Linda Ziedrich's The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves

I think it's supposed to be sunny and warm sometime soon. That's what I've always experienced in Portland since moving here in 2002 at least. Since our summer growing season is so short here I feel ripped off when fall rain and grey overstays its welcome into spring, now verging on summer. I recently looked at some photos from last season's garden and this early June one made me particularly sad...

Some of my from seed plants this time last year.

Alas, alas summer will be here at some point and my seedlings will take off and all of those fruits on the vine and trees will ripen up for picking. We have quite a lot of fruit in our yard -- plums, pears, blueberries, raspberries, honeyberries, seaberries, kiwi, pineapple guava and then some. Usually we eat most of it fresh but as the trees mature and the berry bushes get bigger the yield spills over and we make things to carry through the season and into the fall and winter like plum and cherry wine, kiwi preserves and fruit spiked hot sauces and salsas.

I'm really looking forward to reaching for that book in the photo above -- Linda Ziedrich's The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves this summer and fall when the harvest basket is full. In its pages are 200 recipes divided into various fruit chapters ranging from apple, blackberry, cherry and grape to gooseberry, medlar, papaya, pomegranate and kumquat.

None of Ziedrich's recipes call for commercial pectin. The only pectin Ziedrich uses is the natural kind, the kind already present in the fruit. Here are a few recipes in the book -- coconut caramel jam, rose hip butter, lemon curd, cataloupe jam with mint, cider syrup and raspberry vinegar.

Linda Ziedrich is one of my favorite Oregon food writers and I've written about her a bunch. She's responsible for one of my favorite and most used cookbooks after all -- The Joy of Pickling.

All of our conversations had been over the phone (she lives on a farm near Scio) until earlier this spring when I finally got to meet her in Portland at the IACP Culinary Book Fair. We talked for awhile and she was kind enough to sign her newest book which I bought there...

Thank you Linda Ziedrich.

The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves by Linda Ziedrich 2009, Harvard Common Press Paperback $17.95

Yard Fresh Pt. 4

It's been awhile since I've done one of these Yard Fresh posts and it's not because I haven't been eating well or from the garden -- I assure you that that is rarely the case. Even when I'm sick I manage to enjoy food, especially homegrown food. I just haven't gotten around to posting about it. It's easy to snap photos though and I often do when we turn out something tasty.

Yard fresh is somewhat of a stretch with a couple of these but in every food and drink below some part of the equation is homegrown. This spring we've been enjoying a lot of greens -- tatsoi, spinach and nettles -- along with fresh herbs, chive blossoms, sorrel and more.

One food in the garden that I'm really excited about are the honeyberries that I bought from One Green World and planted last year. They're already bigger than blueberries and still have some growing and ripening to do. One Green World Nursery is one of my favorite local nurseries by the way. It's a bit of a trek but if you haven't been I highly recommend heading there. Anyhow, here's are some of the good eats in my good life lately...

Pulled pork, Marsee bun and sauteed tatsoi.

Pulled pork, Marsee bun and sauteed tatsoi.

Lentil curry with nettles and artichoke hearts.

Soy chorizo nettle scramble with Di Prima Dolci ciabatta.

Chicken, cabbage, spinach and rice soup.

Five gallons of homemade hard cider bottled with the final jump of sugar.

Happy cooking & happy eating!

Yard Fresh Pt. 1Yard Fresh Pt. 2Yard Fresh Pt. 3

Buy No Seeds Year

It's buy no seeds year for me and if you know me you realize how difficult that is. One of my favorite things to do in the spring is flip through the Territorial Seed Company catalogue ticking and dog-earing delicious looking and sounding seeds, wandering the seed aisles at local nurseries, and choosing tiny parcels of seeds to carry me through the growing season.

I love reading the packets -- the tiny but taste-filled descriptions of tomatoes, the short and concise growing recommendations, the drawings or photos of the plants and fruits. I love the names -- Armenian cucumbers, tigerella tomatoes, sweet sugar snaps, red meat radish.

But there comes a time to clean out the long forgotten stores. To reach for that satchel filled with old seed packets (some are more than five years old) in the utility room and make do with what's inside. It's the same in the kitchen -- working through the stores, the frozen containers, jars in the back of the cupboard, tins on the highest shelf so I can start afresh. Some packets only have a few seeds remaining and never get used -- I'm planting all of those remainders this year.

So far buy no seeds spring has been somewhat successful. Most of the tomatoes have come up in the seed trays, all of the cukes, the green beans haven't sprouted yet in the backyard but I'm pretty sure they will. The poppies and nasturtiums look small and unhappy and only a few of the spinach seeds germinated but those are the only ones that have been weak and truth be told they were all kindergarten age. The sunflowers haven't sprouted yet either but I still have hope. It's crazy to think that all this was happening just a couple months ago.

