Everyone should have friends like Jamie Villella. When Villella, owner and operator of Mama Villella’s Personal Chef Service on Bainbridge Island, needed to test-drive her new business, she recruited her friends to be “pilot clients.” For their honest opinions about her food, they received one meal a week from Villella at a reduced price. Besides […]
recipes
Posted inAt Home, Blog
Fish in a Dish
Let me clue you in on a baking dish that will make life easy and fun. Some will remember the delightful dishes and cookware that accompanied many a family meal. A lot of those items were Pyrex, a U.S. product that reached the consumer in 1915 with primarily clear dishes. Then in the mid-’40s the […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
A Garden for Tea
Tea time will stop business in some cultures; it can also conjure up images of romantic and floriferous parties or bring warm relaxation to a cold winter day. Tea… Is it a ritual, an herb or a beverage? Technically, tea is the plant Camellia sinensis. Varieties of true tea plants are not cultivated in many […]
Posted inAt Home, Blog
Special Thanksgiving Recipe: Stuffed Pumpkin
It’s that time of year that we all feel it — the urge to go inward, for days at home by the fire with family and friends. It’s that time of year when sunset happens at 4:29. We all tend to eat comfort food this time of year. We want to share food and companionship. […]
Posted inFeatured, People & Places
Cooking Is a Family Affair
Millie Lindell gets to spend quite a bit of time with her five grandchildren. Both she and her adult son and daughter live on Fox Island, so the family spends a lot of time together. But Lindell wanted a special project with her grandkids — something that would create lifelong memories. The solution? A cookbook […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
Herbal Stillroom Revival
Gardens in early American colonies were not for ornamentation; they were planted and worked for provision. Specific plants were grown to provide food, soaps, perfumes, insecticides, dyes and medicines — all the things needed to take care of everyday life in the home. The luxury of going to the corner drug store or market to […]
Posted inAt Home, Blog
Delicious Results with Leftover Wild King Salmon
Fall is here. Golden and red leaves are dominating the airway and transforming the Earth with a new, patterned blanket. The once-prevailing basil is bowing now, as if to say, good performance, curtain going down. A few weeks back that basil bush was so full of life, plump and boasting. But looking closely, one could […]
Posted inAt Home, Blog
Savor the Basil Season with Sweet Potato Basil Casserole
There’s a lot of basil out there this time of the year, but it has reached the end of the season. Folks are scrambling to use and process the fresh aromatic leaves — drying and making yummy basil butter and pesto concoctions. Basil is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum of the […]
Posted inAt Home, Blog
How to Make an Easy Summer Salsa from Fresh Ingredients
Great summer weather equals great vine-ripened tomatoes, and this summer is the poster child for both. Even if you aren’t growing your own tomatoes, you can find beautiful, local and delicious tomatoes ready to eat now at your local farmers market and store. It’s hard to describe the difference between a freshly picked, vine-ripened tomato […]