The Pietopia Pie Contest is happening again this year in August! Due to popular demand, it’s making its second appearance becoming an annual event here in Portland, Oregon. Wouldn’t it be cool to have one in your city too? Contact me if you’d like to see it happen where you live, I’d love to see what other communities lives taste like through their pies too! Or, if you are local and would like one of these limited-edition prints to hang in your shop or restaurant (for free!), feel free to give me a shout!
A bit of a recap as to how the first ever annual Pietopia Pie Contest went: last June, I put a call to entry in the city of Portland: What does it taste like to be unemployed, starting a new job, just married, divorced, a new homeowner or desperately searching for housing? What kind of pie would describe the way you are feeling right now? Could you imagine your thoughts, concerns or joys transformed into the All-American Pie?
(This was last year’s call to entry poster for Pietopia)
A local jury determined on five winners. The contest was judged based on the creative correlation between the sense of taste and it’s relationship to their lives. Five local artists were selected to each reinterpret one of the winning entries into a limited-edition screen print that was awarded to the contest winners and displayed at the event. All visitors at the event were able to taste each winner’s pie, and in essence, their lives as well.
I chose Pies as the medium because of its timeless appeal to the seasons, cross generations, and the local culture. The idea of a relationship between taste and feeling is an ancient one. The goal of Pietopia is to bring to the forefront the sense of taste, the feelings it can evoke, communication, and communing as interweaving entities within the fabric of our daily lives. Pietopia is seeking to channel Portland’s emphasis on the importance of the taste of food as a way to discover what this city’s quality of life truly is.
Start thinking of a pie or maybe several that you can relate to what is happening in your life at the moment. Check out last years winners on the Pieopia contest site, there were some really touching, some hilarious, but mainly honest interpretations of people’s lives through their pies. If you feel inspired, email in a 300 word blurb plus your recipe to: pietopiacontest@gmail.com.
It was so much fun last year, I hope you can join us this year!
(Andrew and I had a photo shoot for the posters. He took this shot of me holding it, as well as the first one up top)I am still waiting to hear back from the Portland Farmer’s Market as to the exact dates (sometime between late July and end of August), but when I know, I will let you know!
(Andrew holding the poster for me, it’s always good to get a variety of shots and images!)
I have some exciting news. I’ve become a contributing writer for Chef’s Blade, a social network for culinary professionals! My first piece was posted last night, you can see it here.
Below is a blurb about Chef’s Blade from their site:
Chef’s Blade is the career and social network of choice for the creative, passionate, and innovative people who work in the cutthroat culinary industry. Whether you are a seasoned executive chef, an aspiring pastry chef, a caterer, a sommelier, a restaurant manager or owner, Chef’s Blade culls together the career resources and networking tools you need to advance your career. We feature a robust social networking platform for those in the industry to discuss career advancement and everything that’s behind the ultimate culinary experience. Check out our behind-the-scenes employer and food reviews, news and columns on the latest and greatest in food culture and trends, job listings, career tips, how-to guides, and more. No matter where you are in your culinary career, Chef’s Blade promises to sharpen your skills.
They will be using one of my posts every other week from Eating is Art, and posting it on their forum. Thank you Jacky!
Last night I made a really fresh salad with Russian kale, mustard greens, red cabbage, avocado, and roasted shallots and garlics. Sometimes I like to go to my local fruit and vegetable market, pick out what looks really fresh, and then come home and experiment with those flavors, textures, and colors. I also bought some of my favorite feta cheese, a small hunk of Dutch blue cheese, and some good Italian table wine. It was a nice little feast, very flavorful, crunchy, and colorful. Here’s what I did:
Place chopped shallots and whole garlic cloves on a baking sheet, drizzle a little olive oil over them and put them into a preheated oven of about 400 degrees F. Bake until they smell amazing, about 15 mins (I like to let mine stay in a little longer, the edges get a nice crispyness to them). Chop up the kale, greens, and cabbage, toss. In a single serving bowl, place the salad, some roasted shallots and garlics on top, slice half an avacado on the side, drizzle some olive oil (about a tablespoon) over it, sprinkle a little salt, and squeeze some lemon juice from a fresh lemon on top. You can put the feta or blue cheese right on top, or you can savor little hunks of it on the side to eat with a nice loaf of bread. Sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy!
