You remember the food pyramid.  The US Department of Agriculture designed and revised this in 1992 to direct us how to eat: how much of each food group. Fat occupied the tip of the pyramind, fruits and vegetables the bottom. People complained it was difficult to understand. More important, this country has been focusing on obesity as a health issue, and a new symbol was needed.

Introducing the dinner plate! at  www.ChooseMyPlate.gov . you can get oodles of information about how to eat in a healthy manner. The plate icon is divided, with fruits and vegetables occupying about half, and grains, proteins and dairy the remainder.

There are seven guidelines to eating healthy. They include tips, such as balancing your calories and eating less, reducing portion size. Increase your fruits and vegetables, and make at least half your grains whole wheat. Choose fat-free or low-fat dairy products. Check out the labels on products and select those which have lower amounts of sodium. Finally, replace sugary drinks with water.

Simple is better, right?  Find out more by visiting the web site, and try out the plate concept to see if it makes eating healthy a little easier. 

It's a Memorial Day weekend tradition at our stores...Lobster Mania. We fly in hundreds of the red-clawed crustaceans, and present them ready to enjoy. We know lots of people who plan their weekends around this rare Northwest treat, and along with a chunky potato salad, some crusty garlic bread, and plenty of lemon juice and garlic for dipping...oh, probably a green salad, too, what could be a better way to spend the afternoon (unless you're under balmy, sunny, warm, cloudless, rainless skies...but we digress).

I have come up with a new treat for my Lobster Mania fete. I made peanut butter cookies and subbed out a bit of the butter (about two tablespoons) with bacon fat. I fried a few slices of bacon, and crumbled them into a peanut butter cookie dough, and added chocolate chips. I also added a smidge of chili powder to give it a mole kind of flavor (mole being the Mexican chocolate-chile-savory sauce).

How did they taste? Well, they looked pretty fabulous, and the taste was excellent. Not too sweet, but that great contrast Elvis discovered, the salty-sweet continuum (I think he did the peanut butter, bacon and banana route, but chocolate is definitely better) that made these cookies sing.

I ate two. I will eat some more later...after I claw my way through a few lobster claws.  Cheers!

The sun is finally out and I won't be held captive by indoor cooking. I am going to make a meal entirely on the grill outside. The only thing stopping me, it seems, is my imagination.

The main course is simple. It's salmon, and preferably Copper River, a salmon so rich and flavorful that adding much seasoning to it is a crime. A dash of garlic olive oil, a sprinkling of Hawaiian sea salt, possibly a soupcon of maple syrup is all I need to bring out the best in this fine fish.

Have you ever tried to grill a salad before? Why not, I say? Use a firm green, like romaine or iceberg, and cut it into big wedges. Brush with olive oil, and place brushed side down on the grill. Just let it lightly char the edges for no more than a minute or so, and take off the grill, add some salt and pepper, and prepare your salad and dressing the way you usually do.

Potatoes are easy to do on the grill, too. Sometimes I like to use sweet potatoes for something different. The trick here is to slice them fairly thin so they cook all the way through. Conversely, you can cook them off in the microwave, and finish them on the grill. If you do, swaddle them in foil so they don't overcook. The Japanese have a way with rice balls on a barbecue, too. Those little balls of rice, water and soy make a delectable treat when the smoky flavor of a barbecue is added. Again, a quick heating is key. You don't want to overcook anything on the grill!

I usually do spring vegetables on the grill. Asparagus lends itself well to roasting, doused with olive oil. If I'm doing a big batch of vegetables, like peppers, onions, tomatoes and squash, I'll often add some balsalmic vinegar for a little extra flavor.

Finally, we must have dessert! I haven't yet tried this, but I plan to this weekend. I am going to take a pound cake (store-bought is fine) and slice it before lightly grilling it. Once it is warm and has a bit of a crust, I am going to remove it, add some grilled pineapple and vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. I think the combo of flavors will be memorable. Pineapple, in particular, really sweetens after being heated.

You can do your entire meal on the grill and the beauty of this is it can be done anywhere: if you're camping, visiting friends or just feel the need to be outdoors all the time. The only limit is your imagination: experiment with spices and marinades to see which pique your taste buds. Be vigilant as you cook, especially until you determine how short a cooking time is needed.

Grill on, friends!

When I saw that Waikiki was hosting a 2011 SPAM Jam to benefit the Honolulu Food Bank, I had to attend. The possibilities of "delicious SPAM dishes await you" and the opportunity to enjoy local music in a fabulous outdoor setting was just too irrestible to pass up. Besides, I had never eaten SPAM, and this hole in my foodie life needed to be filled.

Hawaii leads the country in consumption of SPAM luncheon meat, An estimated 16 tins of the pre-cooked pork and ham combo are consumed annually in the islands. Introduced in 1937 by the Hormel Company, SPAM today enjoys  legendary status as a food staple. It endures.

The Honolulu Food Bank was hoping to capture 20,000 cans of donated SPAM at the SPAM Jam. For those who donated $5 or more, a free can of SPAM-flavored macadamia nuts was given. The crowds were large and enthusiastic. Amazing smells filled Kalakaua Avenue .

A worthy cause, definitely, but let's get to the "meat" of the event: the SPAM itself. Several local restaurants offered up their signature dishes, remade with SPAM. These included SPAM volcano nachos, SPAM spring rolls, garlic shrimp and SPAM skewers, SPAM mac and cheese and...wait for it...SPAM ice pops. (Sorry, I couldn't go there.)

I timidly tried the mac and cheese, and looked a little longingly at the SPAM yakisoba noodle plates. I'm not a huge fan, but what struck me about SPAM Jam was the amazing variety of dishes that adapted well to the addition of SPAM. You could do the same with chunks of cooked ham, too, or other meats.  SPAM is a protein meat, and like other proteins, you can often experiment and sub out different ones to see which you like best.

In the meantime, you might consider serving your family this American staple. Some people jump in with enthusiasm , just frying it like sausage for a breakfast meat. They discover they love the taste. For more reluctant eaters, try it stealthily mixed with a favorite dish, like a pasta carbonera or fried rice. You might be pleasantly surprised at its versatility. For more information about SPAM, including recipes, check out www.spam.com  Long live SPAM!

Over the past several years, Cinco de Mayo, a celebration noting the defeat of the invading French Army by Mexicans, has surged in popularity. Why? Well, it's a significant day in Mexican history, and with a significant number of people in this country boasting Latino heritage, certainly has gained ground as a celebration. Coming on the heels of what has been challenging spring weather  throughout our country, this could be the year to gather friends and family close and enjoy being together and eating good food with a Mexican flair.

So what to eat? At its simplest, good Mexican beer, chunky, spicy guacamole and nacho chips, loaded with cheese, meat, onions and anything else you want. That's easy and while not super-authentic (because true Mexican cooking is a complex blend of spices and flavors), it is simple and satisfying.

If you want to be more authentic, check out some of the interesting sauces, including moles that use bittersweet chocolate in ways that don't even seem like chocolate. Interesting treatments of squash, such as chayote, fresh fruit coolers with lime and strawberries, jicama with hot chile powder, perhaps a firm white fish, cooked Veracruz style...all these can summon up Mexican cuisine at its finest.

As for me, it's always fish tacos. Originally popular just over the border from San Diego (think Tijuana), fish tacos, with the just-caught fresh fish, a mix of lime-flavored cabbage slaw and cilantro and just a bit of avocado, summon up for me sunshine, summer and good times. That's what I'm having on Cinco de Mayo.

Looking back on Easter dinner, I have to ask myself: have I had a baked ham for every single Easter meal of my life? And, since the answer is likely yes, does that explain how I never ever prepare ham any of time of the year?

It's silly, in a way, because ham is such a versatile source of protein and an agreeable part of a meal. It lends itself to basic home cooking --- nothing fancy but always reliable. It easily adapts  to a bit of drama --- why not glaze it in brown sugar and horseradish and lots of chopped garlic? You can bake it, stir-fry it, sandwich it, fry it with eggs, casserole it and a personal favorite, top it on your Friday night nachos. Yes, ham is a valuable item to have on hand, and no, I don't think eternity is two people and one ham. (But it seems like it.)

That said, I started thinking about the remainder of my Easter meal. It includes the following: a potato casserole of some sort (my sister's is the best, with hash browns, jalapenos and plenty of shredded cheddar), some light and buttery rolls, asparagus roasted in the oven or lightly trimmed and well-seasoned in a sauce, a green salad which never is fully eaten by the guests (salad seems to expand or contract so I never adjust the quantity: I just make the same amount and there are always leftovers), and the piece de resistance: a jello mold. Now, jello is a family tradition, and it's always fruit-based, with things like whipped cream or cream cheese to make it even more alluring and dessert-like. Of course, there are desserts beyond the chocolate eggs. There is a non-chocolate dessert (this year was apple pie, rhubarb clafourti and cream pufffs) and a wonderful, over-the-top chocolate dessert.

Would I change this Easter meal? Should I change it? It seems to me this is the quintessential spring meal of families around the country, particularly the tradition-loving Midwest. I think about different options: hey, why not a big prime rib? Possibly leeks? Hmmm, cupcakes are big right now. Why not a huge loaf of sourdough bread?  Should I dispense with the jello?

I think of these things and I revert back to what is familiar, usual and, I have to admit, beloved and foolproof. So Easter dinner remains the same, and the guests are happy.

Foodies of the world, rejoice: the food crave is upon us.

In San Francisco recently, an "underground" night market popped up. This night market, held in the midnight hours, is a farmers market with a twist. It presents aspiring chefs and cooks and restauranteurs in a setting where anything goes. It's an opportunity for food-obsessed people to both try out new recipes as well as sample some of the more intriguing choices creative people are putting out there.

By sidestepping health  regulations for food carts and traditional outdoor markets, the underground food crave test drives different takes on traditional food, without much financial risk or need for lots of product. The results can be satisfying.  For example, how about stir-fry pork bellies? If that's too tame, what about red beet ice cream?

It's happening in the Bay Area, springing up in a somewhat spontaneous way, and may spread to other communities as people with a deep and abiding interest in food push the limits and make the unusual commonplace. After all, bacon-topped chocolate cupcakes had to start somewhere, right?  And someone, somewhere, had to be the first one to think that baking a ham in cola results in a pretty tasty meal.

Of course, you don't need to wait for a food crave to appear (like a flash mob). Start your own version by experimenting with food favorites. You love chocolate and you love whole grain bread: can you find a way to put them together beyond a nutella spread sandwich or bread pudding? Maybe a grilled chocolate sandwich topped with toasted coconut, filled with cream cheese and studded with dried cherries? You'll discover lots of foods that you love individually are excellent matches for each other if you think beyond the obvious. Now that's the way to satisfy a food crave!

Who was the first person to suspect that the bowling-ball-sized,  lumpy yellow-green-ish growth on tree trunks in the topics actually held somethng edible? Who was the brave soul who hacked this big round object down and found a way in? And, finally, who took the first tentative taste?

I had an encounter with jackfruit while visiting family in Hilo, Hawaii. I had heard of jackfruit in the recesses of memory, but had it confused with breadfruit, which is a rather acquired starchy food. Jackfruit, on the other hand, was truly fruit.

You cut the fruit off the trunk of the jackfruit tree. It hangs by a small thick stem. Cutting it away from the tree releases some very sticky sap substance. I wonder if that is a way to keep the prized fruit safe from fruit predators.

Once cut down, it is sliced open by a large and sharpish knife or little machete. The fruit inside, the prize itself, is difficult to acquire, due to the protective peel or layering covering the pale yellow inside.

How does this tropical enigma taste? It's a nice cross between a pineapple and a banana, more the consistency of a pineapple but smoother and more tender. Evidently, there is an art to picking the jackfruit at its peak flavor.

It would be excellent in a smoothie, eaten raw or possibly baked in a pie or muffins. At the Hilo Farmers Market, you can nibble on fresh jackfruit without all the drama and fuss of snagging it yourself, but where's the fun in that? Like so many tropical fruits we seldom see on the mainland --- I'm thinking rambutan, lillikoi, guava -- it's an amazing acquired taste. Like a coconut, it's hard work to get to the good stuff, but well worth the effort.

