A bodacious breakfast biscuit

Ahhh....or should I say, urrp?

Finally, I made it down to Pine State Biscuits on Southeast Belmont for Sunday morning breakfast. The menu is fabulous and there's a reason there's a line of people on the sidewalk waiting to get in to the small space.

I met my son Nathan around 10 o'clock and we both went for "Reggie's Special." Imagine this: A fluffy buttermilk biscuit split in two and lovingly stuffed with a piece of crispy chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, a fried egg and gravy. Yes, it sounds decadent. Oh, but it's so good.

Funny thing...I first heard of Pine State Biscuits flipping through the pages of Esquire magazine. It was listed in a February 2008 feature on The Best Sandwiches in America. Soon thereafter, one of our columnists at the newspaper wrote about it. I drove it past it at some point while en route from one place to another in Southeast.

And today, I finally made it to the temple of calories. That I had any room for it at all is a minor miracle, considering that we had an early birthday celebration for Nathan (pictured in Mexico, 2006) last night.

With help from daughter Simone, I made a superb paella that filled a pan as big as the hubcap on a Hummer. What a dish! risotto rice with saffron, chicken thighs, shrimp and mussels in the shell, fresh green beans, peas, roasted peppers, sauteed onions and garlic, seasoned with red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper and chicken broth. Here's the recipe from The Oregonian: Really Good Paella.

As if that weren't enough, Lori made an outrageous chocolate cake made moister than usual by adding root beer. Heavenly.

Clearly, I should get out and run 10 miles. I'll do 5 and call it good.

P.S. By the way, this is my 50th post. Another milestone!