Barbara and Michael Jewell are still selling Jewell Distillery’s moonshine, vodka, gin and local blackberry liqueur out of their Blue Lake shop, but they’ve added a new item to their stock: hand sanitizer. As California residents shelter in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, “We wanna make sure you’re internally and externally sanitized,” says […]
On the Table
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 […]
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Six Feet of Dining Separation
A server makes her way to the end of the bar with menus in hand, announcing to the trio of women waiting there, “Sorry but we are out of rice.” “Rice and hand sanitizer,” quips one woman, and they all laugh and sigh. On Thursday, March 12, Oberon Grill is looking a little empty just […]
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Entertaining for the Hesitant Host
I was nervous the first time I gave a dinner party but it turned out to be a blast. Two friends from the Vancouver Unitarian Church annihilated the tuna fish casserole I served. An unlikely trio, we spent a merry evening in my studio apartment laughing, telling stories and looking out the bay window at […]
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Going Dutch
The elk scaloppini episode from the Outdoor Cast Iron Cooking YouTube channel starts with a few cooking shots before Joanie “the Teardrop Nanny” and Dean “the Fogcrawler” introduce themselves on the bank of the Trinity River. Dean wears an American flag and eagle T-shirt as he announces his “most amazing wife has an awesome recipe […]
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10 Items or Fewer
Swing behind Sacred Heart Church at 2085 Myrtle Ave. and you’ll find Asia’s Best market tucked in its back lot. You’ll also likely find Feda Ignacio, who owns the store with her husband, Juancho, behind the counter and ready to guide you through the packed shelves of Asian food products and the cold room stocked […]
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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 […]
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What’s Good
Po’ boys and sympathy If you go to Fat Anne’s Bakery & Bistro’s new spot on Main Street in Ferndale (939 Main St.), get the fried chicken. Then tell me what it’s like because the fryer was down the day I visited, though I hear it’s being remedied. It happens. But there is little that […]
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Bake a Cake Already
Instagram and reality TV can crush your confidence. I’m talking about your baking confidence here. While endlessly looped video of buttercream smoothing over the sides of spinning six-layer cakes can be deeply soothing, they can also skew your expectations for your own baking. The same goes for binge-watching the Great British Baking Show — possibly […]
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Windfall Apples
When life hands the farmers and home gardeners of Humboldt too many apples, many hand the excess to Food for People. Last year they donated some 57,000 pounds of excess produce and meat to the organization’s gleaning program, according to Food for People, which redistributed the food to people in need. Some of that was […]
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Crabby Patty Cravings
The Krabby Patty from SpongeBob SquarePants has been stuck in my head for years. From the time my kids enjoyed watching SpongeBob, I heard “Krabby Patty” over and over. I assumed it was a crab cake patty because there was a crab walking around in the show. I swear, for all these years I thought […]
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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. […]