Seattle City Council Insight

About ten years ago, I went on a quest for the perfect breakfast muffin. You know the one I’m talking about, that you buy at the coffee shop: dark brown, rich with just enough sweetness to balance out all the oats and wheat. I sampled a lot of muffins (and put in a lot of hours on the bike machine afterwards), tried a number of recipes, found the one closest to what I wanted, then proceeded to make substitutions for all the unhealthiest ingredients. While this muffin is never going to make a list of “things that are good for …

A lot of people are intimidated by bread; it has a certain mystique, and it’s easy to stress about it — especially if you watch the Great British Baking Show.  But making a basic loaf of bread, one that is perfect for breakfast toast, lunch sandwiches, or served fresh from the oven with dinner, is very easy and straightforward. There are things you need to know, but none of it is a mystery. Here’s a recipe for a basic, healthy, loaf of bread, that you can make in as little as two hours — and most of that is just …

Pesto is awesome stuff: a great pasta sauce that doesn’t require cooking. It’s also a fantastic spread for bread and toast, and a tasty substitute for mayo or mustard in sandwiches. I make large batches of this stuff in the fall, while basil is in season, then keep it in jars in my freezer to sustain me through the long winter (though it’s better when freshly made). Master the basic pesto recipe, and then you can experiment with it in all sorts of interesting directions until you find the combination that suits you best. This recipe has its origins in …

More Quarantine Life! Here’s a great recipe for a cold Seattle day.  It’s a thick, hearty, and very filling soup; you can use it as an appetizer, but I usually serve it as a main dish.

More “Quarantine Life” comfort food. Here’s a great, easy, super-tasty cornbread recipe. It’s an ever-so-slightly modified version of the cornbread from the famous Boston restaurant Durgin Park, which sadly closed in 2019. Comfort food doesn’t get better than this.