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Thumbnail image for gluten-free in airports

gluten-free in airports

When the airplane’s wheels left the land, I looked over to see Lu’s eyes wide. Danny and I both smiled. She has been on a lot of airplane trips, this kid, but not in awhile. This is the first time, it seems, she was able to take it in. Flying. We were actually flying in [...]

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Thumbnail image for how to live gluten-free

how to live gluten-free

In a few weeks, it will be six years since I started this website. Six years! Folks, I can’t believe it. This past Friday, I flew down to San Francisco and back the same day, to speak at Google headquarters about the need for increased awareness about celiac and gluten sensitivity in this culture, in [...]

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Thumbnail image for braised fennel

braised fennel

Lu grabbed the bulb and ran to the porch shouting, “Fennel! Fennel!” I laughed as I walked behind her, remembering how many bowls of fennel salad I ate when I was pregnant with her. By the middle of the afternoon, as I moved from my first trimester into my second, I stood in the kitchen [...]

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Thumbnail image for sweet potato latkes, gluten-free

sweet potato latkes, gluten-free

We have fallen in love with sweet potatoes lately. Look at them, so humble and lovely, nestled against each other. Sweet potatoes don’t call attention to themselves, the way the blowzy red tomatoes of August demand our noticing them. Zucchini are vivid green, with stripes sometimes. The peppers blare so bright they can can hurt [...]

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Thumbnail image for coconut brown rice

coconut brown rice

“Shauna,” you may be thinking. “Have you lost your mind? That’s a bowl of rice. Is that all you have to give us now?” Actually, yes. It’s not that I have run out of ideas. New ideas always seam to leak at the seams around here, and sometimes at the most inappropriate times. For example, [...]

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Thumbnail image for sweet corn risotto

sweet corn risotto

There’s something mysterious about a cob of corn in its husk. At first it feels smooth and compact. You have to tug on those tough papery sheaths to reveal the gold kernels. It’s surprising how hard you have to pull — halfway through, I’m thinking, this prize better be worth it. And then there are [...]

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Thumbnail image for black bean roasted poblano hummus

black bean roasted poblano hummus

I got some gluten by mistake a few weeks ago. If you read this site, you might have heard about this already, on Twitter or Facebook just after. I was angry, I was in pain, and I wanted everyone to know what had happened so you wouldn’t have to go through what I went through [...]

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free onion rings

gluten-free onion rings

Within the first two weeks of knowing each other, Danny and I were in a kitchen together, standing side by side, chopping and talking about what we were going to eat. He was sort of horrified by how badly I mangled the onions when I cut them up into giant hacking pieces, but he refrained [...]

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Thumbnail image for quinoa with spring vegetables and walnut-kale pesto

quinoa with spring vegetables and walnut-kale pesto

Five days a week, just about 2 o’clock, Lu and I stand by the door for kisses. She waves her hand vigorously, then asks me to stand her up on the windowsill to wave and blow more kisses. Danny’s leaving for work. Within the hour, he’ll be creating dishes like this. Many of you write [...]

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Thumbnail image for peace comes dropping slow in the desert

peace comes dropping slow in the desert

Sunlight. An open book about to be picked up again. A hot cup of coffee. A toddler playing happily by herself. Still in our pajamas at nearly noon. This must be vacation. For five full and loving days, Danny, Little Bean, and I were in Arizona, visiting Danny’s parents. They doted on their granddaughter, she [...]

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Thumbnail image for So Easy by Ellie Krieger

So Easy by Ellie Krieger

When my friend Sharon and I were in our early twenties, she lived with my family for a summer. There was no work in Ashland, where she was living between her freshman and sophomore years in college. She has always been the sister I never had. My family feels the same. So, she moved into [...]

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Thumbnail image for pumpkin mash

pumpkin mash

Pumpkins deserve more attention than the pies. This year, we’re making a pumpkin mash, inspired by Marcus Samuelsson’s recipe. Locally grown pumpkins, roasted sweet potatoes, garlic and shallots, a hint of sweetness. What could be wrong? We had this idea, inspired by a question on Twitter. What about a savory pumpkin custard? Sounds good to [...]

