Cork-down wine bottle chandeliers light Marcelli’s Italian Restaurant from the chipped green linoleum counter on one side to the corner that was once walled off during the spot’s time as an Italian deli but is now decorated with framed news articles. Outside the front windows, cars flash by on Fifth Street’s three lanes as a […]
On the Table
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What’s Good Roundup
Cocina on the Green The incongruity of a Mexican restaurant on the grounds of a golf course lessens as you sit in a snug window booth at Cocina Mariposa (4750 Fairway Drive, Eureka), which you enter via the pro shop, and watch the sunset. On a recent rainy evening, when a lone golfer was whacking […]
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Cheers! It’s Coquito Time
It’s the holiday season and you can make it a little merrier and a little brighter with this holiday cocktail: coquito. Translated as “little coconut,” coquito is the Puerto Rican cousin of eggnog. It’s a deliciously creamy, rum and coconut concoction steeped with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla. Like its counterpart, coquito is decadent. It’s […]
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Blackout Soup
Looking back on the Darkpocalypse of October 2019, I found my household was ill-prepared for this type of event, not to mention any greater potential disaster. Yes, it’s on my to-do list now to gather our supplies, stock appropriate emergency provisions and generally be more prepared. But here’s the thing: I’m fortunate to have this […]
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Hot Sauce is the Right Sauce
Why do we obsess over hot sauce? A few drops of liquid numbs our mouths, makes us sweat and gives us that kick in the stomach, burning inferno sensation we crawl back to every time. Most animals on the planet stay away from hot peppers, except for some birds and, of course, humans. Spicy peppers […]
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Gathering Chestnuts in Late Fall
Although it was late autumn, the afternoon sun was still hot in Willow Creek. I brought my friends along to McIntosh Farm for our first chestnut gathering. Since we had no experience with the spiny husks, we only brought latex gloves. Luckily our host provided us some thick garden gloves. Stomping, pulling, picking and avoiding […]
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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 […]
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Nuna’s Frozen Cheesecake
My maternal grandmother ‘Nuna,’ otherwise known as Elinor Walker Flinn, was born in the Tennessee mountains but lived her adult life in Columbia, South Carolina. An upright, dignified woman, she embodied a word we don’t use much anymore: lady. She was married to Pappy, my colorful grandfather, a binge drinker with a wooden leg — […]
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What’s Good: Irish Pizza and Seaside Mexican
On a Grecian pizza The pizza restaurant that once was Eureka’s Big Louie’s, then Marcelli’s, has been repainted an eye-popping green and reopened as Shenanigans (1604 Fourth St.). Given its name and pedigree (owner Kelly Erben runs Gallagher’s Irish Pub), you wouldn’t be crazy for thinking this is an Irish bar, but it’s a pizza […]
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When Restaurants Go Dark
It hasn’t been an easy year for restaurants in Humboldt County. Ask managers and owners how it’s going and you’ll likely hear that profits are down in the already risky business. Plenty of them will tell you the tightened margins of legal cannabis is part of it but pretty much all of them will also […]
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A Pirate’s Treasure of Chardonnays
Growing up, “wine” and “chardonnay” were synonymous in my house. The women in my family drank Wente chardonnay like they owned stock in the winery. It was the first wine I remember being allowed a sip of when I was young and it accompanied every family gathering once my mom decided I was old enough […]
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Chinese Lamb Stew
As the remaining sunlight shone through my kitchen widow, I was busy cleaning the wild chanterelle and porcini mushrooms I had just received. I love fall — the crisp air, the harvest joy and the anticipation of upcoming holidays. Lamb is my favorite meat to make during fall: lamb stew, lamb and chive dumplings, lamb […]