pizza, grill, equipment

Ooni Koda: first trial

pizza baking inside pizza oven

I've messed around with various ways of making pizza on the grill for the last couple of years with unsatisfactory results. So when kickstartered pizza maker Ooni announced the Koda, their new super-simple gas-only portable outdoor pizza oven, I preordered one. Here's my first report on its performance. First, they're…

Read More

DIY, gardening

build a raised bed garden in just 31 easy steps

raised bed frames under construction

It's spring and time for planting here in the Pacific Northwest. Which also means time for preparing the garden beds. Last spring, I built two new 4ft by 6ft raised beds from around $140 worth of cedar and way too many screws. You can do this too. Our backyard in…

Read More

from-scratch poutine

a bowl of homemade poutine

Yesterday Ben, Emily, Kris and I made a from-scratch, organic, local, bona-fide Portland hipster poutine. You can too! First, we made cheese curds using New England Cheesemaking's recipe. We used raw cow's milk from the Corvallis area, brought by Emily as fruit of a "herd share" she has. Making the…

Read More

recipes, good first recipe, asian food

a Japanese winter curry

japanese curry, plated side-by-side with rice

I like Japanese curry. I mean, who doesn't? Even Portland has its own Japanese curry house. But preparing Japanese curry (kare) at home usually means using these sort of instant curry blocks: Those are fine, and I've used them lots of times, but I generally don't like to think a…

Read More

politics

Portland ballot recommendations 2018

Portland Ballot Endorsements Continuing my set of recommendations with background, after doing the Oregon races I'm continuing with the Portland, Metro, and Multinomah County races. I'm not listing the uncontested races, because why bother? City Council Endorsement: JoAnn Hardesty Reason: Portland has a serious problem with its police department. Rogue…

Read More

politics

recommendations for the Oregon ballot

Some of you will still have your ballots and be planning to fill them out this weekend. For your benefit, I've researched the candidates and initiatives on the ballot, and come up with a set of endorsements and recommendations. Whether or not you agree with me, please use the text…

Read More