This is a beautifully clean pasta sauce. Its not overwhelmingly acidic as tomato sauces tend to be. The flavor is delicate, smooth, sweet, rich and refreshing thanks to it being comprised solely of fresh ingredients. Serve it tossed with homemade noodles and a little bit of soy butter or margarine and topped with fresh basil. It is, I promise you, the most simply perfect pasta sauce. Ive tried to improve on it many a time with additional ingredients- herbs, veggies, etc.. In the end I found that they all distract from its purity, this is a recipe that should be left uncomplicated in order to flaunt its gentle flavors. (more…)

When I was a kid, I used to take chocolate chip cookies and eat them cereal style with a spoon- mashed up in a bowl topped off with cold milk. My Mama gave me free rein of the kitchen, she never dictated my meals or set foods off limits…just raised her eyebrows when something caught her eye as particularly disturbing. Some of my concoctions worked out well and I still cook variations of them today. There were also those that gave me bellyache. Never able to just throw something out, I was proud and taught never to waste food. So I would eat everything I made, no matter how awful. One of my first experiments in baking was chocolate chip cookies. Coming across a recipe in a magazine at the doctor’s office, I remember tearing it out and stuffing it in my pocket. The glossy photo of fresh baked cookies oozing chocolate had me spellbound. What one would buy off the shelves at the grocery were comparatively pitiful. I began my numerous attempts. I wanted the picture in the magazine to come to life, and in my small hands with time and patience my centerfold of a cookie was created. This was one of a string of projects that introduced me to the abracadabra of cooking as well as the realization of my own abilities. Here, I delved into the process of experimentation once again to make a vegan chocolate chip cookie worthy of kids, cereal bowls, and glossy pages alike. (more…)

Acorn squash is a food I eat it at least once a week. Its ridiculously easy to prepare and keeps well.

I like it as part of salads for added girth to the greens, topped with a savory sauce as an alternative to pasta noodles or rice, or as a side dish. It makes meals a little more interesting, a nice option away from the standard base foods.

Getting my hands on a nice cheese down at the Farmers Market…I will profess- the flavors of roasted squash with crumbled goat cheese on top are unparalleled. Sweet, salty, tender, heaven- its something else. That would be my recommendation, if you indulge in happily-sourced dairy. (more…)

Took a ferry from Anacortes out to Friday Harbor Saturday afternoon. Setting foot there seemed distinctly foreign. Such a small town- a single movie theater, a grocery, coffee shops, a few bars, a library. The place seemed sleepy- the only ripple being the ferry boat unloading a buzz of tourists every couple hours. I had made reservations for us to stay the night at a ranch on the island in celebration of Wes’s birthday earlier in the week, we went not sure of what to expect when we got there.

States Inn & Ranch sits on one of the long winding roads that riddle the island like veins. The drive out is something in itself. Farm houses spaced on vast acreage-some newly built, tall and proud. Others old and decrepit- paint peeling, the light invading where planks have rotted. Horses & cows out to pasture. On every other property it seemed, there sat a pond luminous in green fields- shiny silver dollars dotting the landscape. The trip over and out allots a comfortable amount of time to detach in preparation for this slow-moving, quiet environment. (more…)

After breakfast Saturday morning we took a drive North to visit a family farm. It resides in Sedro-Woolley,a modest town about an hour and a half outside of Seattle. A scenic drive, the view alternating between rolling green farmland & small bundles of gas stations and shanty diners.

Skagit River Ranch turned out to be everything I had hoped. “A commitment to farm in harmony with the environment…using sustainable, organic, humane methods” was the quote off their website that raised my eyebrows and peaked my curiosity- ultimately motivating the trip out. (more…)