Into the Bogs: Vincent Family Cranberries
LONG BEFORE CRANBERRY JUICE became a staple on supermarket shelves, cranberry farming was a part-time job that Oregon Coast families took up to supplement their incomes.
Farm to Table
The Ultimate Oregon Holiday Gift Guide
Between the gal-who-has-it-all and the ever-changing tween trends, holiday giving is always a challenge. In the past, you’ve braved the mall and gone down the black hole of target-less online shopping. This year we’ve made it easy for you by focusing on local artisans and authors who can fulfill anyone’s wishes, from the epicure, to kids, or outdoorsman. Personal effects and items for the home round out the best of Oregon retail for the 2013 Gift Guide.
Oregon Truffles
Much like the Pinot vines that took root here in the 1970s and beyond, Oregon has become a budding location for the rare truffle. The annual Oregon Truffle Festival, January 24-26 in Eugene, is a weekend of culinary events dedicated to this rare, buried treasure, and draws guests from around the world.
Farm to Table: Rediscovering Charcuterie
Oregon is home to an old school charcuterie revival.
Roof to Table
Portland chef Leather Storrs and his rooftop garden
Breaking Ground: Oregon Olive Oil
The Oregon Olive Mill in Dayton, Oregon produces olive oil from Oregon-grown olives.
Au Pear
The humble Oregon pear rarely gets its due. The subtle fruit is often overshadowed by the flashy berry or its more popular cousin, the apple. Since pears come late in the growing season, they may get ignored by canners vying for that last box of tomatoes or kids stampeding for the pumpkin patch.
Savoring Blackberries
Sam and Cathy Pennington encountered a series of strange messages when they moved from Colorado to Oregon in 1994. “We kept seeing all these signs that said, ‘blackberry removal,” Cathy Pennington says. “We found it really perplexing. Why would anyone want to remove blackberries?”
On Leavened Ground
It’s 4 a.m. The aroma of fresh bread comes from flaming ovens. Buttery croissants are rolled, cut and shaped by hand at Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland. An hour later, the sweet smell of fresh baguette dough wafts past four bakers in jeans, t-shirts and aprons, their heads down, their floured hands dividing and shaping smooth, long loaves. The oven door clanks as the bread goes in.
Artisan Chocolate
Charlie Douglass faces supreme temptation daily. Nearly every morning he has a rendezvous with an enrober, a machine that releases a sensual wave of shining liquid chocolate over row after row of truffle centers.