Food-wise, you can't always be good, and always choose the dutiful kale option over the delicious buttery bread (well, the choices aren't usually so clear-cut as that!).

I've been eating for energy and health lately, but today is different. I have been obsessing over cake pops...those little lollipop-like pieces of cake on a stick. They look like just the right size for an afternoon pick-me-up.

I am going to try to make them today. I'm using a boxed cake mix, baking it and letting it cool. Then I'm adding some canned frosting to pieces of cake, and mixing them together until they form a round-ish shape that sticks. Next step: dipping them into a melted chocolate coating. If all looks good, I might add some shaved coconut or little colorful candy sprinkles. It's all going on a skewer, since I don't have any sticks handy, and this snack is of- this -moment- can't -wait -another -second to try it.

And because of the size, I'm thinking this is a great little treat. I'll probably have to adjust the mix of cake to frosting, but you get the idea. Of course, if they're just too delicious, I may sample more than one.

There is a facet of my Midwestern upbringing that doesn't permit me to waste food. Hence, I accumulate leftovers the way some people collect salt and pepper shakers. I always have a few too many.

So, what is it to be tonight? The leftover chicken pot pie, I made al fresco, with big sourdough bread crumbs in lieu of pastry crust, and just as tasty? There are a couple nice chunks of leftover salmon and halibut I could mix into a mayo-based spread for a sandwich, or just freestyle on top of a big green salad. Let's not ignore the two sad little slices of pizza: but really, those are for breakfast, aren't they? Cold pizza for breakfast to me seems decadent and delciious and filling to boot. But we digress..

The final choice is the best one. The St. Patrick's Day corned beef, combo'd with sauerkraut, Cougar Gold cheddar, wheat-seeded dark bread and a nod to a vaguely Russian-style dressing is just about perfect in every way. My version of the Reuben sandwich is tonight's dinner option, and a fine one at that. (Seafood salads for lunch tomorrow, and maybe a visitor will help finish off the pot pie.)

The "why" of it doesn't matter, but the "how" clearly does.  I am hosting a mid-morning get-together for about 25-40 people. It begins at 11 a.m. and ends at 12:30. Naturally, food must be served, because when you invite people to your home, you welcome them with the gifts of food. In my case, always home-prepared.

The question is, what should I serve? I don't think lunch, because that is more commitment than I am anxious to take on, but something that falls between breakfast and lunch...aha...the fabled brunch. People will be moving around, and holding a small plate, so food you can easily pick up and eat with minimum mess is essential.

Here's what I've decided, but it is a work in progress,certain to change and probably expand as the date gets closer.

First off, a nice, big smoked salmon, with some rounds of soft French bread, probably a cream-cheese-caper-based spread, garnished with lemons and some red onion rings, just a take on bagels and lox. Next, a good, old-fashioned sour cream coffee cake, studded with chopped pecans, cinnamon and brown sugar. It's not fancy, but always popular. I might also add in a crumb-style coffee cake, the kind where the topping is almost the size of the cake itself. I'd probably sneak in a layer of jam, too, to add some zip to the coffee cake table.

I am thinking of deviled eggs with a snappy green chile filling and others with the more traditional mayo and paprika blend. There will definitely be a big bowl of fresh fruit and I'm leaning towards pineapple as a key player, being close to Easter, when pineapple seems to reign supreme.  I have a variety of different sausages I think I'll grill, and cut into small bites, alongside a dish of spicy mustard (maybe two or three kinds).

Coffee, fresh orange juice, sparkling water, tea...does that seem like enough? Right now, I think so, but given a little extra time on my hands, I may toss in some cupcakes I've been thinking about: maple-flavored with bacon bits and a creamy frosting with more bacon. I realize bacon is a little cliche these days, going on dates with all kinds of foods you wouldn't have expected, but it seems like a good fit for this get-together.

Oh, forgot the finishing touch: I will have a big bowl of jelly beans.  Just because.

Breakfast is the most important meal. That is the way I was raised, and the way I continue to live. It has been ingrained in me that something awful might happen if I don't eat breakfast. So I do. Every single day of my life.

I vary my breakfast meal from the favorites: peanut butter on a thick slice of whole wheat and seeded bread to old-fashioned oatmeal studded with almonds, dried cranberries, maple syrup and shredded coconut. I make the oatmeal the evening before, and reheat it in the microwave. Takes less than a minute for a satisfying meal that keeps me going till mid-afternoon.

In the summer, it's usually cold cereal with soy milk, almost always topped with fruit. Someone said that's a midwestern thing, topping cereal with fruit, and i know people who cringe at the thought of fruit mixing with cereal, but it tastes like summer to me.

All these are great and easy ways to break the long fast of the previous day, but when I'm on the road, breakfast presents a problem. Unless I have to be up quite early, I often miss breakfast at a restaurant. Not because I'm lazing around, but because I like to go for a run in the morning, then shower and finally head out.  By then, the restaurants are on to lunch, and they tell me that they use different grills for breakfast, so it ends at 9, 10:30 or even as late as 11.

But I want breakfast all day long!  Though I seldom order eggs and bacon, I want the possiblity of doing so. I want my spicy, tasty  breakfast burrito when I want it. The meager offerings of coffee shops, like donuts, scones or sweet rolls, are not breakfast in my mind. They are dessert, and I need breakfast first.

That's why, when I'm traveling, I immediately ask how late breakfast is served. Any time you want is the happy meal answer for me!

When I'm sitting on an airplane, and I'm squished between two people, elbows tucked into my sides, I am thinking about food. Why, I don't know. It just seems like there's nothing else for me to do. The book I have isn't too exciting after all, I can't really see out the window, and if I could, there would only be clouds.Maybe there is something interesting comng my way on the trundling food cart.

Yes, there are the sandwiches and deli packs and snack options that I can buy, and I have, in a pinch, because I am always hungry on a plane.But when I plan ahead, and pack my own snacks, I really enjoy my meal in the air.

I think of the foods I look forward to eating, and bring them with me. A fresh bagel smeared with peanut butter and some jam holds up pretty well, and always tastes good to me. A small bag of chopped almonds, dried apricots, chocolate chips and possibly shreds of coconut that I prep the day before is great snacking, and not messy, either. I wish I could bring a banana, but they just don't travel well, precious things. So I opt for a crisp apple, and really, is there anything more satisfying and filling? I have also put together my own cheese trays, with little wedges of favorite wrapped cheeses, some crackers and a bunch of ripe green or red grapes. Easy and way cheaper than handing over my debit card for the $5 or $7 airplane food special. I have learned to bring along a bottle of water (post-security, of course), because I don't like to wait for the cart to come around.

These are just my usual go-tos...there are many tasty ways to pass the time in the air, and the only caveat you need to follow is this:  nothing smelly or messy, in consideration of your fellow passengers!

Maybe because chocolate is such a luxury, food-wise, that it claims one of the top spots for Valentine's Day gifting.  (The other might be jewelry, but we digress: this is about food.)

Chocolate has some proven heart health benefits, but it's considered first and foremost a treat . Some of us, of course, don't consider a day complete without at least a nibble of chocolate. I am not one of those people.

It's not that I don't like or enjoy chocolate, because I do. But I'm a chocolate philestine.  I first preferred white chocolate, which isn't even real chocolate, then gravitated over to milk chocolate, which is considered the choice of those without a sophisticated (read childlike) palette. I seldom choose chocolate for my dessert.

I have had pieces of dark chocolate that surprise me with how little it takes to impart so much bold flavor. I find the new ways chocolate is presented  intriguing. There are whole lines of chocolate bars that are organic or natural, that have added curry powder or even lime and tortilla chips. The ying-yang of chocolate with something you don't expect, like chocolate and bacon, say, makes me perk right up.

All this leads to how I am making a brownie for Valentine's Day that is a little off the expected path. I am subbing out the butter and replacing it with a very nice extra virgin olive oil. It makes the brownies have a savory edge that I thoroughly appreciate. When they are done baking, like all brownies, don't be fooled by their texture, because if you bake until they are firm, they will end up like granite. Take them out immediately when your timer indicates, and let them sit for a while on the counter. The finished texture will be just right: very moist but not mushy, and definitely not crunchy.

You can top the brownies while still warm with extras like Maldon sea salt or toasted shredded coconut or chocolate curls.  After all, if you can't go over the top on Valentine's Day, when can you?

Do you ever look into your cupboards or refrigerator and think you should do something about the items that keep staring you in the face?The ones I mean are the jars of exotic sauces you bought on a whim, the ethnic cuisine items that looked so intriguing on the shelf, the frozen entrees you stockpiled away for the time you felt like eating them?

Well, maybe that time is now. I have plenty of those items, and I have decided to eat from my stores of food.  I took some frozen pork tenderloin that had been prepared in a spicy manner and chopped like carnita meat, and microwaved it per instructions. Looked around, added some brown rice from a previous meal, some leftover winter vegetables that had roasted with garlic and Hawaiian sea salt.  Perfect filling for some soft tacos  I put it all together, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, chopped olives, and went back to the pantry for a medium hot salsa I bought last summer but never opened. There was a can of chipotle chiles --- only add a tiny bit since they're so hot -- baked until everything melted together, and voila!  Instant, quick meal, served with sour cream and some guacamole. 

I'm from the waste not-want not school, and it feels good to use what I already have.  Naturally, I am picking up fresh produce and other perishable foods to supplement the frozen-canned contingent. If you let your imagination run a bit, you can come up with all sorts of interesting combinations, satisfying in the manner of using what you have, adding new and fresh items and maybe creating a meal that deserves to be featured again and again.

Hot dogs and  hearty chili,  spicy wings and chips, drippy dips and stuffed sub sandwiches: these are the foundations for Super Bowl Sunday. But I confess that after all that stuff, I crave something ridiculously sweet, an over-the-top treat that matches the excess of the food of the day.

So I made a batch of magic cookie bars. These are the easiest thing in the world. You know the drill: a packet of graham crackers mashed into crumbs (even easier if you just buy the crackers already crumbed), mixed into a cube of butter you've melted in a square 9 x9 pan. Make a simple crust of these two, open your cupboards and go to town. 

Top the crust with a bag of chcolate chips, semi, milk or bitter (or a blend of all three).  Add a layer of white chocolate chips or maybe peanut butter flavored or even the English toffee version. A good, thick cover of shredded coconut.  Some chopped nuts, any kind you fancy (I did walnuts, but macadamia nuts lift this to a whole new level.). If dried cranberries or raisins are your thing, add them, too, or any finely chopped dried fruit.

Open a can of sweet condensed milk and pour it over the entire thing, criss crossing to cover every last corner and every single chip and flake. You can purchase a low-fat version of the condensed milk, but really, why bother when you're going for broke on all the goodies on top?

When you're done with the sticky stuff, bake it for about 20 minutes at 350. Be very attentive to the oven --- you may want to do this just prior to the game starting so you don't get distracted. The magic cookie bars are absolutely the best when they are lightly browned on top, but still sort of soft. If they get overcooked, they are okay, too, but much better when the chocolate layers  melt in your mouth.  Let them sit for 10 minutes or so. Delish eaten when slightly warm, but really just fine at any temperature.

After all the hearty,salty, broke-in-da-mouth tastes of the other food you're enjoying on Sunday, these are a fitting finale. They might put you over the top, foodwise, but you won't regret it. (And we always enjoyed these back in Wisconsin, watching the Packers...but that's another story...)

Every five years, the federal government's Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services takes on the (weighty) task of suggesting an ideal diet to maintain your optimum health. You can imagine all the challenges this involves, working with food producers, nutritionists and restaurants to come to a conclusion that works for everyone.

This time around, the guidelines are more specific than ever before.They suggest drinking more water, filling your plate with fruits and vegetables and cutting down on processed foods that have large amounts of sodium, fat or sugar.

The last time the guidelines were issued (2005), they suggested Americans cut down on sugar, fats and salt, but didn't name any specific foods.  Important this time, they tell Americans very firmly, "Eat less."

What does this mean for all of us, especially those of us who enjoy our food?  You can expect food manufacturers to make some big changes in their products.  Previously, the government urged manufacturers to replace refined grains with whole grain.  Cereal manufacturers and many bread makers did just that. 

