Many of you may think I’m talking about the scandalous former mayor of Washington, DC, Marion Barry, but I am not. I’m talking about the succulent Pacific Northwestern fruit, the marionberry.
The marionberry was introduced in 1956 at my alma mater, Oregon State University, and developed in Marion County. While they grow throughout the Pacific Northwest, [...]

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It’s spring and I woke up with a sore throat. You shouldn’t be able to get sick in warm months. That’s what winter is for. We suffer the cold weather and the spreading of germs, then the sun comes out and we get a reprieve from carrying tissues and sucking on lozenges. Wouldn’t it be [...]

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Yippee! It’s cherry season! More importantly, it’s Rainier cherry season. On the totem pole of cherries, Rainiers are at the tippy top. Created back in 1952 at Washington State University by Harold Fogle, the Rainier is a hybrid of both the Bing and Van cherries – the sweetest of the red varieties. Bless Fogle’s cherry-loving [...]

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“Get those skinny ones out of here and bring in the short, pudgy ones!”
Would that not be great if that is what we heard at Parisian fashion shows? Sigh, how life for women would change. But, alas, I speak not of fashion models, the plump beauties I’m talking about are Spanish Marcona almonds. These are [...]

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When you land at the airport in Obregón, Mexico, as we did on our way back from Puerto Vallarta, you can buy candied apples for $2 a piece. And here’s the best part - the Mexican Immigration and Customs officials are the ones selling them! Like Girl Scouts selling cookies they have them sitting [...]

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While salivating over the latest issue of Saveur (March 2008) I found a recipe for infused rum. In the article the author describes a popular cordial in Madagascar known as The 44. The instructions for creating this rum-infused concoction are advanced so pay careful attention (wink):
The 44 Cordial
Take a Navel orange and deeply [...]

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In 1973, at the age of 5, my family moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sunriver, a little resort town in Central Oregon just south of Bend. Sunriver is nestled at the feet of the beautiful Cascade mountains and hugged by both the Big and Little Deschutes rivers. My parents, who had visited [...]

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Welcome to the world of black lemons! If you’ve never had the opportunity to try these Middle Eastern goodies go to World Spice Merchants and order some. They’re completely dried and look inedible, but in fact their sweet-tartness is so flavorful you’ll want to use it in about everything: soups, stews, tagines, couscous, even sprinkled [...]

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Have you ever seen those humongous looking grapefruits and said to yourself, “What is that!?” It’s called a pomelo and it looks like a grapefruit on steroids - they can weigh up to 25 pounds and grow to a foot in diameter! Holy Pomelo, Batman! Native to Southeast Asia, it is also cultivated for commercial [...]

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While in Napa last weekend I gathered a few handfuls of kumquats from our friend’s grandmother’s tree. My own grandmother had a small potted kumquat tree and growing up I loved to pop the so sweet/so sour little citrus in my mouth. I thought they were the prettiest little fruit ever - and I still [...]

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