14 September 2012

End of the Summer as We Know It

It’s been a good week for me and PFM foods. There were the chiles relleno made with chilies from Westwind and the lamb chorizo from Sexton Ranches. Bread pudding with Jacobs Creamery mascarpone and pears from Kiyokawa. The Baird

Chop & Stir

peaches on their own – they don’t need fancying up. I had Brisket at Podnah’s (Not a PFM vendor any longer, but they’re one of the 50ish businesses that launched at PFM). Basil from Rick Steffen’s combined with tomatoes from my garden made for some sauce. Figs, radicchio and goat cheese and bread from Pearl all made another meal and then there are some Hummingbird Flowers – not edible but certainly pretty on my table.

Now that the weekend is closing in, I feel I could do it all over again except for all the leftovers, stuff exploding in my garden and a not so vague tightness in my waist – stupid pants must have shrunk – odd that it took years for that to happen and on a week I over indulged.

Pears, apples, squash, tomatoes, herbs, oysters – how did I miss those with my week of feckless grazing – there’s eggplant; no one grows eggplant like our farmers grow eggplant (yes, this includes your mama). And somehow if you’ve missed the gift of the 3 ft/ 12# zucchini from your well-intentioned neighbors, or possibly want reasonable sized zukes, the market has them.

Portland Monthly will be at PSU handing out free magazines near chef stage…Speaking of zucchini, but in the squash-positive sense -while the Portland Monthlys are being distributed, Jenn Louis of Lincoln and Sunshine Tavern, will demo chilled summer squash and buttermilk soup.

So with Kenton, PSU, King and this year’s penultimate Pioneer Square on Monday, we have choices, so many food choices.

And just in time for all this goodness, the whole Food world will be showing up in Portland next week for Feast! You can read about Feast – here’s short interview with the festival’s founders. And if you can’t or like me shouldn’t indulge in the well, feasting, please consider food for the mind. Mark Bittman, The Minimalist, Today Show contributor, NY Times Food writer and now food policy expert will be speaking – offering commentary on the future of food – tickets here.

Reminder of Season’s dates and times:
Thursday’s Buckman & NW markets run through September.
Kenton, Fridays 3-7 through September.
PSU 8:30-2 THROUGH DECEMBER 15th!
King, Sundays 10-2 through October.
Shemanski, Wednesdays 10-2, through October.

Pioneer Courthouse Square, this and next Monday only in 2012 – 10-2