Local hazelnuts, known to some as filberts, are a wonderful counterpoint to a lot of fruit and vegetable flavors. They also can add a crunchy texture to soft foods, and ground hazelnuts make a nice finishing touch as a topping for meat sauces, desserts, and casseroles.
This recipe uses hazelnuts to add some complexity to both taste and texture in a simple side dish. It’s a good example of how you can use just a few simple locally grown ingredients to create a memorable finished dish. Continue Reading
Caramelized onions add a sweetness to savory dishes that is hard to beat. If you want to make people hungry, start sauteing some onions. Works every time!
My daughter Joan created this delectable recipe, inspired by ingredients harvested from our home garden. Our garden is small, but we grow an amazing amount of food in it.
I’ve been creating locavore recipes on this web site for nearly two-and-a-half years now. This is the 138th recipe I’ve posted. I think I can honestly say this is one of the top three best in terms of flavor. Since I first prepared this salad, we’ve been having it at least once, and sometimes twice, a week. It’s taste is addictive! 
Roast Beef Hash is a classic way to stretch a little leftover roast beef into a hearty dish suitable for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Quick and easy to fix, it can also be a one-dish meal. 
Recently I interviewed Krista Rome, who started the Backyard Beans and Grains Project on some farmland near Everson (see an 
Most of the ingredients in this dish, except the butter, were items purchased at the Bellingham Farmers Market from Whatcom County farm vendors on opening day (April 7, 2012). Even this early in the spring, local farmers have an amazing array of vegetables and other foods from which to choose. 
Whatcom Farm to School’s “Harvest of the Month” for March 2012 is kale, one of my favorite local greens. I’ve been growing, eating, and enjoying kale for years, so I was surprised to find that many people think of kale as an unusual vegetable. If that includes you, let me fill you in on what you’ve been missing. 
Winter meals in the northwest corner of the Pacific Northwest are all about warmth, stick-to-your-ribs heartiness, and flavors with substance. For locavores, winter is also about root vegetables, the kinds of things that are harvested in late fall and can be stored over the winter. 
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. 
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? 
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.
