Harriet Fasenfest

Born and raised in the Bronx, Harriet has lived in the Northwest since 1978. After owning and operating a number of restaurants in the 1980's through early 2004, Harriet retired from Main Street in an attempt to raise the bones of home economics from the trash bin of modernity.

Today she teaches classes on food preservation and Householding at Preserve (www,portlandpreserve.com), her small backyard canning kitchen and business. Her recent book, A Householder's Guide to the Universe, published by Tin House in November 2010, chronicles her evolution from mainstream city slicker to lay economist and food preservation maven. Given her left leaning politics and love of all things domestic, reviewers have called her a cross between Che Guevara and Martha Stewart.

Harriet lives in Portland, Oregon and continues to write and advocate for householding. You can follow her writing at www.culinate.com where she is a guest blogger.