Good article. But there are quite a few markets open year-round in Oregon. Hillsdale Farmers’ Market (the one I manage), People’s Co-op, Lloyd, and Oregon City have been year-round for a few years. Hollywood and Portland went to a year-round schedule this year. Corvallis has a winter indoor market as does Salem. Check the Oregon Farmers Markets Association, http://oregonfarmersmarkets.org for more information.

Rimless sheets serve well as a paddle if you’re baking pizza or bread on a stone. I use our rimless baking sheet almost as often as the peel.

Practice is the key, I think. My wife often comments that I have cookbooks that I never use. I often don’t use cookbooks the way many people might, for the recipe. Since learning how to cook, I use cookbooks in a different way. I use cookbooks for ideas, for inspiration, and in a way to break a cooking “block”. Sometimes I look in the fridge and pantry, stumped about what to make for dinner. I have an idea but am hesitant. I’ll start reading through books and eventually something emerges. What often happens is that the cookbooks affirm my gut instinct. That instinct comes from a long time of cooking- Boy Scouts, college, restaurant work, and just for the heck of it. I really should trust my instincts, but sometimes I don’t. So Julia Child, Viana LaPlace, Michael Ruhlman, Alice Waters, Deborah Madison, Mark Bittman et. al. help me along.