A Taste for Fall
Fall is beginning its descent all across the country. Here in Portland, it’s not coming fast enough for me. I’m ready for it to kick into high gear — maybe even wanting to force it a little before its true time.
As a fall baby, I’ve always had a great affinity for my birth season. Even in the midst of a 80 degree day, I can feel myself wanting to bake more. (I’m working on perfecting a super-moist, gluten-free pumpkin cream cheese muffin with candied pepitas right now. Look for it here on the blog soon!)
While we’re still ending our days by running the in-window air conditioner to get our room cool enough to sleep in the evening, I have a taste for the crunch of leaves under foot, the orange globes of ripened pumpkin flesh floating in Thai curry and the sweet, silken flavors of rich chestnut and vibrant butternut squash soups served with a crunchy baguette and a creamy shmear of triple cream brie.
An Apology
Things have been a bit slow on the blog lately. For that, I apologize to you my Groovy Readers. Besides the usual balancing act of running a freelance writing business and the needs of an extremely active and talkative toddler, I’ve been juggling two major ghostwriting projects due before the end of the year, a visit from the mother-in-law, my son’s 4th birthday, the addition of a bit of summer fun and the delicious foodie-focused events (IFBC and FEAST Portland) descending on Portland lately.
All of this has left little time for blogging, hence the wonderful guest post by my dear friend Brad over at Cast Iron Stomach last week. Brad has inspired me to purchase my own canning supplies and make my own fresh jam with the last of summer’s berry bounty, crisp homemade pickles and juicy bright flavors of homemade pasta sauce.
A FEAST to Kick-Off the Fall Season
In fact, over the course of the next couple months you can expect to see all of these recipes and more as I enter my favorite season for cooking — Fall. Kicking things off in a big way is Oregon’s first-ever food culture festival, FEAST Portland: A Celebration of Oregon’s bounty.
It’s four days (September 20-23, 2012) of foodie bliss that promises to not only set foodie hearts aflutter with the likes of Mark Bittman, Food Editors from Bon Appetit and Portland Monthly and top chefs from around the country giving cooking demonstrations, talks and serving up some the best food Oregon has to offer, but all net proceeds will go to help end childhood hunger in our area. Win, win, WIN!!
Check out my FEAST Preview Post on Oregonlive.com later in the week to plan your schedule of all the action.
