To the left of the gravel road entrance to the Freshwater Farms Reserve — 74 acres of marshland, working pastures and trails — Kneeland Glen Farm Stand’s little shop is nearly camouflaged by the vines and shrubbery growing up to its green rooftop. The entrance, too, is obscured by flowering branches on one side and […]
On the Table
Posted inEat + Drink
Choose Your Own Oyster Fest Adventure
In the middle of planning for its annual Arcata Bay Oyster Festival last year, the folks at Arcata Main Street made the bold shift to a virtual event. With the March declaration of shelter in place and a spring of gradually climbing COVID-19 case numbers, most festivals here and across the country were canceling. But […]
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Sharing the Frybread Love
Watching frybread go from a fist of pale dough pulled from a bucket to its final form, cumulus in shape and caramel in color, is like watching up-close magic. In a straw hat with a kitchen towel hanging from her shoulder, Lisa Sundberg pats, then pulls the dough with practiced hands, turning it to stretch […]
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Feeding My Nostalgia with a Bowl of Sesame Noodles
Rice is a staple for most Southern Chinese, whereas mian (flour products) is a staple for northerners. Being from the south, I was not accustomed to flour noodles growing up; we only had mung bean noodles and rice noodles occasionally. After I moved to the U.S., I discovered all kinds of noodle dishes from mild […]
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Spread the Beans
We made it to April and to the 2021 edition of the Arcata Plaza Farmers Market’s main season, which started the first Saturday of this month. This is always a festive event for me, and this year was no different. While summer produce is not exactly around the corner, I can start dreaming of strawberries, […]
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Pigs and Whiskey
It is, perhaps, a failure of our collective education that when we think of whiskey, we don’t immediately think of rippling fields of wheat, rye, corn or barley. Those basic grains are the building blocks of most whiskeys. Alchemy Distillery, a young whiskey company based in Arcata, uses local wheat grown at the Hindley Ranch […]
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Small (Hot) Plates on the Way
Hot Plates Coming Through at Nori Passersby have been either celebrating or scratching their heads at the sign for Nori (761 Eighth St.), heralding another sushi place joining Tomo and Sushi Spot on the Arcata Plaza. But according to its owners, the soon-to-open restaurant in the downstairs spot where Salt Fish House started out before […]
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Under One Roof
The canopies over the patio at Northtown Coffee flutter above a half dozen people having a late Monday breakfast. Sunshine slants onto picnic tables where diners in beanies and sunglasses hunker over to-go cups, blueberry crumble bars and biscuit and egg sandwiches wrapped in checkered paper. Inside, a red and yellow menu board hangs emblazoned […]
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Lentils: The Great Leveler
The worst lentils I ever ate were the ones I appreciated the most. In the early ’80s, my husband, Barry, and I joined hundreds of other North Americans and Europeans and went trekking in the Himalayas. We chose to walk the three-week Muktinath Pilgrimage trail, a windy, mountainous route along the Kali Gandaki gorge, the […]
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The Beautiful Disaster of My Medicated Mozzarella Fail
My reach has exceeded my grasp. I flew too close to the sun. Mistakes were made infusing what should never have been infused. And now the ghosts of three sad blobs of homemade mozzarella haunt me with the echoing thuds they made when I threw them into the trash. Let’s back up to give some […]
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Takeout from the Trading Post
If you’re looking for a bowl of khao poon noodles, pad thai or even basic Chinese beef and broccoli, Hoopa might not be the first place you look. But Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to around 7 p.m., it’s not unusual to see a line of cars, some from Willow Creek and Orleans, pulling […]
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Truck Stops
A person could get the idea the only new food in town is the KFC luring cars into its Broadway drive-thru like sailors onto the rocks. Not so. A trio of trucks have made their debuts this month, navigating pandemic restrictions and appetites with grab-and-go and outdoor seating options. Laissez le Shanty Truck rouler No […]