This is the time of year when everything starts turning the most magnificent color of green, and humans begin to sense it is time for spring cleaning. Rebirth, renewal, cleansing of home, body and spirit is the focus. Perhaps Mother Nature leads us by providing the ingredients necessary for cleaning out the winter sludge. Spring […]
Barb Bourscheidt
A Gig Harbor artist potter and community activist, Barb Bourscheidt is a freelance writer who writes on subjects of personal interest, usually the arts, gardening, cooking and the environment. A working artist, she creates pottery that reflects her love of nature, incorporating leaf motifs on surfaces of functional kitchen, garden and decorative ware. Although posts are infrequent, Barb has a personal blog at clayladybarb.blogspot.com.
Posted inAround West Sound, Blog, Featured
Open Studio potters support Empty Bowls event
Hungry kids? In Gig Harbor? Most people would find the idea almost unthinkable in this community of lovely homes and a glistening harbor lined with pleasure-boat marinas. The reality is a much different story, as 25 percent of the students in the Peninsula School District receive free or subsidized lunch support. Without a summer lunch […]
Posted inFeatured, Food & Entertainment
Authentic Italian Cuisine Steeped In Deep Family Traditions
Via Rosa 11 (Italian Kitchen & Market) is a vibrant Bainbridge Island business that grew from the roots of owner Pino Sordello’s heritage. The ambiance is that of stopping by a friend’s home, entering through the kitchen door and being greeted with a friendly smile and the fragrance of delicious, authentic sauces bubbling on the […]
Posted inAt Home, Blog
A Traditional Christmas Bread Beyond Compare
Baking a traditional Christmas bread every year keeps us connected to our family traditions, dear friends and loving memories. My family had established Christmas traditions, such as making Grandma’s old-fashioned fruitcake on Thanksgiving Friday, eating oyster stew on Christmas Eve, and gobbling cookies and cocoa for breakfast on the big morning. I had no idea […]
Posted inAround West Sound, Blog
Make Shopping Fun and Support Local Artists, Artisans with Holiday Festivals
Holiday shopping can be an exhausting and daunting task. Traffic, crowds and mass-produced goods at high prices all add to the frustration, sucking the joy out of gift giving and decorating. For nearly three decades, the Associated Student Body (ASB) organizations at Peninsula and Gig Harbor high schools have provided an alternative to the usual […]
Posted inFeatured, Food & Entertainment
Backyard Bread Bakers
The West Sound area abounds with people who enjoy aesthetically pleasing and interesting lifestyles. Perhaps no pastime is more enticing to all of the senses than baking one’s own breads and rolls in an age-old, traditional manner. Baking slow-rise artisan breads — in a brick oven heated with a wood fire built by hand, sometimes […]
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Pumpkins and Squash: Beyond the Jack-o-lantern!
Cooler temperatures and shorter days evoke the primal instinct in us to walk along leaf-strewn pathways, set in stores for the winter, and look forward to warming soups and luscious baked goods from our ovens. Perhaps no other foodstuff is better suited to long-term storage and usefulness in so many recipes than those of the […]
Posted inAround West Sound, Blog, Featured
Fresh Food Revolution is a Step Up to Sustainability
The Fresh Food Revolution Co-op on the Key Peninsula began in 2010 when a small group of fresh-food enthusiasts wanted a way to support local growers. They found a delivery site and busily set about connecting consumers with food producers. In 2011, an official cooperative was formed, complete with a board of directors, about 50 […]
Posted inAround West Sound, Blog, Featured
Veggies, Flowers and Meats — Oh My! Downtown Gig Harbor Farmers Market Booms
Every Thursday afternoon, more than 40 farmers and food producers gather at Skansie Brothers Park on Gig Harbor’s picturesque waterfront in order to supply eager shoppers with organic and sustainably produced local fare. Organized as a collaborative effort between the city of Gig Harbor and the Downtown Waterfront Alliance, the market teems with farmers and […]