GoodStuffNW: Falling Into Place
In last month’s newsletter I mentioned Aesop’s fable about the ant and the grasshopper, and that I was feeling very ant-like with all the summer bounty needing to be processed. That feeling has only grown with the subtle changes in the weather and the need to get the avalanche of the late summer harvest “put up” before seriously cold weather shuts down summer for good.
I’ve already put in my order for 100-plus pounds of tomatoes to be roasted, bagged and frozen this month, picking plums from my neighbor’s overloaded tree to make into jams (and upside-down cakes), and lacto-fermenting hot peppers for green and red hot sauces.
But summer’s not over yet, hopefully not by a long shot, and we’re still enjoying those long evenings on the porch with beverages in hand, Dave with his beloved Negroni and me with my drinking vinegars. A report from the field by Aaron Nichols of Stoneboat Farm makes it clear that there’s lots more summer to come, with the cooler temperatures slowing the ripening of some crops while allowing time to get others in the ground when it’s not swelteringly hot.
Being as farmers are the first ones to enjoy of all of the fresh goodness in their fields, they’re also the ones with some of the best recipes for making the most of it. In Lynn Thompson of Thompson Farms’ case, that’s a dead-simple and decadent dessert making the most of the red pears from his trees called, appropriately enough, “Decadent Pear.” His secret ingredient? Crumbled bacon. (My head exploded, too.)
Notable this month, too, was the news that after years of violations, disastrous mismanagement by two different owners and spinelessness on the part of state agencies unwilling to shut them down, the notorious mega-dairy known as Lost Valley Farm, and later Easterday Dairy, has finally been decommissioned. Just reading over my past posts on it (I’ve been warning about it since 2017) made me shake my head in disbelief. If it was made into a movie, no one would believe it was true.
Speaking of over the top, check out my recipe for Gochujang Mac’n’Cheese, a dinner/science experiment that, far from exploding in my face, will actually make it onto our list of favorites!
And on a personal note I include the news that my brother has handed over the keys to his southeast Portland wine shop, Vino, after 25 years. Why is this worth mentioning in a blog about local food and food systems? Because without his inspiration I would most likely never become a writer or started Good Stuff NW. Read the post to get the whole story.
Thanks are due to all of you for reading, and to the Beaverton Farmers Market for their sponsorship of this source of news-you-can-actually-use. Until the next newsletter in October you can check back in at GoodStuffNW.com, or keep up with me on Facebook or Instagram.
Thanks again,
Kathleen Bauer