Our CSA starts this Thursday, and I anticipate it being the high point of my week.  To give you an idea of what my last week has been like; my pastor from Hawaii passed away, my grandmother had to be rushed to the ER twice, my grandparents need to be forced into assisted living, we had to confront one of our students living with us and give him an ultimatum, and we found out our cat Cappucino has pancreatitis and FIP and will need to be put down today or tomorrow.  This is all in the midst of working and teaching cooking classes.  So picking up our CSA box and getting to see our dear friends who own the family farm will be a huge blessing of something positive in the midst of a difficult time. Read more

Recipes like dipping sauces are so simple that I sometimes feel silly posting them.  But then I see things like gyoza dipping sauce for $5 a bottle (or more) when I can make the same amount for under $1, and my blood pressure begins to rise!  This is my favorite mix for dipping gyoza, dumplings, wontons,  egg rolls, potstickers, etc.  It’s simple fast, and oh so happy on my tongue. Read more

We eat a lot of sandwiches at our house.  Pretty much every lunch during the week is sandwiches, and sometimes we have them for dinner as well!  One of my favorite dinner sandwiches is a Greek Pita Pocket, so I was very excited to see it in my friend Susan Russo’s new book, The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches.  Read more

It’s spring!  Although we’re still deluged with cold rains here in Washington, the crazy cheap prices of fresh radishes is one evidence that spring has arrived.  Knowing we’ll get some in our CSA this year, I’ve been trying to come up with some new favorite radish recipes.  Inspired by the French breakfast of radishes and butter on bread (which I first had when the Herbfarm served it at IFBC), I decided to make a simple radish spread recipe perfect for breakfast, lunch and snacking! Read more

At my last cooking class I made a very basic coleslaw.  Pretty much just a dressing and cabbage.  The goal was to demonstrate that you can easily make your own dressings and it’s a great way to save money.  The demonstration was MIND BLOWING for a lot of the participants.  They had no idea that you could make your own dressings!  Their excitement was really contagious for me because I have so many dressing ideas to offer.  This cole slaw is made with my favorite Asian salad dressing recipe and has a little more pizzaz to it than the one we made in class.  Read more