I was struck dumb by this specialty of Kyoto when I saw it in Saveur magazine: not a recipe, but jars imported for a huge price. Wait a minute! We have cherry trees in abundance in Portland! I started gathering them right away. This year I know where all the best cherry trees are and began picking early in the season. The result is beautiful and the flavor exquisite. Use them in desserts, salads and salad dressings, to flavor tea.
Read MoreLast year I noticed a couple of small olive trees on my way to work. The olives were ripe and dropping onto the side walk. Being the mad forager that I am, I gathered up a small pile and looked into curing them. This is the method that has worked best for me and I am now on my third batch of olives with the itch to gather more this week. I found a new tree and littered with small black olives and with this method we should be well olived all year long.They are richly delicious, salty, umami and teasingly bitter.
Read MoreHere I am in my obsession with all things congee! This is another side for our wonderful congee feast which is often made with chicken eggs, but as you know, I have an obsession with duck eggs and they are bountiful this spring...
Read MoreAs a child I loved this condiment for my breakfast of boiled rice above all others! It is crisp, sour and salty with lots of “bones”, the crisp stem of the greens and less leaf which is what I love. It can be bought easily at most Asian markets....
Read MoreHere is a sample meal plan for a week with links to recipes for easy planning. It is made with some of the simple recipes from our site, but there are more in the recipes section, be sure to take a look...
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