Seattle Sundays

Cooking Class October 28th, 2009

2009-10-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Hello friends... I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but some interesting career and life changes are in the works. I promise to be back soon, but in the meantime, do me a favor and eat some chocolate. Preferably with me on October 28th! Chocolate in 4 Courses (Gluten-Free)Everyone could use a few more ways to eat chocolate! Instructor and crazy nutrition girl Chrissy Weiss will give

Plum Jam

2009-09-06T21:16:00.001-07:00

I would like to share with you, in as few words as possible, the joy of September plums.The stone fruits are fleeting - once that plum or peach tree's fruit is ripe, the fruit falls and the tree goes bare in a matter of days. Out on my daily jog, I noticed our neighbor's apricot tree held precious, rosy-orange fruit. They were starting to fall in piles of delicate mush on the lawn below. By

Tangential Tuesday - Conscious Cocoa

2009-09-01T22:38:00.001-07:00

It's not nice to enjoy yourself at the expense of others, at least that's what my Sunday School teacher always said. So if you knew that your morning cup of coffee was making certain green-logo'ed coffee companies rich while their coffee bean farmers, toiling in the fields, didn't have enough earnings to feed their families... how would you feel? I'm sure the morning java would turn from an

Pizza... slowly perfected

2009-08-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Around my house as a kid, pizza never meant calling up Domino's on the phone for a large pie extra-cheese-extra-pepperoni-please. We didn't have cable access, much less pizza-delivery access. I can just imagine my father trying to give directions to our house "Go 15 miles on county road 187, take a right at the old spooky schoolhouse-looking church, cross two bridges (watch out for the chickens

Tangential Tuesday, um, I mean Wednesday

2009-08-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Obsessions can be a healthy thing. At least that's what I tell myself every time I get wrapped up into some new possibility, some new restaurant, some new wine... or some new food. I think it's fair to say that each summer I begin anew my obsessions with everything ripe and growing on trees, vines, bushes or compost. Thus my previous posts on cherries and berries (which you know I'm just

City Girl Has a Garden

2009-08-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

I do consider myself a city girl. Despite the fact that I spent the first 20 years of my life in small-town Indiana, know what the phrase "Knee high by the Fourth of July" means, and remember when dining out meant either Chili's or Olive Garden... or maybe Steak 'n Shake (and getting there meant 30 minutes driving at 60 mph on country highways.) I have various valuable and marketable skills

No. More. Studying.

2009-07-31T17:16:00.000-07:00

It's final... I'm an RD! Okay, that's Registered Dietitian for you all of you not into medspeak. This means that there will be no more of this:And lots more of this:Cheers!

Berries in August!

2009-07-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Due to my obsession these days with little juicy pickable things... I'm presenting Berries Berries Berries at South Seattle Community College. If you'd like to join us this next Thursday, sign up Here.Berries Berries Berries...Take those scrumptious berries this summer season brings and turn them into tempting meals! Using fresh, local ingredients, learn to spice up traditional recipes and

Summertime Bing Cherry Pie

2009-07-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Photos By Mark WestI have no idea how I'm typing this post at this moment. My brain and body should be lying in a slump on the shiny living room floor, leaking random food facts into small uninteresting puddles

Sand, Suds, and Sundaes

2009-07-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

Without cheating and looking at the last post, by the photo above can you guess where we went last week? Was it Big Sur? Hawaii? Maybe Ireland? Nope, something humble-sounding, no big tourism pushes, nobody in big flowery shirts, with odd brogues or zinc-white noses or thong buns anywhere. Well, I guess we did see some surfers in Florence, but they were completely covered, even out of the

Tangential Tuesday - Off to the Oregon Coast

2009-06-30T18:20:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow, Mark and I are going off on a Tangent. This trip is a little tangent to our 'get up and make the coffee and turn on the computer' lives right now. Mark has been having an affair with his new job these past few months, staring intently at his computer screen for hours on end, whispering sweet nothings to his new trophy wife - the gleaming and angular Mac Book Pro with 14" screen. Oh,

Berries and Life

2009-06-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

Life is like picking thimbleberries. Or maybe, my life has felt like a bowl of thimbleberries lately. Until about a month ago, I had no idea what thimbleberries were, and now I think I can find in them some sort of metaphor for what life feels like right now. This spring, in the vast expanse (for urban living, we consider it vast) of our yard, out perched on the cliff-like

Upcoming Workshop at 5 Focus

2009-05-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Wanted to let you know about my upcoming workshop at 5 Focus integrative center on June 7th. I'd love to see you!From Chocolate to Kale… Spruce up your summer with new foods on your plate! Sunday, June 7th 2 - 3:30p.m. Cost: $30 –food samples included! · Are you tired of your food routine? · Love shopping at organic markets but can’t pronounce or identify

