The first course was a surprise; Charlie refused to tell me what he was preparing with the tomatoes and asparagus I saw him pull out of his grocery bag. While I did some prep work so my dishes were mise en place, Charlie put together a cheese plate with Mt. Townsend Creamery’s Seastack and Fromage, some water crackers, and dried cranberries. This was a freebie course – an oversized amouse bouche so to speak.

When I was finished rolling pasta, I sat and enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine from O.S. Winery in anticipation of the first course. Charlie brought to the table a ramekin filled with asparagus risotto set on a plate with a tomato and asparagus salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette. He served it with a Portuguese white wine we picked up from our local wine shop, West Seattle Cellars. How could I possibly follow this act?

I hand made ravioli for the pasta course. I completely botched the first go round, but luckily had prepared enough filling for a second try. I baked a salmon fillet from the Loki Fish Company and mixed it with Mt. Townsend Creamery’s Fromage, lemon juice, and dill. The finished raviolis were dressed in a dill butter sauce.

For the meat course, Charlie put forth one of his Chef signatures. Marinating a t-bone steak for hours, letting it come to room temperature, then grilling on each side for a calculated amount of time to achieve the perfect doneness. He served it with a red wine and balsamic reduction that I was mopping off the serving plate. The dish was accompanied by a glass of Cuillin Hills Cabernet Franc.

I chose an old standby for dessert, the same one I made last Valentine’s Day – Chocolate Decadence. I couldn’t resist the heart-shaped cake oozing from the middle with chocolate. I topped it off with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Sharing the kitchen with my husband, showing off our cooking skills, spending hours eating and drinking wine; we should do this more often. I wonder how Chef and Cook will celebrate Valentine’s Day next year?

I perused the web for a good recipe and landed on a Spiced Autumn Pot Roast from SouthernFood.About.com.

I woke up early on Tuesday morning, sliced onions and celery, and layered them on the bottom of my slow cooker. Then I peeled and cubed the sweet potatoes before adding to the dish. I roped my husband into the meal and made him sear the roast while I prepared the veggies. The roast fit snuggly atop the produce in the slow cooker and I poured in a concoction of beef stock, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.

We set the slow cooker on low and ran out the door for the day. The sweet smell of sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and roasted beef greeted us when we got home. We couldn’t wait to dig in.

Spiced Autumn Pot Roast

3 to 4 pounds boneless beef chuck pot roast
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
3 to 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
2/3 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water

Trim fat from roast; brown in skillet on all sides in hot oil. Drain well. In 4 to 5-quart slow cooker place sliced onion, celery, then sweet potatoes. Place roast in top of vegetables, cut if necessary to fit. Combine beef broth, celery salt, salt, and cinnamon. Pour over all. Cover. Cook on low 10 to 12 hours or high 4-5 hours. To serve, transfer roast and vegetables to platter. Reserve juices. Measure 1 cup; make gravy by stirring cornstarch in cold water; add juices. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until thickened and bubbly. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Credit: SouthernFood.About.com

I made it through the market with a ten-dollar bill and a crisp twenty, picking up an acorn squash and sweet carrots from Stoney Plains Organic Farm and a round of Seastack cheese from Mt. Townsend Creamery.

I found sweet potatoes and Braeburn apples.

The big splurge was a 3-pound grass-fed chuck roast from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm.  The vendor gave me a bit of a deal of the beef so long as I promised to cook it slowly.

My meal plan for the week? With items in my pantry and freezer, this is what I hope to create in my kitchen this week:

•    Roasted chicken thighs with carrots, apples, and red onion
•    Pot roast with sweet potatoes and onion (seasoned with cinnamon)
•    Pot roast, round two, with roasted acorn squash
•    Fruit and cheese plate featuring Seastack

I can’t wait to share with you the results.

When I launched A Greener Kitchen, I searched endlessly for the perfect “green” apron. The price was always too high and the chic was nowhere to be found. Discouraged, yet determined, I partnered up with my mom’s sewing company and designed my own aprons, sourcing bright and bold organic cotton from Harmony Art.

