By Anne Cotter Moses Comic by Anne Cotter Moses
Children, Island Resilience, January 2025
Herbs with Kids – Winter Wonder and Vitality
By Jane Valencia Author’s Note: For plant safety basics when foraging, read “Herbs With Kids – Plant Safety Basics and a Few Summertime Remedies” – published August 2023 and available on vashonloop.com With the rain, cold, mud, and leafless trees, winter seems a bleak landscape for herbal adventure. But nature never leaves us bereft. For…
Health Matters, January 2025
Seasonal Affective Disorder
By Dr. Marli Parobek, DNP Greetings, fellow Vashonites! With the rain and dark in full swing, we are primed and ready to discuss Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), otherwise known as “The Winter Blues.” According to the National Institute of Health, SAD is defined by a new onset of depression with symptoms that last 4-5 months,…
Health Matters, January 2025
Restoring Magnesium After the Holidays
By Kathy Abascal Editor’s Note: Please enjoy this article, reprinted from the January 6, 2011 Vashon Loop and just as relevant today. Magnesium is an essential mineral. It regulates and helps maintain normal blood pressure. Magnesium also helps regulate our cholesterol levels. Low stores of magnesium increase the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, associated with…
Advertisers, January 2025, Recipes
From Minglement – Hoppin’ Johns Black-Eyed Pea Stew
By Eva Deloach This recipe yields 10 servings. 4 tbsp butter or olive oil 1 large onion 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 stalk celery, diced 1 lb dried black-eyed peas 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth – more as needed 1 whole ham hock or smoked turkey breast Salt, pepper,…
January 2025, Recipes
Island Epicure – National Soup Month
Warm Up A Cold Day with Mesclin Flatbrod and Hot Chicken Soup By Suzanna Leigh and Marj Watkins Marj Watkins’ “Gluten Free Baking” cookbook is a do-it-yourself project; Marj first printed in the 1970s under her publishing imprint, Firtree Press. This year, I dug it out of retirement, put a new cover on it, updated…
January 2025, Recipes
Pancakes for Matrona
By Jane Valencia We were heading soon to a gathering, and I unexpectedly found myself with a spare 45 minutes. Could I cook something to bring? We had a new large griddle, and over the years I’ve made a lot of pancakes. The pancakes today would need to be dairy-free. Gluten-free, or digestively gentle, would…
January 2025, Poetry
this train
By Claudia Hollander-Lucas This poem is inspired by a train ride I took from New York City to Washington, DC in early April last year. The seasons morphed in the frame of my window from bare limbs on budding shrubs to fragrant huge blooms on the evergreen Magnolias that line many streets and yards –…