Since moving from Philly to Portland almost 8 years ago, I've really gotten more aware of where our food comes from, and even more interested in making my own. I'm fanatical about my new hobbies of curing meat, pickling, drinking great wine, and generally living the sweet life on 20th Ave.
This is me.. Timberline at Mt. Hood.. catching some air on my 40th bday this past Jan ( I know it doesn't look like a lot of air, but my friend Jdub caught me coming down from what was a pretty sick jump for an old man)
This is my Wife, Amy, my Daughter, Ella and I. ( Wildlife Safari in Roseburg, OR Aug 2009.)
This my raison d'etre.. my little nugget, Ella. She's almost 4, and tons of fun. This year she started skiing, and it's all downhill from here ( insert drum beat ).
This is the Chocolate Bacon Love Cake my good friend and neighbor Caprial made for me ( I think John helped a little too ). All I can say is "Wow"
Here is my urban farm. I converted half my front yard into 4 raised bed containers, and have been growing quite a bit of produce year round. Most of the produce is either eaten immediately, shared with my great neighbors, or pickled. I'll be discussing Pickling in more detail in the future, but for now I just wanted to show you where the great pickles you may have heard about ( or tasted ) come from.
The next photo shows the infamous "Wall of Pickles". This is an old French wine cupboard that is now used to hold my treasure trove of pickled goodness. Typically, I make blueberry/rasperry preserves, balsamic onion Jam, Hot ( and not so hot ) kosher dill pickles, pickled beets, salsas, chutney, italian style tomatoes.. and something new this year "Garden Mix" - Basically, I pick from the garden, and whatever is ripe, get's pickled ( beets, radishes, cukes, squash, zuchini, eggplant, beans ).. it's really good and recieves rave reviews.
