told me that they were headed up to Washington for a long drive, I decided to surprise them with a breakfast to go.

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(Turns out Amazon boxes make perfect oversized to-go packages.)

In that same spirit of kindness, they knocked twenty dollars off our bill. Thank you!

I took that same batch of granola I’d just made and then dropped it off on porches in my neighborhood, including that of someone I don’t know very well who is struggling with cancer right now.

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I then headed home and started making lunch.

tomatoes from farmers market

That morning I’d roughly chopped about six pounds of the ripest tomatoes from the farmers’ market and allowed them sit in a little olive oil, salt and minced garlic.

tomatoes for pasta

I then cooked up some rotini pasta and tossed the warm pasta with the tomatoes; the heat softened the tomatoes and allowed them to release more of their sweet juices. Just a little shaving of Truffled Pecorino and herbs were the only thing lunch needed.

I packed up these lunches to go and hit the road.

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First stop was Isabel’s.

In addition to flowers,

flower bouquet from farmers market

I wanted to thank her with a home-cooked lunch for her and her family.

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Isabel greeted me with a big hug –and sent me home with more treats.

This time they were vintage towels brought over from her native country.

One came from her favorite farmer’s market

vintage tea towel Isabel

and the other from her aunt’s trousseau, many, many years ago.

tea towel from Isabel vintage

I then left her house to deliver more lunch at my friend Rebecca’s; she’s an incredibly talented designer/author/blogger and I hadn’t seen her in far too long.

I brought her a couple bowls of pasta, too

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and banana and chocolate chip muffins (doesn’t the bottom one look like an emoji?).

banana muffins 9/11

We caught up a tiny bit and she in turn surprised me with some things she’d found recently at the Goodwill Bins: a vintage toy and paper napkins (which of course I loved).

gifts from Rebecca

I’m so blessed by such kind, generous, reciprocal souls around me; all the time I find treats at my door, be they food from friend’s travels, like maple syrup from Quebec

maple syrup gift

or very special olive oil or orange marmalade from Seville.

Spanish gifts from neighbors

I’m also the lucky recipient of gorgeous flowers

Birthday Flowers

and different kinds of homemade treats.

Gifts on Porch, Scones and Honey

9/11 was so shocking for its brutality and its legacy of fear is a very real thing — but so is the feeling that it has galvanized so many like-minded souls who just want to share, and give, and support one another.

And it continues to encourage others to stand up in those moments when they are needed most.

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Or so we all hope.

So here’s to confronting all the uncertainty, sadness and bad news in the world with more love.

More random acts of kindness.

Flowers on Porch

And no small amount of home-baked goodness.

anzac cookies with chocolate

Because no matter how hard life gets, there is unfathomable comfort to be found in a hug–and a cookie!- offered.

anzac cookies with chocolate

Filed Under: Incorporating Vintage at Home in Portland, Parties, Pure Portland

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Comments

  1. Joanna Sooper says

    September 14, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    Your amazing generosity and spirit always amazes me!

    Reply
    • Sarah Kline says

      September 14, 2017 at 9:40 pm

      What a sweet thing to say. Thanks for chiming in, Joanna! XO

      Reply
  2. leonardo says

    September 15, 2017 at 12:46 am

    What a wonderful example your are to all of us,,,Bravissime!

    Reply
    • Sarah Kline says

      September 15, 2017 at 1:13 am

      Mille Grazie, Leonardo!

      Reply
  3. Polly says

    September 15, 2017 at 10:31 am

    Sarah, I’m so proud to be your sister. Your kindness and generosity are such an inspiration. When I grow up, I want to be just like you.
    It’s no surprise you are surrounded by such lovely friends and neighbors…
    What I would give to have been at Isabel’s dinner with you!

    Reply
    • Sarah Kline says

      September 15, 2017 at 3:07 pm

      Polly, you are MY inspiration, and the BEST mom and friend I’ve ever met. I miss you so much!

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth Hurlow-Hannah says

    September 15, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Wish you were down here in Central Florida–or anywhere in Florida, so many victims of Hurricane Irma!

    Reply
    • Sarah Kline says

      September 15, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      Sure wish I could be cooking for those who REALLY need it! XO

      Reply

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