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Thumbnail image for Modern Spice

Modern Spice

Fresh curry leaves. Pomegranate seeds. Turmeric that leaves little trails of neon-yellow dollops on saucers. Brown basmati rice. Fenugreek. Coconut milk-simmered chicken. Cardamom pods. These have been the flavors of our kitchen this week. What a feast it has been, thanks to Modern Spice. You see, Danny and I are still deep in the throes [...]

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free Thanksgiving, 2008

gluten-free Thanksgiving, 2008

Can you smell it? Whiffs of woodsmoke, unexpectedly. Damp skin — approaching drenched — from steady rainstorms. The first hints of cinnamon in the kitchen. Nearly all the leaves on the trees have surrendered to the ground. The sky has become a flat scrim of grey. We have lived through Halloween, the time change, and [...]

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imagining her future

Sometimes you catch a glimpse of what your life might be like someday. This weekend, the Chef’s brother Kevin came into town for a day, on his way to Whistler for an avalanche control conference. His daughter, the Chef’s lovely niece Kelly, drove up from Eugene with her long-time boyfriend James to spend the day [...]

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Thumbnail image for leapfrogging from food to food

leapfrogging from food to food

When we were kids, my brother and I loved playing word games with our parents. I always loved one called The Minister’s Cat, a Victorian parlor game we learned from the Albert Finney version of Scrooge. Everyone in the room claps rhythmically and chants, “The minister’s cat is a _______ cat.” When it was your [...]

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Thumbnail image for wild rice

wild rice

We have been eating our share of rice around here lately. For years — literally, years — my wonderful sister-in-law has been quietly suggesting to me, “You really should buy the rice cooker we have.” A sleek, sly model, which makes almost no sound, their rice cooker turned out fragrant, steamed rice every time. Having [...]

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Little Bean

For over a year now, I have promised him that — if this ever happened — I would announce it with this sentence: The Chef has knocked me up. (There you go, my love.) I know that these are pretty incongruous words to write about the most awe-inspiring, hilarious, and life-changing experience we have ever [...]

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Thumbnail image for inspiration strikes in the strangest places

inspiration strikes in the strangest places

Sometimes, all it takes is a little change of scenery. As much as I love Seattle, even in the midst of winter, it’s good to go somewhere else. Three days in Los Angeles — with my oldest friend in the world, driving under blue skies — was just what I needed. Three days away from [...]

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Thumbnail image for misbegotten vegetables

misbegotten vegetables

“I’m going to eat up my vegetables.I can’t get enough of vegetables.I love you most of all, My favorite vegetables.” — The Beach Boys, Smiley Smile I remember being sixteen years old, in the corner of a bedroom in our house in London, big puffy headphones on my ears. The rest of the house was [...]

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Thumbnail image for mucking about in the rain

mucking about in the rain

You may have heard. Western Washington is wet. Splashing in puddles, squelching of tires, slapping drops on the top of our heads — we are sodden around here. For days, the skies splayed grey and the sump pump in the basement groaned with the extra load of work. People, every myth you’ve heard about Seattle [...]

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Thumbnail image for a gluten-free Thanksgiving (#3)

a gluten-free Thanksgiving (#3)

Everywhere around us, people are talking about food. On Saturday, the Chef and I stood at the Chefs in Residence stand at the University District farmers’ market, watching the slate-grey rain turning everyone’s hair sodden. A few people were jumping in puddles, happy to be buying local potatoes and knobbly celery roots. These were the [...]

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Thumbnail image for daily food photo: red quinoa

daily food photo: red quinoa

Did you know that red quinoa — made in the rice cooker the night before — tastes fantastic with bacon and eggs for breakfast?

