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…

Willamette Week
Portland Tribune
OPB
Portland Farmers Market

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.

Come get stinky!

Last year’s first annual Portland Fermentation Festival in late August at Ecotrust was a screaming success. More than 500 people turned out to sample everything from natto, kefir and potato cheese to hard cider, kimchi and kombucha.

A big draw last year was the Mr. Sandorkraut himself — special guest Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved. I had interviewed Sandor several months prior for the May 2010 issue of The Sun and it was an honor to have him visit Portland for the inaugural PFF.

Although Sandor won’t be at this year’s PFF we hope you will. Event details can be found below but all you really need to know if you love fermented food and drink is when and where. We’re honored that Ecotrust has agreed to host the funky fest again this year because let me tell you that a room full of fresh ferments is, how do I put it, well, a little ripe. We’re very grateful that they’re willing to put up with the stink.

So if you don’t love the smell of dill and garlic slapped sour pickles, tart and punchy kombucha, sweet and sour fruit kimchi, or mild and tart kefir don’t come. There will be more to sample for the rest of us. That’s what the event is all about — sampling ferments, talking with those who made them and skill sharing.

If you didn’t get a chance to sign up as a presenter don’t worry. You can still bring your ferments to share. You won’t have a table and set-up but that’s ok. The more the merrier. So, please, come out for the wild, funky, stinky and delicious Portland Fermentation Festival 2010!

Second Annual Portland Fermentation Festival
When: Wed., October 20th 6-8pm
Where: Ecotrust, 721 NW 9th Ave., #200, Portland, OR
What: Sample and learn about all sorts of food and drink ferments
Cost: $5 at the door

Tyler and me at Doe Bay on Orcas Island. Our boat is the one in the cove behind us.

I’m back! The past two weeks were absolutely perfect. Sailing the San Juan Islands in late September turned out to be a brilliant idea. We thought that we’d have some weather. We didn’t. We thought that we’d have some big learning curves. We survived. We thought we’d come back happy but exhausted. We did.

It turns out that sailing a 19-foot O’Day around the San Juan Islands was the adventure and then some we’d been looking for. I’ll post more about the trip soon but for now just know that it was great and we’re back. All the merrier because of it.

For now, I want to highlight some upcoming events that I’ll be attending that you might want to check out too…

WORDSTOCK
Thursday, Oct. 7th through Sunday, Oct. 10th @ Oregon Convention Center and other locations

I took this photo at last year's Wordstock. Drop everything for this year's this weekend.

There are so many things to do and people to see at this year’s Wordstock, this Thursday through Sunday. Check out the schedule if you haven’t already.

I’ll be doing a book event with Charles Heying and the lovely Kelly Clarke of Willamette Week at 1pm Saturday over at the McMenamins stage at the Oregon Convention Center. The rest of the weekend I’ll be either tabling with the Hawthorne Books crew or checking out different readings and events.

PORTLAND FERMENTATION FESTIVAL
Wednesday, Oct. 20th, 6-8pm @ Ecotrust

Come get stinky with us!

Last year’s first annual Portland Fermentation Festival was a huge success and this year’s is shaping up to be even stinkier. In a good way. Check out the website for more information and get yourself signed up for this incredible Portland DIY event that brought out more than 500 people last year.

FORTUNE TATTOO GRAND OPENING PARTY
Friday, Oct. 22nd 8pm-1am @ Fortune Tattoo

Come eat, drink and be merry with Ms. Mikki and Tyler Adams here!

ATTENTION: My boyfriend, Tyler Adams, no longer co-owns Fortune Tattoo. Visit his North Portland shop — Grizzly Tattoo — which opened June, 2011! For more info. visit www.grizzlytattoo.com, 503.265.8146. Grrrrrrrizzly!

My boyfriend opened Fortune Tattoo with his business partner Ms. Mikki this spring and finally on Friday, Oct. 22nd (after the first night of the Portland Tattoo Expo) they’re having their grand opening party with all sorts of great local donated food and drink thanks to Toro Bravo, Bluehour, MacTarnahans Brewing Company, Domaine Serene Winery and many others. There will also be live music thanks to East Side Speed Machine and friends. Come check it out and celebrate!