I think once the summer sunshine sets in I'll devote an area to random direct seeds. It'll be the empty-all-remaining-packets mound. We'll see what comes up. Last year was a very fruitful season, hopefully this year will be too.

Maybe I'll even save some seeds this year. I always have the best of intentions but it never seems to happen. The best I've done is scatter dried seed pods directly in the ground, to wait through the winter and hopefully rise in the spring.

Go sow some seeds!

Grape Talk -- Hardy Plant Society Kitchen Gardening Group

My friend Karen does all sorts of things that make me jealous. Lately she's launched into her new career as a landscape designer as well as working part-time at a local nursery. She gets to work with plants and people who care about plants all day long. That's pretty fantastic in my books and if that's not enough she also has the largest urban edible garden of anyone I know.

Not only is the garden amazing but Karen and her husband Chris have built a ceramic studio and sauna in the sprawling backyard portion of it. Another reason why I'm jealous of Karen is that she's a member of the Hardy Plant Society's Kitchen Gardening Group.

From the HPSO website:

The Kitchen Gardening Group is focused on edible landscaping, and sharing food and recipes from their bountiful gardens. They meet on the 4th Tuesday at 7pm at members homes, typically rotating from Eastside to Westside.

Karen goes to these monthly events and they always sound great. A while back there was one that I really wanted to go to -- how to grow and cook with Asian vegetables. Although I didn't attend that one I recently joined Karen for the March 23rd open-to-the-public grape growing Kitchen Garden event with Lon Rombough author of The Grape Grower.

Lon Rombough's favorite grape captured from his website...Swenson Red grape.

The event was held at a Unitarian church in Beaverton and although I didn't count I'm guessing there were about 30 people in attendance. They asked for a donation of $5 or more at the door but I'm sure they would let you attend if you couldn't afford that. I learned a lot and I'm definitely considering joining the Hardy Plant Society and its Kitchen Gardening Group as a result.

A few highlights from Lon's talk:

100 plus varieties of table grapes grow well in the Pacific Northwest.

We can grow good wine grapes here but outstanding table grapes. Why? Most of the wine grapes grown in the PNW are European varieties so they're not perfectly suited to the climate. Most locally grown table grapes are American varieties which are disease resistant and better suited to the area.

You can bury a sprawling grape vine at any point and it will sprout anew.

Swanson Red grapes are one of Lon's favorite table grapes.

Buds that are close to old wood are usually not too fruitful.

The best time to prune grapes is in the spring or late winter.

The biggest problem with growing grapes in Oregon...birds.

Lon Rombough www.bunchgrapes.comBuy Lon's books

Spring for Zenger

Ever been to Portland's non-profit urban farm and wetland Zenger Farm? I haven't but now, more than ever, I really want to. Starting March 14th local restaurants and nurseries are celebrating Zenger Farm and its newest program -- Healthy Eating on a Budget -- which educates outer Southeast Portland youth and adults about shopping for, and cooking, healthy meals on a limited budget.

Restaurants and nurseries participating in the fundraising initiative include Nedd Ludd, Biwa, Pine State Biscuits, Pistils Nursery, and Portland Nursery.

If you're interested in other Zenger Farm initiatives, events and classes (beekeeping, chicken butchering, sausage making and more) check them out here.

Spring in the Garden

The days are getting longer and spring is in the air even if it isn't technically until March 20th. I planted my first seeds of the season last weekend -- spinach and mizuna. I sifted through the compost, added it to the big backyard bed two weekends ago and last weekend I raked in the seeds and covered the bed with a PVC hoophouse. Next up: sweet sugar snaps. Mmmm. Even though my seeds haven't germinated yet there's all kinds of spring action in the garden. Oh, and the BIG spring happening -- I became an auntie several sweet hours ago! My one and only brother and my lovely sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful Marielle Linda Crain. I can't wait to meet her out of the pod!

Here's a taste of what I'm talking about in the garden...

I planted two honeyberry bushes last summer. Bigger and sweeter fruit than blueberries.

Lemon balm is as pervasive as mint

One of my favorite spring sights -- red-veined sorrel

Seaberries on the way

Lots and lots of garlic

Spinach and mizuna under wraps

Happy Anniversary Blog: One year and counting

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.

Oregon Tilth's 2010 Gardening Classes

No, this post isn't about how my boyfriend constructed an awesome two-stage compost set-up in our backyard. I just thought it'd be a good segue into a post all about Portland gardening classes.

In 2008 I had the pleasure of taking several classes via the local Organic Gardening Certification Program with various Oregon Tilth teachers (and lots of other knowledgeable folks) and I learned so much. We all did. A couple weeks ago I got word from Kathy Dang, Oregon Tilth Organic Education Center program manager, that Oregon Tilth has doubled its classes this year and added new ones for beginning and advanced gardeners.

