Truffle Fest

Yesterday, I met C & G in Eugene to check out the Oregon Truffle Marketplace, which is part of the Oregon Truffle Festival held annually down there. Oregon, in addition to being a prime growing region for grapes, is also gaining a reputation for being one of the best places outside of Europe to harvest truffles.

And I do love me some truffles.

There were cooking demos, wine tasting, and a number of local vendors on hand with everything from soup to nuts (literally). We kind of ate our way from one end of the building to the other.

Along the way, I ran across some locally sourced olive oil. Now, Oregon is not the first place you’d think of when it comes to growing olives. And the few people I’ve run across who are doing it have my complete respect, both as a person who loves to cook and someone who would have a difficult time harvesting mud.

I’m just sayin’.

Anyway, I tried a sample Red Ridge Farms olive oil, which had a nice, bright, fruitiness. I picked up a bottle, and after checking out their site, can’t wait to take a trip up to the Dundee area for a visit.

I think the one item I was most fascinated with was this little coffee maker that the group from Last Stand Coffee Company was using. Also scored a sample of their micro-roasted coffee, which was very nice.

Mostly we just had fun talking to different people (and several ‘truffle dogs’), nibbling and sipping. The weather was beautiful and WARM, and it was just another great day to live in Oregon.