Back in the day, when I first moved to Seattle, I was confounded when I found myself in a PCC Natural Market one day. The co-op vibe was completely new to me, and moreso, I didn’t understand what the big difference was between the natural and organic selection of items, and the plain old supermarkets I’d be shopping at my whole life. It took me a few visits to get used to the differences in taste – the foods were less sweet than I was used to, with some items …

At the conclusion of my long weekend at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, where alcohol plus altitude equated to a grumpy writer, I arrived at the Aspen Airport on Sunday evening to board my flight home. As I entered the airport, I noticed the Frontier desk was the only place with a line twenty people deep. When the cheerful little check-in computer screen told me I had to ‘talk to a gate representative’, I knew I might be in trouble. Standing in line, I watched as a fellow …

Here at DailyBlender.com, we adamantly support organics, locally-grown food items, sustainable business practices, recycling, composting, and all other earth-friendly production and usage. But what I really like to encourage personally, more than anything, is food awareness.
Particularly with the rampant food recalls, pandemics, and viruses making their way through our supermarkets, as well as excessive fishing and farming creating havoc in our food chain, it’s more important than ever to be an educated consumer, buying seasonally, creating sustainable personal food habits, and supporting healthy, environmentally-sound food production across the board.
The …

Much to my glee, I was able to snag a few tickets to the recent Tony Bourdain talk here in Portland. Featured at Keller Auditorium, and sponsored by the Seattle Theatre Group, Bourdain took the stage last Friday, all by his lonesome, and it was quite the entertaining experience.
I didn’t know what to expect, other than the fast-talking, smart-ass Bourdain we’ve all come to know and love. The crowd went wild when he made his way to the podium, dressed in his usual jeans, jacket, and boots. He was noticeably …

With my guest writing gig over at Accidental Hedonist ending this month, I’m a little sad I won’t have such an outlet to voice opinions and incite discussion on food-related items. Over the past few months, I’ve tackled restaurant cleanliness, organics, tipping, travel, and food blogging ethics – and much to my surprise, the response has been overwhelming.
So here, on Daily Blender, we’re implementing a new column/category called ‘The Side Dish’, where I’ll talk a little less news and a little more opinion on food-related tidbits that are hot topics, …