Portland Archives | The Good Hearted Woman

Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro & Peanuts

Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts with cilantro and peanuts are crispy, tender, spicy, sweet, and addictive – so basically, they’re amazing!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

Last May, Mr B and I had tickets to see Marc Cohn at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, so we decided to make a night of it. We started out with a light meal at Southpark Seafood (our current Portland happy hour spot!) before the concert.

With a relaxed-chic vibe, this northwest Portland eatery features sustainable seafood and farm-fresh ingredients, and while their happy hour drink menu is just average ($6 house wines and sangria, $5 local brews), Southpark Happy Hour Eats are outstanding in every way.

For our meal, Mr B ordered six Oysters on the Half Shell [$6/3] for himself (I don’t do raw oysters) while I opted for the Spicy Shrimp & Grits [$10]. We also shared a Caesar salad [$6] and an order of their signature Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro & Peanuts [$7], and finished with a board of their amazing Maple Cream Puffs (with maple pastry cream, maple frosting, AND candied pecans) [$5].

The entire four-course meal for two was less than $40… in Portland!!! (Excluding beverages and tip, of course). AND, everything was delicious!

We especially enjoyed the Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts – they were literally the best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever eaten! Crispy, tender, spicy, sweet, and addictive are just a few of the adjectives to describe these amazing oven-roasted sprouts.

I immediately put it on my list of recipes to figure out and blog about (as in, I opened Evernote right there at the restaurant and typed myself a quick reminder). I’ve heard that Southpark will just give you the recipe if you ask, but I was interested in learning more about its mysterious new-to-me ingredient, Gochujang paste, so I decided to take it as a challenge.

What is Gochujang Paste?

Gochujang Paste, or Korean Red Chili Paste, I’ve since learned, is a savory, sweet, spicy fermented condiment made from chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soy bean powder, and salt. It gets its sweetness from the glutinous rice and has about the same consistency as a thick hoisin sauce or tomato paste, but is much stickier.

You can find Gochujang paste at almost any Asian market. If you’re at all worried that the Gochujang paste will make the sprouts too spicy, don’t be. The end result is a savory, sweet, almost mapley Brussels sprout with a subtle but respectable hint of heat.

Crispy, tender, spicy, sweet, and addictive are just a few of the adjective that describe these amazing Roasted Gochujang Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro & Peanuts. | The Good Hearted Woman

5 from 1 vote

Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Crispy, tender, spicy, sweet, and addictive are just a few of the adjectives that describe these amazing Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro & Peanuts.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time35 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Side Dish

Servings:

Calories: 230kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 1/2 tablespoons Gochujang paste
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts plus extra whole peanuts for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a heavy sheet pan with a Silpat mat (or with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray) and set aside.
With a paring knife, remove the base off of each Brussels sprout and cut down the middle from stem end to flower.
In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey and Gochujang paste. Add in Brussels sprouts and toss to coat.
Spread prepared Brussels sprouts evenly on prepared sheet pan. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
Roast Brussels sprouts in preheated oven 25-30 minutes (depending on how large your sprouts are), or until the sprouts are dark golden. (See note.)
Remove from oven. Sprinkle peanuts and cilantro evenly over roasted sprouts and then transfer everything to serving dish. Garnish with additional chopped cilantro and peanuts. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

When spreading Brussels sprouts on the pan to put in the oven, I like to start them all with their cut side down, flipping them with a spatula halfway thru the cooking process.

Nutrition

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If you love these Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts, you’ll probably love our Spicy Thai Shrimp Salad, too – Check it out!

The sauce in this recipe (olive oil, vinegar, honey, and paste) has a multitude of uses beyond Brussels sprouts, from chicken marinade to kale chip dressing.

I’m not sure how close this is to the Southpark Seafood recipe, but it sure tastes spot-on. I hope you enjoy these Gochujang Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cilantro & Peanuts as much as we do!

Additional recipe credit: While the inspiration for this post came from Southpark Seafood, the actual recipe shared here is an adaptation of this recipe by The Garlic Pad.

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Remembering Packy {+ Video: Elephant Lands at the Oregon Zoo}

April 14 By Renée 25 Comments

Commemorating the life and legacy of Packy, Portland’s biggest celebrity, on the anniversary of his birth.

