Live Oregon

Brad and Seth Klann, of Mecca Grade Estate Malt, stand in their rye field with their malthouse in the background.

The Thresher in the Rye

Once derided as worthless, rye is making a comeback in bread, bourbon and beer written by Julie Leephotography by Toby Nolan Once considered a weed amongst fields and often hailed as an underdog, rye is viewed by some as the world’s most underrated grain, though countries like Russia have long adopted it as a staple, using it in breads and other recipes. The carb-laden grain is also used to make whiskey, bourbon, and beer, and can be incorporated in vodka and gin as well. Farmer and brewer Seth Klann of Brad Klann Farms near Madras, is considered an authority in the field of rye and other grains among his peers. “Seth is one of those special generational family farmers who has upheld traditional methods and expanded to his own unique malting techniques.” said Clark McCool, general manager of production at McMenamins, Inc. Klann’s family’s farm has specialized in grain and…

Not all rye bread has sprung from a landfill, but this one has and it’s delicious.

The Seven Seas of Rye

written by Thor Ericksonphotography by Tambi Lane “I found a field of rye growing next to the Knott landfill!” my friend Hubert yelled into his cell phone with excitement. He continued talking with his thick German accent. “I am harvesting it now and will be over shortly.” A retired geophysicist and university professor, Hubert looks more like a mash up between Brian May, the guitarist of the rock band Queen, and jolly old St. Nick. Hubert, who rides his bicycle everywhere arrived at my house and quickly unpacked the harvested rye berries along with a bag of dirt. We ground the grains into a small bag of flour to be used for a sourdough starter and, due the location of where he found the rye, we packaged the dirt to be analyzed by Oregon State University. Second to wheat, rye is my grain of choice when baking bread. Often referred…

DIY Cornhole board

DIY: Cornhole Board

illustrations by Jenna Lechner The origins of the modern lawn game known as cornhole are a bit of a mystery, but a patent filed on September 25, 1883, seems to offer a clue. For it, a person named Heyliger Adams de Windt of Chicago, describes an apparatus for playing a game called Parlor-Quoits, which was an indoor bean bag toss game using inclined boards with a designated hole as a target for the bag. “My present invention has for its object to provide a new game which shall be particularly suited to indoor amusement, and which may be played with an apparatus that will be inexpensive, simple, durable, and noiseless,” wrote Adams de Windt. These days, cornhole is typically played outside in lawns and parking lots rather than a parlor, but, as in Adams de Windt’s day, it’s still a fairly simple and inexpensive apparatus to make, requiring basic tools…

Owner Rachel Clark of Goose Hollow Inn, known for the “best Reuben on the planet” serves her namesake Reuben with a delicious twist.

A Rye Sense of Baking

Rachel’s Reuben Goose Hollow Inn / PORTLAND Rachel ClarkSERVES 1 Ingredients: 2 slices of dark rye bread 3 ounces (to taste) of Russian or Thousand Island dressing 2 slices of thick Swiss Cheese 4 ounces of sauerkraut (squeeze off the liquid to avoid soggy bread) ¼ cup sliced mushrooms (can be more; they will cook down) Several slices of red onion 2 slices of tomato ⅛ teaspoon of granulated garlic Instructions: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place bread slices open face on a cookie sheet. Generously spread the dressing on both slices of bread. On the first slice, spread sauerkraut on one slice over the dressing. Place Swiss cheese slices over the sauerkraut. On the second slice of bread, spread out the mushrooms, then top the mushrooms with the red onion. Sprinkle the mushroom and onion slice with garlic. Bake both sides of bread until the cheese is fully…

Connie Migliazzo and husband renovated the pool area with textural ferns while keeping it simple for many uses.

