It’s almost un-American, but I couldn’t handle the taste of ketchup until I was a teenager. Even then, I only used ketchup for dipping my greasy, limp school cafeteria fries into just to make them palatable. The memory of the pairing still grosses me out. To this day, I can go without having general ketchup on anything, because I only tolerate its taste. Luckily for me, usually when ketchup is available, so is mustard—and I love mustard.
While lunching with a friend, she encouraged me to try her new favorite ketchup called Portland Ketchup made by Portlandia Foods. I hesitated because my pub fries were too good to ruin with ketchup, but I trusted her enough to dip. This organic Portland Ketchup actually tasted good, and I shared the bottle with my genius friend through the remainder of our meal. Recently, while dining at a favorite restaurant with my family, not only did Portland Ketchup appear on our table for the first time, but so did Portland Mustard. I didn’t know that Portland Mustard existed!
Portlandia Foods ensures its vegan condiments remain free of gluten, pesticides, monocultures, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and monosodium glutamate (MSG) by partnering with local distributors who support local farmers. These products include Portland Ketchup, Portland Mustard, and Portland Worcestershire.
Portlandia Foods is located at 2451 SE Ankeny Street in Portland, Oregon and is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays. Call (503) 729-8257 to set an appointment, or go to www.portlandiafoods.com for more information or to order online.
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The cookbook From Portland’s Palate: A Collection of Recipes from the City of Roses by the Junior League of Portland, Oregon includes nearly 250 recipes that integrate local ingredients such as seafood from the Pacific Ocean, fruit from the Columbia River Gorge, and wine from the Willamette Valley. These recipes are both familiar and innovative. Each section begins with stunning artwork by Illustrator Jennifer Winship Mark along with a page of information and tips about a certain area or season. Not only is this a classic Pacific Northwest cookbook, but it’s also an entertaining read.
My favorite tea happens to be local, founded and headquartered in the Pacific Northwest! Stash Tea began in a Victorian house in Portland, Oregon in 1972 and expanded its headquarters just over the West Hills to Tigard, Oregon. Stash quickly grew to become a top specialty American tea company, selling products online, in a variety of stores, and around the world. Stash teas come in a variety of flavors and forms including loose, bulk, bagged, pods, sachet and iced. The company also sells treats and any kind of teaware imaginable.
The holidays coincide with birthdays in my home, so while everyone else plans holiday parties and menus, I focus on keeping my children’s birthdays separate and special. Rice cereal treats with a twist landed on one of our birthday menus, and fruity rainbow bars won over the many options of flavors and colors. This simple and economical treat can be changed to accommodate a variety of occasions and preferences. Here is the base recipe:
What does every engraving include on a headstone? The dash. The dash is that small line—or dash—between the dates of a person’s birth and death. The dash appears so insignificant on a grave marker, and although a person’s birth and death are notable, it’s the time in between those first and last days that define the individual. The dash is memorialized at funerals. The dash is our legacy, good or bad.
We’re barely into our wet season in the Pacific Northwest, and we’ve already endured tornadoes, damaging winds, and record rainfall—and we haven’t even gotten into our rainiest months yet! I hear the grumbling all around me. But, life outside our doors can’t wait until summer. We live in the Pacific Wonderland, as our license plates proclaim, and we have the availability of nearly every outdoor activity imaginable.
Summer turned to autumn overnight in the Pacific Northwest, and social media was deluged with posts about baking. Even well before the holidays, our foggy mornings or rainy days send people to the comfort of their kitchens. With all of our baking and cooking, sometimes we lack an essential ingredient—the egg. Ah yes, we’ve all discovered only two eggs in our refrigerators when a recipe called for three. What do we do? We use other ingredients from the pantry to replace the egg!