A few of the guests took some lovely pictures from the secret supper meal. My friend Abby of Abby Try Again and Gabriel Darling both were able to snap some great pictures. Thank you so much to you both!
(Abby took the above photos, Gabriel took the ones below)
(placing hot roasted hazelnuts on the table for guests to enjoy)
This supper was designed for the concept of inciting conversation and building community. I used half plates, serving only half the meal to some people, and the other half of the meal to the rest; in order for the guests to complete their meals, they would need to interact, communicate, and share to get everything that was served. The food, done by Leif Hedendal, was an important part of the meal and was showcased through the subtle (and not so subtle) eating design.
(broken plates were scattered down the middle of the table, as part of the evenings theme and the “hands-on” experience)
I really wanted to really play up the awkwardness and messiness of the half plates and use the table as an eating surface. We put a total of nine different hour d’ ourves out on the table (literally, on the table) for people to nibble on while they waited for the meal to begin. People were able to get comfortable with the food not having to stay just on the plate starting with the finger food and eating off the table; it was a good segue into the plate swap. Leif out did himself with the menu, it was incredible. We picked up everything from the Portland Farmer’s Market early that day; there was an amazing selection of so much fresh produce (Portland has a great farmers market:). It was interesting to be a part of Leif’s process too; picking the freshest produce that morning, tweaking the menu a few times over, and working out what could go on the table vs. plates. He is a true chef with incredible skills!
(Leif cookin’ up a storm)Le Menu:
chips (fresh potato slices with an oregano leaf through the middle, fried)
crispy lotus root
spiced hazelnuts
chevre and crispy artichoke crostini
sichimi togarashi popcorn
farm eggs
assorted breads with home made butter and smoked salt
raw radishes with home made butter and murray river salt
carrots, turnips, chiogga beets, and green garlic with nettles and asparagus
tahini Cauliflower with piment d’espelette and fried ginger
greens with porcini and cherry
wild fungi and roasted shallot galette
leaves with fennel, kumquat, and Pedro Ximenez
Abbaye de Belloc
flourless chocolate cake
rosemary madeleines 
People enjoyed the food as well as the company. This experience with the half plates, food on the table, and awkwardness of using one’s hands to eat was a fun and easy way to get people involved with one another that in a traditional dining situation may not have happened. I am so interested in how social barriers can be broken down with just a few simple gestures, allowing people from different walks of life to come together at the same table and share who they are/ what they know. The food was absolutely amazing (Leif cooks a few times a month at Chez Panisse in SF). But most interesting for me was the pairing of this excellent quality meal with how it was consumed. Eating it without all the rules of a five star restaurant took away those social barriers (there weren’t even any butter knives on the table, people only had forks and a cup) that could easily have cropped up; table manners have huge class implications, I wanted to see what would happen when people were only given a bare minimum (and a half one at that)! The dinner was a sucess on all fronts; I am excited to have done this and am looking forward to my next eating design event!
(Painting done by Chelsea Heffner, design by me.)
This weekend, I am hosting and creating the first of what I hope to become a regular thing: Portland Secret Suppers. I am working with a chef from San Francisco, Leif Hedendal, to put on this secret event for about thirty people.
Chef Leif Hedendal from San Fransico and Portland-based Eating Designer Tricia Martin have teamed up to bring you Secret Supper.
Leif is a major contender in the movable feast scene of San Fransisco working with Mission Street Food, Sunday Food and Wine, Open Restaurant, The Secret Cafe, and Noise in my Kitchen, and organizes Secret Dinners and Dinner Discussion. He a self-educated chef who worked at Imprevist and Silenus in Barcelona before returning here to cook at such establishments as Greens Restaurant, Citron and Chez Panisse.
Tricia is pioneering the field of Eating Design here on the West Coast, creating food-based experiences that consider the action of eating from seed to waste. Founder of Taste Matters, an eating design studio here in Portland where projects range from working in public schools, creating experiential dinners, and orchestrating individual “memory meals”. Tricia uses food to communicate stories, ideas and messages, exploring taste and all the facets that go into the experience of eating.
