Wordstock, Portland Fermentation Festival And More...

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 ex-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. 

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!

Beaverton Farmers Market

It was my first time at the Beaverton Farmers Market last weekend and I can't stress to you enough what a fantastic market it is. I'd heard that it was a good one but until I saw it with my own eyes -- adjacent to the Beaverton City Library and just north of Beaverton City Park -- I had no idea.

First off, it's huge -- nearly 200 stalls. Second, vendors from Oregon and Western Washington are fully loaded with farm fresh products because people really shop at this market. I've never seen so many customer bags, baskets, carts and wagons full-to-brimming before at a market.

I talked with market director Ginger Rapport for a while (I was there selling books and she stopped by a couple times to check in) and she told me that the Beaverton Farmers Market stands out because folks there are shopping for families as opposed to other urban markets where people are sometimes snack shopping, gathering a few boutique edible items, or just treating the market as a great people-watching spot to check out.

Folks really use their purchasing power at the Beaverton Market and this has a lasting impact. In other words, there's A LOT to choose from. Including some really good eat-there market foods. My friend Christine and I ate some super tasty pork and asparagus tamales from these folks.

Here's a bit of what stood out for me at last Saturday's market...

A very good sign...

My friend Christine stopped by and we both got salsa supplies from Forest Grove's Sosa Farms.

More from Sosa Farms...

If I didn't have a big sack of hazelnuts already I would've gotten some from this guy.

The Pony Espresso folks had a long line all day.

Notebook, pen, money pouch, camera, sunglasses and books is all I need for a great day at the market...

Beaverton Farmers Market www.beavertonfarmersmarket.com Downtown Beaverton at SW Hall between 3rd and 5th Street Get directions 503.643.5345 Saturdays 5/8/10-10/30/10 -- 8am-1:30m Wednesdays 6/16/10-8/25/10 -- 3-6pm Harvest Market 11/20/10 -- 8am-1:30pm

Upcoming Book Events

When I was thinking about summer in respect to my book I decided that I'd give it a solid three months of events and publicity and then I'd let it do its thing. Well, now it's the beginning of the third and final month and there are some fun upcoming events to report. I'm also happy to announce that I'll be cutting the month a little short and heading out for a 10-day vacation on the first day of fall. Yahoo!

Here's a slice of what I'll be up to in upcoming weeks. Come say "hello" if you're at any of these events...

Beaverton Farmers Market Saturday, September 4th 10:30am-Noon

Check out the Beaverton Farmers Market this Saturday.

Belmont Street FairStumptown Scribes Sunday, September 12th 10am-5pm

I'll be at the Stumptown Scribes table all day...

Foodportunity Monday, September 13th The Heathman library 6-9pm

I'm honored to be in this line-up for Portland's first Foodportunity at The Heathman Monday, September 13th.

Wild About Game Sunday, September 19th The Resort at the Mountain in Welches, OR 11am-4pm (game dinner buffet 5:30pm)

I'll be at Wild About Game this year -- about an hour southeast of Portland.

Pioneer Square Farmers Market

I had such a great time late July at the Pioneer Courthouse Square Farmers Market. It was my first time getting over there since I'm usually at work while it's on. It's a glass slipper of a farmers market -- fits perfectly in the space. It's my one of my newest favorites. Here's why...

A few minutes before they rang the start bell at Pioneer Courthouse Square Farmers Market.

Currants and gooseberries still going strong.

End of July was all about peaches...

Young onions perfect for the grill.

Good looking beets.

And my guide to the goods. Thanks Pioneer Courthouse Square Farmers Market!

Pioneer Courthouse Square Farmers Market Mondays 10am-2pm June 21-October 25 Between SW Broadway and SW 6th and SW Morrison and SW Yamhill

Book Events

The past several weeks have been a little nutty but the best kind of nutty -- extra special hazelnut butter nutty -- because of the book. I've done so many book events now some of them are blending into one another in my memory. I think because of that that it's high time I post about them.

Oh, and another good reason for this post is that there's a great event taking place tomorrow night -- Tuesday, August 10th -- that I want to tell you about. Friends of Family Farmers has found a new monthly InFARMation space at Holocene. FOFF was hosting this monthly PDX agricultural event at Roots Brewing Co. but they closed shop (so sad) and now FOFF is now hosting its InFARMations every second Tuesday of the month at Holocene. Read more about InFARMation here.

I'll be at InFARMation tomorrow night -- Tuesday, August 10th -- sitting at the back selling my book and talking with folks from 6:30pm-8:30pm. This month's InFARMation is all about the Eater's Bill of Rights. InFARMations are free and run from 5:30-8:30pm (talk/presentations from 6:30-8pm) with food and drink for purchase. Should be great. Stop by if you can.

