Thrilled to share the news that Lisa Ekus, my longtime literary agent and dear friend, who’s also founder and president of  The Lisa Ekus Group, will be awarded the honor of 2012 Outstanding Career by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau with the goal of recognizing and rewarding international culinary talent. Awards are given to cookbooks of excellence and culinary professionals from all over the globe.

The award will be handed out on February 23, 2013, in Paris, France, at the Gourmand Awards Gala event. Past winners of the Outstanding Career Award include Chuck Williams, Richard Grausman, and Dun Gifford.

From the press release I learned that, in her more than 30 years in the culinary industry, Lisa has cooked dinner for Julia Child; media trained Emeril Lagasse and Padma Lakshmi; secured book deals for more than 150 authors (me included–thanks, Lisa!); created culinary partnerships with leading manufacturers such as Lipton, Del Monte, Keebler, General Mills, Kraft, and Williams-Sonoma; and represented numerous restaurants, books, and food companies for public relations, including American Roland Food Corp.

Lisa’s cookbook collection numbers more than 7,000 volumes (and counting!). She also works closely with a number of charitable organizations, including The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, PeaceTrees Vietnam, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The Lisa Ekus Group began as a public relations agency—the first of its kind in the United States devoted entirely to cookbooks, chefs, and food products. The company has grown into a full-service culinary agency providing media training, public relations, consulting, talent representation, and literary-agency services to a world of culinary talent.

In 2000, The Lisa Ekus Group began offering Literary Agenting services and has since negotiated more than 350 book deals with such publishers as Andrews McMeel, Running Press, Artisan, Chronicle, HarperCollins, Penguin, Robert Rose, Simon & Schuster, Sterling, Ten Speed Press, and my personal favorite, Wiley, publisher of “Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining: The People, Places, Food, and Drink of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.”

Congratulations to Lisa for being such a pioneer in the culinary world. And personal thanks for all you have done to further and enhance my career.

Hope everyone had the happiest of holidays, and cheers to the New Year!

We will be taking the next few months off to clean out the office, while we noodle around on a new book.

Which means, for the foreseeable future, the Northwest Notes blog is on hiatus. I figure if Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson could take six months off last year, and Hillary (Clinton) is taking some time off this year, so can I.

Thanks for reading my bl0g over the past many years. It started way back in December 2004 with a recipe for Holiday Crab Boils. . .and wraps up for now, at least, with a total of 707 blog posts as of today.

I will continue to our Recipes of the Month, along with a suggested wine pairing, as recipes are one of the most popular features on the Northwest Wining and Dining website.

And perhaps I’ll write an occasional blog post about a subject of great interest and/or urgency. Got to keep that SEO ranking high as well. J

Please continue to catch up with me on the social-media networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Also please don’t forget that my Pike Place Public Market Seafood Cookbook is available in both print and e-versions. At just $14.95 per copy for the print version (substantially less on Amazon.com), it’s the perfect gift book and/or Northwest souvenir.

Thank you for your support so far, and cheers to the promise of 2013!

Every holiday season, my two honorary sises and I have lunch at icon Grill in downtown Seattle. I’ve written about these get-togethers for The Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine in an article about holiday traditions.

And I’m happy to report that last Friday we again partook of icon’s fun seasonal offerings while we basked in the holiday spirit amid a plethora of colorfully decorated Christmas trees and holiday tchotches.

As usual, I enjoyed the Butternut Squash Bisque and Grilled Pear Salad. Sis and Sis shared the Holiday Wreath Salad and Candy Cane Beet Salad.

We talked so much, and all had to get back to work or appointments, that we didn’t have time for dessert this year, sigh.

But if time had allowed, we would have tried a brand-new item that sounds decadently delish–Eggnog Pudding and Italian Rum Cake.

We were happy to see that, once again, chef Nick Musser and crew are offering a program featuring five Chateau Ste. Michelle wines by the glass or bottle  in which a portion of the proceeds benefit colleges and universities in our region that offer vitculture and enology programs.

The Grill’s popular Santa Brunches run Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., through December 23.

Oregon wine pioneer Bill Stoller’s 20-year vision is coming to fruition (so to speak) this fall, as Stoller Family Estate celebrated three big milestones including a new name, expansion of its wine-growing team, and a new state-of-the-art tasting room which opened last month.

The company’s new name reflects the evolution of the vineyard and entire property over the last 20 years, and maturation of the winemaking team over the last decade.

The just-released 2010 Reserve Chardonnay ($28 SRP) is the first wine displaying the new name and labels; 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir will be introduced in fall 2013.

