Quick Takes for May

As the month comes to a close, a couple things worth noting...

-- I love this photo (above) of Nathan, Simone and Lori. I took it on Mother's Day three weeks ago in Simone and Kyndall's backyard. If they look happy, it's not just because it was a gorgeous sunny morning. It's also because we were about to dig in to a fabulous brunch.

Don't know exactly how our two oldest kids turned out to be such gourmet cooks, but I suspect part of it is due simply to growing up in Portland, where coffeehouses, microbrews and organic, local food form something of a holy trinity here.

That said, Simone and Kyndall combined on a dish that featured a single, smoked turkey drumstick with collard greens, slow-cooked to perfection in a crock pot. Nathan, meanwhile, made some outrageously tasty concoction out of red beans, link sausage and grits, topped with a fried egg. And I contributed what should have been a nice big salad with romaine lettuce, bacon bits, bread crumbs and blue cheese -- except that I put in three times as much blue cheese as the recipe called for, which made for an overpowering dressing. Oops.

-- Speaking of local food, this other photo shows my lovely bride buying some vinegar from a booth at the Irvington Farmers Market. It opened two Sundays ago on Northeast 16th Avenue, between Broadway and Weidler. It's only a single block, yet it's a microcosm of the farmers markets you find all over the region.

We went on opening weekend May 23 and again yesterday and came away with fresh beets and potatoes, vinegar and oil, pita bread, goat cheese and red anjou pears. Full bellies, too. Lori went for the halibut tacos fresh off the grill while I gravitated to the tamale booth staffed by the Hacienda Community Development Corporation. A microloan program has made it possible for women at Hacienda's apartment complex in the Cully neighborhood -- most of them first-generation immigrants from Mexico -- to earn money to supplement their household income.

It's a great program, empowering low-income women of color while introducing Portlanders to authentic ethnic food. You can find them at 11 farmers markets in the Portland area. Click here to check out the schedule.