Sipping Chocolate Fits to a Tea
Evolve’s Chaicolate good for Easter, Mother’s Day The first rule of comparing sipping chocolate to hot chocolate is…don’t. “It’s incomparable to…
Local Mill Welcomes New Management | Fairhaven Mill
Fairhaven Mill recently welcomed Philip Fraley as the new general manager. The Mill has been an active, organic mill since 1974, serving businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest. Fraley has an extensive background in product management…
Farmhouse Haven
As a vacation home for mostly weekend visits, this house not only looks but feels the part. Homeowners live about an…
Gooseberry Point
It started like so many remodeling projects do, with just a kitchen replacement. Then, like that piece of cake you keep evening out in the pan, it grew, morphing into a renovation of the entire house. The owners, new empty-nesters, wanted an open floor plan and effortless transitions between the outdoors and inside. Floor-to-ceiling windows accomplish that, with architect Regan McClellan making the most of sweeping views of 110 feet of waterfront…
Shelter Bay
Annual visitors to La Conner were in no rush to complete the remodel of this high-bluff waterfront home in Shelter Bay, mulling and tweaking designs on each summer visit over the course of a decade. Dan Nelson of Designs Northwest…
Simply Fabulous Greenfab Prefab
Greenfab is a Seattle-based developer of modern, sustainable, prefabricated homes. In 2010, it made news for installing Washington State’s first prefab, modular home to earn LEED Platinum certification. Since then, it has built affordable, energy efficient, and beautiful single and…
Clean and Clear
Laundry Rooms are the Home’s Hidden Hub It’s the forgotten room of the house: the laundry room. At the bottom of creaky stairs in a spooky basement, part of the mudroom or tucked in a…
Lake Samish Garden Remodel
While our Salish Sea coastline gets a lot of deserved attention here, our freshwater lakes are the jewels of Bellingham’s…
Eat, Drink & Entertain
Kitchen Renovation This 1960s-built home hadn’t had a remodel since the 80s, so it was ready for a facelift. My clients enjoy family, cooking, entertaining and sports—not necessarily in that order. During our first consult, we discussed their desire to redesign…
It’s in the Details
When you walk into someone’s house for the first time, what do you notice? Bookshelves? A great backsplash? The way the cabinets complement the room? Detail work or “finish” work is often where homeowners provide their creative…
Repeal and Replace
Ken offers suggestions for Trumpcare Is it just me or does anyone else question whether the federal government is serious about health care, public safety, and balancing the budget? Ask any household on a…
Wine Festivals Set for State, Vancouver
One of the many great things about living in Bellingham and the Whatcom County area is the “small-town feel” the region carries despite its close proximity to two major metropolitan areas. With…
Aged Filet Mignon with Rogue River Blue and Bordeaux Demi-Glace – 13moons
INGREDIENTS: • 7 oz filet mignon (USDA prime, aged, center cut) • 1 oz Rogue River blue cheese • 2 oz Bordeaux demi-glace • 1 ea. orange zest • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil • ½ ea. shallot (minced) • 2 ea. garlic (sliced • 3…
Truffle Dungeness Crab Mac and Cheese – 13moons
INGREDIENTS: • 2 oz fresh Dungeness crab meat • 4 oz macaroni pasta • 6 oz heavy cream • 1 oz parmesan cheese • 1 oz Stilton cheese • 1 oz crimini mushrooms • 1 ea. shallots (minced)…
Meet the Chef – 13moons Restaurant at Swinomish Casino and Lodge
On February 9, guests braved the slushy roads to attend our Meet the Chef event. Held in the test kitchen of Mount Vernon’s Judd & Black, we nibbled, sipped, and learned a thing or two about choosing the ideal steak and why chocolate needs to be melted in a double boiler. Chef Dan Van Norman of 13moons from the…
Small Plates, Big Taste, New Place
Galloway’s Cocktail Bar Galloway’s Cocktail Bar has taken over the space Daphne’s once held in Fairhaven, across from the village green. The new bar has retained much of Daphne’s old-fashioned feel but without the feminine vibe. The small space is dark and romantic with intimate booths perfect for a date…
New Bonefish Grill
Tasty Break for Shoppers, Travelers on I-5 Drive As the upscale, fish-scale version of popular partner Outback Steakhouse, the Bonefish Grill is well-positioned to meet the appetites of shop- and traffic-weary consumers along the Marysville-Smokey Point retail corridor on…
Portage Creek Wildlife Area
Enter a land that is in the process of returning to its primeval origins. The former dairy farm is now grassland, and the peat mine is gone. Portage Creek Wildlife Area is gradually reverting to wetlands wilderness after years of commercial use. Even the foot trails are disappearing. What is emerging is a habitat for migrating birds, deer and other small mammals, reptilian creatures,…
Eating in Season
