Food Lover's Guide to Portland is my 2010 book from Sasquatch Books. This blog is a collection of some of the research, recipes, images and culinary adventures that went into it. I started the blog in February 2009 as a companion piece to the book and to help organize my thoughts while researching and writing it. I didn't think I'd like blogging but it turns out I really do. I'm currently working on the Toro Bravo Cookbook for McSweeney's Books due out in fall 2013.
It’s been three years since I started this blog and I still really enjoy doing it. It’s especially good for me now that I’m freelancing less. Most of my writing work these days goes to writing the Toro Bravo Cookbook, being an editor and publicist at Hawthorne Books and working on my fiction.
I pitch a story every now and again but this blog has become my most regular outlet for local food stories. I’m grateful to have it and to have loyal readers. I try to give you as much news and inspiration as I can here and I hope that you enjoy it. Below is a look back on the past year for the blog. (I did this sort of recap last year and the year before if you’re interested.) Here’s to 2012 — Year of the Dragon!
Without further ado…
Spring 2011 was a really good one for nettles and I harvested a ton of them. Unfortunately I learned from experience that you should never take your dog with you foraging for them. Our poor, poor wolfie.
Stinging nettle booty.
Spring quickly became summer in fly-by fashion since my boyfriend was busy getting his new business up and running — Grizzly Tattoo on North Williams. I helped him kick it off in style with a huge, tasty opening party in June with food and drink donated from local restaurants, bars, breweries, food carts and me, myself and I. It was grand.
So much good food and drink from Tasty n Sons, The Bye & Bye, EaT Oyster Bar, Pix Patisserie, Che Cafe, Jaime Henderson and Hopworks for Grizzly Tattoo's opening party.
Late in the summer I got to tag along on a Hardy Plant Society Kitchen Garden Group outing to Montinore Estate vineyard and winery just outside Forest Grove. Some of that trip went into a story about biodynamic wine that I wrote for Willamette Week about Katherine Cole and her excellent book Voodoo Vintners…
My friend Karen checking out the bull horn stuffed with...at Montinore Vineyards.
Summer sped by — honestly it didn’t feel like we had much of it — and we had an incredible third annual Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust in October. We got a ton of publicity for it leading up and a line out the door and around the block of Ecotrust where it was held. We’re working on getting more space for this year’s festival.
Festival organizers David Picklopolis Barber, me, and Mr. George dapper foodist Winborn right before the doors closed.
Wordstock 2011 was a blast as always in October. I was there for my book Food Lover’s Guide to Portland and also with Hawthorne Books where I’m an editor and publicist.
Todd Sattersten, me, Kelley Roy and Jen Stevenson after our panel at Wordstock 2011.
Lucky Peach magazine from McSweeney’s made its debut in 2011 and I wrote about it after the second kick-ass issue came out in the fall.
Second issue of Lucky Peach hot off the presses!
And then several short weeks later we got to announce that McSweeney’s Books is publishing the Toro Bravo Cookbook, due out fall 2013, that I’m writing, David Lanthan Reamer is photographing and my boyfriend Tyler Adams is illustrating. Fuck yeah! Go Toro Bravo!
This is the proposal that our agent sent out to seal the deal with McSweeney's Books.
Thanks for reading, thanks for being you! Happy 2012!
Our friend Pete gave us the beautiful foraged mushrooms that made this chanterelle brussels sprout risotto so special. He also regularly gifts us with his homebrew. We're so lucky.
Our friends keep us very well fed and this regular installment aptly titled Friend Food is a chronicle of the edibles and potables that they are so kind as to give us. It goes both ways of course. I love to give friends homemade food and drink and the things I most often gift include all sorts of pickles and vegetable ferments (kimchi, kraut, spicy garlic dills, pickled beets etc.), hot sauces, salsas, mustards, and if you’ve been very good some homemade fruit wine.
Maybe you’ll get an idea here for something to cook and give to friends and family this holiday season. Please leave a comment if you’re making something good as a holiday gift this year that you’d like to share…
Our very good friend and neighbor Alison baked us this lovely lemon meringue pie for Thanksgiving this year. I really miss this pie. So good
Our friend Pete also gave us a bottle of liquid gold -- his homemade dandelion wine.
Better late than never with these awesome smoked pork ribs that our friend Dave made in his smoker late this summer. He fabricated the smoker ground-up and for the time being it's at our house. Again, lucky.
Picked the last of this year's plums from our neighbor Alison's trees and turned them all -- along with other fruits -- into wine that's fermenting in the utility room.
Our friends Vern and Sandy migrate between Rainbow County in San Diego and Lopez Island every year. This year on their way south from Lopez they visited us and left us with these tasty gifts -- canned Dungeness and homemade salal/blackberry/apple jelly. Mmmm.
Matt Choi serving up his spicy, crunchy, awesome kimchi.
