Life's a Banquet
'...and most poor fools are starvin to death!' ~Mame

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

Hanging out with Ruth Reichl was really wonderful! I had so much fun and really I owe that to my friend Cynthia, who went with me that night. Dawn ended up having to work and missed out on the whole thing, and Cynthia decided to go with me. We started out at the Hwang Do Noodle House, and while we took a meandering route to get there, it was well worth it! The name of the restaurant was not in English so it took a bit of deduction to get to it, though once we were in and saw the name of it in English on the menu we were very pleased with ourselves! We shared the house special soup with hand made noodles, a light broth, some clams and a few other things. The noodles were spectacularly good! We also shared a pork dish which was quite spicy and not Cynthia's cup of tea, so to speak, (though I loved the tea there!), and we also ordered the dumplings. It was an appetizer and we thought that this amount of food sounded reasonable, after all, the soup cost 5 bucks, how much food could it be? Well let me tell you something, the Koreans are abundant with their food! We got a huge bowl of soup (don't worry Cynthia, I won't tell everyone how you entertained me trying to figure out the chopsticks on that dish), a sizzling plate of pork, all the little side dishes and kim chee that always accompany Korean meals, which I LOVE! And 6 hockey puck sized steamed dumplings that were the best dumplings I have ever eaten. The flavors in the filling were so varied and lovely, they teased and pleased my tongue like never before! I must go back for more dumplings. I am dreaming of those little purses of pork!

Sated in both appetite and conversation we headed out to go the few blocks down to where Ruth was speaking. This was Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, and it was put on by the Library: A FREE EVENT! I brought my 2 favorite books of hers, hoping to get them signed, and when we walked in to see an auditorium full of chairs and bereft of people we couldn't believe it! We got 3rd or 4th row seats, right in front of her! There was a pre-function event for library donors and that is where everyone was: across the hall! So we got our pick of seats and that was fine with me! The auditorium filled in behind us and then suddenly she was there. They gave a great intro for her and she filled the next hour with stories and sometimes I closed my eyes to envision her tales. She is a wonderful speaker and it was a thrill to hear some of the behind-the-scenes details of her career and books. She flew in just for this event and was leaving again right away... in town less than 24 hours and the only event she did was this one! What a coup for the Pierce Co Library! Way to go!

As we stood to head up towards the signing table I was sure the line would be interminable, and I knew Cynthia was running on little sleep AND she had not brought books to sign so I was beginning to chicken out. Cynthia would hear none of it and insisted we wait in line. We actually got up towards the front of the line after mowing down a few seniors who were moving slowly, and it went very quickly. Everyone ooo'd and aaah'd over the fact that I had a hard-back of Garlic & Sapphires, because I read it a few years ago (thanks, mom!)... we got closer and my throat began to close up. I asked, in what I thought was a perfectly loud voice, if I could take her picture, and no one heard me! Cynthia took the camera, asked in the same voice that I had (I thought!) and Ruth said yes. The woman who was assisting in opening the books to the right pages pulled me over and said "stand next to her!" and my eyes got as big as pancakes! Ruth smiled, pulled me to her and put her arm around me and I got my picture taken with her! Holy cripes, I was so speechless (yes, it's true!)and the grin on my face is so crazy! You can see it on the cafe facebook page if you want a good laugh!

It's my dad's birthday this week and my sister Lisa is coming up for a few days so we can have some family time around it. On Saturday we are going to Slim's Last Chance Chili Shack in Seattle, which I love anyway, to enjoy a record release party. Many moons ago Lisa, a self-taught drummer, was in a rockabilly surfer style band called Los Hornets. They were really great and even opened a show for Dick Dale, so that tells you how good they were! Los Hornets was old school, with a stand up base and rough-around-the-edges vocals and they were very popular in a time when grunge was becoming really well known in Seattle. Quite frankly, I like Los Hornets better than Nirvana, but I digress. Lisa is a marine biologist now, though she keeps in touch with old band mates, (sadly, Slim, whom the bar is named after, has passed away) and this release party has to do with the old days. I am looking forward to some great chili (how will I decide which one to have??), throwing some peanut shells on the floor, and hearing some good music.

