Portland-Seattle shootout....

[Fish]

The farmer's market at Portland also has a couple of cheese booths from people here in Oregon making cheese.  One guy makes more Italian style cheeses the other I never checked out because I didn't see enough soft washed rinds to fight my way through the crowds of tourists.

The U District Farmers' Market (in Seattle) had a cheese maker last year. Haven't noticed if they're back this year, but then again, I don't really eat cheese (gasp!) so I haven't been looking.

- S

[duckduck]

One thing I have found to be of value in the fight of winter depression...it may sound a little weird or too simple but I was reading the back of a carton of epsom salts on day and it said "for relief of winter blues" pour two cups into a hot bath. It sounds like no big deal but it really, really works. There are times when I start to drag and can't seem to get motivated. I get really tired and something in my body just feels off balance. I take a bath with epsom salts and it seems to balance something. It's the difference between night and day. It doesn't get you wired but it brings the energy level up and puts me back on an even keel. Trust me...give it a try. Another thing I have found that helps is watching what I eat. There is a book out there called Potatoes Not Prozac. It's a great book! I don't follow the diet exactly but it helps to understand the relationship between brain chemicals and blood sugar levels. The author pushes you to cut out all sugar (which I don't) and boost your intake of protein and complex carbs at certain times of the day. I find that the more meat I eat, the better I feel. Just some thoughts, hope it helps!

[beans]

Yeah, Tillamook is hardly artisanal, but it is one of those regional things.

I don't think the weather inspired blues are isolated to the Pacific Northest at all. I remember actually considering a joke gift bottle of Everclear once last winter when we were snowed in, all businesses were closed and a state of emergency was declared for all travel by car. The weather can suck just about anywhere you go, but it may afford one some much needed down time to pamper one's self.

edit: opps! A dreaded typo!

Edited June 13, 2003 by beans (log)

[Aquitaine]

I'd forgotten that there are so many wonderful small cheese producers in the Northwest.... We have a few at the farmers market here in New York City (Union Square location), particularly goat cheese (Mario Batali married into the Coach Farm goat-cheese family, if I remember correctly, who sell here) and some Amish cheese producers. More pop up each year, it seems...

...Since the flavor of a cheese is highly dependent on what the *producer* eats (cows, sheep, goats), I wouldn't be surprised at all if some of the best cheese never makes it to New York. (Thinking "Heidi" -- the Western "alps" ???? Or am I just dreaming?)

Jim, very nice to see that Oregonian article. Those windows onto the world of the people who actually make what we eat are wonderful....I've been thinking about going to a *relatively* local cheesemaker's farm to see how it's done. Fat Guy and Ellen Shapiro visited recently (the Bobolink Dairy and Bakeyard, at www.cowsoutside.com). For great pictures of a dairy farm and cheeses being made, check this thread: A Day with Curdnerd, Making Cheese -- and do check out the Bobolink website. Jonathan and Nina White actually practice their philosophy; inspiring...

beans, thanks for the list of cheese producers. We even get the Sally Jackson cheese here, but it's a splurge for me, so I don't eat it often...purty nice, though!

So, you Seattleites really do go to Pikes Place, despite all the tourists???

* *

WARNING: Weather talk.....Duckduck, I'll think about the Epsom salts, however long a shot it sounds. Nice of you to pass that along. [For those of you who think we've got it soft in terms of weather, NYC is practically drowning *as we speak.* Tempers are flaring... And we, too, get winds off the water in the winter, wailing down the canyons of high buildings...AND we spend more time on foot outside than most people in urban areas in this country, I would bet....I grew up in New Hampshire, but there is usually a day or two here when I feel like crying, it's so cold.... About 6 years ago we had quite a tough winter; the Hudson River actually froze for a few days and people skied down Broadway to get to work...And then there is the opposite extreme -- you know, you're stuck on the crowded subway, squeezed with your face in someone's armpit who has just been waiting with you in the airless station several stories underground in 100+ degrees and is snapping gum and listening to a loud Walkman, and the sidewalks could fry an egg, no sweat! -- oh! and you hope there's not going to be a garbage-collectors' strike any time soon... Er, what was that about the "big parking lot" of Seattle????] END WARNING

Edited June 22, 2003 by Aquitaine (log)

[Fish]

So, you Seattleites really do go to Pikes Place, despite all the tourists???

Hell yes ! Less so in the summer when the neighbourhood Farmers' Markets are open: I had a lovely time at the U District market yesterday. The cherries are in, and they are sooooo good !

The big secret of going to the market is knowing that Pike Place public parking garage offers 1 hour of parking free, which is more than enough time to buy fish, veggies, a new gadget at Sur le Table AND some goodies at Di Laurentis, if you stay focused and hustle. You have to be a bit pushy to get through the crowds of gawkers, but as a New Yorker, I'm sure that won't be a problem for you.

Knowing how to get to the parking without having to drive through the market makes the whole thing a lot less stressful.

- S

[Bridget]

If you are considering a smaller city you may want to check our Hood River.

Tons of out doorsy oportunities, Mt Hood, Mt Adams, The Mighty Columbia.

Two good sit down resturaunts and a decent bakery.

Many excellent Taco stands.

Lots of local produce.

Ethnic diversity brought by the resident hispanic poulation.

Much less rain.

A cute and reasonably vibrant downtown that has not yet been killed by Wallmart.

To fill your cosmopolitian needs, PDX is less than an hour away.

[MsRamsey]

So, you Seattleites really do go to Pikes Place, despite all the tourists???

People who don't live in the city and aren't creative about parking and transportation, no.

But many of us do go frequently. I was there just yesterday.

[Aquitaine]

If you are considering a smaller city you may want to check our Hood River.

Thanks, Bridget. I'm stumbling on the fact that Portland is small enough for me already! But if I get out there, sounds like Hood River is a good place to visit...