Hello from the PNW

[GinnyPNW]

Hello DiscussCooking folks! I'm Ginny and I love cooking and finding new and wonderful recipes and ways to cook. While I'm nearing retirement age, I've been cooking for a long, long time! You see, neither of my parents was much into cooking. Mom said she never learned, since her mother passed when she was just a toddler. Dad was probably the original health nut and preferred to eat huge salads for most meals. And, let me tell you, it wasn't a pretty sight! He had this huge bowl that he would fill with lettuce, greens, tomatoes and an assortment of veggies and then he would top it all with a big scoop of "salad dressing" (mayo) and a can of some kind of beans. Mix it all together & you can imagine the sight. So, at about age 10, I think it was, I asked for a cookbook for Christmas! I received a copy of Betty Crocker's Cookbook, I still have that book, although it started falling apart many years ago. I also have a full library of cookbooks now!

Besides cooking, my life revolves around hubby, our home, our 2 Corgis, hydroponic gardening and camping!! Not necessarily in that order! We moved to the PNW from Southern California in 2011 and absolutely love it! We didn't know where we wanted to live, but we felt that So Cal just wasn't the place we grew up, anymore. So, we sold our home, gave away and donated many of our possessions and filled a couple of Storage Pods with things we couldn't part with. Then, we loaded up our motorhome and headed north. No looking back, best decision we could have made.

I did a www search today, looking for cooking and/or foodie groups. I found a few, most looked pretty inactive or even abandoned. Then I came across Discuss Cooking and thought, wow, this looks interesting! I'm looking forward to exploring, learning and sharing too.

 

[taxlady]

Welcome to Discuss Cooking Ginny. I certainly find DC interesting.

 

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC.

 

[Kathleen]

Welcome to DC!!!!

 

[summer57]

Welcome! I'm also from the West Coast -- Vancouver, BC -- which is probably north of you.

 

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[cjmmytunes]

Hi, Ginny, and welcome to DC! Hope you enjoy it here.

 

[Termy]

I assume PNW means Pacific northwest. WelI for one would like to know about the food there.

Other than that have fun. The rules all boil down to be nice and no cussing.

T

 

[GinnyPNW]

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome! You do seem like a friendly group!

Yes, PNW is the Pacific Northwest. Even when camping, we pretty much stay somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. We just love it here. Although we've had a hot, hot, hot, few weeks, we've got some rain now. We love the rain and the heat is rare. Plus, we usually manage to be out camping when it does come. Not so lucky this year!

As for the food, sigh, I've commented that folks in the PNW are a little too easy to please!? There are few truly good restaurants. Yesterday, we tried a new Mexican place, ugh! Horrible. The waitress could see I wasn't happy and inquired. I told her that it is Mexican food for Gringos! All she said was, sorry.

Shopping for more specialty items can be a challenge too. So, I do a bit of online shopping. It is easier than running all over town and still not finding everything I hoped to find!

Most of our friends tend to be Foodies too. Makes for fun visits and fun camping times too! And lots of fun conversations with other campers too!

Again, thanks for all the welcoming posts!!

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi, Ginny! Welcome to Discuss Cooking [emoji2]

 

[summer57]

I assume PNW means Pacific northwest. WelI for one would like to know about the food there.

Other than that have fun. The rules all boil down to be nice and no cussing.

T

I grew up here in the Pacific Northwest, on the Canadian side. Lots of ocean fish like salmon, halibut, lingcod and seafood, including my favourite spot prawn, and Asian influences in cooking. That's actually a huge simplification, but it's fishing season now, so that's what I've been cooking lately!


Today -- a fish pie. Got a good deal on halibut cheeks.

 

[GinnyPNW]

Oooo, I know about Halibut Cheeks! So jealous!

I'm starting a crock pot recipe for pulled chicken. First time trying this recipe. Fingers crossed!

 

[summer57]

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome! You do seem like a friendly group!
\
As for the food, sigh, I've commented that folks in the PNW are a little too easy to please!? There are few truly good restaurants. Yesterday, we tried a new Mexican place, ugh! Horrible. The waitress could see I wasn't happy and inquired. I told her that it is Mexican food for Gringos! All she said was, sorry.

Shopping for more specialty items can be a challenge too. So, I do a bit of online shopping. It is easier than running all over town and still not finding everything I hoped to find!

There are some excellent, world-class restaurants in Portland, Seattle, and here in Vancouver. Top Chef just finished the latest series in Portland, and the other three cities have been also featured in previous Top Chef series.



Mexican, however, is not what we do best here in Vancouver, BC, and probably not in Seattle, either. However, you can get pretty much anything in the stores here and in Seattle, too, in my experience.

It may not be the same in other parts of the state, though, when you get farther away from the city.

 

[GinnyPNW]

Thank you summer57!

My Vancouver (WA) is greatly lacking in restaurants and cooking supplies. Not that there aren't any, they are not like "big city" stores and places. And, we haven't been to Portland, OR since 2019. Seattle is a good 3-4 hours from us, as we generally only travel that distance by RV.

So, online shopping and learning to make the foods we miss, right here at home works well for me! And hubby too. And, I've got a pretty good rep as a decent cook! When we left So Cal, I really ramped it up to learn to make all the things we don't have here...it works for us.

Our next trip will be Tri-Cities and then up to Post Falls, Idaho, then back to Tri-Cities for a big dog show. There will be a few interesting shops, taps stores and restaurants. Enough to hold us over until the next trip!

 

[summer57]

Portland's not that far from you? Might be worth a trip!! I was so impressed with the restaurant scene there.

 

[GinnyPNW]

We've lost many of the better ones. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

 

[Vinylhanger]

Most of us avoid Portland like the varitable plague it is.

 

[Termy]

Thing is, what places are open ? Do they have functional KFC ? (sign of life) I would call ahead.

I am not going to elaborate on what Vinylhanger said. Last time it got pulled. Far as I know you can carry a gun there. Nuff said.

Thinking about this and all that is gone, that which is left should be worth it. Thing is I forsee going through phone books. I would go for the big ads first. A bigger place the better to absorb the strife there.

Actually I would like to know is how are the lobster and shrimp/prawns up there.

We get most shrimp and lobster from the Alantic. There was a thing now. Restaurants selling Canadian lobster when they advertised Maine lobster.

It is not that big an issue but...

So up in the pNw I bet they got some great lobster and prawns.

I'd like to order some.

T

 

[summer57]

Thing is, what places are open ? Do they have functional KFC ? (sign of life) I would call ahead.

Actually I would like to know is how are the lobster and shrimp/prawns up there.

We get most shrimp and lobster from the Atlantic. There was a thing now. Restaurants selling Canadian lobster when they advertised Maine lobster.


So up in the pNw I bet they got some great lobster and prawns.

I'd like to order some.

T

Restaurants in my area -- Vancouver, BC, Canada -- have been open for months. We have a high vaccination rate, 80% at the moment.

We don't have local lobster, but we have crab, spot prawns, pacific salmon, halibut, sablefish. shellfish etc. etc.

You cannot bring guns into Canada, and we don't carry guns. Marijuana, though, is legal in BC lol.

Washington and Oregon are also part of the PNW, Simiar seafood.

 

[taxlady]

How would you even tell a Maine lobster from a Canadian lobster? Do you think they would look or taste different?

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