Man of La Muncha and I are currently “owned” by a small tortoiseshell cat, Ms. Teeth and Claws.  Ms. Claws is our third cat; previous cats included a pretty black and white girl and a large Maine coon cat.  We have loved all our cats, and have always fed them “good” pet foods, figuring that […]

The idea of “carbon neutrality”, or reducing one’s carbon footprint, has been much in the news lately, what with Al Gore’s Academy Award win for “An Inconvenient Truth” and subsequent reports related to the amount of energy his Tennessee home is reported to consume. While the Gores do have a fairly large house, which […]

On Thursday night I was driving home from work with my radio set to NPR like the good Seattle liberal that I am. The BBC World Service was airing, and I paid partial attention as I maneuvered onto the freeway. I really enjoy listening to the BBC, even if the tone of the […]

First of all, let me state for the record that I love potatoes. LOVE THEM. So much so that Man of La Muncha gives me a hard time about my potato love. Baked, boiled, mashed, or fried–potatoes in all forms are typically a welcome addition to our dinner table.
However, I admit that […]

Recently, Man of La Muncha and I have been seeing an increasing number of wines on the shelf of our local grocery store touted as biodynamic–far more than are labeled as organic. When we ask wine vendors about the difference between biodynamic and organic, we typically are told that biodynamic wines are “beyond organic”. […]

Man of La Muncha and I were both on vacation for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, which opened up many possibilities for cooking and eating some of the bounty from our Crown S Ranch meat CSA, using recipes that aren’t really possible during a work week, and not something we tend to want […]

About four years ago, I was laid off from my job during the Great Economic Downturn of 2002.  After the requisite month of blind panic, I settled into what I think of now as an unemployed lifestyle; that is to say, I exercised more, read a tremendous number of books, and made sure that when […]

Last weekend, I was making French toast for breakfast, and pulled out the carton of eggs we received with our last beef CSA shipment.  Upon opening the carton, I was surprised by how much smaller the eggs are now that the seasons have changed.  Where I would normally use two eggs, I used four.  As […]

Until fairly recently, I reserved the same fear for raw milk as I did for rare hamburgers and pork chops–things that were as likely as not to kill me through the introduction of nasty parasites and bacteria into my digestive system.  But shortly after we started this blog, I realized that if I wanted to […]

Several years ago, I worked for a local natural food chain store in Portland, Oregon as a wine, beer, and cheese monger. One of my regular customers at the time was a man named Peter. Peter came in on a regular basis, bringing his absolutely adorable daughter with him. We would talk […]

A couple of months ago, Man of La Muncha brought home a chocolate bar along with our normal haul of groceries. I pounced on the bar as it emerged from the shopping bag, to find that the flavor was, (ahem), “Bread and Chocolate”. The brand was 3400 Phinney, and the maker was someone […]

This weekend, Man of La Muncha and I made two trips to Tilth, which is the second restaurant in the country to receive Oregon Tilth organic certification. We had heard about the restaurant from various friends, who felt that it was right up our alley. We’ve had an uncharacteristically busy schedule over the […]

Early last week, Man of La Muncha asked me a question that caught me off guard; would I be willing to consume meat or dairy products from a cloned animal?
I was surprised by my immediate, instinctive revulsion to the idea of consuming anything cloned. But then I considered the question; why, indeed, would consuming […]

Signs of autumn are everywhere in Seattle. I woke early last week to find that the tree in front of our house had dropped its leaves, seemingly overnight. The rose bush has traded its summery flowers for fat red rosehips, and trees all over are responding to the chilly temperatures and shorter days […]

Last Tuesday, Man of La Muncha and I picked up our final CSA box of the season.  Along with a bounty of winter squash (including tasty delicatas), we received the final newsletter of the year, which informed us that Helsing Junction produce would be featured on the menu of Pair, a local small-plates restaurant.  We […]