Fall

Thumbnail image for fresh pumpkin pie, gluten-free

fresh pumpkin pie, gluten-free

It’s pumpkin pie time. Pretty much, it’s always pie time around here. I love making pie enough that I was asked to speak at a performance art/pie contest event called PIE STORIES last weekend. Pie stories. I have plenty of those. However, for all the pies I have made — countless pies, hundreds of crimped [...]

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a big pot of beans

The wind is shimmying through the trees outside, green waving against grey. Danny insists we turn on the heater in the mornings, then Lu takes off her socks to put her feet near the fire. When she moves to her kitchen to play, our daughter is making soups, stews, and pies. Definitely fall. Time for [...]

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coming home

First, there was the photo shoot. The photo shoot for our cookbook, with this woman. That week was tremendous — a swirl of colors, the smell of food wafting from the kitchen, watching how Penny and Karen and Anne and Justin do their jobs — a week of amazement. It was also utterly exhausting. It [...]

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gluten-free Thanksgiving 2010

I probably don’t need to tell you just how soon Thanksgiving is, right? Every time this year I see people coming to this site through urgent questions. “how do I make gluten-free stuffing? Is there such a thing as gluten-free pumpkin pie. gluten-free thanksgiving. help!” Well of course, we’re here to help. Over the past [...]

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Thumbnail image for Roasted Pumpkin Seed Spread

Roasted Pumpkin Seed Spread

Driving home the other day, I wanted to pull over by the side of the road, on every curve, to take photographs. The sun shone through yellow leaves hanging down from an old tree, like a bright splash of melted yellow crayons suspended in air. One small bush glowed red amidst -dots of green. Two [...]

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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 Pam Anderson’s shells and cheese, gluten-free

Pam Anderson’s shells and cheese, gluten-free

Lu is talking up a storm these days. Yesterday, when she was hungry, she pointed to a photograph of yogurt in a book and said, “May I please have some of that?” We stood there astonished for a moment, and then we ran for the refrigerator to scoop some honey yogurt in a bowl. (The [...]

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free gravy

gluten-free gravy

Of all the questions I have received about Thanksgiving this week, the number one topic — by far — has been gluten-free gravy. People, it is easier than it seems. Let us walk you through it. First, make sure you have a good stock (chicken or turkey, if you eat meat), homemade if possible. If [...]

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Thumbnail image for cranberry cocktail for Thanksgiving

cranberry cocktail for Thanksgiving

You probably have cranberries in your home right now, don’t you? Lots of them, if you are anything like us. Danny made the cranberry relish this morning, a casserole dish piled high with bright red puree, with bits of white apple stained pink from standing in the same pot as those berries. Tart and mouth-puckering, [...]

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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 gluten-free pie crust

gluten-free pie crust

(We’re thrilled that this recipe is being featured at Oprah.com’s roundup of holiday recipes for 2009. For more of our featured posts, visit Oprah.com today.) I love making pie. There’s no need to tell you more about this. I’ve written about pie so many times before on this site. Each year, I’ve created a pie [...]

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Thumbnail image for wild rice salad (gluten-free and vegan)

wild rice salad (gluten-free and vegan)

There’s a funny way of looking at food when you first find out you can’t eat a certain one. I started dividing food into two categories: can and can’t. I can eat roasted potatoes, Alaskan salmon, fresh quince, raspberry jam, teff porridge, and duck confit. I can’t eat bread or pasta or pizza or pie [...]

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Thumbnail image for gluten-free turkey for Thanksgiving

gluten-free turkey for Thanksgiving

I love a good roasted turkey, the skin crisp, the flesh juicy. Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t start for me until I have stolen a piece of skin from the bird just out of the oven. For that reason, a dry turkey that flecks off the bone and makes me reach for the gravy boat is just [...]

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fall comfort food

The leaves on the tree outside this window are the sultry red that teenage girls dream of wearing on their lips when they are grown and sophisticated. (And then, if you’re like me, you realize that this red looks garish on lips, and is certain to smudge off as fast as the leaves are falling [...]

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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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Soul of a New Cuisine

Two autumns ago, when Danny was still working full-time as a chef, and we were still living in Seattle, I sat in a Starbucks in Madison Park, excited. Marcus Samuelsson would be there soon. His glorious cookbook, The Soul of a New Cuisine, had come out the year before, and we had been dog-earing pages [...]

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how to make gluten-free gravy (a video)

Good gravy! We’re thrilled that so many of you enjoy the videos we have been making. We giggle so much in the kitchen when we make them that we would love to keep going. So, this week’s video is how to make gluten-free mushroom gravy. This is a slightly longer video, only because the Chef [...]

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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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squashes

Squash. It just sounds good, doesn’t it? Say it loudly, with emphasis, slowly enough to feel the final shhhh leave your lips. S q u a s h. Really, it would be such a satisfying swear word. Around here, we’re trying to train ourselves to not use the typical words that rush from our mouths [...]