Bit-by-Bit

A landscape architect takes it slow redesigning her yard to maximize enjoyment in the creative process written by Melissa Daltonphotography by Elijah Hoffman Passing by mounds of Mexican feather grass rippling in the breeze, the crunch of decomposed granite under foot, there is a feeling of calm walking up to Connie Migliazzo’s house in Southwest Portland. That’s relatively new for the 1953 abode, which before, had a yard as common as they come: lawn, and more lawn at the front, side and back. “There were some intermittent random plants, a crumbling lava rock wall, but mostly just lawn,” Migliazzo said. “I wanted to do my own thing.” Migliazzo, a landscape architect and founder of the firm Prato, relocated with husband, Jonathan Kadish, a data scientist, from Berkeley, California in 2018. Ever since, they’ve been fixing up the interior of the Mid-century home with Helland Architecture—“It wasn’t a cool Mid-century before,”…

On a forest clearing outside of Tillamook, a couple creates its own Oil Can Henry’s architectural style.

A Cabin State of Mind

A photographer and an architect, friends and neighbors, craft a small retreat in the woods outside Tillamook written by Melissa Dalton photography by Shawn Records Both Shawn Records and his wife, Jenny, grew up in Idaho with a “mountain place” in their families. His grandparents had a little trailer at Lake Cascade, while Jenny’s parents built a cabin close to Lake Fork, ten miles south of McCall. Around 2013, the now Portland-based couple—he’s a photographer, and she’s a librarian—started looking for a little extra land of their own to continue the tradition and build a new place for a new generation of the family, said Records. They started scouting out the Oregon Coast, but contrary to so many buyers, didn’t necessarily want to be on the water. Then they found a seven-acre forested parcel outside Tillamook, with a meadow clearing, salmonberry thickets, and deer trails carved through groves of alder…

The Egg Drop’s Amy Engelhard.

Re-Nesting

The egg beats its way back into our homes written by Julie Lee Photography by The Egg Drop The egg is peeling back its bad reputation. Once frowned upon as a cholesterol calamity, to the contrary, eggs are one of the best sources of high-quality protein you can find. Rich in vitamins including B2, vitamins B12, D, and A, and a host of minerals, eggs are an essential part of a healthy diet. A bonus? They are low in calories. Shelling out pretty pennies for glowing skin? Try eating eggs instead. Eggs are great for skin; they soften, firm and hydrate all at once, with amino acids helping to generate new skin cells. Studies show that two major antioxidants in eggs, lutein and zeaxanthin, are known to increase protection against UV damage that leads to lines, age spots and cancer, as well as to reduce age-related macular degeneration. Eating one…

DIY Treehouse

DIY: Backyard Treehouse

Photography by Christopher Dibble The beginning of Grey Shaeffer’s treehouse adventure was as a child at her parents’ farm in Forest Grove. Her father built an A-frame treehouse that spanned two trees, and as an adult, Shaeffer made some updates to the original. “I was 19, and I didn’t want to move back into the house because I’d gone to school overseas, so I moved into the tree house,” recalled Shaeffer. “So, I actually remodeled that tree house and lived in it, with plumbing and everything.” Years later, as a designer and founder of Willa Work, Schaeffer was building an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in her Portland backyard, and it was a natural decision to add a treehouse, using leftover building materials from the larger project. “I wanted a treehouse for me and my kids,” said Schaeffer, who fashioned hers into an office space, but also saw it get used…

A chance encounter in Italy led to this egg yolk and ricotta ravioli recipe.

Uovo the Top

written by Thor Erickson photography by Tambi Lane “What to cook for dinner?” I thought to myself as I arrived home after a long day. I knew my fridge was looking a bit sparse, and I was at a loss as to what to prepare. Walking into the house, I noticed a box on the front step. I opened it to find two dozen fresh eggs from our friend, Darren, who has twelve chickens that he refers to as “the girls.” The eggs were so fresh that they were still warm. I suddenly knew what was on the dinner menu. As I cracked the delicate brown shells on the edge of a cup, I noticed the intense orange of the yolks. Suddenly I was transported back in time to a meal I had at a small hilltop restaurant just outside the northern Italian town of Piacenza. Upon my arrival, I…