Pantry 
The Other Olive Oil . . . California’s
I’ve taken a circuitous route to olive oil, starting with bacon drippings. One, the fruit of the Mediterranean, the other, well, the pig. Whenever she cooked bacon, which was several times a week, my grandmother saved the drippings in a small aluminum container that had its own built in ‘filter’ in the top. Any bits [...]
Fruitcake Good Enough to Eat
I admit that I might have had a little problem with the traditional candied fruit and cake product. Winter’s culinary ritual perhaps, but show me one who loves fruitcake and I’ll give you ten who don’t. (Or am I way off about this?) Poetic justice happens and when I got married fruitcake was part of [...]
Bring Pears to the Party
Put a pear in a red dress and she’ll dance all night long. And she’s got moves.
We love her decisively pear-shaped bod and the way she fans the culinary flame at the swivel of her ample hip. Party animal. Local pears are in town for the holidays offering feastworthy fare from salads to chutney to [...]
Roasted Tomato Sauce, A Walk in the Park
In the day or two before leaving on vacation I’m running around like crazy, and really, I wouldn’t mind a walk in the park. I’ll be in *Desolation Sound, maybe kayaking, maybe swimming or tide pooling as this post is published, but in the meantime I have all these tomatoes on the vine that [...]
Peachy Mornings on the Horizon
. . . thanks to Billy.
In the pouring rain we dashed in and out of our farmers market the other morning with solid intention to buy only what we needed for dill pickle making – cukes, garlic and fresh dill. We accomplished that, plus some cauliflower, at Whistling Train Farm where Shelley had it [...]
Herbes de Pacific Northwest
I know. I can’t bear it either — the reality that summer is practically over. I makes me want to hold on to our delicious September light as long as I can. I think I’ve come up with a way to make the transition from outdoor to indoor living the tiniest bit easier. I know [...]
Putting food by . . . Pickles
Summer’s waning and you just want to kick back, have another vacation weekend, another picnic, tweak the garden, spend time with a daughter, a husband, a friend . . . but nay, produce beckons.
For some veggies the annual, seasonal show is over. But in late August and September there are a few fruits and vegetables [...]
A Strawberry Jamboree
I was recently reminded of small batch jam making, which simply means that you make a few jars at a time and repeat the process whenever you have an hour and a few cups of fruit to spare.
Preserving any food is a satisfying experience, and in this case you have luminous jars of ruby-colored [...]
Preserve It: Sun-Dried Jam
I’m not a huge jam-eater and the thought of pectin, paraffin, jelly thermometers and jar-lifters puts my brain on instant overload. Yet in my perfect world, I have a vision of a very orderly pantry lined with jars filled with various delicacies to savor throughout the year — continuous reminders of our luscious summer produce. [...]
Horseradish Kicks Butt
If you need a decisive kick in the butt culinarily speaking, horseradish will gladly give it to you along with the gift of its pungent flavor (and a bunch of vitamin C). You probably love it or hate it.
My dad was decisively in the ‘love it’ camp. Cowboy that he was, and he was, [...]
