Best Breakfast}Byways Cafe

Located in the Pearl District of Portland, Byways Cafe is like stepping back in time.  Although it’s only been there for ten years, you feel like it’s been there forever. With a fun and charming retro atmosphere and lots of comfort food Byways is a popular destination for Portland locals and visitors and has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

We arrived at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning and had about a five minute wait.  By the time we left an hour later there were a dozen people waiting in line.

There is lots to keep you entertained while you wait for your food.  The place is decorated, rather covered in travel memorabilia and souvenirs.

Many of the items have been brought to the cafe by their customers when they return from vacation.  While we were there a man brought in a shirt from a favorite ball team of one of the cafe workers!

The menu is full of lots of down home, comfort cooking.  I ordered the Blue Corn Pancakes which is a specialty of the house.  They were served with a yummy pecan and honey butter as well as maple syrup. Yes, the pancakes are blue and they have a nice little crunch to them with the corn meal. It was a fun variation on a pancake and I loved the pecan honey butter.  My husband enjoyed a nice egg scramble with fresh fruit.  If you go for lunch I understand their burgers are the best!  They serve breakfast all day on Saturdays and Sundays.

I loved the retro counter.  There is just something about a restaurant with a counter.  It reminds me of my high school days and going to the lunch counter at Woolworths downtown on our lunch hour.

Definitely give Byways Cafe a try and enjoy stepping back into time for an hour or so while enjoying some good food.

Portland Farmer’s Market

Farmer’s market season is in full swing in Portland.

Last weekend we checked out the Portland Farmer’s Market for the first time this season.

Located at PSU in the Park Blocks off of Broadway the Portland Farmer’s Market is open on Saturdays with other locations  during the week.  Check their website for details.

The market has lots of fresh local produce.

as well as lots of locally made products such as cheese…

lovely artisan breads…

and if you didn’t have breakfast before you arrived head on over to Pine State Biscuits!

Or pick up some sweet or savory treat at my personal favorite – The Tart Lady.

And of course there are plenty of beautiful flowers!  The peonies were out the day we were there.

There is something for everyone, old or young.  If you take the kids be sure and look for the balloon man!

A perfect way to spend a Saturday morning in Portland!

Summer Fun Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway for these fun products!

Winner #1 of the Sport-Brella is:

#41 Kathy of Hillsboro

Winner #2 of the Speedminton is:

#32 – Ann Leete

Winner #3 of the Potty Flip and Snack Trap is:

#52 – Jessica Fuhriman

Ladies, I will be in contact to get you your prizes!!

Congratulations and thanks again to all who participated!

Out to Lunch}Pasta Pronto

My favorite place to go to lunch in my own neighborhood is Pasta Pronto.  It is one of the few “locally owned and operated” restaurants in the Beaverton/Bethany area.

Voted the “Best in the Burb’s,” Pasta Pronto is located at 2515 NW Town Center Drive, Beaverton.

Its location is a bit strange – located across from Barnes & Noble, Target and Safeway right off of 185th in the Tanasbourne area it can be a little hard to find but worth it!

It is part of a small row of business.

You order right at the counter.  Be sure and check out their list of specials for the day because there are always some great things to be found!

Everything is cooked to order from scratch and is fresh and delicious!

Their bread is made in house to and is wonderful!  I could go just for the bread!

And don’t forget to check out the dessert case.  The desserts are all fresh and delicious too!

So if you find yourself out in the “burbs” be sure and pay Pasta Pronto a visit, you won’t be sorry!  Even if you don’t find yourself out in the “burbs” make a trip to Pasta Pronto!

Summer Fun Giveaway

Welcome to the first giveaway here at Homebased Portland!

If you saw the segment I did on KOIN Studio 6 today and this is your first time to the blog I am so glad you stopped by!

I’d also love for you to come on over and visit my other blog:  Your Homebased Mom.

On the show today I shared some great new products that will be fun for all your summer family outings.

The best part is – I am giving these products away here on the blog.

You can enter to win just by leaving a comment below.

