DailyWaffle

Working Vacation – Tofino, BC + Hank’s Ucluelet

The last few summers we've made an annual trip up to Tofino, situated on the edge of Vancouver Island, about a 4 hour drive from Victoria, BC. It's a great surf spot for Wolf, it's got great hiking and beaches and a concentration of restaurants in Tofino-town. The timing of this year's trip didn't let us (well, at least me) sign off completely, so it ended up being a working vacation. Still great to get away. As it turns out, even after several visits there are plenty of new discoveries still to be made in Tofino.

August 24, 2013

Not About Food

10 Days Ago

Ten days ago, our old girl H was trotting on the beach with me and Wolf in Tofino and today she’s back home after a day and a half at the emergency vet. It doesn’t look good. It started with a lack of interest in her kibble, she was wheezy and her breathing was somewhat labored. She coughed a few times and by the end of the trip, she just wasn’t all that interested in going very far for a walk. We got home late and went to the vet the next day.

August 22, 2013

Baking

Soft and Chewy Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Miso Cookies

It always makes me laugh that instant ramen is (dis)regarded as college food. It’s the savior for the days when you’re so broke you drink Keystone Light and survive on a 33 cent pack of noodles. You couldn't possibly eat it because...you like it. But as with so many foods from my childhood, maybe initially…

August 19, 2013

Recipes

Don’t Fear the Pho

Is it possible to fear chicken soup? If it wasn’t fear holding me back from making pho at home, it must have been laziness, or the sheer number of pho shops in Seattle. Yeah, that’s it, there was no reason to make pho at home, when you can get it anywhere, even out here in the ‘burbs. Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup, most often made with beef broth, has always seemed like a dish to leave to the experts. You char the spices and ginger and the broth needs to simmer for hours to fully develop its flavor. Then Taylor Hoang of Pho Cyclo made pho ga, chicken pho, at TDCamp and it was so easy and so delicious I knew I had to make it at home.

August 9, 2013

Appetizers Main Course Recipes

Back-to-School Black Bean & Sweet Potato Empanadas

The hand pie may be one of the world’s best food creations. Whether it’s a piroshky, a Pop Tart, a beerock or an empanada, the idea of tucking something sweet or savory into a little pocket of dough is an idea embraced by food cultures the world over. It’s an easy way to have a snack or a meal on the go with relatively minimal mess, which makes these Black Bean and Sweet Potato Empanadas perfect for back-to-school and back-to-work lunch boxes. (I know, I don’t want to think about it, either, and I don’t have kids).

August 5, 2013

Recipes

Hatch Chile Season 2013

The back to school stuff is going in Target, heralding the end of the summer. Soon enough it'll be time for backpacks and lunchboxes and binders, but before we give ourselves over to F-A-L-L, it's time to worship at the altar of the Hatch chile. Last summer I froze 25 pounds worth and it looks like I was pretty stingy in doling out the chiles over the year since I still have several bags in the freezer. But there's nothing like fresh roasted, and stores across the country are already breaking out their roasters with events starting this weekend.

August 3, 2013

Main Course Pizza Recipes

Easy Peasy > Gemelli w/ Sausage & Cherry Tomatoes

This wasn't supposed to be a blog post, just dinner on Monday night. There are no photos of cherry tomatoes casually rolling toward the edge of the counter, or a scatter of pasta strategically positioned behind the bowl. There's not even a fork, just a quick snapshot because I was texting it to Wolf to get him to hurry up on home. Then, I was pleasantly surprised by how fast and delicious it actually was, so, well, here we are. Gemelli con salsiccia e pomodorini…which sounds fancy, no? Gemelli with sausage and cherry tomatoes. Let’s go.

July 30, 2013

Travel

In Photos: The Most Important Meal of the Day at Tom Douglas’ Culinary Camp

At Tom Douglas' Culinary Camp, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

July 26, 2013

Dessert

Cold Drip Coffee Chip Ice Cream

Over the last year, Wolf has been on a mission to get back in shape and now he's been doing various half marathons and triathalons. As his diet shifted from calorie restricted to training, one of the most surprising transformations is that his palate seems to have changed as well. I used to be the only java junkie in the house, the one who fangirled over Blue Bottle coffee and sought out Stumptown Stubbies in the summer. And now, I’m not alone.

July 24, 2013

Book Reviews Recipes Side Dishes

Tasting Jerusalem: With Naama’s Fattoush, It’s All About the Details

A couple of weeks ago on the Splendid Table, LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons wrote, “The thing that's really great about this book is that he takes what might seem familiar and just throws a twist on it. When you cook it, it's an act of exploration because you're doing things that you know, the ingredients are fairly familiar, the techniques are fairly familiar, and then boom, there's this very new and exciting result that really makes you want to cook more into it.” He was talking about < Ottolenghi's Plenty, but he hit it on the head for Jerusalem ,too. It’s the twists that set these recipes apart. And it's never more true than with Naama’s Fattoush, the marquee recipe for this month's salad theme for Tasting Jerusalem.

July 22, 2013