Baby Packy at the Portland Zoo, 1962 | The Good Hearted Woman

When I was a little girl, Packy was the biggest celebrity in town – an international superstar even. But like most Portland kids who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, to me Packy was more than just our Zoo’s most famous resident – he was a member of the family.

Packy made his entrance into the world and the hearts of children everywhere on April 14, 1962, weighing in at a dainty 225 pounds. Packy was the first elephant born in captivity in the Western Hemisphere in 44 years; a status that garnered him, among other things, an 11-page spread in Life magazine, a song written for and dedicated to him, countless reproductions of his image on everything from coffee mugs to parade floats, and a life-time supply of pachyderm-sized, carrot-topped birthday cakes.

“Packy’s Birthday Cake” by Zervas is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Packy’s birthday was exactly one month and one week before mine, so during the earliest years of my life, his city-wide celebration became my cue that my own birthday was just around the corner. I fondly remember going to the zoo as a child, elephant-shaped zoo-key in hand, and begging my grandpa for change to buy peanuts to toss to Packy and the other elephants. (Times do change, don’t they?) I had a little plastic Packy purse and a bright yellow Zoo-train whistle imprinted with his likeness. Over the years, Portland jubilantly welcomed each of Packy’s seven calves, beginning with Me-Tu – the world’s first baby elephant to be born from second-generation, zoo-born parents. (Sadly, Packy outlived all but one of his offspring: daughter Sung-Surin [“Shine“], born in 1982, still lives at the Oregon Zoo.) In fact, Packy was a constant in my world from the day I was born until, in a controversial move earlier this year, he was euthanized after failing to respond to treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

February 9, 2017 marked a profoundly sad day for everyone in the Rose City.

However, while his loss saddens our hearts, Packy left a great and enduring legacy – one that will ultimately continue to inspire and educate the Oregon Zoo’s 1.6 million annual visitors about elephant research and conservation for generations to come.

Elephant Lands: Preserving the Packy’s Legacy

About a year ago, Em and I had an opportunity to go to the opening of the new Elephant Lands at the Portland Zoo. As someone who has lived in this city for a very long time, I remember what the old elephant enclosure was like… (No, not the one you remember from a few years ago – that was a major improvement over the one I grew up visiting. I mean this one ↓ all stark, sterile, and barren.)

A lot has changed at the Oregon Zoo since 1980…including Mr B 😉
(I took these pictures. It may or may not have been a school day.)

Recalling the not-so-good ol’ days, I was deeply heartened to see that, with the opening of Elephant Lands, these gentle giants finally have a home where they can live with a generous measure of joy and dignity.

Elephant Lands reflects the Zoo’s philosophy that all animals’ lives should be filled with choice. The new habitat includes time-released feeders, mud wallows, and plenty of water features – including a 160,000-gallon pool – all designed to encourage elephants to be active 14-16 hours a day, just as they would in their natural environment.

A thick covering of sand blankets the entire elephant habitat; (thankfully) a far cry from the unforgiving, often blistering cement floors of days gone by.

Indoor areas feature natural flooring and state-of-the-art heating and ventilation systems, and the herd can move inside and outside at will.

Forest Hall offers a spacious, inside viewing area, as well as an educational area that highlights the 5,000-year-old history of the human-elephant relationship around the world.

Together, the Elephant Building and Forest Hall form one of the largest indoor elephant facilities in the world.

VIDEO: Elephant Lands at the Oregon Zoo

I was so impressed by the new facility that I put together this short video ↓ of our visit. I hope you enjoy it!

If you live in or are planning to visit the Portland area, I encourage you to visit our Zoo soon. There’s always something new to see and learn. (If you stop by this summer, be sure to look around for Miss Em: she’ll be volunteering as a ZooTeen again this year.)

Want to read more about Packy? I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of Packy & Me [affiliate link], a fascinating account by Dr. Matthew Maberry, the doctor who delivered and cared for Packy for many years.

Packy - Portland Zoo | The Good Hearted Woman

“Packy” by Sandro Lombardo is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Where to Staycation in Portland: Tiny Digs Hotel

November 21 By Renée 45 Comments

The Tiny Digs Hotel in NE Portland is set to become your favorite {tiny} home away from home – perfect for a vacation, staycation, girls’ weekend, or getaway.

