Karin and I are currently re-acquainting ourselves with Oregon, the state where we spent more than 40 years of our life.  Oregon is now a major wine producer with hundreds of wineries.  One Sunday we toured wine country with two of our friends, Andy and Linda, who have also visited us on Paros.

At one of the winery shops I purchased a tin of smoked pepper salmon packed by Skipanon Brand.  I fondly remember the brand because the first time I went deep sea fishing was out of the Skipanon River which is at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River.  I think it was this company that tinned some of our freshly caught salmon.

Near another winery our friends showed us Red Ridge Farms and their Oregon Olive Mill where we stopped for an olive oil tasting.  It was quite a treat but I missed not having some of our Paros oil to compare.  Being from Greece we got a private tour of the pressing facilities by Mrs. Penny Durant one of the founders of the Oregon wine industry as well as pioneering the Oregon olive oil industry.

The process is very similar to what we do on Paros but the rooms and equipment are much newer and shinier.  We were quite pleased to see all the modern high tech equipment was manufactured by Alfa Laval, the company that our son works for, though in a completely different branch.  Mrs. Durant was also kind enough to give us a free sample of her oil.

The next day I decided to use the salmon in a chowder recipe in the Finnish style provided by Skipanon.  Since we didn’t have any butter I used the olive oil instead.  It was delicious and the one 6 oz. can made enough soup to last us for three meals.

Later in the week we watched the movie Julie and Julia which quoted Julia Child as raving about butter making the best food.  But I now know better!  So I am writing to Skipanon and the Oregon Olive Mill to suggest they do a joint promotion.  I will even throw in a night or two of accommodation on Paros as a prize—air fare not included.