Olive Oil Garage Sale at Activspace
We used to have the garage sale in our own garage, and every year a couple of long time customers go to our house expecting to find us set up in the driveway. But we'll be at Activspace where it's warm and dry from noon to 6 pm Friday and Saturday, 12/18-19.
We'll have the usual pot of hot soup, and there'll be wine, too. My friend Cliff Allen, the porkmeister at People's Pig, will stop by Saturday with something appropriately porky. We'll have something sweet from Kir Jensen, too. To help stretch your holiday shopping budget, we're reducing prices on selected extra virgin olive oils and offering special deals on gift bags of oil, vinegar, and salt.
If you need a few more stocking stuffers (or just something really tasty), I've got a few extra things from local food producers I like, including piment d'Espelette and hot sauces from Groundwork Organics, salami from Chop, and some of the new pickles from Olympia Provisions.
If you're bringing bottles to fill please bring corks as well. My supply is running low and I may not have time to get more. Big volume users might consider getting a 5 liter tin of Madre Terra; the garage sale price is dropping to $100, and at $20/liter it'll be the best deal on Italian extra virgin.
Open Next Tuesday and Thursday
Here's the complete schedule of expanded hours between now and Christmas.
-Friday, 12/18, & Saturday, 12/19, noon-6, Return of the Olive Oil Garage Sale at Activspace
-Tuesday, 12/22, 4-7 at Activspace
-Thursday, 12/24, 11-3 at Activspace, Last Chance Christmas Eve sale!
Irvington Nest Vacation Rental
If you've got people coming to town or just want a break for a night or two, we're offering special introductory rates for our short term rental if you book directly from us. Check it out by clicking the link above and email me for rates and availability. The cozy studio sleeps two and is filled with local art; it's close to the action on Alberta, Mississippi, and the Lloyd District, and two bus lines a few steps away take you downtown or up to OHSU.
Garage Sale Soup
I usually make soup from whatever I find in the refrigerator, and that almost always includes onions, carrots, celery, and cabbage. Here's what turned up this year.
I started with a big pot of no-soak oven-cooked pinto beans, gussied up a little more than usual with the addition of chopped onion, carrot, and garlic to the salt, water, and olive oil. I had a little epazote in the herb garden, so I added that, too. These cooked for several hours at 200F.
In the soup pot itself went more chopped onion, carrot, and celery to give up their flavor in more olive oil. While the aromatic vegetables softened, I chopped a head of green cabbage and a bunch of Italian kale (cavolo nero) and added them to the pot. In went the beans and their delicious juice, a big can of tomatoes, and water to cover everything; plenty of salt and lots of black pepper, and some of the oregano from Pantelleria.
The soup is simmering now, and I'll let it cook for a couple of hours, then cool it down and reheat it Friday for the sale. Soup is always better the second day (third and fourth, too). You'll want to give every bowl a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of flor de sal.
See you soon,
Jim
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