Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.
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1)  Today, I am flying to Portland, Oregon on a food and wine press trip, which is being sponsored by Travel Oregon. Around twenty or so writers and bloggers will be participating in this trip, though we will sometimes be split into different groups for varied activities. I'll be dining at places like Ping, which serves multi-Asian street food. I'll be drinking wines (probably lots of Pinot) from Oregon wineries such as Chehalem, Argyle, Abacela, Penner-Ash, King Estate, Apolloni and Troon. In addition, I will attend the Pinot in the City event, which will have over 100 wineries, along with samples of local foods. In addition, I will attend seminars on the local Cocoa Movement and Charcuterie Basics.

And on my own, I will tour the SakeOne Brewery, which I knew was a "must see" if I were traveling to Portland. They are producing the best and most exciting sake in the U.S. so I can't wait to see the brewery, to watch how it is done. Plus, I'll have the opportunity to visit an izakaya or two, and drink sake with other like-minded sake fans. A win/wine all around.

The 2012 Wine Blogger's Conference will be held next August in Portland, so this trip will be excellent research for me. I'll get an inside scoop on some of the best places for attendees to check out next year. So look forward to my future Portland posts.

2)  On Saturday, September 10, from 12pm-3pm, China Blossom, located in North Andover, will host the first annual Blossom Festival. In partnership with the Peabody Essex Museum, Chinatown Main Street, the Kwong Kow Chinese School, Chinese Culture Connection, Yang’s Martial Arts, Origamido Studio and Feng Shui expert Lidong Yu, China Blossom will highlight authentic cuisine as well as feature various Asian traditions, in an effort to garner visibility of traditional Asian cultures and cuisine within the community.

Free to the public, guests will savor traditional Asian specialties like sweet dumplings, mooncakes, and zongzi, with a chance to learn more about traditional rice wine during a sake tutorial. Brush up on your chopstick skills with “Chopsticks 101” where you will learn to use the vertical forks more efficiently before using them to dominate the marble contest. Enjoy butt-kicking kung fu and lion dance demonstrations, explore your Feng Shui destiny, and practice your paper folding skills, turning ordinary pieces of paper into origami. Try your luck in the wok races and sumo competitions before grabbing your very own bamboo plant and various Asian pastries to take home. Make sure you stay for the red balloon release, much like the traditional Chinese lanterns of the same hue; harness your artistic expression for the common good by releasing your email address into the sky to find a pen pal.

Schedule:
Ongoing: Balloon note writing
Ongoing: Origami demonstrations
Ongoing: Sumo competitions
Ongoing: Feng Shui consults and education
Ongoing: Sushi samples
1:00PM-1:05PM Lion dance demonstration
1:05PM-1:15PM: Kung Fu demonstration
1:15PM-1:30PM: Wok demonstration
1:30PM-1:45PM: Chopsticks 101 and contest!
2:00PM-2:05PM: Lion dance demonstration
2:05PM-2:15PM: Kung Fu demonstration
2:15PM-2:30PM: Sake tasting
2:30PM-3:00PM Balloon release

3)  On Tuesday, September 27, from 6:30pm-8:30pm, The Beehive's co-owner and resident curator Jennifer Epstein will host the 11th installment in The Beehive's continuing art series entitled, Sting! XI: Object Relations. This installment welcomes guest curator Jeff Perrott who has put together a group show with 11 Boston artists whose work centers around the principles of abstraction.

The ongoing event always signifies the launch of a new art installation at The Beehive and highlights an evening of live entertainment, food & libations along with amazing art. Jeff Perrott is an artist himself who lives and works in Cambridge, MA. His work has been exhibited internationally, is included in major museum collections including the Museum of Fine Arts. He is currently represented by LaMontagne Gallery in Boston. Mr. Perrott has been a key supporter and infrequent co-curator of The Beehive's art program since its inception.

The artists of Sting! XI: Object Relations invite viewers to participate in an active, open dialogue with the abstract art object. Instead of relying on illusory space, they employ the ‘real’ nature of the object itself – its materials, surface, scale, and geometry – and its physical relation to the viewer, to prod viewers into a deeper sense of their own ‘real’ nature. At the same time, their formal choices echo their particular concerns with that object relation, reflecting a personal approach embedded in the universality of their forms. Visitors to The Beehive will be witness to the broad diversity of mediums, materials and techniques utilized by this group of artists, including works on plexiglass, raw linen, tarp and aluminum, paintings made from carbon smoke, house paint and acrylic, in addition to photographs, fabric collages and carved mirrors.

Sting! XI: Featuring the work of:
Arisa Boit
John Guthrie
Andrew Mowbray (Represented by LaMontagne Gallery)
Ross Normandin
Joshi Radin
Isabel Riley (Represented by BK Projects)
Daniela Rivera (Represented by LaMontagne Gallery)
Jim Stroud (Represented by Galerie Mourlot, NY)
Bill Thompson (Represented by Barbara Krakow Gallery)
Doug Weathersby (Represented by Dodge Gallery, NY)
Brian Zink (Represented by Howard Yezerski Gallery)