The beautiful rolling hills around the Lorane Valley south of Eugene may not be as well known outside of Oregon as the Willamette Valley to the north is, with its name made synonymous with the rise of Oregon Pinot Noir, but it’s the home of America’s leading producer of premium Pinot Gris, King Estate.
Unlike a [...]
Pork Chops Stuffed with Dried Apples and Cranberries, Gorgonzola, Sage & Braised in Cider with Caramelized Onions and Apples
It’s the last week of October and we have both feet firmly planted in the fall. Apples and other fall fruits are dripping off the trees. It’s time to braise some comfort food in apple cider, [...]
My love for seafood began early. My parents loved seafood and a favorite Sunday outing was lunch at Jay’s Marine Grill on Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas, Texas. I don’t remember what I ordered or was ordered for me, but I do remember enjoying my first fried oyster and scallop from my mother’s [...]
“Crater Lake: overwhelmingly yet sublimely beautiful. Moody. At times brilliantly blue, ominously somber; at other times buried in a mass of brooding clouds. The lake is magical, enchanting – a remnant of fiery times, a reflector of its adjacent forested slopes, a product of Nature’s grand design.
Few places on earth command overwhelming awe from observers, [...]
I remember as a child growing up in Bangkok, often, our family cook would enlist me to help in the kitchen. I think it was because she knew I liked to pound on things.
One of the essential cooking tools in Thai cooking is a mortar and pestle. Oh, forget the convenience of a blender or [...]
If you listen, read or watch the news all you’ll hear about pork is the wheeling and dealing that goes on in Washington to get legislation passed. For me The Food Chanel, cookbooks and cooking magazines are preferable. Here you’ll find the real thing – pork as a flavorful protein.
Pork has frequently been a controversial [...]
A cheese dance for a wedding? La Nozze di Foglie di Salvia or The Marriage of Sage Leaves? Has Charles gone nuts again? Yes! I’m nuts for Italian food, Italian cheese, Italian opera, Italian bread and Italian wine. Anywhere there’s an abundant natural resource of food, chances are you’ll find Italians and Americans of Italian [...]
The one thing that I quickly learned from Oregon natives after moving here is you can’t let the weather deter you. The weather in Salem or Portland can be nice and sunny, but by the time you get to the coast an hour to the west it can be blustery and rainy. But you just [...]
Some years ago The Commonwealth of Virginia launched a tourism slogan declaring “Virginia is for Lovers.” With tongue in cheek and not to be outdone, Maryland promoted “Maryland is for Crabs.” Since virtually all the hazelnuts in the USA are grown in Oregon, one could infer that “Oregon is for Nuts.” As a matter [...]
When we first moved here from Baltimore more than 6 years ago it was the middle of winter. In Oregon, that means days and days of drizzle. I think that December I counted 30 days of rain in a row. Don’t get me wrong. I’d take 30 days of drizzle in the winter over stretches [...]
The sturdy fishing boat, Maranatha, left Dockside Charters in Depoe Bay just before first light on this brisk August morning. (The name, Maranatha, puzzled us until we could google it, however we were relieved that we weren’t leaving dry land on any boat called the Minnow.) Victor, Ann Thompson and I were bundled in layers [...]
My partner and co-author of this blog, Charles Price, and I last weekend joined the throngs of Baby Boomers at the theater to watch Julie & Julia and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Of course, Charles owns both volumes of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” He notes that he scored both of them at used book [...]