Local Food Boxes make for a Healthy You and a Healthy Community When spring comes in northwest Washington, there seems to be a communal sigh exhaled across the land. More rain ahead, yes, but the occasional sunny and almost-warm day gives us the glimmer of hope to keep…
The Buzz About Barre
As a young child I loved ballet and dreamed about becoming a ballerina. Fast forward to adulthood, and I have found the next best thing. It’s called the Booty Barre® method. I was so inspired by this workout that I went from being a student to a certified instructor. Booty Barre was created by fitness expert Tracey Mallet in 2009. It has grown from a hot trend available…
A Gallery for Regional Art Eye-Candy
THE SHOP When Katherine Khile bought the Scott Milo Gallery in 1994, it served the community as a framing shop. They still offer framing services, but the space has grown into much more. The cozy gallery is divided with wall sectionals,…
Spring Break Travel Essentials
In just two days, I’ll be headed out of town, taking the redeye to New York City. In between sitting down to write this article and penning the last of my emails, I’ve been frantically running around trying to pack and figure how I’m going to fit my entire bathroom cupboard into my carry-on. I’ve never been a…
Sugarfina
Sugarfina is a luxe candy store that caters to adults with a taste for the finer things in life. It recently launched a boutique inside Nordstrom’s Seattle flagship store. Sugarfina’s candy is packaged in beautiful, brightly colored boxes and ribbons, which makes for a tasty treat that’s easy on the eyes. Unlike other candy retailers, Sugarfina focuses on high quality ingredients. With flavors like Pale Ale…
Fairhaven Rug Gallery
Arshia Fathali sat at his desk with Oliver, his 11-year-old canine friend, on his lap. Hand-woven rugs decorate the walls, cover the floors, and even the surface of his desk. It is no wonder that Fathali calls his space a gallery. The Fairhaven Rug Gallery is located at 901 Harris Ave. and was opened by Fathali in 2004. Today, he estimates that he has about 5,000 rugs in the warehouselike gallery. Originally from Iran, Fathali moved to Vancouver, B.C. when…
Garden Prep 101
Tips for early spring One of the best things about warmer weather is vibrant, lush flowers and bountiful vegetable gardens….
Spotlight Writer: Holly Barbo
We all have our ways of escape, whether it is in a guilt-inducing TV show, a long jog, or maybe a glass of wine. For artist and author Holly Barbo it is…
See Skagit Valley Painted Yellow
La Conner Daffodil Festival Did you know there are more daffodils than tulips in Skagit Valley? The Roozengaarde fields alone feature 450 acres of daffodils and 350 acres of tulips. These yellow beauties are a sight to see against a backdrop of deep green-blue rolling hills. In celebration of the flower, equally stunning but less famous than its later-blooming cousin, the tulip, La Conner hosts a Daffodil Festival to welcome the year’s…
White Chocolate Mousse – 13moons
INGREDIENTS: 20 oz white chocolate chips 2 cup heavy cream 2 Tbsp granulated sugar 10 oz fresh cherries, pitted 1 cup sugar 1 cup water 1/3 cup brandy Shaved dark chocolate asdfads DIRECTIONS: Place white chocolate into a double…
Staging a New Scene
Bellingham Theatre Guild The Bellingham Theatre Guild celebrated a scene change of sorts with a gala to mark the completion of its $1 million renovation in mid-January. The guild is entirely staffed by volunteers, many of…
Delivering the Goods to Your Home
Diet-to-Go, ACME Farms and Kitchen, Salt Pepper & Oil It is no secret that current Americans tend to overload their days with endless “to-do lists.” Whether it’s putting in that extra hour at the office, taking the kids from one…
Wonder Woman – Barb Macklow
Bellingham’s Barb Macklow is not your average 82-year-old. She likes to go the distance. Macklow, a runner with a national reputation—she has been featured in Trail Runner and Runner’s World magazines—finished every race but one last year: a 100-miler. She ran 100 miles before, but in a different decade. In her 70s, Macklow ran both the Umstead Ultra 100 in North Carolina and the JFK 50 Mile…
8 Great Tastes | March
Ten Good Places to Watch March Madness
Sure, you could watch the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments from the comfort of your own sofa, but what’s the fun in screaming your fool head off in a quiet house? Go find your tribe – or at least some good pub fare – as you cheer on (or against) teams in the best college sporting event around. The men go from March 14-April 3. The women, with last year’s…
Designing on the Human Scale
By age 10, Sharon Robinson already knew her career path. After discovering her mother’s Good Housekeeping magazines, she decided to design houses. She grew up in Akron, Ohio, earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural history from Syracuse University and later, her master’s in architecture from the University of Wisconsin. In 1991, after a friend…