Dave Knows Portland

Cider Summit Portland (11-June-2011)

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Cider Summit 2011The inaugural Cider Summit Portland takes place Saturday, June 11, 2011 at Elizabeth Caruthers Park (3508 SW Moody) from 11am until 7pm.

The lineup features multiple ciders from two dozen cideries, including Oregon’s 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Wandering Aengus, Blue Mountain Cider Company, Bushwhacker (who will be demonstrating apple pressing at the event too!), Carlton Cyderworks, and EZ Orchards.

Each cider is made from 100% pressed apples or pears – no concentrates or other additives!

The Cider Summit benefits the Northwest Cider Association and The Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research.

Tickets are $20 in advance (get them online or at local bottle shops including Belmont Station, Beermongers, Bushwhacker, FH Steinbart, and Saraveza) and $25 at the door. 21 and over only, dogs okay! Take the streetcar to the South Waterfront!

Publication Fair 2010

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Publication Fair 2010Publication Fair 2010 takes place Sunday, December 19 The Cleaners at Ace Hotel (SW Stark & 10th) from 11am until 8pm.

It’s back! Our annual holiday Publication Fair, featuring Portland’s innovative, globe-trotting awesome publication projects all in one room, vending their wares to you. Plus hot cider and free popcorn.

Vendors and participants include:

Pinball Publishing
Stand Up Comedy
Reading Frenzy
Ooligan Press
Marriage Publishing House
Nudity in Groups
Cumbersome Multiples
Tin House Press
Veneer Magazine
Octopus Books
Peaches and Bats
IPRC
Poor Claudia
Dill Pickle Club
Monograph Bookwerks
Triangular Press/ OCAC Book Arts
Container Corps
Little Read Writers
Cooley Gallery
Ampersand
Plazm
Peaches and Bats
Fourteen30 Contemporary
Em Space
Justin Bland
&Review
Obsessive Consumption/ Kate Bingaman Burt
gaze books
Octopus Books
Publication Studio

Entrance if free. For more information visit the Publication Studio.

Hawthorne Holiday Stroll 2010 (9-December-2010)

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Hawthorne Holiday StrollThe first annual Hawthorne Holiday Stroll takes place on Thursday, December 9 2010.

From the press release:

The 1st Annual Hawthorne Holiday Stroll features extended business hours for Hawthorne merchants, live music and entertainment, complimentary snacks and hot drinks, neighborhood carolers, and kid friendly festivities. Come check out Portland’s original “shop local” district with over a hundred businesses that are dedicated to the ideals of community involvement and making Hawthorne a desirable place to work, shop, and live. Get ready, get set, shop local!

This year the Hawthorne Boulevard Business Association is teaming up with Impact NW (www.impactnw.org) to facilitate a living holiday tree auction in conjunction with the Hawthorne Holiday Stroll. Impact NW has been providing emergency food and help to people in need for 36 years and serve over 65,000 people in the Portland Metro area yearly. Hawthorne businesses will help decorate the holiday trees and provide a raffle ticket (with purchase) throughout the month leading up to the event. Participating stores will donate a portion of sales to Impact NW.

Enjoy live music, carolers, free hot cider and cocoa, holiday movies and family activities inside the heated tent at 36th and Hawthorne from 6pm until 9pm.

October 20: Portland Fermentation Festival 2010

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Portland Fermentation Festival 2010Like pickles?

How about sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, or miso?

Well, then you’re in luck! The 2nd Annual Portland Fermentation Festival takes place Wednesday, October 20 2010 from 6pm to 8pm at Ecotrust (721 NW 9th), in the Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center.

Come to share recipes and and cultures, or just to taste samples of fermented foods and beverages prepared by professionals and amateurs alike.

Local food writer Liz Crain, co-organizer of the festival with George Winborn and David Barber, explains more on her Food Lover’s Guide to Portland:

So if you don’t love the smell of dill and garlic slapped sour pickles, tart and punchy kombucha, sweet and sour fruit kimchi, or mild and tart kefir don’t come. There will be more to sample for the rest of us. That’s what the event is all about — sampling ferments, talking with those who made them and skill sharing.

If you didn’t get a chance to sign up as a presenter don’t worry. You can still bring your ferments to share. You won’t have a table and set-up but that’s ok. The more the merrier. So, please, come out for the wild, funky, stinky and delicious Portland Fermentation Festival 2010!

I missed this festival last year, which drew upwards of 500 attendees, but judging by the Willy Week‘s coverage, it was a wild success. Admission is a paltry $5!

October 15-17: A Pair of Apple Tastings in Portland

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Apples and Pear Tasting!Two apple tastings treat Portlanders this weekend!

The 2010 Apple Tasting Event at the Portland Nursery (5050 SE Stark) continues this weekend, starting Friday and continuing through Sunday.

This festival features old fashioned cider pressing, apple desserts, cooking demonstrations, live music, a hard cider festival ($5 tasting fee, Saturday and Sunday after noon both weekends), and free popcorn, in addition to over 50 apple and pear varieties to sample.

Heather and I made our annual pilgrimage last weekend. Arrive early, like right at 10am when the festivities begin, if you don’t want to stand in line for an hour!

Food Front Apple TastingMeanwhile on Saturday and Sunday over in Northwest Portland the Food Front Cooperative Grocery (2375 NW Thurman) is hosting their Annual Apple Tasting too, 11am until 4pm each day. With 20 varieties of local, heirloom, organic apples, this fest’s selection is no slouch either!

(Food Front’s Owner Appreciation Days run all weekend, starting Friday. Free samples and owner discounts will be available each day.)