Since July 1st here's a bit of what I've been up to with book events that I haven't already written about...

This year's Mississippi Ave. Street Fair was a great time...

I got to hang out all day with this fine fellow -- Paul Gerald -- at the Mississippi Ave. St. Fair. Paul is author of a bunch of books that I love and his booth is Stumptown Scribes.

Paul's hiking and camping books along with my food/drink book are a good mix. He's working on the second edition of Breakfast in Bridgetown at the moment.

They expected 30,000-plus at Miss. Ave. St. Fair -- think they got it.

Overlook Village Celebration was fun too...

Stumping it with Stumptown Scribes and Paul Gerald at the Overlook Village Celebration.

The Powell's book event with Nick Zukin, Sarah Hart, Steve Jones and John Cleary was a dream come true...

The Powell’s book event with Nick Zukin, Sarah Hart, Steve Jones and John Cleary was a dream come true…

Doesn't get better than a book event at Powell's...

(L-R) John Cleary, Sarah Hart, Me, Steve Jones, Nick Zukin at Powell's.

Thank you to everyone who's made these events so special!

Edible Wild Plants by John Kallas

So much has happened since my last post. Most importantly Monday night was the Food Lover's Guide to Portland book event at Powell's with Nick Zukin, Sarah Hart, Steve Jones and John Cleary. It was fantastic even though I choked a bit at the beginning from nerves and emotion. I know now that it's possible to almost cry out of happiness and fear at the same time. I didn't but was right on the verge. Thanks to everyone who came out. It was a wild, weird and perfectly wangy (had to be there) Portland food time and I loved every second of it. Except maybe the five seconds that I just told you about. Nah, I even loved those. I'll put up some photos from that here soon.

Another big recent event for me was my book launch party on July 1st. One special someone who showed up was local John Kallas -- author of Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate. He had fun at my party and two days later I had a good time at his book launch party. John opened up the backyard of his North Portland home and all sorts of people showed up to celebrate and buy the book and also check out the wild edibles in John's backyard. Over the years I've taken a lot of John's workshops and I'm a big fan. I can't wait to spend more time with his new book. Here are some snapshots from the party...

((If you're at The Bite of Oregon this weekend come by and say "Hi" to me on Saturday from 1-3pm. I'll be at a table near the chef stage signing books.))

John Kallas signing books at his book launch party for Edible Wild Plants.

Gather 'round foragers...

Super sweet edible wild columbine in John's backyard.

Wild mustard and other wild greens in John's backyard.

Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate by John Kallas 2010, Gibbs Smith Publisher Paperback $24.99

I Love Powell's Books

The first time I saw my book in a store was at Powell's City of Books at the Orange Room info. desk. Next to the one and only!

I moved to Portland from Catalina Island in part because of Powell's Books. I applied for a job at Powell's Books for Home and Garden before I even got to town. Once I'd been here for a few weeks I interviewed at downtown's Powell's City of Books. I think you already know that I didn't get either job but you probably don't know how many times I've applied to work for Powell's Books since. Neither do I -- I've lost count.

I first heard of Powell's as an undergrad. at Vassar College. I was a junior there when I bought my first book from Powell's on the website. I was obsessed with Graham Joyce at the time and had to get my hands on a hard-to-find novella of his. Powell's had it and I've been hooked on Powell's since.

When I moved here in 2002 Powell's was kind enough to give me a friend. Ingrid and I kept seeing each other at readings for weeks at the downtown Burnside location so one night I turned around and asked her if she wanted to move up a row and join me. We're still friends.

Over the years I've been to so many amazing author readings at Powell's Books ranging from Barry Lopez and Brian Froud to Dave Eggers, Nick Hornby and Miranda July. Now I get to attend the readings of authors that I work with at Hawthorne Books publishing house as well. Not too shabby.

The fact that Powell's has been so supportive of me and my book Food Lover's Guide to Portland since it came out on July 1st and the fact that I have a book event scheduled there next Monday, Aug. 2nd I feel the need to open my heart and gush a little over my favorite bookstore.

I LOVE YOU POWELL'S! THANK YOU FOR BEING THE BEST BOOKSTORE IN THE WORLD!

Since it came out Powell's has been behind my book. I'm so grateful.