How to Roast a Chicken

2009-05-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

I really never thought I'd be doing this but, lately I've been roasting chickens. I've never considering myself the 'throw the hunk of meat in the oven and shut the door' kind of gal. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that I considered myself a completely raw vegan. Yeah, it's a bit of a leap, but lately I've been roasting chickens. I suppose you learn a lot about food and even more about

Tangential Tuesday - Rosemary

2009-05-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

There used to be a renowned restaurant here in Seattle (now closed) that served a famous Douglas Fir Martini. Yes, you heard that right. A pine tree snowball dropped right into your vodka 'tini. Though 'pine tree' isn't exactly a flavoring that sounds appetizing to me at first glance, I nonetheless was intrigued. Pity that I didn't have a chance to try it, as the place closed not long after I

Portland's the pretty one

2009-04-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

***Sorry I've been gone so long, but traveling for play and for work took over last week... look for my regular posts and tangents coming soon!I hate to admit this, but I think Seattle's little stepsister may just have her beat. I don't think I've ever seen so many smart, stylish, local and seasonally-focused restaurants packed into a few square miles in my life. And the Portland Saturday

Tangential Tuesday - HFCS

2009-04-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my very first official Tangential Tuesday. Ahem, we will begin this session with a single question that, after answered in tangential detail, will lead us down a path of political and nutritional enlightenment. We will pose "Why do I see the ingredient High Fructose Corn Syrup listed on every freaking package of food that I buy from Earl's General Market?" Deceptively simple, this

Spring Sourdough

2009-04-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, Thank you. Thank you thank you to whomever is ultimately responsible for the color returning to my city. We had little intimations that it was coming, slowly ambling on it's way, and now I do believe it has finally stopped knocking, walked in the door, set down its traveling bags full of worms and bugs, flowers, tank tops and sandals. Spring, you're welcome to stay for as long

Tangential Tuesday

2009-04-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet, Chrissy. Keep it short and sweet. This little phrase goes 'round and 'round in my head some days when, feeling particularly wordy and/or food geeky, I want to throw the whole of my being into describing in excruciating detail the amazing particulars of a single ingredient that goes into certain cookies/stir-frys/muffins/snacks. Does anyone other than me and Harold McGee care

A Taste of Freedom

2009-04-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

I stepped off the plane on Wednesday afternoon, into the airport with all the other bustling travelers who couldn't wait to get back to wherever they were going. I went out curbside from baggage claim, excited to see Mark's face again after 5 days gone. The rain was falling, the sky was the color of non-color. What you would imagine nothingness to look like. Man, why didn't I just stay in San

To San Francisco!

2009-03-25T20:39:00.001-07:00

I must admit, I left my heart there back in 2000.That was the first time I went to San Francisco, and fell in love with that shiny city. The colors, the sunlight on technicolor townhouses, the fog and chill and crashing waves, the energy of a place where people live and do so with abandon. I'm going there again tomorrow to meet up with a slew of old friends. Old friends are the very best kind

Campfire Crackerjack

2009-03-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

No, not a model. I won't fix your car in exchange for a load of firewood. I know nothing about installing cabinets... no, not a model... street performers are needed for tonight!... freelance travel writing, well, that would be cool but I haven't travelled anywhere exciting in a decade... no, not a model... dancers needed? sounds like fun, um, wonder if they need ladies with a little junk in

Out of Place

2009-03-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Local. Organic. Seasonal.These are the father, son and holy ghost of the 'save the world through food' movement, now omnipresent, in the Pacific Northwest. We get a little haughty about it, a little holier-than-thou at times, in the midst of our trying to do good for our bodies and the planet. Gasp! Are those mass-market organic canned tomatoes in your pantry? Those blueberries are little

Crunchy Hippy in Seattle Soda Bread

2009-03-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

"Why the heck haven't I made this before?" I ask myself as I take the first bite. This is like a scone, a muffin, and a piece of sandwich bread all in one bite. It's so soft and crumbly and so sweet but not sweet at all - like a savory muffin, but a little dryer. "This is really good" I think, as I take another bite. I think I could continue taking bites until this whole loaf disappears. I

Surprise, Surprise

2009-03-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Who knew I'd be duped like that, by someone I thought was way too honestWho knew I'd be 31 and still feel like a foolWho knew that I wouldn't be able to eat any of the two dozen chocolate cupcakes sitting before me, all for me (due to nervous excitement)Who knew I'd be given a heaping pile of firewood, bottles of red wine, a gallon of kombucha and so much laughter, for being here so little time

Chicken Man

2009-02-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

I somehow ended up with 3 bottles of toasted sesame oil in my pantry. Toasted sesame oil? That's potent stuff. What the heck ever am I gonna do with 3 bottles of something that I normally use as sparingly as Spam in my kitchen? Not that I'd equate sesame oil with Spam or anything... it's just that I don't know much about Asian cooking. I ended up with those little bottles after I overbought

