A Little Minestrone, A Little AM Northwest and A Lot of Calendars

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who purchased a 2011 La Pomme de Portland calendar. They have completely sold out. I am overwhelmed by your generosity. I am touched...truly. As my 5-year old would say, "I'm not jus' sayin' that. It's for true!" Once the dust settles, I believe we'll be able to donate almost $1000 per organization.

Those of you who wanted one this year but didn't get one....(for which I feel guilt, guilt, guilt... Can we just call me Catholic for the day? Or maybe the season?)...we'll definitely be back next year with a new version.

I won't take up too much of your time today because if you're like me (and you're probably not...you're probably much more organized) you still have Christmas shopping to do, cards to address, cookies to bake, a house to finish decorating....basically everything the season requires...in the span of a week. Plus my daughter has apparently volunteered me to chauffeur boat loads of teenagers up to the mountains every day next week.

And just in case you've been wanting to make the delectable Baked Minestrone I posted about last month, here is my AM Northwest live version of the prep for that crowd pleaser.



If you do not see a video screen above this line, please click here to be taken directly to the site.

Have a most wonderful Holiday Season!!

Cheers,
Carrie

All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

Would You Be So Kind....

....as to allow me to clear things up. As you are probably well aware, I have a tendency to be long-winded. And, my lengthy announcement of the sale of my calendars was no exception. However, even though I may be a tad bit wordy, I go to extreme measures to check and double check and triple check for errors and omissions in that wordiness. How is it then, that I did not realize that I had failed to mention the cost of my calendar on the main page of my last blog post?? For crying out loud.....  (Thank you to all of you kind people who gently pointed that out.)

So without further ado, the cost of each 2011 La Pomme de Portland calendar is $15.00.

You can find them for sale on my Etsy page: http://www.etsy.com/listing/63516254/2011-food-photography-calendar

And I promise this isn't just a line, but really and truly they are selling like hot cakes. I had no idea. Really. We've sold over half our inventory in just a couple of days. I'm humbled by everyone's generosity. And no pressure (well, maybe just a little) but if you are planning on ordering one, I encourage you to do so soon. I would feel badly if you had wanted one and we sell out. Then, I'll have to add more guilt to the guilt I already haul around with me. Although...selling out would be a good thing.

When all of this is said and done, I will let you all know how much money we were able to donate to the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation and the Oregon Food Bank.

And, that's all I have to say for now. And that was pretty "short and to the point" for me. Although, I could probably think of more things to say like, "Why is it that every year at this time, when the temperatures drop to near freezing, the children fight me tooth and nail in regards to wearing a warm coat? Not a flimsy little wind breaker or a cotton zip-up hoodie but an actual winter jacket?"

Okay, I'm done now.

"Sleep tight!"

Or maybe it's "Good Morning" to you.

Or "Good afternoon."

Okay...

Bye.

Really.

Bye.



All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

2011 La Pomme de Portland Calendar

I am thrilled to say that I am officially taking orders for my 2011 La Pomme de Portland Calendar which I have talked about before here.

These are the perfect little gift for yourself, family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, teachers....

I am running the sales through my virtual store on Esty where I have listed all pertinent details regarding the calendar. You can find it by clicking on the link below.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/63516254/2011-food-photography-calendar

As I said before, all profits made from the sale of this calendar during the month of December will be divided equally and donated to the following organizations:

Northwest Sarcoma Foundation
Seven years ago, my sweetie underwent surgery to remove a malignant chondrosarcoma tumor from his pelvis. And although he will forever have to deal with the repercussions from that surgery, there is not a day that goes by that he doesn't inspire me with his incredible enthusiasm for life and his courage. Others we have met and grown to love along the way have not been as fortunate. Because of all we have learned as a family from my sweetie's experience, we no longer look at food as just something to eat but as something to keep us healthy.

Oregon Food Bank
One of the greatest joys of my life is to not only be able to feed my children but to set down nourishing and delicious food for them. Food with smells and tastes and memories of sitting at the table together. Food that they will carry with them throughout their lives. I cannot even begin to imagine how I would feel if I could not afford to simply just feed them. Oregon remains one of the 5 hungriest states in our nation. A large percentage of those families include children. To spare even one family from having to send their children to school or to bed hungry is worth any efforts put forth for this calendar.


A HUGE thank you, to all of you, for considering purchasing a calendar. All the emails I have received to let me know you're planning to purchase 1, 2...6 have been incredibly heartwarming. Thank you again.....

Cheers,
Carrie


NOTE: ETSY does require purchasers to sign up for an account before placing an order. This is simply a name/password type account. I hope this will not be a deterrent for purchasing. ETSY was the best venue for me to organize the listing/shipping/payment since there are so many of you generous readers of La Pomme de Portland all over the world.

QUESTIONS: Please don't hesitate to email me: carrieminns (at) me (dot) com


All photographs on the calendar are originals taken by Yours Truly.

All graphic design elements of the calendar can be attributed to my talented sister, Courtney Cook Hopp.
You can find her at Flair For Design.



All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010

Some Exciting News to Share.....

I am so excited to give you all a sneak preview of a project I've been working on with my über-talented graphic design sister. We have put together a 2011 La Pomme de Portland Calendar. Each month features one of my food photos, many of them highlighting what is in season for that time of year. In the back is a quick little cheat sheet outlining what actually is in season for the different times of the year which we thought would be helpful since I get asked about that fairly often.

Most importantly though, all of the proceeds made from the sale of this calendar will go to the Oregon Food Bank and the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation. We will have this calendar available for purchase right after the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you'll keep this in mind as you're thinking of holiday gifts for family, friends, yourself, your boss, your co-workers, teachers, Christmas, Hanukkah.....

I also want to let you know how much I have appreciated all of the emails, the flickr, facebook and twitter messages, the phone calls and so on, with tips for roasting a turkey, whether to brine or not, and so on. I have to admit that the most intriguing method that was shared with me is to roast the turkey in a paper grocery sack. Very interesting....

However, I'm still undecided on what to do but I work best under pressure and it's not nearly close enough to Thanksgiving yet for me to kick it in to high gear. I still have at least 5-6 days.

Lately, I've been thinking, what if I get the turkey cut into pieces and cook it the same way I cook my Oregano Chicken? Seems like it would be nice and moist and flavorful. Wouldn't take as long to roast. You wouldn't have the same "Big Bird" presentation but we always carve ours up and stick it on a platter anyways.

A week from now, it will all be over, and I'll let you know how it went....following in my mother's and grandmother's shoes that is....with or without help from my sister, who, when I told her the other day that she had to help me with the turkey said, "Well, what do you want me to do? Hold your hand as you stick it in the oven?" Where is the respect for the eldest child?







If a video screen does not appear above this line, click here to be taken directly to the site.

Oh, and speaking of Oregano Chicken, should you like to see a live version of how to prepare that succulent dish, I whipped some up on AM Northwest Wednesday morning and above you'll find the video from my morning there.

Have a great weekend!!

Cheers,
Carrie




All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010