The guidelines are being praised for their simplicity.  Maintain a healthy weight by balancing your calories, and focus on foods that are dense in nutrients.

We'll be hearing lots more about this report, and seeing how farmers, other producers, food businesses, restaurants and even your favorite supermarket respond.  At The Markets, we're all about fresh, local foods, and we'll continue to focus on bringing you these choices.

So it's cold and damp. There's a northeaster blowing, and the wind chill puts us in single digits.Just winter, but it seems like I forget every year just how cold cold can be.

Hence, the need for something soothing and warm. Nothing comes close to warming you up inside, food-wise, like a big steamy bowl of soup. Soup is easy to make at home, and it is endlessly adaptable to whatever taste you're craving, from aromatic Thai curry, infused with coconut juice, to that reliable deli-trend, broccoli-cheddar. 

But I've been fighting off legions of cold bugs, and the soup that has sustained me so far has been that old chestnut, chicken noodle. Even when I don't want to move one inch away from a comforter and the couch, it's easy to open a large can of chicken broth, chop some celery, carrots and onions, and simmer away.  Buy some boneless chicken breasts, and use your kitchen shears to snip pieces of chicken, and toss them in the broth mix. They will cook and flavor the soup in an authentic way. When the chicken is cooked through (maybe 20 minutes, (but test with your thermometer or flake apart with a fork to see that it's done), the veggies will be, too. Crank up the heat to high, and when it boils, add egg noodles, or any kind of pasta you want. After the pasta is cooked, season it to your taste. I know we need to limit our salt intake, but when you're feeling sick, a little extra salt tastes especially nourishing. When the soup cools, you might discover quite a bit of the broth has vanished in its work of cooking the noodles. No worries: just add more liquid. The hearty, healthy flavor comes through. You can live off this soup for at least a few days, and it requests only minimum effort for maximum results. (Inexpensive to make, too!)

Or Maybe It Never Left...

If you've eaten out recently, you may have noticed the new chef's darling:  grilled cheese sandwiches, accompanied by tomato soup.  True comfort food, but now elevated to a new foodie level.

There are even grilled cheese food trucks trundling their way through trendy Los Angeles and probably even New York, offering up melted cheese oozing from thick ciabatta bread, accompanied by a small cup of steaming hot tomato soup.  Satisfying, filling, full of flavor and a complete meal.

Are you a purist when it comes to grilled cheese?  Does it need to be yellow (read American, cheddar) cheese, or do you try white (jack, Swiss, comte, gruyere), or one of the fabulous blues (gorgonzola, maytag, Humboldt fog)?  Try experimenting with the fillings, too..maybe adding a fig jam or a wide slather of horseradish and dijon, maybe some sliced cornichons or even a thin layer of carmelized onions...but I digress.

The beauty of grilled cheese is in its simplicity.  You only need cheese, bread, a bit of butter for grilling, and you're all set.  Go even simpler with the tomato soup:  some people just heat up tomato sauce and dip their sandwich, though I like more flavor than that.  In any event, the newest trend is all about grilled cheese, and the satisfaction of that quintessential meal.  Make it at home, eat it for breakfast, wrap it in foil to stay warm for a work lunch...it's versatile and inexpensive and can adapt to whatever level of effort you want to put into it.  I'm making myself hungry right now, so it's on to Beecher's No Woman cheese, some seeded wheat bread and a cup of tomato soup topped with parmesan croutons.  Very nice indeed.

If you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a food -or drink-related way, you are probably happy to see corned beef, cabbage and potatoes on display and on sale in your favorite grocery store.

For many years, I prepared a traditional  meal of boiled and then baked corned beef, a colcannon mash of cabbage, leeks and potatoes, a hearty whole wheat soda bread, and an apple-based dessert, either pie or cake.  Served up with Guinness or similarly full-bodied stout and concluded with a brisk Irish coffee, this meal, Americanized throughout the years, was the go-to for St. Pat's Day. 

When I visited ireland, I realized that many of these dishes and flavors were present on pub and restaurant menus, in Irish homes and b and b's, but there is much more to Irish cuisine than this meal.

There is a food renaissance going on in Ireland today that takes cooks far beyond boiled root vegetables.  Ireland is an island rich in local foods grown, caught or produced.  For example, you can enjoy small artisan cheeses, in fact, over 170 varieties, many of which you can only taste when you're in the neighborhood. 

With some of the largest inland lakes in Europe, Ireland produces amazing trout, pike and eel, salmon and perch.  The ocean surrounding the country offers up mussels, oysters, shrimp, lobsters and lingcod.  You probably get the idea by now that Irish cooking has a wealth of fresh items from which to select, and new Irish cooking today works very hard to prepare these fresh foods in  a simple, flavor-packed way.  You can certainly find underseasoned or foods fried to oblivion in some places, but more and more, Irish cooking is embracing its rich resources. 

And a word about dessert in Ireland.  Updated apple tartes with creme fraiche, a cherry and dark chocolate cheesecake, a plum compote with honey and ginger ice cream, even a rhubarb and yoghurt trifle...these are some of the ways inventive Irish cooks are ending their meals with a flourish.

So on March 17, when you think about serving an Irish feast, come to the supermarket, choose what's in season and consider cooking outside the box (maybe it's outside the perception) and deliver a meal for friends and family that celebrates all the best of Irish food today.  (As for my meal, I am strongly considering a wilted cabbage salad with some Irish cheddar, barbecued salmon with a simple shallot and white wine sauce, champ, a potato mashed with green onions, oatmeal muffins stuffed with bits of apple, and a delicious rhubarb and meringue tart...just because I adore rhubarb.)  Don't forget the stout and the whiskey, either!

For some great new Irish recipes (described above), check out "Gourmet Ireland" by Paul and Jeanne Rankin. 

Or So I Tell Myself...

Taking in the Vancouver Olympics could mean taking in all the wonderful ethnic dining choices in trendy, worldclass Vancouver.

But I'm talking about a treat I've dismissed before, and now I've circled back and become an enthusiast. 

We're talking chocolate-dipped apples, and we're talking about the juiciest, freshest-tasting Granny Smith green apples, coated in milk chocolate.  Or dark chocolate.  Or first dipped in caramel.  How about chopped almonds and coconut on top of all that?  Cinnamon red hots lavishly melted all over?  Chocolate candies, jimmies, sprinkles, gummi bears.  Bite into the crunch and savor the smooth coatings.

Let's not forget the cute chocolate beavers, a Canadian symbol, with lush dense dark chocolate teeth and a cute face, or the football in white chocolate with all kinds of frosting decorations. 

All these treats come on a stick, easy to eat as you stroll along Robson Street or Granville, making your way through the crowds to the Olympic sites.  I think you could make a dipped apple at home pretty easily, and decorate it however you like.  There were gold, silver and bronze medallions on some apples, too.  Judging by the lines out the door of this particular candy shop, the apples were like gold.

All I could think is how healthy this snack is, compared to what I might have eaten.  An apple, right, and the chocolate just makes it cross over to dessert treat.  Oh, Canada...you had me at first glance, and I plan to return for more!

Red Rice and Beans...Peking Duck...Dark Chocolate?

There is a  trio of foodie opportunities if you like to cook according to the season and the event (and I do).

Yesterday marked the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon.  I had the great opportunity to watch a master chef prepare a Chinese New Year feast, and it was memorable.  From the Peking duck to the Winter Wolfberry Soup, the Coconut Pudding and the poached whole fish, the Chinese pancakes and a crisp Pinot Grigio, there was some excellent eating and lots of cooking tips, as always.

I immediately prepared the Winter Wolfberry Soup.  The smell of the simmering broth, with hefty slices of ginger, onions and mushrooms in a chicken-based stock, perfumed the house.  Once done, fat skimmed and chicken removed, I followed the chef''s instructions and chopped the chicken into small pieces, added green onions and sliced mushrooms, some crunchy water chestnuts, goji berries,tiny bits of winter melon and a dash of red pepper.  On a chilly and dampish Northwest afternoon, it was completely satisfying.  I will try the duck next, and am confident that the end result will be equally delish.

Next up, Valentine's Day.  I like to make a memorable and easy meal that includes favorites, rather than going out to a restaurant.  It seems more relaxing, and by now, you have probably figured out I'm a little persnickety about my food. 

Following my usual pattern, I focused first on dessert.  I like to know what the dessert is in advance, so I can build my meal around it.  If that sounds counterintuitive, so be it.  I like dessert!  Being Valentine's Day, I had to prepare something chocolate.  I opted for chocolate-dipped strawberries, but then decided to make a big batch of deep chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.  Can I just say that the frosting was the very best ganache I've every tasted?  Three sticks of butter, a cup of heavy cream, confectionary sugar, vanilla and nine squares of semi-sweet chocolate made this the frosting you could really just eat on its own.  But on the cupcakes...ah, totally satisfying and  deeply, darkly rich.  I skipped the chocolate-dipped strawberries and just served them sliced in a nice dish.  The rest of the meal: mahi mahi lightly grilled and sharply seasoned, a fresh baked Idaho potato and some of the new asparagus in a ponzu-based (citrus and soy) sauce completed a basic, but just right meal.  There was a green salad, too, with a sprinkling of slivered almonds and small slices of clementines.

Now it's on to tomorrow's Mardi Gras meal, supposedly the excess before the minimalism of Lent begins.  I am thinking of red beans and rice.  It's another hearty choice, it lends itself well to lots of spices, like file powder,  to make the flavors really pop, and you can toss in sauteed celery, onion, carrot, okra and even some greens if you want.  Now, if you add a big and bold spicy sausage, your Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday meal is ready to rock those taste buds.  Bread pudding is a traditional New Orleans favorite, but I've got more of those smooth chocolate cupcakes secured at home.

This is a food-centric time of year, and it comes at the right time, when we're about ready to leave winter behind and longing for some warmth.  Take a leap with the three February celebrations with your menu and see if it doesn't brighten up those grey mornings.

Well, Not Completely, But Food's a Big Part...

Another Sunday, another Superbowl.  In the heart of winter, here comes the Superbowl, just when we turned our thoughts to basketball, the baseball hot stove leagues, and this year, the Vancouver Winter Olympics, football takes center stage once more.

Superbowl parties and get-togethers are a big part of the day, and the tried and true foods include chips, dips, wings, beer, chili and the entire snack food category.  You don't want to give up valuable time away from the game to prepare lavish meals, but the timing of the game, beginning at 3 p.m., means it's before dinner but definitely after lunch.  Snack time, or can it be more?

If I'm feeling lazy, it's quite enough to soften a block of low-fat cream cheese and mash up some minced garlic for a chip dip that's ridiculously easy and irresistible.  You can partner it with another cream-cheese based dip, this time with pimento-stuffed green olives, all chopped up, with a good bit of the olive liquid added to the mix.  It's very salty, but if you love olives (and I do), it doesn't last long. 

Chicken wings are a great addition to the food feast, too.  My take on chicken wings is that our stores do them much better than I can:  apricot sauce, buffalo sauce, plenty of meaty bites per wing...I'd rather buy them and heat them up than go to all the trouble of preparing them at home.  Less expensive, too!

This year, I'm thinking of food inspired by the two teams.  New Orleans is so food-rich I don't know where to start.  How about a Sazerac, a rum-based kind of elegant drink, to accompany a batch of light and powdered sugar beignets, or donuts you can prepare in advance?  A thick, lavishly loaded gumbo can be simmering during the game and accompanied by homemade corn bread.  Gumbo is such a great filling meal in itself.  You include chicken, spicy andouille sausage chunked up, celery, lots of okra (a vegetable that inspires lust and hate equally), file powder,(a special Creole spice mix,) maybe some crawfish or shrimp, pinto beans, and topped over white rice.  You couldn't find a more filling dish than gumbo, or one more iconic to New Orleans.

But if you lean towards Indianapolis, you must celebrate the foods of the Midwest.  We're talking beef here:  slow-cook a pot roast or beef short ribs with big winter vegetables like parsnips and turnips and winter onions, in a liquid braising that includes some garlic olive oil, a vibrant red wine and a dash of worcestshire sauce or dried onion soup mix.  Freshly baked bread and beer, of course, followed by an old-fashioned apple pie topped with cheddar cheese, take this choice home.

