Don't know what these are exactly but they were served at last year's Taste of the Nation and they look great...

I’ve never been to Share Our Strength’s annual Taste of the Nation but if I’m not too exhausted from IACP and other events the weekend of April 23rd I’m going to finally check out this Monday, April 26th event — the 23rd annual Taste of the Nation. 100 percent of the proceeds benefit local hunger relief agencies. Doesn’t get much more feel good than that.

The gist is you buy a ticket for $75 and up and get to sample unlimited tasty food and drink from local chefs, brewers, mixologists, food entrepreneurs and more.

***Check back with my blog next week for a chance to win two free general admission tickets to this fantastic event!***

Here are some highlights straight from the event press materials:

50 Restaurants 25 Wineries 5 Breweries
ONE mission to End Childhood Hunger

Oregon is a state known for its abundant production of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, and yet 1 in 6 kids in Oregon experience food insecurity and do not receive proper nutrition to grow and develop. Taste of the Nation works to end childhood hunger in the United States and abroad by ensuring that children and their families have reliable access to nutritious food, and by addressing the deeper causes of these conditions.

100% of the evening’s ticket and auction revenues will be given to hunger-relief efforts. Local beneficiaries
o Oregon Food Bank,
o Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force,
o St. Vincent de Paul Food Recovery Program,
o Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank.

Since its inception in 1988, Taste of the Nation Portland has raised more than $1.1 million for hunger relief.

Taste of the Nation Portland is one of more than 55 food-and-wine fundraising events taking place across the U.S. and Canada, sponsored by Share Our Strength, a national organization working to end childhood hunger.

Sample of Participating Restaurants:
Andina
Bluehour
Clarklewis
Firehouse
La Calaca Comelona
Laurelhurst Market
Nuestra Cocina
Saint Cupcake
Screen Door
Simpatica
Steve’s Cheese
LUXE and VIP GEMS:
Beaker & Flask
Beast
Genoa
Gruner
Thistle

Beverages:
Argyle
Elk Cove Vineyards
Foris Vineyards Winery
Willamette Valley Vineyard
Lange Estate Winery and Vineyards
Illahe Vineyard
Pamplin Family Winery
Cooper Mountain Vineyard
Chehalem Premium Wines
Adelsheim
Full Sail Brewing
Southern Oregon Brewing
Sierra Nevada
Captured by Porches
Crater Lake Soda

Cupcake Jones cupcakes from last year's Taste of the Nation...

100 percent of proceeds go to local and national hunger relief agencies.

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation
Monday, April 26th 5-9pm
LUXE Autohaus
410 NE 17th Ave.
Portland, OR 97232
www.shareourstrength.org/portland
For tickets, call 1-877-26TASTE, buy them online at www.portlandtaste.org, or visit any New Seasons Market.

Sorry I didn't invite you...

I debated about whether or not to post something about burgers because honestly this town has had a lot of freaking burger action lately — to the point where it’s just about overkill. Pun intended.

But it’s not often that something this delicious comes around in a bun so I’d feel bad if I didn’t tell you about the incredible beef sliders that we cooked up recently.

I’ve been a little burnt out on burger buns lately. As funny as that sentence sounds it’s true. You know, I put together these rad burgers with great meat, sometimes cheese and all sorts of tasty fixings and then they go on mediocre store bought buns. The first way out was to buy nice crust ciabatta buns. I still do that and they’re great — fluffy, porous and perfect for sopping up juices since they hold up well.

Last week I entered new terrain — beyond ciabatta. I was perusing the New Seasons Market Arbor Lodge baked goods area when I came across Marsee Baking’s take and bake dinner rolls. I had sliders on my mind and these little guys were just the right size. You know where I’m going with this.

Once home I left the meat out to get to a good temp. while I gathered the condiments — mayonnaise, whole seed mustard — and prepped the fixings — butter lettuce, cilantro, homemade spicy garlic pickles and french-cut dilly beans. Once that was done we stoked the grill and formed the patties with salt, pepper and hunks of Rogue Creamery’s Smokey Blue inside for good measure.

When my boyfriend put the sliders on the grill I threw the dinner rolls in the oven and several minutes later both were ready. I think the pictures speak for themselves but in case there’s any doubt these were the best burgers of the season so far. Too good not to share.

Burgers are about the easiest thing to cook but if you want some tips I think this is a great article.

Blue cheese beef sliders baby...

According to Lon Rombough: Never give a sucker an even break. A grape vine sucker that is...

My friend Karen does all sorts of things that make me jealous. Lately she’s launched into her new career as a landscape designer as well as working part-time at a local nursery. She gets to work with plants and people who care about plants all day long. That’s pretty fantastic in my books and if that’s not enough she also has the largest urban edible garden of anyone I know.

Not only is the garden amazing but Karen and her husband Chris have built a ceramic studio and sauna in the sprawling backyard portion of it. Another reason why I’m jealous of Karen is that she’s a member of the Hardy Plant Society’s Kitchen Gardening Group.

From the HPSO website:

The Kitchen Gardening Group is focused on edible landscaping, and sharing food and recipes from their bountiful gardens. They meet on the 4th Tuesday at 7pm at members homes, typically rotating from Eastside to Westside.

Karen goes to these monthly events and they always sound great. A while back there was one that I really wanted to go to — how to grow and cook with Asian vegetables. Although I didn’t attend that one I recently joined Karen for the March 23rd open-to-the-public grape growing Kitchen Garden event with Lon Rombough author of The Grape Grower.

Lon Rombough's favorite grape captured from his website...Swenson Red grape.

The event was held at a Unitarian church in Beaverton and although I didn’t count I’m guessing there were about 30 people in attendance. They asked for a donation of $5 or more at the door but I’m sure they would let you attend if you couldn’t afford that. I learned a lot and I’m definitely considering joining the Hardy Plant Society and its Kitchen Gardening Group as a result.

A few highlights from Lon’s talk:

100 plus varieties of table grapes grow well in the Pacific Northwest.

We can grow good wine grapes here but outstanding table grapes. Why? Most of the wine grapes grown in the PNW are European varieties so they’re not perfectly suited to the climate. Most locally grown table grapes are American varieties which are disease resistant and better suited to the area.

You can bury a sprawling grape vine at any point and it will sprout anew.

Swanson Red grapes are one of Lon’s favorite table grapes.

Buds that are close to old wood are usually not too fruitful.

The best time to prune grapes is in the spring or late winter.

The biggest problem with growing grapes in Oregon…birds.

Lon Rombough
www.bunchgrapes.com
Buy Lon’s books