Six years ago a group of consumers filed suit against the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA), claiming its advertising misleads the public into believing its milk comes from cows munching on coastal pastures, when in truth the vast majority of the milk used in its famous cheese, yogurt, ice cream and butter comes from cows fed on grain, living on concrete and in dirt feedlots in factory farms in Eastern Oregon (bottom photo).

At that time I wrote that, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), a legal advocacy organization that filed the suit on behalf of the consumers, the TCCA's "heavily advertised 'co-op' of small family farms in Tillamook County represent just a tiny proportion of the company’s production. In reality, Tillamook sources up to 80 percent of its milk from the largest dairy feedlot in the United States. Located in the desert of eastern Oregon, the facility that provides the majority of Tillamook’s milk keeps 32,000 dairy cows (and more than 70,000 cows total) in inhumane, industrialized conditions."

Additionally, according to the Capital Press, by September of 2024 the TCCA was doing more than $1.2 billion in sales….which begs the question of how the 60 remaining TCCA co-op members could possibly produce that much milk. But I digress.

The claims in the suit allege that the TCCA's advertising encourages shoppers to "Say Goodbye to Big Food," depicting cows grazing on pristine coastal grass under sunny blue skies, when in reality, the lawsuit claims, its industrial practices are the epitome of "Big Food." The lawsuit, originally filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, said that "consumers increasingly seek out and are willing to pay more for products that they perceive as being locally and ethically sourced—better for the environment [and] more humane.

Tillamook has projected such ethical sourcing as its company ethos, deliberately crafting its marketing messages to attract these consumers, who believe they are getting such responsibly sourced products when they buy Tillamook cheese and ice cream. As the company says, "Tillamook cheddar cheese is made with four ingredients, patience, and old-fashioned farmer values in Tillamook, Oregon."

The pushback to the lawsuit from Tillamook was immediate. In the circuit court trial, the TCCA argued that the consumers in the class action suit couldn't show they were misled and therefore had no standing to sue. The court agreed, and in an appeals trial the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's decision. The ALDF and its lawyers at Sugerman Dahab, and Tim Quinelle, PC, then appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, which last week reversed the appellate court's decision, allowing the case to proceed.

“The trial court and the court of appeals had previously ruled that the case couldn’t go forward because in those courts’ view the consumer protection law did not provide an avenue for relief,” Dahab said in a statement, calling the reversal a big win for Oregon consumers. “Cases like this allow consumers to hold businesses accountable to holding up their end of the deal.”

In the same statement, ALDF's Amanda Howell, said, “Tillamook sells its dairy products by selling a fairy tale—that you can be a billion-dollar company and still source from small-scale farms where cows receive individualized care and access to pasture. This is completely at odds with the level and magnitude of suffering that takes place at industrialized dairy facilities.”

Or as my friend, organic dairy farmer Jon Bansen said after a tour of one of the industrial factory farms that Tillamook sources its milk from, "The scale is impressive, but the biology is horrifying."

Read my original post from 2017, "Why I'm Quitting Tillamook Cheese" and my article for Civil Eats "Big Milk, Big Issues for Local Communities."

Believe it or not, we're a bit more than halfway through the 2025 session of the Oregon Legislature, which means it's make-or-break time for legislation to get out of committees and onto the floor for a vote. To make it that far, proposed legislation is required to have both a hearing and a work session, then get passed out of committee.

That's where you come in.

There are a few bills affecting our community food system that need your help to make it out of committee, and input from regular folks who rely on small farmers to feed their families—whether shopping at farmstands, farmers' markets or subscribing to a CSA—is critical. Check the Action Items listed under each bill and click on the link provided!

Small Farm Water Access (HB 3372). Also called the Commercial Garden Bill, this legislation would allow people to sell food and farm products grown using water from domestic wells as long as the garden is one-half acre or less and with a daily gallon limit.

This is needed because over the past year, the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) began enforcing a 70-year-old technicality in the existing "domestic exempt well statute," which specifies that watering lawns and gardens is only allowed if the lawn or garden is noncommercial.

If food is being grown, it should never go to waste. It should go to feeding our neighbors and communities. If you can legally grow vegetables, fruits or flowers for your family using a domestic well, you should be allowed to sell those products to your community—but with ethical, reasonable limits that respect our water crisis.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to submit testimony to the committee using the template provided and add your own words to make sure that lawmakers know how this will impact you as a farmer, local food customer, or food business owner.

