By Claudia Hernandez, Wild Roots Kitchen September is tomato season in the Northwest. If you’re like most gardeners around here, your cherry tomatoes are the most reliable and a usually very generous. Here is a delicious way to use all your cherry and smaller tomato varieties. A quick sauté with garlic and herbs turns cherry…
By Cynthia Sadurni This is a dish that shines in its simplicity. The best part is you don’t have to fry or brown the meatballs; they go straight into the broth to cook. It’s whole, hearty, and delicious any time of year, but particularly so when tomatoes are in season. This recipe is my mother…
By Andy Valencia There is a weed named Tomtomtidimiddletom who lives on our property. How did he get that name? That’s a long story, and won’t fit here. But he – and all his friends – shortened the name to “Tom.” But having a name, and a shortened name, is not what makes Tom amazing….
By S. E. Reid I love September. I love the holy in-between-ness of it, the way it slinks in on tentative tiptoes. One summer day you’re over-warm and uncomfortable, and then one morning you wake up and catch a whiff of autumn. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Just a hint. Before living here on these…
By Daniel Hooker “If you haven’t ever tried archery blindfolded, you’ll never know what you missed.” That’s a pointless joke! ~ This joke is from Keena: Q. What to do you get when you cross a snake with a pastry? A. A pie-thon, of course. ~ My dog is so smart. I asked him, “What’s…
By Alex Soriano The Observant Frog’s Log by Alex Soriano
Legends of Vashon By Tripper Harrison No one was safe in the summer of ’68, and few were above suspicion. Only the scorcher of 1941 was hotter, when it was said you could bake biscuits on your barn roof. It was Vashon’s thin topsoil and intermittent humidity, however, that were particularly ideal for the fan-leafed…
By Andy Valencia Unless otherwise noted, all photos courtesy of CAL FIRE I was in Cafe Luna and overhead a discussion about prison inmates being forced into firefighting in California. It’s a small world, as I have a nephew – I’ll call him “Ben” because that’s his name – who was in the California state…
By Jane Valencia Vashon was once known for its strawberry farms, and our Strawberry Festival was named in celebration of these berries. But, as has been the case for several decades, strawberries – much less Island-grown – are a rare and precious occurrence. Off-Island attendees of the Festival often find themselves bewildered: “Where are the…