the KITCHEN
at Honeyman Creek Farm
a cooking school
54986 Leberg Road
Warren, OR 97053
503.543.5610

Chef's Corner
Chef Robert's
Food Blog

This Month:
Sunday Dinner at The Farm
Cooking Classes
Wine Notes
Food Writing with Diane Morgan
Writer's Forum
Farm & Garden
Favorite Recipes

Celebrating Our Southern Food Traditions

Culinary traditions of the American South are as rich as they are varied. An amalgam of regional styles and variations on similar themes, these traditional cooking styles represent several of the oldest, most established regional cuisines in the nation. This region called the South has little unity whether in terms of geography, historical development, linguistic or cultural traditions. Yet, people from the area are Southerners first with a universal love of family, fellowship and good food. Celebrate and share with us the food traditions of our Southern heritage at Honeyman Creek Farm through our hands on cooking classes and Sunday Dinners.

Where is Honeyman Creek Farm?
Honeyman Creek Farm is located in Warren, Oregon, an easy 25 to 30 minute drive north of Portland along US 30 between Scappoose and St. Helens. It’s not at the end of the earth as some people might think and the beautiful drive into the country is well worth the trip.

Sunday Dinner at the Farm
Sunday Dinner in the South is traditionally a large and ritualistic affair. Join us on the first Sunday of each month for a home cooked traditional Southern family style Sunday Dinner based on local and seasonal ingredients. Loosen your belt and y’all come!

Reservations are required and seating is limited to 12 guests. No hard libations are included, but you are welcome to bring your own.
View upcoming events

April Cooking Classes at the Farm:

April 12th: Creole Feast – Creole Classics from Louisiana
Time honored culinary traditions of the Crescent City reflect the melding of French, Spanish, Native American, and African with a little German, English, Italian and Irish thrown in for good measure. Our menu will include some of the classic Creole dishes that helped make New Orleans a vibrant restaurant city. View Details

April 19th: Cross Creek Cookery – Old Florida Cuisine
Immortalized by the works of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of the Yearling and Cross Creek, Old Florida Cuisine hearkens back to the day of the rugged backwoods pioneers. Truly Southern in character and nearly forgotten, the hearty food of the Florida Crackers represents a unique genre of Southern cuisine due to the natural resources and cultural influences Florida provided. View Details

Wine Notes from Megan
2005 Trust Cellars Columbia Valley Syrah ($30)

This first vintage for owner Steve Brooks is a blending of 87.5% Syrah and 12.5% Cabernet Sauvignon that possesses an excellent varietals character of a Washington State Syrah – smooth, supple and rich in dark fruit with a strong finish. This full bodied, plush and well rounded wine pairs well with roasted leg of lamb and wild mushroom risotto.
(200 cases produced)

Megan Markel is co-owner of Vino 100, a charming wine shop boasting 100 great wines for $25 or less. Vino 100 is located at 2092 NW Stucki Ave., Hillsboro, Oregon. For more information visit www.vino100portland.com or call 503.466.1606

Food Writing with Diane Morgan
I recently had the opportunity to attend an inspiring, informative and educational seminar on the Art of Food Writing conducted by renowned cookbook author, food writer and cooking teacher extraordinaire Diane Morgan. Offered only once a year, it is well worth the investment. For anyone toying with the idea of food writing, I highly recommend this course. Diane Morgan is author of “Dressed to Grill” and “The Thanksgiving Table” among many others. For more information visit her website at www.dianemorgancooks.com.

Food Writer’s Forum
Share your thoughts and experiences regarding sustainable living, American food traditions or your own food heritage or memories

A Winter Memory
The snow began falling way before the morning gloam. Rubbing the fog from a window pane, I anxiously peered outside. The sky was veiled in a steel grey shroud, surreal, like sepia toned picture postcards from a time long forgotten. A strange and eerie quiet had fallen on the land, no gentle cooing of the mourning dove or bright aria of mockingbird song. No school today!

By late afternoon the snow had stopped. Familiar smells were wafting through the house. Mama had been busying herself in the kitchen as she always did. Drawn like bees to honey, we ran to the kitchen to see what miracles were taking place. The air was perfumed with vanilla, sweet butter, brown sugar, toasted pecans and chocolate. A pot of hot cocoa kept warm on the back of the stove. Mama reached into the oven and pulled out her old cookie sheet, worn and black from age and use, revealing the treasure within.

Our eyes lit up in the way that only a child’s eyes can - snow, hot cocoa, warm chocolate chip cookies and no school! Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Book Report
The Tex-Mex Cookbook, A History in Recipes and Photos by Robb Walsh
(Broadway Books, Copyright © 2004 by Robb Walsh; ISBN 0-7679-1488-0)
Robb Walsh provides a definitive look at the evolution of one of America’s most misunderstood cooking styles through historical nuggets, old photographs, personal anecdotes and traditional recipes. He clearly distinguishes the differences between Mexican and Tex-Mex food, celebrating the overlapping cultures that came together to create a new and distinct cuisine. Perhaps we should dub it “Texican” cooking, but by whatever name, it deserves a rightful place in American food traditions. A must read for every American regional food enthusiast!

Farm and Garden
Wild Thing – I Think I Love You
Scouring the holler that lies east of our house for sweet violets I happened to spy vast patches of stinging nettles growing along the stream bank. These infamous plants have been the nemesis of many a hiker meandering through the woods. I, however, had a different point of view realizing it had been a long time since fresh greens graced the supper table.

Donned in protective gear, I picked a good six quarts and took them back to the house. After scalding with boiling water the sting is rendered harmless. I blanched them twice, drained them well, and then proceeded to fry up this fine mess of greens with bacon and new green onions. Add a hot pone of cornbread and supper doesn’t get any better than this.
Thom looked at them with suspicion, gave a taste and pushed them away. “I don’t like them” he growled with a grimacing scowl on his face. “You’re trying to feed me weeds!” Well, I thought; one man’s weeds are another man’s dinner.

Get a Jump on Spring Gardening
Spring has sprung, or has it? Some days are warm and mild with the sun playing peak-a-boo with drifting clouds; others are cold and damp enough to drive the chill right into my old bones. A tenuous month for vegetable gardening, March bridges the great chasm between winter and spring. Gardening tasks are usually determined by “weather permitting”.

I like to get a head start on my spring gardening in the fall. Raised beds are prepared and covered with black plastic. When I am ready to plant in the spring the plastic is pulled back and the bed planted with seeds, sets or transplants. So far I’ve planted peas, onions, spinach and radishes. “Weather permitting” beds of turnips, mustard greens and early lettuce will be next. In the greenhouse starts of broccoli, broccoli raab, cabbage and salad greens are waiting to be tucked into bed come April. With some planning and preparation, you can begin enjoying home grown vegetables earlier in the year beating those old winter doldrums.

Favorite Recipes from Honeyman Creek Farm
Lemon Puddin’ Cake Pie
In weekly calls to my mother, our conversation more often than not turns to food and cooking. Once she told me of a supper she had attended where a friend was raving about a Lemon Puddin’ Cake Pie his wife had made. I vaguely remember making such a pie eons ago when in chef school so I got to digging around. Come to find out this is an old and nearly forgotten Amish recipe from Pennsylvania Dutch country called, “Lemon Sponge Pie”. Topping this pie is a delicate golden brown cakelike layer hiding silky lemon custard underneath. View Complete Recipe

More Information
For more information on Honeyman Creek Farm, cooking classes, farm dinners, recipes or to read Chef Robert’s blog on food and gardening visit www.honeymancreekfarm.com. Feel free to contact us at info@honeymancreekfarm.com or 503.543.5610.