State Meat Inspection (HB 2164). This bill would provide funding for two meat inspector positions in the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA). It's needed because in 2021, Oregon established the State Meat Inspection Program through the ODA to help bolster our local meat processing capacity—diverting more than 80 percent of meat production profits back into Oregon’s economy and away from out-of-state shippers, retailers and federal processing facilities.

This program has been instrumental in helping farmers and ranchers provide inspected meat products to consumers that meet the same regulatory safeguards that the USDA requires, but on a local scale. Unfortunately when Oregon invested in meat processing facilities, it failed to invest in accompanying staff capacity to keep up with the expanding infrastructure, especially in rural areas where the inspection backlog is continuously growing.

Right now, the Federal Farm Bill offers a 50 percent federal match for state-funded inspectors—meaning that for every two State Meat Inspectors Oregon invests in, a third inspector is covered by federal matching funds. We can’t leave these critical dollars on the table.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to sign a petition for these two meat inspector positions and begin pulling in federal dollars for more inspectors in the future.

Food for All Oregonians (SB611). This bill envisions an Oregon where all people have access to food no matter where we were born. The Food for All Oregonians program in the Department of Human Services (DHS) will make food assistance available to youths and elder Oregonians who currently meet all qualifications for food assistance but are excluded solely due to immigration status. It will help families pay for groceries in a way that mimics the federal SNAP (food stamp) food assistance benefits.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to sign a petition to help the thousands of Oregonians who face hunger daily simply because of where they were born. Urge your elected lawmakers to pass Food for All Oregonians in 2025.

Groundwater Management Areas (SB 80 and SB 1154). These two bills come together to address the groundwater crises in the three federally designated Groundwater Management Areas (GWMA) around the state. Industrial-scale animal agriculture and the fields surrounding these factory farms where their manure is applied are documented contributors to nitrate contamination and known sources of pollutants in these sensitive groundwater areas, endangering the health of nearby communities and the environment. (More information here.)

Oregon needs to establish common-sense guardrails for these contaminated areas, which are already the most sensitive sites in our state and need extra precautions for their protection. That means that some activities (both agricultural and industrial) just aren’t appropriate for those areas.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to submit your testimony as an Oregonian who cares about the safety of our local food system, the health of our local communities and the health of the environment we all share.

Farm to School Program (SB 5502 and SB 5515). The Farm to School Grant Program (SB 5515) is a suite of funding programs that supports the purchase of Oregon foods for schools and early childcare education centers, funds hands-on farm and garden educational programs, and funds technical assistance and training for the farm-to-school community.

The Farm to School Producer Equipment and Infrastructure Grant Program (SB5502) is managed by the ODA. Grant funding supports producers and processors to overcome barriers to sell to schools, child care centers, and summer meal sites by providing financial assistance for the purchase of equipment and infrastructure necessary to scale into these markets.

TAKE ACTION: Let your legislator know you support these two Farm to School bills by e-mailing them from the link.

Thanks to Friends of Family Farmers and the Oregon Food Bank for contributing much of the information in this report.

The saying above was never more true. I've been waiting months for Dave to be satisfied enough with this recipe to share it with you all, and the time has finally arrived!

Regular readers will know that Dave relentlessly trolls baking websites, blogs and videos for ideas that he tries out on his willing victims, aka his family, and regularly hands out samples to friends, neighbors and postal carriers alike. (Just yesterday our mail carrier, Fred, who has been plied with the aforementioned samples, said we can text him any time to let him know if we have extras to get rid of.)

The journey of these scones started with a Genevieve Ko recipe in the New York Times for a favorite she'd had from an Alabama restaurant that they called orange rolls. What caught Dave's eye was that these didn't require yeast, multiple risings or refrigerating overnight, the better to put together for our usual late-morning breakfast. Describing them as "pretty okay" after a test run, Dave mused that it might be possible to rework them as scones, both to save time and get around the hassle of rolling out the dough, spreading the filling, rolling up the dough and slicing them—especially if you haven't had enough coffee yet.

If you've made his recipe for Orange Currant Scones, you know he's got that particular pastry nailed, so it took a few attempts at perfecting the dough-to-filling ratio to get the rise he wanted and keep the just-sweet-enough-but-not-too-sweet flavor profile we prefer.

