My brother and I share a home and a catering business in a blue collar, meat and potatoes, ex-logging community of 3,000. Now there's a challenge! We live 45 minutes from a minor metropolitan city and 3 hours away from Portland. That being said both Eugene and Portland are extremely culinarily active. All of our culinary professors say we belong in Portland but when you're a home owner with a cabin on a beautiful river, it's hard to tear yourself away. We both supplement our income by being home care workers (helping disabled and elderly continue to be independent.) I've been a home care worker off and on for about ten years and I have to say it's been fascinating learning to cook for people with dietary restrictions. My current client is on a no salt diet and she loves cheese, pickles and lunch meats. When people find out about my cooking prowess we are often asked what our specialties are and we quite frequently reply "charcuterie", to which most people reply with a blank stare. Our current quest is to learn charcuterie without salt. Is that an oxymoron? (No, an oxymoron is not an idiot addicted to pain killers.) Our current endeavor is a 501©3 non profit corporation dedicated to teaching low income people how to cook nutritious foods for themselves and their families with an emphasis on getting away from convenience foods. Once that happens we have been invited to partner with Food for Lane County one of the largest and most successful food programs for the under-privileged in the Pacific Northwest. So thanks for the opportunity to pick my fellow culinarians brains. I'm excited to be aboard. Tracie