The Menu (All food served will be sourced from local farms):
turnip-leek soup
chicories, crispy artichoke, piment d’esplette
wild mushroom and roasted shallot galette
brassicas, asparagus, Chiogga beet, nettles
tahini roasted cauliflower
fava beans, fried ginger, sichimi togarashi
Spring shoot and leaves
kumquat, radish, fennel, almond, chevre
Dessert
flourless chocolate cake with a dollop of cream fraiche
I’ll be posting about the Eating Design experience, some of Leif’s recipes, and pictures after the event. Hope you have a great weekend!
This past Friday, I did my fourth Favorite meal for Blake Van Roekel of Good Keuken and her Grandmother, Mary Alice (or Grammy as she is most endearingly known). I brought along my friend and fellow blogger, Abby to help me document the meal. Abby’s photography is the perfect aesthetic for how I envisioned this experience documented; soft, nostalgic, and beautiful. She uses all film and a variety of antique cameras to give the pictures she takes her preferred look. I am eagerly awaiting her photos, I (as well as you!) should be seeing them soon! But I also took a few pictures with my little digital camera. I thought it would be a nice preview to see some images as well as be a nice contrast to what her photos will look like.
(Blake and Grammy having a good laugh)
(The table setting (done by Mary Alice, infiltrated by me) was gorgeous!)
(a recipe for Sorgum or Depression Cake from the 1930′s, in a cookbook Mary Alice has)
(the nested sandwhiches and deviled eggs, the meal had a wholesome 1950′s-esk and springtime feel to it)
Blake and Grammy’s story + recipes will be coming soon!
Chelsea and I have our Recommendations:Spring prints out at Lark Press. It’s a jewel of a letterpress shop where they do custom cards, invitations, wedding and birth announcements right in NE Portland. Thanks Jean!
Last night I did The Favorite meal #3 with Lalena Dolby. She chose her favorite to be the artist and personality extraordinaire Florence Broadhurst. Florence was Australian by birth. In her early twenties, she was known as Miss Bobby Broadhurst, traveling from Asia to India to Western Europe. In 1926, she opened the Broadhurst Academy, a finishing school for girls in Shanghi. In 1933, she moved to London under the name Madame Pellier, a fashionista who opened a dress shop on the infamous New Bond Street. She had married London aristocracy, but by 1949 she was divorced, re-attached, had a child, and moved back to Australia under the guise as British aristocracy.
(Lalena found this dress for this meal, how perfect!)
In 1959, she opened her wallpaper company. It wasn’t until later in life (she was at this point in her early 60′s) that she went the path of design.” There is debate as to whether she actually drew any of the patterns herself, but clearly she had an eye for talented people—hired many, paid them very little, took full credit.” (Vanity Fair 04.2007) She was a shrewd business woman, however it was said that her factory was incredibly hip for it’s day. Artists, designers, and craftsmen working side by side, a radio always blaring, parties springing up intermittently in the evenings, and celebrities popping in to see the infamous warehouse space. She was a force, energetic and magnetic that despite her low wages and hard-nosed work ethic, people gravitated towards her because she exuded her energy all around and somehow made it fun. (I could go on and on about this woman, she was absolutely fascinating! You can find more articles on her here, here, and here if you’d like to read on. I know I did! She also has a book written on her, beautifully done, here. )
(wall texture detail)
(Horse Details)
Naturally, in order to truly evoke Florence at this meal, I had to recreate one of her beautiful patterns (and there are over 500 of them, it was amazing going through and just looking at many of them!). It dawned on me that I needed to recreate a pattern out of food, on a wall, big, bright, and beautiful, just like Miss Broadhurst (her hair was really that orange color for the last 25 years of her life). I decided on the horse pattern. Actually, I felt the horse pattern. It just stuck and when I came to the end of looking through and studying all her patterns, I puttered around with a few other ideas, but the horses were what called me. It’s that power, that force, and the way the horses morph into one another that resonated with me and I think, with Florence.
