Some sauce recipes have become “classics” known to everyone. For example, experienced cooks learn how to make an Alfredo sauce, a buttery bechamel, and an herbed tomato sauce.
One reason these sauces are classics is their versatility. They can be used in many ways with many different ingredients. For example, bechamel sauce can be used as is over potatoes, or as the basis of a mustard sauce for chicken or a creamy herb sauce for steamed vegetables. Herbed tomato sauce can be served over pasta, grilled meats, or spread on toasted bread as a crostini appetizer. Continue Reading
Fall root vegetables are the theme of this one-pot dish of stick-to-your-ribs goodness. Just as the cold weather begins to settle in, the local food markets begin to carry hearty, heat-holding root foods.
If you’ve been considering planning a locavore holiday menu this year but thought it might be too hard, I’ve found just the resource for you! Bellingham Farmers Market has made it as easy as can be. Here are two complete local holiday menus, one based on poultry and one vegetarian:
My garden (and my friends’ gardens) produced an overabundance of cabbage this year. What to do with all that cabbage?
Thanks to the Northwest Mushroomers Association (NMA) Show in Bellingham (
Fall is a perfect time for one-pot meals. Hardier fresh summer vegetables are still available, such as broccoli, kale, etc., and fall root vegetables and squash are ready for harvest.
One of my favorite things to do when I’m cooking is to take a traditional food combination and change it up a little. In this dish, I used beets instead of beef to make a sturdy fall vegetable hash. 
I always enjoy learning to use familiar foods in a new and different way. For years I’ve eaten green beans, but it had never occurred to me to remove the pods and have only the beans inside.
One of the special pleasures of living on the Northwest coast is the access to fresh seafood. When they’re in season, it’s easy to find crab, salmon, and other ocean delicacies caught in our local waters. 
My daughter’s employer is a farmer at heart, and was able to make time to grow a vegetable garden this year. He recently had more red cabbage than he could use, so passed some along to us. 
Zucchini is infamous for how quickly and easily it grows around here. If you don’t pick it while it is small, zucchini just keep growing, getting larger and larger until it gets ridiculous. One plant can easily produce a dozen or more zucchinis. I find it to be a good source of garden humor.
Of all the recipes I’ve created so far with local ingredients, this pizza is my all-time favorite. It’s so fast to prepare you won’t believe it, especially if you prepare the pesto a day or two in advance. You don’t even have to let the crust dough rise. Most importantly, the flavor was extraordinary! I’m not exaggerating. 
Here’s the recipe for the chili I entered in the 2010 Lummi Island Chili Cookoff sponsored annually by 