Thanks for these great ideas for bread crumbs, I especially like the idea of using dark bread crumbs to compliment casseroles.

Interesting perspective. I have been a vegetarian for a long time and have gone through many phases but I have never said my husband can’t store his meat in our refrigerator or cook it if he wants. We’re considerate of each other and he eats meat in restaurants or when I’m away, and he mostly gets precooked stuff, so no cross contamination on cutting boards. My daughter grew up eating what she wanted and that included meat, but I never cooked it. I’d love to read more of these essays.

The yams we use in the United States are really a variety of sweet potato. These “yams” have a higher moisture and sugar content than sweet potatoes. True yams are rarely found in the U.S. These starchy vegetables are more common in Latin and South America. Sweet potatoes can also be used in this recipe.

It’s interesting to read about the apple varieties in the Southwest. I never get tired of sampling new varieties. The Seattle Tree Fruit Society has their annual show this Saturday not far from my house. I can’t wait to sample the many varieties. Thanks for the tip about freezing applesauce and using the cores for juice. Not many of the cores make it past my two basset hounds.

Thanks Deborah, this is great, you just solved my dinner dilemma today. I love this and I wonder does black quinoa taste like red quinoa? I’ve never had black, but it looks lovely.

Actually it was what to do with the pea pods after you take the peas out. It does sound intriguing and I’ve saved my pea pods just to try it out today. If we could learn to eat more parts of the vegetable maybe the cost wouldn’t seem so high here.

I love this. Thanks for posting it. We waste so much produce here in this country. I just got a great recipe for grilling English pea pods (Pressure cooked, then grilled) I hadn’t realized you could actually get them tender enough.

I love this celebration of small things in your garden. I’m not the best gardener but we grow greens and I love it when they come up from seeds instead of plant starts. We just got enough tiny mustard greens for a salad. Sometimes the best things come in small packages.

I never thought of making an entire salad out of celery. I can’t wait to try it. One year I discovered that just 4 stalks of celery a day will lower your blood pressure; it worked and I haven’t stopped eating it since. Thanks or this great ode to celery.

My book The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook (2010, Timber Press, does exactly what you mentioned. I included 12 profiles of 22 farmers and beekeepers from Oregon and Washington. My recipes don’t depend on citrus, avocado or coconut milk; they are all recipes Northwest locavores can make. The profiles deal with the challenges and celebrate the farmers who grow our food in the Pacific Northwest.

Good to know about the coconut milk Deborah, I just recently decided to try some but it’s still in my cupboard, a good excuse to try it. Thanks!

Spring greens are coming in in the Northwest, but this oatcake recipe is one I want to try. Love the light flavor of oats, it seems to go with spring. If I can’t drink milk what would be the best option? Would apple cider work?

I guess I don’t really get the rant about “fusion” cuisine. One of my favorite books in the early 1990s by Bharti Kirchner called The Bold Vegetarian is filled with creative “fusion” type recipes that I still use today. For some cooks it’s all about flavors and the way they transform simple dishes. Labels are the last thing on my mind when I cook.

All these interesting ideas about what to do with squash--I love it, thanks for sharing. And thanks also for the tips on cutting through the tough skins!

I love the idea of dates and squash together. It looks like I might be able to use sweet potatoes in place of squash here, plus sounds like a great excuse to use some of the locally produced flour I have in my pantry.

I have to confess that I was also seduced by their newsletters and the foods I saw drying last fall. I made the decision to drive there from Seattle just to get some of their great beans, corn, and vegetables. I wished I’d gotten more of everything now.

What a lovely post. I’d love to get fresh dates and citrus at a winter market. I stopped at the Hillsdale Market in Portland a few weeks ago and got organic Amish Butter polenta, a variety of shell beans and the jars of the most amazing processed red currants--not really a jam or a spread but a smooth garnet-colored thick drizzle--from Ayers Creek Farm. What treats markets offer in the winter.

I loved this post. It gives me a lot more to contemplate when I open my kitchen drawers. Recently I added all the silverware I’d inherited from my mom and dad who passed away. They’d always kept it in a box for special occasions and now it’s all turned loose to mingle with the spoons, forks and knives of years past.

I loved all these ideas. Your post certainly made me hungry, I can’t wait to get a copy of your book and start cooking from it. If I’m attending a dinner I usually offer to bring one or two dishes. I always include printed recipes for the host. People love new recipe ideas for their other vegetarian friends.

Just wondering if you’ve ever worried they’ll toss the food you’ve collected out at airport security or do you drive mostly?