Gearing Up

So much to do, so little time!
It's time for Shop Party again, and we will be there with tamales, preserves, zines, and art!

 

Come out and support your local artisans!  

Crumbs From Our Weekend

 

Green and red tomato chutney

Pickled green tomatoes for an amazing Bloody Mary

Back to the grind!

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I love getting together with so much of my family, I love the warmth, I love the food. The whole family loves the food, and we don't skimp or pace ourselves. It is not uncommon to be stuffed with all the delicious hors d'oeurves before dinner is even ready. I am bringing an easy cheese plate with crackers, caramelized onions, crusted squash, nasturtium greens, and homemade jam. There will be multiple other starting dishes, wine, and cocktails- last year my cousin, the hostess, made incredible cranberry martinis.

When diner is ready in the late afternoon I take a deep breath and dig in. Oof! After dinner I give thanks for the tradition of serving Akvavit, a digestive, because dessert is not far behind.

I was inspired to bring a dessert this year too, but I wanted to bring something to brighten us up after all the rich food. I decided to make cranberry sorbet.

This sorbet is tart and bright and the color makes me so happy. I can't wait to share with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Taco Tuesday

We love tacos. I was excited to receive some fresh fish from my dad and prepare a taco spread for Nick's homecoming.

Nick likes his fish breaded and fried for a fish taco, I prefer grilled fish. I compromised by lightly seasoning and flouring this fish and flash frying it.

Now a good fish taco needs not much more than fresh fish, maybe some cabbage and lime, but I made a whole mess of food for snacking and lunch the following day. Black beans, Spanish rice, fresh salsas!

It has been so damn cold in the mornings and evenings it wouldn't be a leap to suggest I was trying to remind us of warmer days, or perhaps a trip to Mexico!

Transition

The time between summer and autumn is magical. The first rains come as if to clean the slate, and the rain is warm. There are still tomatoes in the garden and summer squash to be consumed. The leaves are just beginning to turn and drop.

I love to get tomatoes from the garden, cut in half drizzle with a little olive oil, and roast for a quick and delicious roasted tomato soup.

It is so easy and satisfying. I will roast some garlic (do not peel) and herbs on top of the tomatoes, cut side up, at 400f for 45 minutes until soft and browning.

Then I run everything through the food mill, and voila! soup! I would eat it just like that, so full of tomato flavor! It is nice cut with chicken or veg stock too.

We are busy cleaning gutters, preparing the garden, putting up the season (jam!)... warm soup makes it all worth it.

Ritual

Simple mornings are very important to me.
I have a ritual.
During the week, I pour the hot water over the Ecco coffee in the french press.  Nick will press the coffee and have a cup before rushing off to work.  I will pour a cup for myself while I make breakfast.  My favorite breakfast is a poached egg salad.

Recently however, Nick has taken a job in San Francisco and a few day a week I am on my own.  I make my own coffee, and with the mornings as dark and cold as they have been I'm hooked on oatmeal.

I like mine with dried blueberries and raisins, milk, and (a tiny bit) of maple syrup.

Squash n' Cheese

My comfort food is typical American comfort foods; potatoes, cheese, bread, sausage...  where I may differ is my deep love for braised greens, such as kale or chard.  Macaroni and cheese is just about as "comfort food" as a food can get.

I made a simple bechamel sauce; 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon brown rice flour, 1 cup milk, a grate or two of nutmeg, and salt to taste.
For the macaroni I used squash sliced thin.
I mixed the squash and bechamel together, then poured it into a buttered baking dish.

Grated sharp cheddar on top and into the oven for 30 minutes at 350.
Let it rest for five or ten minutes before you dig in.  Pile some braised kale next to your squash n' cheese.  Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.

Facebook

We are gearing up to get back in the kitchen.  We are cooking up schemes and incredible food!
Like us on facebook in the mean time.

SOON!

b&r

Summer Lovin'

Summer is winding down.  The heat in no indication, but the plants can tell.  The trees are turning.  The summer fruit is attracting flies, because no matter how we try we can't seem to eat it all.  The Naked Ladies are even starting to drop their petals. 

 

I'm a summer babe through and through, yet I am ready for the change.  I'm looking forward to (indoor) fires, and root vegetables.  I'm not rushing though.  I'm going to enjoy summer until the very last drop.  We are canning and making ice cream and making giant figs our main course for dinner.