So let me see...where was I in my past history telling... I will keep this one short since I already took up so much of your time today. I was on the opening team of the flagship Shari's restaurant in King County (Renton), at the Benson Hy/Petrovitsky rd. My roommate made the pies for that store and I was a server... I refused to work in the kitchen when I saw what they had to work with. I did, however, learn to make great milkshakes there and we hand blend our shakes at the cafe. I worked in several restaurants starting as a bus 'girl', working as a waitress, in catering, as a hostess/floor supervisor, and then I hit the kitchens. I went from one job, making 800-1000 pies a day, (1500-1800 during fair season!), to another shucking oysters in cold prep and flipping omelettes on the buffet station at a hotel fine dining restaurant, finally to helping run the kitchen (Charlie's Bar & Grill-no longer there) at the Maple Valley Golf Course. The first chef I worked under was a former prison chef and he was a giant Mr Poopy Pants, though he taught me how to make everything from scratch. We made absolutely everything by hand in that place, including our cheese sticks for the bar and anything else that we served. He practically beat into me the importance of making good food to serve, or get out of the kitchen, period. (Ah yes, I remember the screaming matches we would get into...) When he left he was replaced by a guy named Greg Rooter. Greg was a pit man and he hand built a brick bbq station in back of the restaurant. He taught me about bbq and grilling and catering, and I heard that he eventually opened his own bbq restaurant in Covington. He was a nice man and taught me a million things that I still use today. Charlie's was sort of a dive with fabulous food and strong drinks, just what every golfer loves it. It pains me to think about them tearing out that bbq pit when they got rid of Charlie's and built a big, shiny new fancy-pants restaurant on the course closer to the highway.

My last restaurant job was actually front-of-the-house for a big name hotel restaurant in Seatac. I was finishing up my BA in criminal justice and I hated the attitudes of the admin there. I swore I would never work in that field again because of how they treated their staff, and 16 years later when I decided to get back to the craft, I swore I would never be a boss like they were. I succeed and fail at that goal daily, and will continue to strive to be the boss I never had, yet always wanted. My mentor Greg Rooter was the closest, though technically we worked for Charlie and he had some serious addicition problems so there were issues. I learned things from every boss I had, sometimes it was more about what not to do, though more often I was learning all about the restaurant business and cooking, even though I didn't realize that was what I was learning. I thought I was just working my way through college.. little did I know I was preparing for my dream life.

Next week for the diner classic/comfort meal we are roasting up half chickens and we are serving them with truffled risotto. I am also going to make a lemon and almond rice pudding to have and so that is the recipe for this week. Yum!

4 cups whole milk (don't skimp here, it won't be creamy if you do)
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt, fine
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons-zest them first!)
1/4 cup amaretto
Zest of 3 large lemons
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

In a heavy, medium saucepan, combine the milk, rice, sugar, vanilla seeds, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender, about 35 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix together the lemon juice, amaretto, and lemon zest. Slowly stir the lemon mixture into the rice mixture and cook for 10 minutes longer.

Stir in the whipping cream (mixture will still be runny but will thicken as it cools). Spoon the rice pudding into 4-6 small serving bowls, or one big bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Sprinkle the chilled rice pudding with sliced almonds and serve.

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

Ruth Reichl is coming to Tacoma for a free event! I cannot wait... My BFF Dawn is meeting me to go see her and I will be star struck for a couple of hours. Saturday, March 27 at 7 pm.. it is a library event being held at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood on Steilacoom Bv SW. Want to go? She is an amazing woman and talented writer...big doings in the food world!

