The Beet
A Port Townsend Food Co-op Blog
Whether you're passionate about healthy recipes, sustainability initiatives, local giving programs, or supporting local farms, we’ve got something for you. Stay connected with the latest co-op news, learn how we’re making a difference in the community, and discover how you can get involved. Join us as we promote eco-friendly living and share the best in organic, local food."
Cozy up to fall
As the days grow short and the nights long, we turn inward, relying on our inner resources, and as keepers of the hearth, cooks play a central role in contentment. The need for coziness is real; it uplifts our mood and strengthens connection. Let’s keep our houses homes with a few pleasurable autumnal shifts.
Pairing Pears
Get ready to elevate your fall cooking with these irresistible pear recipes. Follow along with Sidonie Maroon as we learn a variety of ways to use this delicious autumn staple.
EQUINOX CHARCUTERIE BOARD
With the autumn equinox near, Sidonie Maroon shares how to craft a charcuterie board that celebrates the season’s bounty by using fresh local ingredients.
Rethinking Weeknight Dinners
Weeknight dinners often feel rushed and chaotic, squeezed between work, school activities, and other responsibilities. Can we reinvent dinner into a satisfying experience of connection and wholesome food, while saving time and money?
a to zucchini, Italian Style
Learn the A to Zucchini of Italian summer dishes with Sidonie Maroon.
Summer is the time to cook together
Outdoor cooking is the highlight of some of our most cherished memories with ones that we love. Follow along as we learn some new recipes for our next outdoor get together.
Honoring Dads who Cook
In our community, there are many versions of dads in the kitchen. From professional chefs to occasional sous chefs and backyard grillers, dads who bake pies and sourdough loaves, brew ale, and make kimchi. Dads who grow their own gardens, hunt, and fish. Dads who explore the cuisines of other cultures and prepare daily meals on top of full-time work and parenting. Every culinary dad I know is passionate about some niche gourmet subject or another.
Spring Cleaning, Greens and a no knead, gluten free sourdough
My inner Spring cleaning happens while at the sink with soapy hands, hanging up a pot, or grabbing the milk bottle from the fridge. In all these unspectacular, yet contemplative moments of just being, I come to terms with realities and the necessities of change.
Women’s History Month: Angel Food Wisdom
My Grandma, Winnie A. Dennis Wilson, born February 29, 1916, gave me cooking lessons every weekend of my ninth year. I cooked beside her throughout my childhood, and as those we hold dear, I keep her always in my thoughts.
What Worked for Me in 2023
If you’re serious about improving your culinary skills, then sit down with a cup of coffee close to the new year and reflect on what you’ve learned. Sidonie Shares with us what she’ll be doing in her Kitchen in 2024.
Winter Solstice Recipes
This symbolic time of rebirth and renewal is a magical opportunity to cook up traditions that will see us through our darkest season. Sidonie offers us some beautiful recipes perfect for the season.
Holiday Jingle Without The Jangle
Years ago, I remade Christmas cooking for myself. Little by little, I decided what mattered and let the rest go. And what did matter? — peaceful, contemplative cookie baking while listening to Christmas albums. A big bowl of bright oranges, with amaryllis and paperwhites blooming on the kitchen counter. Singing carols and laughing with my sons while cooking. Cuddling up with my husband and watching the twinkling tree lights in the dark. Having extended family over to make gingerbread. Perfecting my Panettone and Stollen sweet breads and gifting them to whoever comes by. Enjoying this special dedicated time with those I love, and realizing that it’s a lot more about presence than presents.
Kale Takes its Place at the Thanksgiving Table
Sidonie breaks down some of the amazing ways Kale can be served up this holiday season!
Making Soup the Lazy Genius Way
I recently discovered “The Lazy Genius” podcast, hosted by Kendra Adachi, and am enjoying each episode. Her motto is — Embrace what matters, ditch what doesn’t and get stuff done. She’s also written “The Lazy Genius Way”, and “The Lazy Genius Kitchen”. I relate to her organizational approach, and am sharing her principles using soup making as our prompt.
Beet Bliss
If you’re so so about beets, or better yet, despise them, then I’m hoping to change your mind. I understand because beets were my ultimate yuk food as a kid, but I’ve grown to love them as I’ve discovered their incredible flavors and versatility.
Tarragon Tour
Tarragon in cuisines other than French? Yes! Tarragon is beloved worldwide. See All the unique ways Tarragon can make a dish.
A Love Letter to Food
Italian cuisine is much more diverse than just Pizza and Pasta. Join Sidonie as she takes on the culinary journey and wide flavor range that is true Italian cooking.
Mother Recipes
A good mother gives us solid life patterns to work from, and however far we travel from our beginnings, her influence is always there. Good cooking is similar—we may adapt and improve recipes, but they remain like mothers — fundamental.
Sauté Your Way Into Spring
Sautéing has a powerful mystique in the culinary world. Somehow, if you know how to cook with a little fat, in an open pan, over a relatively high heat, allowing the food to brown and not burn, by occasionally flipping it with a spatula, or show off style making the food jump into the air with wrist action then you are chef material.