Either of these two options will fill your home with wonderful aromas, pique your guests' appetites, and require very little of the cook-in-charge, who has wisely done his or her shopping and prep work before the game begins.  The cook can rest and enjoy the game, because the food is about as easy as it comes. 

I love the spicy, French-inspired foods of New Orleans, but I'm a Midwesterner at heart, so I'll be choosing the beef option this Sunday.  It's going to be short ribs, cooked until the meat just melts off the bones, accompanied by some paprika-seasoned fingerling potatoes and a nice little formation of fresh sauerkraut.  There will be carrots and parsnips pureed on the side for color and flavor.  Of course, we'll be so full of snack foods that we may find ourselves eating most of this the next day!

A woman "of a certain age" stopped me as I was unloading groceries to check out last week,   She somewhat apologetically asked me what I was going to do with that round, sausage-looking vacuum-packed yellow stuff called polenta.  "Is that what we used to call corn meal mush?"

I told her I thought it was one and the same.  In the form I was purchasing, it was already cooked and just needed to be reheated.  Sort of the fast-food approach to mixing corn meal and water and frying it until it's somewhat firm, then baking it off.

I had some big plans for my polenta.  I purchased a basil- and garlic-infused version, and thought I would top it with several new and familiar vegetables, such as collard greens and leeks, maybe some red cabbage and a few slivers of mushrooms.  I would sautee the vegetables and bake the whole thing.

But when I got ready to cook, I rooted through the frig and found I had a lot of fresh spinach and some shallots.  So I sauteed those in garlic olive oil and added something else I found, some proscuitto.  A container of half-used ricotta inspired me to a lasagne-like concoction.  I sliced the polenta fairly thinly, added the spinach mix, then spread some creamy ricotta over that, and a fat dollop of red sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan.  Another layer of the polenta, and I baked it for about 20 minutes.

What terrific flavor!   The whole thing was surprisingly light and yet each separate contributor could be identified and enjoyed.  I was pleased with the end result, and realized that it was infinitely adaptable to whatever was available.  My version was a riff on a traditional lasagne, but you could add almost anything between the layers of polenta.  If you used straight polenta, it could be a great vehicle for something like rice or what used to be called Indian pudding (a molasses-based dessert).

Speaking of, the polenta baked in a way that made it seem superior to traditional noodles.  It had more flavor and substance, and was an interesting and different choice.  For a tired palate in late January, it was a warm and unexpected guest at my dinner table.  Note to self:  try different ways of using polenta...it's a great carb choice.  And you can go basic and purchase corn meal and follow the directions to produce your own polenta, too.  It's a great budget choice, too.

I'm all fooded out.  I am completely ready for the first slender bunches of asparagus, the tartly delicious flavor of rhubarb (I admit I'm crazy about rhubarb), the early berries to make their way to my store.  I want spring food!

I am tired of winter food, though it's only January.  Must be the post-holidays let-down, the food extravaganzas and celebrations that start in November and continue right up to the New Year.  Maybe it's because the weather is unseasonably bright and warmish, but the usual heavy dishes of chili, pot roasts, stuffed chicken breasts, casseroles just don't seem especially appealing.  I want rosemary lemonade, not marshmallow hot chocolate!

New inspiration is needed.  My experiment with broccoli rabe in pasta was well-received and a nice change from the usual spinach I add to the mash-up.  The kale, the long-living kale, was neatly sliced along its tough spine and chopped into bits.  I sauteed it with some sliced garlic in olive oil, and added fresh green peppers as it softened up.  It didn't really shrink like spinach does, but retained its curly-tipped shape and volume.  I panicked a bit and added tamari sauce right at the end of the cooking, when I noticed some of the leaves were turning a little brown.  Overall, it was a nice side dish, and the peppers added a good crunch.  Jalapenos or even roasted red peppers would be good, too. 

So, attitude adjustment.  Parsnips, turnips, more of those mysterious greens are going to find their way into my fridge as I continue to cook seasonally.  Putting together a thick-ish and full-bodied stew with some of these elements is my new challenge. 

And just to show that cold-season flavors can be compelling...I had a lighter-than-air buckwheat crepe yesterday, stuffed with chopped mushrooms, onions and sauerkraut, of all things.  It was tangy, laced lightly with some kind of delicate cream sauce, and so completely right for the winter. 

Finally, all this talk of what kind of food I want to eat right now circles me back to the people of Haiti.  Having food choices is such a privilege in many of our lives, and it's time for me to share that privilege.  Maybe you, too.  www.americanredcross.org

I, too, have swooned over scones, and hunting for the exactly right recipe that is butter flaky, light, tenderly crumbed.  There are too many that are lead-heavy and dry.

I found the perfect scone recipe in Julia Child's "The Art of Baking."  I don't know if it's still available ( it was published around 10 years ago), but it is worth having.  The recipe for making her scones is lengthy but not difficult, and the results are well worth the effort.  There are other exacting recipes for bakers to try as well, and the ones I've tried have been equally satisfying.

Hint:  like all scones, these are best eaten fresh or frozen and reheated.  They do not improve on the second (third or fourth) day!  Bon appetit!

Confession:  there is a swath of produce I skip by. It's the collard greens, beet greens and kale section that perplexes me.  In my childhood home, stepping out was when a salad didn't begin with iceberg lettuce, but a more exotic (to us) combo of romaine and maybe some spinach.

I have resolved to solve the riddle of kale, and so bought a great big bunch of it.  It has curly edges and is an appealing dark green.  It seems like you get quite a lot for your money when you buy kale. 

Now, what do I do with it?  If anyone has a special favorite recipe, please send it my way. I have checked my cookbooks, and there's some hopeful news with Italian recipes that use kale.  I am thinking I will saute it tonight with some garlic and olive oil and add it to a pasta dish that's coming together nicely with bits of leftovers and inspired buys.  But I'm looking for that special dish, the star, that makes my hungry family sit up and take notice, and yes, even beg for more greens.  Kale is loaded with nutrients and antioxidants, but what about flavor?  And I am wondering if it does the spinach thing and shrinks up to nothing after it encounters some heat.  And one more thing:  recipes don't seem especially clear on whether or not you can or should or want to eat the stems.  We'll see...

There are a few truisms about holiday meals.  For one thing, there is generally plenty of food.  This is good, because one person loves sweet potatoes, but the other one shuns wilted cabbage...you need lots of choices if you're hosting a family/extended family and friends meal.

I had three holiday meals to host over two days, plus two meals around New Year's as well.  The first was the traditional Christmas Eve dinner, in which I like to serve variations on seafood.  It's most often grilled salmon, and always welcomed by the guests, particularly as they grow older.  Simply prepared and barbecued outside, no matter the temperature, it tastes fresh and light on the system.  The side dishes include a variation on potatoes.  This year's, scalloped potatoes, a repeat from the ecstatic reviews received on Thanksgiving, were just as tasty, but unfortunately, didn't look as nice, since I had sliced them and let them sit a bit too long.  They turned an unappetizing shade of grey, but still tasted good.  You have to be adventurous to eat at my table!  There were the brussel sprouts mixed with bread crumbs and pancetta, an Italian bacon, plus lots of garlic.  My mother's recipe for sweet and sour cucumbers, heavy on the vinegar and salt, light on the sugar, topped with white sliced onions.  A loaf of freshly baked bread (from the store, not my oven) and a huge green salad with cranberries, pecans and spinach.  I also tossed some broccoli with lemon and capers.  When it came time for dessert, a strawberry boston cream pie (The Market at Fairhaven, thank you very much), only two guests were able to fit it in.  The appetizers brought by another guest, including a hot artichoke dip, a feta cheese dip and deviled eggs, filled us all up.  The cookie plate did the rest of the damage.

Christmas morning with friends and a brunch, served up with champagne, orange juice, a sour cream coffeecake with double the cinnamon and pecan filling, plus Swedish pancakes and chorizo sausage made for another hearty meal.

By the time the fresh group of guests arrived for their prime rib dinner Christmas evening, I was not hungry in the least.  I discovered, much to my surprise, that the mashed potatoes I prepared were gobbled right up.  I was short a veg, so I took some carrots, horseradish, the remainders of the previous night's broccoli and brussels sprouts, and stir-fried them together.  Not a bite left.  The soft Parker House dinner rolls were a hit, the big green salad again a welcome buffer between healthy and indulgent, and I squeezed in some room for my sister-in-law's justifiably famous buche de noel...a chocolate mocha sponge cake that is light and a flavor knockout.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day saw yet more eating with more different guests to host.  This time, salmon and halibut and a bounty of king crab legs to dip in butter.  A salad that went the distance twice, some roasted peppers and mushrooms, really chewy wheat bread, homemade potato salad and also made-at-home chocolate chip cookies.  We even tasted a five-year-old plum pudding.  It was strangely good, until we read the ingredients and discovered it contained beef suet, something I am certain I will never willingly eat again.  But the hard sauce was delish:  rum-spiked and really, really sweet. 

The point here?  Well, no point, except that among all these people and all these meals, we were blessed with more food than we could consume, the variety of which made every gathering a feast of its own.  Even if we had been dining with a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk, the cameraderie and the good times made these meals special.  To share food with dear friends and family, and to be able to offer a table literally groaning under the weight of so many tempting foods, is indeed a gift.

And, it was with a grateful heart that I was able to take a wonderful selection of food to my local food bank last weekend.  Now, and every day, is a good time to share.

I've been attending several holiday parties and really enjoying the fact that I'm not doing all the cooking.  I do love to cook, but discovering new food combos through other people's recipes is a real pleasure (most of the time).

The inventiveness of people in their potluck party foods never ceases to amaze me.  I would not have considered putting sweet potatoes into a black bean salad, but they were the absolute right complement to a slighty spicy dish and addied a nice dollop of color as well.  The white chocolate chip cookies were studded with sweet chips, but the little red nuggets I took initially for dried cranberries turned out to be dried cherries, and it just elevated the entire cookie.

My sister has a knack for simple dishes that seem a lot more complicated, given their full flavor.  Maybe it's not rocket science to add feta cheese to a block of cream cheese and top it with some great fresh herbs, but it's a cracker or bread spread that lets the individual flavors soar. It's nice to have a twist on the standard dip and chip offerings that are going strong where I live.

The other interesting aspect of potlucks is how certain dishes suddenly are seen everywhere.  I think of the quintessential pistachio pudding/canned pineapple/almonds/marshmallow creme fluff that surfaced many years ago and is still wildly popular, with various flavors of pudding subbing in for the original green version.  It's really dessert, but everyone serves it as a salad course, and I guess that's okay, because it does have pineapple in it.  But where did it come from?

The other night, I saw a lovely platter of sauteed baby bok choy, with an arrangement of  thinly sliced disks, each sporting five or six small holes.  I had never seen anything like this:  was it edible?  Oh yes, it was lotus root, and those little holes serve as straws, of a kind, to bring in water to the body of the lotus plant.  They are indeed edible, and though not strongly flavored, they were an attractive tan counterpoint to the green and white bok choy.  Another interesting possiblity for future cooking adventures.

Every time I return from a potluck or a party where someone else has furnished the food, I have new inspiration and new energy to lift my daily cooking a notch or two.  Even the predictability of a church dinner (big  cheesy ground beef casserole, rolls and butter, green salad, chocolate brownies) can deliver a surprise now and then.  I think fondly of a fabulous rhubarb and strawberry pie, when I was fortunate enough to be at the front of the line when it appeared, and have since tried and tried to duplicate its spring-fresh flavors and light-as-air crust. 

In this season of giving, food is one of the best gifts we can bring to others.  It doesn't have to be elaborate or exotic, but if it's prepared with care and a soupcon of creativity, it just soars.  And even if it's same old same old, giving food is warmly received.  Always. 

It's December 9th already, and I've only begun to think about my holiday cookie baking.  Every year, I pore through my recipe folders, sifting through holiday cooking magazines, and considering the many choices of cookies I could produce.

Then, like the way I tend to cook, I circle back to the tried and true cookie recipes I make every year:  we're talking about kiss cookies, wreath cookies, fudge and shortbread.  These are the mainstays of our holiday cookie plates, but I can't stop there.  I need to add a few more varieties.