I recently invited my good friend over for a lunch date to test out the new organic cotton aprons. I donned a full apron with the Garden print and she chose the half apron with the lime green Eyes of the World pattern.

We cubed sweet potatoes for mashing, turned day old bread into croutons for a salad, and rubbed chicken breasts with a dry spice rub. The chicken recipe is a favorite of mine from Cooking Light – Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken.

The finished meal was a winter comfort, hearty and warm.

And our clothes? Clean and ready to wear for the afternoon.

I live in my kitchen, and now in my aprons.

Loving Local Food – I launched this blog in February 2009 after Molly Hoyne suggested I start blogging about my passions. I started falling in love with food when I moved to Seattle six years ago and Loving Local Food was the outlet that finally helped me bring my culinary passion to the next level. I am able to share and connect with friends and family through food, regardless of whether or not we can all sit down at the table together.

Seattle Food Bloggers – I happened to mention Loving Local Food to a work acquaintance and within moments he was introducing me to Keren Brown via email. Keren (Frantic Foodie) organizes food blogger events throughout Seattle and is a master at networking within the food community. I have connected with numerous food bloggers, met professional food writers, and had the chance to take a class by well-known photographer, Lou Manna. The opportunities (or foodportunities as Keren would say) have been endless.

Food Writing Class – I signed up for Candace Dempsey’s food writing class this fall to learn a few professional tips and check an item off my life list. I was inspired to write an ode to my heritage with Minnesota Hotdish: A Farmwife Classic Your Family Will Love. I learned to craft pitch letters, read stories from professional food writers, and received invaluable feedback. The praise and constructive critique I acquired was reassurance I should continue to put words on paper.

West Seattle Winery LLC – This past summer, my husband and I converted our garage into a winery. It is fully licensed and bonded by the state and 2009 was our first commercial crush. We had long weekends and purple-stained fingers, but our wine babies are in barrels and demijohns and we are looking forward to their release in 2010. Next step? Creating a brand name for the winery. Any ideas?

A Greener Kitchen – After six months of researching vendors, building up inventory, and cursing at shopping carts we launched A Greener Kitchen. Officially released to the world on December 31, 2009, A Greener Kitchen was born out of my obsession with the kitchen and focuses entirely on eco-friendly kitchen tools, gadgets, and accessories.

Cheers to the progress made in 2009, and here’s to everything 2010 has waiting for us!

Charlie and I live for this day every year. We have cupboards full of martini glasses just for the occasion, a candy-cane Santa Claus who has supported us every year, and a box (a really big box) of tacky Christmas sweaters. We lay them all out in the guest bedroom and if for some reason you show up tacky sweater-less, you will be required to wear one from the stack. Hey, if I am going to look silly, everyone should look silly.

This year, we found matching wool vests with embroidered snowflakes to wear. Mine was pink, and Charlie’s black. I was accused of being a stylish soccer mom; which isn’t always a compliment at the sweater party. It meant I was not quite tacky enough. I did, however, sport a sparkly Christmas apron for half of the evening.

I wore the apron proudly as I made the requested basil walnut spread and roasted the pink salmon from the Loki Fish Company.

I baked cinnamon sugar cookies frosted with a homemade icing and sprinkled with red sugar crystals.

Friends brought a smoked salmon dip, a sun dried tomato and pesto spread, and cheese and crackers.

Our friends, Natt and Jessica, provided the music with their keyboard and bass. I stepped in for a few Christmas carols while Randolph the Reindeer mingled his way through the party.

Charlie took on the role of bartender as he does every year, and together we create a martini menu from which our guests can choose their cocktails. From Candy Cane to Pomegranate and Merry Berry Christmas to Eggnog, the drinks are a true reflection of the season.

The food and libations were delightful, and the company was festively, yet ridiculously, dressed. Twelve months from now, we’ll do it all again with a new, recycled, or swapped-with-a-friend sweater for the 6th Annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party.

