This is a powerhouse post. If you stick around to the end, you’ll walk away with two mind-bending recipes, each containing enough magic sparkle sauce to put a permanent spell on a dishy prince (should that be your aim). You will also learn a lot, but not in a “Charlie Brown versus the Adults” kind of way, more in the “let’s all get together and figure this out while singing Kumbaya”-style.

So first, you remember how it’s Doughvember? If you need a quick catch-up, Doughvember is the month where we join forces to master the art of sourdough. If you want in, either make a starter (use Nicole’s handy instructions!) or revive your starter, and post, tweet or otherwise fling sourdough from the rooftops. If you’re the posse type, @ me on twitter and I’ll add you to the @saltyseattle/doughvember list. We’re using the hashtag #doughvember to aggregate our doughy coterie.

I knew when the idea for Doughvember first came about that I wanted to recreate the trashy-yet-classy American dish known as “egg-in-the-hole” or “eggs-in-a-basket” depending where you live. Me being me, however, I also knew I couldn’t simply plop an egg in a hollowed-out piece of toast and call it breakfast without you calling me on my lack of creativity. So I massaged the concept until out spooged the happiest of happy endings that you see here. It’s a sourdough bagel that has been lye-dipped to improve color and crust texture, then topped with a sous vide soufflé. It is like the lovechild of John Waters and Marilyn Monroe- sexy, dirty, vampy, campy, dewy and a little bit whorish. Let’s just say it’s impossible to eat without having impure thoughts. Read more

Daffodils symbolize hope, rebirth and new beginnings. I want to share daffodils with everyone reading this because we could all use a little hope in our lives. Many people who I love are enduring various stages of grief.

One lost a father to disease after a long, complicated struggle.

Another is haunted by the death of a friend and fellow soldier. He lives every day not knowing if the latest round of mortars will claim more life (including his own). The world he has experienced for the past few years is one I can intellectualize but barely fathom. He calls it “forced enlightenment.” Read more

Depending on where you grew up, you would answer the question- “what is your favorite comfort food?” differently. In the heartland of the good old US of A you might say a burger and fries. In the land of well-placed neck scarves, the Eiffel tower and baguettes with Bordeaux, you may exclaim- duck confit, oui oui oui! If you were reared with a side of English to go along with your heaping mouthful of French and you went to grammar school with Celine Dion in Quebec, surely you’d mumble- Poutine!- between glorious bites of gravy-and-cheese curd-topped fries. Read more