The Portland Kitchen: Knife Skills and Life Skills

To get to The Portland Kitchen you have to travel to what is often called a fringe neighborhood of the city, code for a place where the houses are smaller and less well-kept, where dead grass sprouts up between abandoned cars and there are no sidewalks for children to ride their bikes on. Far from the hipster enclaves of Alberta, Hawthorne or Mississippi, this neighborhood is not the future location of a Portlandia episode because there's nothing twee, quaint or amusingly quirky about it.

But down in the basement of a church, in a small, worn kitchen built sometime in the seventies for church ladies to host teas and wedding receptions—no stainless steel appliances here—there is magic happening, with sparks flying and some young lives taking a turn for the better. Ostensibly a free after-school program for high school kids to teach them culinary skills, what The Portland Kitchen really does is give them a safe, supportive place to be themselves, or maybe discover who that self might be.

They're also learning some wicked knife skills, and that there's more to food than take-out pizza and sugary soft drinks. To some it's a shock that vegetables like beets come with leafy fronds and that, when roasted, those dirty roots taste amazingly like candy. Or that a pork chop comes from something other than a styrofoam tray.

The real deal is not that they get their food handler's license or can whip up a mean crème brûlée or even that they might actually go into some aspect of the food business. As one young student puts it, it's the first time she's had people believe in her, "thinking that I can do really beautiful cooking, which I can now."

That's a big thing to learn in a small basement kitchen.

Livin' in the Blurbs: Farm Restaurant, Butchery Classes and Doing Good for Local Kids

That 100-mile diet that was all the rage a few years ago? So passé! At one farm in Oregon's mid-valley you can dine on food that comes from 100 feet away.

In 2003, farmers John Eveland and Sally Brewer of Gathering Together Farm opened what they thought was just going to be a farm stand selling their organically grown produce along with pastries, soups and salads. But demand was so great that they eventually opened for lunch, dinners and Saturday breakfast, hiring Chef J.C. Mersmann and bringing in locally grown meat and products from other neighbors.

They've just opened the restaurant for the spring season, with lunches Tuesday through Friday and dinners Thursday through Saturday. And keep your eyes peeled for their summer wine dinners, which are said to be some of the finest, not to mention freshest, dining available in the state.

Details: Restaurant at Gathering Together Farm. Lunch Tues.-Fri., 11 am-2 pm; Dinner Thurs.-Sat., 5:30-9 pm; Breakfast Sat., 9 am-2 pm. 25159 Grange Hall Rd., Philomath. 541-929-4270.

* * *

There's no better way to understand more about the meat you eat than to take a butchery class, and we're lucky to have several places where you can learn how animals are raised, how to break down a whole carcass and then how to make use of every single part to feed your family. Listed below are three places that have regular butchery classes, teaching everything from how to fillet a fish, to breaking down a chicken or rabbit, to butchering a lamb, goat or pig. Check out their classes online, or take a gander at the calendar on the left. From personal experience, I guarantee it'll be an eye-opening and meaningful, not to mention delicious, way to get closer to your food source.

• Old Salt Marketplace just released its spring and summer schedule of classes. 5027 NE 42nd Ave. 971-255-0167.
• Portland Meat Collective has a full lineup of classes for all kinds of butchery. At Elder Hall, 3929 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. 503-347-5540.
• Portland's Culinary Workshop features butchery classes with a turducken class at the holidays. 807 N Russell St. 503-512-0447.

* * *

Every parent knows how hard it is to keep teenagers interested and engaged during their high school years. It's even harder when kids come from challenging backgrounds. The Portland Kitchen is a free, comprehensive culinary program for urban kids from disadvantaged families, empowering them to graduate high school with job skills and improved eating habits. A friend of the program has pledged to match donations between now and May 15, dollar for dollar up to a total of $25,000, an amount critical for it to move into its third year of serving area youth. If you can, please consider helping them reach their goal.

Great Gifting: The Gift of a Better Community

Most of us are swimming or, more likely, drowning, in stuff. We don't need another gadget or doodad or gewgaw. But gift certificates seem so "Whatever." Like we couldn't think of anything else but had to put something under the tree, and surely they can find a gift at that giant online retailer that has everything from books to toys to tools to…well…you know which store I'm talking about.

Zenger Farm.

If you're stuck for a last-minute present and dread fighting the hordes that seem to find the Battle of the Last Minute a thrill, then might I suggest giving a gift that will warm the heart and do some good in the community (and/or the world). And that's giving a gift to an organization or effort in the name of your giftee.

Friends of Family Farmers.

There are plenty of national and international groups that are highly rated by Charity Watch, a nonprofit that gives charities a letter grade based on their practices and the percentage of donation dollars that go directly to programs (rather than executives' salaries). But if you want to do some good right here at home, below you'll find a few organizations that are working hard to make the Northwest a better place to live.

Zenger Farm. A working urban farm that models, promotes and educates about sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship, community development and access to good food for all. Working to build an Urban Grange, a hub for healthy food and community connection, right here in the city.

Friends of Family Farmers. A grassroots organization promoting sensible policies, programs and regulations that protect and expand the ability of Oregon’s family farmers to run a successful land-based enterprise while providing safe and nutritious food for all Oregonians through education, advocacy, and community organizing.

Farmers Market Fund. Providing low-income, elderly and under-served populations throughout the region increased access to fresh, locally grown food. Administers Fresh Exchange, a money matching program for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, also known as food stamps.

The Portland Kitchen. Offers free, comprehensive culinary after-school and summer programming for Portland high school youth, age 14-18. Its mission is to empower urban youth to graduate high school with job skills and improved eating habits.

Organic Seed Alliance. Advances the ethical development and stewardship of the genetic resources of agricultural seed. Believes that seed is part of our common cultural heritage—a living, natural resource that demands careful management to meet food needs now and into the future.

The Pongo Fund. An emergency pet food distribution network, it provides quality pet food to people in need, keeping animals out of shelters and keeping pets healthy.

Others to consider are Growing Gardens, Grow Portland and Outgrowing Hunger (top photo). Feel free to add your favorites in the comments section below, and happy giving!

Read the other posts in this series: Gifts That Give Back, Mad Skills, Kids' Stuff, Bookin' It and Good Eatin'.