Mission Statement

Portland Home Cooking & Home Cottage B. & B.

I strive to create recipes with a light touch, good taste, moderation and community in mind. 

We hope to provide an enviromentally conscious Home Cottage Bed & Breakfast for community guests who want to stay in a clean, cozy, unique space in a charming neighborhood.

My goal is to joyfully share my experience and knowledge with you so that you too can cook simply, seasonally and well with less effort.

We pledge to never compromise on quality or service. 

 Each week over 300 farmers leave the land (Farm Aid). 

Small family farms are becoming extinct along with the family farmer's committment to healthy stewardship of the land.  Every year, America loses 1.2 million acres of farmland, much of it our best and most productive farmland near where most Americans live. Over 11,800 acres of agricultural land per year are converted to development in Oregon. (American Farmland Trust) 

Shopping locally for foods that are farmed, ranched prepared and processed near where we live will not only put more sustainable meals on your tables.

• Shopping seasonally provides food that's at peak freshness when we buy it. So it tastes better. And it's more nourishing.

Farmers in your area spend most of their money locally for their needed food, supplies, tools, home needs, etc. This, in turn, supports other local businesses and your community - bringing jobs to where you live.

To learn more please give us a call at  503-239-1989 or email 

  A few column clips

An advocate of family farms and seasonal eating, Judi supports local shopping and spending as a means of sustaining our communities. She is a member of Friends of Family Farmers, the Oregon State University Master Gardeners' Volunteer program and the American Farmland Trust.

Welcome!

 Biography

A self proclaimed kitchen scientist, Judith Yamada perpetually experiments with original recipes, in the process of writing a seasonal cookbook. Some experiments are fabulous and some are failures, but she continues the quest.

In 2010, she was the grand prize recipe winner in Organic Gardening Magazine's 2010 Holiday Recipe Contest for her "Gardener's Seasonal Company Galette" recipe . She was also a winner for her original recipe in the 2010 Safeway Cheese Champions contest for " Pepperjack Cornbread with Spicy Maple Glaze", received honorable mention in 2011 from Fleischmann's Yeast and the Kansas Wheat Growers Association contest for her  "Carmelized Leek and Potato Bread recipe and was recently published in the Taste of Home Celebrations Cookbook for her  "Baked Eggs Bruschetta recipe.

Judi worked as a Juvenile Court Counselor for over a dozen years, counseling youth and families, and also coordinated a Benton County mediation program for three years.  

Her professional food and culinary experiences include writing a freelance weekly food column for the Corvallis Gazette-Times, a daily newspaper in Corvallis Oregon, for a few years. During that period she interviewed numerous experts, community figures and chefs. 

In May, 2010, she became a writer for Examiner.com, writing the weekly "Portland Fresh Foods" column. She also writes a food blog through this website.

Judi's experience as a baker began at the age of 10 and her culinary and gardening experience spans decades.

Education:

• AAS degree in Restaurant Management (Portland Community College); 1979
• BS in Sociology, with an emphasis on Human Services (Oregon State University); 1993
• Integrative Aromatherapist certification (Institute of Integrative Aromatherapy); 2006.  
• Oregon State University Master Gardener volunteer training and certification; 2011

Examiner.com column"Portland Fresh Foods"

Seasonal Home Gourmet blog