Great Gifting: Eating is Believing

Got foodie friends on your list? People who know their way around a kitchen? For cooks it's easy…think how thrilling it would be to get a basket of pastas, beans or grains with cans of San Marzano tomatoes and a jar of imported salted anchovies.

For non-cooks there are scads of jams, jellies, pickles and roasted peppers…or get them a gift certificate from a local cheese shop packaged with a small cutting board and decorative spreaders. Conjure a selection of coffees or quick cake and bread mixes. Make it even more special by going local, either at the farmers' market or a neighborhood grocery.

• Cellar Door Coffee Roasters has a wonderful range of coffees sourced from small estates, hand-roasted by Andrea Pastor in the roaster her husband, Jeremy Adams, built. Others to consider: Courier, Coava, Heart, Blue Kangaroo.
• Ayers Creek Farm jams and preserves are without peer and can be found at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market and specialty groceries in town. But don't forget Anthony's organically certified beans, polenta and hominy.
• Dulcet Cuisine has a killer lineup of mustards, sauces, ketchups and dressings. I'm particularly addicted to their Madras Curry Mustard. Available at Foster & Dobbs and other specialty groceries.
• Real Good Food's Jim Dixon imports many olive oils from Italy and carries Katz Vinegars as well as Washington's Bluebird farro and Haricot Beans. Find him at the Portland Farmers' Market on Dec. 17, and on Dec. 23 from noon to 3 pm at his warehouse store in the Activspace Building, 833 SE Main #122.
• Bob's Red Mill has great cake and bread mixes that make great gifts or stocking stuffers and are handy when guests drop in over the holidays. Not always made from local grains, but ground here, they're found at most better grocery stores.

Read the other Great Gifting post: Seeing the Art Around You, Giving from the Heart and Keeping Spirits Bright.

Livin' in the Blurbs: News You Can Use

This week has been big for small-batch coffee roasters. First it was news or, rather, news to some people, that Portland has surpassed Seattle as the big kahuna of coffee in the country. Then it was the cover of the Dining section of the NYTimes trumpeting the news that New Yorkers have a new-found obsession with micro-roasted coffee. And then it was word that the roasts put out by Matt Higgins of Coava Coffee, one of the micro-roasters I profiled in an article for FoodDay last year, have been picked up by online coffee retailer GoCoffeeGo.com. Founded by San Francisco coffee fiends Scott Pritikin and Elise Papazian, the company says it only sells "the ultimate beans from Super-Star Specialty Roasters throughout the country, who are known in their local communities as the 'gods and goddesses' of coffee." Hyperbole aside, Good Stuff NW wishes Matt and Coava the best!

Details: Coava Coffee Roasters, available at Red E, Barista and Crema in PDX.

* * *

Sometimes it takes a community to respond to a disaster, and Eastmoreland Market & Kitchen owner Colleen Mendoza is springing into action with "Hands on for Haiti," an art and culinary auction and benefit for Mercy Corps to be held on Thursday, April 1. Some of the city's best chefs (think Tommy Habetz from Bunk, John Stewart of Meat Cheese Bread, Karl Zenk of the Heathman, Ken Gordon of Kenny & Zuke’s and pastry chef Lauren Fortgang of Paley’s Place) will make mini-sandwiches for $1 each, and there will be a silent auction of artworks from the region’s most progressive and talented artists. And tickets for the event are only $10. No foolin'.

Details: Hands on for Haiti, Thurs., April 1, 6-11 pm; tickets $10 available online or at Eastmoreland Market, 3616 SE SE Knapp St. Event will be held at 1035 NW Lovejoy.

* * *

And in news you can literally get a charge out of, longtime downtown resto Southpark has put in a charging station for electric vehicles in their parking garage next door. It might be a smart business move, since both Nissan and Mitsubishi have chosen Portland as a test market for their new line of electric vehicles. "Electric vehicles have hit home in Portland and we support and applaud these efforts," said Southpark General Manager Karin Devencenzi. "Our new charging station allows electric car owners to free their mind from any ‘range anxiety’ associated with battery usage, while having access to Portland’s city center."

Details: Southpark Seafood Grill, 901 SW Salmon St.; 503-326-1300. Southpark Garage, 914 SW Taylor St.; 503-228-6758.