Founder, Bill Stoller, purchased his family’s 373-acre farm in 1993 and has since transformed it into the largest contiguous vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills, with nearly 200 acres under vine.

He comments, “We knew that this project would require a long-term vision, the right people to achieve it, and a lot of patience. From the beginning, I envisioned building a legacy beyond that of our family — a vineyard demonstrating the top quality of wine being made in Oregon and a property preserving the natural beauty of this agricultural land for generations to come.

“Our winemaker, Melissa Burr, who is this year celebrating her tenth vintage, has been instrumental in achieving this vision with our expanding wine-growing team.”

Stoller Family Estate is a source for several prominent Oregon wineries including Adelsheim, Chehalem, and Argyle.

Stoller continues, “Our new tasting room will allow our guests to learn about wine while enjoying expansive views of the vineyard, which is of course the focal point of our work here at Stoller. Those who want the opportunity to visit surrounding wineries, restaurants and other businesses in Yamhill County can stay at one of our three recently renovated guest homes.”

More about Stoller Family Estate’s new tasting room:

The building integrates environmental sustainability with high efficiency design and will harvest at least 100-percent of its energy with a 236-panel solar panel installation. A few notable design features include a green roof, skylights, salvaged timbers, and plans for an electric-vehicle charging station.

More about Stoller Family Estate:

Stoller Family Estate is one of Oregon’s most highly regarded vineyards and wineries. Pioneering Oregonian and Founder, Bill Stoller, purchased his family’s second-generation farm in 1993 with the vision of cultivating an enduring legacy for the land and Oregon wine industry. Over the last 20 years, he has patiently transformed the 373-acre property into the largest contiguous vineyard in the Dundee Hills and a sought after source of fruit for premier producers. Longtime Winemaker, Melissa Burr, works in concert with Vineyard Manager, Robert Schultz, to oversee the site’s continued refinement and steward Stoller’s legacy of growing exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Stoller Family Estate features North America’s first LEED® Gold certified winery, three guest homes and a new state-of-the-art tasting room with panoramic vineyard views.

When Spencer and I first moved to Seattle more than 22 years ago, we knew nothing about Pacific Northwest food and wine.

Wanting to learn more, we often attended monthly meetings and events hosted by The Enological Society of the Pacific Northwest (ES).

The last ES event we went to was at the Woodmark Hotel on Carillon Point. It was one of those gorgeous, sunny Seattle nights you never forget, thanks in large part to spending the evening sitting next to winemaker John Bell while sampling through his and many other talented Washington winemakers’ prize-winning wines.

Cut to today, when ES will end its run after an impressive 35 years! ES will go out with an evening of wine appreciation featuring a gourmet dinner, distinguished guest speakers, and an open mic opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the organization.

The event takes place Thursday, November 8, in the Chateau Ste. Michelle Ballroom (14111 NE 145th Street Woodinville, WA 98072). Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Historical Exhibit at the Walter Clore Center in Prosser, WA.

According to ES board member (and our buddy) Gerry Warren, “This event will serve as the grand finale for the organization and celebrate 35 years of education and awareness that the Enological Society brought to its members.”

The celebratory evening begins with hors d’oeuvres and a wine-tasting reception followed by a three-course gourmet dinner paired with wines from the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates portfolio.

Guests speakers for the evening include Ted Baseler (President & CEO, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates). Brian Carter (Winemaker, Brian Carter Cellars), Myron Redford (President & Former Winemaker, Amity Vineyards) and Allen Shoup (Founder, Long Shadows). Warren will serve as the event emcee for the evening.

Individual tickets for the event are $125; tables of eight can be purchased for $1,000. Visit the ES website to reserve your seat for this exclusive event.

More about ES: 

Started in the mid-1970s by a diverse group of wine enthusiasts, the Enological Society of the Pacific Northwest (also known as the Seattle Wine Society) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization dedicated to the appreciation of wine and food through educational events in the Puget Sound region. The society was incorporated as an educational organization which gave it considerable latitude in its ability to program events around wine and food.

For 30 consecutive years it presented a Northwest Wine Festival that incorporated a world-class judging, and the Wine Fairs for many years allowed members to explore outstanding old and new world wines. Regular monthly meetings provided educational programing at times for hundreds of attendees and the very popular Regional Dinners were outstanding experiences especially when presented by a volunteer crew.

The society’s educational programming and its prestigious wine judgings had a well-recognized effect on the growth and maturation of the Northwest Wine Industry as it focused the attention of consumers on the pleasures they would experience through their interest and consumption of wine.