The fact is, I do love to bake, and I find I can whip up a batch or two of cookies very easily after work.  I love to try new recipes.  So, over the years, I have added many new items to the cookie plate.  There's been the biscotti/mandelbrot years, with candied ginger and white chocolate, or pecans and dark chocolate.  Rugelach has become a favorite, too, although the cream cheese dough, the rolling, the spreading of the apricot jam or the cinnamon filling seem more time-consuming than they really are.  I have added Italian ricotta cookies to the mix, and they are always a big hit: so festive with the white buttercream frosting and the red and green sprinkles.  Cut-out cookies, either sugar cookies or gingerbread, are really satisfying to make and add such holiday flair to the whole cookie presentation, and are well worth the additional time to carefully cut out, frost and bake.  I tried lechkuchen once, a hard kind of molasses-based cookie with candied fruit, but no one liked it and I never tried it again.  The wreath cookies, the old standby of cornflakes, marshmallows, green food coloring, butter and cinnamon red hots, are especially beloved by my family.  Same with kiss cookies, the peanut-butter-based cookie topped with a Hershey's kiss.

My mother used to make pink ladies, or pink ladyslippers.  They are an almond-flavored, crescent-shaped cookie with a dollop of pink frosting on the end.  Somewhere along the line, I lost the exact recipe, and I haven't been able to exactly replicate that great taste.

I made some shortbread last night, and it looked rather plain to take to some friends, so I dipped the ends in bittersweet chocolate.  Simple, rich and entirely satisfying.  

One other thing about Christmas cookies:  it's great to have lots on hand to share with neighbors and visitors, but once the holidays are past, I really don't want to see them again for another year.  How about you?  Do you have a favorite cookie tradition? 

A belated wish to you and yours for a peaceful Thanksgiving and a gentle entry into the high drama and activity of December.

My Thanksgiving dinner hit most of the marks, but not all.  Turkey was delicious, slow-cooked on a barbecue and lavishly seasoned with garlic olive oil, Hawaiian sea salt, fresh rosemary and sage and some secret toppings.  Very moist and looked handsome, too.  The dressing this year was indeed baked in a muffin tin, which the guests liked as much as I did.

Did I fall for a trendy new recipe?  Nope: stuck to the old classic:  dried bread from Southside Food Pavilion, vegetable broth (a nod to the vegetarians among us), diced onion and chopped celery sauteed in a cube of butter, salt and pepper and eggs, baked till hot but not hard as a rock.  Everyone raved over this special recipe, and what could have been easier than watching the Macy's Day Parade and the National Dog Show while leisurely cooking this up?

The other big hit of the day was the potato dish.  I had my issues, previously discussed, with stuffing and potatoes as almost the same thing.  But I went with scalloped potatoes, again very simple: sliced and layered with heavy cream flavored with sliced garlic and topped with lots of fresh Parmesan cheese, baked till a little crunchy on top.  My guests practically licked the dish clean! 

The maybe dish:  a roasted vegetable pie, chock full of winter vegs like turnips, rutabagas, onions, Yukon gold potatoes, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, carrots.  I slow-cooked them to soften them up in olive oil, then did a mash-up with fresh herbs like basil, thyme and sage, roasting them in the oven for an hour or so.  I put them in a pie plate and topped it with a pie crust brushed with olive oil.  Looked great, and the vegan among us liked it, but no one else was enthusiastic.  Too many vegetables, I suppose.  Grandma's old chestnut, the cucumbers and onions in vinegar, sugar and lots of salt, had their loyal denizons, on the other hand.

The not-next-year-dish:  sliced broccoli baked with jalapeno cheddar cheese, cream of broccoli soup and soup cream.  Kind of blah and boring, and people took a spoonful just to be polite.  Also, same with the salad:  why bother?  People were eating to eat the turkey, the stuffing, the potatoes, the fresh bread and butter...and dessert, of course. 

I don't care for pumpkin pie, but ran out of time to do anything else pumpkin.  So I baked some shortbread cookies, both brown sugar and standard variety, as well as some kiss cookies.  The cookies were a big hit and I had none left by last night.  The pumpkin pie, on the other hand, was still there.

I had three big dog guests at Thanksgiving this year.  For their meal, they each got a bite of turkey and were very thankful:  one took it a little farther and made a bold and successful bid for all the butter in the butter dish.  What could I do?  It's one of the few days all year we are expected, even encouraged, to overindulge...even our animal companions!

So it's approaching the decision day for the big T-Day meal and I'm struggling with the same issue I face each year:  isn't stuffing the same as potatoes?

Since it's no longer considered a food safe practice to stuff your turkey, stuffing is now cooked outside the bird.  I saw a clever way to do this:  create individual stuffings for each guest in a muffin tin.  It looked cute and seemed to be a way to solve having too much stuffing left over.

But to my point, stuffing is just bread  and it just goes against my grain to serve bread and potatoes in the same meal.  And if I serve potatoes, do I serve the sweet potatoes or yams or mashed or scalloped?  If I serve stuffing, do I have to have rolls or other kinds of bread on the table, too?  Too much of the same stuff, I think.

Maybe it depends on what you grew up with on Thanksgiving, but I cautiously announced that I was abandoning stuffing this year in favor of bigger-flavored potatoes, mashed with lots of garlic, butter, sour cream and horseradish.  Yum!  However, my diners protested mightily, about how much they love stuffing and wouldn't it be wrong to not have a potato dish?

So, I'm scanning the stuffing recipes.  I could do the beloved basic that I woke up to every November morning before the Macy's Day Parade:  sauteed onions and celery, mixed with dried white bread, broth and eggs, seasoned with sage and pepper and salt.  Just a basic stuffing that always tasted the same (except we cooked it inside the bird, so it had extra fat and flavor).  I tried cornbread once with cranberries and pecans, but that didn't go over well.  Another year was the oysters, yet another crumbled sausage in a hearty peasant bread mix. 

But my diners want the traditiional, the one they have gobbled up year after year.  And I, their dutiful chef, will appease them once again.  But I will be a little subversive and add some new dishes to my table, like a Tuscan cauliflower, a spinach and gorgonzola salad and a pumpkin-caramel cake, instead of...pie.  No, wait, I have to have pie, they say.  Hey, why not both?! 

When the weather turns cold and wet, and everyone around you seems to be snuffling or sneezing, it's a good time to protect yourself with a hearty bowl of soup.

There's something about hot soup that makes me feel better when I'm battling the seasonal sniffles.  There is some scientific evidence that chicken noodle soup does help you feel better.  I believe it's a combination of the hot, steamy liquid with the soft vegetables and the chunks of chicken, anchored by thick egg noodles, that promotes healing.  Even if it can't be validated, it makes me feel better just spooning it down, accompanied by corn muffins or a slice of sourdough.

So I made a big batch of homemade chicken soup.  It's easy:  about 6-8 cups of water, some raw chicken breasts or thighs (you can also use cooked chicken, but the bones impart some extra flavor to the soup stock), chopped carrots, onions and celery.  Heat to boiling and simmer for an hour or so.  About 15 minutes before serving, toss in a handful of noodles and cook until they are al dente, or soft as Italian pasta.  Season to taste.  You can add garlic, which also promotes well-being.  This soup can be frozen and reheated.  If it thickens too much when it's refrigerated, just add more liquid.  It's usually eaten within a day.

On a roll, I next made beef noodle soup with leftover pot roast and added some potatoes near the end of the simmer stage, and that was a big hit, too.  On to split pea soup, which couldn't be easier, especially since I had a big piece of cooked ham that needed to be reworked into something. Split pea and lentil soup are exceptionally hearty, and are stand-alone meals in themselves.

Next up for my soup kitchen efforts is some kind of curry.  Curry is one of those spices that really heats you up, and if you like the flavor of curry, there is no end to what you can add.  I've included apples, coconut, some peanuts for garnish, sweet potatoes and green beans, along with slivers of chicken.  Curry in soup just makes me feel good.  The hotter the curry, the better!

Finally, there's the southwest twist on chicken noodle soup.  It's a chicken soup stock, heavily flavored with plenty of fresh lime juice, subbing out pieces of tortilla instead of noodles, and stirring in some fresh chiles, chopped into spicy little bits.  This is a soup with meat on its bones, so to speak, and it will keep you warm and full all through autumn. 

Does anyone have a soup that works wonders when you've got a cold?  And, what ingredients do you like to include in your homemade soup?

Okay, the nanaimo bars were heaven if you just had the bottom and middle layers.  The bottom, chcolate-flavored and full of nutty coconut, topped with the middle layer of confectionery sugar, butter and vanilla pudding were tasty and satisfying.

However, the melted candy corn topping, mixed with more powdered sugar and even more butter, plus a smidge of salt, was way over the top on the sweetness scale.  The whole thing looked beautiful:  pale orange atop the chocolate, very festive.

The taste was another thing altogether.  The candy corn, having been melted, had a slightly chemical flavor.  The salt helped cut the sweetness, but it really was not a recipe I'd suggest making again.  In fact, I might not even eat candy corn again. 

Since then, I've seen lots of suggestions for melting down Halloween candy into pie crusts, cookies, cakes and the like.  I think not.  Appreciate them for what they are and save the real stuff for desserts. 

There's a certain amount of pleasure I take in Halloween, the free pass to eat all kinds of candy.  From the mini peanut butter cups to the black and orange Oreo cookies, there are many delicacies at Halloween that all revolve around a lot of sugar.

When I was a kid, eating Halloween candy was about as good as it gets.  All that forbidden stuff that we emptied on the floor, sorting out the very healthy (but undesirable at that age) boxes of raisins, the red delicious apples, the little sacks of peanuts in the shell --- those were put aside in favor of the big candy bars, the whopper-sized bubble gum, the gummi bears and the sticky lollipops.  So much simple pleasure...and so much sugar!

I try to abstain from being candy-obsessed on October 31, and dutifully buy bags of candy that I don't particularly care for, so I don't eat it before the trick-or-treaters do.  However, I usually mix up a batch of pumpkin-based cookies with a penuche frosting that satisfies the sweet craving.  I'm finishing off a loaf of pumpkin bread, so spicy and evocative of the season.  Once November 1 rolls around, it will all be about toasting delicious pumpkin seeds, and wishing I had more of them.

However, how sweet is too sweet?  That's the question I hope to answer when I prepare a recipe I saw on a blog recently:  candycorn topped nanaimo bars.  Nanaimo bars are three layers of lusciousness:  a chocolate-coconut base, a middle filling made with vanilla pudding and powdered sugar, topped with rich dark chocolate mixed into a ganache delight.  The recipe I plan to try in a few days substitutes melted candycorn for the topping.  You mix it with powdered sugar and a few other things, and refrigerate till firm. 

Does that sound so sweet it makes your fillings hurt?  I have had very few treats in my life that qualify as too sweet.  I'll let you know if this is one of them!

Are you a seasonal eater?  That is, when it's warm outside and the sun is shining, are you tossing together a salad and sipping a homemade smoothie?  Or do you eat "outside" the season, enjoying a big fresh salad or even a grilled hot dog when the rain is blowing sideways and you're huddled under a comforter?

I'm of the seasonal eating option.  Now that it's well into fall, and the first strong winds and rains have come our way, the leaves have turned crimson and gold, and I'm turning on the heat indoors, I begin to crave different foods.

The other night, it was beef short ribs.  I picked up a package, intrigued by the many mentions of short ribs recently.  They need a long, slow cooking, braised in liquid and seasoned enough to bring out their deep, rich flavor.  I added them to a slow cooker (formerly known as a crock pot), covered with beef broth, some red wine and a wee bit of olive oil.  I chopped up an onion, peeled an orange, and used just the peel, plus some soy sauce and a dollop of balsamic vinegar.  Mixed this in, along with some forthright spices (freshly ground pepper, some black sea salt, fresh thyme), and several coins of fresh ginger.  Naturally, we needed vegetables for this stew, so I checked my frig and found some baby carrots, a few potatoes I chunked, plus some broccoli. 

