Rejuvenation Lighting

There is one thing in your home that serves a unique purpose and that is lighting. But you can use this functional item to create a new style for your home. Nicole from Rejuvenation (503-238-1900) on SE Grand showed us some of the unique lighting styles they carry. Nichol called lighting the jewelry of the home; it is one of those small things that can make a big difference. Rejuvenation specializes in reproduction and period lighting, your classic American lighting from the 1870's to the 1960's. They have styles that range from basic to eclectic! The store is set up into vignettes so you can see 'age appropriate' set-ups grouped together. You can also pick out lights that will help recreate a style or mood in a newer home as well. If you are looking for a unique finish of color they can help you out because they produce the period reproductions at the factory in Portland. They offer 12 standard finishes that can match any décor. You can even go on-line to their website and make changes to a design to see if it works for you.

If you want to have fun and have your purchase benefit a great cause you can check out Rejuvenation's House Warming party on the 11th of November. There will be food and drink, live music, door prizes and a 'Pin the Tail on the City' contest. A portion of the sales from that evening are going to benefit 'p:ear' which is a mentoring program for homeless youth. For more information and to RSVP check out the link here.

Hummus

Chef David whipped us up a simple recipe for hummus today to help you make a splash at your next holiday get-together. This hummus is one with a twist, it has red peppers! This one also uses garbanzo beans as its base. It also has garlic and lemon juice. To get all the ingredients and instructions click here. Then whip up a batch and impress your friends!

Spice Dipping

The holidays are approaching and that means it is time for entertaining family and friends at your home. To make your party to hit of the holiday season we stopped at the Spice and Tea Exchange (503-208-2886) in downtown Portland to get some ideas for quick and easy appetizers. Rob, one of the owners showed us a couple of quick dipping recipes for you to try at home and they take little or no time to set up. The first one featured dipping fresh strawberries in sour cream and habanero sugar. It sounds like an odd combination but it was pretty good and it had a little bite from the peppers in the sugar. Next we moved to their Tuscany Blend of spices mixed with Olive oil and some crusty bread. This is more of a traditional dipping sauce, but the spices added just the right flavor. Finally we tried some cut pieces of avocado that had a light sprinkling of black truffle sea salt. That had a very unique and different flavor than you would expect. If you would like more ideas you can stop by the store. They also have occasional cooking classes so check with them for times and dates.

Space Saving Kitchen Tools

It is time to take control of your kitchen. Kitchen utensils can be big and bulky. To learn more about saving some space we stopped by Sur La Table (503-968-8015). Laura Bogert found some gadgets and tools that will save you lots of space in your kitchen. The items she found are all collapsible utensils and are extremely durable. First was a colander that was 14 inches wide and 7 inches tall. This one had a silicone center and it was easily compressed into a 2 inch tall disc. She also had a smaller one too. The next piece was really cool! It was a funnel made of the same material. It squeezed down to a flat disc about 1 inch high. Measuring cups can take up a lot of space in a drawer. Laura had some that were also made of silicone that were extremely flat. The best was saved for last. Sur La Table had a collapsible salad spinner. All of these silicone products are great and they are all dishwasher safe!

Barber World Foods - Olive Preserving

You can find preserved olives in any of your local grocery stores, but did you know that you can make your own flavored olives at home. We found a great market, Barbur World Foods (503-244-0670), at the corner of Barbur and Capitol Highway in SW Portland, where you can find raw olives and a recipe to preserve them at home. We met with Mirna Attar the owner and chef at the market to learn her recipe for preparing these seasonal favorites. Mirna is also the chef at Ya Hala Restaurant in SE Portland and is an excellent cook! Barbur World Foods is owned by her and her husband John and they carry lots of very unique and ethnic food products. Mirna started with the raw green olives. She cracked them so the skin was split. Then she soaks them for 3 days in water, changing the water twice each day. This water bath leaches the bitterness out of the olives. When the olives are ready she prepares a brine of ½ cup of canning salt to one quart of water. Place a slice of lemon at the bottom of a glass canning jar and place your olives on top of that. Pour in the brine mixture to cover the olives, leaving a ½ inch space at the top of the jar. On top of the olives and brine you will pour a layer of olive oil to create a barrier to prevent air from entering your olives and spoiling them. To create some interesting flavors you can also add peppers or fresh thyme to the jar. Cover them with a caning lid and let them cure for one month and then spoon them out and serve!

Two other items we had the chance to check out were garbanzo beans in the shell and pistachios with their husk still on them. The pistachio was very mild (not like the salted ones you buy in a bag) and very delicious and the garbanzo beans were sweet with a faint pea taste. The garbanzos can also be roasted in your oven with a light salting and some olive oil. If you are looking to try something new and different, you can't go wrong at Barbur World Foods. In fact, you can try many of these foods during their Holiday food tasting on November 13th from 1-5. It's free and a lot of fun!