In the Kitchen

I was pretty skeptical, but it’s true: you can cook delicious, healthy meals on a tight budget.

Or at least Leika Suzumura can…

Mom: It’s a word most of us use every day. As in, Mom, can you send me that lamb recipe? Or Mom, can you read another bedtime story? Ask your mom. Or, maybe if you’re really lucky: My mom is taking the kids again tonight.

Here’s a dinner menu that lets you give back in a big way, even if you’re not the world’s most experienced cook. It’s seasonal, yet simple enough for a weeknight—you can make warm, tarragon-flecked asparagus salad and silky mashed cauliflower while the lamb roasts and rests, in less than an hour. ..

Alea Hoffman likes animals, and she wanted to learn more about them.

“The relationship that we have with animals, it’s a symbiotic relationship that’s evolved over time,”…

Rosé of Sangiovese, Maryhill Winery, $13
Washington’s 15th largest winery makes this dry, strawberry and rhubarb-inflected rosé. Serve it at a weekend brunch in place of sparkling wine or mimosas or as an aperitif with a plate of your favorite local cheeses.

Syrah Rosé, Saint Laurent Winery, $14.99
Winemaker Craig Mitrakul handcrafted this crisp rose from 80% Syrah, 15% Riesling and 5% Chardonnay grapes. The result is a rosé with a bone dry finish and flavors and aromas of cherry, raspberry, apricot, and watermelon. Serve it chilled on its own or as a companion for salads, seafood or barbecued chicken….

[twocolumns]Seattle wine drinkers have long cast a wary eye toward charming, versatile rosé. They doubt the merit of a wine with a watery pink hue, considering it too girly or too weak for their refined taste…

When Dylan Bigelow was twelve years old, he got his first job working for his mom. She founded Fran’s Chocolates in 1982 and he helped out, doing a variety of odd jobs: putting candies in the little paper cups, wrapping up packages, or doing the dishes.

Fiddleheads coincide with morel season: April or May, depending on the microclimate. All species of ferns produce fiddleheads, some more delicious and edible than others. Most people are familiar with the large green curls of ostrich fern, which are typically served lightly sautéed. These ferns are mild in flavor, like a combination of asparagus, cabbage and artichoke, and are locally scarce.

Bracken fern is abundant along hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest; look for bracken fern along the edges of forests, in light shade, where the soil is rich, sloped, damp, and well-drained…

Before I went hunting for fiddleheads with my father, who is a slight, 72-year-old Korean man with the stamina of a pack mule, I had harbored several pretty but misguided illusions about the process.

Common enough on Northwest tables now, mussels used to be regarded with derision. When Penn Cove Shellfish first took the mollusks to market in the late 70s, mussels were unfamiliar as food, and their appearance was uninspiring.

Federal
There are plenty of small, positive signs of change at the USDA—and while they still qualify as baby steps, at some point perhaps they’ll add up to walking, not toddling. Secretary Vilsack wants community garden space at every USDA site around the world, including embassies and field offices. The organization has approved the downer cow ban (first rejected in 2008). Funding has been restored to a country-of-origin labeling fruit program. …