Passports with Purpose is a group of travel bloggers who band together each year to raise money for an overseas development project. In 2010, they raised more than $60,000 to support village construction in India; in 2011, PwP raised $90,000 towards building two libraries in Zambia.
This year's project focuses on supplying clean water to communities in rural Haiti in partnership with Water.org. I'm thrilled to be taking part! How it works: All of us participating bloggers have pledged awesome items for the PwP Sweepstakes. Between now and December 11th, visit http://passportswithpurpose.org/donate/to check out the prizes on offer. Each $10 donation will support the project AND enter you in the drawing for whatever prize catches your eye.
My prize: When I'm not busy researching and writing about sweets, I make jewelry. While the two pursuits might seem very different, they appeal to me for many of the same reasons: craftsmanship, nostalgia, and the opportunity to see more clearly what people value and how they express their feelings for one another.
My double-sided vitrine lockets were inspired by Victorian lockets designed for holding fragile treasures such as miniature paintings, butterfly wings, fabric, or locks of hair. I loved the idea so much, I spent more than a year just figuring out how to make them! Each vitrine is made up of two curved lenses held together in a sterling silver frame. To customize a vitrine, just unscrew the the loop at the top to open the frame; put paper, pictures, or small objects between the lenses, and screw the frame closed again. I make each locket myself using watch crystals and sterling silver. They're available in S (25mm), M (35mm), and L (45mm). Each one comes with a hand-finished sterling chain that adjusts to three different lengths, and travels in a sturdy steel tin.
For the PwP Sweepstakes, I'm offering a vitrine in your choice of size, PLUS, if you would prefer not to fill your vitrine yourself, I'll provide a custom design service. Just send me the small items of your choice; I'll arrange them in the appropriate vitrine and send it right back to you.*
Heading out on a journey? This is the perfect accessory: since you can change the contents every day, it'll go with everything!Or just getting home? Make a meaningful memento by filling a vitrine with a ticket stub, some beach sand, a dried leaf, or other small souvenir.
*Here's my fine print: It is the winner's responsibility to send me any items for inclusion in the vitrine pendant. l will contact the winner for approval before any irreversible alterations (eg, cutting, gluing) are made to the items. The prize must be redeemed by June 30, 2013.
Cherry Almond Tart Tarte Nouvean, $4.50
No wheat? So what! Shelley Baumgarten whips up combinations of tapioca, rice and other flours for crusts so toothsome you won't even miss the old amber waves. Her Tarte Nouveau baked goods are certified gluten-free and celiac safe. The rotating menu features seasonal specials like this cherry almond tart and luxurious year-round favorite flavors such as chocolate, marzipan and mousse. Order online for free delivery within Seattle or find Tarte Nouveau in booth 23 at the Fremont Street Market, Sundays 10am-5pm.
Amaretti Morbidi World Market, $3.99/box
Amaretti morbidi: what a great expression! Alas, instead of being death-obsessed little goth biscuits, these are soft-textured versions of the classic Italian cookie. Although almonds are often substituted, the primary ingredient in old-fashioned amaretti is apricot kernels; "amaretti" refers to a slight bitterness that comes from the kernels' natural cyanide content. Legend has it that when the Cardinal of Milan made an unexpected stop in the town of Saronno in the early 18th century, one devout young couple whipped up these cookies with the only ingredients they happened to have on hand: apricot kernels, sugar, and egg whites (one wonders what they were planning to have for dinner...?). Presented in colorful paper twists, the cookies were a hit and the couple's descendants have been making them ever since; their company, Chiostro di Saronno, is still based in the cloisters of a former monastery in central Saronno. Other competitors have been producing amaretti for nearly as long, with Lazzaroni being perhaps the best known internationally. Lazzaroni has been a pioneer in both manufacturing and marketing, industrializing the production of its cookies in the 1800s and shipping its products in eye-catching packages since 1888. Most amaretti are hard enough to shatter when bitten, unless dunked first into tea or coffee. The amaretti morbidi is a relatively new innovation. Although its surprisingly chewy texture calls to mind the chemical laced "Soft Batch" cookies of the 1980s, there are no surprises on the ingredients list: 48% apricot kernels and 2% almonds plus sugar and egg whites. Perhaps the heavy airtight plastic wrapper inside the paper twist is the real secret ingredient.
OmanjuBehind the Museum Cafe, $2.75Certain things about the Pacific Northwest have helped generations of homesick Japanese visitors and settlers to feel more at home: the stands of tall, dark cedars, the intricate coastlines with little islands emerging from blankets of haze, the familiar grandeur of Mt. Rainier or Mt. Hood.
Now add to that Portland's Behind the Museum Caf�. In the neighborhoods where I lived and worked in Tokyo there was almost always at least one gem of a coffeeshop. While they varied wildly in style and size, all tended to be tricky to find and strongly atmospheric, with an unusual selection of carefully prepared drinks and food.
Behind the Museum fits that description--except for it's relatively prominent location in back of the Portland Art Museum. It's a narrow, high-ceilinged room in a modern glass highrise; a selection of Japanese antiques and contemporary crafts adds warmth to all that chrome.
Owner Tomoe Horibuchi was a cafe manager and culinary instructor in San Francisco before feeling the pull of the Pacific Northwest. She's dedicated to cultivating a space that's more than just a cafe, offering exhibition opportunities to artists, tables large enough to accommodate small group meetings, and regular demonstrations of Japanese traditions such as the incense ceremony and calligraphy.
