Ballard - Features

By Amanda Knox

The first dance lessons I ever took were swing dance lessons in middle school. At the time, Explorer West was still a tiny, start-up, independent middle school that rented out the caboose-end of the then Westside Elementary…MORE

By Peggy Sturdivant This is an open letter to all of my friends and communities in Ballard, the writers, artists, teachers, parents, children, readers, gardeners, dog-walkers, cat-lovers, okay, everybody. Come out and play on Friday, September 18…MORE

Blues. Jazz. Rock. Folk. These styles of music and most others all share a common resonance: bass.

The bass has taken many appearances – from the Wash Tub Bass (American) to the "Babatoni" (South Africa) – through history, but one form…MORE

By Peggy Sturdivant

I met Penelope on what was to be her due date but was instead her three-week birthday. I met her because of a piano, but that’s the end of the story, not the beginning.

For me it began by renting a piano for a…MORE

By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD

The wonderful thing about camp cooking is that food simply tastes better outdoors. It’s true! After a long day of paddling around the San Juan Islands, there’s nothing like the taste of a hot, hearty meal cooked…MORE

Two brothers living in Ballard have started the first African-American winery in the state.

Their label, Carter-Lamour, takes its name from the middle names of the Dreux and Dain Dillingham. Between the two of them, they have almost 15…MORE

By Peggy Sturdivant

This week I learned that even if you’ve never heard a coyote kill a cat before, you know it when you hear it. Although I like to think of myself as eager to learn every day, there will always be things that I wish I’d…MORE

Cooking over an open wood fire may be a once in a while activity for most Westerners, but for almost half of the world population, cooking over an open wood-fueled flame is a daily task, and the practice has serious health, social and…MORE

By Peggy Sturdivant

“I hope your birthday wish was for a rain,” a friend wrote to me. That is exactly the wish I made on what would total 55 candles, on the birthday I’ve been told to call double nickels.

As someone who has never…MORE

By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD

One of my favorite parts of summer is the 10-day kayak trek I do through the San Juan Islands with my husband and about a dozen Boy Scouts. That’s 30 meals to plan, shop for, pack into kayaks, cook in the wild and…MORE