If you’ve read this blog or know me in any way, you may be aware that I have this obsession with/love for baking bread. Despite reading numerous books and taking bread baking classes, I am still far from perfecting the art form. A few months ago, I ran into Chef Laurie Pfalzer. We used to [...]

When I was a kid my mom and I would take walks up to the woods during the summer. If we were lucky enough, we could snatch a few juneberries ripe on the shrub. My mom always had plans for them – crisps, sauces, jams – but my mission was to eat them all before [...]

I missed out on the Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign. Merely a participant in the eating festivities, I refrained from being too involved in dictating the meal’s ingredients. For Easter, I was called in to be the back-up family cook as my husband’s grandma had recently undergone knee replacement surgery. Thrilled to help, I also [...]

For Valentine’s Day, Chef (that would be my husband) and Cook (that would be me) decided to spend the lover’s holiday at home. We both adore the kitchen and decided on a four-course dinner. Flipping coins for the courses, he pulled the starter and meat course, I, pasta and dessert.

Through the Twitter grapevine but mostly from the mouth of @LolaLocal, I discovered the Cascade Harvest Coalition’s Eat Local Challenge for Thanksgiving. I unofficially took on the challenge, but there was just one small glitch. My grandma-in-law is the sanctioned Thanksgiving chef in the family and I couldn’t step in and dictate her ingredient choices.

When our friends Chris and Renee got engaged this past summer there was no question that Charlie and I would host an engagement celebration for them. After all, they did the same for us when Charlie got down on one knee. Three weeks ago we opened up our doors and a few bottles of champagne.

“Supper’s ready!” Grandpa’s voice echoed down the hallway into each room of the house, catching everyone’s ear as it passed by. Caught mid-stroke while combing Barbie’s hair in my Aunt Suzie’s room, I moved with the family herd as we gathered around the dining room table, some of us spilling into the adjacent living room. [...]

I had a craving for cornbread and blueberries. I had half a print of Hayton Farms blueberries left to consume, milk from Twin Brook Creamery, Wilcox eggs from the bulk section at Metropolitan Market, and four petite ramekins begging to be filled with something scrumptious.
Charlie had already finished getting ready for the day by the [...]

This past Sunday, I was hawking hummus (Sound Bites Sauce & Spread Co.) at the Lake Forest Park Farmers Market. For most of the afternoon I was stuck within the four corners of the tent, sampling crackers and spreads, chatting with market goers, and looking longingly at the local products within eyesight. When I had [...]

I often dismiss the culinary side of my upbringing, tossing aside my meat and potatoes diet and wondering where in the world I acquired my curiosity for food.
My palate has expanded light years since moving to the Pacific Northwest and perhaps so has my mom’s, still planted in northwestern Minnesota, but the more I look [...]