It’s time to buy your tickets for Elliott’s Oyster New Year, which will be held on Saturday, November 4.

VIP Champagne Reception ticket holders  can enjoy passed appetizers and champagne beginning at 4 p.m., followed by the main event at 5 p.m. ($125 per person plus tax).

General admission tickets (from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.) cost $95 per person plus tax.

During this exciting annual event, guests can choose among:

• 30+ varieties of local oysters

• Oysters shucked to order along our 90-foot oyster bar

• Fresh seafood buffet

• Over 40 wineries

• Local microbrews

• Live music

• The famous Oyster Luge

• Shucking demonstration and contest

• People’s Choice “Most Beautiful Oyster” contest

In keeping with Elliott’s eco-friendly practices, the restaurant reuses or recycle everything possible from the event, and composts all shells and food waste in partnership with Cedar Grove.

All proceeds from the Oyster New Year Bash will benefit the Puget Sound Restoration Fund. Since 1997 this non-profit organization has been dedicated to restoring the Sound’s water quality and native marine species and their habitats.

Elliott’s is Seafood WATCH®-compliant and actively participates in the Puget Sound Restoration Fund’s Henderson Inlet Project , The Humane Society, and Wild Salmon Supporters.

Are you hankering for a do-friendly farm and gathering place to scare up some Halloween fun? Then head on over to Arlington, Washington, and meet up with Gary Biringer, wife Julie, and their beloved farm dog Vinny.

The Biringers are the proud owners of Biringer’s Black Crow Pumpkins & Corn Maze Farm. They invite you to bring family, friends, and doggie(s). Romp through the pumpkin patch and search out the new Corn Maze.

The Maze is open now until end of October. Hours are Monday through Thursday noon until 6 p.m., Friday noon until 9 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m until 9 p.m.; and Sunday 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

There’s free admission to pumpkin patch. Pumpkins are priced by size ($2-12).

To enter the Corn Maze costs before 6 p.m. $8/person includes FREE or discounted pumpkin ($2 value).

Corn Maze after 6 p.m., $9/person, or $8.50/person for groups of 25 or more.

Kids under 46” tall FREE day and night.

Kiddies will enjoy a hay-bale maze, kiddie slide, skeleton graveyard, and picnic in the old covered wagon. FREE Wagon rides to U-Pick pumpkins, decorative gourds, corn stalks, fresh apple cider, and apples. Tours available by appointment.

The “Fresh Faces of the Future” tasting menu kicked off at the Space Needle’s Sky City restaurant on October 1, and boy, was it delicious!

Fresh Faces partners professional chef  instructors and students from Seattle’s most esteemed culinary programs with SkyCity Executive Chef Jeff Maxfield. Each group prepares one original dish to contribute to the five-course tasting menu.

It was fun to see long-time Seattle culinary authorities including Linda Pal Chauncey, associate dean of Seattle Culinary Academy (SCA) at Seattle Central Community College, and Will McNamara during the evening. I first met chef McNamara years ago when he was working at Place Pigalle in the Pike Place Market. More recently, he served as exec chef at the Washington Athletic Club, and is now sharing his wisdom with students at South Seattle Community College (SSCC).

The other schools represented on the menu are Seattle Le Cordon Bleu and FareStart.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of the month-long tasting menu ($62 per person) will benefit each participating school’s scholarship fund.

Views from Sky City were gorgeous, especially since we arrived at 6:45 p.m., right around sunset.

The Fresh Faces menu was colorful and inviting. . .

As was our first course of Potato “Pinxtos” (Saffron Scallops, Coriander Lox, and Fennel Mojama) created by SCA student Claire Elise Mitchell. The dish was adapted from an award-winning tapa Claire created using Northwest seafood and produce as inspiration.

Next up? Roasted Wild Mushroom Salad, an intriguing juxtaposition of duck rillettes and a dinosaur kale salad rife with chanterelle mushrooms. Douglas-fir gel balls added an interesting textural touch. This dish was created by Varin Keokitvon from FareStart.

Chef McNamara offered up the evening’s third course, and perhaps my favorite: Dry-Rubbed Seared Scallops, spicy good with Moroccan-style garbanzo beans, grilled peppers, spinach, and Charmoula dressing. Chef McNamara feels that, within the next 50 years, the African continent will become a major player on the world stage. His dish was an ode to flavors from those countries.

Sky City’s chef, Jeff Maxfield, served up the evening’s main course–Hay-Roasted Carlton Farms Pork. Because I don’t eat pork, he was nice enough to substitute my favorite protein, wild Alaskan salmon.

