Celebrating flavors of the Northwest
We live in a bountiful region, nurtured by rain and soft sunlight, where generous harvests from the land and sea fill our plates. A handsome cookbook from The Junior League of Seattle, "Celebrate the Rain: Cooking with Fresh & Abundant Flavors of the Pacific Northwest" ($31.95) honors these culinary traditions with luscious recipes and visual treats.
This is The Junior League of Seattle's third cookbook, and they've been popular sellers within the community and with visitors to the area. ("Simply Classic," published in 1993, sold 130,000 copies.) All of the profits support the Junior League's community projects, which focus on issues involving women, families and education, and pay for the training of volunteers that make up its membership.
Editor Beth Douglass worked on this latest venture for five years. "We wanted our theme to reflect the fresh and abundant ingredients in the Northwest," she said.
With that theme in hand, Douglass and her team spent a year sifting through some 25,000 recipe submissions, and another two years testing and refining the recipes.
Many of the selections echo our strong cultural ties to the Pacific Rim. "It's interesting," Douglass said. "The Asian influence is so prevalent around here that many of our recipes use those flavors." In contrast, when Douglass was recently browsing through a Junior League cookbook from the Midwest, she didn't find a single recipe with an Asian touch.
The recipes range from appetizers and brunch ideas to side dishes and desserts. Beginning with about 30 recipes per chapter, each chairperson was responsible for coordinating the testing done by other League members, family and friends.
Dishes were rated at informal dinner parties, according to Douglass, "not only for taste, but also for ease of preparation and availability of ingredients." Each recipe was tested and tweaked about three times, and the results are easy to follow and taste delicious. In fact, the dishes we tried in The Seattle Times test kitchen met with rave reviews, particularly the Salmon with Red Currant Glaze. And our testers were wowed by the fluffy cloud of meringue topping the Rhubarb Custard Meringue Dessert.
"Celebrate the Rain" also showcases the region's diversity of artistic talent. Barbara Goodwin McClure, design editor, combed through art fairs and galleries looking for Northwest artists who captured the spirit of the area and natural beauty of our landscape. Striking food photography by Angie Norwood Brown adds to the elegant presentation. (All of the artists donated the use of their work to the project.)
The book's art and design also serves to highlight one of the League's longest running programs, "Northwest Art," which was established in 1960. Their collection features 60 works of art, including pieces from regional masters such as Dale Chihuly, Mark Tobey, Jacob Lawrence and Guy Anderson. Volunteers use this traveling exhibit in classrooms to educate children to develop all of their senses through imaginary exercises.
The Seattle chapter of the Junior League has 300 active and another 12,000 sustaining members. And with around 70 new members a year, the chapter is thriving — and with it the possibility of additional cookbooks in years to come.