Yep, it's been one whole year of blogging and I thought I'd do a year in the life post of the Food Lover's Guide to Portland blog. I'll start this off with a confession. When Sasquatch Books vice president Sarah Hanson asked me at Wordstock 2008 to start a blog for my book I remember a sinking feeling in my stomach. It wasn't a one too many Manhattans feeling. It was more of an -- I don't want to be a self absorbed, write-ad-nauseam-about-trivial-kitchen-experiments kind of person. I don't want to share my personal life with strangers online. I don't want to bore people, and bore myself to tears. Well, I hope that my initial apprehension has served me well and that I've risen above my fears and provided something truly worthwhile in this endeavor -- nearly 100 posts later. Mostly I hope that I do not, in fact, bore you to tears. If I do -- please move along because what follows is simply a year in review -- ghosts of my blog's past.
My first post revealed my stinky side -- my kimchi habit.
All my kimchi fixings
And I'll have you know that shortly after that batch of kimchi (for which I bought a new mandoline) I sliced off the tip of my right ring finger slicing radishes on it. That's one way to delay the writing of your book by the way.
One of my favorite blog posts was about the April Fool's Voodoo Doughnut wedding that I got to attend. The fact that this was just days after I went to ER for my sliced finger and was hopped up on Vicodin made this weird event even weirder...
Beneath the Cruller Chandelier of Life...
Some other good times researching/writing the book and blogging about it include meeting Earnest and Sumiko Migaki of Jorinji Miso and learning all about their local miso...
I love that we have local, hand crafted, delicious miso in Portland
Talking with Belmont Station and Biercafe co-owner Carl Singmaster about all things beer...
I got to try my first sour beer with this man!
Going on yet another amazing Wild Food Adventure with John Kallas...
This spring I ate wild sorrel, young salmonberry shoots, and stinging nettle thanks to John Kallas of Wild Food Adventures
Volunteering with Oregon Food Bank at its Eastside Learning Garden...
Mid-March harvest of collard greens from OFB Eastside Learning Garden
Taking a Kookoolan Farms cheese class...
I learned how to make ricotta, herbed chevre and more at a Kookoolan Farms cheese class in the spring
And attending Home Orchard Society's All About Fruit Show in the fall...
Thanks to Home Orchard Society experts at the annual All About Fruit Show this fall I found out my ancient backyard apple tree is a Gravenstein
Thanks for reading, thanks for caring.
Here's to another great year!
Eat, drink and be hairy.