September 2014

by Chef Jeremy Mclachlan

Tuna used to be la crème de la crème in the U.S. for decades as a meaty and flavor-packed fish. It was the No. 1 seafood consumed here in America, and canned tuna was an amazing vehicle for protein supplementation before the rise of super supplements. You can store a can of tuna for over a month! It's easy to see why it lasted so long at the top of the charts.

As my fellow blogger Kathy Kingen says, "Tuna is a brilliant fish with a great nutritious repertoire ... it has been a staple of low-calorie dieters everywhere (read more)." A few years ago, its popularity was overtaken by the pond dwellers known as shrimp or prawns. Tuna is still my favorite and I consume more than most people.

Here are my two classic recipe favorites, from Skid Row to Ritz.

Kombucha: elixir of the gods or strange vinegar flavored drink with gelatinous goop floating at the bottom?

Most people that have tried the beverage either love it or hate it. Lovers of the health juice have claimed a slight euphoric feeling it imparts, along with claims of it being a remedy for a litany of conditions. Still, others can’t get past the material floating inside and the slight vinegar flavor.
So what is kombucha?

Kombucha is a modern drink with roots dating back 2,000 years in Russia and China. The ingredients used are tea, sugar, water, and a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). A SCOBY resembles a mushroom-like, gelatinous structure; it is actually made of cellulose, which the bacteria get from the tea and sugar. The SCOBY is essential to making kombucha, which can be considered a fermented tea that contains a small amount of alcohol and as much caffeine as a cup of green tea.

But there is so much more to it.

The yeasts in the SCOBY feed off the sugars and create alcohol and the bacteria feed off the alcohol to create acetic acid and the important component that distinguishes kombucha from vinegar: gluconic acid.

$300 taken from the till; inside job suspected

On August 17 officers responded to a burglary at a business residing on the 1700 block of Northwest Market Street. The business owner told officers that he had locked the front and back door before leaving the night before. He returned later that evening to retrieve his laptop, entering and exiting through the back door. The next morning the complainant told officers that $300 in cash had been taken from the cash register. The key to the till was kept in a drawer below the till and it had been moved. Officers inspected the doorways and there was no sign of forced entry. Nothing else was reported stolen. Officers did not recover fingerprints or security footage.

Screen cutter at it again

What does it say about you when an entire class of 8th graders gives you a standing ovation? It says you understand how to reach the hearts and minds (and in this case the tastebuds) of young people. That's what happened last year to Doree Fazio Young Head Cook and Assistant Kitchen Manager at Denny International Middle School.

Young and her boss, Sue Trainer Kitchen Manager, and their assistant Ardeen Tensen were awarded Kitchen of the Year by the Seattle School District last week. They were given the award for the number of lunches they serve, the marketing to students they do, and how well they meet goals established by the district.

They now serve 530 lunches a day thanks, Trainer said to the marketing done by Young and Tensen. They don't cook there on site as they did years ago. Now all food is prepared in a central kitchen and brought to the school to be heated and served. So, marketing matters.

By Peggy Sturdivant

Ballard Avenue. What can I say? Once upon a time there were bars and brothels, then artists, industry and music. Then came the period described by The New York Times as, “a magic moment of coexistence” between industrial and retail. Ah, to be back in 2007.

Welcome to 2014. The vacant lot that has been used by the Ballard Farmer’s Market on Sunday will soon be the construction site of a mixed-use three to four-story building. The Ballard Inn proposes to add a partial third floor. Ballard Avenue is going “up,” in height, and rents.

With windows that opened onto the vacant lot Drygoods Design owner Keli Faw knew that she was going to have to find a new space for her business, rather than be part of the next two years of construction. Located in a step-up space behind the Anchored Ship Coffee Bar at 5306 Ballard Avenue NW, Faw also wanted something else for her business: her own front door.

