Stories by Monika Spykerman

Columbian staff writer

(360) 735-4556

Monika.Spykerman@columbian.com

Gloria Titus of Vancouver has been making Gold Cake for more than 50 years.

This Mother’s Day, Give Them Gold

May 10, 2023, 6:01am Clark County Life

What do you do when you’re a young mother who leaves everything to move across the country and start again in a new city? Well, you make cake, of course. Read story

Maestro Salvador Brotons, facing, leads the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra during a concert at Skyview High School on Friday.

Try This: ¡Celebración de Primavera!, Savor Southwest Washington Wine, History talk

May 4, 2023, 6:04am Clark County Life

Five things to do this week Read story

Call for Artists: Submit art for library’s Art4Art fundraiser

May 4, 2023, 5:01am Clark County Life

The Friends of Vancouver Community Library invite anyone of any age to submit their artistic creations to the annual Art4Art fundraiser. Participants can pick up 8-inch-square wooden panels (one or two per person) from the accounts desk at the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver. Decorate or create a… Read story

Arroz con leche -- "rice with milk" or rice pudding -- is especially rich and creamy with whole milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk.

Arroz to the occasion with rich rice pudding with a hint of citrus

May 3, 2023, 6:04am Clark County Life

I was browsing around our local dollar store a couple of weeks ago when I strolled by the refrigerated foods section. My eyes landed on the tempting selections of puddings and gelatin dessert cups: tapioca pudding, flan and gelatina de mosaico (a kind of jello salad made with colorful gelatin… Read story

Shoppers peruse the Master Gardener Foundation of Clark County Mothers' Day Weekend Plant Sale in 2017.

Get growing at Clark County plant sales and garden fairs

April 27, 2023, 6:04am Clark County Life

‘April showers bring May flowers” seems particularly applicable to this soggy season. If the aphorism holds true, it means we’re due for a stunning profusion of blooms. Here are plant sales and garden festivals in nearly every corner of Clark County where you can snag some color and greenery to… Read story

Pepper powerhouse: Creamy, no-cook pepper sauce has many uses

Make this Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce in the blender with just a few ingredients.

My daughter doesn’t often cook, but she does love to eat. Occasionally, however, she gets an itch to be in the kitchen, and she’ll just go in and whip something up all by herself. (We’re not the kind of family who cooks together, preferring the creative freedom of solo endeavors.) Read story

Great Doughnut Taste-Off: Five Clark County bakeries go dough-to-dough

A box of doughnuts sits on a table in The Columbian newsroom.

April 23, 2023, 6:04am Clark County Life Subscriber Exclusive

What is it about doughnuts? There’s something about that sweet fried dough that beckons more powerfully than a siren’s song. Slather it with glaze, dust it with powdered sugar or fill it with jelly and people lose their minds. For just a couple bucks per doughnut, more or less, a… Read story

The Beatles were wrong. All you need is chicken.

This chicken entree layers all the ingredients in one deep casserole dish and lets the flavors blend together during cooking.

What can you do with a pound of chicken, some leftover spaghetti sauce, a can of artichokes, an onion, a few carrots and a couple potatoes? You can make deep-dish chicken, that’s what — a multi-layered one-pot chicken-and-vegetable dish where everything cooks together. Read story