Savory Mushroom and Coconut Gravy

August 7, 2020 Nora Dummer

To summarize my experience of the Doe Bay Music Festival is an impossible task. Believe me, I’ve been trying. To allow the reader to fully understand what that place means to me entails me telling you everything, starting at the beginning, and putting into words memories that only great artforms like melody and dance are capable of expressing. Frankly, I’m just not that good enough of a writer. Or perhaps, the story is simply too large to fit in a recipe post. But, I have to try.

(Recipe for Savory Mushroom and Coconut Gravy follows)

Chocolate Tahini Cookies In The Age Of Chemical Weapons

July 31, 2020 Nora Dummer

Chocolate Chip, Tahini & Espresso Cookie

As a nutritionist, I tend to try to solve all of life’s problems with food. It’s like a weird superpower. Are you depressed? Add some probiotics. Worried about climate change? Decrease your consumption of conventional red meat and dairy. How about declining bee populations? Choose organic. Concerned for your local economy? Eat local, from farmers and restaurants you believe in. Want to connect with your family? Make a meal together. And so on, and so on. That’s the encompassing power of food - it ties into everything. Absolutely everything.

Of course, this mindset can also be an idealist trap. Problems don’t exist in a vacuum. Not all depression can be resolved by kimchi. Abstaining from almonds isn’t going to put even the slightest dent in the damage from the 100 companies that contribute 71% of global emissions. You can’t fix a broken bones with kale. And yet, I feel compelled to at least try. After all, it’s one of the rare powers I’ve got. I have to believe that the choices I make can have a positive change, otherwise, what am I even doing here? What are any of us doing here?

So, it follows that I could attempt to use this lens to target a growing health problem within our American population: exposure to chemical weapons.

(Recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies follows)

Chili, Garlic and Shallot Jam

July 23, 2020 Nora Dummer

I have no story to tell about this recipe other than the fact that it is so good it deserves its own post. I mean, just look at it.

This is another recipe adapted from the Night + Market cookbook by Kris Yenbamroong based off the dishes served in his Los Angeles restaurants by the same name, and featured in my post for Chicken, Coconut & Lemongrass Soup.

(Recipe for Chili, Garlic and Shallot Jam follows)

Chicken, Coconut Lemongrass Soup (Tom Kha Gai) and The Egg

July 3, 2020 Nora Dummer

The first frantic google search that solidified a very new reality took place while waiting in the line of the Itchy & Scratchy ride at Simpsons Land.

amusement park ride 3 weeks pregnant safe

Was I going to take this embryo on a ride of its own by unwittingly ejecting it from the wall of my uterus? The internet, of course, is a cruel friend to ask. I made it all the way to the entrance before ruefully turning around and pushing my way back through the crowd, leaving a disappointed husband to ride solo. So this was motherhood.

(Recipe for Chicken, Coconut and Lemongrass Soup Follows)

Yaki-Udon for June

June 29, 2020 Nora Dummer

She was named after a waitress. My boyfriend and I got her as a going away present from his aunt, a gesture my parents still don’t understand (“Who gives two 18 year olds who are about to move across the country A KITTEN?!”). I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. What better way to start a new chapter than with an insane 2 month old grey frizzed eager clawed butterball? With my dodge caravan loosely packed with the scarce possessions of teenagers, and after a panicked search for the missing kitten who had escaped the van to hide atop the wheel well, the three of us set off from Minnesota and headed west. Juniper roamed the van freely except for the stretch around Spokane where she sat, drenched and content, in a bin of cold water to keep from panting in the August heat.

(Recipe for Yaki-Udon for June follows)

Drew’s Shrooms

May 17, 2020 Nora Dummer

Don’t be discouraged. It is what it seemed.

After much deliberation, I’m going to spare you. Spare you from waxing poetic about the weight of one’s final words, spare you from philosophical jargon of what it means to be alive, spare you from advice for how to love your loved ones, fully and without hesitation. I’m going to spare you from the pages I’ve written for this post. Trust me, it’s better this way.

I mean, Jesus, we’re just talking about mushrooms here.

(Recipe for Drew’s Shrooms follows)

No Boundaries Lentil Soup: little carrots, (1 ½ handful) celery, onion (more onion)

May 9, 2020 Nora Dummer

Whenever I tell of my five years working in the Pike Place Market, I’ll summarize a list of varied establishments; I’ll speak fondly of my two years at Cinnamon Works Bakery, describe the delectable food we served at Michou, reminisce about my god-awful boss at Pike Place Flowers, and even include my month long stint at Taxi Dogs. Rarely, however, do I mention No Boundaries Café. Perhaps deliberately, my mind glosses over this place, dismissing it as an unworthy sojourn for memory. Though my time there wasn’t especially long lasting, I realize it should not be disregarded like a stack of unflattering pictures; this experience introduced me to exotic flavors and people while providing me with my first taste of responsibility in Seattle’s renowned food service industry.

(Recipe for No Boundaries Lentil Soup follows)

An Alter for Karaoke and Budapest Inspired Brassicas

March 30, 2017 Nora Dummer

“No?” our server let out with a whimper, her eyebrows stitched. It sounded like the response of a kid after telling them they wouldn’t, in fact, be going to Disneyland after all. “But… why?” she frowned.

Jonny and I stared up at her from our table at Tanti, just as shocked by her confusion as she was by our denial. I guess it’s not every day guests pass on wine in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

“We’re just really hungover,” I blurted. It was true. Though we were on a food and schnapps fueled “research” expedition through Europe, our B-sides tour involved seeking karaoke in every city we visited (as if schnapps tasting wasn’t enough of an impetus to overdrink). Karaoke had an uncanny ability to make even the foreign seem familiar; the strangeness of travel and barriers between languages were always alleviated on karaoke nights. This was our third day in Budapest, and the find of the previous night proved to be the best yet.

(Recipe for Budapest Inspired Brassicas follows)

Some Comfort Food for Thought

September 5, 2014 Nora Dummer

There’s a reason I’ve been so quiet. I’ve long had my next topic in mind, but the more I thought about it, the larger it became. After many months, this convoluted Godzilla-like beast of a concept wreaked havoc on my motivation because, frankly, it became too damn daunting of an undertaking. I felt that evoking King Kong was the only solution to beating this idea into submission and, well, he’s been busy doing whatever gigantic monkeys do.

How’s that for a disclaimer?

(Recipe for Comfortingly Lavish Macaroni & Cheese follows)

A Story of Salzburg and Chestnut Celeriac Soup

August 28, 2014 Nora Dummer

“So, what was your favorite meal?” This has dominated the list of most frequently asked questions after returning from a five-week trip in Europe. I usually respond with something along the lines of, “How much time do you have?” Sure, the Michelin starred Tanti in Budapest is an obvious stand out, as is the hidden basement milk bar U Babci Maliny in Krakow; these restaurants are typically granted a worthy mention. However, a favorite that often goes unspoken was in Salzburg, where I was served the chestnut celeriac soup that inspired this recipe. The rich and velvety sweetness of the soup undoubtedly plays a role in why I remember it so fondly, but to understand why this soup weighs so heavily on my memory requires knowing the events that lead up to it. Maybe the soup was just that good, or maybe it just happened to exist in the perfect moment of crucial respite from the flurry of the previous twenty-four hours.

(Recipe for Chestnut-Celeriac Soup follows)