Besides launching the community, we’re starting off the summer season with Your Favorite Picnic giveaway…a cool picnic basket stocked with locally made products that will give one lucky winner a sampling of regional flavors from around the country.

Are you someone who loves exploring your community for new cafes, restaurants, food shops? Is there a new chef in town that you think the world should know about? I’m like that, too! With a curiosity (no, my cat is still here!) for what’s new in my area, I ventured out last week and discovered new places where my favorite foods can be found. Short on time (think 18 hour days!) I often need to resort to convenience to get a meal on the table.  So, here’s my current list of pantry must-haves.

Nellie’s Vanilla Syrup (when only breakfast for dinner will do!)

Rogue Creamery Fresh Ricotta Cheese (from that blue cheese award-winning cheesemonger)

Pennington Farms Razzle Dazzle Berry Jam (regularly found at my farmers market)

Il Forniao Pizza Dough (from Downtown Market Company)

Uh, oh! I guess if all else fails, dessert pizza might be on the menu tonight?

What is your recent best find? Join or start your city group and tell your neighbors all about it! Be a voice for your city …there’s a place at the table for you. I look forward to Breaking Bread with you!

Another new brewpub is coming to Portland—and in addition to having great tasting local microbrews and an ecclectic menu, it also aims to work closely with home brewers new and old.

It is certainly no secret how Portland got the nicknames “Beervana,” “Beertopia,”and “Beertown.” Portland has a long and passionate relationship with beer that started before the turn of the century (in 1888, Henry Weinhard volunteered to pump beer from his brewery into the newly dedicated Skidmore Fountain), and has continued since the days the McMennamin brothers popularized the brewpub.

The growth of hundreds of breweries and beer aficionados in the Willamette Valley has been supported by the abundance of local ingredients, including over a dozen varieties of hops. Along with great local ingredients, there are tons of folks in the Portland area who love to brew their own beer—a passion that the soon-to-open Coalition Brewery hopes to incorporate into their business model.

Opening in 2010, Coalition Brewing will be the first brewery in Portland that partners with home brewers and engages customers to develop new beer. Coalition brewers will work with you to develop a recipe (or as Lead Brewer Bruce McPhee puts it… “recipes of happiness”), help you brew on their 10-gallon system, and then rotate your beer on tap in the pub. All for free.

Co-founders of Coalition Brewing, Elan Walsky and Kiley Hoyt, have roots in home brewing themselves. It was at homebrew store Steinbarts (where Elan worked and Kiley shopped) that the two brewers first hatched their idea to open a brewpub. Mixing their passion for brewing with bigger brewery experience, (they brought on a 10-year veteran from Deschutes, Bruce McPhee, as Brew Master and knower of all things beer), Hoyt and Walsky hope to create a unique, collaborative and successful Portland brewpub.

Coalition Brewery is located at 2724 SE Ankeny in Portland

Their intimate tasting room held a special Valentine’s weekend event with live music, fruit, chocolate, cheese and of course, their specialty wines. What more appropriate way to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Chinese Year of the Tiger?

Luckily, Tiger’s tasting room still carried my personal favorite wines from their vineyards, the Petit Manseng and Tannat who were both bronze medal winners of this year’s San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The crisp tartness of the Petit Manseng and smoothness of the Tannat quickly reminded me why I enjoy the tasting room so much as well as how hospitable the staff is to their guests. Do not get me wrong, however. There are one or two wines that could use a little work, but the combination of the wines’ overall genuine quality, the mellow ambiance of the tasting room and the down-to-earth service make me want to return every weekend if given the chance.

From local liquor stores to luxury hotels, Tiger Mountain Vineyards distribute to an amazingly wide variety of locations throughout Georgia. You can also order wine through their website, www.tigerwine.com if you are located outside the state and itching to give some Georgia wine a try. Regardless of your location, Tiger Mountain will continue to make its mark on the map as a new pioneer in American wine.

Everyone does it, you know. No, not that! I’m talking about the habit of making predictions in December. You can’t open a food magazine or click on a website these days without seeing “top trends in 2010″. How do they know, I ask myself. Is that a “stay-tuned to find out” strategy or just a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Here at The Local Dish we pay homage to the millions of trends played out in countless ways around the world. Anyone who steps into their kitchen, buys a product or tool to cook with, eats at a restaurant, or fires up the barbie, for instance, magically creates their own unique trend…and they own it.

The playground for sharing your trend is right here at The Local Dish. Other cooks just like you are waiting to see and hear what “local” means to you…your usual Friday night dinner, your local neighborhood joint that serves up THE best mac n’ cheese, your mom’s house where she dishes up the best pot roast you’ve ever eaten, or that best friend who creates a new cupcake recipe for your birthday.

What trend will you create in 2010? Eating at home more often? Exploring new spices to cook with? Trying that new restaurant down the street? Or having cooking parties at home?

Our holiday article written by our editor, Joanna McDonald, really got me thinking. We all know that good food is synonymous with the holidays. Since I’ll be far from home visiting family in the Pacific Northwest (and away from my own kitchen!), how can I make a tasty, memorable contribution to a weekend of what will surely include feasting and frivolity. In our region, there are a hundred or more local artisans selling creative food products from luscious Sel de Mer Caramels to zippy Chipotle Monterey Jack Cheese, so it will be a challenge to pick just a few to take along on the trip.

With an abundance of chocolatiers, wineries, cheesemakers, farmers, and bakers within a short drive of home. I’ll be on a treasure hunt to select a few goodies to accompany me on the long drive north. Let’s hope they make it!

What “can’t do without” local treats do you love to share with family and friends at this time of year?