Kat and I went to Juanito's in Bremerton the other day and had a fabulous meal. They make food similar to the taco trucks in Southern California and their tacos are muy authentico. Their rolled tacos remind me of when Mark was at Camp Pendleton and I visited him. We would hit Roberto's and get rolled tacos the morning after lots of partying and they were SO good! If you want some great, simple mexican food that is not dumbed down, get thee to Juanito's. The people there are super friendly and for those who want something a little different try the carne asada fries. French fries topped with carne asada and cheese! We didn't try those and they are not so authentico, though John (Juanito) says they are very popular.

Another fun thing that happened this past week is that Jennifer Morris, a writer with the North Kitsap Herald/What's Up interviewed me. The link to the blog is HERE.

As I continue my musings into my food past I keep thinking of new things. One that sticks out is my first love: Del the auto mechanic. His shop was right next door to our house and I was very young, perhaps 3-5 years old. I don't remember what he looked like or how old he was, just how much I loved being around him. I can still see the signage for his garage 'Del's', and that he would let me roll around the garage floor on the wheeled back board that he used to crawl under the cars. He must not have had a lift; maybe no one did in those days. I remember the Coke machine that (I think) cost a nickel for a Coke. They were in glass bottles like they still are in Mexico, and you could open the glass door to see the Coke bottles poking out lid-first, in a vertical row. You could touch the tops of the bottles, but you could not pull one out until the money was put into the slot. Del would drop the money in and let me pull out the Coke, then open it for me on the attached bottle opener. I don't drink soda now (unless we are somewhere like Silver City that has Ginger Ale and Root Beer on tap...I love that!) and I haven't for years, though I certainly enjoyed a Coke with Del when I was 3!

My mother's family loved to gather, and we always had food at those gatherings. Lots of food, never ever did anyone go away hungry or wanting for lack of food. My family fed people at every opportunity: birthdays and funerals, holidays, weekends and other celebrations, whether you were happy or blue, if one family member was anywhere near another they were feeding each other or cooking together for someone else. I remember Thanksgivings in a community or church hall, because nobody had a house big enough for the whole family to gather in. Gramma Marylee made a family cookbook from recipes that were used at many of those gatherings and I still love my copy of that book. In summers we would gather in parks, sometime camping and other times it was just for an afternoon. I would go from picnic table to picnic table soaking up so much love from all the 'elders' that it still feeds my heart as write this. Most of them are gone now and many of the betweeners, my parents' age, are gone or scattered too far away to gather regularly these days. In August we are having a Long family reunion (Virgil's side) at the coast in Oregon, which seems to be a more central and certainly a cooler location than Walla Walla in August.

The other Thanksgivings I remember were at Dick & Louise's house with the big table extended as far as it would go and other tables throughout the house. (Gramma has a twin sister and the family was bigger back then.) This side of the family was the more 'serious' side, and that may be, at least partially, due to the fact that alcohol did not flow so freely here. And just as I label the Wrights as the more serious pair of grandparents I can see Grampa sitting down to dinner and saying 'Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub, yaaayyy God!" and Gramma would would admonish him "Dick!" (she wasn't swearing, that was his name!) and then we would say "real" grace as grampa bowed his head, winking and grinning at me on the sly. I wish you could hear his laugh...both my grandfathers had wonderful laughs. Dick enjoyed a beer now and then... and his beer was cool because it had puzzles on the pop tops! They were rebus puzzles (consisting of a combination of pictures, symbols and letters) and it may have been Rainier Beer? That part I am not sure of... We had a real mincemeat pie there once, which I thought was so gross! I bet I would like it now. Maybe. Gramma and her sister Lois will be 87 this year and they are healthy and able, which is fantastic to see.

When we lived in Kennewick (7-12 years old?) my friend Peggy's mom made something called Kududa's for Easter. It was sort of a giant cookie that was shaped into a ring, and it was not overly sweet. There was anise flavors and a sweet glaze on top, and embedded in this cookie were whole eggs. I recently found out that they were raw eggs that ended up like boiled eggs when baked. It was Easter and I think the eggs were decorated, though perhaps it was just the sprinkles that were strewn over the surface and into the wet glaze. Thanks to Facebook Peggy and I are reconnected and she gave me this recipe! After years of searching for something like it I will finally get to make it this year. I am very excited to taste that memory in real life again!