Please come to my Food Lover's Guide to Portlandpanel event with Nick Zukin of Kenny & Zuke's, Sarah Hart of Alma Chocolate, Steve Jones of Cheese Bar, and John Cleary of Newman's Fish Co. Monday, Aug. 2nd 7:30pm Powell's City of Books on Burnside

Media Love

It's been crazy the last few weeks. I'm not complaining though -- quite the opposite. Beyond all of the book events the amount of media coverage that's been showered on my book pre- and post-launch has been fantastic. I am extremely grateful. I knew that Portland would welcome this book but I didn't realize how much.

All of these radio and TV interviews in the past few weeks make me happy that I successfully eliminated the filler word "like" from my vocabulary at the end of high school and beginning of college. My filler now -- I didn't realize it was so pronounced -- is "um." I had no idea how many times I say that until I heard myself on various programs for the book. Any suggestions for quitting "um" are much appreciated. Um, what else...

A featured book at my favorite bookstore Powell's and next to one of my favorite national food folks. Doesn't get much better than that...

I'm going to do a post devoted to Powell's Books soon here but until then I'd just like you all to know that the book is a New Favorites at the moment there which means it's heavily placed in all stores and is also 30% off. I don't know you Ted at Powell's but I love you and owe you a drink. I feel so honored with the placement and push my book has gotten from Powell's. I'm also really looking forward to my August 2nd event there.

If you watch the boob tube I'll be on KOIN news tonight live at some point between 4-5pm. And then after that I'll be at the Friends of Family Farmers InFARMation at Roots Brewery from 5:30-8:30pm. Tonight's topic: Eaters' Bill of Rights. Roots Organic Brewing Company closed its doors yesterday. I don't have any details just that sad news. Tonight's InFARMation is canceled and FOFF is looking for a new venue.

On the KBOO Food Show with Laura McCandlish and Delores Custer.

View from my mic...Devlyn Swenson host of Savor PDX on PDX FM.

Here's some of the media coverage so far:

The Oregonian FOODday, June 2010

Willamette Week, June 2010

KBOO Food Show, June 2010

Fox 12 Better Portland Show, June 2010

Rose City Reader, June 2010

Reading Local Portland, June 2010

PDX.FM Savor Portland, July 2010

Lemonbasil blog, July 2010

Thank You Portland! Food Lover's Guide to Portland Book Launch Party

So much has happened since I last posted. I really don't know where to begin so I think I'll start with what's consuming my thoughts just 100 percent today -- my book launch party last night for Food Lover's Guide to Portland at Fortune Tattoo. I know it's probably dorky to say but last night was one of the best nights of my life. I'm beyond happy that so many friends, fellow food folks and complete strangers came out last night to celebrate. It was magic. Loving life right now.

((ATTENTION: My ex-boyfriend, Tyler Adams, no longer co-owns Fortune Tattoo. Visit his North Portland shop -- Grizzly Tattoo -- which opened June, 2011.))

I'm overwhelmed by the thought of describing the evening so I'm just going to post a bunch of photos for those of you who were there and those who couldn't make it. It was a blast and couldn't have happened without the overly generous food and drink donations as well as awesome help of my friends, boyfriend, Fortune Tattoo and of my publishing house Sasquatch Books. Thank you Portland. I love you more than ever!

And then it was on...

And on...

My friend Rale Sidebottom rocking it in the loft for the party...

They got the Fortune Tattoo sign up just in time!

Tyler eating the Newman's Fish Co. smoked black cod...

The savory side...

Good mugs in food coma.

Before the perfect storm. Cheers to you! Thank you Portland!

A Week Away...

Food Lover's Guide to Portland Book Launch Party Invite - A week from today on Thursday, July 1st, from 6-9pm at Fortune Tattoo I hope that you'll join me in celebrating the launch of my book Food Lover's Guide to Portland! It's been a long time coming and I'm more than ready to celebrate with friends and fellow Portlanders. It's First Thursday after all so if you're hitting up the galleries head across the river for a bit and celebrate PDX food and drink.

((ATTENTION: My ex-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.))

If you scroll down on the invite above you'll see some of the fine food and drink folks donating incredible stuff for the party. These are some of my favorite Portland people and I'm so happy that they're helping me out in this way.

I'm also grateful to my boyfriend Tyler Adams and his business partner Ms. Mikki for hosting the party at their open-since-April-1st tattoo shop -- Fortune Tattoo. THANK YOU guys! Toward the end of the night I'll be giving away a prize to one lucky book buyer that involves needles and ink. I wonder what it is...

Food Lover's Guide to Portland -- Book Launch Party Fortune Tattoo, 1716 East Burnside St., Portland, OR Thursday, July 1st -- 6-9pm Food. Drink. Music. Books.