My Cookie's Better

2009-02-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

These days, anything can become famous. If you want to pass around a funny video of your kid on YouTube drugged up and babbling after his dentist appointment in a manner of hilarity approximating your putting a little herb into his brownies, it can become famous. If you want to create an internet community, linking your friends with each other and then their friends with each other until you

I Yam Sexy

2009-02-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we had our first dinner party at the new place. A real dinner party, grown-up style, in our grown-up place. The furniture doesn’t match, our dining room table is a shaky little version surrounded by director’s chairs that our landlords left for us, and there is no light in the main room (the lights of the city are really all we need) – but it’s still a

25 Things

2009-01-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

I’m exhausted. Yeah, I know, that statement isn’t exactly the grabber that I should be writing to pull you into this post. When I first began writing this blog, I promised myself that I would write about beautiful food, sharing food with friends and nourishing loved ones, about life in Seattle and how food has become a large part of how I experience the world. I promised

Pampered Kale

2009-01-18T16:38:00.000-08:00

I’ve been so stuck on baking lately. In this foggy, chilly weather the only thing that sounds appealing is snuggling up with cookies and muffins and a good DVD. But I gotta get out of this rut… not that it’s such a terribly bad thing really. But I have baked more cookies and looked up more dessert recipes than this nutritionist would care to admit (David Lebovitz, you know you’ve succeeded

Out from under the Pots and Pans

2009-01-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

Whew. It's been a heck of a month. December now behind me, weeks of moving and packing and unpacking, cookies baked and Christmas dinner made, travels back to Indiana for New Year's celebration... I can scarcely catch my breath. Wait, I'm catching it now, bear with me while I remember my breath as I write these words.It's been a busy month, filled with new beginnings and some tough emotional

A first

2008-12-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

Last night was our first snow of the season. It was also my first attempt at baking a chocolate truffle layer cake. This year has been a big ball of firsts, and now that it’s coming to a close, it only seems appropriate to end with a few more.Mark turned the big 4-0 this week. I was more excited for it than he was. Forever the optimist and the one wise enough to mention that ‘life is what you

Step by Step

2008-12-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

In the last month, I’ve been walking. A lot. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a few of my nutrition rotations at a place right here in West Seattle. So every morning, I leave my house in comfy pants, my comfy Dansko clogs and an umbrella tucked into an outside backpack pocket (in case of an unforeseen deluge), and walk 35 minutes up two humungous hills to work. I love it.

Leftovers

2008-12-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

The last piece of apple pie is still in the fridge, but that's all that's left of our Thanksgiving meal. Thought I'd share it with you...**The recipe I used is the classic apple pie recipe that everyone and their grandmother uses from the Joy of Cooking... but using part honey instead of all sugar, with a few more spices thrown in for good measure. The crust is a fantastic all-butter affair

Thanksgiving Pie

2008-11-27T22:06:00.001-08:00

No words here folks... too busy chewing... Hapfey Tanksgibbing.No-Fault Pumpkin Piefrom the New Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin or squash (canned pumpkin is fine)1/4 cup white sugar1/4 cup brown sugar2 tablespoons molasses1/2 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice2 teaspoons cinnamon2 teaspoons powdered ginger3/4 teaspoons sea salt2 beaten eggs1 cup evaporated milk1

Just Another Sunday

2008-11-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

At the MarketEvery Sunday morning, I roll out of bed and walk over to our bedroom window. I spread the blinds with my thumb and forefinger, stick my nose through the hole and squint my eyes up toward the sky. Then what follows is either a "Do'oh! Still raining" or a "Woohoo! Sunshine" or a "Hmmm, looks a little cloudy out there." I suppose I'm the official weather reporter for 4753

A Dish to Look Forward To

2008-11-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

Something to look forward to. I always need something to look forward to, to get me excited when I'm feeling that cool, grey weather dreariness. Yes, I know it isn't very buddhist-in-the-moment of me to say it, but looking forward to something, anything is just what gets me through the week when I feel stuck in the hamster wheel of my life. Wake up. Run 6 miles in the dark. Walk to work.

Friendship Pumpkin Soup

2008-11-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

My friend Michelle gave me two whole sugar pie pumpkins a few weeks ago. Michelle is a gardener and a foodie, and a generous one too. She dropped them off on the way to her wine and food pairing class (she’s a wino like me, we met working at NHJ winery) and in an ironic exchange I gave her two gluten-free pumpkin raisin muffins made with pumpkin from

Fluffy Buckwheat Pancakes

2008-10-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Oh buckwheat, how I adore thee… let me count the ways.1 Buckwheat crepes (also called gallettes) with spinach, mushroom and cheese2 Toasted and cooked whole with caramelized onions and potatoes3 Mixed with garbanzo flour and quinoa flour in baked goods – buckwheat is gluten-free too!4 Raw buckwheat soaked and sprouted, then dehydrated into the cutely named ‘buckwheaties’What, only 4 ways?