What an amazing event and turnout! Yes, we know that many of you got stuck in the long line last night that snaked down the stairs, out the building, and around the block but we hope with all hope that you stuck it out and found that the wait and the crush was worth it. We put Portland Fermentation Festival together every year with a shoestring budget + heaps of volunteered hours and we’re so grateful that Ecotrust puts up with us every stinking (literally) year. Thank you again Ecotrust! We love you.
But yes, we do hear you, it was too crowded and the line was too long this year. We’ll problem solve and come back in briny style next year for 4.0. Thank you so much to everyone who exhibited, volunteered and attended! Portland Fermentation Festival is an annual love letter to our fair city. True blue Portland spirit fuels it and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks again to everyone who was a part.
If you’d like to keep up with local fermenty goings-on please check out our website, Facebook and Twitter. This year we had a very generous serving of media attention. Here’s a slice of that coverage if you didn’t get enough firsthand last night…
I was able to take a good amount of photos at the festival last night before we opened the doors as well as after…
Erica Fayrie's as good as it looks sauerkraut with beets.
Eva Sippl's Eva's yummy Herbucha in the house.
Lynne Van Dusen's Vine to Brine lacto-fermented sodas. Really tasty.
Festival co-organizer Mr. David Barber of Picklopolis aka King of Brine! Ghost pickles! Ah!
Peg Butler and posse serving up krautini (fermented cabbage tonic), fermented garlic, sour dills and sourdough rye. Yum!
Galen Williams and Pete Mulligan's delicious hard cider.
Biwa chef-owner Gabe Rosen and Kina Voelz serving up Biwa's hurts so good spicy daikon kimchi.
Earnest and Sumiko Migaki of Jorninji Miso cooking up a stockpot of their amazing miso, and sampling miso sauce and amazake made with their own koji.
Allen Field rocking his spicy kimchi and Turkish sauerkraut.
Nat and Sarah West sampling tart and tasty hard cider. Ridiculously good.
Anna Stulz with more fiery good kimchi.
And then the doors opened and the crowd moved in...
Courtlandt Jennings' Pickled Planet with all sorts of big, briny goodness.
Curious Farm's Cathy Smith serving up leek horseradish kraut, fermented chili sauce and more.
And the crowd kept growing...
Hank Tallman's Mama Hank's Pickled Veg. The spicy fermented green tomatoes were kick-ass good.
The line wrapped around the staircase out the door of Ecotrust and around the block within twenty minutes. We knew that the festival was going to be big this year but we didn't realize it'd be this big. Wow.
The lovely Kate Patterson sampling her festival favorite-- fermented salmon. Mmmm.
Festival organizers David Picklopolis Barber, me, and Mr. George dapper foodist Winborn right before the doors closed at 8pm.
One of the better looking cleanup crews in town! Good night and good luck.
Thanks to everyone who made the third annual Portland Fermentation Festival happen! We love you.
This Thursday night is the Third Annual Portland Fermentation Festival and we really hope that you’re either participating as an exhibitor or volunteer or planning on attending to sample all of the awesome homemade food ferments that will be available! It’s going to be delicious and so much fun. It always is…
And just so you know, even if you aren’t signed up as an exhibitor please feel free to bring any homemade food ferments, cultures, recipes, info. etc. to share with others on the fly. This event is very unique in that it’s a no sale/no buy, skill-sharing night. (Check out last year’s Portland Fermentation Festival.) In other words, you pay your $5 to get in and then it’s all about interacting, trying tasty things and hopefully learning enough to make them yourself. It really is unique and we’re proud that Portland Fermentation Festival so accessible and fun for all ages without any corporate ties.
Come out and see for yourself — find out what’s stinkiest and tastiest this year! See you Thursday I hope.
Third Annual Portland Fermentation Festival
Open to the public, all ages When: Thursday, October 20th 6-8pm Where:Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center on the second floor, 721 NW 9th Ave., #200, Portland, OR What: Sample and learn about all sorts of food and drink ferments Cost: $5 at the door info@portlandfermentationfestival.com Twitter @PDXFermentFest
Facebook Portland Fermentation Festival
We’re in countdown mode now for this year’s third annual Portland Fermentation Festival on Thurdsay, October 20th from 6-8pm at Ecotrust! We’re still accepting applications from folks who want to sample their homemade fermented food and drink. Here’s the entry form. And we’re also looking for more volunteers to help set up and break down and work the door. If you’d like to volunteer please send us an email at info at portland fermentation festival dot com. Also, if you want to help spread the word please print out some of these posters and put them up around town. See you at the Portland Fermentation Festival in a few short weeks!
Third Annual Portland Fermentation Festival
Open to the public, all ages When: Thursday, October 20th 6-8pm Where:Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center on the second floor, 721 NW 9th Ave., #200, Portland, OR What: Sample and learn about all sorts of food and drink ferments Cost: $5 at the door info@portlandfermentationfestival.com Twitter @PDXFermentFest
Facebook Portland Fermentation Festival