So, finally, here it is—tadaaaaaaa—our new favorite morning pastry!

Dave's Orange Cinnamon Filled Scones

390 grams all-purpose (AP) flour (Dave used half AP and half sifted home-milled Camas Country Mill hard white flour)
3/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4-1/3 c. sour cream (see note below)
2/3-3/4 c. whole milk or half-and-half (see note below)
2 heaping Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Zest of one orange
1 stick of butter (1/2 c.), very cold, cut into 1/4" cubes
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350°.

Add the flour, sea salt, sugar and baking powder to a large bowl and lightly whisk. Pour into the bowl of a food processor.

Cut the very cold butter into 1/4" pieces and toss into the food processor with the flour mixture. Pulse for 7 to 10 seconds until the butter is in tiny pieces, approximately the size of fennel seeds.

Pour the flour mixture back into the large bowl.

Spoon the sour cream into the bottom of a one-cup measuring cup, then add milk or half-and-half enough to measure 1 cup. Whisk with a fork.

Break the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork.

Pour the milk mixture into the egg and whisk briefly until the yolk is thoroughly mixed in.

Put the brown sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix together. Add the orange zest and mix again. You might have to rub it into the sugar and cinnamon mixture with your fingers.

Add the milk-egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened and the dough can be formed into a mass. Knead three or four times. Cut the dough into two equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a circle about 8 inches in diameter (a rolling pin helps).

Spoon half of the cinnamon/sugar/zest mixture onto one of the dough pieces and spread it as evenly as you can. It’s OK to have some sparse spots. Layer the other flattened piece of dough on top of the first. Spread the rest of the cinnamon mixture on top as evenly as possible.

Place the assembled dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cut like a pie into eight wedges (you don’t need to separate them).

Bake for 22-25 minutes, turning front-to-back halfway through, until a tester stuck into a couple of the wedges shows they are baked through.

Whew! It's been quite a few months, hasn't it? With our democracy under attack on a daily, or even hourly basis, billionaires gutting government agencies willy-nilly with seemingly no oversight of their activities, and the economy sliding off the tracks it's been hard to focus on anything other than putting one foot in front of the other.

But on a walk through our neighborhood with Silas the other day I glanced around me and noticed to my astonishment that spring was in full swing all around. Blossoms were popping on the previously bare branches of trees, shoots of plants were emerging from scraggly patches in parking strips and tiny green signs of life were coming up from cracks in the sidewalk.

I knew from my Stoneboat Farm CSA that spring raabs were beginning their yearly debut, and people were posting photos of nettles on their social media feeds, so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at the bounty of plants, edible and otherwise, I was seeing at my feet.

So here's a quick list of the edibles I saw just a couple of days ago, which means there'll be lots more coming in short order:

Purple Dead-Nettle (Lamium purpuream). The photo at top shows dead-nettles in a parking strip near our house. The young plants have edible tops and leaves that can be used in salads or added as a garnish on stir-fry. The flowers can be candied like violet flowers.

Miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata). This perennial succulent likes to hide among other plants in cool, moist surroundings but is easily identifiable by its fanciful round leaves bobbing on thin green stems with a sweet bundle of buds right in the center. Its mild, fresh flavor is wonderful in salads.

Magnolia flowers (Magnoliacea family). The trees' flower petals are edible and with their cardamom/ginger flavor can be added to salads. Every year Stacey Givens of the Side Yard Farm pickles the buds to use in her farm dinners, saying the blossoms add a light floral taste to salads, salsa verdes, marinades and dressings, and the sweet brine can be used in cocktails.

Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsute). The green leaves and stems have a mild peppery taste and can be added to salads, salsas and pesto.

Dandelion (Taraxicum). From the yellow flowers to the roots, all parts of a dandelion plant are edible. The leaves in particular make a healthy addition to salads, sandwiches, omelets and any place you'd throw in a handful of greens.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis). Lemon balm makes a bright addition to salads, and can act as an aromatic herb in tomato bruschetta, fish marinades, pesto and salsas. It also suits sweet desserts and beverages, as well as fruit desserts, beverages, ice cream, and cakes, basically anyplace that needs a lemony lift.

