FORAGING -- Who says college grads can't make a living? 

My daughter, Hillary, is using skills she learned as a camp trip leader and kayak guide to make nutritional ends meet with a little Northwest foraging during a recent outing with her sister in the San Juan Islands. As her recent email reported:

When we went out kayaking, I harvested some mussels and we cooked them up last night in a curry! Brook had an abundance of nettles in her backyard so I picked a bag full and made nettle pesto last night! Here is a picture of my spring bounty. I froze a jar for you and mom. Even though I wore gloves, my fingers still tingled all night last night!

I told her I'm glad she knows how to cook stinging nettles: Better to have tingling fingers than a tingling colon.

She also said she's looking forward to feeding me some bull kelp chutney.