Gilding the Lily since 2006
Dutch babies are a signature dish of one old Portland institution, the Original Pancake House. When you order one, they bring it out all puffed up on the plate, sprinkled with powdered sugar and with a little carousel of toppings: whipped butter, lemon wedges and …
Yes, spring is here in Portland, but hanging-on cloudy days have me clamoring for earth tones. I’ve always preferred muted earth tones and rich jewel tones, and even though I should be eating piles of sweet green pea tendrils and fennel bulbs, I don’t mind …
Umami is a many-splendored thing. I love just piling it on in my dishes, and I am even known to add a scant whisper (or sometimes more of a prattle) of MSG to my dishes. Oh, lower those eyebrows, you. MSG is harmless. I see …
…or, Variation on a Theme I know – I talked about making tomato soup only a few weeks ago. Get off my back! It’s been really rainy! And besides, if you had all these jars of home-canned heirloom tomatoes staring at you from your pantry …
…or, Breakfast of Champions v. 3.0. This one is the new winner because it took less than 10 minutes to make, 5 of which were spent waiting for water to boil. This is important on Saturdays, when you have to wait for a shower because …
Newberry’s was a five-and-dime that had three locations in Portland: Lloyd Center (now a Dollar Tree), downtown (now a Ross Dress-for-Less) and at the ghost in the shell, Eastport Plaza (the mall has been razed and turned into a movie theater, Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts …
Some terrible things have positive outcomes. Take colonization, for example. You know what’s great about colonization? Bánh mì. It’s true. The French colonized Vietnam for the export of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, but when they taught the Vietnamese their baking secrets, a little magic …
This is not your mother’s tuna-noodle casserole. Not mine, anyway. This is, though, a basic, easy thing: spaghetti with tuna and lemon. Perfect for a lazy weeknight dinner, easily accomplished between bouts of checking my Twitter feed, playing Words with Friends and other impatient, hungry …
I recently lucked into some free beef, and I didn’t even have to buy any tires. My old friend, mentor and high school geology teacher Dick Pugh (yeah, yeah, “what a name,” but he’s like 80 so shut the fuck up) was coming over to …
Yes, delicious pork tacos. But first, indulge me for a minute while I embark on some quick link-dropping and tangent-going, and don’t you dare pull a tl;dr on me. I never write any more. You’ll get to the photos soon enough. So I was reading …