Now, late July, the first tomatoes and peppers are ready to sample. I picked a large beef tomato and we had our first BLT sandwich. It was great. The chocolate pepper I picked was mild and still green but worked well in my breakfast mini-quiches.

The collard greens are finally full-sized, so I picked a bunch and cooked them with bacon bits for dinner with a pork steak. They were dandy.

The CSA is providing a lot of large white onions this year, so it’s as well that my onions didn’t sprout.

It is still very early in the season. I’ve been going to the Vancouver Farmers Market the past month and buying last season’s root vegetables and fruit, plus some lettuce and plant starts. I’ve actually become addicted to buying a lovely bouquet of flowers for my table. It helped jump-start spring before my own bulbs bloomed.

I’ve missed the local lettuce tremendously, but the lettuce starts I bought four weeks ago are now producing enough for salads for me twice a week. And it is great to supplement that with more lettuce from the farmers markets.

Many factors tried to keep me from attending the wine dinner. My dining companion Krista had to drop out due to family care issues, and my husband also had to go to see his ailing mother. But I booked a room at the University Place Hotel so I wouldn’t have to drive home and boldly decided to brave it alone.

Nobody is alone at one of the Wine Makers’ Dinners at Encore 310. The owner Reza Rafati greets everyone and I have yet to find anyone who wasn’t eager to meet newcomers and engage them in conversation. I chatted with Joe Dobbes and had to admit that my husband and I had managed to miss their winery. Mr. Rafati invited me to sit next to him, since I was a lone woman, and I was very pleased to do so. The gathering was smaller than last month, with 20 present, in part due to the Blazer playoff game. But that made it even more intimate and merry.

We enjoyed a Spanish pinot noir champagne while meeting and chatting. The first course was seared scallops in a cauliflower puree with almonds and currants, served with 2007 Dobbes Family Estate Pinot Gris. The flavors of the dish were subtle but perfectly brought out the notes in the pinot gris. It was an excellent pairing.

Joe Dobbes spoke eloquently about his winery and his history in making wines. He is an Oregon native who spent years studying winemaking in Germany and France. After making wine for several Oregon labels, he set up his own shop as Wine by Joe in 2002.

The second course was an endive and heirloom bean salad with peas and oyster mushrooms, served with 2006 Viognier. The dish was delicious and I truly enjoyed the viognier, which is one of Joe’s favorite wines to create. The grapes are from an organically farmed vineyard in the Rogue Valley.

The third course was a chicken apricot ginger sausage with peppers and polenta. It was served with a 2007 Skippers’ Pinot Noir. Ah, this is a pinot I need to buy. It is a Rogue Valley pinot noir, named after Joe’s daughter. It isn’t released yet, but is very drinkable now. It escapes some of the problems seen with 2007 Willamette Valley pinots. The sausage was also delicious.

The fourth course was a wonderful beef tenderloin topped with wine braised onions and a potato gratin, accompanied by a 2005 Fort Miller Syrah. The steak was excellent, and the wine was as well. Together they were magic. I wished my husband could attend these dinners, but he has some food allergies. Reza Rafati said to call him and he could ensure my husband got a portion that didn’t have onions or pepper. I hope I can entice Rich to attend, as this food and wine are a great experience.

“Because this is Rafati’s, we have a cheese course,” our host said. The delicious cheeses were accompanied by a 2005 Grand Assemblage Syrah and a 2005 Griffin Pinot Noir. I liked both, but preferred the pinot. By now, I was definitely grateful that my destination was a hotel room upstairs. The conversation kept flowing, with never a dull moment. Although I was a newcomer, everyone was treated as an old friend.

The dessert was a berry’misu tower, and it was a perfect ending. It was served with a 2006 Late Harvest Viognier that was rivaled a German beerenauslese.

I hope to make it to most of these monthly wine maker dinners. The food, the wine, and the company make it one of the best local getaways you can buy.

The I-5 to 99W Connector Project has been working on the problem. They unveiled their recommendation for Alternative 7 – the Three Arterial Corridors Alternative. Having lived for so long in the neighborhood most impacted, at first blush I like it. My husband attended some of the stakeholder meetings as he serves on the board of a club that could be impacted. I like the multiple-solution alternative, as the cars and trucks making the congestion aren’t all going to the same destinations. Some want to go north on I-5, some south, some to Hwy 217, some east on 205. This plan widens existing roads and adds new connectors with the least impact on neighborhoods.

I am very happy to live now in an area of Vancouver where there are multiple connectors and many different routes I can take home. It lessens the traffic on any one street. I am eternally grateful we didn’t buy a house further east where there are fewer connectors and much more traffic on the existing streets heading to even more new neighborhoods.