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shifting seasons

Fall has come upon us again. These past few months have been dazzling and fast — moving to a new home; getting married; learning how to market a book; going on our honeymoon to Italy; planning a book tour. We have been laughing through it all. And panting. I never imagined that so much could [...]

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summerautumn

Summer slowly seeps into autumn, creeping like a child on tip-toes. The light fades and simmers, so softly that we hardly notice the changes. Every day, a new revelation. That’s not true, actually. For me, it has always felt like summer Summer SUMMER! for three months, and then — boom — it’s fall. No warning, [...]

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Thumbnail image for some of what I learned on Thanksgiving this year

some of what I learned on Thanksgiving this year

gluten-free stuffing, originally uploaded by shaunaforce.   Every day, I learn more. And from yesterday’s festivities: – make the pumpkin pies the night before Thanksgiving. Usually, I do this, without fail. This year, I was so busy writing and making cranberry relish and catching up on correspondence that I forgot. Just plain forgot! This is [...]

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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 It is absurdly easy to make gluten-free gravy.

It is absurdly easy to make gluten-free gravy.

Kitchen Bouquet has trace amounts of gluten in it. Maggi seasoning has gluten in it. And those little instant gravy packets have gluten in them, plus they are disgusting. What is a gluten-free Thanksgiving eater to do? Make gravy from scratch. Please. It’s so easy. GLUTEN-FREE GRAVY 1/4 cup unsalted butter1/4 cup sweet rice flour [...]

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Thumbnail image for who needs gluten when there is pumpkin pie like this?

who needs gluten when there is pumpkin pie like this?

pumpkin pie spice, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. It is easy. I promise you. It is easy to make pie. Pie intimidates people. I wrote about this last year, so there is no need to repeat myself. Just trust me, especially those of you who have never made a pie from scratch — you can do [...]

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Thumbnail image for Who doesn’t love applesauce?

Who doesn’t love applesauce?

It amazes me now — why did I ever buy a jar of applesauce when it is glidingly, kindly easy to make? Old training. Most of us my age (and younger) grew up with packages around the house. Everything arrived already processed and neatly labeled before we could shove spoons of that food into our [...]

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autumn in Seattle

autumn in Seattle, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. The Chef and I were driving away from the Market, windows open and music playing. I took in a deep sniff, then sighed. “My god, the inside of this car smells incredible,” I said. He laughed his little devilish giggle. “Yeah. I farted.” I slapped his arm at [...]

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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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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 A Vegan Feast (mostly. close).

A Vegan Feast (mostly. close).

millet fritters, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Friday afternoons leave me happier than almost any time of the week. A solid five days of work, the feeling of having done something good in the world, dozens of connected conversations and graded papers and early mornings and heady anticipations—all of it behind me. And the freedom of [...]

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turning mad for turmeric

garbanzo beans and spinach, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Lately, I’ve been having an extravaganza of making up my own recipes. And they all seem to involve turmeric. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the gorgeous orange color, bright and alive against the grey clouds. Maybe it’s the slight bitterness, which tastes a little like the [...]

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Thumbnail image for the joy of freshly sliced apples

the joy of freshly sliced apples

apple and chestnut spread, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Autumn time, and the air’s growing chilly. This morning, my breath puffed out in grey white clouds before me as I walked into school. Today, I wore an old, cashmere sweater, maroon and nubbed with holes under the arms, as I walked through the school day. Summer [...]

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Thumbnail image for the best crumble you will ever eat

the best crumble you will ever eat

plum crumble, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Last night, I made the most exquisite crumble I have ever eaten. I’m not kidding. The first taste I took made me moan and nearly fall to my knees in the kitchen. I’m not going to say much about this one. I’ll let the pictures do the talking, and [...]

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living the life I imagined

illustration from Laurel’s Kitchen, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. I’ve been thinking for days about that curdled custard. Not because I feel bad that it didn’t work. On the contrary, I’m actually happy it happened. I’d been having such a streak of great meals that one had to falter, entirely. After all, I wouldn’t want my [...]

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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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the first apple of the season

first apple, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. Today is the last day of August. Sigh. I know that here in the US, most people mark the end of summer by Labor Day weekend, which starts on Friday. And somewhere in September, there will be the ephemeral flare of brilliant warmth and clear light of Indian summer, [...]

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It had to happen eventually….

MOROCCAN CARROT SALAD, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. This afternoon, I ventured downtown in the car, snaked around the streets in snarky traffic, and wandered down Virginia Street in the brilliant sunshine. And of course, I was headed to… Pike Place Market. I’ve been resisting writing about the Market here. It’s such a Seattle cliche. You’ve [...]

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"They say it’s your birthday…"

chocolate ganache cupcakes, originally uploaded by shaunaforce. “…it’s my birthday too, yeah.I’m glad it’s your birthday.We’re going to have a good time.” Every morning of August 6th, I wake up, feel a jolt of recognition at the sun coming through the window, stumble out of bed, and put on track one of disc two of [...]

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