When I was 14 we moved into a house in Renton. I tried to make 'no bake cookies' once and totally flubbed it, completely ruining a coffee pot and the kitchen counter top in the process. My first 'public' dish that I remember making was a fourth of July cake. I helped out in the kitchen at home and gramma Marylee's throughout the years but for some reason I think that I made this cake on my own. Since I was around 10 or 11, probably I was just allowed to decorate it on my own, and we have a picture of me proudly displaying my cake sporting the U.S. flag over the entire top. I made Empanadas for a school project. The Mexican version of a dumpling, I must have made them for Spanish class, and I remember really thinking they were great. I researched the recipe at the library and in cookbooks and my teacher told me that it was very authentic. I wonder... When I was 16 a group of friends decided to go to the Spring Prom together (I think it was a Sadie Hawkins dance) and we had dinner at my house first. I made baked manicotti for the gang and it was a huge hit! I was on my way to cooking for others and I loved it even then. My grandmother Marylee was diabetic and had many health issues, especially in her last 5+ years, and I would often cook for her. She loved my stuffed peppers and since she had been an accomplished cook in her own right she would give me hints and tips about things I could do with the recipes to make them my own. I loved feeding her healthy and great-tasting foods, it felt like a real accomplishment.

My first restaurant job (my first job outside of babysitting) was when I was 16 I was a bus-girl at Cinnamon's restaurant in the old Sheraton in Renton. I also ran room service orders (an adventure in and of itself) and helped in catering as well. My first trainer to show me the ropes on the floor was a super cute guy who was 4 years older than me and I had an instant crush on him. His younger brother was in my high school class so I knew who he was. My trainer was Mark Downen, who didn't much know I was alive back then, though we met up again 4 years later (thanks to that younger brother who worked with me at another restaurant) and it would be 4 years after that when he asked me to marry him. In September we will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary, and in May we will celebrate 4 years of working together in our restaurant. From Del the mechanic to Mark (who was a mechanic for 16 years)... I have always loved a man who works with his hands!

The recipe this week comes out of the book my grandmother made for us. It is a compilation of recipes and memories from a family reunion in 1979 at Hood Park, near the Tri Cities. The recipe is Gramma Marylees: a salad and dressing that was one of Grampa Virgil's favorite's.

Romaine or Green Leaf Lettuce (it needs to be a hearty leaf and can be a combination of things like frisee, that will stand up to a bit of heat later. Spinach can also be used)
1/3 C thinly sliced green onions (red will do if you don't have green)
6 slices of bacon
2 TBS sugar
4 TBS vinegar (cider or wine vinegar, whichever you like best)
1 egg, well beaten
salt & pepper

Wash and dry your lettuce; tear it into pieces and place in a large bowl (about 2 quarts) Add onions. Set aside.

Fry bacon until crisp and remove from pan onto paper towels to drain. Crumble on top of the salad greens.

Discard all but 4 TBS of the bacon drippings. If you don't have 4 TBS you can add olive oil to make it.
Whisk together sugar, vinegar, egg, salt & pepper, with the drippings, and cook over low heat until thickened... do not boil or the egg will scramble.

Pour immediately over the salad, toss and serve.

The lettuce will wilt a bit under the heat and it is really tasty!

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

Did you see my last column in the paper? It is HERE if you didn't, or if you just want to read it again and again to be sure it is really there...or is that just me?