In year’s past I have made bread rolls from scratch using my Mom’s Whole Wheat Bread recipe and I was asked to contribute the same this year. Knowing I could not source all of the ingredients from the state, I felt I had to make one more dish.

I wandered the West Seattle Farmer’s Market with my husband contemplating what to make. “Does your family like swiss chard? What if we do a fruit and cheese plate? How about glazed carrots?” The answers I got were, “Nope. Nah. Uh uh.”

We finally settled on a salmon spread served with locally made crackers. The ingredients – Fromage cheese from Mt. Townsend Creamery, rosemary from Stoney Plains Organic Farm, and salmon from the Loki Fish Company. After we made the purchases, my doubt began to take back over. The salmon wasn’t technically from Washington State; it was caught in Alaska. I was beginning to think I failed the challenge.

Discouraged, but determined to complete the dish that was decided, I moved on to the bread. Surprisingly, instead of dwelling on the fact that it was not a local dish, I saw this recipe as an opportunity to incorporate local ingredients. I added Bluebird Grains’ cracked emmer to the recipe and the liquid mixture contained milk from Twin Brook Creamery. I was feeling positive… until I killed the yeast.

I was working way too quickly and not measuring temperatures diligently. I poured the liquid into the bowl with the whole wheat flour and yeast when it was twice as warm as it should have been. Steam rose up from the mixture, but I was hopeful. I kneaded the dough and left it on the counter to rise.

But it didn’t. I formed the un-risen dough into small round balls and crossed my fingers they would miraculously rise up for the second round. They didn’t. The bread had failed.

We showed up at grandparents’ doorstep with unleavened bread and the salmon spread.

My mother-in-law thought they were both delicious, the brother-in-law went back for seconds, and our family friend raved over the round little bread balls. I wanted to share my accomplishments of incorporating local ingredients. I wanted to wave from my boat saying, “Look at me, look at me. I may have failed, but I certainly tried.” But I didn’t have time to take pride; there were turkey, mashed potatoes, and grandma’s dressing to be devoured.

Of course, being a lover of food, I had to serve some bites to go along with the drinks. I assembled a cheese plate with Rogue Creamery’s Smokey Blue, aged Gouda, and Mt. Townsend Creamery’s Fromage. They were accompanied by some La Panzanella crackers, dried cherries, and walnuts.

I made some pizza dough from scratch, topping one pie with home made tomato sauce (using my canned tomatoes), slices of fresh mozzarella, and basil, and the second pie with a combination that is quickly becoming a favorite of my hubby and friends. I brushed the dough with olive oil and baked on the lowest rack in the oven for eight minutes. Then I layered on mozzarella, red onion, sliced apples, grilled chicken, smoked blue cheese, and chopped walnuts.

For dessert we had to have cake for Chris and Renee to slice into, but I couldn’t stop there. I also baked up some mini cupcakes and dressed them in Bella Cupcake Couture.

The table was complete when Chris and Renee arrived with a chocolate loaf and their infamous cheese ball made with Old English, blue cheese, and walnuts. The food didn’t last for long.

The food was delicious, the drinks were flowing, and bride- and groom-to-be were glowing.

(Give this part your best Minnesotan accent. C’mon, give a whirl!) Have you ever heard of Ole and Lena? Vell, they live up north in Minnesota loving life and bumblin’ around.

Vell, don’tcha know, old Ole got sick and vus dyin’ in his bed. And vhile vaitin’ for her old husband to kick duh bucket, Lena started in to cookin’. She vus makin’ lefsa and a nice zucchini hotdish. Well, Old Ole, he loved nuttin’ better than Lena’s hotdish, and ven he smelled it from da deathbed, up he went to da kitchen. Vhen Lena saw dat he vas eatin’ a plate of hotdish and lefsa she took it from him and said, “Ole, vat are ya doin’? Dat hotdish is for duh funeral don’tcha know!”

Minnesotans love their hotdish – the home-style cousin of the casserole – and I would know, generations of my family, including me have called the state, and the dish, home.

