The Columbian

Has there ever been a better way of ending the day? Crispy, chewy Ovaltine cookies taste great

These chocolate chip cookies have a special ingredient — Ovaltine.

September 25, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life

One thing I really enjoyed about our recent trip to England was the variety of fun things to drink, like Ribena blackcurrant syrup and sparkling elderflower flavored water. What really got my taste buds going were hot drink powders like Barleycup, Horlick’s and Ovaltine. Read story

Serious play: Realms Unknown Fantasy Festival returns for a second year in Woodland

Abby Doty, 7, kneels alongside Brandon Bakemaeyer in a knighting ceremony presided over by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, at the 2023 Realms Unknown Fantasy Festival in Woodland. The historical reenactment group will return to this year’s festival, which begins Friday and continues through Sunday.

September 19, 2024, 6:07am Clark County Life

If only there were a place where you could shed your identity for a few days, romp around barefoot in the sunshine and frolic with fairies, unicorns, mermaids, centaurs, pirates, time-travelers and Mary, Queen of Scots. Read story

Wishing for Welsh magic: Baker tries to recapture sweetness of family trip

Welsh cakes are a perfect teatime treat: Light, flaky and with a texture that melts in your mouth like shortbread.

September 18, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life

Our family has just returned from a three-week sojourn in Great Britain, so I’ve got a bit of reality whiplash. One day I woke up in a tiny Welsh village that’s straight out of a fairy tale and then, boom, a dozen hours later I’m going to bed in Washougal.… Read story

Gov. Jay Inslee, from left, talks with Smart Communities Awards recipients Cassi Marshall of the Port of Camas-Washougal, Franklin Johnson of the Commission on Aging and Oliver Orjiako of Clark County Community Planning outside the Clark County Public Service Center on Thursday afternoon.

Inslee bestows Smart Communities Awards on Clark County projects

September 13, 2024, 9:46am Clark County News

A couple of vocal protesters and a sudden downpour couldn’t put a damper on Gov. Jay Inslee’s remarks outside the Clark County Public Service Center on Thursday as he presented three county projects with 2024 Governor’s Smart Communities Awards. Read story

Calls for artists: Singers, muralists and painters sought

September 12, 2024, 5:55am Clark County Life

Clark College is holding open auditions for the Clark College Chorale, Treble Ensemble and Concert Choir. Read story

Thomas Scanlan, the Fish Distribution Program manager, processes a load of fresh surplus chinook salmon. The fish are surplus salmon from Washington hatcheries on the Lewis, Cowlitz, Kalama and Washougal rivers.

‘We have it in our DNA’: Cowlitz Tribe provides free salmon to all members – no matter where they live

August 24, 2024, 6:13am Clark County Life Subscriber Exclusive

For Cowlitz Indian Tribe members, the taste of salmon is the defining flavor of their cultural identity. It’s so entwined with Cowlitz tradition that the tribe created a fish distribution program to ensure that all Cowlitz tribal members, no matter where they live, can get a taste of home in… Read story

Willis Miller of Battle Ground feels the spirit of jazz in summertime during the 2013 Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival in Esther Short Park.

Try This: Vancouver Wine and Jazz fest; ilani’s Barbecue Fest; a trip to Star’s Hollow

August 22, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life

Five things to do this week Read story

Blend cottage cheese with cocoa powder and maple syrup, and you’ve got … a kind of soup. But it’s high in protein and low-ish in fat.

The proof is in the pudding and this cottage cheese pudding proves to be pretty bad

August 21, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life

We’re about to take a long-delayed trip to visit my husband’s parents in Wales. It’s been 14 years since our last visit, mainly because the cost of such a journey overshadowed our ability to fund it. We hoped to go in 2020, but you all know what happened then. Now… Read story

Stories by Monika Spykerman

Columbian staff writer