Lately I have been thinking quite a bit about where I get my food tastes, what brought us here and why we have the values that we do in the restaurant. It all leads back to love and I have decided that I want to share some of it with you. A glimpse into the life of a restaurateur who is passionate about so many things. I was going to write a quick entry about it and then it started to evolve into something more, and too long to be just one entry. So the next few blogs will be my version of my story. Food memories, other memories and all of my senses have been involved in the planning of this. On Saturday mom and I went to see and hear the lovely Molly Wizenberg, author of one of the first major food blogs ever, Orangette, and then a book: A Homemade Life. Molly and her husband Brandon own Delancey Pizza in Ballard, she writes for Bon Appetit magazine, and if that weren't enough she shared with us, her adoring audience at the Tacoma Art Museum, that she and Brandon recently got a dog! (Sidenote: Mark is forever telling me that we cannot have a dog right now because instead we have a restaurant and therefore no time to spend with a dog. I have been arguing that I would take the dog with me everywhere and the dog and I would spend all kinds of time together! We could make a doggy bed outside the cafe and doggy will love it! He just grumbles about needing a fence at home and calls me unrealistic which is beside the point. sigh.) So anyway as I was listening to Molly for the first time I realized that I wanted to tell more of the story than I was and hopefully you want to know more of the story, so I have decided to make it an installment series as far as blog entries go. So here we go...

My mother tells me that my first food memories stem from when I was less than 3 years old. Random thoughts: I ate graham crackers and called them 'cookie nummy nums'; we lived across the street(and railroad tracks) from the Bur Bee Candy Company, though I have no recollection of ever going there or getting candy from there... it may have been shut down even then. I know that my grandparents played a role; my maternal grandmother (Marylee) taught me how to eat an artichoke when I was three years old, and it is a distinctive memory that I hold dear. She sat me on the couch to wait as she steamed the artichokes in the kitchen. The fact that I was seated on the sofa and waiting for her, rather than watching from a chair in the kitchen, was how I knew it was a special moment. She was treating me like 'company', and making a ritual around this event, which was something Gramma loved to do. She carried the steamy artichokes in with a side of melted butter and placed them on the coffee table. She showed me how to peel off the leaves and dip them in butter, then scrape the meatiest part off with my teeth. I love artichokes to this day! She must have been very adamant that I not eat the choke because I still get nervous when I see choke on my artichoke hearts! When I was a teenager I decided that I did not like the hearts (makes me shake my head in wonder now) and so I only wanted to eat the leaves. This made my great-grandmother-aka 'Gram'- (Marylee's mother, Dorothea) very happy because she did not like the tedium of the leaves.

I remember picking blackberries in the patch between our little house and gramma and grampa's house (same piece of property) in Walla Walla. I remember my paternal grandfather (Dick) pulling over at someone's farm and 'sneaking' into the pea patch to pick fresh peas for us to shell and eat right there like it was candy. (I am sure he knew the farmer, but he made a game out of it like we were being naughty, which of course made it more fun! We shouldn't tell gramma (Louise) or she would be mad at him!) Of course he was also the one to take us to Baskin & Robbins where I always got Pralines & Cream ice cream. I remember my maternal grandfather (Virgil) growing tomatoes on their deck and they tasted just like heirloom tomatoes do at the farmer's markets today. Marylee made 'hamburger sandwiches'. When all the other adults got together to make liver & onions, grampa Virgil gathered up all the kids and got us out of the house. This was unique since the usual rule was that we had to have one bite of everything, and then we could go. Grampa hated liver and onions so much that he over-ruled the rule and took us kids with him when he escaped the smell. He took us to Ice-berg Drive-in for burgers and shakes. I have never been a fan of big chain fast food and it was rare that we ate fast food in general. When we did I mainly remember it being at local independent places like the Ice-Berg, and it was so good that it's still there. Chocolate-banana milkshakes with premium ice cream and real chunks of banana in that thick chocolate! My mouth is watering with that memory.