Spearmint (Mentha spicata). This variety of mint—there are more than 7,500 documented varieties—is wonderful added fresh in beverages, salads, chimichurries and pesto, and in its dried form it is used in herb teas. An infusion can be made for use in syrups, ice creams and desserts.

Wood sorrel (Oxalis). Wood sorrel can have pink, yellow or white flowers and has a tart, lemony taste. The clover-like leaves can be used in salads, paired with fish, or steeped in hot water to make tea. Because of its high oxalic acid content, however, it should only be consumed in limited quantities.

Other plants to be on the lookout for right now are violets, which can be sprinkled on salads, pressed into desserts, dried for tea, or candied; and sweet woodruff, which can flavor ice cream or tea, and has traditionally been infused into a light German wine like reisling to make May wine. In woodsy areas you can look for nettles, wild garlic, and Japanese knotweed shoots.

NOTE: When picking or foraging plants, always make sure that you carefully identify them. Also, be sure the area has not been sprayed with pesticides, and if it's near a path used by dogs make sure it isn't in the "pee zone."

In this week's Beaverton Farmers Market newsletter, manager Ginger Rapport interviewed a vendor about his favorite new snack, pickled quail eggs! Since I'm up for trying anything pickled, I thought I'd share his recipe here.

Le Petit Jardin, our microgreens grower, makes unique blends of these nutritious greens to use in your salads, brighten your sandwiches, or even use in your smoothies for an additional vitamin and nutrition boost, Michael Hager, the owner, shared with us that he discovered his new favorite thing—pickled quail eggs!

Here is what he wrote:

“As you may know, I started to keep Jumbo Coturnix quails this past summer on my small homestead. Over the past months, I was able to take five Coturnix quails and grow my flock to over 20 quails that are all laying eggs now.

Monday, I was looking at the abundance of quail eggs in the fridge and said to myself, "How can I do something different with them?"  I have been making fresh eggs with them every morning. It hit me, why not make some pickled quail eggs? For best results, start this process one week ahead of time to allow the eggs to absorb the flavors of the pickling brine.

Pickled Quail Eggs

For the brine:
1 c. white vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
2-4 whole cloves
8 peppercorns, whole
1 tsp. red pepper flakes or cayenne (optional)

For the eggs:
1 dozen quail eggs at room temperature (not cold)
1 sprig of fresh dill
1 pinch Parsley fresh, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, sliced crosswise in 1/8" rings (optional) 

Bring a medium-sized pan of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add quail eggs to the water, making sure the water covers the eggs, and set a timer for 3 1/2 minutes. Keep the water at a low boil. While the eggs cook, prepare a bowl of ice water. When the time is up, take eggs directly from the boiling water into the bowl of ice water with a slotted spoon. Cool for three minutes, then gently crack and peel the eggs.

In a small saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil. Add in the kosher salt, garlic cloves, whole cloves and peppercorns. Add additional ingredients, such as cayenne powder or red pepper flakes, if you desire. Stir to combine until the salt is fully dissolved. Remove from heat but do not allow to cool completely.

Place your sprig of fresh dill and a pinch of chopped parsley in the bottom of a one-quart Mason jar. Add jalapeños at this stage if you’ve chosen to use them. Place the peeled quail eggs in the jar on top of the dill and parsley. Pour the hot pickling brine over the eggs. Use a knife, fork, spoon, or chopstick to carefully move the eggs around to ensure there are no air bubbles in your pickling mixture. Place a lid on the jar. Store in your refrigerator for 1 week before enjoying so the eggs have time to absorb the flavors of the brine. 

To serve, slice them up for salads or just eat them right out of the mason jar as a nice afternoon snack.

NOTE: Pickled quail eggs will last for up to 3 months in the refrigerator.

Check out my series on fermentation!

As sad as I was to bid farewell to the sweetness of summer lettuces and greens, I have to say I started drooling at the prospect of the bitter bite of the hearty chicories that would soon be filling market stalls and greengrocers' shelves. As versatile as brassicas in everything from salads to soups and stir-fries, the split heads can even take the char from a grill, griddle or broiler.

Right now is the peak moment to check out the rainbow of colors and textures available from local farms—and you'll find the best prices on them at the farmers' market! It's a task I'm completely signed up for, obviously, and fortunately my Stoneboat Farm CSA includes them in its shares almost every week.

If you happen to be averse to the intensity of chicory's bitterness, you can take a page from Nostrana's Chef Cathy Whims and soak the chopped leaves in ice water for a couple of hours ahead of time.