  

Slice a ripe fig in half, stuff with soft cheese, such as fresh goat cheese, wrap with bacon, fry... EAT!  This is improved upon fig is a favorite summer snack, but we made some polenta and a salad and it became dinner. Voila!

Odd Bird

Our dear friends Odd Bird are (finally!!) having their album release party! We are so excited they invited us to be a part of the celebration.

We will have waffles and ice cream AND vegan waffle and sorbet available!

This event is not to be missed. You can buy advance tickets at The Last Record Store, or just show up Saturday. The North Bay Bohemian put it this way:

Odd Bird: Indigo children birth crystalline thought-poems and utopian hymns to godself.
Most high rock and rollers John Courage & the Great Plains, brilliant recluse Painted Animals and organ-jamming expatriates You Are Plural open minds; Born & Raised opens mouths.
Sep 3 at 7. $8-$10. 99 Sixth St, Santa Rosa. 707.528.3009.

See you Saturday!

Futures

We have four plum trees on our property and another neighboring tree which drops on our yard.  They are all small wild plums, or cherry plums.  Pink flesh, yellow flesh, juicy, ripe, ripe, going, going, gone... one (silly) summer anxiety is letting these little guys go to waste.  We can't possibly eat them all straight from the tree!  They have little to no shelf life.  I'm more than happy to share with friends, neighbors, birds, and bees.  Still they fall to the ground.  I know I should be canning them- wild plum jam is one of my favorites!  But time hasn't been on my side.   So in an act of love, and desperation, I turned to booze.

I sterilized a variety of canning jars and lids.  I picked a basket of little plums from two different trees, washed in cool water, then pricked their skins with a fork before dropping them in the jars.  When I couldn't fit another plum I added sugar to the jars (I filled the jars about 1/4 to 1/3 the way up), then BRANDY to the top!  Lid, shake, store in a cool dark place, and patiently wait at least two months.  Yum, I will be eating brandied plums while I carve my pumpkins and cozy up by the fire. 

That is all the preserving I can muster for now, but I do have my calender circled for Monday, I've given myself the whole day.  I certainly won't be lacking plums.

Inspiration

We have very talented friends.  Vanessa Davis is a wonderful comic, a sweet and beautiful woman, great dancer, and a foodie!   She made this great recipe comic for Saveur.  Enjoy!

The Backyard Benefit Brunch

Good vibes galore at the Benefit Brunch. We had a delicious meal with old friends, new friends, plenty of baby friends and four-legged friends. Odd Bird, Little Lost Boys, Chris Grabill, and Oona & Co played rotating three-song sets as we sat in the straw and basked in the sunshine.




There was something special in the air that mixed with the music. I think it was the love we all show each other in this community. Such incredible talent is fostered here, and we are proud to be a part of it.

Secret Dinner

Oh, neglected blog,
summertime is difficult
(real life is too fun).

We have been very busy.  The high point of the summer (so far) was a secret dinner in Todd and Spring's lush backyard in Santa Rosa.  We served a three-course meal to friends, family, and new acquaintances in a wonderful, laid-back atmosphere.

  
Gwen's menu was a bit more sophisticated than our usual fare, but everything came off without a hitch- no, better than that: the food was marvelous.  Our guests were wonderful and appreciative, the kids were world-class servers, and the setting couldn't have been more pleasant.

We are so lucky to live in this place!  The community here is outstanding.  After dinner, we all walked down the street to Brian Fitzpatrick's house to watch his band play.  Our good friends You Are Plural opened.  Both bands are phenomenal, and will give you a sense of the great things that come out of Santa Rosa.  We are proud to be a part of it.  

Since then it's been pretty mellow.  We have been camping, hiking, biking, working, playing, eating, drinking- but rarely cooking.  This hot weather makes me want to just eat fruit and tacos all the time.  In the next update, we'll add a recipe and some pictures from our fundraiser brunch and backyard show (t h i s   s u n d a y).

Thanks for checking in.  Until next time... Bon Appetit!

Teaser

Banh Mi and Bikes

We will be slingin' vegetarian banh mi sandwiches from a food bike tomorrow!  Come on down, ride your bike, see all the pretty bikes!  EAT!  See why Nick and I have been so busy neglecting this lovely blog!

