Jim Dixon grew up eating anything and everything the Northwest offered, from Chinook salmon caught in the Pacific at the mouth of the Umpqua River to pie made from blackberries picked in the cut-over stump land around Roseburg.

He wrote about food and reviewed restaurants for almost 20 years. His very first published article described how to use a propane torch to roast peppers. Jim’s written about home cooking, oysters, microbreweries, wild mushrooms, fresh pasta, cheap wine, barbecue, James Beard, sweetbreads, and almost anything else even remotely connected to eating and drinking.

These days he calls himself a recovering food writer and accidental olive oil vendor. Jim believes that everybody should eat real good food. You don’t have to spend a fortune or most of your waking hours in the kitchen, but there are a few things to know that make it easier. You’ll find some of them on his website realgoodfood.com.