I am a huge fan of the tiny house movement. The challenge of making a 150-square foot structure into an attractive, genuinely livable space throws my imagination into high gear and I get all excited about the possibilities. And while I have no desire to live in a tiny house full-time (there simply wouldn’t be enough room for all my art supplies) I have been intrigued with the idea of staying in one since I first heard about the trend. This October I got my wish.

It all started a couple of months ago when I opened my inbox to find an invitation to the grand opening of the new Tiny Digs Hotel in east Portland. You have to know that I was all over that like… well, I can’t think of a good analogy right now, but you know what I mean – I jumped on it! Anyway, since Mr B was going to be out of town for the open house, I asked Miss Em on a date, and we took the tour together.

Tiny Digs is located on NE Glisan, a block or so off 28th and the “most delicious half-mile” in Portland. The hotel is collection of six custom-built, individually-styled tiny houses, ranging from a traditional red clapboard barn to an airy beach house to a Romany traveling wagon. Each one runs about $145 a night, and is fully furnished; with a queen-size bed, a fold-out couch that doubles as “living room” seating, light cooking options, a sink, a shower, a flushing toilet, and a small attached deck. There are plans to expand the number of tiny houses to thirteen in the coming years.

♥ If you live in the Portland area (or plan to visit soon) , be sure to enter our giveaway for a chance to win a free night at Tiny Digs. Entry form at the end of this post. ♥

Tiny Digs Hotel, Portland, Oregon {Your Tiny Home Away From Home} | The Good Hearted Woman

“Barn”

Tiny Digs Hotel partner Allison Meyer shared with us that all of the decisions for the outfitting of each of the tiny homes was personally taken on by one individual. For example, Allison was responsible for all of the design and decorating decisions for the Barn, while the Bamboo was the personal project of business partner Pam Westra.

“Bamboo”

Thanks to this individual-driven design process, each tiny house has its own distinctive style.

“Beach”

All the beds are outfitted with luxury bedding, and I can tell you from personal experience that they are very comfortable.

“Gypsy Wagon”

Tiny Digs Hotel features a central community space where guests can hang out and visit together around the fire pit. There are also some beautiful wooden art pieces to enjoy. (I was so intrigued with this sphere – I think I took at least 20 pictures of it!)

The “Modern” tiny house has a very open concept – including a clear-glass enclosed shower!

“Modern”

As of this date, none of the dwellings at Tiny Digs are ADA mobility complaint [due to the small number of “rooms” at this time, compliance is not required], but the owners confirm that handicapped-accessible tiny houses are part of their future plan.

The “Cabin” was the personal project of Pam Westra’s husband, Bruce, who has always wanted a cabin of his own. In addition to being beautifully designed, all of that cedar made the place smell amazing!

“Cabin”

About a month after the open house, Mr B and I had the chance to stay at the Tiny Digs Hotel. No work allowed – just the two of us and our music on a weekend getaway in our hometown. It was one of the most relaxing, romantic weekends we’ve ever spent together, and we already making plans to go back.

From the beginning, I was attracted to the colorful, vibrant vibe of the tiny Romany carriage, and was beyond excited to stay there. But there were other, more practical reasons for choosing the “Gypsy Wagon” as our staycation mini-home. Besides my somewhat bohemian worldview, I am also not very sure-footed: I have been known to trip while walking across perfectly flat surfaces, and once fell down a ladder while climbing up into a cabin loft, nearly braking my ankle. In my own best interest, I need to stay in a room that does not require me to climb a ladder to get into bed.

Like all the other rooms at the Tiny Digs Hotel, the “Gypsy Wagon” is all about the details. Check out that wonderful stamped-tin mirror that doubles as wall art.

I so wanted to take this footstool home. Just sayin’. (I can make one if I want though: I have skills – and about 10 reference pictures!)

We loved all the textural elements in our tiny house. Everything was a such delight for the senses.

When we arrived at Tiny Digs for our staycation, Mr B and I made a conscious decision to park our car and not move it all weekend, just to see how much we could see and do without driving. We had no problem whatsoever getting around. Tiny Digs Hotel is located just a few minutes walk from hip, artsy, delicious NE 28th Avenue, and just a few more minutes to E Burnside and the Laurelhurst Theater. You will definitely have plenty of things to do!

In an upcoming post (likely after the holidays) I’ll fill you in more about on our amazing weekend in Kerns neighborhood, but suffice it for now to say that the best part of our weekend happened right here, in our tiny little home away from home.

