The return of salmon is a celebration not only for fishermen and women, but for an entire ecosystem. As young salmon hatch in rivers, they feed birds and larger fish. Returning from the ocean to the streams where they were born, they are pursued by orcas, sea lions, eagles, and bears. Once home, females lay their eggs while multiple males release milt upstream, allowing the current to carry sperm over the eggs. This strategy helps maintain the remarkable genetic diversity of

Photo by Marla Aufmuth For Forage. Gather. Feast. Appetizer for Small Group This dish is pure springtime -it’s fire and regeneration in one dish. Savory and bright green and creamy with a bit of acid and a reminder that the world is a wonderful place and springtime is more than a state of mind - it’s a sensory delight promising good things to come. 2 cups Morels, (if dried, soak in hot water until soft) Sliced in half or quarters if large. 1 bunch asparagus, blanched and sh

"Happy May Day To You All!” I’m wrote this from Ireland in a small wooden shack overlooking the harbor of Kinsale Harbour, a tidal estuary that opens into the Celtic Sea, on the cusp of Beltane—or May Day. This is the season when special bonfires were once kindled across the Irish landscape, their flames, smoke, and ashes believed to offer protection. People and cattle would circle the fires, pass between twin flames, even leap over embers, participating in a ritual that mark

I grew up in a large Irish-Catholic family in the American Midwest, where boiled potatoes were our culinary anchor and butter or ketchup the sole, beloved seasonings. Our annual celebration of heritage was corned beef and cabbage — carried across the Atlantic by ancestors who left Ireland under duress. So when I invited friends over for St. Patrick’s Day last year, I made the popular staples, but was at a loss when people asked what they could bring. “Bruised turnips?” I sug