Dear Editor,

I admit, I used to be one of those local homeowners who blindly welcomed the wave of new housing development in Ballard. I had been a fast supporter of vertical housing, density and the growth of urban villages. I could see that I was directly benefitting, because with the new development also came welcomed changes like new restaurants and retail shops filled with the buzz of new life and energy--things that Ballard had been missing for decades. But to tell the whole story, my bias was formed after nearly a decade of living next door to a neighbor who let their house go derelict. I thought almost anything would be better for the value of our house other than a neighbor whose house looked like it was caving in on itself. And that became my narrative about all the change happening in Ballard. I scoffed at those who were trying to steer change because, ultimately it didn’t look like they were having much impact anyway, until it happened in my own backyard. Yes, I admit I became a NIMBY.



By Pat Cashman

I just mailed out the last of my Labor Day cards yesterday. If Hallmark sells Labor Day cards, I’ve never seen them---so this was a job I had to myself. It was hard work, but isn’t that point of a Labor Day card?

A friend helped me do the artwork and the printing, but the wordsmithing was mine:

To an exotic dancer: “Happy Labor Day! Work it, girl!”

To a mom: “Thanks for having 13 hours of it following 9 months of pregnancy!”

To Mrs. Olson, a grade school spelling teacher: “Happy Layber Day!” That ought to drive her sufficiently nuts.

While Labor Day has been a big deal holiday in this country for well over a hundred years, it doesn’t seem altogether inclusive because it leaves a lot of people out. I mean, while the idea of the Labor Day weekend is to honor working people, what about everyone else?

Shouldn’t there also be “Indolence Day”---a holiday saluting the idle, listless and slothful who live here too? Like newspaper columnists, for example.

By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD

The newest plant in my garden is inspiring me to try lots of fun recipes. Called zisu by my Chinese neighbor, shiso by a Japanese-American friend, hangul by Koreans, this basil-like herb is known as perilla in English. I don’t care what you call it. I will trade any rose in my garden for shiso because, unlike the rose, it is the basis for wonderful recipes!

Perilla doesn’t seem to need much sun and heat to grow, so it may be a good basil substitute in years when we don’t get much summer sun. Perilla comes in two colors, red and green, and they taste quite different. Green shiso is often described as cinnamon-flavored. I think it is quite citrusy, with complex background mint flavors. Red shiso is more anise-like, but still with a citrusy kick.

With an herb this flavorful and easy to grow, you’ll have fun finding ways to add its fresh herbal, salt-free flavor to your cooking repertoire. Plus, you’ll use less unhealthy salt while adding a new flavor dimension that your family and friends will love.

Members of the Seattle Fire Fighters Union, Local 27 along with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, will celebrate their 60-year partnership and kick off the fire fighters' annual Fill the Boot fundraising campaign to benefit children and adults affected by muscle disease throughout the Seattle area.

Almost 1,000 members of the Seattle Fire Fighters Union, Local 27 will fan out across the city with boots in hand for this year’s drive on September 18th & 19th. Core hours for the event will be from 1 PM to 6 PM, at various intersections around the city.

There will be a media kick-off at 9AM on September 18th in front of the Ballard Fire Station at 1521 NW Market St.

Senior Services and their seven affiliated Senior Centers are celebrating National Senior Center Month in September 2014. National Senior Center Month, celebrated every September, is coordinated by the National Council on Aging’s National Institute of Senior Centers. This year’s theme is Senior Centers: Experts at Living Well.

King County Executive Dow Constantine and Mayor Ed Murray have each issued a proclamation officially naming September as National Senior Center Month in King County and the City of Seattle. On September 8, the Kenmore City Council will also issue a proclamation.

Senior centers are lively hubs of activity that connect older adults and their families to their communities. Members take classes to keep fit, share meals and socialize. With activities like Rainbow and Karaoke Bingo, community dinners, card games, billiards, exercise classes, arts and crafts, and birthday and holiday celebrations, there is something for everyone at today’s senior center.

Senior Services affiliate senior centers include:
· Ballard NW Senior Center, Seattle

www.ballardseniorcenter.org
· Central Area Senior Center, Seattle