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.
With crazy long lead times a lot of stories that I got assigned right after Food Lover's Guide to Portland came out in summer 2010 published in the summer of 2011 as well.
My dog claims to be co-author.
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!