You can also get extra entries by doing the following:

1.  Subscribing to Homebased Portland  and/or Your Homebased Mom via RSS or email(one entry for each)

2.  Become a friend of Homebased Portland on Facebook

3.  Tweet about this giveaway

Please leave a separate comment for each of your entries!

There will be THREE winners!

Winner #1 will receive:

Sport-Brella: retail value: $69.99  www.sklz.com

If you live in Oregon you definitely  need one of these!  Keep the whole family dry and warm at those rainy soccer games.

It’s also great to use on the beach and has a UPF 50 protection!

Winner #2 will receive:

Speedminton: retail value$29.99 www.speedminton.com

You will also win this fun new family game – perfect for the beach, the park or the backyard.

Speedminton is a combination of badminton and racquetball.  The weighted birdies make playing easier than regular badminton birdies.  You can even insert glow in the dark sticks to play at dusk or at night!

Winner #3 will receive:

Snack Trap:  retail value $3.99 each (two of them)  www.snacktrap.com

We all know kids spill!  The Snack Trap is an anti spill snack cup.  Just fill with your child’s favorite snack and they can feed themselves without the worry of making a mess!  It’s spill proof!

Winner #3 will also receive a Potty Flip:  retail value 12 for $24.00, www.pottyflip.com

Potty flip is a portable, disposable and biodegradable potty – perfect for potty training!

It’s small and compact and fits easily into your purse or diaper bag!

So be sure and leave a comment to enter and welcome to Homebased Portland!

This giveaway is open until midnight PST, Saturday, May 22.

Best Breakfast}Beaverton Farmer’s Market

One of my favorite places to go for breakfast on a Saturday morning in the summer is the Beaverton Farmer’s Market.  The market is now open and in full swing.

For location and more info on the market go here.

On our visit to the market last Saturday we couldn’t decide where we wanted to eat breakfast so we split up.  My husband headed over for a Canby breakfast omelet.  They are delicious and HUGE – I think you could feed the whole family!!  All three of us worked on it.

Each omelet is cooked to order, right there in front of you!

There are lots of other delicious breakfast selections available.

The girls got in line at Zest Crepe.  This place is popular so be prepared to wait a little bit!
Tina and her girls are always friendly and lots of fun!

We always have such a hard time choosing what type of crepe we are going to have – sweet or savory?!

We usually go for sweet!  The Sweet Italy is so good!!

Tessa went for the Sundae Surprise off the children’s menu – it’s filled with chocolate chips!

If you are looking for something a little bit lighter for breakfast you can pick up a fresh baked scone at the Lavender Tea House booth and head over to listen to some music!

The Beaverton Farmer’s Market – a perfect way to start the day and the weekend!

Bob’s Red Mill

Bob’s Red Mill – “Whole grain foods for every meal of the day.”  With over 400 products Bob’s Red Mill is an amazing site and resource for whole grain products, gluten free products and certified organic products.

Located in Milwaukie, Oregon, Bob’s Red Mill is not just a store but also a restaurant.  You can also take tours of the actual mill.  It makes a great family outing or field trip!  Tours of the mill are available Monday through Friday and begin at 10:00 a.m.

The selection of whole grains, flours, cereals etc. is amazing and I could have spent all day wandering the aisles.  You can buy their products packaged or in bulk (you save money by buying bulk)

I picked up some steel cut oats, whole wheat pastry flour, granola and almond flour while I was there.

If you get hungry while you are there you can have breakfast or lunch at the restaurant which is open until 3 p.m. each day.  There is lots of whole grain goodness on the menu.

I enjoyed breakfast there with some girlfriends.  One friend ordered the grits, which if you like grits, I guess are fabulous.

Another ordered the polenta which came with fresh blueberries – the polenta does take 15 minute to prepare.

I went for the Belgian waffle with real maple syrup.

I think the best thing on the menu is their amazing scratch biscuits!  They are huge, light and fluffy!!

There is also a vegetarian menu available.

A trip to Bob’s Red Mill is a fun and tasty adventure.