Hotdish first got its start when budget-minded farm wives needed to feed their families, as well as congregations in the basements of the first Minnesota churches. It was a simple solution for stretching ingredients, especially pricey cuts of meat, while still being able to dazzle family, friends, and neighbors with something tasty and satisfying.

Also imagine Minnesota winters when the temp could drop to 40 below – a warm hotdish was a comfort food that was filling and foolproof – even in a wood-burning oven. Farm cooks everywhere embraced these hotdishes, and every family had a favorite. And they still do. Including mine.

When I was growing up, my aunt Connie and uncle Keith prepared wild rice hotdish every Sunday for our post-Mass get togethers. My mom often made tuna noodle hotdish with saltine crackers crumbled on top. For deer hunting season, my grandma whipped up her concoction of ground beef, shell pasta, corn, and cream of mushroom soup. Cream of anything soup is an essential base for any Minnesota hotdish.

Like Lena, my family also had a funeral hotdish – we didn’t use zucchini, but we saved our best combination of tomatoes, corn, hamburger, and elbow macaroni to mourn the loss of our elderly relatives and fellow church members.

Hotdish can literally be any combination of ingredients – if you asked 150 Minnesotans for their favorite hotdish recipe, you would get 150 recipes in return.

The word hotdish is so ingrained in me, that it wasn’t until I moved away from Minnesota that it dawned on me – other people might not know the meaning of the word. The first year I was in Seattle, my fellow co-workers and I threw together a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We were discussing what to bring – pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, dressing – and I uttered the phrase in every Minnesotan’s repertoire, “I’ll just bring a hotdish.” The confused stares I got back threw me off my game. “You know what a hotdish is, right?” My brave co-worker Evelyn, said, “oh yah, oh yah, it’s a plate and it gets hot, helps keep the food warm.” “Not exactly, it’s essentially a casserole.” It’s a funny comparison to me because the word “casserole” doesn’t hold the same feeling and tradition as the word “hotdish.”

I found this great quote from a fellow Minnesotan – She sums it up perfectly.

“Hotdishes are such a part of our history. They are the epitome of comfort foods and bring such satisfying memories to all Minnesotans.”      ~Linda M. Kopp, Staples, MN

From Ole and Lena with their Scandinavian accents to my grandma with her “oh you’se guys” to my mom and to me – the basics of the Minnesota hotdish remain the same whether or not the ingredients change.

At FareStart, food is the tool that empowers lives, nourishes families, and builds communities. It is an organization that empowers homeless and disadvantaged men, women, and families to achieve self-sufficiency through life skills, job training, and employment in the food industry. It is the epitome of the famous Chinese Proverb.

Every Thursday night is Guest Chef Night, where leading local chefs work with FareStart students to create a gourmet three-course meal for only $25. My friend Lisa, an avid FareStart advocate, asks me at least once a month to join her for Guest Chef Night and we finally made it a date on October 15. Chef Alvin Binuya of Ponti Seafood Grill was at the helm and the menu featured macadamia-nut crusted albacore (it could have been nut-crusted anything and I would have been there.)

We ordered a bottle of wine to start, a 2006 Eola Hills Pinot Noir from Rickreall, OR. Soon after, the starter hit the table served by a gracious volunteer from Executive Women International. It was a Walla Walla sweet onion miso soup with crispy won tons, furikake, and scallion oil.

The entrée, the macadamia crusted Hawaiian albacore that lured me in, was served with a lemongrass-mango buerre blanc, spaghetti squash with cilantro and chilies, and soy syrup.

The dessert was a Theo moelleux au chocolate with alpine huckleberry compote. The insides oozed warm chocolate and the huckleberries added the perfect amount of tartness to the dish.

It was a nourishing meal not only for the ingredients, but for the meaning behind the preparation as well. I wrote on my life list to teach someone how to cook, preferably an underprivileged individual that I could essentially “teach how to fish.” Perhaps one day they will invite me to be a guest chef. In the mean time, I’ll give in often to the repetitious request of my dear friend and support FareStart from this side of the kitchen.