Good Stuff NW: Winter is Coming
“Winter is coming…” that phrase made famous by the very first episode of Game of Thrones, is always uttered forebodingly in low, gravelly tones as if winter was a monster intent on destroying everything standing in its path.
I humbly beg to differ.
At least here in the maritime climes of the Pacific Northwest, and especially in our mild coastal and valley regions, winters are usually inordinately moderate considering what other parts of the country are hit with. Sure, we have the occasional dump of snow that enables people to haul out their cross country skis for a trip to the grocery store—we actually got snowed in at the Oregon coast last year—but all in all it’s a pretty swell place to hunker down.
For many people, winter conjures days spent skiing or sledding on our mountains, or sitting with steaming mugs of spicy drinks in front of a roaring fire, but for me it’s all about what’s coming in from our fields, rivers and oceans. The transition to cooler temperatures means that many vegetables like kale, cabbage and carrots get sweeter as they pump out sugars that act as antifreeze to stave off the cold.
Winter also means chicories are making their debut at farmers’ markets and greengrocers, not just those ubiquitous red balls of radicchio, but a rainbow of varieties like Chioggia, Castelfranco, Verona and even pale pink Rosalba. Perfect for salads—local Italian outpost Nostrana’s chicory Caesar is a fixture on the menu—these cold-weather delights can also be grilled, incorporated into soups or appear as a pizza topping. (Can you tell I can’t get enough of them?)
The latest In Season column with local vegetable-and-fruit maven Josh Alsberg covers a plethora of seasonal offerings you'll find at our farmers' markets including apples, squash, cranberries, peppers, alliums and roots. Many farmers' markets are open year-round (and…hint, hint…are less crowded than at the peak of the season), so check the websites of your favorites. It’s also high time for gardeners to finish up their fall planting, pruning and soil prep, so I reposted a story about how to make your own organic fertilizer to keep your plants cozy until the weather warms.
Recipes abound, from a plum upside-down cake that works with almost any fruit, to a post on eggplant that goes well beyond parmesan.
There’s news, too, about the factory farms flooding into Oregon that are literally decimating family farms and endangering our health and that of our communities, not to mention polluting a whole aquifer that supplies drinking water to those living in the eastern Columbia Gorge.
If you’re considering a road trip in the future, take a gander at my recent road trip to Seattle’s “other side” with its sweeping beaches, reasonable overnight rates, a stellar food and drink scene and, of course, its own farmers' market. (You’ll thank me.)
And join me in thanking the supporters of this source of news-you-can-actually-use, the good folks at Providore Fine Foods and the Beaverton Farmers Market. Please stop in and let them know how much you appreciate their support of Good Stuff NW!
Thanks for reading,
Kathleen Bauer