Seattle's a city that reads, but it's also a city that writes. And we're grateful for the abundance of good food writing. Here are a few favorite posts to bookmark and enjoy over the long Thanksgiving weekend, from Seattle writers and bloggers. more ›

It’s a familiar conversation that I have had with a number of people. They say, “I tried cooking with beer once but it just came out…meh.” The overall sentiment is always one of enthusiasm, which gives way to disappointment in the final product. In cooking with beer, I find one simple tip will go a long way towards helping you be successful. more ›

This week, we love found kittens, cooking for our own damn selves, some public art, and one very dear cut of meat. more ›

Asparagus: totally delicious, and wholly mysterious. What can you eat it with? What can you drink with it? What's the deal with all of its weird bodily effects? Read this primer on one of Spring's most veggies, and all shall be revealed. more ›

This Sunday Sunday Sunday! It's a tailgating extravaganza the likes of which you've never seen. Starting at 10:30 am the North parking lot of Qwest Field will be filled with Seahawks fans, but more importantly it will be filled with tailgating fans. Little did we know that there is a competition hosted by Bing for best tailgater in the nation, but apparently Seattle is hosting one of the regional competitions. You may be asking yourself, what does a tailgating competition entail. Well, we're wondering the same thing to be perfectly honest. It looks to have four categories: Cooking (of course), Team Spirit, Trivia, and Parking Lot Athletics. That last one has us most intrigued and excited about this competition. Though, the cooking portion doesn't sound like a chore to watch either; hopefully they'll be offering up samples! more ›

There is something so satisfying about the crisp snap of the first bite into an apple that makes soft, mealy apples such a letdown. more ›

Knowing nothing else about the film Julie & Julia, aside from the fact that the screenplay is by the same person that wrote When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail, you could safely assume it’s a chick flick. more ›

Experiment with zucchini flowers while there’s still time. They are especially difficult to transport in pristine condition so unless you’ve got a steady supply in your garden, your local farmer’s market is the best bet. The male flowers, those without the squash attached, are preferred for stuffing and should be completely open when purchased. Once the flower closes up, the petals start sticking together and are difficult to separate without tearing. more ›

From an office in West Seattle, Dave and Rebecca Makuen are igniting a hamburger revolution. In the midst of an economic upheaval, while so many local companies a cutting back, scaling back plans, or just plain vanishing, the Makuens have started a new business called BuiltBurger. more ›

The connoisseurs' way to cook sausage is to brown, then steam it, but it's summer, and we want to be outside. So we grilled some of Uli's sausage creations, which you can purchase at his stand at Pike Place Market, get delivered, or buy at select local markets. more ›

It's warm, we have a new (portable!) grill, asparagus is in season--this is a no-brainer. We've been eating grilled asparagus three days out of four for the past week. Sorry if you've had to stand next to us at a urinal. more ›

FIRE GOOD: In his new book Catching Fire, Harvard biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham argues that it's the human need to cook our food that made us so smart and strong and socially organized. Take that, raw foods movement! Additionally, we have cooking to credit/blame for the male/female division of labor, so thank your great-great-great-to the nth degree-grandmothers for subjecting women to unequal pay for equal work. Anyone with any problems with the theories above can yell at Wrangham at his reading at Town Hall tonight. 7:30 p.m. // Town Hall // 1119 8th Ave. // $5 more ›

Are you looking for an inexpensive way to show off your gourmet taste and talents? Consider staying in and making pizza the next time you want to have a romantic evening with someone special. It involves experimentation, lots of hands-on interaction, and then you can eat it without silverware so there's less to worry about the morning after. Drink lots of inexpensive wine with it. Few things break the ice easier than making pizza and drinking wine. more ›

Another great option for creating flavorful food at home without breaking the bank is to make a small investment in some fresh Thai curry paste. It's inexpensive, a little bit goes a long way, it has no preservatives and makes your cooking taste really, really good. We favor the red, but there are other kinds as well. more ›