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Thumbnail image for a sustained note of sweetness

a sustained note of sweetness

As we sat around the long, candle-flickering table — laden with prime rib, mashed potatoes, port-balsamic sauce, and mixed green salads with goat cheese — I couldn’t stop grinning. Ten people had gathered together to eat. In the most primal, profound moments of life, there is food. Sensory pleasure, steam rising to warm the face, [...]

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Thumbnail image for a simple recipe for cranberry chutney

a simple recipe for cranberry chutney

cranberries, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I know — it’s the day before Thanksgiving. In fact, as I type this, it’s after 11 pm the night before Thanksgiving. You have probably already made your cranberry sauce. In fact, some of you may have given in to temptation and bought those terrible cans of cranberry sauce, the [...]

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Thumbnail image for This is the gluten-free stuffing we will be eating.

This is the gluten-free stuffing we will be eating.

Normally, I emphasize the foods that are naturally gluten-free. Why always long for bread when gluten-free bread will never taste as good as an artisan loaf made at the best bakery? There are three thousand meals out there that need never involve gluten. However, on Thanksgiving day, I do like stuffing. Growing up, those morsels [...]

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Thumbnail image for long loving mornings, sunny side up

long loving mornings, sunny side up

risotto and eggs, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. The Chef and I like eggs. Let me rephrase that, to approximate the force of our feelings: the Chef and I really, really like eggs. We must, because we eat them nearly every morning these days. Scrambled, poached, sunny side up, and sometimes even fried — eggs appear [...]

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Thumbnail image for the simple joys of spring

the simple joys of spring

asparagus, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Sometimes, the best pleasures are the simplest. This morning, when I woke up, the sun had already risen. The sky was high and clear with light, washing everything clean with its clarity. After months of waking to darkness and struggling to school in lavender light at best, this morning opened [...]

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Thumbnail image for a shield against the January germs

a shield against the January germs

bok choy, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. This week we went back to school. After two weeks of langorous days of drifting, I was rudely awoken by the alarm clock again. No one could accuse me of being lazy — hours of sitting in front of the computer, working on a project, pacing the living room [...]

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Thumbnail image for a bowl of warmth for the new year

a bowl of warmth for the new year

mushroom risotto III, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. On the first day of the year, I had an outrageous mushroom risotto, unexpectedly, courtesy of an Italian mama from Tuscany, through Kabul. And with a bit of Tanzania and India thrown in for good measure. After a quiet New Year’s Eve, I was prepared for another quiet [...]

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Thumbnail image for happiness: lemony squash and roasted pork

happiness: lemony squash and roasted pork

butternut squash pork salad, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Happiness arrives on a rainy afternoon, after a long walk through the neighborhood. Happiness steps forward on a break from waiting, waiting for the words to fall through my fingers. Happiness emerges shyly, then stays, brazenly, for a few moments. Walking west on Galer, the grey clouds [...]

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Thumbnail image for in which I have a change of heart

in which I have a change of heart

beets and goat cheese, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. When I was reaching for a plastic bag in the produce section at Metro Market the other day, I was suddenly struck by an absurdity. Printed on the bag, in big green letters, was “5 a day!” The store was cheerfully exorting customers to eat at least [...]

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Thumbnail image for a bevy of gluten-free thanks

a bevy of gluten-free thanks

cranberry thank you, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. My dear and lovely people: Here I am, the day before Thanksgiving, making a loaf of gluten-free bread for my first Thanksgiving without real bread. The cranberries are ready to boil soon. And the pumpkin pies are starting to smell like the cinnamon-ginger goodness they’re bound to become. [...]

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Thumbnail image for the Monday round-up of great gluten-free recipes of the week (plus an adorable nephew shot)

the Monday round-up of great gluten-free recipes of the week (plus an adorable nephew shot)

Elliott and Mousie II, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. These days leading up to Thanksgiving? Somehow they’re more frenzied than last week, clutched and cluttered, bunched and uncomfortable. But they don’t have to be. If we can just relax, and make the days spacious, the Thursday of all-day cooking can be a relief. That hasn’t been [...]

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