After 22 years, we finally renovated our kitchen. Refinishing our cabinets and removing the old countertops was a fun project for our family. During this process, our kitchen has been a semi-functioning mess: cabinets covered with plastic wrap, cookware on the dining table and a bare countertop. Luckily my sink and stove were still hooked […]
Dessert
Posted inEat + Drink
Chicano Bakes‘ Pan Dulce and Disco
The cover of Esteban Castillo’s second cookbook Chicano Bakes is like a panaderia dessert case set up in Studio 54. A flan that shines like Donna Summer’s lip gloss, a square of pink-frosted cortadillo cake is cut sharp as Bianca Jagger’s suit. It’s a departure from the signature style of sunny lighting, bright backgrounds, and […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Breakfast with the Season’s Fruit
During the recent 15 months of isolation, outdoor physical exercise helped me manage my anxiety. I am deeply grateful that I could spend time in the forest, on the beach, on the water. My family in Italy, locked inside their apartment, provided me with a comparison that magnified my gratitude. Usually, I exercise early in […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Falling For Gooseberries
When my friend Debbi told me she was busy making gooseberry jam one evening, I had a vivid image of goose-shaped berries dangling on a vine. Although I still haven’t seen the actual plant, I have been enjoying the cape gooseberries from the farmers market. I learned about their health benefits, such as possibly helping […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Frankie’s Develops a Sweet Tooth
Since shelter in place, Frankie Baker has scaled back. Where once a trio sliced and slung bagels in the Redwood Acres bakery, there’s only Frankie’s NY Bagels’ namesake, baking and selling online orders for pick-up on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Now those orders include a shifting lineup of desserts. Painstaking Italian rainbow cookies ($2.50), the first […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Summer, Berries and Baking
The summer sun still shines brightly as it does every summer but this year is missing the sound of children laughing at the playground. Although I can hear the fireworks popping now and then, they are not as festive as they used to be. We are all experiencing this new lifestyle together and we all […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 […]
Posted inEat + Drink
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 — […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Fresh Takes at Fregoso’s
So long, Savory. Hola, Fregosos Comida Mexicana (1504 G St., Arcata). In November, Savory’s owners, who also own the Fregoso Market across from the Arcata North Coast Co-op, made the switch with a bright coat of paint, a fully Mexican menu and a new name in the same location across from Stars Hamburgers in Arcata’s […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Last-minute Thanksgiving Recipes
Whether you had grand plans for the holiday meal or you’re flying by the seat of your chef’s pants, these Thanksgiving-ready recipes might come in handy. Stuck for sides? Nothing could be more fitting than a soup of acorns, a traditional indigenous food staple. Stuffed acorn squash is a winner and even works as a […]
Posted inEat + Drink
The Holiday Pie Divide
Like many of you, my family ate pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. But I never dug it. Pumpkin pie was typically bland and one dimensional, so I usually just skipped dessert and, for years, longed for that sumptuous finale befitting of a feast. Then in my 20s, it happened. I began dating my now-husband and had […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Treat Yourself
If you stroll by between 7 am and noon, go around the side to the walk-up coffee window at Sweetness and Light, and you might get a peek at Matt and Tami Toste tempering chocolate or hand dipping the old-fashioned candies that fill the cases at this Ferndale institution. Inside, treat yourself to browsing the […]