I also made quite an array of foods. Portland, it seems, is over run with one big cold. Everyone has one or is getting one! Lalena has been getting over one, so my inital idea of making amazing cocktails and smoking cigaretts (althgouh neither of us smoke, but the idea was funny and resonated somehow with Florence!) I decided to go a subtler and more nourishing route. So, I made Tom Yum lemongrass soup (to evoke all the asian inspired living and traveling Miss Broadhurst did, as well as help cure a cold) and Hot Toddy’s with thick slices of ginger, lemon, a heaping spoonful of local honey and a shot or two of St. Remy’s brandy in a slightly steeped Earl Grey tea. Then, for dessert I made Fairy Bread. Fairy Bread is an austrailian treat they serve to children on birthdays and special occasions. All it is is white bread, buttered, and sprinkles thrown on top. That’s it. I thought it was PERFECT for Florence. I could see her on the morning of her son’s birthday, forgetting it was his birthday, and whipping up a plate of this bread because it is so quick and easy. It’s also a really fake ‘food’.
(Hot Toddy)
(Tom Yum Lemongrass Soup)
(Fairy Bread)
While sipping our Hot Toddy’s and Lemongrass Soup, Lalena and I chatted about the whirwind life Florence had. And how her life did not end with her tragic murder in her wallpaper warehouse. In fact, her life has spurred on people to really embrace what they want from life and do it with passion. Her prints and patterns are being re-constructed and re-produced by a New Zeland designer and pattern company but also being used by fashion houses around the world. We both agreed that we were inspired by her ability to just do it, getting it done with absolute grace and style.
(Hot Toddy)
Tom Yum Soup (Goong, Talay, Pla-Meuk)
* 1/2 pound medium sized shrimp, peeled and de-veined
* 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained
* 4 cups water
* 2 stalks of lemon grass (~10″ long)
* 4-6 kaffir lime leaves
* 3 small red onions cut into quarters
* 1 medium to large tomato
* 4 small pieces galangal
* 18 straw mushrooms, whole
* 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
* 1 1/2 limes, squeezed
* 1 teaspoon of white sugar
* 2-8 red and/or green chili peppers
* 1 tablespoon tom yum soup paste
1. Cut the lemongrass stalks into 2″ pieces.
2. If you are using Tom Yum paste you can use 2 tablespoons instead of making your own stock with tshis step. It will cut down on time necessary… Stock: Add the shrimp heads and shells to water, then cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Soak heads and shells for 20 more minutes before removing from broth.
3. Add stock, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chili padi, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chili paste to a pot and bring to a boil. After boiling for 5 minutes, add tomato and onion. In 5 more minutes add shrimp and mushrooms. Cook another 10 minutes. For presentation you can garnish with coriander.
Hot Toddy
Sizeable piece of ginger, cut up into big chunks
1 lemon, sliced
1 heaping tablespoon honey
1-2 shots nice brandy
1 teabag (English Breakfast, Earl Gray)
Steep hot water, lemon, ginger, honey together for five minutes, add the shot(s) of brandy and serve.
Fairy Bread (google this, it is pretty interesting!)
Slices of white bread
Butter
Sprinkles
Butter the bread, sprinkle on the sprinkles, slice off the crusts, cut into triangles and serve.
(Recommendations: Spring, Floral Costume)
The Floral Costume print was spurred by our belief in the power of costume! When doing mundane tasks such as cleaning, by donning a floral print or a special piece of jewelry one can transform themselves and the situation into something much more fun and fanciful:).
(Recommendations: Spring, Plans)
(Recommendations: Spring, Treasures)
(Recommendations: Spring, Spring Blossoms)
(Recommendations: Spring, Rain)
. Here’s our blurb on the series:
The Creative Force for Efficiency and Morale celebrates the state of mind the spring season offers in Recommendations: Spring. In this bold and colorful series of hand-drawn, silkscreened prints, traditions of the season such as spring cleaning, planting seeds, and getting rained upon, are approached with humor and infused with self-made ritual. The founders of The Creative Force, Tricia Martin and Chelsea Heffner are interested in the power of creative psychology to transform everyday experiences. This Portland, OR based team works on collaboratively with other artists on projects, events and experiences that offer entry points to complex concepts such as place, memory and ritual.
They are for sale in my shop (see right column here on my blog for a link), under the name of Chelsea’s and my design collective, The Creative Force for Efficiency and Morale. Hope you are feeling spring where you are! Have a great day!
(Making Plans detail)
(Floral Costume detail)
(Treasure’s detail)
(one of the prints in completion! a 4 color silk screen run)
(simple mock up plans for a print)
(pulling the ink through the silk screen)More preview pics of the new Recommendations: Spring silkscreen print series! Check out Chelsea’s site for more pictures:).