Summer Soup

In the same way we push our heavy coats to the back of the closet, come May I like to retire my huge soup pot, and use it exclusively for large batches of berry and stone fruit jam.  The warm days mean less stove and oven time, more fresh veggie time.  Yet it is now June and we still have an extra blanket on the bed, our wool jackets at the ready, and we are having chicken noodle soup for dinner. 

When it comes to a hearty soup I use the chop and toss method.  Onions, celery, and carrots taste good and feel good, so they go in the pot to dry roast before I pour in chicken broth and water.  I add the chicken and cook.  When the chicken has fully cooked, I pull it out, shred the meat and remove any skin and bone.  Put the meat back, spice, taste, spice... I think most folks have a tried and true chicken noodle soup recipe laying around.

Oh but the noodles!  Fresh pasta is so easy and so special and so delicious.  For noodle soup a nice wide egg noodle is perfect.

Combine two eggs and two egg yolks, set aside.  Place two cups of flour in a bowl or on a work surface.  Make a well in the center, add your eggs and work your flour into the egg with a fork. when the dough comes together enough to use your hands, kneed together, shape into a disk, and let rest for at least an hour.

When it is time to roll out your dough, I suggest working a quarter to a third at a time.  You can roll pasta dough by hand with a rolling pin.  I am very modern and fortunate to have a pasta roller, so I just feed it through the machine.

When you have reach your desired thickness, you can flour, fold and cut into your desired with!
Gingerly pull apart and add your pasta to your soup.  Your pasta will only take a few minuets to cook (depending on how thick it is) after three minuets I will usually check it.

Hearty and warming soup, perfect for a winter meal... or a rainy June I suppose.  I'm not complaining, I love noodle soup!  I'm just ready for river trips and tee shirts.  Until then, stay dry and warm.

Life's a Bowl Full of Strawberries

I've been drooling at all the new and beautiful veggies, and especially fruits showing up at the farmers markets.  Berry season can never seem to get her quite fast enough.  Finally we have strawberries!  

My favorite way to eat strawberries is off the vine, slightly warmed from the sun.  When I was little, and it was my turn to pick the strawberries, I would often make myself sick, eating berries by the handful before my basket was even half full.
On occasion I will control myself long enough to make some jam or bake them into something... eggs and cream perhaps.

Cherries Clafoutis is one of my favorite desserts, or breakfasts, or snacks.  Traditionally baked with the cherry pits still in, I like to work (a little) for my dessert.  I also like to remember to SLOW DOWN.  I have an incredibly simple and tasty clafoutis recipe, adapted from The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Cookbook.  Sadly we don't have a cherry tree.  We do have a strawberry patch.

Cherry Strawberry Clafoutis

Preheat the oven to 400F. 
Butter a shallow 10 inch baking dish.
In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, 3 large eggs and zest from one lemon until combined.
Add 1 cup heavy cream (on this occasion we used half and half because that was in the ice box) and 1t vanilla extract.  Whisk until combined.  Add 1/2 cup flour and a pinch of salt, whisk until frothy.
Pour about half the batter into the prepared baking dish then add a pound(ish) of (stemmed cherries) trimmed strawberries.  Ours were quite large so I cut them in half.
Bake until golden and puffed up.  Devour!

Remember:  If you are serving this dish cherry pits and all remind your happy guests before they dig in.  It would be a sad dessert if some unsuspecting friend chipped a tooth. 

Busy Bees

We have hardly had a moments rest.
Shop Party was another success, we made the mistake of only making enough food for 150 people and we sold out after only two hours! We were able to buy ourselves a new point and shoot camera with our earnings! You have beautiful food photos and (hopefully) more frequent postings to look forward to!

We have been busy working one event after another, and we are loving it! This week started off right with an incredible show at the Arlene Francis Theater. We were hired to make dinner for the touring bands, Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship?, Y La Bamba, and Dark Dark Dark. Our local heroes Odd Bird played too and the show was fantastic.

We made mini calzones and a roasted carrot and barley salad.

The highlight of the evening for me was Dark Dark Dark gushing over the "best carrots they have ever had" from the stage. I'm still excited about it!

Next up a Birthday bash! We have been hired by the wonderful folks at Oak Hill Farm to cook for a 50th birthday party!

Photo by Zohn Mandel

In the meantime, I hope Nick and I will get a chance to have some delicious spring time dinners to share with you. Thanks for continuing to read and support.