vegan, stews and soups, new orleans

vegan gumbo z'herbes

bowl of vegan gumbo

Yes, it's vegan -- yet it's fairly traditional, absolutely delicious, packed with vitamins, and even quick enough to make on a weeknight. Gumbo z'herbes is the gumbo that Creole folks have traditionally eaten on Good Friday, and sometimes on other days during Lent, so it isn't supposed to contain meat…

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seafood, oregon

garlic-pepper dungeness crab

garlic-pepper crab in a cast iron skillet

Dungeness crab season has started in Oregon! The commission made us wait for an additional month to get our crabs, but that wait was a good thing: crabs are larger, with sweeter meat and thicker shells. You'll have better crab this season than you did for the last several years…

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holidays, cuban food, gluten-free, meat

Cuban Christmas, part 2

picture of Cuban fish dish

Having finished the appetizers and salad course we moved on to our main course. Now, the super-traditional Christmas eve dinner for Cuban-Americans is Lechon Asado (roast pork shoudler), with rice and black beans, and I had to have all of those things, and you'll see them in a minute. What…

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holidays, cuban food, gluten-free

consider a Cuban Christmas

photo of holiday table with cuban fish in foreground

In the last few years, it's become my responsibility to feed family and Southern Oregon friends Christmas Eve dinner, and then we go to a friend's house for Christmas day. Yes, Christmas. My sweetie's family isn't Jewish, and I'm fine cooking for the holiday because, after all, my real religion…

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fish, portland

a brief guide to Portland seafood counters

fish counter at h-mart belmont, with many fish on ice

Over the past 2 years in Portland I have become familiar with pretty much all of the fish markets on the East side, due to various quests to find particular seafood items. I will save you some time by sharing this with you: H-Mart has an excellent fish counter, particularly…

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pottery, shows, cats

kitten cups!

photo of six kitten cups in a triange

Several years ago I was exhibiting at Cole Valley Fair, and noticed that a lot of kids looked at my adult cat mugs but at $40 each they couldn't afford them. And so my first litter of Kitten Cups was born. These cups are modelled on my own cat Wayne's…

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