Worth its weight in gold

My sweet tooth is small — as in baby tooth just before it falls out sized. It grows when in the presence of those of the larger-sweet-tooth ilk (and often when in the vicinity of Pix Patisserie) but shrinks back to its normal size when the sugar obsessed retreat.

In 2001 I traveled around New Zealand working on farms with my friend Ingrid from London. Ingrid like all honorable Brits rarely has a cup of tea without a biscuit or something sugary to snack on and I followed suit. During those months of tea breaks throughout the day I ate more sweets than ever before and became hooked. I needed daily ginger cake, chocolate cookies and sweet and sticky lemon bars. That sweets-everyday-throughout-the-day phase passed, however, once Ingrid and I parted. As I type this I’m enjoying a nice cup of tea no sweet in sight.

I admit that I’ve always thought of chocolate as just another sweet. Sure, I’ve had some really good chocolate (and sweets of course) in my life but it’s not something that I’ve ever been all that crazy about. For me chocolate just doesn’t compete with say garlic cheese grits, fresh Dungeness or bread, cheese and wine.

Well, in the past few weeks I’ve visited with all kinds of Portland chocolatiers and chocolate retailers and in the presence of such chocolate hounds my sweet tooth has grown canine sized. I don’t know if I can keep it from all the the porcelana chocolate, the chocolate Thai peanut butter cups, or the drinking chocolates for long. Good thing I meet with David of Xocolatl de David this week…

Cacao owners Aubrey Lindley (left) and Jesse Manis (right) checking out my rapidly growing sweet tooth. Aubrey says I'm looking a little rabid and Jesse as you can see is speechless.

Although Cacao's countertop cases look museum-like the chocolates can in fact be touched and eaten

Alma Chocolate owner Sarah Hart communing with her gold leaf gilded chocolate icons

Alma Chocolate bon bons and truffles

Moonstruck Chocolate Master Chocolatier Julian Rose in the chocolate lab

Moonstruck employee hand painting Easter truffles

Cacao www.cacaodrinkchocolate.com
Alma Chocolate www.almachocolate.com
Moonstruck Chocolate www.moonstruckchocolate.com

First class cheese (sorry couldn't resist the pun) -- we made ricotta and herbed chevre

The only cheese I’d ever made prior to last weekend was paneer for a chickpea buttermilk curry in college and it was great even though I used regular old store-bought homogenized, pasteurized milk.

If I had to choose one food as a favorite it would be cheese. It’s my favorite snack and rare is the day that I don’t eat at least a bite of it — e.g. this morning’s breakfast was a feta, sour cream, lime and herb spread on toasted baguette. I love cheese which is why I went to Scott Dominic Catino’s goat cheese making class this weekend in Yamhill at Kookoolan Farms. Kookoolan is an amazingly diverse small farm with orchards, vegetable gardens, chickens for eggs and meat and a few Jersey milking cows. It’s about an hour southwest from Portland and a beautiful drive once you get off I-5

This is the second year that Kookoolan’s Chrissie and Kooroosh Zaerpoor are offering cheese classes with various cheese makers through the spring and summer. Classes fill up fast.

If you don’t want to attend a class but are in the area Chrissie and Kooroosh also operate a farm store stocked with heirloom chicken eggs, broilers, kombucha and more along with cheesemaking and dairy cultures and supplies including kefir grains. It’s best to call ahead if visiting the farm store for the first time. Kookoolan Farms also operates a booth at the Hillsdale Farmers Market in addition to delivering chicken, eggs and more weekly to many fine Portland restaurants such as Navarre, Nostrana and Biwa.

Some of Kookoolan's cheese making supplies for sale

I plan on making some homemade goat cheese this spring. I bought a chevre culture, a cheese making book and vegetable rennet from Kookoolan. Now I just need to source some raw goat milk when I’m ready. Catino keeps Nigerian dwarf goats (he’s had 40 births in the last two weeks, including quintuplets) and I’ve never tasted such sweet, fresh milk. No wonder his cheese is so good…

Catino's raw goat milk cheese that we got to try

Kookoolan Farms (and farm store)
15713 Highway 47
Yamhill, Oregon 97148
503.730.7535
www.kookoolanfarms.com

Call Chrissie at the number above to register for a cheese making class.

Beneath the Cruller Chandelier of Life...

I don’t know about you but I think April Fool’s is one of the best days of the year. In the past when I was a server I convinced some unassuming diners of amazing things: “A zebra just walked down the street right in front of the cafe but I can’t leave because I’m the only server!” One year I fooled my boyfriend and his co-workers into thinking Gus Van Sant had met me and asked me on-the-spot to be in his newest movie. We’d start shooting in a couple weeks. This year I convinced my brother and friend that my wounded finger (I sliced the tip of it off last weekend slicing vegetables and had to go to ER — truly) had become gangrenous. It would have to be amputated on Friday — most likely just below the second knuckle. Hopefully it wouldn’t spread…

I don’t have to establish the fact of a doughnut wedding at this point because I have photographic proof above. On April Fool’s Day this year (before getting my right ring finger amputated) I attended a Voodoo Doughnut wedding. Voodoo co-owner Cat Daddy locked the downtown door just a few before 11am and then quickly became a Mexican wrestler/marriage baron in order to wed Alison and Adrian. He channeled the voodoo spirit, wrote ancient cat scratch with chalk on the floor, and said all sort of hole’y things before deeming them husband and wife.

Why was I there? Because I’m writing this book and wanted to talk with Voodoo owners Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Tres Shannon. I was also already heading across the river for my finger check-up AND Cat Daddy said the more the merrier.

I might tell you more about the magic that is Voodoo Doughnut later but for now, just for the record: Vicodin plus Mexican wrestler look-alike presided doughnut April Fool’s weddings equals fun.

Headquarters of the Official Doughnut of Portland: the Portland Creme

Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Ave.
503.241.4704

Voodoo Doughnut Too
1501 NE Davis St.
503.235.2666

www.voodoodoughnut.com