Happy Holidays! It’s time to see your family! If you’re partnered, it’s time to see your partner’s family! Maybe you like your family, and maybe you don’t, but what we can all agree on is that small talk with extended family—or, as my family does it, detailed run-downs of every medical procedure every family member […]
The Holiday Food & Drink Spectacular!
Posted inFood and Drink
How to Achieve a Stellar Feast of Seven Fishes
For many families, Christmas dinner is the most extravagant, special, and looked-forward-to meal of the season. But in my family we’ve always focused on what we’ll be stuffing ourselves with on Christmas Eve, when that anticipation of ripping through piles of gifts is at an all-time high. Since both sides of my family are from […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Local Wine Clubs Give You Variety Without Squeezing You Dry
There comes a point when you’re faced with grabbing the same $7 bottle of wine—you know, that one with the naked lady petting her cat at Trader Joe’s?—and wondering if there’s more out there. Exploring new styles, varietals, and regions of wine is daunting, but we’ve found five local monthly clubs that curate a world […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Your Holiday Vino Makeover
Oregon’s talented winemakers are increasingly appreciating the diversity of grapes that the state has to offer. Time to leave the pinot comfort zone and discover some of the other exceptional wines suited for your holiday table (for under 30 bucks a bottle). Gamay Gamay is a red grape that for many years was considered the […]
Posted inFeature
Holiday Pies That Aren’t Homemade, But Still Pretty Good
There’s no disputing that the best pies are always homemade pies. If we’re talking specifics, Melissa Zielinski’s caramel apple pie with buttery, homemade crust is the best pie. Even if the pie has weird lumps or is 99 percent sugar, something about the wholesome determination that goes into making a homemade pie makes it taste […]
Posted inThe Holiday Food & Drink Spectacular!
I Drank All This Egg Nog So You Don’t Have to and Also Now I Want to Puke
For lo these many centuries, snowflakes have swirled like magic, lightly a-drifting atop the pines as children’s carols echo throughest the air. ’Tis the holidays, my friends, and, by law, only one drink can be drunk: EGGNOG. A beloved wint’ry concoction of milk, eggs, sugar, and saturated fat, eggnog is kind of like mayonnaise, in […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Holiday Foods Are the Weirdest Foods. Holiday Foods Are the Worst Foods.
A list of holiday foods to avoid.
Posted inFood and Drink
Where to Find Portland’s Best Holiday Feasts
Move over, Friendsgiving, you’re played out. I’m much more about living the friends feast life, in which you assemble a crew and hit up a local restaurant for some special event dining. (You can do this with your family too, if you’re into that sort of thing.) I’m talking about those lavish spreads that would […]
Posted inFood and Drink
The Spirits of Giving: A Liquor Gift Guide for the Whole Family
The holiday season is a time of generosity. A good giver of gifts finds something that speaks to their relationship with the recipient in a delightful, fulfilling way. A great gift-giver finds something they can also enjoy, like tickets to a play they love, clothes they know they’ll inherit and look amazing in, or—best of […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Getting Hanukkah to Go
Hanukkah can be a lonely holiday in Portland, especially when it gets cold and dark and you don’t see candles lighting many windows. We’re far, far away from the traditional bastions of cultural Judaism, and perhaps more importantly, their wide selection of delis. In Portland, I’ve mainly experienced Jewish tradition at the dinner tables of […]