First, I signed up for Mint.com because one of Clark Howard’s producers said “It changed my life.” I’ve been comfortable enough that I have been lazy in really tracking my finances and not really budgeting. Rich and I both pay off our credit cards every month and are maximizing retirement savings. But beyond that, I am lazy.

Mint.com is meant to be used with all of your bank accounts, credit accounts, loan accounts, and investment accounts. When you open it up, it checks them all and downloads them all onto one ledger for easy budgeting. It’s smart enough to know the vendor and assign a default category. You can also view each account separately. Voila – easy budgeting! No excuse for the lazy!

With banks and insurance companies crashing all around, I took a hard look at my accounts. I immediately identified the following to reduce or eliminate:
1. US Bank online access charge: I questioned why I was being charged $5.95 a month when their web site says online access is free. I had to pick up the phone and call them. Turns out this was an old fee for using Quicken or Money to access your account. I had it eliminated.
2. Weight Watchers Online: I’ve been using Calorie Count Plus instead, so I canceled this $11.95 per month.
3. Walk Styles subscription: This is for online downloads of a pedometer they sent me to test. I was lazy in not canceling it after the testing period. $5.95 per month.
4. I keep an Earthlink account active to be able to keep my original email address, and rarely use the dialup as a back-up. But $26 a month is excessive. I went into an online chat with their sales people and had it reduced to $14.95 per month.

These are small potatoes, too small for me to care about for years in some cases. But they add up to $35 a month, over $400 per year. That is real money. I was wasting it. All together, this almost pays for my CSA farm subscription for 2009.

We were privileged to go to the Clark Howard night at Pearson Air Museum on Friday. We got free tickets by registering in time with radio station KPAM. They served an optional $8 pasta dinner that was super. You get great value with Clark!

Clark is cheap. His appearance was the evening that Congress passed the bailout bill. He had many reassuring comments, but plenty of advice on how to protect yourself in tough economic times. The questions from the audience were excellent.

First, live within your means. That sounds easy, but I know it isn’t for most people. Rich and I have never spent more than we earned. We have avoided debt other than car payments (now all paid for) and the mortgage. We resisted buying more of a house than we could afford. It still would be a stretch without our additional income from web projects, and so I am focused on saving for any future downturns in income.

I have saved a large amount of expense this year by getting the CSA subscription and cooking at home rather than going to restaurants or bringing home prepared food from the grocery store. I used to look forward to eating out. Now I look forward to what I am cooking at home.

I tried to stop by a local restaurant for lunch today and it was closed. Many small local businesses will be going under, especially those which are luxuries rather than necessities. I think it is our duty to support our local CSAs through these times. But I also want to give some business to the local restaurants and local produce stores.

I am dedicated now to budgeting and going after those small savings that I ignored for so long. When I want to be charitable, I’ll do it intentionally!

1001: 1001 NW Couch St., Portland 503.226.3463

Aquariva: 0470 SW Hamilton, Portland 503.802.5850

Apizza Scholls: 4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland 503.233.1286

Around the Table Catering and More: 360.834.0171

Artemis Catering: 1235 SE Division St. #112, Portland 503.233.8539

Basta’s Trattoria: 410 NW 23rd Ave., Portland 503-274-1572

Biwa: 215 SE Ash, Portland 503.239-.8830

Blue Hour: 250 NW 13th Ave., Portland 503.226.3397

Blueplate: 308 SW Washington St., Portland 503.295.2583

Bon Appetite: 520 SW Fourth Ave., Portland 503.241.7970

Bridgeport Ale House: 3632 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland 503.233.6540

Burgerville: Various Locations. 
A hero amongst fast food purveyors, Burgerville USA strives to use locally
sourced ingredients.

Cafe Castagna: 1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland 503.231.9959

Caffe Mingo: 12600 SW Crescent St. #120, Beaverton 503. 646.6464

Carlyle: 1632 NW Thurman St., Portland 503.595.1782

Castagna: 1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland 503.231.7373

