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A seafood stew, cioppino or bouillabaisse can be an expensive and labor-intensive undertaking to put together, but with my recipe I present a different version of this extraordinary holiday entrée. I wanted to make this easily accessible to a new cook but also offer an affordable dish (just under $30) and wrap it up in about an hour. I’m calling it Goldfish Stew. Continue reading
I hunkered in my chair, rolling behind the desk, periodically gazing down through grimy windows 17 floors above Eugene’s winter-wet streets. Derelicts and “travelers” huddled in the park, smoking, yakking, looking to score, ducking cops. Through the pebbled glass on the office door, I caught sight of a deformed shadow. The door creaked open. Continue reading
The following is an extended interview conducted for eugeneweekly.com. The condensed print edition can be found here. Continue reading
With an exposed red brick wall, weathered wood accents and a general rustic-bohemian flavor, the newly opened Gilt & Gossamer doesn’t show any signs of its former life as a Rapid Refill ink store at 873 Willamette St. Sprinkle in some nubby sweaters, flirty party dresses and chic house décor, and the shop joins what’s becoming somewhat of a boutique mecca downtown. Continue reading
I recently took a couple of hours to do something I’ve been putting off for ages: cleaning and oiling my gardening tools. Until we moved into a different house five years ago, I kept my tools in a dry, attached garage. Now I keep everything but my best pruning tools in a garden shed that’s more or less open to the moisture-laden air. Although the tools are out of the rain, they are rusting. Perhaps this would have happened eventually in my old garage, but whatever deterioration there was in 15 years, I didn’t notice it. Continue reading
Some people do all their holiday shopping in one day. Others do it at their leisure over the course of weeks. Then there are the procrastinators, who do last-minute shopping at the grocery store. They are good people — they just need a little help. Continue reading
OK last-minute shoppers, you have one more weekend to find that perfect gift. And lucky for you, Down to Earth Home, Garden and Gift in downtown Eugene is there to help you out. Duck into this magical haven of kitchenware, gardening supplies and quirky curios, and you’re sure to find not just a last-minute gift but a fantastic one. Try some of these items on for size. Continue reading
Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78RPM Records By Amanda Petrusich. Scribner, $18.95. Do Not Sell At Any Price is an engaging, well-paced peek into the world of buying, selling and coveting rare 78-RPM records. (SPOILER ALERT: Did you know one of the world’s leading dealers of 78s lives just down the road from Eugene in Grants Pass?) Continue reading
World Peace Is None of Your Business by Morrissey. $25.98 Continue reading
A good friend of mine in Seattle — an Eritrean immigrant who helped pen that country’s as yet unratified constitution — once pointed out that, should I really want to understand the collision of race and politics in the U.S., read the sports pages. I figured he was being coy, but the more I think about it, the more I comprehend sports as a microcosm of society, where all sorts of racial and social tensions play out, often in the subterranean codes of privilege, ability and competition. Continue reading