All posts tagged: palate

Love Where You Live

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At the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Yamhill River in the Willamette Valley, sits the historic town of McMinnville, Oregon.  Fresh off of a full day exploring Portland following The Hello Sessions the night before, at least a dozen of my friends and I headed 40 miles southwest for the ‘Love Where You Live’ wine country dinner. Co-hosted by the gracious Chelsey Nichol of Type A Press and my savvy friend, Maggie Battista, of Eat Boutique, guests were served passed hors devours, cocktails, and a 5-course family style meal prepared by Let Um Eat Collective inspired by Maggie’s new cookbook, Food Gift Love. Chelsey’s fourth generation family-owned printing warehouse, which houses her antique letterpress, and the studios of painter, Zach Hixson and sign painter, Mitch Horning, served as the venue. Until you make it up to Oregon for your next weekend getaway, and I strongly suggest you do, here is a taste of McMinnville for you to enjoy at home. “Newby’s Ransom Punch”, named for the founder of McMinnville, William T. Newby, and the locally produced Ransom Spirits, was …

The Bag Lady

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I have bags of stuff everywhere.   Prior to having company over, a good hostess will spend her time tidying up her apartment,  mainly concentrating on the bathroom and the crevices of the floors, and legs of furniture where dust accumulates if she needs to get her home party ready in a flash.  She also needs to get rid of clutter.  I read once in an entertaining guide in the 90s that you could potentially use the tub for surplus storage, but your guests need only to draw the curtain and you will be busted on the spot.  So I think women started filling their  tubs with water and burning floating candles there instead.  Neither has ever been an option for me, but that is not the point of this post.     Whole Foods, TJs, Vanessa Bruno, what have you… Gotta bag? I likely have crap to store in it. I have crap everywhere and I simply dump whatever is scattered on the dining table into reusable shopping bags or totes I have stored …

Cookies Make Me Happy

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From the time I started eating solids as a baby up until the summer of 2013, I am certain my body composition had been at least 50% baked goods, primarily cookies.   Weaning myself off of these indulgent, starchy, buttery and gluten dense treats was no easy task, I assure you.  It’s kind of like Picasso’s Blue Period…  a very melancholic time for this gal.  But no fear, as there are bakers in the Bay Area who make some amazing BP friendly goodies (hooray for Flour Chylde and Mariposa Baking!).   I do however, still need to have some recipes in the old brain that I can whip up myself or to cook with kids.   The quickest and easier foray I have had into the homemade gf & df cookie world is a recipe I found at The Voluptuous Vegetarian over two years ago and adapted with permission from the VV herself, Stacey,  for Classic Play readers. To get the scoop on why they make me happy and how to make them yourself, please …