Carol Blonder Preparing salmon for sushi ​So, it’s Valentine’s night in a Missouri college town. At a local sushi restaurant, the chef walks out on his job. The tall blonde waitress convinces the Chinese owner to train her to take over. Sounds like the set up for a politically incorrect joke,…

Salsa fundamentals=tomatoes, peppers (hot or not), onion, garlic, salt and lime juice. We love it to drape, drizzle or dip. The mood and the accompanying food encourage enhancements to salsa fundamentals. This time it was a little sweet (the mango), and a little heat (chipotle and adobo). The avocado snuck…

One can never have enough Thin Mints. At least that’s what we thought until Managing Editor Amy Silverman brought in a dozen unsold boxes to a recent Chow Bella meeting. If one must make lemonade when life hands one lemons, we theorized one must make desert when life hands one…

Standing on a hand paved brick patio, vines climbing a wrought iron trellis, a moonlight sky, inhaling the scent from the wood fired oven, it was hard to believe we were in north Phoenix rather than northern Italy. It was Backyard Pizza Night at Jason Raducha’s. Professionally, Jason wears a…

He’s a salmon fisherman who raises cattle on the side, and — lucky us — Kenny Ashbacher has now gotten into honey. Aschbacher is a commercial salmon fisherman, interested in sustainability. He also raises grass fed beef on his family land in New Mexico. Interested in a healthy alternative to refined sugar for…