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.
This is a locavore adaptation of one of those cheese cone recipes. Serve it with fresh slices of apples to dip into it. Try using Honeycrisp apples, as they don’t brown as easily as other common apple varieties, or put the slices in 4 cups water with 1/2 tsp salt dissolved in it. Let soak for about 5 minutes, then drain. Continue Reading
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.
Colorful leaves, a chilly bite in the air, howling gales and horizontal rain–ah! Fall in Whatcom County, just the way we like it! And at the Farmers Market and farms all around the County, what says “Fall is here and winter holidays are coming!” more than beautiful orange pumpkins? 
When I mentioned to a friend on the phone the other day that I was making beef stock, there was silence on the line for a moment. Finally she responded, “Why? Doesn’t that take a long time?”
This omelet recipe is a perfect example of incredible local flavors. Cascadia Farms shiitake mushrooms are the highlight–they make nonlocal shiitakes seem like tasteless paste. I’m certain you’ll savor this dish.
Frizzles are a fun way to prepare winter root vegetables. While this recipe uses carrots and beets, just about any root vegetable can be used–potatoes, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, celeriac (celery root), and so on.
Squash can be a little scary to work with in the kitchen. Getting through the tough outer shell can be a formidable challenge, to say the least, and the solutions often veer toward the dramatic. People use heavy meat cleavers, small hatchets, serrated electric knives, or they may drop squash from stairs or ladders onto concrete decks. I finally opted for safety, eating only smaller squash varieties with thinner skins, such as delicata.
Potatoes are one of my favorite foods to substitute for commercially prepared convenience versions, especially for health reasons. For example, commercially frozen french fries typically contain all kinds of unhealthy trans-fats and preservatives. By spending just a little time in the fall, I can have delicious–and healthy–frozen french fries throughout the winter. When I take them from the freezer to fix for dinner, I cook them exactly the same way as the commercial variety. In other words, it’s just as convenient. 