The kingly fish danced atop the plate along with black garlic, beet spaetzle cake, creamed collard greens, and huckleberry jam. Chef Jeff describes hay roasting as an old European technique in which meat is roasted in freshly harvested hay; his spaetzle cake was a modern twist on a classic dumpling; and other parts of the dish inspired by home-style canning recipes passed down through the generations.

Richard Carpenter and Brian Figler of Le Cordon Bleu gifted us with an exceptional seasonal dessert. Jones Orchard Apple Financier was accompanied by artistic squiggles of Whidbey Island Port syrup and dressed with cardamom crème Chantilly. Ooh-la-la!

We chose to drink one of Sky City’s featured Winery of the Month wines, a crisp, well-balanced  Woodinville Wine Cellars 2011 Sauvignon Blanc that partnered perfectly with each and every course. Had we wanted red, the menu also included Woodinville Wine Cellars 2009 Little Bear Creek Red Blend.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Seattle Chapter will host its annual fundraiser, Fish Tales & Pike Ales, on Thursday, September 27, from 5:30 to 8:30 at the Pike Pub in downtown Seattle.

And now is the time to PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS if you haven’t already done so!

Here are some of the latest details about the event, which promises to be both educational and fun (and how often can you say that after a big night out)?!?!

*Bubbles Bar (sparkling-wine bar) during the Reception, which will feature Taylor Shellfish oysters on the half shell, smoked salmon, snow crab claws, Salumi charcuterie, and an assortment of breads from Le Panier Very French Bakery.

*Seafood industry speakers include Karl Uri of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), Mark Tupper (Triad/Bruce Gore Seafood), and John Martin (Intersea Fisheries West).

*Attendees will “schooled” in how seafood is caught, flash-frozen at sea, then distributed to our tables.

*Dames chefs for the evening will represent the culinary side of things, with ideas on how best to prepare and serve Pacific cod, Dungeness crab, and sockeye salmon.

*Dames dishes include King Crab and Corn Chowder, Thai-Inspired Cod Lettuce Wraps, and Spicy Wild Salmon (stuffed with a Dungeness crab cake!).

*Beer pairings for the Reception and with each of three courses generously supplied by our host, Pike Brewing Company.

*Wine pairings include wines from such well-respected Washington-State wineries as Chinook Wines, McCrea Cellars, and Domaine Ste. Michelle.

*Two types of gelato from Gelatiamo, including Pike XXXXX Stout and a brand-new seasonal flavor created just for the event, topped by a specially designed cookie[box] fish-shaped cookie!

So PLEASE buy your tickets today. . .100% of proceeds will continue to fund Les Dames, Seattle’s culinary, beverage, and hospitality scholarships; community-outreach programs; sustainable-agriculture projects; and Green Tables grants.

And if you are unable to attend yourself, please consider buying a ticket (or three) for family members, friends, or colleagues.

Tickets to Fish Tales would also be a nice gift idea with the holidays fast approaching.

After a visit to Washington State’s ever-expanding wineries east of the mountains, do you ever worry about how you will get all those cases of specially chosen wines back home?

To the rescue comes Washington Wine Country’s Taste and Tote promotion, which makes it easier and more affordable to taste and travel the vineyards of Washington State in the Yakima Valley, Tri-Cities area, and Walla Walla Valley.

This new collaborative effort is in conjunction with Alaska Airlines and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. And, as part of this new partnership, Alaska Airlines will expand its existing wine check-in program “Taste and Tote” (which originated in the Walla Walla Valley in late 2011) to the Yakima and Pasco/Tri-Cities Airports.

The Taste and Tote program allows outbound passengers to check their first box of wine free on their return flight. In addition, Enterprise Rent-A-Car will waive rental car drop-off fees for visitors flying on Alaska Airlines into Yakima, Pasco/Tri-Cities, or Walla Walla Regional Airports who wish to fly out of one of the other two airports.

“The ‘Taste and Tote’ program has been a big success in Walla Walla and we feel our expansion to the Pasco and Yakima airports shows our dedication to being Washington Wine Country’s airline of choice,” said Clint Ostler, Alaska Airlines’ manager of retail advertising and sponsorships. “Washington State’s tourism and wine industries are so closely connected and we are committed to making it easier for travelers to visit our award-winning vineyards.”

In addition, visitors will be able to sample wines at participating Washington Wine Country wineries and pay no tasting fees by showing a current Alaska Airlines boarding pass from one of the three airports.

Organizers hope that with these added incentives, visitors from the Seattle and Portland metropolitan areas and others served by Alaska Airlines will utilize air service for their trip to Washington Wine Country.