The short version...
I write. I cook. I eat. I laugh...loudly.
The long version....
A little bit about me.
I write. I cook. I eat. I laugh...loudly.
The long version....
A little bit about me.
My parents gave me the first name of Carrie, after a great aunt. My sweetie gave me the last name of Minns, for obvious reasons. I call Portland, Oregon home but reserve a soft spot in my heart for Whidbey Island, Washington. I’m a northwesterner through and through. I love the IDEA of running on wooded trails and early morning yoga classes but don’t actually do it. I love English breakfast tea with a drop of honey. I love to wander the aisles of Powell’s and gently touch the spines of unread books. I love pumpkin pie for breakfast. I love the sound and smell of the Pacific Ocean. I love to laugh…loudly…at my own jokes. I love a made bed in the morning and throw pillows straightened in the evening…even though it doesn’t always happen. I love my sweetie, my children and the start of the school year. I love lentil soup and a deep, red cab. I love the way the French language looks on the written page. I love to speak the French language as well…although, I’m not sure French people can actually understand me. I love to cut the grass with my push mower. I love opening day of the Portland Farmer’s Market. I love Honeycrisp apples from Hood River and caramelized shallots with fresh green beans. I love to eat my way through the seasons. I love food. Learning about food. Trying new food. Talking about food. Writing about food. Cooking food. Eating food. Sharing food.
Well, if it’s not apparent, besides the aforementioned love of food, I love to write. And besides French, I love the way the English language looks on the written page just as much. I love the way the words sound in my head especially as I jostle them around up there and try to get them to come out just right…down here. So after years and years of handwriting notes and storing them away in shoeboxes. Spending my college years typing up journalism papers and storing them away in old filing boxes. And spending the rest of my life, tapping at the keyboard to put down “on paper” any and all significant (or not) events in my life and then, leaving it all to just take up space on my hard drive….I decided to bring my writing out of all the dark, dusty places it’s been and into the incredible light of the world wide web.
But, why a food blog?
As I mentioned above, there are so many things I love about food. And, my love of food didn’t start in the kitchen. No. It started in the garden. It started with my mother’s passionate love for growing flowers in every yard she’s ever had. For the way that different bouquets would make their way onto our kitchen table throughout the year signaling the passing of the seasons…sweet peas, roses, lavender, chrysanthemums. It started with the incredible vegetable gardens my father grew when I was a child. The fresh snow peas right off the vine. The sweet-as-candy cherry tomatoes we’d pop in our mouths. The way the warm earth felt as we dug up potatoes. It started with the rows and rows of strawberry plants my grandfather so lovingly tended and the apples from his trees that would find their way into “cinnamon candy applesauce” that my granny would make for us each fall.
As I grew older, I was able to make the move from the garden to the kitchen and recognize my grandmother’s love for cooking. Her turkey. Her bouillabaisse. The way she used her hands when she cooked. Now that I am a parent, food has taken on an even greater meaning. One of nourishment. Of enjoyment. Of creating a reason to come together. And when cancer stepped onto our family’s doorstep in 2003, food took on an even larger role. We looked at food not only to nourish and to be enjoyed but also to help heal. Friends and family members started inquiring over the years what we were eating. How we were preparing it. What did we think of this new “food discovery” or that new “health claim”? And so, this food blog is a way to share what I’ve learned, in a gentle way, throughout my life of being surrounded by food. I would be lying if I told you that we didn’t have pizza and chicken nuggets in our freezer. We do. We are a real family, trying our best. And that’s the goal, isn’t it? Not to be perfect, but to try our best. And so, as a family, we try our best to eat locally grown food that is in-season. We try our best to shop the “perimeter” of our favorite grocery stores. We are trying to do a better job of knowing where that food came from. Who grew it? Who raised it? And, how? And then, we try our best to take these humble ingredients and not overcomplicate the process of preparing them. Because food eaten at its prime doesn’t need much extra help to be delicious.
I think Alice Waters best sums it up in the introduction to her latest cookbook, The Green Kitchen, “There is enormous pleasure in cooking good food simply and in sharing the cooking and the eating with friends and family. I think it is the best antidote to our overstressed modern lives. And there is nothing better than putting a plate of delicious food on the table for the people you love.”
Thank you so much for stopping by to visit La Pomme. I’m honored that you took time out of your busy life to spend some here. Thank you to all of you who leave me comments, send me emails or ping me on Facebook. Your thoughtful words and kind encouragement are so appreciated. And thank you to all of you shy, silent readers. I know you’re there (or at least Google Analytics lets me know you’re there.) I’m grateful for your quiet presence.
If for any reason, you’d like to contact me, feel free to leave a comment on the blog (I read each and every one) or email me at: carrieminns at me dot com
For Facebookers: La Pomme de Portland
For Twitterers: @lapommedepdx
For Facebookers: La Pomme de Portland
For Twitterers: @lapommedepdx