All this went into the short rib creation, and I cooked it on high for about four hours.  The aroma was rich and filled the entire house.  I then put it in the frig and finished it off in the oven for another hour the next day.   The meat was fork tender and loaded with flavor.  The best part of the dish was that it was pretty much the entire meal.  I could have added a green salad or another vegetable, or some warm sourdough bread, but I didn't.  I was needing a big, hearty, flavor-loaded meal, and that's what I got.  (I had to do my cooking in two steps, but it certainly could just be done entirely in the slow cooker.  Use your food thermometer to determine when it's done, and then let it simmer until the meat falls right off the bone.)

I got so inspirerd by this foray into fall cooking that I began to think of other cravings the dark days inspire:  things like baked apples, a fruit-dotted rice pudding, homemade meatballs with spaghetti sauce, and naturally, all things pumpkin.  But that's a tale for another blog entry!  What's your favorite fall meal?

Way back when, someone gave me a copy of "The Joy of Cooking."  This cookbook, now in its upteenth printing, explained everything, from making your own salad dressing to the best ways to prepare game.  It was daunting and somewhat intimidating, despite the friendly tone the mother-daughter team strived for.  It sat on the shelf, patiently waiting to be used on a regular basis, but it didn't happen in my kitchen.  I had no time to make my own jellies and can my own meat.

The cookbook I picked up for myself was a food revolution between its covers.  "The Silver Palate Cookbook" was spawned from the New York City gourmet food shop of the same name.  The two authors had strong opinions, as all good cookbook editors should, about food , well ahead of their time.

Eating tomatoes in season?  Always.  Preparing food with the freshest ingredients you can find?  Exactly.  Taking the basic dishes, familiar ones like a sour cream coffee cake, and jazzing them up?  Absolutely.

I refer again and again to that cookbook.  I usually cook without a book, relying on the experience of preparing three meals a day for years on end, and improvise frequently with what happens to be in the cupboard or refrigerator.  But when I want something different, something that requires precision, like a special cake, it's back to the Silver Palate.

Today I look to the many excellent online recipe sites and blogs for inspiration.  It's a constant source of amazement to me how clever, creative and exciting some of these can be, particularly when you throw an ingredient at them, and see what emerges.  Maybe it's mundane, but I had most of a  package of sauerkraut (left over from hot dogs)  that became a component of a really excellent pizza.  I don't think I ever would have thought of that combo, but it was inspired eating.  Sometimes I've tried out recipes that have been minor disasters, but it usually leads to something else.

Cookbooks are still hot sellers, and even old standbys like "Betty Crocker's Cookbook" keep going.  What do you think?  Do you like to use a cookbook?  If you do, what is your current favorite? We'll talk about recipe and foodie blogs in a future post.

No matter how much or how little I cook, bake, grill, prepare...no matter how excellent the flavors, how unique the combo, it seems like I always have some food remaining.

What to do with the leftovers?  What sometimes tastes terrific at first bite doesn't always translate too well two days later.  The family is enthused about the first peach crisp of the season, but if they don't finish it all on day one, it becomes a soggy and unattractive mess.

I am always up for a challenge, and just don't like to toss away perfectly good food that happens to be cocooning in my frig or resting on my counter.  If I end up with an extra piece of chicken, well, that's golden.  It can transform into so many dishes, from a simple chicken salad to the base for a seasonal pasta.  Same goes with a pot roast, the mainstay of Sunday dinner when I was a kid.  The leftovers look kind of unappetizing, until they get chopped into roast beef hash, or softened with some broth or a bit of red wine into a base for shredded taco meat.  Actually, meat, chicken, fish, pork are easy leftovers, the kind where you can summon up any number of uses and often wish you had more.  (It seems like you never have quite enough turkey leftovers after you prepare packages for all the Thanksgiving guests to take home, but ham is another story.  It expands and lasts a lifetime.  Truly.)

The challenging leftovers are things like breakfast scrambled eggs, or a salad already topped with dressing.  Vegetables that aren't quite finished, and no one wants to look at them for another day.  Even the highly sought after chocolate chip cookie isn't wanted, if it's the last one.  The almost black banana no one will touch, the bit of gravy, the small dish of brown rice...well, we all have these hanging around, and instead of wondering if it's time to give up, why not try to concoct something of your own?

Go recipe-free, and put together flavors that seem complementary.  Look for textures that combine gracefully, and dishes that might not be too far away from your regular fare.  Take chili.  It's easy to add the remaining beef or chicken or ground turkey.  How about that small amount of chopped zucchini or the few extra edamame beans you couldn't bear to part with?  We took a little piece of creamy melted Brie, really too small to wrap, and put it atop grilled chicken for a few moments.  No one could believe the fabulous flavor!  And that lone chocolate chip cookie:  crumble it on ice cream, mash it into pancake batter, mix it with some juicy fresh fruits, like berries. Why not added to oatmeal?  You get the idea.  How do you like to use your leftovers? 

I'm hoping for a little kitchen inspiration this weekend after I see the new movie, "Julie and Julia."  If you aren't familiar with it, it's about a bored would-be writer who decides to prepare every recipe in the famed chef's first cookbook, "The Art of French Cooking."  The movie cuts between Julie's struggles in the kitchen with French recipes, and Julia Child's journey towards finding a purpose in life:  sharing her food enthusiasm with all of us.  Julie's cooking challenge gives her purpose, too.

Sometimes I get on a kick and try to cook only from a  certain cookbook for a week at a time.  I can't imagine having the interest to do an entire cookbook, but Julie did, and blogged about it to enough fans that she eventually published her kitchen adventures.

I have made Julia Child's scones...once.  Like so many French recipes, they are lavish in the use of butter and cream.  This scone recipe is simple, but does require patience to the process.  You can't hurry it along.  I had my doubts, but once the scones came out of the oven, I was a convert to Julia Child.  She definitely knew what she was doing.  The scones were without a doubt the best I'd ever tasted, and maybe someday I'll make them again.

In the meantime, I think I might just unearth my old JC cookbooks and see if I can find a new recipe adventure to challenge my taste buds over the long Labor Day weekend.  I like to cook on the fly, not following a recipe exactly, but in the case of the formidable, exceptional Ms. Julia Child, I think I'll do just that.  Bon appetit!

New York City is the origin of many food trends, and I was pretty excited to see one of them on a recent visit to that big, hot, humid city.

Clever chefs have taken the concept of an ice cream truck --- the ubiquitous visitor to suburban neighborhoods in the summer --- and done it one better.  Rather than offering the usual fare, rainbow-colored popsicles, drumsticks, creamsicles and Cap'n Crunch bars (I swoon for those), these are dessert trucks.

There are half a dozen of these trucks trolling the streets of New York City.  One offers artisan ice creams in flavors you don't find from Mr. Softee.  Another does mini creme brulees and small bundt cakes.  I heard about chocolate mousse with a caramel corn topping.  Old-fashioned favorites stock one truck, with butterscotch bars and warm chocolate chip cookies.  If you're more adventurous, there's a truck for you, too:  one that features items like rhubarb and lemongrass soup, served cold, of course, or a chocolate bread pudding with a bacon-scented creme anglaise.  (I am not sure about that one.)

The trucks post their locations on their web sites.  Regular hours and sites are iffy, depending on finding parking spaces on crowded side streets and trucks that don't  suddenly break down.

In any event, I ran into the Wafels and Dinges truck, bright yellow and staffed by two enthusiastic men who dispensed hot Belgian waffles with all kinds of toppings.  There was a small line of eager customers on a very sultry afternoon.

Do you think a dessert truck might catch on in your locale?  In New York, part of the thrill is the chase: coming upon a dessert truck when you didn't even know you were hungry for something sweet.  In smaller communities, maybe a dessert truck or cart that is stationary and keeps regular hours would be a fun addition to a standard food scene.

In any event, having seen and heard all about dessert trucks leads me to wanting to bake up a storm, and put together some amazingly rich, creative and delicious desserts.  I love street food anyways, but dessert street food is a completely new and much desired category! 

What is the new etiquette for eating food on an airplane? 

On several flights recently, I observed plane food in all its glory.  On a very early morning flight (leaving at 6 a.m., which is beyond the pale), there were fellow passengers eagerly munching on traditional morning foods, like bagels and cream cheese.  But there were others who unwrapped giant sub sandwiches, and more than a couple with cardboard boxes loaded with hot cheesy pizza.  Coffee, of course, but more than a few people chugged down sodas.  From another class of service (not mine), came the compelling and not-so-inviting smell of something chili and salsa-like.  For me, that's just too early in the day to contemplate anything that savory.

On a long evening flight that stretched well beyond the dinner hour, my fellow passengers compensated for the lack of sustinence with creativity.  There were people with cheeseburgers and soggy fries, some that packed plastic containers full of intriguing caprese salads and cold pastas, others that gamely held on to a full plate of Asian noodles slushing a bit with soy sauce.  To each his/her own.

Getting to the etiquette part:  I think you can't be too fussy about aromas or smells from other passengers' foods.  After all, we are stuffed together for a finite period of time, and no sense getting all excited about someone else's mondo beef burrito or jar of kim chee.  I think the etiquette is being considerate of your seatmate, and taking care of your own discards, so you aren't expecting the flight attendants to deal with your leftovers.  I think it's rude to stuff old food into the seat pockets, too.  Bring your own bag for your waste, and package it up carefully so it doesn't leak for the next group of passengers.

If I sound a little cranky, I'm not.  I alternate between telling myself I won't starve if I don't eat for a few hours, but then I recall the time we sat on a runway for over five hours, and all I had to eat were some Combos (pepperoni flavored).  I devoured them over the course of endless starts, stops, delays and finally the flight home, and was grateful for every last bite.

Now I pack food that isn't too smelly, messy or visually unappealing.  That usually means things like apples, crackers, cheese, water or juice, granola bars,almonds and the not-to-be forgotten standby:  junior mints.  There have been times when I've had to rely on these when I have arrived somewhere when there's no food to be found on the other end.

Finally:  a confession.  Just last week, I flew home with six of the most delicious, icing-loaded vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, secured in a box with little holders for each one.  My fellow passengers' rollaboards, placed inj the overhead bin, did not crush the cupcakes, and I'm happy to report I enjoyed them immensely.  Plane food?  Not so plain, but what a treat!

A group of us were enjoying another leisurely summer lunch under a bright blue sky.  Someone ordered a Thai chicken ginger soup, another had a chicken pot pie.  There were lattes and hot cocoa, and everyone ended up too full for dessert.

Then somone made an observation:  "I have never been hungry for one day in my life."  We thought about it. Profound.  There have been times when we've been hungry, after skipping a meal or being late for a snack, but how many of us have experienced true hunger, the kind where your cupboard is truly bare, the refrigerator empty, the prospects dim to nonexistent?

We love food, and we love having choices on the kinds of food we eat.  In the season of plenty, summer is a good time to reflect on hunger, and how easy it is to alleviate some of this right where we live.

Each of our stores has Helpful Harvest bags set up.  For $10, you can purchase a bag with nonperishable items that go to the food bank in your community.  It's enough for a few meals, and maybe it arrives at that time when someone has no options for eating. 

We donate our perishables on a daily basis to food banks, too.  The need is great, and there's never enough.  Maybe you will never experience hunger like people do that have no food.  Maybe you can make a donation so someone doesn't have to.  Food is pleasure and food is fun, but it's also sustinence, and that's where each of us can make a difference right in our own neighborhood.

Like many other facets of life in the 21st century, there is an online survey for any topic you find interesting. In this case, the Center for Culinary Develoment and Packaged Facts produced a national survey to determine if there is a generation gap when it comes to comfort foods.

They break the results down by female-male, Gen.X and Gen. Y, and Boomers.  No surprise, regardless of age, almost half the respondents prefer sweets for comfort.  Entrees, salty snacks, side dishes and breakfast foods  lag far behind.  Women prefer sweet things more than men.  Break it down a bit further, and top sweets are ice cream, then chocolate, and finally brownies. (what: no cookies?)

For entrees, roast meats come in tops, mac and cheese and potatoes tied for side dishes in popularity, and with salty snacks, chips reign supreme, followed by popcorn and cheese.  (there are nuances, too...for example, Boomers like artisan cheeses, hand-crafted gems like Humboldt Fog, while Gen.X goes for cheese crackers.)