Birthdays were really celebrated and the 'rule' was that we could have anything we wanted to eat on our birthday. I always wanted something like steak and lobster, so my folks were saving up all year for me because I never chose anything like fast food or quick serve places. I have never worked in fast food, though I've had friends who did, and in high school my best friend worked at Taco Time. I would go visit Lana at work and sometimes she would bring me something to eat and, ironically, she always made me something that was embellished and not on the menu. So even when I did eat fast food I didn't technically eat the food that others did. I stayed with Gram for some time after high school graduation and on my nights off from the restaurant that I worked at we would go get Chinese take out, then go to the Burger King drive-through and get milkshakes. Yes, I know it is odd, Chinese food and milkshakes, but Gram loved it and it was her idea and it was just funny and strange enough for me to totally support it! We shared artichokes and acted like 2 teenagers home alone for the weekend, doing things our parents would never have approved of, and it distracted me from my first (and so far only) broken heart, which I am sure was her intention all along.

We vacationed at the beach, both the Oregon and Washington coasts. I was on the beach making sand candles with Marylee when Elvis died. There were always lots of snack foods: licorice, peanuts, cookies, chips, etc... though we vacationed with other family friends and so did not go out to eat, we cooked. We went to Ocean Shores to go razor clam digging and mom and gramma, etc, made clam chowder and broiled steaks and Aunt Betty (who is not really my aunt but my grandfather's niece, which is confusing so I have always called her aunt) fished for sturgeon and that is still my favorite swimming fish to eat. We ate foods that members of the family fished, foraged, dug, and at Dick & Louise's house I seem to remember venison that someone hunted. We got sides of beef from the local ranchers and in general what I remember is that most often we made our own food. Mom and dad both worked (I was the original latch-key kid) and of course they dipped into the frozen convenience foods now and then. I also remember mom teaching us how to dry and roast our own sunflower seeds. We had fresh peaches and at the neighbors we churned fresh peach ice cream (I hated churning!) I developed food sensitivities that I grew in and out of: tomatoes and peanuts each made me throw up at different times and I love them both to this day! (Though I hate catsup!)

Dad made popcorn on the weekends and it is still my favorite snack. Mark makes it on the stove in a stainless steel popper and I love it! Friday night was 'eat wherever you want to' night, so we were freed from dining at the dinner table with the family. My sister usually opted for eating in front of the tv (we were limited in tv hours so maybe it didn't count against hers, I don't remember. Or more likely, as mom would say to my sister Lisa: we liked you better so we gave you more tv time; mom would say to me: we liked you better so we saved your brain for better things.) I would more often want to eat in my room. More specifically I would eat in my closet. I had a 'fort' carved out in there with a blanket and pillow, a little lamp, a round red plastic am/fm radio with dials that made it look like an alien smiley face, and lots of books. I have always loved to read and I would sit in there and read for hours. When I wasn't reading I was creating fantasy day dreams that were quite elaborate. Sometimes I would sing and on Friday 'eat wherever you want to' nights, I would dine in my fort. No one else could come in and I thought that no one knew of my private world, it was my secret space.

I don't have a fort in my closet anymore, though I do still love to read and I have a very active imagination. Pretty much every night is 'eat wherever you want to' night at our house and while it would not necessarily surprise Mark to find me eating in my closet, he would probably shake his head in wonder and ask me if there was anything that I needed, because he always takes good care of me. Except for when I need a dog... but I digress.

Do you want a recipe this week? How about instead a list of books about food. These books are all on my wish list, some of which I have read, and others that I have not read but really, really want to. Not in any particular order:

'Take Big Bites' by Linda Ellerbee (whom I ADORE)-this one is food and travel
'In Defense of Food' and 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' by Michael Pollan
'Forking Fantastic' by Tamara Reynolds, Zora O'Neill
'The Deluxe Food Lover's Companian' by Ron Herbst
'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' by Barbara Kingsolver
'Slow Food, the Case for Taste' by Carlo Petrini
'The Art of Eating' (and anything else written) by MFK Fisher
'An Omelette and A Glass of Wine' by Elizabeth David
'The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation' by David Kamp
'Best Food Writing 2008'
'Slice of Organic Life' (and anything written) by Alice Waters
'Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser
anything written by Ruth Reichl
'Gluten Free Girl' by Shauna James Ahearn and watch for her new one coming out!

There are a billion more out there... tell me what you think I should read, I would love to add to my wish list!

