By Request, My Family Egg Nog Recipe

This is a recipe my father used back in the 40’s. Many years ago, I found it among his things, but never made it until tonight. Now I will never make any other version. It’s really airy yet creamy, with just the right balance of booze. I Twitter/Facebooked about it tonight, and am posting it here after several requests, after all, we still have New Year’s... [Read more]

Memories – Making Mayonnaise From Scratch

I’ve written many times about my early summers on a cattle ranch in Texas, here’s one more story. I’m taking you back once more for a recipe I use all the time, my grandmother’s mayonnaise. My first summer in Waxahachie was in 1962. I took the plane trip alone, and that by itself was enough to make the whole summer worthwhile. In those days, the “stewardess”... [Read more]

Sangria

Long before I moved to Portland, I was known for my sangria recipe. I always suspected I was invited to many parties just because they knew I would bring a batch of my easy-drinking wine punch. One year my friend Patrick invited me to his birthday party in Healdsburg, California. It was going to be outdoors, looked hot, and “Oh, could you bring a batch of your sangria?” Judging... [Read more]

Making Butter and Memories

My flashback started with a little piece about homemade butter on The Splendid Table.  The writer mentioned how important the quality of the cream was, and I was reminded of my childhood – stepping out onto the front porch every morning to find the latest delivery from the milkman sitting in a little wire basket. If I got up really early, I’d hear him coming up... [Read more]

Local Figs: A Love Letter to a Short Sweet Season

Republished from 2006. *Bonus Recipe Included* Portland Oregon is practically raining figs. There are big brown, black and green blobs on the sidewalks, on top of cars, and backyards are slippery landmine fields. It won’t last long though, because we are reaching the end of the local fig season. Fresh figs remind me, somewhat sadly, that summer has now peaked and I need to... [Read more]

Quoth the Food Dude, “Nevermore!”

Making Tonic Water from Scratch, Part II [Note: Part I is here] The next day I woke up with new energy and determination. Fairly bounded into the kitchen, wondering if I had enough ingredients for a second batch of tonic. My socks stuck firmly to the floor every time I took a step, a footprint of fuzz left behind. Undaunted, I made a new batch of tonic water. Started filtering... [Read more]

Making Tonic Water – My Descent into Madness

Not long ago, on a cool spring evening, I spotted an article in Imbibe magazine extolling the virtues of making tonic water from scratch. As gin and tonic is my drink of choice, it caught my eye. Six or seven ingredients. The entire process boiled down to a few pictures. How simple! What could go wrong? You’d think after years of cooking experience, I’d know better. Conveniently... [Read more]

Hot Toddy Recipe, 2006 Restaurant Poll Results

Hot Toddy’s The cold days this winter started me thinking about Hot Toddy’s. There are a ton of recipes out there, but I’ve never found one that felt quite right; the flavor was never “round” enough. After weeks of experimentation, I’ve found a combination that works for me. I’m posting it here, mostly for my friends that have been... [Read more]

Think Globally, Drink Locally

Portland has become positively civilized with its recent explosion of small distilleries. Let’s raise a glass and have a proper drink toasting the city’s burgeoning local, made-by-hand liquor producers. Classic cocktails are nothing new, but small-batch artisanal liquors are showing up in liquor stores, restaurants and bars all over town. It should come as no... [Read more]

Some Things Are Worth Repeating

Mr. Food Dude hasn’t been able to participate on this site for a bit, so others have been filling in, putting up new posts & polls, and moderating comments. If you don’t get an immediate response to a question, or things look strange, please be patient. A few of us are doing the best we can to figure out how all of this works. Here’s a bit of Dude trivia:... [Read more]

White Balls

I have always been the baker; I baked jam tarts for my dollies; I baked cookies for my brother and his friends when they were teenagers and had the munchies; I bake everyone their birthday cake and was given a plaque from my daughter’s grade school for baking every month for seven years. You might surmise this is compulsion is borne of generosity; perhaps, but it is... [Read more]

Those Turkey Leftovers – Inieka Vishniovim Sousom

What do I for Thanksgiving? It is actually the most difficult holiday for me because of some personal reasons. At one time it was a huge feast, all home-cooked of course. Now it is a meal out. Over the last few years I’ve had dinner at multiple places: Higgins (terrible dry awful turkey!), Paleys (great, but too darn romantic), and this year, Wildwood. Thanksgiving at... [Read more]

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