July « 2009 « A Bellingham Foodie Blog

July 24, 2009

Meals You Can Count On

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Tags: staples — Bellinghamster @ 4:11 pm

Everyone is busy during a Pacific Northwest Summer. It makes the Thanksgiving and Christmas season look low key. You have to live here to understand. When the sun comes out and begins to warm Bellingham, it’s like we’re all drugged. We just CANNOT stay inside! There is a mania gripping one and all to get OUT OUT OUT while you can. And we sure do. Climb a mountain, kayak the sea, bike the trails, run the paths, swim the lakes. It’s MARVELOUS!

One thing is also for sure. With all the activity there is a constant need for fuel. See FOOD. I don’t want to be prepping in the kitchen while there is a water balloon fight happening outside my window! I want to pop off the kids and spouse – it feels great! But, we need to eat at least 5 meals. You think that’s nuts? 2 adults, 2 teens and one approaching her age of reason. We eat a lot.

My weekly standbys:

2Â 4 lb chickens, roasted
1-2 lbs wild salmon, broiled
1/2 lb deli RB from the Co-op
3 dozen eggs
1 pizza

Add a denizen of fresh and freshly frozen fruits and Joe’s Garden/Rabbit Field’s Farm produce and we’re pretty much set.

Now, GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!

Comments (1)

July 14, 2009

Robert Fong @ the Community Food Co-op BBQ

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 12:49 am

Futo Maki Sushi translates to fat rolled sushi. Robert Fong and his daughter prepared this for us at the Community Food Co-op’s BBQ today. It was a delicious and informative demo. He showed how to assemble and roll futo maki sushi. It was filled with chopstick size cucumber, carrot, omelet, spinach, tuna, wasabi paste and rice. Now you know why it is FAT sushi. Once this baby is rolled its diameter is 2 inches: OPEN WIDE! And no dipping necessary because your ingredients are seasoned before assembly. This sushi comes from an Okinawan village in Japan. It is also a Hawaiian classic.

Robert Fong and daughter demonstrate Futomaki sushi rolling

TIP: For a more pungent wasabi paste, prepare the paste, place in a bowl and then cover tightly or invert the bowl on a flat surface.

And if his sushi wasn’t filling enough, there was the BBQ to indulge in. We ate BBQ bison and portabello mushroom burgers and fixings with generous sides of fresh potato salad, cole slaw and baked beans. Now at this point, we were FULL, but right next to our table volunteers were serving raspberry shortcake! Regular or gluten free cake with fresh raspberry sauce and freshly whipped heavy cream! I went gluten free with raspberries. I can’t wait til the next BBQ!!

There was 100% all natural cotton candy by Sweet Nothings made with organic sugar cane and organic maple sugar. They have a Saturday booth at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market. It was sweet enough even to slow down my 6 year old daughter’s consumption. When she wasn’t eating the cotton candy, she was milking Twister the cow from Whatcom Farm Friends (it’s a model – same as the one at the Fair). She only got a little sprayed until she got the hang of it. She has sticktoitiveness.

All in all, a gastroBBQ afternoon. I love Bellingham!

PS There were several food demos going on IN the Co-op store. Local, the theme of the BBQ, chocolate milk, fish oil, honey, designer oils. And they were good, too…

Comments (1)

July 13, 2009

Bellingham ♥ NY

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,Britich Columbia,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants,Seattle — Bellinghamster @ 5:01 pm

Gandolfo’s NY Deli is opening in the Fall on Stuart off Meridian.
NY Pizza & Bar opened last month on State (old Bargainica space).
Cicchitti’s (on Railroad) tags itself as ‘real’ NY style pizza (which it is).
The Bagelry is real NY style bagels, spreads and sandwiches.
Old World Deli makes phenomenal sandwiches (see Little Italy, NYC).

What is it with this addiction to food stuffs from 3000 miles away? What about Chicago style pizza? Chicago is only 2100 miles away.Â When Chicago Deep Dish Pizza was introduced to NY in the ’80’s, no one in NY wanted NY style pizza anymore!

I will tell you what Bellingham needs. Some real Korean food. No one is making Korean food to touch what comes out of NJ. But now we’re talking 3000 miles away again. Do you know why? No competition. To sample something different, I have to drive to Seattle or Vancouver. Move, you say? But, I would miss you, my fellow Whatcomer’s!

So, purely for self-interest, could the BTC Culinary Institute try to teach more ethnic based cooking for those of us raised in more diverse climes? I know BTC is the reason why some of Bellingham’s restaurants are cutting edge.

And, really, how many pizza places does a town need? I have an idea! How about Pizza & Java? THAT would be Bellingham! I give you permission – Go run with it.

Comments (2)

July 11, 2009

Sweet Nothings Cotton Candy & Little Shovels Popsicles

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Bellinghamster @ 9:59 pm

Sweet little treats. I love them. 2 new vendors this year at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market:

Sweet Nothings 100% all natural cotton candy has a Saturday booth. Mother daughter pair Stefanie Weis and Teresa Thompson make their cotton candy with organic cane sugar and organic maple syrup. SWEET. My 3 kids couldn’t finish a bag. Leftovers for me?

Little Shovels’ Rex Hall and Colette McNabb make sweet refreshing all natural popsicles. They serve more than a dozen different flavors from a shiny white and red, wheeled umbrella cart. I ate a cucumber chili lime popsicle and was so happy and satisfied, I passed on all other market foods. I know, unbelievable. Later that same evening, we saw Rex walking along pushing the popsicle cart around downtown. We had had a hot beach day in Bellingham, so it was a good night for a popsicle vendor to be out and about.

Comments (4)