Boomers like classic comfort foods, like braised meats, casseroles and ice cream, and crave childhood favorites, like peanut butter, hot oatmeal and foods made from canned tuna or chicken noodle soup.

Gen. X likes commercial fare and fast food, especially burgers and burritos.  They gravitate to branded foods, like favorite name brand packaged cookies and snacks.

Gen. Y likes burritos and ramen noodles, but also favor more healthy foods, like sushi and fruit. 

Are you interested in comfort food trends?  Well, they have an answer for that!  How about breakfast for dessert, using boxed cereals as the basis for baked goods and desserts, as well as glamoured-up versions of doughnuts and French toast?  It's the old standby, Rice Krispy Bars, gone upscale.

Meatloaf is back, but it's been gussied up with leaner meat blends and bigger tastes. (Sorry:  I still won't eat it.  Ever.  Bad times.)

Artisan pies, once only seen in little pastry shops and cafes, are being featured in restaurants with intriguing fresh fruit blends and good-for-you ingredients.

Pacific Rim cooking is stronger than ever, with pho, the Vietnamese noodle and beef soup , spreading like wildfire.  Fresh in flavor and a quick snack, pho is  also pretty simple to whip up at home.  A similar soup is miso, which ranks big on my comfort food list in the cold wet months.

Asian curries  are growing in popularity, too, and there are many kits on our shelves that help put these together quickly and inexpensively.  I wonder if hot foods are more comforting than cold foods?

Finally, good old mac and cheese can have all sorts of variations, but it's easy to make and exceptionally soothing to eat when you want to feel like you're being taken care of by Mom.

This brings us to the big question:  what is your ultimate comfort food?  Does it depend on the season or the weather or the mood?  Does it differ if you are by yourself?  Does it always satisfy, or do you need to change it up from time to time?  And...are there foods that offer no salve or comfort?  I can reveal that when I want to feel well-cared-of and need a food equivilent of a hug, it will never be eggs...but that's me.  I'm going to be reaching for a big slice of toast, preferably on a piece of big-flavored bread, topped with my old friend, peanut butter.  There...feeling better already!

If the thoughts you have right now, food-wise, tend towards things like popsicles, icy lemonade and juicy peaches, you are right on trend.  Cold foods are a balm on hot summer days, when the temperatures climb into new uncharted (for the Northwest!) territory.

Last night, I had enchiladas on my mind and ended up using both the stovetop and the oven (briefly) to prepare them.  They had plenty of green chiles, which reminds me of how Indian cooking uses hot curries and other spices to induce the body to sweat and naturally cool off.  They were easy and delicious, but I don't think I'm heating up the oven again tonight!

If you have a blender, you can throw together a cold summer soup.  The Scandinavians adore fruit soups, with lingonberries or currants,blended with a juice or even a yoghurt base.  Classic Spanish gazpacho, loaded with fresh tomatoes, peppers, chiles, onions and garlic, topped with chunky avocado and tortilla chips, refreshes and energizes.  If you have a French inclination, a la Julia Child, a vichysoisse, or cold potato and cream-based soup, is your go-to dinner.

Salads are another hot weather savior.  You can put just about anything in a salad, and if you have fresh greens, all the better.  It's a good empty-the-frig exercise, and doesn't require much time indoors to throw together.  My favorite is the Nicoise, with tuna, green beans, hard-boiled eggs and potatos, little black piccoline olives and red onions. 

The siren song of summer has to be the ice cream man (or woman), plying their trade up and down the sidewalks of suburbia.  You don't have to wait for an appearance:  just stock up on fruity popsicles, drumsticks, Eskimo bars, ice cream sandwiches, cones and assorted flavors of ice cream, sherbet and gelato and you're set. 

What foods keep you cool in the summer, and are there special summer foods you only enjoy when the temperature climbs?  For me, right now it's just frosty, cold homemade rosemary lemonade.

The arrest of a mother whose 14-year-old son tipped the scales at over 500 pounds  made national news this week, and touched off a firestorm of debate:  is the mom guilty of child abuse for letting her son get so unhealthily large?  Some argue this is a result of poverty, and eating cheap but calorie-empty food.  Others point to an education issue: in a culture that equates food with all kinds of emotions (you eat if you're bored or sad), maybe this is how you show love: lots of food.

I tend to believe that if parents learn healthy eating habits, those habits will pass on to their children, so I land on the side of more nutritional education.  As we say here, good food is for everyone, and it does't have to cost a lot, either. Eating fresh, eating foods in season, and learning basic cooking goes a long way in putting together a satisfying diet that stays with you for life.  Taking chances on new-to-you foods that you might never have tasted can develop into lifelong obsessions (like me and eggplant...but I digress...).  There is a wealth of information available through web sites, libraries and food professionals at our stores who can help with tempting, yet healthy food choices.

All this is not to say, of course, that you should avoid ice cream on a steamy summer afternoon, or  never indulge in a bacon cheeseburger with a side order of fries.  Those just shouldn't be your daily bread, but treats you put into your food choices, and then balance out with the grilled chicken, the tofu and vegetable stir fry and the yogurt and fresh fruit in the afternoon.

So I'd vote in favor of giving people lots of information about how to eat well on a budget, and trust that the delicious food choices they make will keep them traveling along the good-for-you path.  

One more thing:  I'm thinking it's late afternoon snack time.  I have a fresh, so juicy I can hardly touch it peach, plus some almonds.  What's your favorite nosh in the afternoon?  I tend to be seasonal, so by the winter months, it will change to something a bit more substantial.  But for right now, the sun is shining brightly, and the peach is perfect. 

(with thanks to the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association: www.pnwba.com)

Our first BBQ On The Border, this Saturday, July 18 and July 19 (see news articles for more details), will boast many expert barbecue teams competing for prize money and the coveted first place designation.

You'll be able to sample their wares, and if you think you know barbecue, like I did, you may want to think again.  According to our sponsors, the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association, traditional American barbecue is not grilling burgers and hot dogs on a grill.

 Barbecue is a completely different cooking method.  Barbecue is placing a large cut of meat or ribs in a closed pit and letting it cook indirectly with very low heat and the flavor of a charcoal or smoke fire.

This allows the meat to turn very tender and the flavors to meld in a delicious way.  Barbecue began in the South, and now there are several regional favorites.  I think it's hard to select just one, but I'm going to try this weekend!

In eastern North Carolina, barbecue means pork shoulder or even a whole hog cooked with hickory smoke, chopped, pulled and mixed with a vinegar-based sauce.  No tomato sauce, and served with coleslaw on a bun.

But in western North Carolina, pork butt is seasoned with a tomato-based vinegar sauce.  It's a definite distinction that reveals itself in the flavors.

When you're in Texas, it's beef brisket, smoked with mesquite or oak.  Some don't like sauce, just the dry rub of spices, But if you need sauce, it's got to be tomato based with plenty of chili and meat drippings.

Now, Kansas City is the real deal.  They were famous for spare ribs with a thick and sweet sauce, but now it's the burnt ends of brisket that are winning plaudits.  The sauce is key in KC.

Finally, Memphis barbecue is shredded pork and ribs, and you'll be asked if you prefer wet or dry, dry being coated with a spicy dry rub, and wet coated with a sauce.

Hmmm...this makes me want to try my hand at barbecue, too...after I check out the BBQ masters this weekend at Birch Bay!

The fresh and local-just-from-your-farm-neighbors' fields berries are in our stores, so don't delay.  Nothing can compare to the burst of sweet flavor you get from a ripe, perfect little raspberry or nicely rounded blueberry.

We love them all year round, of course, but this is the time to splurge on a daily feast of  fresh local berries.  They might be the most perfect fruit, because they are so adaptable to whatever you want to do with them.  Great for sauces on ice cream and cakes, additions to grilled meats and fish, mixed into morning cereals and yoghurts, happy participants in a chocolate fondue, building blocks of jam and jellies...and just snacking away, because you can eat a whole bunch of summer berries and do yourself a lot of good.  They are healthy treats,kid-sized, too. 

Right now it's raspberries with blueberries right behind, and blackberries are soon to arrive.  How do you eat berries, and what is your favorite?  If forced to choose, I'd say raspberries.  They are extremely delicate and perishable, which just makes me love them more!  Right now, I'm enjoying them with just a touch of heavy cream and maybe a few slivered almonds on top.  Key word for food: enjoying.  Shouldn't we always be enjoying whatever it is we are eating? 

Thinking a lot about barbecue lately...The Market at Birch Bay is hosting the first-ever Whatcom County barbecue cookoff, with over $10,000 in prize monies awarded to teams.  The cookoff, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association (www.pnwba.com) will feature over 20 teams.

What will they be cooking?  Pork butt, brisket, chicken, ribs, dessert and a surprise "to be announced" category.  All good stuff, and tasting tickets for the public at just $1 for a generous helping of hot and spicy bbq.  (Proceeds go to the Whatcom Day Academy).

What can't you cook on a barbecue?  What is the most unusual thing you've cooked over a grill?  The usual stuff:  burgers, steaks, chicken...easy.  Have you ever grilled pineapple or made a banana split over a flame?  What about a quesadilla or a roasted veggie stir-fry?  Berry pie?

What would you like to see barbecued?  Check out the competition.  It's Iron Chef gone local, and it's going to be terrific eating and terrific food theatre.  It all begins on Saturday, July 18 around noon and continues through Sunday. 

Let me know what your favorite food is to cook outdoors...and do you agree that everything tastes better when it's cooked outside? 

Whether it's the Fourth of July or Canada Day, this holiday falls just about right to signal summer's beginning.  I used to think of it as the halfway point of summer, but it's really not.  Here in the Northwest, golden  weather seems to extend into September.

So that brings us to the Big Question:  what's for eating on the Fourth?  It's tradition to have a big barbecue:  just throw stuff on the grill, and remember how much better everything tastes when you're eating it outdoors.  A plank of freshly-caught salmon or halibut, sizzling sausages or hot dogs, burgers or a tender juicy steak: it's whatever you and your guests feel like eating.  We used to cook German sausages in big vats of beer outdoors, and pile our paper plates high with salted watermelon slices.

Potato salad is a regular guest at summer events. (I still find the concept of potatoes in a salad as unusual.) Remember to keep it cold if it's mayo-based to avoid foodborne illness.  In the Midwest, people like a German potato salad, where bacon is fried and the drippings are used to fry the potato slices and onions.  It's served hot, and is very tasty.  Another favorite is a mustard-based salad that supplies all the flavor.  I tend towards a simple and satisfying blend of potatoes, mayo, sweet pickles and chopped onions and a dozen hard-boiled eggs, chopped and all blended together.  It just tastes like home to me.

The Fourth is all about fun, friends, family and fireworks, so my mantra is not to stress too much about food.  Make it easy: you can pick up meals to go, ask guests to bring a potluck dish...and don't forget the s'mores over the grill or campfire.  Graham crackers, marshmallows, a chocolate bar, all melted together can't be beat.

One more thing:  I try to include a red, white and blue dessert on the Fourth.  It's easy for me.  I take a cream-cheese based torte recipe, kind of like a cheesecake filling atop a baked cookie or graham crust, and crowned with fresh blueberries and raspberries.  It's quick and always welcome.

We've got an epidemic of overweight kids in our country and food experts put the blame on ubiquitous fast food.  Big burgers, fries and the like are quick and easy answers for families on the go.

But a new report has suggests that families are dialing back on the fast food and pointing their children towards healthier choices.  Instead of soda, it's fruit juice.  Crunchy vegs rather than quick-fix French fries.  Hearty sandwiches on whole grain bread instead of a double-fisted burger.  Kids are eating more yoghurt, drinking more milk, enjoying the satisfaction of a crispy apple or a handful of the seasonal berries now in our stores.

Like  most everything , moderation is good.  A fast food choice once in a while is okay, but all the time is not only fattening to the family budget but also to growing young people.  Many families are finding their meal budgets go further when they prepare wholesome foods at home, and skip the drive-through option.