Lately I've been enjoying winter salads by chopping them into salads with a variety of other seasonally appropriate greens and condiments. One green in particular that seems to beautifully complement chicory's bitterness is deep green lacinato kale, sweetened as it always is this time of year by the frosts that cause the plants to flood the leaves with sugars to keep them from freezing. I also love that it adds a dark contrast to the chicory's bright colors, and its bubbly texture adds a soft crunch to the mix.

The variations are endless: I've thrown in crushed hazelnuts, green onions, sweet peppers, chopped beets, capers, dried cranberries—you name it, I've probably tried it. And a sprinkling of grated parmesan or crumbled blue cheese is not a bad idea, either. I like a creamy dressing (see below) but a classic Caesar dressing, a sweet mustard vinaigrette or even a fig and balsamic dressing would all do this salad justice.

"A Few of My Favorite Things" Chicory Salad

For the dressing:
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, pressed in a garlic press
1 Tbsp. white miso
Herbs, finely chopped (I like dried or fresh tarragon or thyme, as well as chopped chives)
1 tsp. honey (optional)

For the salad:
Radicchio or chicory leaves, chopped into 1" pieces
Lacinato kale, chopped into 1/4" chiffonade
Condiments like crushed hazelnuts, slivered green onions, chopped sweet peppers, chopped beets, capers, etc.
Grated parmesan or crumbled blue cheese (optional)

For the dressing, combine ingredients in a small bowl and stir until smooth.

Combine salad ingredients in appropriately sized salad bowl, drizzle with dressing of your choice and toss.

My very first legislative report from 2015 said:

"This blog is about my ongoing journey to discover the connections between what's going on in the field and what I put on my table. It took me awhile to realize part of that road makes a detour through the halls of the Capitol building in Salem. In other words, the decisions that our elected officials make about agriculture in Oregon directly affect what I'm going to feed my family, whether I buy it at the farmers' market or the grocery store."

The report you're reading now, almost ten years to the day since that first one, has brought me to the opening of the 2025 session of the Oregon legislature, with several bills that will affect whether we will continue to have access to functioning farmers markets and food hubs, or be able to put locally raised meats on our tables or whether farmers will have access to water for their crops, along with many other critical issues to keep Oregon's food system functioning. Here are the bills I'll be following this session with easy actions you can take:

Funding a State Meat Inspection Program

Until 2021, in order to sell individual cuts of meat, farmers in Oregon had to have access to a federally certified United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspected facility. Oregon only has 13 of these facilities spread across the state, which has created situations where farmers need to get processing appointments almost a year in advance, and in many cases drive hundreds of miles to bring their animals to slaughter.

The cost of establishing new USDA facilities is prohibitive for any but the largest industrial producers, so a State Meat Inspection Program was developed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) in 2021, but funding was not provided to hire staff to run the program. The bill before the legislature, HB 2164, would appropriate funding at the ODA to hire staff and manage facilities that are ready to come online shortly and are desperately needed by Oregon's small and pasture-based farmers and ranchers. (Additional details here.)

ACTION NEEDED: Sign your name to this petition urging your legislator to support this bill.

Small Farm Water Access

Since 1955, it has been required to have a water right to plant and grow any crops for sale in Oregon. "Domestic exempt wells"—a well drilled in order to serve a home, and not associated with a water right for irrigation—are not legal sources of water to irrigate commercial agriculture. This means that farmers cannot sell crops commercially that are irrigated with water from these wells.

A bill to allow farmers to sell crops that have been produced with domestic exempt well water, SB 76 and HB 3372—for the moment these are placeholders to fine tune language and clarify which chamber will bring it forward—essentially says that if you can legally grow vegetables, fruits or flowers for your family using a domestic well, you should be allowed to sell those products to your community, while at the same time exercising ethical, reasonable limits on use. (Additional details here.)

ACTION NEEDED: Sign your name to this petition urging your legislator to support this bill.