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

It's snowing! Crazy and true, I gotta love the weather here. It's odd since it is about 40 degrees, and has been all day... and it has been spitting snow all day as well. It was gloriously sunny for awhile, just like it was last week, though today it only lasted a couple of hours at best. It isn't sticking, and I don't even think it is scary to those who get scared about snow. (I never have been one of those, though since owning a restaurant and losing massive amounts of business to it I no longer love snow during business hours like I once did.) I have been trying to catch up and clear out my piles of email and desk papers that accumulated more than usual last week since Sharon was on vacation. Funny how doing her job made doing mine so much more difficult! Then I looked up and saw the snow again and had this overwhelming urge to talk to you. Last week I just did not have time to write anything and today my piles are finally dwindling to a manageable stack (for a moment) so I am taking this time to say hello. Are you hungry? I have some things to tell you about!

I got to attend my favorite Chef's Collaborative event last week, the 'Farmer, Fisher, Chef Connection', where we all gather to learn more about supporting each other by sourcing locally and using sustainable practices. It is an all day event and since it is farmers, chefs and other food producers there is certainly food involved. I had the honor of making a dish for the massive lunch (400 people!) and they asked me to make a vegan salad using grains from Finnriver Farm & Cidery. Ironically I had just met them a couple of weeks ago at the culinary/agri-turism conference put on by the state up in Port Townsend! I also used apple cider vinegar from another local cidery, greens and root veggies from 2 Olympic Peninsula farms, and locally produced tofu from Small Planet Tofu on Vashon. I pickled red onions with the vinegar and laid them atop the grain and veggie salad, and dressed the whole thing very simply in premium olive oil, salt and pepper, just like I do at the cafe.(Sidenote: the snow is REALLY coming down! Big, ploppy, puffy snow! Super wet so it melts right away... it is so pretty!) So anyway I was so excited to make this dish and I spend the better part of Sunday working on it, with Mark's help of course. It was delicious and I was proud to present it to this very esteemed group of food professionals. I mean we are talking about chefs like Maria Hines, Jason Franey & Seth Caswell! Farm folks from such fame as Full Circle Farms and Nash's Organics (whose veggies I used!) so this was not small time by any means. I was so honored to cook for some of the finest food professionals in the world, never mind our region! Ok, now I am nervous again just thinking about it... and I was nervous! My dish was great and I believe I did the fine foods I was offered justice; and I can't help but hope they all thought that as well.

One thing I got out of it is that delicious baked tofu from Small Planet. Many of you may know that I do not generally find the need to use a meat 'replacer' because the foods we make are good and if they don't use meat there is nothing wrong with that. In this dish I used it because I could not use cheese and I really wanted a creamy element to the dish, so I opted for Phil's tofu. It was so delicious! I am definitely going to build some recipes around this tofu so you can taste it. Tofu skeptics and haters be warned: your tongue will not know you are eating tofu, only that you are eating delicious food!

This Chef's Collaborative event is my inspiration for creating the Harvest Meal even that we all adored last September and will again this September 19th. If you haven't joined the Kitsap Community & Agricultural Alliance yet (it's a measley 20 bucks for the year!) you should do it now to begin taking advantage of events like the harvest meal. Go HERE to see about joining if you are interested in local food. The next meeting is tomorrow night (Tuesday March 9)at 6:30 at the Silverdale Grange on Clear Creek Rd NW. Come on out to hear about the Puget Sound Food Network!

Last Friday was our Spanish wine tasting and it was a blast! I made several 'tapas' style dishes for the wines and everyone seemed to enjoy the food and wine immensely. Tristan educated us all in the wines and regions of Spain, and I made a couple of new friends who love Italy as much as I do! Angie & Bill have been lucky enough to live in Italy (twice-he is in the Navy) and they talk about the food, wine, people and culture at least as passionately as I do. They are a gorgeous couple and I can tell we will be fast friends since we all have such fabulous taste!

