Welcome to The Copper Table: Slow Food for a Fast World.
I’m so glad you’re here! If you are hoping to find out more about the recipes on this site and its creator, this is the best place to start!
This blog is about using Farmers Market and CSA box produce, cooking in season, and making as many things as possible from scratch without taking all day in the kitchen. Great food isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time!
My Cooking Philosophy
It is my mission not only to help you cook fresh, but to have fun in the kitchen! The question “What’s for dinner?” should not be a stressor, but a place of solace.
What do I mean by Slow Food? Using what is local to you as much as possible, avoiding processed foods, and letting your eating flow with the seasons. Even in the fast pace of life today, I believe it is still possible to do all of these things and I’m going to show you how!
Home Cooking With Fresh Ingredients
improve your cooking skills and utilize farmers market and csa items
I live on a small island that is part of the Skagit Valley in Washington State. Around here, we like to call it the “Magic Skagit”. I grew up on Whidbey Island, the neighboring island to the south of my current home. This whole area is very agricultural, and I love to utilize what is produced here in the Skagit Valley, as well as what is grown on Whidbey Island in the recipes you find on the blog, and in my regular everyday home cooking.
We are surrounded by farms of varying size that grow many types of fresh produce, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and we even have a couple of local flour mills.
I love using these products in my recipes! Not only am I supporting small businesses, but I know what is in everything I eat, and I know the people who grew it and I want to help you do the same! The recipes on this site are for anyone looking to utilize more fresh local ingredients, no matter where you might live.
For many years, I have wandered the local farmers markets and roadside honesty stands in my area, always looking for new ways to use what I find and share them with you. I also grow some of my own fruits and veggies!
I even spent two seasons helping out at a small local organic farm near my home weeding, harvesting, and tending to many varieties of organic produce. This experience has helped hone my skills cooking great seasonal food with real ingredients, as well as becoming familiar with how fruits and vegetables grow.
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Behind the recipes
How The Copper Table Got its Start
Mine and my husband’s family heritage has been an inspiration as well as a wealth of knowledge when it comes to recipe development.
My grandmother was raised on a small farm in rural Tennessee during the Great Depression. She taught me so much about fresh homemade cooking and growing food (as well as using what you’ve got and not being wasteful) and I use this experience in developing every recipe you find here. Her guidance taught me everything from soup to biscuits!
My husband is Italian American, and his family is from the Puglia region of Italy. Before they came to the United States, they were cheesemakers. You will find several Italian recipes on the site as well, including Pesto di Basilico, Panzanella Toscana, and Burrata Caprese using fresh ingredients from the farm and garden just the way they do in Italy.
We are a busy family with weeks full of sports, activities, and hobbies. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up! With all of that going on, it can be difficult to put a decent meal on the table and calling for takeout can feel less stressful than cooking.
I wanted to avoid that trap, and I decided to find ways to eat more fresh foods that are less processed, as well as homemade dishes to keep me and my family going without spending a lot of time in the kitchen on days that I am really busy.
If you can relate, then I hope these recipes are helpful! Eating well in spite of life’s daily demands is something I am really passionate about, and I enjoy helping other people find ways to eat well!
How The Copper Table Can Help You
Cooking with the seasons and minimizing processed foods
Do any of these sound like you?
- Do you doubt your skills when it comes to finding creative uses for fresh ingredients?
- Have you felt disappointed when your fresh produce goes bad before you can use it?
- Are you looking for ways to confidently use unfamiliar ingredients found at the Farmers Market?
- Does your CSA share overwhelm you at times?
- Would you like to make more staples such as sauces and other condiments from scratch rather than buy them?
- Are there moments when cooking from scratch feels impossible because you are pressed for time?
I am here to help! If anything you’re reading here resonates with you, then I want you to know you have found your home!
It is my goal to use my experiences and know-how to help you with ideas for Farmers Market produce, your own garden, whatever you might find in your CSA box, and cooking from scratch.
The recipes on this site are also great for anyone looking to cook with more fresh foods in general, you are not just limited to what you may find at a Farmers Market.
There are a lot of great ingredients at local grocery stores as well, and the recipes here will help you use those too! When the Farmers Markets and honesty stands are closed for the Winter and there are no CSA shares, I buy produce and other items at my local grocery store when needed.
I’ll not only show you some great tricks for homemade sauces, curry pastes, and salad dressings to turn up the volume on your cooking, but I will share with you tips to use your local farmers market, garden grown, local grocery store, or CSA products to create fresh, real dishes that change with the season, all while minimizing processed ingredients and cooking from scratch.
Also, you know exactly what’s in everything you eat!
Don’t just take my word for it! Check out these comments from readers about recipes on the site!
“I love this recipe. Thank you! Gonna do the lemon cucumbers next with a pear champagne vinegar and fresh sweet basil from my garden. I’m so glad I found you.”
“lovely cake! the dark cocoa and bittersweet chocolate go so well with the berries, and the hints of nutmeg and cardamom in the puree are just what it needs! thank you so much for sharing!! it made our daughters birthday extra special”
“So tasty! I love lemons, lavender and blueberries, so I have all 3 growing in my garden! This was a perfect refreshing drink for summer that wasn’t the boring usual lemonade!”
I have even had a restaurant called Vinoma Tapas use one of my recipes for the produce they grow in their garden!
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If you want to:
- eat more fresh produce
- expand your home cooking skills
- cook fresher, healthier meals with an occasional indulgence thrown in
- avoid takeout with easy dinner ideas
- cook in season
- know what to do with all that produce at the Farmers Market or local grocery store
- learn more ways to utilize your CSA box
THEN YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!
