spud! seattle

Daylight savings time will come to an end this Sunday Nov 1st at 2AM so don't forget to set back all those clocks, watches, and other time tellers in your life. Daylight savings time was extended 1 month starting in 2007 by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The extra month is supposed to have significant energy savings. E...njoy that extra hour of sleep this weekend! If you have family or friends in Europe remember that they already switched last weekend reducing our normal time difference by one hour just this week.(Image by local artist Bill Stanton)Read more

Pomegranates are one of the really old fruits. Native to Iran it was cultivated and spread to other regions in ancient times. It’s kind of up there with dates, figs, grapes and olives in early importance.

Name comes from the Latin “seeded apple”

It’s arguably the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Persephone the dau...ghter of Demeter (goddess of Ag) ate some seeds while nightclubbing in the underworld and was forced to remain. Her mother’s plea bargaining secured her parole but only for part of the year, and hence we have seasons. (consult a mythology text for a more accurate version if you wish.)

Romans believed it to be a form of birth control.

It has figured prominently in Chinese wedding ceremonies to ensure many offspring.

Muhammad liked them so much he advocated their consumption “for it purges the system of hatred and envy.”

The French named their new invention the grenade after the pomegranate. Just imagine the result of throwing one against a wall and you can see why.

Grenada is an island and a country in the Grenadines (French named)

Granada is a capital city and province in Spain (Moorish named)

One of Ganesha’s (East Indian elephantine deity) names translates as “He who is fond of the many-seeded fruit.”

Grenadine, the essential ingredient to a Roy Rogers or Shirley Temple, is made from Pomegranates.

How do you open a pomegranate you ask? There are a few different ways to get the juice. I have heard it advocated that you can roll a whole pomegranate on a flat surface, applying pressure to burst the interior seeds then cutting a whole to drain the juice or insert a straw. My experiments with this have usually proved messy and yielded little juice. Another option is to cut them in half and use a citrus juicer, this is more effective with a press than bowl style juicer. My preferred method is to disassemble the pomegranate separating seeds from the sponge like membrane. The seeds then can be put in a sieve to press for juice, or as I prefer, to put the seeds in a pint glass and go at it with a muddler (wooden billy-club like bar tool) then pour out the juice. Don’t go completely mad with this as you don’t want to crush the internal seed itself as this can result in a bitter taste.

Yes, they have seeds. If eating out of hand your going to either have to spit the seeds out or learn to swallow them, it’s not that bad.

What do you do with a pomegranate? They’re very pretty when added to salads (especially with goat cheese and nuts), or as a garnish to soups. I really like the juice added to orange or tangerine juice, changes the color and flavor nicely. Pomegranate Lemonade is amazing, and let’s not forget their potential in cocktails either. The juice is good (and traditional) as an ingredient in sauces for pork, lamb or fowl.Read more

Yummy Yam Fries.
A delicious treat this time of year that young and old will like.


Ingredients: 2 lg. unpeeled yams; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground coriander; 1/4 tsp pepper; vegetable cooking spray or butter.
Instructions: Scrub potatoes. Cut each into thin (4 x 1/4 x 1/4 inch) strips. Combine oil, c...umin, coriander, and pepper in a large bowl, stir well. Add potatoes and toss well.
Arrange in single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or butter.
Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.
Enjoy.Read more

I just fixed what I thought were sweet potatoes that were in my order at least a week ago, maybe two. They had pinkish purple skin, and light flesh. Much to my surprise, they were absolutely fabulous! My little girls and I decided they were possibly the best potatoes we’ve ever had! Can you possibly tell me what ty...pe they may have been? I no longer have my packing list. Customer Pam F.
Those would be yams of the Jewel variety (we also switch to Garnet for variety but the difference is negligible.). Yams and sweet potatoes are very similiar and are pretty much interchangeable in recipes as long as you remember they're generally sweeter (Yam pies are a good example ). spud Produce guru Jay.Read more