On Saturday Mark and I met his parents at Cosmo's in Port Orchard to support the Kitsap Community Food Co-op, as if Cosmo's great food weren't reason enough. They are the only place (that I know of) in Kitsap to get wonderful, fresh Gelato! That is as excellent a reason as any to stop by! They will give you tastes of the various flavors and you will fall in love with the creaminess and intensity of flavor. Unless you are crazy for really crappy ice cream, in which case you may not love this stuff as I do.

This Friday is the Art Walk in Old Town from 6-8, and we have new photography by Timothy Johnsrude upstairs for it. I always love our artists and have a difficult time when they take their work down, as Shirley Sakatani did last week, and I mourned the loss of her beautiful colors. And then we get new stuff and I fall in love with that and it starts all over again. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough for you to walk around and check things out down here because it is a really fun event. We always take donations for the food bank and homeless dinners (food, toiletries, clothing, camping equipment, etc...) and in exchange we offer cookies. I also offer complimentary coffee for everyone and wine tastes for adults. Most of us down here offer something for fun and the art is beautiful so I hope we will see you Friday night.

Meanwhile I put the beef brisket in the brine last Thursday and I will be tending to it until Saturday when I prepare it for the braising it will get to become Corned Beef. I am so excited about this! We will serve it all week with braised cabbage and roasted Ozette potatoes. The Ozette is lumpy potato which was introduced to Makah Nation people in 1791. Since then, the Ozette potato has been passed down by generations of Makah gardeners, who prize it for its distinctive flavor, and we got 20 lbs to roast up and serve to you, my friends. We will also slice up the brisket and offer it to you on sandwiches next week. I may even make some corned beef hash to serve up towards the end of the week if we are all really very lucky! It all starts on the 15th and runs until it is gone. I got 40 lbs of beef so it should have a pretty good run! Mark will be busy with Irish soda bread and St Patty's Day cookies next week, and whatever else we think you might like. Last year we did a fabulous Shepard's pie, and decided not to this year since we just did lamb shanks last month. I think the next comfort meal will be Pasta e Fagioli, as taught to me by Giacomo while at Parco Fiorito in Umbria, Italy last October. You can meet him if you go with us on our trip later this year!

Of course, I am open to suggestion on the comfort meal so send me your ideas. We have lots of fun stuff coming up next month and I am looking forward to sharing a new farmer's market season with all of you! Our recipes will stem from what's in season then.

For this recipe I will tell you a different way to pan roast potatoes. It is so simple and so delicious, I think it will be your new favorite way to do this. It goes with any main, or you can do what my dad does and pile all kinds of stuff onto your potatoes to make that the main event. From beans and salsa to salad and dressing, dad loves a good potato for dinner. For this style you want the small potatoes, they could be white, gold or red, but not russets. Ozette's would be great here!

Place one potato at a time on your cutting board; take your frying pan and gently smack the potatoes until the skin just splits and the insides are exposed.

Take a clean, dry, heavy bottom pan and put it on a low heat burner.

Place your potatoes in the pan, in one layer-don't stack them-so they are firmly on the bottom and not tilted or crowded.

Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Let them cook and just give the pan a good shake every 5 minutes or so, so they don't stick. Cook them 10+ plus minutes, making sure that the heat is not too high and they are not burning on the bottom. Flip then over and do it again, letting them cook 5+ minutes, undisturbed, and check them for doneness. (A fork will move in/out of them easily.) If they need a few more minutes just cover them back up and let them go.

Remove the lid and let them cook for a couple of minutes, until any condensation is evaporated. (If you are going to add garlic to the potatoes now would be a good time to add it to the pan, along with a touch of olive oil, simply moving the spuds out of the center of the pan so the garlic can cook a bita.

Turn off the pan and toss the potatoes in premium olive oil, salt and pepper, and I love to add fresh herbs and garlic, though even if I don't these are delicious.

Do you want to taste our region's heritage potatoes? Want to try Ozette potatoes and can't get them? Talk to me and I will help you get some.