Christmas in Oregon
We picked back up our journey of “Christmas Across America” with a visit to Oregon. The state (and Portland in particular) is fond of embracing its uniqueness. They went seventy-two years without letting people pump their own gas. The state is the only one to have a two-sided state flag. They have the world’s only Bigfoot trap. And Portland’s name was decided in 1845 by means of a coin flip (beating Boston).
We learned that Oregon is the home of Nike, iconic chef James Beard, and Tillamook cheese (the largest cheese factory in the world). They provide 99% of America’s supply of hazelnuts (and are the only state to have an official state nut, obviously the hazelnut), are the exclusive grower of marionberries, and also raise one-quarter of America’s llama population. They’re pioneers for their brewery culture (Portland has more breweries than any other city in the world), their music scene, and their wine regions (there are 908 wineries in the state). And speaking of pioneering, there’s obviously the connection to the Oregon Trail.
With regard to Christmas, Oregon grows more Christmas trees than any other state in the country and accounts for 31% of the United States’ Christmas trees. They also are unique in that Portland hosts an annual “Singing Christmas Tree” that consists of over 350 singers. They also claim the world’s tallest nutcracker at a whopping 41 feet tall!
With that knowledge in hand, we geared up for this adventure and headed West with our Christmas-themed (Oregon) Trail Mix to the tune of some Old West Christmas music. We honored their two-sided flag and coin-toss naming processes with a Christmas-themed “Would You Rather”. Bekah did a Christmas-themed yoga class (in honor of Bend, OR) while Ben did a Christmas run in honor of Nike’s headquarters. The kids got in on the action with some Christmas mushroom ornament hunting. And we cooked up a feast of Oregon classics included Ore-Ida (named for Oregon-Idaho) Tater Tots, hazelnut green beans, oysters, marionberries, and pinot noir.
And all throughout, we tied in James Beard. He once said “If there is a traditional Christmas Eve dish in the United States, it is oyster stew." So we obviously had to cook up an oyster stew complete with our own shucked oysters and oyster crackers. We also continued his homage with via “bearded” mussels and watching a Christmas episode of “Top Chef”.
ACTIVITIES:
Christmas “Would You Rather”
Mondo Llama Christmas Art Craft (Target)
Yoga (Bend, OR) & Run (Nike)
“She & Him” Christmas Album
“Top Chef” James Beard & Christmas Episodes
FOOD:
Krusteaz Pancakes w/ Marionberry Syrup
Stumptown Coffee
OreIda Tater Tots
Christmas (Oregon) Trail Mix
Tillamook Cheese
Oregon Oysters
“Bearded” Mussels
Oregon Pinot Noir
Port(land) Wine
Oregon Brewery Winter Ale (Deschutes Jubelale)
INTERESTING READS & CONTEXT:
