For dinner last night I had an omelette with blue cheese, parsley, and onions.

The red and white cart just moved in. In the last 6 weeks 4 more carts have opened next to me.

I always have cookies and bread left over at the end of the day. Today there was more then usual, and I always give Lindsey a call at moments like this. She stopped by on her way home from work and picked up 8 cookies and 2 loaves of bread.

While out I met Suzanne for lunch and a friend of hers stopped by. He has some interesting pursuits. He grows spirulina, which is a type of algae, in large fishtanks in his back yard. He cultures it in a water saturated with baking soda as the main nutrient. Several dozens gallons of incubation capacity yields a harvest of 2 oz. I’m not sure how often he is able to reap this quantity. He processes it into a tasteless green paste which is ‘reputedly’ very healthy. He was an interesting guy, in town from San Francisco.  He seemed quite knowledgeable about chemistry and molecular organization. He grows coca leaf and extracts cocaine in small quantities, as a hobby. He makes little cubes of sugar, tea extract, and lightly processed, presumably organic cocaine which you suck on for a little energy boost late in the day. He’s like someone out of a Phillip K Dick novel!

Michael, a co-owner of Anisha, where Kate works, and his brother are building a cart from scratch, much in the same manner which I have done. Custom trailer bed, 2×4 stud walls, a pitched roof with shingles, and a full little kitchen in a 7 by 16 foot space. They will make Polish dumplings and serve ionized water to the New Seasons shoppers across the street.

Hunting around in the New Seasons for lunch, Suzanne pointed me to the truffle box. The beef and cheese caught my attention, but the espresso was the real winner, made with Joel’s coffee.

Kate moved out yesterday. So sad . I went over to her new place and brought some takeout. I asked her what she wanted. Pizza! she said. I went to Pyro. They make small, chewy, pies with lots of fresh vegetables. I got: Pesto with artichoke hearts and red peppers; basil and sausage and red sauce; grilled eggplant slices with tomato sauce.

I had lunch at the pasta cart Ciao Chow on SW 2nd and Stark. Lindsey got bruchetta and peasant’s pasta, dressed very simply with garlic, red peppers, some basil, and lot’s of olive oil. I got pasta with shrimp and a tomato cream sauce.

The cart is very small but has tall ceilings.

Met Amber at 3rd and Stark. Jeez, the pod down there is huge. It stretches across two parking lots along 5 or 6 city blocks. We both got sandwiches at the People’s Pig. Cliff is now making lemon sodas and slaw.

I met Elle and Lindsey downtown for lunch at Violetta, a food cart at SW Taylor and 8th, in director park. This is a new park, and it’s stunning. It’s one large seating area for Violetta, which will soon be opening a little restaurant in the park. The food is American comfort food, very similar to McDonalds (or perhaps I should say Burgerville), but it’s local and delicious. Elle got a lentil burger, Lindsey got squash and coconut soup, and we all split freshly fried beignets with chocolate sauce for dessert.

Joel is opening a coffee shop! It’s in the old half and half location, at W Burnside and 10th. As you can see, he’s in the demolition phase. I was offered a snack of some pasta when I stopped in, but I had just eaten.

In the bathroom are many little cartoons of various figures peeing and pooping. I love this one. Unfortunately I’m sure it’s destined to be repainted.

$7 bought an all you can eat pass for single bite samplers from 30 food carts. $2 PBR tallboys was the only option for beer. From PBJ’s I had a thai peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a sandwich made out of slices of french toast, with peanut butter and bananas; at Pyro Pizza a white pizza with pistachios and carmelized onions; at Garden State bruchetta with arugula, cod, and tangerine; Koi Fusion had a sweet and sour beef taco with kim chee; at Potato Champion some crunchy fries; Violetta made beignets with chocolate sauce; Fifty Licks had bacon and maple syrup ice cream.

Lindsey stopped by yesterday and dropped off some bacon jam from a Seattle food cart called Skillet. It’s kind of an unappetizing name. Why don’t they just call it rillettes? I had it for breakfast. It’s pretty good, although the smoke in the bacon seems out of place here. Skillet makes burgers where they use this in place of mayonaise. I should give that a shot.

Lindsey is very connected with all sorts of foodies. A week ago we had dinner at Suzette with Marlowe, later stopping by her homestead. She has a compost with a green roof above where she grows herbs, 2 bee colonies, irrigation in the garden, pullets in the basement, and a large quantity of jam tucked away from last fall. Her green tomato chutney is totally delicious. It’s got a BBQ sauce character, with cinnamon, cloves, and possibly soy sauce in there as well.

The PSU monthly newspaper did a spread on their nearby food cart lot. I’ve been debating where my location should be, but this is exactly the argument for why I would want to be downtown. Exciting food cart clusters like this.

I met Elle downtown for lunch at Addy’s, at SW 10th and Alder. This cart just opened a few weeks ago. She uses bread from Little-T, the excellent bakery just down the street from me. The sandwiches seem to be very simple. Elle got the brie and cucumber and that’s all it was. I got the duck confit with apricot sauce, (which was really apricot jam.) Both sandwiches were so tasty! Everything else sounds dreamy. The chocolate sandwich is toasted with a big slab of melted dark chocolate. The pate she makes herself. I asked what kind of pate it was and she says, a little nervous, ‘it’s got pork and fat and umm, more fat.’ I’m totally hooked! Also there’s the cutest little porch to sit at.