Editor’s note: The Journal’s website is a treasure trove of recipes to explore while you shelter in place. This week we’ve plucked a Simona Carini’s simple, three-ingredient homemade pasta from the stash (May 23, 2013), as comforting to eat as it is meditative to make. In the beginning there is flour and water. Make the […]
Simona Carini
Posted inEat + Drink
Of Penguins and Chickpeas
Fifteen years ago, my husband and I visited New Zealand for the first time. One day we kayaked in the Kenepuru Sound, located in the country’s South Island. It was a memorable day because, while paddling, I saw my first penguin: It was what’s called a little penguin, a specimen of the smallest species, also […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Pretty in Purple
The word broccoli conjures up the image of a dark green globe of close-knit florets but not all broccoli is created green. Some years ago, Janet Czarnecki of Redwood Roots Farm introduced me to purple sprouting broccoli as part of the farm’s winter CSA share and I will be forever grateful for that encounter. Many […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Looking Back, Moving Forward
As 2019 was drawing to a close, I saw reviews covering the last decade in terms of books, movies, music. I decided that, before writing something new, I would also look back and get a sense of the road traveled from March 1, 2007, when the first piece with my byline appeared on this space. […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Joyful Moving
Every year, between the end of December and early January, I read a fair number of articles focused on health and wellness. My favorite this season was: “How to Be Healthy, in Just 48 Words” in The New York Times by Yoni Freedhoff, associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa. The seven […]
Posted inEat + Drink
A Multitude of Squash
I am not a fan of winter, mostly because of the short days. The only time the word winter brings a smile to my face is in winter squash, one of my favorite foods. Thanksgiving-related cooking activities dominate this week. While I have nothing to add to your tried-and-true set of recipes for turkey and […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Add Melon
Great news: Melon season is in full swing. The list of melon varieties I encountered during recent visits to the Arcata farmers market and the North Coast Co-op is 16 names long, some lovely, like Swan Lake or Snow Leopard, others intriguing, like Toad Skin. We are fortunate a number of farmers grow melons in […]
Posted inArts + Scene
At Butcher Slough
No ducks ply the slough, no great egrets glide. Wrung out clouds pattern the marsh in light ink. Air as crisp as cave-cooled watermelon. Silence ambushes me in this quiet place of still water, wood pilings— remains of a mill— an old railway track. My lungs catch a scent I am an egret sensing fish […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Zucchini Days of Summer
Just saying the word “zucchini” evokes summer and the celebration of abundance for which zucchini plants are famous. I get inspired by the different varieties of zucchini and summer squash, which results in my often coming home from the farmers market with a large amount. But I never have a problem using up my purchase. […]
Posted inEat + Drink
A World of Peas
Spring has always meant peas throughout my life, both in Italy and in California. What has changed over time is my attitude, going from “oh, no!” to “yeah!” The peas I knew in Italy were shelling peas — also known as English peas, garden peas and a few other names — small green globes that […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Dressing Up Roasted Cauliflower
Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) is a member of the species Brassica oleracea, which includes a number of familiar vegetables, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi and broccolo romanesco. Cauliflower is one of few vegetables that I have always liked, even as a vegetable-averse child, even in its most basic version, boiled […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Celery at Center Stage
An ingredient of Italian soffritto, French mirepoix and the Cajun holy trinity, celery is rarely at center stage in a recipe. We’ll change that in 2019. Celery has a long history that goes back to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. A National Geographic article describes what Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb […]