About Poppy
Former life: Ice cream scooper, Montessori teacher, student of psychology, weaver, spinner & natural dyer, clothing designer, entrepreneur, color consultant.
Inspiration: All forms of natural beauty, anything handmade, the way light changes, wild places, magazines with lots of photos, colors and their combinations.
Pleasures: Time with friends and family, cocktails on Friday night, snorkeling in the tropics, danceable music, gardening all day, yoga class, sitting by the woodstove.
Obsessions: Eating organic local food, being healthy, shopping at the farmers market, national politics, preserving our environment, making plans, being creative.
Struggles: Writing the way I see, worrying, being too impatient, reading and following directions, getting enough exercise.
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Fannie Farmer & My Squash Casserole
When I was a young mother I took the role of feeding my family very seriously starting with growing fresh produce to cooking meals from scratch. Summer squash was easy to grow, sometimes so easy that I ended up with much more than we needed and was constantly trying to think of new ways to [...]
How to Become a Poacher
My enthusiasm for cooking is waning and it’s not only because I don’t want to heat up the kitchen. Anyone who lives in the Northwest knows that when summer finally arrives, we NEED to go outdoors and take full advantage of our beautiful, long sunny days. There will be plenty of time for more serious [...]
Fruity Salsa Dancing
I’m on a fruit salsa kick and there’s no slow down in sight. Give me a bowl of fruit and I’ll whip up a bowl of salsa in no time and then it gets eaten just as quickly. Wait for me to make a pie and you probably won’t get one before summer fruit season [...]
Some Like It Hot: Basil & Frico
Browsing through my new volume of Canal House Cooking, I came upon the perfect pairing for my favorite basil summertime drinks — the Italian crispy, cheesey treat known as a frico. Perfect for me because I love something salty to munch along with a cocktail. These are so simple to make, the thought of having [...]
If You Can’t Beet ‘Em…
Sometimes it’s hard for us during the summer to make it to the University Farmers Market on Saturdays. I’ve come to rely more and more on produce and market stands and have discovered a wonderful one in the Skagit Valley called Mother Flight Farm. We often get off I-5 at Conway and make our way [...]
Conehead Cabbage
If you think you’ve had enough cabbage to last until next winter, think again. Last weekend at the Orcas Island Farmers Market all the buzz was about the Arrowhead cabbage sold by Maple Rock Farm. You would think everyone would be excited about the sweet sugar snaps or the spring onions and they were, but [...]
Two Girls and a Grill
Ever since we bought land on Orcas Island about a month ago, I’ve wanted to try cooking on an open wood fire. I’m talking about ON the fire, not just on a grill over the fire. To some people this may be no big deal but I’d never done it and needed some help to [...]
Pack Pate for a Picnic
With Summer Solstice comes the beginning of house guests, picnics, and lazy meals outdoors. I know summer doesn’t really begin here until around July 12, according to Cliff Mass, atmospheric scientist and weather prediction wizard. Still, it’s not too early to sneak in drinks and apps in the garden or just get ready for full-fledged [...]
Ravishing Roasted Radishes
Why is it that the vegetables that are the easiest to grow are the ones I tire of most quickly? I didn’t even plant radishes this year figuring I’d get more than enough at the farmers market and didn’t need to take up valuable space in my garden. That was before I tried roasting them. [...]
The Real Strawberry Shortcake
If you grew up in the late 70’s, early 80’s, the cartoon character, Strawberry Shortcake with all her scratch-and-sniff paraphernalia may be the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear her name. She and her cat, Custard are still around but hopefully some of us remember her namesake as the early summer [...]
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