Classes are diverse in terms of topics covered, cost, and location. Here are some highlights from Oregon Tilth's 2010 class program. Visit the Oregon Tilth website for more information. Tilth Toolshed Series: Plan, Sow, Plant! Our practical 3-class series offered in partnership with the City of Portland's Urban Growth Bounty gardening initiative. Take each class separately or together as a series. Read More… Four-Season Vegetable Gardening Series Another series offered in partnership with the City of Portland's Urban Growth Bounty Initiative. Come find out how to encourage a bountiful harvest from your garden every season of the year! Read More… Tilth Toolshed Series at Luscher Farm The Tilth Toolshed Series: Plan, Sow, Plant! is being offered at second time at our demonstration garden at Luscher Farm. Come discover simple techniques for getting your garden started and increase your urban bounty this season! Read More… Comprehensive Organic Gardener Program The curriculum merges scientific and practical information, emphasizing hands-on practice. This unique and popular course introduces beginning gardeners to the dynamic world of organic gardening and gets their hands dirty in the process! March 4th - 25th! Read More…

Organic Gardening Certificate Program In partnership with Oregon State University, Oregon Tilth offers a program similar in size and scope to the OSU Master Gardener program, with an organic gardening focus. Read More… Urban Gardener Series Offered in partnership with the City of Portland's Urban Growth Bounty initiative, Oregon Tilth's Urban Gardener Series equips city gardeners with the tools necessary to farm our urban landscape. Read More…

In an Oregon Tilth class you might even learn how to plant kiwi vines that attract white fluffy dogs.

Oregon Tilth www.tilth.org

Yard Fresh Pt. 3

There isn't a lot going on in my vegetable garden at the moment. Mostly I have greens growing -- chard, mizuna and some hardy cabbage. Beyond that I've got a lot of dormant overwintering herbs as well as 100 or so garlic that should be pushing through soon.

Even still we've managed to eat some really tasty yard fresh food in the last few weeks. I like this Yard Fresh series because it reminds me of why I love Portland so much and it also makes me reflect on this delicious city I live in and all of the home gardeners and cooks that I'm friends with here.

Without further ado, here are some tasty things I've made lately with a little help from the garden...

What one of my last home garden harvests consisted of mid-October -- lots of tomatoes, chiles, basil and celery.

This red lentil curry had celery, tomatoes, basil, golden chard and chive blossoms from the garden along wtih some other veggies, chicken broth, coconut milk and lots of spice. I used turmeric, cumin, coriander, dried ginger, mustard seed and five spice. Ladled over rice it made us very happy.

Even though I've posted about this already I have to include these slow roasted from-the-garden tomatoes because they were so good and versatile.

They went onto this chorizo pizza with homegrown tomato sauce, olives, scallions and lots of garlic.

And this was a little bit of everything sausage dinner with the last of the tomatoes and sauteed wrinkled old man chiles from the yard along with some brussels.

You can also check out: Yard FreshYard Fresh Pt. 2

I Love Oregon Farmers Pt. 2

So this is my second installment for showering love (they don't need more rain at the moment) on Oregon farmers. I started this series in early August as a way to write about some of my favorite local folks. It's also a great way to share various photos that I took while researching local food/agriculture stories -- photos that weren't published.

In the summer of 2007 I wrote a seasonal food story about fennel for the Portland Tribune. They used one of many photos that I took with the story so I've included a few here that didn't make it to print. In my original draft I wrote about Troutdale's Dancing Roots Farm apprentice Soleil Hutchinson of Eastern Canada who's pictured below and those couple paragraphs didn't make the cut. She was harvesting fennel when I visited and talked with me for awhile.

I asked Soleill if she remembered the first time she'd tried fennel and she said: "I'd never eaten fennel before I came here and I've grown a taste for it. I love black licorice and it kind of tastes like that. It's just kind of tricky cooking with it. I find that it loses its flavor so easily. I like it in salads the best -- raw so you get the full flavor."

Dancing Roots Farm apprentice Soleil Hutchinson harvesting fennel.

And then quickly before she put the fennel in the box she...

Trimmed it.

Although I spent some time in the field with Soleil I also got to talk with Dancing Roots Farm farmer/owner Shari Sirkin while she was rinsing freshly harvested lettuce in a propped up antique bathtub vegetable rinse station in the barn. Shari's owned the 10-acre farm with her husband since 2002. Too bad I didn't take any photos of her. Sirkin told me that she likes to cook fennel low and slow so that it caramelizes with butter and a little salt. Yum.

I grow a lot of fennel every year in our front yard. My trick is to always let a few plants go to seed. Although they produce pretty flowers I let some go to seed so I'll get more fennel the next year. Once the stalks have dried I shake them and scatter the seeds.

I like fennel both raw and cooked but I've never dried fennel fronds and cooked with them. If you like rabbit, bacon and fennel and don't mind drying some fennel (or buying some dried) go here and check out the slow roasted meaty goodness.

Dancing Roots Farm Troutdale, Oregon 503.695.3445 www.dancingrootsfarm.com