Additional Food System Bills

• Holding polluters accountable (SB 747). Requires persons with ownership interests in at least 200 acres of irrigated land used for agriculture to annually report information about fertilizer application to the State Department of Agriculture. Authorizes the ODA and DEQ to hold them accountable for violations. 
• Renewal of Disaster Resilience Grants for Food Producers (HB 2979). Funding supports small-scale farmers, ranchers, farmers' markets and food hubs.
• Increased Funding for OSU College of Veterinary Medicine (HB 2167). Addresses the severe shortage of veterinarians in rural Oregon, supports ongoing veterinary education, and enhances the state's capacity to combat significant health threats to animals and humans.
• Assistance for Households Reliant on Septic Systems (HB 2168). Instructs the Oregon State University Extension Service to establish a program for providing assistance to households that rely on wells for drinking water or on septic systems for wastewater treatment.
• Support for Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program (HB 3131). This measure appropriates $17.3 million for the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Fund (OAHF) to help agricultural and conservation groups to protect farm and ranch land, keep it in production, and enhance its natural resource values. 
• Spanish Language Pesticide Training (HB 3010). Directs Oregon State University to develop a Spanish language pesticide education program.

Conservation of Working Lands

Loopholes in Oregon’s agricultural and forest land policies are being used to authorize high-end residential development, luxury hotels, and elite entertainment venues on land designated exclusively for agricultural and forest production.

In addition to converting our agricultural and forest land into playgrounds for the well-heeled, the mere opportunity to site such venues is driving up farm and forest land prices beyond the reach of family farmers, ranchers, and timberland managers. New and beginning operators are being priced out of the market. In addition, unchecked residential and commercial development in our farm and forest zones threatens other valuable resources protected by large blocks of agricultural and forest land, such as water and wildlife habitat.

This package of bills closes long-neglected loopholes in Oregon’s farm and forest land protection policies:

Replacement Dwelling Reform (SB 78). Stops the conversion of agricultural and forest land for luxury residential development through “replacement” dwellings.

Home Occupation Reform (SB 77). Closes the loophole that allows large-scale hospitality and entertainment facilities being approved on land designated for agricultural and timber production.

Spot Zoning Reform (SB 73). Stops the case-by-case rezoning of individual ag and forest properties to residential and industrial use outside a state-authorized planning process.

Nonresource Dwelling Reform (SB 79). Prohibits new houses that have nothing to do with agriculture or forest management from being built in critical groundwater areas, priority wildlife habitat and migration corridors, and on high‐value farmland.

ACTION NEEDED: Oregon residents can sign your name to this letter to legislators.

Thanks to Friends of Family Farmers, 1000 Friends of Oregon and Oregon Rural Action for their help in compiling this report. You can follow these organizations on social media and sign up for their newsletters to get alerts about actions you can take on these issues.

During the holiday season my parents would invariably designate one evening before Christmas to invite friends over for an open house. My mom, a dedicated holiday baker, used the occasion to haul out all the fruitcakes she'd made—one packed with whole nuts and citron barely held together with batter, an applesauce bread studded with nuts and raisins, another cakey version that had been wrapped in a brandy-soaked cloth—plus cookies filled with jam, pinwheels stuffed with dates, and her signature Nanaimo bars that I'd eat by the dozen, all displayed on holiday-themed platters.

My dad made sure the bar was well-stocked, but his main task was to dig out the Tom & Jerry set from the basement and pull out the recipe card from the file, dog-eared, faded and stained from literally decades of Christmas parties past. On the day of the party, as Mom ran around the house in a frenzy, inspecting (and often redoing) my lackadaisical dusting and vacuuming and fussing over the table decorations of carefully arranged boughs studded with shiny glass Christmas ornaments. My dad would start making the batter for his Tom & Jerrys.

I don't remember any of their friends making this classic holiday drink, but it was a staple at our house growing up. Dad, who in my memory almost never spent time in the kitchen, would carefully separate the egg whites from the yolks, beat the whites into glossy peaks, then gradually fold in the yolks that had been beaten with powdered sugar and whipping cream. I was particularly fascinated with the teensy brown glass bottles of cinnamon and clove oil that had no doubt been around for years, since the batter only required a drop of each to flavor it. He'd dip a toothpick into the little bottle and pull it out, a shimmering drop of oil clinging to it, and ever so carefully let it drip into the batter.

By this point Mom would have vanished upstairs to get dressed and put on lipstick—bright red—to match her holly-trimmed holiday apron, and Dad would be mixing the rum and brandy and putting the kettle on for topping off the cups. It's memories like these that, whenever the holidays roll around and the cold starts to creep in through the cracks around our doors and windows, you'll find me heading down to the basement to dig out our own Tom & Jerry set, start whipping egg whites and inviting the neighbors over.