It's not only kids who benefit from this, either.  When I'm ready for an afternoon snack, I'm scavaging through the cupboards for things like whole roasted almonds or a few pieces of dried fruit, some breakfast cereal with 1% milk, a couple of whole grain crackers with peanut butter.  The frig is happiest when it's well-stocked with things like Greek yoghurt, all manner of fresh fruits and vegetables, hummus and tortillas, both corn and whole wheat, with just enough cheese to satisfy.  All this fills me up nicely until dinner, and doesn't empty my pocket, either!

With Father's Day looming before us, the real question is, who is going to grill those wonderful New York steaks on Sunday?  Can we really ask Dad to prepare his own meal? 

Of course!  We all know Dad loves nothing better than a sizzling seared steak on the grill, flipping burgers for the family, or roasting a big alder plank of salmon. 

That's true for plenty of fathers/men/women/anyone, but if you're thinking of grilling on Sunday, or any time during the next few months, expand the repertoire a bit to include the whole meal.

You can easily make your own crisp sweet potato slices or potato fries on the grill.  Sweet corn is especially sweet and juicy when it's prepared over a flame, either campfire,charcoal or gas.  Bring out the flavors of fruits like peaches and pineapple on a barbecue, too.

Slice up some summer vegetables and coat them lightly with a flavored olive oil, seasoning to your taste, and let them bake gently over a low heat.  The complex mix really resonates on the tongue, and is even better if there are leftovers the next day.

You can add your garlic bread to the grill, too...virtually the whole meal can be managed with outdoor cooking.  The only slightly tricky part is coordinating the food to be done cooking at approximately the same time.  But no worries...you'll get the hang of it. Until you do, just keep a careful eye on the various elements so they don't get too well done!

We recommend a great steak for Father's Day, but if you want something even easier, any frozen or homemade pizza tastes terrific when it's finished off on the barbecue. 

Give Dad a day off from his duties, if he wants, or give him more to cook if he's the creative chef type.  Either way, the end result is summer eating at its finest. 

From my limited gardening experience, it seems as though you need to plant lettuce and other greens you want to eat all summer consecutively...because once you harvest a mature head of lettuce, that's it.  Unless you plant more seeds, you are done.  So gardening, like meal preparation, is an ongoing activity. But oh, the rewards of fresh!

Speaking of farm shares, which is a great idea, if you haven't paged through Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal Vegetable Miracle, it's an engaging look at how one family attempts to grow everything they eat over the course of a year.

What strikes me, and what I've seen written about before regarding farm shares, is how  the more unique vegetables you might receive from a share, particularly in early spring, or the vegetables you might grow when the season begins, is a wonderful exercise for creative cooks.

I, for one, am mystified by kale, mustard greens, collard greens and anything else that resides in that part of the produce case.  Making a point to pick up those unfamiliar veggies and learning how to prepare them can be very satisfying.  They also tend to fill in the gap between the more familiar, like summer berries, and that time of year when you're struggling to find a new way to serve broccoli.

Many of us have started a garden this spring.  There is something so satisfying about preparing a bed, planting the seeds, watering faithfully, and watching plants spring up.

I'm all about variety in my garden, and plan to use it to fill in the gaps between visits to my favorite grocery store.  This spring, I chose starts with dreamy names like "French Market Melange" and "Spicy Argula Mix" and "Baby Spring Mache Lettuce".  As an inexperienced gardener, I discovered my first mistake:  all my lettuces will be ready for picking at the same time, so I hastened to put more seeds in the ground.

Then, the fun starts.  I couldn't resist planting edamame, and wondering if it would succeed in the cooler Northwest climate.  Pattypan squash, butternut, spinach starts, red pepper, Walla Walla onion, little jack o'lantern pumpkins are all co-existing in my elegant and simple raised garden bed.

I have a special section for herbs, because you can never have enough of them.  Italian parsley, French tarragan and dill line up with thyme and an especially hardy basil.  Like everyone else, my rosemary withered and died in the difficult winter, so I've replanted my favorite, for adding to roasting beef, using as skewers for chicken kebobs and crushing to add zest to sauces on fresh fruits.

Are you on the garden bandwagon this summer?  What is your most successful crop, and what's your favorite way to use it?  I forgot to mention that I'm especially excited to grow some broccoli rabe (or rapini) to serve alongside grilled fish and meats.  We're all about eating local whenever possible, and certainly a garden helps us do just that...along with The Markets and our sourcing of all products from close by.

This old-fashioned favorite is often paired with salmon, but it's great with almost anything.  It's even tasty if you drain the liquid and add it to a hearty sandwich.

Ingredients

• two English cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced thinly
• half a white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• sesame seeds, caraway seeds or chopped fresh dill

Steps

1. Mix together the salt, vinegar, sugar and pepper.
2. Pour over sliced cucumbers and onions in a shallow, non-metallic bowl, making sure to cover all the cukes.
3. Refrigerate several hours, or until the cucumbers and onions are soft and the puckery flavor has penetrated the veggies.
4. Serve at room temperature and top with your choice of sesame or caraway seeds or chopped fresh dill.

Are mothers and food (almost) synonymous?

Mothers take on all sorts of roles in a family's life, but certainly purveyors of food are tops on the list.  Although many dads are equally adept, involved or active in food prep for their families, since Mother's Day is upon us, I'm going to talk moms and food.

Think of your mother and the food she served you and your family.  In my home, it was meals she learned from her own mother, sturdy, hearty foods that included meat, potatoes and something green.  Meals were simple and predictable:  if it was Sunday, it was pot roast.  Friday was the fish fry.  The (dreaded to me) meatloaf emerged mid-week, along with the ubiquitous chicken and the chicken-casserole-leftovers following. There was usually a pressure cooker full of chili or a vegetable soup in there, too.

Desserts were for special occasions, and featured made-from-scratch lemon meringue pies, a peach-stuffed pastry and a sheet chocolate cake, loaded with double the chocolate buttercream frosting.  She made almond-flavored cookies we called pink ladies, due to their pink frosting, that disappeared within a day.

In the summer, we would pick cherries, can peaches, put up other fruits for the long, snowy winter ahead.  Sometimes, Mom would get an inspiration, and we would eat something far distant from our Midwest table:  say, an Asian-themed noodle dish.  Once, she and a neighbor spent the better part of a day cooking up bubbling pots of Italian "gravy", or what we know as the Italian red sauce.  It simmered all day, and we ate the gravy atop all kinds of dishes well into the following spring.

This brings me to my question:  what kind of food did your Mom cook for you?  Another question:  what are your memories of the kinds of food associated with your mother?  Finally, if you will be with your mother this Sunday (hint: Mother's Day), what will you feed her as a small thanks for all the care and feeding she's done for you?  (I'm cooking for my family, and it will be grilled fish, a green salad, homemade sweet potato fries, some broiled garlic asparagus, and perfect oatmeal cookies.)

Why Not Cupcakes?

Suddenly, these cute little cakes seem to be everywhere.  They show up in boutique bakeries, at bridal showers, in supermarkets, in lunchboxes.  There's just something about a cupcake that makes you feel like you are treating yourself without going overboard on the sugar-sweet continuum. 

I am somewhat of a cake fanatic, but am very particular about that cake.  I first tasted a Magnolia Bakery cupcake in New York City a few years ago, and thought to myself, "this is what a cupcake should be."  A dense, vanilla-infused cake with just a few crumbs, strong enough to stand up to a crown of swirling pastel buttercream:  now that's a cupcake to remember.  And I do remember it well, carrying two of them home on the plane, but alas...had to eat one mid-air,somewhere over the Great Lakes,  much to the envy of my fellow travelers.

I like to make cupcakes in the mini size.  They are just right for two bites and you don't have to confront 24 supersized cakes.  When they're petite, you can nosh on a couple and feel like you've given yourself a little pat on the back.

Flavors?  I am a purist.  I go for a white cake with white frosting.  I don't think that's boring: it's the height of culinary skill to produce a true vanilla flavor without a synthetic aftertaste.  And if you're like me, you always double the frosting you make, adding twice as much, because isn't the frosting the whole point?  I make mine from scratch, a simple buttercream, but if you're pressed for time, an inexpensive cake mix and canned frosting will quell the craving quickly.

Cupcakes have long been the answer to classroom treats, and adapt themselves to any holiday or season.  Right now, a pink, strawberry-flavored cake with a creamy matching strawberry frosting would be right in step with spring.  Mix up a batch and share your success with your family, coworkers, students, pals.  It doesn't get much better than a sweet taste of cupcake heaven.

Someone told me that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the ultimate comfort food.  That got me thinking about the foods that satisfy when I need a pat on the back, a kind word or a little treat

When I was a kid, it was always about something sweet.  A wedge of angel food cake with lofty white frosting topped with chocolate chips, a handful of bridge mix (and why is it called bridge mix?), a piece of lemon meringue pie, eaten in separate layers, or the ultimate: oreo cookies, broken apart, and devoured filling first. 

But as I got older, comfort related to more than the basic lust for sugar, and became both seasonal and situational.  After a big exam, nothing tasted as good as a slightly soggy grilled cheese sandwich, simply white bread with melted American cheese.  In the summer months, a big bowl of local strawberries in the afternoon was reward enough for working all day in the garden.  The forboding days of deep winter in the Pacific Northwest encouraged hot Irish oatmeal, steel-cut and topped with sliced almonds, dried cranberries and a dollop of plain yoghurt.

My comfort food these days is even simpler:  just one or two ingredients, easy to assemble and slow to eat.  I can linger over a toasted bagel, treating myself to a little peanut butter on top, after I finish a long jog.  Following a grueling drive in heavy traffic, I sit down to a piece of last night's homemade pizza, served cold, and feel myself wind down.  Food has the ability to not just nourish , but to satisfy on many levels.  Well, that's a pretty deep thought, and I'm feeling a little chilly, so I need a big bowl of lentil soup to keep me going. How about you?

In the details, or most likely, in the eggs.   Deviled eggs, that is.  For me, spring heralds the beginning of deviled egg season.  You have probably seen deviled eggs in their usual environment, adorning a picnic plate, sitting in all their half-moon glory, bright yellow creamy yokes topped with that bit of "devil", in this case, a smidge of paprika or red pepper flakes for a nice  bite. 

Deviled eggs are pretty simple and inexpensive to make.   Take as many eggs as you want to serve (but be warned, there are never enough!), and put them in a capacious pan, completely covered with water.  Bring to an energetic boil, and then, turn off the heat, cover the pan and let them sit for 15 minutes while they finish their work.  Uncover the pan, and  voila:  hard-boiled eggs.  To easily remove the shell, I run them under cold water, tap with a butter knife around the midpoint, and peel them, hopefully not losing too much of the white to the attached peel.  (By the way, anyone have a foolproof ---sorry, it's April 1st! --- method to peel eggs?  I'd sure like to try it.)

Slice each egg in half, longways (not around the midpoint), and scoop out the yoke.  Then, the fun begins.  You can mash up the yolk, add salt and pepper and a bit of mayo or creme fraiche, some soft chevre or even Greek yoghurt, and spoon back into the waiting eggwhites..  Top with the red sprinkles. That's the classic deviled egg, but I like to tinker with such simple perfection.

How about mixing in some jalapeno to your yolk blend?  Or tiny bits of chopped pickles?  Red onions, little capers or pimientos, pickled ginger or wasabi, shredded cheese, any spice that piques your interest: deviled eggs are like a blank canvas for creative cooks who like to dabble. 

But be warned: deviled eggs, once they appear in all their straightforward appeal, just don't last long, and you'll find yourself wishing you had doubled the batch.  Dare I say "no foolin'?"  Eggs-actly so!

Does Food On A Budget Make You Cringe?

Thinking about stretching your food budget to accommodate today's leaner days?  When I consider food and budget in the same sentence, my thoughts go immediately to solemn words like lentils.  Tomato sauce.  Oatmeal.  Potatoes.  None of it sounds very appetizing, but if I put a little thought into those, I'm thinking, ah ha!  Lentil soup with a soupcon of yellow curry.  Tomato sauce?  Sure, and why not toss in just a few kalamata olives and a shredding of parmesan?  Oatmeal?  Well, my default on oatmeal is topping it with brown sugar and broiling it for a budget-inspired oatmeal creme brulee.  Potatoes?  Wow, a whole meal when I bake them, and then empty out the fridge with a piece of this and a leftover piece of that. 

My question:  what are your food on a budget inspirations?