Notes From Heather: Confessions of an Inconsistent Cook

As it turns out, the way to a man’s heart is not always through his stomach. If this were the case, I would probably still be a single woman. Very, very single.

I’d like to think it’s not so much that I’m a bad cook, just easily distracted. There are just so many interesting things to do besides stirring cheese sauce — just about anything, really.

When I recently asked my husband what he thought about my cooking, he looked at me with wide, wary eyes — the same look he gives when asked if a pair of jeans makes me look fat — and responded, “Well, I don’t really care for your experiments.”

I didn’t question him directly, but my husband could have been referring to any number of my culinary “adventures” before he very sweetly took over dinner preparation.

To say the least, cooking is not my strong point.

Thankfully, and I say this for everyone involved, we have always lived where there have been fine cuisine options. And Yakima is no exception.

In fact, when we reached Yakima magazine’s Food and Wine edition, one of the greatest challenges we faced was how to choose just one feature story. So we did what anyone in our situation would have done. We crammed in as much as we possibly could.

What we came up with is a collection of chef profiles — the masterminds behind some of the food we’ve come to love — from five local restaurants with very different culinary styles. Our hope is for readers to gain some insight into the talented people behind the kitchen doors.

In addition, you’ll find stories about starting your own vegetable garden, Valley picnic locales, a culinary program in our own backyard and plenty more to pique reader interest — and maybe your appetites.

We’ve also been hard at work on our Web site, yakimamagazine.com. We’re trying out a few new features, including the addition of local bloggers and a live feed to our Facebook site, as well as some “online exclusive” stories. Be sure to stop by and tell us what you think about the changes. We love to hear your feedback, so keep it coming.

We hope you enjoy the Food and Wine edition of Yakima magazine as much as we have had bringing it to you.

Cheers,

Heather Caro

Writer, Yakima Magazine