Over the years I've collected a few recipes for holiday cocktails, and now seemed like a good opportunity to share them with you. Enjoy, and start making memories for you and yours!

My Dad’s Tom & Jerrys

For the batter:
6 eggs
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 drop oil of cinnamon
1 drop oil of clove
1/2 c. whipping cream

For each drink:
1 jigger (1.5 oz.) brandy
1/2 jigger (.75 oz.) rum
2 Tbsp. batter
Boiling water

Dash of fresh-ground nutmeg.

Separate eggs, putting yolks into large mixing bowl and whites into another bowl large enough to whip them in. Add cream of tartar to whites and whip into stiff peaks.

Beat egg yolks to combine and add cinnamon oil, clove oil and whipping cream. Beat, gradually adding powdered sugar till the mixture is thick and smooth. Add whipped egg white and slowly fold them into each other till you have a smooth, light batter.

To make drinks, put brandy, rum and batter into each cup (ours are 6-oz. cups), fill with boiling water and stir. Top with a sprinkle of ground nutmeg. For the kids, make Clyde & Harrys—simply leave out the alcohol and combine the batter and hot water and stir, topping with the nutmeg.

* Oils available at many natural foods stores. Just make sure they're food grade.

Ann and Chad's Hot Toddies

1 slice lemon, 1/8" thick
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
Pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
1 1/2 oz. whiskey (your choice)
2 oz. boiling water
1 tsp. honey

Place lemon in bottom of a mug or heat-resistant cup. With a muddler or the back of a spoon, crush the lemon gently to release its juices. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Rodrigo's Cola de Mono (Tail of a Monkey)

This is a traditional Chilean Christmas drink, usually served cold. Best made a couple of days ahead.

3 qts. whole milk
4 c. of sugar
Peel of an orange (about 1" wide by 2" long)
4 cloves
A pinch of nutmeg
1 stick of cinnamon
2 Tbsp. freshly ground coffee
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 qt. Aguardiente*, grappa** or pisco

Boil milk with sugar, orange skin, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Once the milk has come to a boil, remove from stove and add the coffee and vanilla extract and stir constantly for about 5 to ten minutes or until the coffee dissolves as much as possible.

Once the mixture is cold, filter it (paper filters work best) or use a really fine colander with a paper towel. Add the spirit and pour into bottles with tight lids. Place in refrigerator and let it sit for a couple of days before serving. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Shake well before opening. Serve cold, over ice if desired (though not traditional). Can be garnished with a cinnamon stick or a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.

* Aguardiente is a denomination of spirits that can range from vodka to sugar cane based, so the name is given not because of the source, but the alcohol content, which can be upwards of 120 proof alcohol. In Chile, Aguardiente is made from grapes and the alcohol content is usually somewhere between 45-55% (above 55% is illegal). Because aguardiente is a very generic term and the actual product and alcohol content varies from region to region, I suggest using a grape spirit such as grappa or pisco, preferably between 45-50% alcohol.

** Grappa, like champagne, is a spirit produced from grapes and can only be called grappa if it complies with certain requirements, such as being produced in a certain region of Italy. That’s why substituting it with a grape-based spirit like pisco can lower the cost considerably.

Keith's Bloody Monkey

This variation on a Monkey Gland, but uses fresh winter citrus. Makes one cocktail.

1.5 oz. gin
1.5 oz. blood orange juice, strained of pulp
1 tsp. grenadine
1/2 tsp Pernod

Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker. Add ice till shaker is 3/4 full. Shake vigorously for 20-30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with slice of blood orange.

The e-mails I get from local farmers' markets are often packed with information, not only about the vendors you'll find there each week, but often containing helpful information and recipes for the seasonal products stacked on their vendors' tables. The essay below, for instance, is from a recent Beaverton Farmers Market newsletter:

Most people think that they know the difference between sweet potatoes and yams, but they have been deceived. Sweet potatoes are not a type of yam, and yams are not a type of sweet potato. They are both tuberous root vegetables that come from a flowering plant, but they are not related and actually don’t have a lot in common. Yams are native to Africa and Asia and are related to lilies. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. In our country, yams are likely to be found in international and specialty markets, if at all. Sweet potatoes are the vegetables that you find in our grocery stores and farmers' markets.