We loved our stay at Tiny Digs, and I am sure that if you stay there, you will too!

Learn more or make a reservation:
Tiny Digs Hotel
[email protected]
1-844-395-TINY (8469)

Many thanks to the Tiny Digs Hotel for hosting our stay. As always, all opinions and photos are my own. We loved our stay at Tiny Digs, and highly recommend that you check it out!

The Trail Less Traveled: Elowah Falls & McCord Creek Falls {Hike}

October 9 By Renée 8 Comments

Enjoy both sweeping views and relative solitude on this – the Elowah Falls & Upper McCord Falls Hike –the least-traveled trail on Oregon’s “waterfall road.”

It can be so easy to put off exploring your own backyard. Late this summer, Mr. B, Em and I decided to spend a week camping along the Historic Columbia River Highway at Ainsworth State Park, and take the time to explore Gorge trails so close to home that we often overlook them.

We took our trusty copy of Curious Gorge along with us, which lists over 100 Gorge hikes, and found a number of enticing trails to check out, including this one, which I’m almost embarrassed to admit I’ve never hiked before. It seems that I’m not alone though: the book’s author, Scott Cook, says that due to its weirdly hard to find parking lot, “Elowah Falls is the most overlooked major waterfall in the entire Gorge.”

I believe him. If you have ever hiked to the top of Multnamah Falls, you probably had a lot a company along the trail. Not so on the Elowah Falls and McCord Falls Hike. I could count the number of people we encountered the entire time we were on the trail on two hands.

The Elowah Falls hike is actually two hikes in one. About .2 miles in, at the second junction in the trail, you can choose to go up to Upper McCord Creek’s twin waterfalls, or down to Elowah Falls. We took the high road first.

A short way into our hike, we encountered a rusty piece of history – this long cast-iron flume pipe running down the hill.

According to Cook, this flume was built circa 1890 by pioneer Myron Kelly, who used it to deliver pressurized water from McCords Upper Twin Falls to his pulp mill down on the river. The pressurized water turned mill wheels that ground cottonwood trees into pulp, which he sold to Camas’ paper mills.

The mile-long trail to McCord Creek Falls makes several switchbacks for an elevation gain of 260 feet. It also passes a basalt wall blooming with wildflowers, and gives you a beautiful view of the Columbia River and Hamilton Mountain across the river in Washington.

If you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler making its way up (or down) river.

We stopped at McCord Creek Twin Falls to eat lunch, and Mr. B and Em did a little exploring while I took pictures of the local flora.

After lunch, we returned down the trail to Elowah Falls. The falls are fed by runoff from Mount Hood and, due to our extremely dry summer weather, the 213-foot high waterfall itself was somewhat anticlimactic, but nonetheless lovely, and the spray was quite refreshing after our hot afternoon hike. We’re hoping to take the hike again in early spring when the water is flowing more.

The canyon created by the falls creates a wind tunnel, and as we got close to the falls basin, the wind became strong enough to push the weak waterfall flow sideways.

If you are looking for a great, easy hike, we highly recommend checking out Elowah Falls. From Portland, it makes for a beautiful day trip, and if you are looking to get a little one-on-one time with the people you love along the way, the trail will be all yours.

Hike to Elowah Falls & Upper McCOrd Creak Twin Falls | The Good Hearted Woman

Proof that I was actually on this hike! (Also: Wind)

Hike Info:

Elowah Falls & Upper McCord Falls Hike

Easy-Moderate Hike
.75 miles to Elowah Falls, 1 mile to Upper McCord Falls, and 3.5 miles to do both.
Trail is very well-maintained, but rocky. Wear good shoes.
Pets are OK. Leashes required.

Getting there:

The parking lot really isn’t that hard to find. It’s just that it is situated east of the place your normally return to the highway from the old Historic Highway, and I think people just don’t know it’s there. (All the better for us solitary hikers then, huh?) The trailhead starts in the parking lot of John B. Yeon State Park, making this the most easterly of the Historic Highway’s waterfall hikes.

From the west (30 minutes from Portland)
From Portland, take Hwy 84 east to Ainsworth exit 35. At the stop, turn left, and then immediately right onto Frontage Road. Follow for 2 miles to Yeon State Park (just before the highway entrance).

