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Health & Fitness

What's Cooking In (and Around) Gig Harbor

"No matter where we go or what we do, it all comes back to food."

I am a recent transplant to Gig Harbor. Having moved here about a year ago from Shelton, I almost immediately knew that this was the place I wanted to stay for the rest of my life. Due to a rather nomadic childhood, I have lived in many small towns all over Western Washington, although I consider Trout Lake, population 1,103, my home town. So I know a little something about small communities and find this to be the perfect blend of everything I am looking for.

I have 3 children; two boys, ages 22 and 19, and a girl, age 9. Kate is in the 4th grade here in the Harbor. I live with my significant other (life companion? cohabitational partner? boyfriend just seems a little odd for people working on their 5th and 6th decades in life.)  Rick has lived in this area his entire life and owns a pyrotechnics company. His work takes us all over the state and sometimes the country. I bring the kids to as many of the events as possible and together we have done and seen some amazing things that we wouldn’t otherwise.

So this leads me to my passion in life: Food. Fortunately for me, my family shares this and no matter where we go or what we do, it all comes back to food. I was a “foodie” long before it became hip, but its recent popularity has allowed me to come out of the pantry and openly indulge in my longtime obsession.

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I’m not a trained chef, but I have worked in almost every aspect of the food service industry. I consider myself an avid and adventurous home cook, although I love dining out as a way to experience new cuisines. Plus I don’t have to do the dishes!

As a family, we are discovering new things about the Gig Harbor area and getting to know the people, places and most of all, food. This past weekend we dined at a South Sound restaurant that had some incredible clam chowder, visited the new Uptown Farmers Market to find vegetable and herb starts, planted those while basking in the glorious sunshine, attended the Professional Bull Riders Seattle Invitational at Key Arena where Rick was doing the pyro, had some amazing pizza and chop salad after the event, made barbequed beef ribs from a prime rib we served earlier in the week and attended a Chef Dinner in Tacoma (more to come on that in the near future.)

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So please join me in our adventures (and misadventures) in exploring local life and the food scene.

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