Ciao Vito: 2203 NE Alberta, Portland 503.282.5522

Country Cat: 7937 SE Stark St., Portland 503.408.1414

Culinary Artistry Catering: 1406 SE Stark., Portland 503.232.4675

Cuvee: 214 W. Main St., Carlton, OR 866.421.1347

Daily Cafe: 902 NW 13th Ave., Portland 503.242.1916

The Farm: 10 SE 7th Ave., Portland 503.736.FARM

Fife: 4440 NE Fremont St., Portland 971.222.3433

Food in Bloom Catering: 2701 NW Vaughn St., Portland 503.944.6820

Fratelli’s: 1207 NW Hoyt, Portland 503.241.8800

Genie’s: 1101 SE Division St., Portland 503.236.2454

Gino’s: 8051 SE 13th Ave., Portland 503.233.4613

Grand Central Baking Company: Various Locations

Heathman Hotel: 1001 SW Broadway, Portland 503.241.4100

Helser’s: 1538 NE Alberta St., Portland 503.281.1477

Higgins: 1239 SW Broadway, Portland 503.222.9070

Hot Lips Pizza: Various Locations

Hudson’s: 7805 NE Greenwood Dr., Vancouver 360.816.6100

Ken’s Artisan Bakery: 338 NW 21st Ave., Portland 503.248.2202

Ken’s Artisan Pizza: 304 SE 28th Ave., Portland 503.517.9951

Kettleman Bagels & Bakery: 2238 SE 11th, Portland 503.238.8883

Justa Pasta: 1326 NW 19th Ave., Portland 503.243.2249

Lauro Kitchen: 3377 SE Division St. #106, Portland 503.239.7000

Le Pigeon: 738 E. Burnside St., Portland 503.546.8796

Lovely Hula Hands: 4057 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland 503.445.9910

Navarre: 10 NE 28th Ave, Portland 503.232.3555

Noble Rot: 2724 SE Ankeny, Portland 503.233.1999

Nostrana: 1401 SE Morrison St., Portland 503.234.2427

Nuestra Cocina: 2135 SE Division St., Portland 503.232.2135

Nutshell: 3808 N. Williams, Portland 503.292.2627

Paley’s: 1204 NW 21st Ave., Portland 503.243.2403

Park Kitchen: 422 NW 8th Ave., Portland 503.223.7282

Pause: 5101 N. Interstate Ave., Portland 971.230.0705

Podnah’s Pit BBQ: 1469 NE Prescott St., Portland 503.281.3700

Por Que No: 3524 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland 503.467.4149

Rocket: 1111 E. Burnside, Portland 503.236.1110

Screen Door: 2337 E. Burnside St., Portland 503.542.0880

Serrato: 2112 NW Kearney St., Portland 503.221.1195

Simpatica Catering and Dining Hall: 828 SE Ash St., Portland 503.235.1600

Southpark Seafood Grill and Wine Bar: 901 SW Salmon St., Portland 503.326.1300

Tabla: 200 NE 28th Ave., Portland 503.238.3777

Terrior: 3500 NE Martin Luther King Blvd., Portland 503.288.3715

Three Square Grill: 6320 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, 503.244.4467

Tin Shed Garden Cafe: 1438 NE Alberta, Portland, 503.288.6966

Trebol: 4835 N. Albina Ave., Portland 503.517.9347

Toro Bravo: 120 NE Russell St., Portland 503.281.4464

Vindalho: 2038 SE Clinton St., Portland 503.467.

Vesta: 14387 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver 360.260.4388

Wildwood: 1221 NW 21st Ave., Portland 503.248.9663

Wine Down: 126 NE 28th Ave., Portland 503.236.9463

My variety pack included four 6 oz. tenderloin steaks, 6 burgers, and 3 packs of bratwurst. Unfortunately for my husband, the bratwurst listed onion as an ingredient. My first meal was the burgers. They grilled nicely and I served them about medium done. I was a bit leery about eating a half pound burger, as I prefer the bun and condiments and cheese to the burger usually. But my first bite was delicious. My husband, who I hadn’t told this was a special grassfed beef patty, also stopped about 3 bites in and said the burger tasted fantastic. Usually he likes fresh beef for burgers rather than the Costco frozen ground sirloin patties. The burgers were definitely a big winner, and I’d be inclined to order more and stock up.

Last night we had the tenderloin. I didn’t do any special preparation, just grilled it as I would any other. The website says that grassfed steaks benefit by being mechanically tenderized with a Jaccard meat tenderizer – basically a big comb you stab into the meat like you were aerating your lawn. Otherwise, they tend to overcook easily and get tough. While I like medium rare or even rare steaks, my husband prefers medium well. The meat was very soft in consistency out of the package, but the steaks ended up not being as tender as the Costco tenderloin we are used to. Frankly, they were still better than 90% of the steak I’ve had in top restaurants. But my husband gave them a flunking grade since he knows the Costco beef is so good.

I have had two of the sausages for breakfast the past couple of days and they are very nice. Being beef, they aren’t as tasty as the Sweet Briar Farms pork bratwurst, but still are very good. They are not greasy, have a good texture, and make a good breakfast.

I plan to try a local supplier of grassfed beef soon and will be able to compare. The local supplier ALSO ships the beef frozen, so there would be little difference in the transport. I would like to stock up on grassfed hamburger to use for meatballs and burgers. But it may end up that for our luxury steaks, we go for the best taste rather than for humanely raised beef.

Here is my bibliography of books to inspire and assist you in thinking more about what you eat and where it comes from:

Books for LocavOregon Readers