Eugene Thrasher, a trained Washington State University Beach Watcher with more than a thousand volunteer hours under his belt, has been digging and eating clams in Washington for half a century. Thrasher is the guy to ask if you want to learn how to find and dig a clam.
Follow him through a clam dig at Penn Cove on Whidbey Island, and then learn about types of clams found in Washington. Finish up with a dose of Northwest icon Ivar Haglund singing “Acres of Clams.”
Displaced by the salmon and eclipsed by the oyster, the clam is perhaps the forgotten star of the Puget Sound. But once it was the main seafood symbol of the region. Even before restaurateur Ivar Haglund made his “Acres of Clams” restaurant a Seattle landmark, the clam’s status was lodged on the shores of Northwest Native American lore. In fact it had a role in the origin of man. According to Haida tradition, Raven discovered a large clamshell on the beach and looked inside to find dozens of little people. Lonely for someone to play with and trick, he coaxed them out of the shell … » More …
Cultivated thought :: Near the end of an otherwise lackluster speech to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society in September 1859, Abraham Lincoln suddenly shifted gears heading into his peroration.
Having compared two conflicting theories of labor, he continued, “This leads to the further reflection, that no other human occupation opens so wide a field for the profitable and agreeable combination of labor with cultivated thought, as agriculture.”
Although my son would likely question the intellectual appeal of spreading manure, Lincoln’s observation resonates, at least in moments when the laborer/scholar is not exhausted.
Lincoln went on to suggest what fields might provide food for agricultural contemplation. … » More …
This summer saw the publication of a study of the nutritional value of organic versus conventional foods by scientists with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Based on a review of 55 articles they judged of satisfactory quality, the scientists, led by Alan Dangour and funded by the governmental Food Safety Agency, concluded that “there is no evidence of a difference in nutrient quality between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs.”
Preston Andrews, WSU professor of horticulture and a prominent researcher of nutrient value of organically grown food, is irked by the report, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, both by its … » More …
In the 1960s, 24.3 percent of Americans were overweight. Now, over 60 percent of us are. Even though other countries are hot on our heels, we are still the plumpest folk in the world. Does it matter? » More ...
This is a wonderful and easy soup to prepare. Epazote is a Mexican herb with a strong flavor, so adjust the amount to your preference!
Serves 4. Serving size: 1 cup
6 6-inch corn tortillas 1 Tbsp canola oil 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes with juice 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro 4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth 1 fresh epazote leaf, if available, or 1/4 tsp dried epazote 1/4 tsp hot chile flakes or crushed red pepper 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat jack or muenster cheese
1. Heat oven to 400°F. Cut tortillas into thin strips. … » More …
In the not-so-old days, circa the mid-1990s, a small farmer along Washington’s southern coastline could rake enough cranberries—and money—from just 10 acres of bogs to send the kids to college and maybe have enough cash left to spend Christmas in Hawaii.
Since the late 1990s, however, some cranberry farmers have been bogged down in another shade of red: debt.
“Now,” says Kim Patten, Washington State University Extension’s cranberry specialist based on the Long Beach Peninsula, “both husband and wife better be working outside jobs and having the kids go to college on their own—and never have a day off.”
An expanding supply of cranberries outran … » More …
The setting is elegant, the food divine, the wine fine and endless and magnificently diverse. On a Sunday evening in June, the Grand Pennington Ballroom at Spokane’s Davenport Hotel is filled with representatives of more than 60 Washington wineries and 20 area restaurants, caterers, and markets-and hundreds of Washington wine devotees.
Taste Washington has paired samplings of Washington food and wine, much to the gathering’s enjoyment. In the process, the celebrants are supporting Washington State University’s fledgling Viticulture and Enology Program and the School of Hospitality Business Management, as well as the Davenport District Arts Board.
A celebratory note also resonates among the participants who … » More …
Remember when picking a potato was easy? You had your choice: bake or boil?
Today there are dozens of decisions. Waxy? dry? fingerling? yellow? red? blue? banana?
That world of choice started the early 1980s, when the Yukon Gold emerged from a breeding program in Canada. The yellow potato’s creamy texture and buttery taste made it an instant hit. Chefs roasted it with garlic, mashed it with Gorgonzola, and paired it with the likes of duck and filet mignon.
But while our potato palate was expanding in one direction, it was narrowing in another. Shortly after Yukon Gold’s debut, the Russet Norkotah sprouted on the … » More …