One of the defining characteristics of restaurant cooking--high quality restaurant cooking--is that chefs go to extreme lengths to coax flavors out of ingredients: A sauce may be several days in process. A bread dough may take years for its starter to develop its subtle flavors. more ›

A quick and simple way to add complexity of flavor to your cooking is to always start with a few humble ingredients: sharp onions, firm carrots, and crisp celery. Peel the onions and carrots, being careful not to trim away too much. Rinse them under cold water and pat dry. more ›

WRITERS GROUP: It's a daylight meetup of the Seattle Writers Group. They're gathering at Greenlake's Revolutions Espresso (across the street from Gregg's Greenlake Cycle) for 45 minutes of writing followed by 15 of discussion. Here is the thing that will help set your writing career on the path: "onsite bakery." It's sort of an insider's thing but behind every great writer is a choice pastry. Joyce=scone with currants and orange peel. True story. more ›

If you are unemployed, underemployed, or just hungry, there is a simple and satisfying way to nourish your soul and your belly. Bake your own bread. It requires nothing you don’t own already. Sure, there are lots of ways to complicate it, to make it more expensive, but they are not necessary. more ›

First of all, may we just say it's great to be back in the Seattlest saddle again after a somewhat extended absence! We actually...*sniff*...missed you guys. Alright, back to business. Thanks to Twitter, we now know about a neat local cooking site named, appropriately, CookLocal. They're covering the very important rutabaga and sunchoke baked chips beat this week. West Seattle Blog passes along news about South Seattle Community College's new scholarships, money set aside to help out anyone who's ever been in the U.S. foster care system. The Weekly's Sara Brickner reports on N.A.S.A.'s show at Nectar last night on Reverb, with photos and all ("go-go dancers, a giant visualizer screen and aliens" is part of the write-up, reason enough for you to click on that link). And over at the Seattle Post-Times, they're upset about the new, unsightly ads on Washington ferries. Of course, the pictured ad supporting the Post-Times' case is for the Woodland Park Zoo's flamingos exhibit--not exactly the devil incarnate. more ›

Readers, say hello to Paul Redman, a Chef Instructor at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Seattle, who is going to be talking about cooking for us. He has written for San Francisco magazine and the Daily Californian, and you'll see why--he's good. more ›

OLD-TIMEY MONEY-SAVING TECHNIQUES: Channel your great-grandmother and learn how to use old-timey techniques to get more for your buck at the Redmond Whole Foods class on breaking down whole chickens. It's really not that hard, and home-made chicken stock tastes lip-smackingly bright and delicious. Knowing how to handle a whole bird will boost your sex appeal by 300 percent, we can attest. But don't take our word for it: go to Redmond tonight and see for yourselves. Call (425) 881-2600, ext 3, to reserve your spot. more ›

As was noted after we reported on one parade's cancellation due to low turn-out, it looks like everyone headed over to the MLK Jr. rally at Garfield High School instead of going downtown--Central District News has photos to prove it. Via Rainier Valley Post's new Classifieds section, we found a link to Fresh-Picked-Seattle's list of food-related ways to volunteer on the Day of Service. The B-Town Blog re-posts a thoughtful Obama-themed MLK Jr. essay written just before the election. Most blogs were focused on tomorrow's presidential inauguration, and some--including the Big Blog and Tim Burgess' City View, were reporting from the very crowded ground in D.C. more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook by preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks' opponent. more ›

Recently, we’ve been hit with a long string of requests for a molasses cookie recipe. For some of you on-top-of-things types, we may have come too late in the holiday cookie-baking process. We can only hope you’ll consider making more as the city is buried under a blanket of snow, so: we know you’re home, we know you have time, and we know you want cookies. more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook by preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks' opponent. more ›

The problem with this particular project is that the Seahawks play St. Louis twice a year. After meals of toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake we are left with slingers, St. Paul sandwiches, and the city’s official dish, Crisco covered in fried caramel and broken glass. more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook by preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks' opponent. more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook by preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks' opponent. more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook by preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks' opponent. more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook by preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks' opponent. more ›