Sweet potatoes come from the morning glory family (Ipomoea). Of the numerous varieties grown in the U.S., there are two major types: firm sweet potatoes, which have golden skin and paler flesh, and soft sweet potatoes, which have copper skin and orange flesh. The firm varieties cook up firm and a little waxy, the soft varieties are creamy, fluffy, and moist. Firm varieties were the first to be grown in the U.S. When we started growing the soft varieties, it was felt that there was a need to call them something different so they decided to call them “yams." This was a marketing decision, not a botanical one.

Yams have rough brown skin and a dry, starchy texture and grow mainly in Europe, Asia and Africa. The word “yam” comes from the West African word “nyami," which means “to eat.” Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are native to North America, have a conical shape, are usually red or orange in color, and have a sweet and creamy texture, which makes them very versatile and easy to cook with.

Roasted Yams or Sweet Potatoes Your Way

Recipe from the Good Stuff NW files.

This is a basic recipe that you can adapt any way you want. Roast the sweet potatoes in the oven, then serve them as is, or slather with butter; sweeten with a drizzle of maple syrup or a sprinkling of brown sugar and a splash of lemon; or simply improvise!

2-3 large yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise in 1/2" slices
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Herbs, optional

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place slices in a large bowl with garlic, olive oil, salt and herbs, if using. Stir to combine and coat the slices. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the slices on it in a single layer. Place in oven and roast for 30-45 minutes until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Serve as is or zhoosh to your heart's content.

Top photo: Nat, Riverland Family Farm, courtesy Beaverton Farmers Market.

Writing this blog has been full of slap-upside-the-head, "D'oh!" moments over the years. There was the time someone mentioned making a stock from leftover corn cobs. And another time when I discovered how simple it was—not to mention how much more delicious it tastes—to make your own peanut butter. (Got five minutes and a blender?)

I'm constantly asking myself: How could it have taken me so long to figure this stuff out?

So this last week I decided to make a big pan of lasagne, something I've done a zillion times before. A few years ago I would have bought a container of ricotta and slathered it on the next-to-the-top layer to give a creamy, oozy richness to this Italian-American classic. But when Dave developed a problem with dairy, and with lactose-free commercial ricotta not readily available, I had to eschew that particular ingredient for several years.

Then I read somewhere that it was super easy to make your own at home. D'oh!

While, according to my friend and cookbood author Nancy Harmon-Jenkins, traditional Italian ricotta is made from the recooked whey left over from cheesemaking (ri-cotta means "recooked"), another method makes a delicious fresh cheese that's as good or better than most store-bought brands. With the availability of organic lactose-free whole milk (thank you, Organic Valley), all it requires is lemon juice and salt!

I tried it, fiddled with the timing a bit to get the texture I wanted and, like magic, the creamy softness was back in our lives. And it's so dang easy, I can guarantee that it's going to start showing up on crostini, mixed in pasta and dolloped on salads.

Homemade Ricotta-Style Cheese

For 1 cup ricotta (double to make 2 cups):

4 c. whole milk
1/3 c. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. salt

In a saucepan, heat milk over medium heat (you don’t want to heat it too quickly). Stirring occasionally to keep it from scalding and measuring often with an instant read thermometer, bring milk to 200°.  When it reaches 200°, remove from heat and add lemon juice and salt. Stir a couple of times to combine and let it sit for 5 minutes. (You'll notice it start to curdle and separate.)

While it’s sitting, put cheesecloth or a cloth jelly bag in a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour the contents of the pan into the lined strainer and drain, making sure to save the watery whey (see note, below). Depending on how dry you want your ricotta to be, let it sit for two to 20 minutes. Draining it for a shorter time will give you creamier ricotta, while waiting the full time will result in a dry texture. When it's reached your desired texture, taste it for salt and adjust.

NOTE: Save the whey (the watery liquid left after draining) and feed it to your chickens or pigs. If you don't have livestock, don't worry—you can feed it to your family, as well! It's very nutritious and is great added to soups, stews and sauces that benefit from a slight milkiness. (Think chowders, or a potato-leek soup.) One reader said she used the leftover whey to cook pork loin in the crock pot for pulled pork, which confirms what I'd read about the acids in the whey helping to break down meat. I've used it to make carnitas, and it worked fabulously. Try it!