Soups

Thumbnail image for potato-sunchoke soup with homemade chile oil

potato-sunchoke soup with homemade chile oil

The inspiration for our meals comes from a thousand different places. Sometimes it’s from stopping by the farmstand and seeing fat green leeks sticking up from black buckets like an awkward floral display. Sometimes it’s from our friends’ cookbooks and blogs — ooh, that looks good. Often food arrives on the table because we needed [...]

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Thumbnail image for cucumber soup

cucumber soup

I’ve come late to this cucumber party. I don’t just mean that I’m finishing up this post at nearly midnight. I mean that, for decades, I steadfastly refused to eat cucumbers. Their slippery innards kind of grossed me out. The seeds slid around my tongue when I took a bite — ugh. The outside is [...]

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Thumbnail image for Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

In 1977, my 11-year-old self felt daring by staying up late for Saturday Night Live. Those were the best years, the Gilda Radner as Emily Litella saying “Never mind” years, the Wild and Crazy Guy when Steve Martin hosted years, the John Belushi as samurai guy years. You know, the funny years. For some reason, [...]

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Thumbnail image for the smell of fresh ginger

the smell of fresh ginger

The other day, the Chef and I pushed our grocery cart through Uwajimaya. We’re always a little dazzled by the place, the red bean curd desserts, the tiny Japanese ladies pushing past us on a mission for the right fish, the shelves of Kewpi mayonnaise and Pocari Sweat. When we drive there, we quote our [...]

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celebrations in Seattle

It’s good to be home. We thrilled to the heartbeat of walking the streets of New York together. We danced in exultation at the book coming into the world. We couldn’t stop giggling. Still, we love Seattle. And there’s something wonderfully comforting about sleeping in your own bed every night. These next few months, we [...]

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Thumbnail image for the grace of asparagus soup

the grace of asparagus soup

Sunday afternoon. Sun shining through the skylights. The Chef and I are in the kitchen, music playing in the living room — Stevie Wonder, as I remember — and we are dancing. Our knives are chopping little staccato rhythms on the cutting boards. Our hips are swaying to the songs and our happiness at being [...]

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Thumbnail image for daily food photo: lentils

daily food photo: lentils

Everything fascinates, if you look closely enough at it. Even the lowly lentil. Moroccan Lentil Soup, adapted from Field of Greens It fascinates me to find how much my tastes have changed in the past decade, but particularly in the last year. When I first found this soup in the Field of Greens cookbook, I [...]

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Thumbnail image for the way we eat, part two

the way we eat, part two

My father loves to tell this story. Apparently, when I was three years old, my father entered the living room, where he saw me sitting on the edge of the couch. He was horrified to see me clutching my head in my hands, firmly. “Shauna, do you have a headache?” he quotes himself. He swears [...]

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Thumbnail image for Is all this rain giving you the sniffles?

Is all this rain giving you the sniffles?

chicken noodle soup, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I’ve been on the verge of a cold for days: sniffles, a little wheeze in the chest, a certain sleepiness that bespeaks of a virus trying to make its way to the surface. But I refuse to give in to it. I have a book to write. I [...]

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Thumbnail image for what gifts come out of the air

what gifts come out of the air

Le Creuset, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. For the past week, I’ve been keeping a secret. Giggling behind my hands, I’ve been wanting to share. But I have to admit, I’ve also been a little reluctant to shout this one out, because I feel a little guilty. I mean, what did I do to deserve such [...]

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Thumbnail image for gleaming bright in the dark night kitchen

gleaming bright in the dark night kitchen

Wusthoff, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. A confession: for the past decade, I’ve been doing all my cooking with a lousy $20 knife. I bought it when I still lived on Vashon Island, when I was teaching at my little island high school and living in a pre-fab apartment behind the fire station. I was 29 [...]

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Thumbnail image for lamb, basil, citrus, and fish (stock)–must be Paper Chef!

lamb, basil, citrus, and fish (stock)–must be Paper Chef!

saffron seafood soup, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. On Sunday afternoon, I stood up in the kitchen and cooked. Now, of course, for months, that was a quotidian activity for me. A daily activity I never took for granted. The ineffable grace of a mundane day. But for the previous nine days, standing in the kitchen [...]

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Thumbnail image for eating vegan with tomato-fennel soup

eating vegan with tomato-fennel soup

fennel and anise in the mortar and pestle, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I don’t find it hard to eat vegan. I really don’t. I don’t think you would either. For years, I was a vegetarian. I wrote about that already, so I won’t repeat myself. But for about four months this year, before I was [...]

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Thumbnail image for chicken soup with rice (and avocado)

chicken soup with rice (and avocado)

chicken soup, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I’m sure that it’s having to wake up at 6 am that has given me this cold. I’m a reluctant, early-morning riser. Always, my entire life, I’ve wanted to stay up late and wake up later. During the long, indolent months of summer, I could let my body tell [...]

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Thumbnail image for red beans and rice

red beans and rice

red beans and rice, originally uploaded by shaunaforce.I couldn’t just keep feeling furious at incompetent officials, walking around broken-hearted about people starving on the streets, or watching the television for hours at a time while pacing the living room. Mostly, I had to stop watching the television. It’s bad for the psyche. I knew what [...]

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