The cafe serves tea, locally-roasted coffee, Japanese beer and sake. Appetizers and small meals are made in house, with organic ingredients wherever possible. In addition to cookies and pastries, Horibuchi handmakes fresh Japanese confections such as the manju of the day above: a small, soft bird filled with smooth red bean paste and flavored with toasted soybean powder. Behind the Museum Cafe 1229 SW 10th AvePortland, OR503/477-6625 
Peach Pickles Writing in The Flavor Thesaurus, Niki Segnit observes that, "As a society lady at the turn of the twentieth century, you were nobody until you'd had a peach-based dessert named after you." She cites Sarah Bernhardt's peches aiglon, singer Blanche d'Antigny's coupe d'Antigny, and the peaches-and-kirsch concoction known as "Princess Alexandra". Around the same time but a world away, the women who settled the Pacific Northwest were also intent on peaches and posterity, making summer's bounty last a little longer with the help of peach pickles. Jacqueline B. Williams includes one 19th century recipe in The Way We Ate: Pacific Northwest Cooking, 1843-1900; since it called for nine pounds of peaches and some spices that I don't keep in the pantry, I made a few adjustments.
Peach Pickles
-Wash and dry 1 1/2 lbs of ripe but firm peaches; halve them and remove the pits. -Combine 1/2 lb sugar, 1/2c white vinegar, 2 sticks cinnamon, 12 cloves, and 1 Tbs cardamom seeds; bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and reduce the liquid to a syrup. -Remove the syrup from the heat and gently add the fruit, stirring to coat. -Follow your usual canning procedure or pack the cooled fruit and syrup in a jar and store in the fridge. -Eat as-is or with vanilla ice cream, and use the delicious syrup as a dessert topping or drink flavoring.
BougatsaSt Demetrios Greek Festival, $5
The organizers of the annual Greek Festival at Seattle's St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church have clearly learned a few things since the festival was first held in 1960. After fifty-two years, they have celebrating down to a science.
Entering the festival is like arriving in a foreign country: exchange some cash for festival tokens and pick up a helpful map. Get the lay of the land by attending an informative sanctuary tour, then pick up some souvenirs at one of the shops or bookstores. Having worked up an appetite, chose from sit-down meals in the dining room, beer and snacks at the adults-only tavernas, or coffee and sweets--available by the box from the Agora market or by the piece from the Kafenion. The bougatsa (above) is served warm from the oven, highlighting its great interplay of textures: crinkly phyllo pastry, creamy custard, and crunchy walnuts. Also available:
Baklava: a sweet sandwich of walnuts, cinnamon, and buttered phyllo, soaked in syrupBakalava sundae: a new spin on the old favorite, chopped baklava pastry with espresso, vanilla ice cream, and whipped creamKourambiethes: butter cookies coated in compacted powdered sugar Kataifi: shredded phyllo pastry with walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar Pasteli: candy made from sesame seeds and honey Galaktoboureko: semolina custard with crispy buttered phyllo, soaked in orange blossom syrup Koulouraki: pretty braided butter cookies Melomakarona: olive oil cookies flavored with orange, brandy, honey, and walnuts Loukoumades: doughnuts with honey and cinnamon
Shrub
Acetic acid is powerful stuff, capable of clearing your sinuses, cleaning your bathroom, or transforming bland and perishable cucumbers into zingy pickles with a near-infinite shelf life. Along with water, acetic acid is the essential ingredient in vinegar--but it need not be the dominant flavor. Brewing vinegar directly from tasty ingredients such as fruits and grains ("pure vinegars") or adding these ingredients to vinegar prior to a second, shorter fermentation process ("compound vinegars") can result in something more like a liqueur: smooth, intense, aromatic, and even drinkable, usually as an apertif, digestif, or diluted into a kind of spritzer. In many places, that mixture of fruit vinegar and water or soda water is known as "shrub".
Home-brewed compound vinegars have a long history and after a quiet spell have seen a recent bump in prominence. Making your own is easy (shrub is the jam of lazy DIYers) and relatively cheap if you use the fecund-est local fruit of the moment (in my case, cherries). Cherry Shrub 4 lbs cherries, washed, sorted, stemmed, and pitted4 c vinegar (I used Bragg's apple cider; depending on your fruit you could use white, balsamic...)1/2 c sugar (to taste)-Put the fruit in a large non-reactive pot or several glass jars and add enough vinegar to cover. -Let the fruit sit, covered, at room temperature temperature for a week, stirring well each day. -On Day 7 or 8, stir in the sugar and heat the fruit to a low boil for about an hour. -Remove from the heat and when the mix is cool enough to handle, strain the liquid into clean jars. Reserve the fruit solids (see below). -Mix chilled shrub with water or soda water to taste, or sip straight. 
Bonus: Shrub-et!Why waste all that yummy fruit mush? If shrub makes for a refreshing drink, it's off-the-charts invigorating as a frozen treat. leftover shrub fruit (of course this is best done with fruits such as pitted cherries that are entirely edible)sugar to tastewater spices and flavorings to tasteapprox. 2 T vodka (depending on the volume of fruit)-If your fruit is chunkier that you like in a frozen dessert, whizz it in a food processor. -Add just enough water to dissolve about 1/2 c of sugar; stir, shake in a jar, or heat gently until the sugar grains completely melt. -Mix the fruit and syrup. -Add any desired spices or flavorings (to my cherry mush I added a little cinnamon, ground cardamom, and black pepper, plus about 1 T of almond extract). -Stir in a little neutrally-flavored alcohol to keep the mush from freezing rock-solid. -Pour into a plastic tub or bowl and place in the freezer. To create a softer texture, break up the ice crystals by raking the shrubet with a fork every hour or so as it freezes, then give it a final fluff about 15 minutes before serving.
For more on shrub's history and resurgence in popularity, check out this NYT article.
