The dreary skies and short days of fall in the Northwest are notorious for getting people down. So I often look upon local foods to brighten up dinner time and to remind me of the warm sunny days spent harvesting Puget Sound seafood. Few foods are better at alleviating fall doldrums than Dungeness crab. Here’s a recipe […]
I’ve been interested in mushroom hunting for a long time but haven’t acted on it until now. Fall, as all good NW fishermen know, is prime time for salmon fishing and everything else is secondary. But I finally decided to learn mushrooming this fall. Many mushroom experts recommend that newbies start with the Pacific NW chanterelle, […]
Nothing is as soothing and replenishing after a hard day clamming at the beach than devouring the cobbler of the day at the Halfway House Restaurant in Brinnon. A shellfish harvesting pilgrimage to Dosewallips State Park is not complete without a huge homemade cobbler a la mode. My choice was the strawberry rhubarb cobbler and it did not disappoint. […]
My daughter and I were recently in the mood for some ramen noodles after a Seattle Times foodie review of ramen restaurants in the Seattle area. The writer boldly stated that “Hokkaido Ramen Santouka is easily the best ramen in Western Washington.” A statement like that couldn’t go unchecked. I had to see […]
It was quite a Thanksgiving Day this year. We went to a neighbor’s house for a Thanksgiving feast that did not disappoint in many ways–great company, great food, and great outcomes. Spending Thanksgiving with 20 family members and friends was just about right. Just enough people to get that homey feeling of a large family gathering but […]
My mother-in-law has had a healthy addiction to dumplings ever since we spotted them on the streets of Xian while touring China in the 90s. Yes, Seattle and Xian are several Great Walls apart culturally but I figured we could get her a dumpling fix at the dumpling house, Dough Zone, near the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue WA. My family […]
During the summer, a friend invited me to help drop pots for Dungeness crabs in Puget Sound. While waiting to check on the pots, we jigged for flatfish. The fishing was almost nonstop–we hooked an English sole every few minutes. Most were fairly small but a few were “dinner size” so they were destined for […]
A friend and I went crabbing the other day off in Puget Sound within sight of the Space Needle. Our efforts were rewarded with a nice haul of Dungeness crabs. Because we are in the middle of a heat wave, I decided to serve a cold crab salad for dinner today. The salad included romaine lettuce, […]
Stopping for a slice of homemade pie at the Halfway House Restaurant in Brinnon is always a great way to cap off a great day after digging for clams and slurping oysters on the beach. As the norm, the selection of pies made it difficult to choose which treat to have. But, after the waitress announced […]
Shucking and slurping wild oysters at Dosewallips State Park is one of my favorite pastimes in the Northwest. Several dozens of people had the same idea today but the beach has plenty of room to accommodate a lot more people. Although we did not see the sun today, the weather was great with the forecasted rain not […]