From the east (30 minutes from Hood River)
Take I-84 west to Warrendale exit 37, Take the exit and go .3 miles, then turn left under the bridge. Take another left onto Frontage Road and head east for .3 miles to Yeon State Park (just before the highway entrance).

Resources: Curious Gorge [2013 edition], by Scott Cook [←affiliate link]

An InLinkz Link-up

Hike to Witch’s Castle {Forest Park, Portland}

August 20 By Renée 22 Comments

Once upon a time, I had visions of hiking through the hills and valleys of the Pacific Northwest with my happy little train of children, traipsing along whilst singing our hearts out all Von Trappified and such. (In my perfect world, it would be totally acceptable to break out into song at any given moment.)

But then… Tweens. Then Teens. Do you know how hard it is to entice the average teenage girl to go on a Hike with her Family? Here’s what worked for us most recently:

“Hey, do you want to go an a super-easy hike to a mysterious, probably haunted, definitely creepy stone Witch’s House hidden in the forest?”

“Yeah. I thought so.”

Before I detail the hike directions, a little history lesson is in order.

Forest Park has always been a hotbed of strange happenings in the Portland area, and Witch’s Castle is at the epicenter of one particularly haunting tale.

It seems that back in 1850, one Danford Balch filed a claim on a parcel of land near the newly settled town of Portland. Danford needed some help clearing the land, so he hired a transient worker named Mortimer Stump. Balch invited Stump to stay with his family, which included his wife Mary Jane and their nine children, while the work was being done.

Unfortunately, Stump ended up staying on a lot longer than was healthy for anyone.

It seems that Stump eventually fell in love with 15-year old Anna Balch and asked for her hand in marriage. When Danford and Mary Jane refused, the couple threatened to elope, and Father Balch retorted that if they did, he would kill Mortimer Stump. Young love being what it is, Mortimer and Anna ran off to Vancouver and were married in the fall of 1858.

Danford Balch would later claim that what happened next was the result of his wife “bewitching” him. The next time he encountered the couple, in Portland with other members of Stump’s family, a drunken Balch shot Mortimer Stump in the head. Balch was arrested, but escaped while awaiting trial.

Finally arrested again six months later on his own property, he was tried, found guilty, and subsequently hanged in October of 1859, making Danford Balch the first (legal) hanging in the Oregon Territory.

Mary Jane Balch, the “Witch” in our story, continued to live on the property. To this day, some attribute the strange occurrences at the Witch’s House to the ghosts of Danford, Mortimer, Anna, and Mary Jane.

If that isn’t enough to intrigue your teen off the couch, I don’t know what is.

Lamentably, the Witch’s House is not the actual Balch home. Over time, the Balch land was passed to various owners, and was eventually given to the City of Portland by Donald Macleay in 1897 to be used as a park.

In the 1950’s, a stone ranger station and restroom was constructed near the old Balch place, but was soon abandoned and quickly deteriorated. It is that stone structure that stands today as the Witch’s House.

How to get there: The Witch’s House is an easy half-mile hike from the Upper Macleay Parking lot near the Portland Audubon Society, or a slightly longer three-quarter mile jaunt starting from the Lower Macleay Parking lot at at NW 30th and Upshur.

If you want to visit the Audubon Society first, as we did, you can pick up the trail just to the right of the Wildlife Care Center, and then the only turn you’ll make is a quick left onto the main trail.

It’s an easy twenty or so minutes walk the hike in from Upper MacLeay, following Balch Creek on the Wildwood Trail.

Strange things are afoot at the Witch’s Castle… (If someone knows how I did this, please tell me – I may want to create the effect again someday! And no, I did not drop the camera.)

Speaking of Strange Things, Mr. B and I pose in front of a seemingly innocent doorway. And yet…

… the doorway above leads to this not so innocent little room/cave under Witches Castle. > >Shivers< <

OK, maybe it’s time for something pretty…

At the end of the day, we all had a great time together, and got to explore a pretty cool little corner of our world. And for the record, I did sing on the trail on the way back – accompanied by the lilting tones of, “Oh my gosh, Mom! You are so weird!”

As a Portland native, I take that as a real compliment.

P.S. About the picture above: I’m pretty sure I’m not really that short. I’m almost positive I was standing in a hole. Or something.

