EPISODE #89 - SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

It was amazingly quiet this week and then I realized that the kids had gone back to school. And so ends summer. Don’t worry the days are still warm (too warm for some) and you still have plenty of time to enjoy the outdoors, but don’t forget about the indoors. Get your home ready for fall and then you can sit and relax for those cold winter months.

Oilerie Choices

The key to good cooking is good ingredients. Finding the freshest, highest quality olive oil is hard for some people, but we found a place in Lake Oswego that has some of the most unique olive oils, and balsamic vinegars around. Blake joined us from The Oilerie (503-675-6457) to show us what makes them unique. First of all, you can taste pretty much every oil in the store. These are great oils and a lot of them are infused with flavors so you can really get creative in the kitchen. They work with a grower in Italy who delivers fresh oil to the store all the time. They characterize the oil flavor intensity in 3 different ways mild, medium and robust. They also label some of the oils like a vintner would label wine, with other taste characteristics like ‘flowery’, ‘spicy’ or ‘peppery’. You can then choose your oil to compliment the dish you are cooking.

The other major product they carry is Balsamic vinegar. While the olive oil is the freshest, the balsamic is aged to perfection. You can taste any of these as well, even the very tasty 25 year old vinegar. This vinegar can be used on cheeses or fresh fruit to bring out the different flavors of the foods you use it with, or even as a marinate. The Oilerie is a very unique store that you have to see to believe and a must stop for any home chef.

Kaboodle Back to College

The younger kids have gone back to school, but those older college aged kids are just now getting packed up and ready to go. The problem for most of these kids is that they will need a lot of their own utensils and appliances for their dorm rooms or apartments. To get some ideas of what to send them off to school with, we stopped by Kitchen Kaboodle and talked with Maryann. The first thing she recommended was a microwave. This is the ‘must have’ appliance for nearly everyone. There are some warnings though… Oregon and Oregon State have policies about what you can have in your dorm room and what is prohibited as appliances go. You will want to check with your college or university to see their specific rules. If you are able to have a microwave in your room you will need things to cook in and one thing that Maryann brought out was a popcorn popper. This bowl is great for making that typical ‘study time’ treat and even for heating up soup. You will also want to make sure that you get a complete assortment of microwave safe items like egg poachers, plates and cups. Another thing that they will need at school include silverware and plates. Get heavy duty, unbreakable, utensils and dishes; they will be taking a beating and need to last. Maryann brought out a special gadget next. This is a battery operated hand blender. This can be used for frothing milk for coffee, mixing protein drinks and even scrambling eggs. The next items we looked at were coffee cups and brewers. Kitchen Kaboodle has a wide assortment of bean grinders, French press and hot pots to make any hot drink. We also looked at cutting boards, knives and spreaders. These are perfect for cutting up apples, cheeses and hard meats for quick snacks. The final item we looked at was the collapsible laundry bag. This is great for carrying your dirty clothes to the laundry room and then it crushes down for easy storage. If you are looking to outfit your student for the coming year, stop by Kitchen Kaboodle for some great and functional items!

Wild About Game

If you are tired of the same old thing for dinner we have a treat for you. We heard about an event that will change the way you think about meat. Next weekend at the Resort at the Mountain they are having the 11th annual ‘Wild About Game’ event. This event is centered around wild game and how to prepare it. Nicky USA is the sponsor of the event which will take place on Sunday September 18th from 11 to 4. Nicky USA is a purveyor of sustainable, high quality game meats. Nicky owner Geoff Latham wanted an event that would highlight some of the great tastes of game birds and grass fed meats and this event was born. Local author and chef, Janie Hibler, joined us to show us one of her recipes from her book of the same name, ‘Wild about Game’. She made a sautéed quail served in fresh salad greens with fresh huckleberries. In her cookbook this recipe is made with fresh venison. You can find a copy of her recipe here. It was fantastic and gave us an idea of what you can expect if you attend.

The ‘Wild about Game’ event features an ‘iron chef’ style cooking competition with some of the top chefs in the area, chef demonstrations, some of the best wine and spirits in the area and tons of samples of the different game meats you can find on the market. This is a 21 or over event and is a one of a kind function that you won’t find anywhere else. If you are interested in attending check out the link to the website for tickets and order forms. You will not be disappointed!

Fixing a Hole in the Wall

Fixing a hole in your sheetrock is a pretty common thing around most homes. It could be a hole from a doorknob or from a sharp object. Either way repairing the hole can be an easy process. We stopped by Parr Lumber (503-531-7277) to get some help from Chris. Chris helped us pick out the items we would need to fix a small hole, but even if we didn’t have Chris to help us, all the Parr locations have easy to follow ‘how-to’ booklets for customers to use to get the job done. For our job we needed a patch kit, some sheetrock mud and a can of spray texture.

To fix the hole we first sanded down the rough edges of the area around the hole. We then applied the adhesive patch to cover the hole in the wall. If the hole had been bigger we may have had to do a lot more work to fix the hole, but Chris read our measurements of the hole and knew that the patch would work (you can get the same help at your local Parr store). Once the patch was in place we applied the mud around the patch to help cover it up and hide the edges of the patch. We then had to wait until the mud dried. Once dried, we sanded the mud to smooth it out, and then sprayed the wall with the ‘texture’ to get it to match with rest of the wall. If the project looks a little rough or you are not happy with it, you can simply sand the texture off and try again. When everything is dry you can repaint the spot and it should blend in pretty well and your hole is fixed! For help with any of your other do-it-yourself projects you can stop by any Parr location.

 
 

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September 17, 2011.