How To Use This Site
finding the recipes you need
Eating fresh isn’t hard, and I have so many great ideas and tutorials to help you eat better, while doing so in a way that doesn’t feel like you are cutting out everything that tastes good. This means variety and less boredom when eating and cooking. Who wants to eat a bunch of boring food? I sure don’t!
Recipes are categorized by course to make them easy to find, along with sections that have recipes for scratch cooking, seasonal cooking, and recipes for fresh produce.
Recipes By Course- There are many easy soups along with scrumptious desserts and baked goods that family and friends will ask you to make over and over again. Do you love a good breakfast? So do I, and I have many simple homemade recipes to start your morning off right!
If Main Dishes or Side Dishes are what you need, there are some wonderful options to choose from. Having a party? Head on over to Appetizers and Drinks for your entertaining needs!
Seasonal Cooking– I think one of the best ways to enjoy great food is to cook and eat with the seasons. You’ll find a good variety of recipes for each season of the year to help you make wonderful meals all year long.
Cook From Scratch- In my time on this cooking journey, I have found that one of the best places to start making more things from scratch is to make your own spice blends for recipes as well as sauces! For examples of this in action, check out my Homemade Green Curry or One Pot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. Pantry staples such as Creme Fraiche and Condensed Milk are surprisingly easy to do in your own kitchen, and so are things like buttermilk biscuits. I’ll help you every step of the way to make many items yourself that you have bought pre-made for years.
Recipes For Fresh Produce- I have a whole Fresh Produce category on the site with plenty of recipes to help you create great dishes with fresh fruits and veggies. For some fabulous ideas with fresh produce, try my Easy Lemon Cucumber Pickles, Pear and Parmesan Salad, or Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies.
Of course you need main dishes to pair with all this great produce right? I have you covered there too! With dishes such as Beer Braised Short Ribs and Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni, there are many options to choose from that are homemade and use a minimum of processed ingredients that will help you learn along the way that home cooking is not intimidating.
Looking for serving ideas, or how to pair recipes together for that perfect spread? Then be sure to check out Farm to Table Menus for collections of recipes to help you plan a gathering or holiday meal.
You can also go the recipe index, where you can see all the blog has to offer!
Easy Dinners
takeout convenience at home
We all get busy, and that’s why I have a whole category of recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners, for those hectic days when you need something fresh fast and don’t want takeout. I am a busy sports Mom who is pulled in multiple directions each week. Trust me when I say that I often don’t have much time to make dinner. The recipes in this section have gotten me through my share of busy weeks, and I hope they help you too!
If you need something easy the whole family will love, you’ll find it here. With meals such as Gnocchi Bolognese, Cauliflower Sweet Potato Tacos, and Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls, you won’t need to hit a drive thru!
About me
Hello, I’m Amy!
I am the creator and recipe developer here at The Copper Table. I live on a small island in the Pacific Northwest and I am very fortunate to live in such a wonderful place! We have beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, and everything in between.
I am a very outdoorsy person! If I am not in the kitchen, you are sure to find me at the beach looking for shells or hiking in the woods. I think time in nature is overlooked as a way to alleviate stress, and it also helps us slow down and appreciate what is around us.
I love wandering our local farmers market during market season and spending time with my family on all sorts of adventures, from riding the ferry to neighboring islands to symphony concerts to pumpkin patches to berry picking and all things in between, we really try to live life to the fullest!
When the season is right, I have a small garden in my yard that brings me a lot of joy (along with some herbs and veggies used on the blog). When I am not doing any of those things, I am probably running someone to a sports practice.
I love picnics (you’ll find a few picnic perfect dishes on the site) and alfresco dining is something I really enjoy. I am an avid reader who likes strong dark coffee and foggy days. When I get the chance to watch TV (which isn’t often), I love British Bake Off!
When I am not developing recipes for the website, I am a Food Service Professional who cooks hundreds of meals a day. I am a certified Food Protection Manager through the National Restaurant Association, which means that I have received additional training in food safety.
I also love expanding my knowledge base and learning new things that I can share here with my audience! I have taken many classes, including Cheesemaking and Hog Butchery. I really enjoy applying new skills to the recipes I develop for the site!
In 2023, I served on the Planning Committee and helped cook the dinner served at Cook For A Cause, a yearly fundraising event for the Coupeville Farm To School Program which grows the produce served to the students of the entire school district! Programs like this are vital in helping kids learn where food comes from!
I have always loved food and cooking. In 2019 when the opportunity to take my passion for food and love of writing and turn them into a blog came along, I couldn’t pass up the chance!
Where else can you find me? I have had two recipes published in the second edition of The Salad Gazette, published by The Devil Wears Salad. If you’d like a copy, you can sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get one right to your inbox.
I have also been interviewed on the Cook Local Eat Local podcast with David at Cooking Chat. His podcast is all about cooking and eating local food, which is something I am very passionate about.
Fun Facts About Me
I’d rather be
outdoors
Listening to
crashing waves
grateful for
my family
Favorite place
the beach
my weekends
sports & family
favorite food
italian
It is my wish to create an online community here at The Copper Table where you and others can find easy and delicious in season recipes made with real and minimally processed ingredients. You can also connect with the blog on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to see what’s happening on our social media channels.
I hope you love the recipes you find here! If you’d like all the latest updates, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter. Be well and Happy Cooking!