Ginger Chocolate Almond Granola

2008-10-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

Fall has been good to us lately. I seem to remember much more rain this time last year. There were more dark and cloudy days. On my morning runs along the bike trail, I’d see so many sodden red and yellow leaves stuck like papier mache to black pavement. This morning the leaves were wet, but only because of the dew of the cold October mornings we’ve had. Little rain, more blue skies to act

Thyme Roasted Orange Fries

2008-10-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

Tossed in olive oil and thymeI have a secret. I love French fries. I don’t think I’ve ever said that before, and wow, that felt good. I love French Fries!! I’ve always loved them, in secret, like I love chocolate cake. But somewhere along the way, I’ve ordered chocolate cake in a restaurant when a dessert was to be split, or made one at home with whole wheat pastry flour

What’s for Dinner?

2008-10-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

So it’s approaching 5:30pm and I’m home from work. Mark is home. We’ve both just stumbled warily through the door, given smiles and little kisses and small exclamations of how we’ve missed each other during the day. We chuck off our shoes and our jackets and stumble as fast as humanly possible into our comfy plaid pajama pants. I plop on the couch and Mark opens the fridge for his favorite

More Family Stuff… and More Chocolate

2008-10-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

In a past life I was a flight attendant, a server at four different brand-new Chicago establishments (most of which no longer exist), a manager of a shoe boutique, a fashion event coordinator, a raw food enthusiast, and a nanny to a tow-headed-firecracker of a baby named Mia. In a past life I did just about anything I could do to make my rent and still allow myself a modicum

Ya’ know, Family Stuff

2008-09-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last week was a blur. When I think back to my visit to the Midwest, all I see are smiling faces, plates of homemade food, people all talking at the same time trying to see whose joke gets heard first around the dinner table, my nephew and my sister’s Puggle dog running around the house excited for attention from new faces, voices and guffaws, and feeling the humid end-of-summer heat that we

Back Home Again?

2008-09-21T15:45:00.003-07:00

Where is home? I ask myself question every once in awhile when I start to turn nostalgic for my past lives... central Indiana... Chicago... and now Seattle. Home is where the smiles are as warm as the food, the hugs are as soulful as the wine, and the memories you create always revolve around laughter that makes your belly ache. I've been away this week visiting the Midwest, and I have so many

Lentil Stew

2008-09-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Everybody has them. Those days when you’re running around doing and going and feeding everyone else but yourself (I fed 200 people today at PCC!) You’re tired, you’re cranky, you’re sick of thinking of things you ‘gotta do’ and gosh darnit, you’re hungry. Most days after coming home from the restaurant, or from teaching a long cooking class I don’t know how I could be

A Weekend of Apples

2008-09-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

These perilous days of September. The sky too achingly blue, too clear, like blue bottle glass, the low angle of the sunlight giving warning. This day may be the last, but tomorrow could be too. We don’t know what will steal it away so quickly, or when or where we’ll feel it, but we know it’s coming. The perilous days, more exciting to wake up to because we know they are

Cornbread for Camping

2008-09-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

If you are like me and in the habit of doing lots of baking, you probably end up accumulating all kinds of flours and sugars over the months. My one designated baking shelf in our tiny kitchen above the refrigerator is always bursting at the seams. I now avoid the baking aisle like the plague, lest I fall into “Oh wow, there’s a sale on my favorite organic buckwheat flour… and oh cool, I love

Upcoming Cooking Demonstration

2008-09-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

If you know me, then you know I'm a big fan of PCC Natural Market. In my opinion, it's the absolute only place to get your comestibles (besides the farmer’s market, of course.) What did I ever do without this sustainability-supporting, local produce-carrying, high fructose corn syrup-eschewing playland of yummy food? I teach cooking classes there, do all our weekly

A Perennial Favorite

2008-08-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

Before I moved to the Pacific Northwest, the word ‘lavender’ evoked nothing more than the color of sweater sets, smelly hand lotion from that chain body products store in the mall, or maybe a perfume that a grandma would give you for Christmas. I knew it was a flower of some sort, but all I could tell you was that it was purple, and it must only grow in the high plateaus of Tibet or something

A Salad is Born

2008-08-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's fitting that the first post in this blog would be about salad. I've spent the last three months chopping, tossing, plating and crouton-ing half of Washington's yearly tonnage of Romaine leaves. Needless to say, if I never see another Caesar salad again, it would be too soon. I've taken the job as garde manger at Seattle's Cafe Flora vegetarian restaurant for the summer. As