I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like potato chips, though the store-bought version is often a guilty pleasure. We all know the health hazards they present–transfats, high sodium, etc. But they’re just so…well, good!
Fortunately there are options. Making oven-baked potato chips isn’t very difficult, especially if you have a mandoline for slicing them thinly and quickly. (Be careful, those things are sharp! Use the hand guard.) The other trick for success is to watch the chips carefully in the oven. They go from done to burnt in seconds. Continue Reading
Okay, I confess. I love the old onion dip made with sour cream and dried onion soup mix. When I started eating as a locavore, I just had to come up with an alternative that tasted as good.
A lot of appetizers are served cold, but sometimes it’s nice to have warmer options, especially during winter holiday entertaining. These meatballs with a creamy wine sauce make a heartier offering, but still are bite-sized to keep them easy for your guests to eat. It’s also a simple recipe to prepare. 
Years ago I clipped a recipe for two kinds of cheese cones from a magazine. They were called “cones” because nuts are used to decorate the cheese dip so they look similar to a pine cone.
Fresh caught local wild salmon is one of the great gastronomical perks of living in the Pacific Northwest. Smoking adds an extra special layer of flavor, but can also add to the cost (unless you know a fisherman). Fortunately, it doesn’t take much smoked salmon to enhance the flavor of otherwise mildly flavored dishes. 
It was the last Farmers Market of 2011, and I was looking for an ingredient to make a festive, end of the year dish which would be both a flavorful and a visual end-of-season celebration. I found exactly what I needed at Alm Hill Gardens–chioggia (pronounced “kee-OH-jee-ah”) beets. 
Evergreen Station (Ferndale) at the Bellingham Farmers Market often has really beautiful organic vegetables–not just high quality but also visually lovely. Last weekend I was particularly delighted by their large rutabagas. The skins were perfectly smooth, the color varied from pale gold to purple, and the size was enormous. I bought a single 2-pound root, not sure how I would use it. 
If you’re the cook in the family, thoughts of holiday entertaining may generate ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, hosting family and friends for a festive occasion is a special pleasure. On the other hand, it can also seem like a daunting amount of work in a season when time is already stretched thin with decorating, gifting, guests, and travel. How to resolve this conflict? Let me pass on a solution that has worked well for me. 
Here’s a simple, yet unique, tomato soup that I guarantee you will enjoy! It has a rich smokey flavor with just a hint of peppery heat. 
My visit to the Bellingham Farmers Market last Saturday was the first since the Market was rearranged into its winter configuration. It was like exploring a new Market, except for the delight of finding familiar faces in unfamiliar places. There were a few vendors set up along the sidewalk, and a small handful of the “fast food” vendors on the other side, but most remaining vendors had moved in under the main shelter across from Boundary Bay Brewery. It was nice to see everyone looking relaxed and happy as the busy season begins to wind down on their farms.
