Sitting at my kitchen table in the morning a few weeks ago I was struck with an urgent feeling that I must go home to my parents. An hour later I had flights booked and bags packed to visit them in Northern California.
On the surface, I was going home to offer support: My maternal grandmother had recently been moved into an assisted-living situation, and the transition was proving difficult for our family. As I traveled, I made plans to bake my mom her favorite scones for breakfast,...
I was running errands the other day when I got a sudden craving for warm and creamy polenta. I figured it must be the sudden chill that's in the air every morning, that's signaling cool weather and warm comfort foods are just around the corner. Fall is an amazing time of year for weather and produce in the Pacific NW. The days are sunny and warm, the leaves just begin to turn shades of gold and orange, and the air starts to feel crisp, but the vegetables available seem to straddle two...
Knobby, ribbed or smooth? Pale and muted or dark jewel colors? Winter squash come in so many visual varieties, they are a feast for the eyes every time you spot one. Each has an interior personality of its own, but tender, sweet flesh inside is going to greet you every time. The awkward shape and ridged skin of the Delicata squash always remind me to slow down and adjust my position before running the knife through. Once cut in half, the task of scraping out the seeds and stringy bits has...
One of my earliest memories of my grandma was her canned pears. She used to can them every year along with jams, tomatoes, and peaches. Out of all my cousins, I was the only one who liked the pears more than the peaches. She would always point this out, because apparently pears are a lot harder to can than peaches—something about how you have to peel the skins. Regardless, she still did several batches just for me.
To this day I still would rather eat a fresh peach over a canned one...
Tofu and mushrooms seem to work their way into a whole lot of vegetarian main course options. They're hearty, have a certain heft to them in terms of texture and flavor profile, and they match perfectly with a variety of herbs, spices, vinegars, sauces, etc. When I first started gravitating toward plant-based fare, I noticed that main course recipes called for both mushrooms and tofu constantly. Additionally, all of the restaurants I was finding myself at turned to these ingredients for...
Living in Ontario, I get very serious about stretching out warm weather as far as I can. I savor the tomatoes and juicy stone fruit, stay out in the sun and drink iced tea to my hearts’ content. Alas, at a certain point, you have to accept the change of seasons, the turning leaves, and the chill that makes you pull out your woolies and put the kettle on. Life goes on and autumn is here. Chilly days for me mean a craving for warming foods that I feel deep in my bones. Listening to my body...
The aspens are changing their greens for yellows here in Colorado. Golden branches hug the base of the mountains and wrap me up in emotions. I'm grateful for their reminder to change and shake and shed the unserving habits and priorities of last season. With change in the air and weather, we will witness transformation in nature but also, perhaps, in our friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Our challenge is to make room for everyone to change and grow as they wish, and to invite our personal...
I'm deathly afraid of bees. Not deathly allergic, just deathly afraid.
Last weekend we went raspberry picking. I was giddy with excitement after wanting to go for years. We walked up to the friendly stand, picked up our basket, and headed towards the rows of ripe raspberries. I was nearly skipping and picked berries like they were going out of style. And then I heard the buzzing. Not the placid buzzing of a single bee- the drone of many. Nobody told me about this part of berry...
Little whispers and hums of fall are making themselves heard around my neck of the woods. Our apple tree is heaving with fruit, waiting to go ripe. Cooler temperatures are a delight with the windows wide open at night. More importantly, cravings for warming, cooked food are working their way back into our lives. As nature turns and shifts, our bodies and senses abide. The season is new and we approach nourishment with a fresh perspective as well. Despite the turning leaves, I still love to...
Next to heirloom tomatoes and soft stone fruit, the best part of summer for me is all the ice cream! When we first moved to Denver, the hot nights drove Shaun and I to the streets to walk our new neighborhood and enjoy a scoop of this and that. We'd find a curb to perch and watched teen lovers awkwardly make conversation and eye contact. Young love.
Dairy and I don’t love each other, though. The 10 minutes of sweet cream on the curb always causes me a bit of a bellyache. I’ve met a...
I've already started to notice the daylight hours shifting and the days becoming shorter. Luckily, August is a beautiful time of year in Washington, so we still enjoy warm, sunny days that last long into the evening.
It also means everything is bursting with flavor and ripeness at the farmers markets and in my garden. Heat-loving plants like eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes are in their prime and I'm all about eating as much of them as I can while they last. I know not many people are...
I just realized that I shared cookies with you last month. And here I am again sharing another cookie recipe. Sorry? Ok, maybe not. I think you’re going to love these little gems. They are healthier than your average cookie—made with 100 percent wheat flour plus oats and coconut—but they are every bit as delicious.
The creation of this cookie started long before its birth after I was introduced to Anzac Biscuits. If you’re new to them, as I was, they're sweet biscuits originating...
We always plant too many tomatoes. Every summer, we wait and watch the little green orbs start to blush, and then we savor the sweet juiciness of them all. That first taste of summer is pretty incredible. After that first rush though, I start to feel a little bit overwhelmed by tomatoes. It seems like we pick basket after basket of the grape and cherry varieties, little explosions of goodness. Since necessity is the mother of invention, the glut brings out my kitchen creative.
I love...
Editors' Note: We're excited to welcome food writer Kelsey Brown to our newest blog, Good Food. Kelsey and her partner Shaun moved cross-country this summer and they can't wait to dig into their new home. She writes and posts videos about her food explorations in a new state on Happyolks.com. Find Kelsey on Facebook and Twitter (@happyolks), and let us know if you try this recipe in the comments below!
Colorado has welcomed us with an abundance of heat. Although I grew up in the...
Please join us in welcoming Jacquelyn Scoggin to our writers for our new blog, Good Food. Jacquelyn has a love for seasonal whole food recipes and the experiences that come with simple living, which shine on her blog Good Things Grow. Find her on Facebook and on Twitter (@slidesideways), and let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments below!
When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is a little yoga to stretch my limbs and wake my body up. The second thing I...
Editors' Note: We're thrilled to welcome food writer Melissa Coleman to our newest blog, Good Food. Melissa is a designer by day and a baker by night who believes in making everything from scratch; she chronicles her exploration into cooking and baking with natural ingredients in her blog, The Faux Martha. Find Melissa on Facebook and Twitter (@thefauxmartha), and let us know if you try this recipe in the comments below!
I’ve always had a sweet tooth. As my good friend would say—it’s...
Editors' Note: We're delighted to welcome Laura Wright to our team of bloggers for our newest blog, Good Food. Laura is the creator behind The First Mess, a blog that celebrates healthy, seasonal foods and the community that brings them to the table. She’s grown up around farms, loving food, studying nutritional culinary arts and working in local-food restaurants. She writes from her southern Ontario home, which is cozily nestled between a peach orchard and a vineyard. You can find her on...
