summer, seafood, good first recipe

one-pan tomato garlic salmon

broiled white salmon in a pan of roasted cherry tomatoes

Believe it or not, one of the things we do when we stay in a small town vacationing is visit the local library. And in exceptionally nice cases -- and the library in Eastsound is exceptionally nice -- the library offers "guest cards" for a fee that let visitors like…

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jewish food, seafood

Salmon with blackberry-honey compote

salmon with blackberries, on a plate with green bean ragout

Since we were having Rosh Hashana on the road, I wanted to cook a themed dinner in our rental cottage. And since we were on Orcas Island, it was gonna involve fish: king salmon, given the season. It helps that fish is a traditional Rosh Hashana food, although you're supposed…

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vegetarian, vegan, middle eastern, salad

tabouleh++

large bowl of tabouleh with many other veggies in it

I love tabouleh, which can be a bit of a problem around our house. Not that my sweetie hates it; it's just that she likes tabouleh as a bulgur & tomato salad with parsley, and I prefer it as a parsley salad with tomatoes and bulgur. So, there's a bit…

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pasta, vegetarian, spring

trofie con agretti

pasta bowl full of trofie with agretti ready to toss

Unless you're Italian, you've probably never heard of agretti. This saltwort plant, also colorfully known as "friar's beard", is yet another one of those greens that you rarely see until you run into it at a farmer's market, then snap it up hoping you can find a recipe for it…

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vegetarian, middle eastern

tray kibbeh with Refika

photo of cooked tray kibbeh, cut into stars and strips

One of our recent FoodTube discoveries is Refika's Kitchen. Refika is a successful Turkish television chef (and celebrity chef in general), and shortly after lockdown started, she launched a channel to broadcast cooking shows in English as well. This has been truly great, because she is really into Turkish and…

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pottery, slugs

slugs and bugs and plants

green sluggy buggy plant pot

If you've followed my artwork, you know I have a thing for banana slugs. They're such an icon of the Pacific Northwest, and they are easy and fun to sculpt and add to vessels. So I make sluggy soap dishes and sluggy spoonrests and even slug mugs. I blame this…

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