Live Oregon

The Beauty of Beer Cocktails

written by Jeremy Storton | photos by David L. Reamer I found a path less traveled in Beerlandia recently. It began with a muddled slice of orange, Angostura bitters, a Bordeaux cherry and a tablespoon of cherry juice instead of sugar. The aromas began wafting their magic as I stirred in 1 ounce of rye whiskey. In order to make a whiskey old fashioned, ice cubes and soda water ought to have come next, but that wasn’t the plan. Instead, I poured half a can of cold pale ale into the glass. With one swift stir of the bar spoon, I entered the esoteric world of beer cocktails.    With one swift stir of the bar spoon, I entered the esoteric world of beer cocktails.    The idea of mixing beer with spirits was anathema to me until I realized I was just being a stodgy beer snob. Then I…

Angel Face in Portland

Libation Vacation – Plan your next trip around your favorite spirit, wine or beer

Drinks are a natural part of life on vacation. But what if the vacation was … all about the drinks? We cooked up three perfect libation vacations—wine in the Willamette Valley, beer in and around Bend, and booze in the big city. written by Amira Makansi and Sheila G. Miller What are you looking for in a wine tasting experience? Clearly, great wine tops the list. But there are other factors, too. What about quality of service? Sweeping vistas? Ambience? And that ever-elusive je ne sais quoi?   Wine in the Willamette Valley In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, unique wineries and diverse identities abound—to such an extent it can be difficult to narrow down your tasting list. But on a weekend getaway when time is limited, choosing your top destinations is paramount. Here are five diverse establishments worth a visit on your next escape to the Willamette Valley. If you’re coming…

GoCamp Is a Dream Deliverer

GoCamp gets camper vans in on the sharing economy and delivers adventure written by Sheila G. Miller Instagram posts with the hashtag #vanlife have become all the rage in recent years. I can’t possibly be the only Oregonian who looks wistfully at the wild vistas and the perfectly kitted vans and thinks, “Why not me?” Here’s why not: a new or gently used camper van can set you back between $20,000 and $100,000 and aren’t necessarily realistic for daily driving. Most of us will never own one. But that doesn’t mean the dream is dead—that’s where GoCamp comes in. Deborah Kane started GoCamp partly out of a desire to get others out into the wilderness and partly to prevent her camper van from sitting in her driveway all the time. Kane, who rents out her basement apartment in Southeast Portland using Airbnb, had her a-ha moment in 2017. “Through my…

Smallwares

written by Jen Stevenson To the great delight of fans left devastated by the 2016 closure of chef Johanna Ware’s “inauthentic Asian” restaurant, and only somewhat mollified by her ensuing counter-service spinoff (Wares) inside Sandy Boulevard’s The Zipper food court, Smallwares has risen again in the former Chalino space on NE Fremont Street—with the same signature red shelves and fish-sauce-splashed fried kale and candied bacon, plus a few new culinary twists. As usual, Ware’s menu pulls no flavor punches—try the Dungeness crab and pickled pear salad in Korean chili dressing, hanger steak with curried tomato jam over smoky braised greens, and seared scallops with yuzu brown butter and chickpea miso purée. Oyster lovers, get in on the daily dollar happy hour bivalves doused in fish sauce vinaigrette. Brunchers, arrive at the stroke of 10 a.m. for a hangover-banishing kimchi juice-spiked Bloody Mary, loco moco smothered in togarashi gravy, and buttery…

Portland Condo Interior

An interior designer turns a small Portland condo into a personal haven written by Melissa Dalton | photos by Christopher Dibble Kristen Siefkin is no stranger to reinvention. The Portland-based interior designer first became intrigued with her field while working as a public relations professional for McMenamins Hotels, Pubs and Breweries in the late ’90s. “Design had never really been on my radar,” Siefkin said. “I always hear designers say, ‘I grew up rearranging my family’s living room,’ and that was never me. I learned about design from Mike McMenamin, who was obsessed with the details and history and creating layers and creating spaces that people talk about.” After that unofficial introduction, Siefkin studied the topic formally at the Heritage School of Interior Design and swapped her PR career in 2015 to start her own firm, Interior Design Alchemy. In the interim years, she cultivated her passion for design via…

Oregon-grown hot peppers can spice up any meal

written by Sophia McDonald | photography by Amanda Loman Chili peppers have long been considered an aphrodisiac. The theory goes that the capsaicin, or spicy compound, in these colorful vegetables triggers a release of endorphins as it hits the tongue. That little release of pleasure makes your body warm and ready for other pleasurable activities. Oregon-grown hot peppers aren’t available in stores or farmers markets around Valentine’s Day, but those lucky enough to have stocked up on chili powders and fermented hot sauces from Crossroads Farm near Eugene can still get their spicy fix. Debbie Tilley, who operates the 25-acre organic farm with her husband, Ben, has been producing value-added goods for decades. She used to specialize in dried flower arrangements and ornamental produce, including strings of chilis similar to the ristras found all over New Mexico. “About [the year] 2000, dried flowers died. Dead in the water,” she said….

Home Grown Chef: The Spice of Life

written by Thor Erickson | photography by Charlotte Dupont My wife’s brother-in-law is a great cook. He has no formal training in the culinary arts, yet Kelley is one of the best cooks I know. Not only does he have the right instincts for flavor and texture, he practices great technique, has a mind for weight and volume conversion, and keeps a seriously clean kitchen. I know that his upbringing as the second youngest son of six kids in 1960s, pre-Disney-World Orlando played into this. When he was not horrifying his mother by repairing motorcycles in the living room while blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd, he was helping her make supper. A decade ago, well after Kelley had moved to Tigard, he gave me a Christmas present—a quart-sized Mason jar of what his homemade label declared “Three Jackass Rub.” He and a couple of neighborhood buddies had made the spice blend, primarily…

Global Eclectic

Get the global eclectic look of Siefkin’s unique home at these Oregon-based marketplaces Don’t have any international travel plans in the near future? Take a stroll through Cargo instead. With locations in Astoria, Portland, and online, Cargo offers handmade crafts, vintage treasures and décor items from a vast array of countries. We’re partial to the selection of textiles, including vibrant kantha quilts from India and ikat pillows from the Ivory Coast. https://www.cargoinc.com/ If inspired by Siefkin’s use of Tansu chests, plan a visit to Aurora to shop at Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage and seek out similar, unique storage items, such as a Mid-century basket locker or early-1900s oak printer’s cabinet. You never know what you might find. www.auroramills.com Mix in a few modern pieces with the vintage gems after perusing the wares at the Portland-based Good Mod, a Mid-century furniture warehouse that also sells its own custom designs and those…

Oregon Truffle Festival

written by Jen Stevenson | photos by Kathryn Elsesser The holidays may be but a mulled-wine-muted memory, but Christmas is just beginning for Oregon truffle lovers, as a diverse group of local and international farmers, chefs, mycologists, vintners, dog trainers and the truffle-obsessed gather in Eugene and Yamhill Valley for winter’s much-anticipated annual Oregon Truffle Festival. Spanning two fungi-filled weekends in January and February, the fourteen-year-old festival is ripe (literally) with opportunities to celebrate and sample Oregon’s black and white gold. Score tickets to the decadent six-course Grand Truffle Dinner featuring acclaimed Portland chefs Greg and Gabi Denton (Bistro Agnes, Ox) and Gregory Gourdet (Departure), learn about the latest advances in truffle science from the world’s leading experts during the two-day Truffle Growers’ Forum, follow along with professional four-legged foragers during an authentic Willamette Valley wine country truffle hunt before sitting down to a lavish luncheon, or sniff, sample and…