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City of Roses – Portland’s International Rose Test Garden

June 18 By Renée 5 Comments

We took a trip to Portland’s Rose Garden last weekend. As I wandered through the seemly endless rows of roses, I found myself contemplating this quote by Dale Carnegie:

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

While I embrace Mr. Carnegie’s sentiment, I wonder if he might have chosen his words differently had he been a native of the Rose City, for it is certain that we Portlanders have magical garden of our own, blooming right outside our city window.

Tucked between the toney homes of NW Portland and the hills of Washington Park, every spring this century-old garden bursts with velvety, buttery blooms for nearly as far as the eye can see. It is nothing short of Magnificent.

The oldest public garden of its kind in the United States, Portland’s Rose Garden can trace its beginnings back to 1915, and Jesse A. Currey, rose lover and Sunday editor of the Oregon Journal. Fearing that European hybrid roses would be destroyed in the bombings during World War I, Currey convinced city officials to institute a city rose test garden as a safe haven for unique varieties from across the Atlantic.

Peace Rose – Photo credit: John Haupt, reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0.
(I didn’t get a good photo of this one.)

Many of the roses in the test garden are named to commemorate people, places and ideals, but my favorite is the Peace Rose. I remember being very young, standing close as my Poppy held a huge bloom full in the palm of his hand, bending it down to me so that I could see its delicate yellow and pink petals come alive in the sunlight. It was his favorite too. Legend has it that this aptly-named hybrid tea-rose was on the last plane out of France before Hitler’s occupation.

Honestly, I could go on and on about Portland and roses and all the entwining history. But I won’t. Because pictures are worth… well, you know.

Enjoy.

Portland Rose Garden | The Good Hearted Woman

“Lagerfeld Grandflora”

“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.”
~ Liberty Hyde Bailey

Washington Park International Rose Test Garden

Currently open from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM daily. Admission is free.
Located in Washington Park in Portland’s West Hills, the garden includes more than 10,000 plantings of over 500 varieties.

[All images are mine unless otherwise noted.]

Rain By Any Other Name

May 13 By Renée 3 Comments

“Day 227: Rain” by Snugg LePup

Last week in a post about Bread Pudding and the PDX Blogger Bake Sale, I mentioned that Portlanders have more than twenty names for precipitation, based on amount, intensity, consistency and duration. Most native residents can identify them all. (That’s how we weed out the Californians.) A few folks challenged my statement, accusing me of hyperbole, so I have no option but post this in reply. And before you say, “Hey, you’re just adding adjectives to the same word,” let me tell you that any Portlander over the age of three can tell you the difference between Light Drizzle and Heavy Drizzle while standing on one webbed foot with their eyes closed. Anyway, these are the names for Pacific Northwest Precipitation that I can think of off the top of my head. Some are official meteorological terms and some are colloquialisms. I am certain there are more.

If you can think others, please comment below. If you know that your term originated outside the Pacific Northwest (like, say London) please make a note. Either way, I will add them to the list. You never know when some budding meteorologist will be stumble onto this blog.

Precipitation in Liquid Form:

Fog
Heavy Fog
Freezing Fog*
Mist
Heavy Mist
Light Drizzle
Drizzle
Heavy Drizzle
Freezing Drizzle*
Light Sprinkles
Sprinkles
Light Showers
Showers
Heavy Showers
Light Rain
Rain
Heavy Rain
Freezing Rain*
Rain Storms
Downpour
Pouring Rain
Pelting Rain
Thundershowers
Thunderstorms

Precipitation in Solid Form:

Hail
Sleet
Snow Flurries
Light Snow
Snow
Snow Showers
Heavy Snow (Admittedly, Mid-Westerners would laugh at what we call “Heavy Snow” here in the PNW.)

* This is listed as a liquid because it doesn’t actually freeze until it hits the ground.

Common Phrases about Precipitation in the Pacific Northwest:

Partly cloudy with a chance of showers
Heavy Showers with intermittent sun-breaks

Want to learn more about the weather in the PNW? Check out a few of my favorite Weather Guessers:

Matt Zaffino [KGW]
Rhonda Shelby [KATU]
Dave Salesky [KATU]
Andy Carson [KPTV]
Stephanie Kralevich [KPTV]
Jim Bosley [In Memoriam] If you grew up in Portland in the 60’s, 70’s or ’80’s, chances are you learned most of what you know today about weather from a man named Jim Bosley. He died in early April some years ago. There is almost an 100% chance that it was raining here in Portland that day.