Trinity River Farm hugs Highway 96 about 2 1/2 miles north of Willow Creek. Its farm stand welcomes visitors with a “Honk for Service” sign out front. The late May sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky when I visited, but the temperature was kept to a pleasant level by a breeze that gently swayed […]
Simona Carini
Posted inFood & Drink
Picnics to DIY For
Longer days and sunshine have us dreaming of picnics. And here in Humboldt, we don’t have to travel far to spread a cloth and enjoy a meal in a setting that inspires likes and envy when you post a photo online. The Arcata Marsh, Humboldt Wildlife Refuge and Big Lagoon County Park are favorite spots. […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Life is Like a Box of Produce
“What’s in the box?” I wonder, my excitement escalating as I get ready to open it. One week, the first Sun Gold cherry tomatoes of the season beam at me from their basket. Another week, the first sweet peppers show up glowing like lamps. Every week, the assortment of fresh produce in the community-supported agriculture […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Straight From the Farm
On a light-drenched afternoon back in October, the pumpkin patch at Organic Matters Ranch on Myrtle Avenue was thickly dotted with pumpkins of various shades of orange and some green Marina di Chioggia squashes, too. Chickens dressed in lustrous feathers tasted pumpkin in front of their coop. Two shiny black pigs enjoyed the sunny weather. […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Soup with Chestnuts
Holding in my hands a hot roasted chestnut, I could see the plump fruit through the slit cut on the charred shell. It was easy to crumble the brittle shell and skin to free the fragrant fruit; it tasted nutty, sweet and a bit like the woods from which it came. The outer shell of […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Lemonade Day
This Saturday, June 1, young lemonade stand entrepreneurs will be out in force to quench your thirst. Launched in Houston, Texas, in 2007, Lemonade Day aims to make the lemonade stand experience an enriching one, giving young people a taste of establishing and running a business. The young entrepreneurs have been planning and preparing for […]
Posted inEat + Drink
The Joy of Handmade Pasta
In the beginning there is flour and water. Make the flour be semolina flour (ground durum wheat) and make the water warm. The pale yellow semolina flour may look as if it just stepped out of an impressionist painting, bathed in early morning sunlight. In the first act of the performance, you make the dough. […]
Posted inEat + Drink
The Suchness of Brussels Sprouts
When people see me eating, they often think I am on a diet. And maybe I am, depending on the meaning one ascribes to the word. I am in a permanent state of alertness, of mindfulness when it comes to elemental flavors, an attitude that is reflected in my minimalist style of cooking. I don’t […]
Posted inEat + Drink
The Joy of Handmade Pasta
When I watch Patricia Cambianica’s hands kneading, shaping and cutting pasta dough, I feel her hands are my hands too. And when I work at those tasks, I feel that my hands are also the hands of generations of women who have been bringing their personal touch to this timeless craft. There is joy every […]
Posted inEat + Drink
May I See What You Have in Your Lunchbox?
Why cook? Cooking is a satisfying experience. Planning your meals and budgeting your time makes it even more so… Using whole, nutritious foods and cooking from scratch will cost less and be healthier for you and your family. — from LunchBox Envy I did not learn to cook until I was an adult. My mother […]
Posted inEat + Drink
An Early Thanksgiving
A change in the quality of the sunlight tells me it’s nearly September, back-to-school month for many students, and Local Food Month for all of us. Sponsored by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the North Coast Growers’ Association, the North Coast Co-op and KHSU-FM, this month-long string of delicious events celebrates local foods […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Pink Risotto
In Italy, spring sings a berry-flavored song, with strawberries breaking the monopoly of winter fruit. My mother often featured them at the end of a meal and I have memories of picking them in friends’ gardens and in woods. Blackberries are connected to summer afternoons spent reaching out for the branch with the biggest […]