Politics/Philosophy of Foods

10 Tricks to Make the Lazy Cook’s Food Taste Better

September 4, 2012
Red Peppers

I never clean up as I go. Rumor has it, that’s what the cool kids do. That’s what the organized, methodical, by the book cooks do. The people who clean as they go probably also set up their mise en place and follow recipes too. All things which I’d love to be the type of person who does. But I’m not. I’m me. Being me means that I’m a bit of a hurricane, whooshing into the kitchen, chopping, stirring, mixing, cooking, racing against the imaginary clock of getting one thing done before the heat on the stove demands the...

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What’s in your Olive Oil?

July 31, 2012
What's in your Olive Oil? Olive Oil Tasting with the Gastrognome

Recently the California Olive Ranch invited a few bloggers, myself included, to join them for an evening of tasting olive oils, eating delicious food, and learning about ‘the future of the olive oil industry.’ I am under no obligation to write, but this stuff was fascinating, so I want to share it–and the olive oil–with you, so read to the bottom. You can win some tasty olive oil and maybe learn something.     I often refer to myself as the #FoodNerd on twitter. That the phrase ‘learn about the future of the olive oil industry’ was so ridiculously...

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5 Things That Dreaming of Being a Food Writer Got Me

April 11, 2012
Pea Photo

Half a decade ago, I wanted to be a food writer. A local food writer I admired gave me the advice to start a blog. This blog has improved my life in more ways than I could ever count. I’d love to break bread with all of you and tell you the reasons, but I’ll share a few here for now. One recent morning the food world was abuzz about Amanda Hesser’s article Advice for Future Food Writers. In reading it, I was disappointed in some of it. In the way it dashes dreams. Little kids hope to...

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Little Nibbles: Eating for a Good Cause, Causes of Good Eating

March 12, 2012
Little Nibbles: Eating for a Good Cause, Causes of Good Eating

I love Seattle. My pride in the our culture, our food, and our events is unending and maybe a little annoying to people who don’t share it. That’s their problem, though, and this is my blog, so I’m sharing with you Seattle’s most savory selection of news, events, and all things food-lover friendly. Gospel Brunch I was having so much fun pretending to be a photographer at Where Ya at Matt’s gospel brunch I didn’t even get to try the jambalaya croquettes pictured here. Luckily the rest of the food was delicious and I learned a lot from my...

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Donate, Win, Eat, Travel: Passports with a Purpose

November 30, 2011
Caprese Salad Ingredients

I’m back from Mexico with fresh cooking tips from an Abuela (grandma), a passion for pambazos (think tortas, but soaked in chile, then fried) and a few imbibe-able souvenirs. Before I start in on my posts about those, I wanted to give you the opportunity to win a little travel adventure of your own. As self-indulgent as this lovely blog is, I couldn’t help but jump at the opportunity to help out by participating in Passports with a Purpose, to help raise money to build libraries in Zambia. “Zambia? Books? That doesn’t sound like food?” You might be saying. And...

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Who will be the Seattle Weekly’s new critic?

March 5, 2011

With the upcoming departure of Jason Sheehan from the Seattle Weekly, there comes one of the few openings in the area for a full time, dedicated food writer. Specifically, a restaurant writer. This excites me. Despite the fact that I made it no secret that his writing was not my favorite, it is not his departure in itself that makes me happy–in fact, it sounds like the circumstances surrounding it are sad, and I am not one to take joy in that. Rather, I am excited because I love to read about food. I love the long form review...

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‘Foster’-ing Community

February 24, 2011
Pall Mall Recipe

I was recently invited to enjoy a dinner courtesy of Foster Farms, a chicken company. I am not much of a chicken eater. When I was sent the information before the event, including the history of the farm it came from and the farmer, I was reminded of this skit from Portlandia: I was apprehensive of the dinner beforehand, as I am of most any sponsored meal. The idea was to promote how local they are, but as a friend pointed out, McDonald’s also has a campaign about being local. Still, I arrived at the dinner with an open...

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Save the Cheese! Help Estrella Family Creamery

February 16, 2011
Save the Cheese! Help Estrella Family Creamery

As many of you know, the FDA is working hard to shut Estrella Family Creamery down and they have been unable to sell their cheese for quite some time. This is tragic, not only because I have to live without the incomparable Caldwell Crik Chevrette, but because it is indicative of what government agencies are attempting to do to great cheese-makers around the country. Washington has already lost too many great cheeses to ridiculous regulations, and I refuse to let the best cheese I've ever had go down to government regulations to. So people, I implore you, please help...

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Carlos eats the Quadstrocity

April 28, 2010

Last night I met Carlos. He was a very cool guy and had recently (six hours prior) completed a task both ridiculous and amazing. –Side note: Guys, this is gross. Grandma, stop reading. I’ll get you a nice post on a Guatemalan restaurant soon– He ate a doubled up double down. What is that? You may have read about the Double Down–a sandwich where the bread is replaced by fried chicken, enveloping bacon and cheese. So Carlos, my new buddy over here put two together, called it the Quadstrocity and ate it. Isn’t the buzz about this stupid sandwich...

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Hunger Action Challenge Day 5: Aloo Gobi and Wine

April 25, 2009

Yes, I realize food stamps do not pay for wine. That’s why this is a simulation. With $7.71 cents left in our challenge, B and I went to Trader Joe’s for a bottle of wine. Picking out a bottle of $3.99 Carminere, I started to the check out counter. B dragged me over for a second bottle, A Charles Shaw Merlot for $2.99. Yup, Two Buck Chuck. Ugh, B! “But we have the money, right?” he asked. We do. We did. We bought the two bottles and headed home for dinner. After another breakfast of lentils and the leftover...

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