Portland Home Cooking

 Mission Statement

Portland Home Cooking

I strive to create and prepare recipes with a light touch, good taste, moderation and community in mind; never compromising on quality, honesty or service. 

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

My Philosophy

So many of our recollections are associated with food in social, familial, and celebratory settings. Maybe that's why the aromas of days past, carry us to another time and place.

The writer, Marcel Proust, wrote about madeleines, the cookies he enjoyed, in France, as a child.

Even as an adult, the scent of the delicate sweets baking or set on a plate before him transported him back to the Paris of his youth.

Nearly everyone we know has nostalgic memories of childhood foods they once enjoyed sublimely, the soul food of our lives.  

You'll learn  to prepare lightened, modified, and simplified versions of many of those favorite dishes, using locally seasonal ingredients.

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 The Sustainable Business Network of Portland and the Chefs Collaborative .

Welcome!

 Biography

Judith Berman Yamada was raised in Pennsylvania, moved to California then settled in Oregon. After coming to Oregon, she earned an AAS degree in Restaurant Management at Portland Community College, a BS in Sociology and Human Services at Oregon State University, and Integrative Aromatherapist certification through the Institute of Integrative Aromatherapy.  

She worked in the Juvenile Justice system for over a dozen years, counseling youth and families. During that time, she also coordinated a mediation program in Benton County for three years. This extensive experience, working with a variety of people, has rewarded her with the skills and insight to interact cooperatively with others and respond to their needs effectively.

Judi's 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 this period she interviewed numerous experts, community figures and chefs. Judi has acquired many years of experience as a baker, pastry chef, food service supervisor, brunch cook, line cook, kitchen manager, banquet chef and waitress. Her culinary experience spans decades. She has organized cooking parties, and developed, modified, lightened and "healthified" recipes for her family and friends for over 30 years. She is currently experimenting with original recipes, including many that are vegan and gluten free, in the process of writing a seasonal cookbook.