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Archive for the ‘gardening’ Category
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
This week’s box from my CSA is full of so many of my favorite things. Romaine lettuce, Kale, Green Onions, Fennel, Strawberries, Potatoes, Cucumbers. They have an “exchange” box at the pick-up site and I swapped my carrots out for a 2nd head of romaine. I still have a zillion carrots from previous weeks, we just don’t go through them very fast. I am having a Soup Night on Saturday though and I can make a big Caesar salad.
And I can make the potato salad recipe sent to me for the 10th anniversary recipe contest.
Summer produce makes me so happy!
Posted in food, fruit, gardening, organic, photos, santa cruz, self pleasuring | No Comments »
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
I thought the last dinner was good. This one was better. Not that there was anything missing from the first one, I just felt that this one stepped it up.
 Arriving and mingling We went with 4 friends and they hired a driver to take us to and from the dinner so much more wine was consumed than at the last event. So much so, I forgot the menu there and I don’t have all the details of this meal! Therefore, this will be more of a photo tour of the evening.
 A rundown from Jim and Leah We gathered around to hear from Jim and Leah and then we headed around the farm to meet the goats and chickens, see the variety of crops and check out the original apple trees from 100 years ago.
 On the farm tour  The source of the goat cheese Surrounding the entire farm is a deer fence. The farm bumps right up to the Soquel hills so without the fence, the deer would destroy the farm. They still have to contend with coyotes, mountain lions and gophers, but at least the fence dissuades the deer!
 Rows of crops meld into the tree line  300 chickens live here We wrapped up the tour and were lead down to an amazing table setting. We sat along the creek, it was absolutely gorgeous.
 The table is set up by Soquel creek The first course featured farm grown spinach and beets and was topped with goat cheese made from the goats we’d just met.
 Spinach with Goat cheese and beets It’s amazing the kitchen setup they have out in the woods. Backwoods gourmet at its finest!
 The smell of the outdoor kitchen wafts down to the diners The shellfish dish was the highlight of the dinner (not that there were any lows!). We got loaf after loaf of bread to soak up the amazing broth the clams, mussels and squid were in. It was heavenly. I could have had nothing but this all night and been a happy foodie.
 Shellfish and squid stew with crusty bread There was a course in between here of perfectly cooked, lick every bit from your finger, gorgeous quail. So good, I forgot to pull out my camera….I would have gotten quail juice on it anyway.
And dessert by candlelight was scrumptious strawberry shortcake.
 Strawberry shortcake for dessert The whole dinner was paired with wines from Testa Rossa vineyards and Corralitos Brewing Company beer. I even enjoyed the pink wine…it was my least favorite of the evening but I still liked it!
Good food, good friends, good times. Life’s mantra.
Posted in dinner, farmers market, flavor, food, fruit, gardening, organic, photos, santa cruz, seasonal menu, spinach, squid, table dance, tasting menu | No Comments »
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
I had no idea what carrots got up to when they thought no one was looking!
Posted in gardening, photos | No Comments »
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
The spring hasn’t been much of a spring. Cold, wet, wintery days with a few days of sun scattered in there. We’ve been less than thrilled with it but most of my plants have been obviously happy with the rain. Now that they are huge and leafy, I hope it warms up so everything can ripen!
 Mandarin Tree - recently moved to a new location and much happier!  Apple Tree - It will need thinning again this year for sure  Sage and Marjoram - Everything is flowering! It's pretty but I need to cut it all back  Thyme and Peas  Tomatoes, Carrots and Lettuce - Carrots are finally getting big enough to pick, they take forever!  Chives and Mint - a small hanging basket just to add more growing room  Parsley and Habaneros - A new experiment, I think they'll take the heat  Strawberries - they got too much water in the rain, hopefully they'll be ok  Basil - just getting started  Asian and Bartlett Pear trees - they are very happy this year  Hops - already passing the roofline and getting confused!  Blueberries - I hope it warms up so they ripen!
Posted in blueberries, gardening, organic, photos | No Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
I was very excited for my first Outstanding in the Field dinner. I tried to get tickets last year and it sold out too quickly, I missed out. This year I booked 3 events to make up for it! I wish I could do more but our calendar is not cooperating with that idea.
So, we arrive at the event, get dropped off by a shuttle and walk through the farm and up a hill to a beautiful view of the bay and the farm. They’re wandering around with appetizers that they are preparing in front of us as well and pouring Soquel Vineyards Sauvingon Blanc…a beautiful wine after a warm walk.
The crab appetizer was my favorite: Dungeness crab with Companion Bakers sourdough crackers (it had asparagus..and other yumminess!). My husband raved about the Marinated beets with Almond ash.
 We chatted with some of the other diners. Planted ourselves near the prep table so as to nab appetizers when they came out…sneaky we are ;-)
After a few announcements and introductions, we split into groups and headed out on a tour of the farm. Apples, grapes, veggies, pigs, chickens, they’ve got it all. The chickens control pests and provide fertilizer for the soil as well as eggs and meat for the CSA. They have a house full of cute little chicks and rotate the areas the full-sized chickens graze in. The pigs get moved around as well and right now the priority is shade. Poor HUGE Daisy is pregnant and looking for all the shade she can find! We continued around the farm getting the lowdown on the crop rotation, the benefits of the animals, the variety of vegetables and fruit being grown and a preview of things we were about to get on our plates.
Then we headed to the apple orchard that had been converted into a fine dining experience. The tables looked amazing. The view was breathtaking.
The other tour groups straggled in, we picked our seats and began to visit, eat, drink, question, chat, advise. We happened to end up sitting at the table with the farmers which was, of course, lovely. We learned a lot and just had fun with them in general.
The first dishes to come out was grilled green garlic with artichokes and wilted fava leaves, charred shallots, and smoky fava beans. All really wonderful. I especially enjoyed the wilted fava leaves since this is something you normally don’t get unless you grow favas.
 
Next out was squid with black butter (not squid ink, brown butter pushed past brown…but not bitter or burnt flavored. I don’t know how they did that), peas, asparagus, marinated green strawberries and wood sorrel. I always push the peas aside in dishes. I like peas by themselves and raw but usually don’t like them in dishes. I ate every last one of these.
The winner of the night thought was the smoked chicken. I get chicken from my CSA every two weeks and cook one the night I pick it up. I know how much better fresh chicken is. Then add to that the chef skills of these wonderful OTF folks and it is so…chickeny! I think people have forgotten what chicken is supposed to taste like…it’s this.
Then it got dark…no more pictures. And it got late. And we had our son at the neighbors on a school night. And we still had dessert. Luckily the dessert were scrump-diddly-umptious ice creams cones from Penny Ice Creamery and we could grab one and bolt to the shuttle to get our car and head home. We got one of each flavor: rose petal and strawberry pink peppercorn. I thought the rose petal was great…until I tried the strawberry! It was even better! They really make *the* best ice cream. We were stuffed and had no problem finishing both of these!
I can’t wait for our next Outstanding in the Field event in June!
Posted in chicken, dinner, farmers market, food, gardening, organic, potato, santa cruz, seasonal menu, table dance, tasting menu | No Comments »
Monday, August 16th, 2010
Main Street Garden & Cafe
3101 N. Main St.
Soquel, Ca. 95073
831-477-9265
We were looking for a place for our anniversary dinner. We tried Cellar Door first and they were booked (yes, we were calling at 5:15pm for a 6-ish reso!). I started poking around some blogs trying to decide where to go. I found on Christina Waters’ blog that Brad Briske had moved from Gabriella to Main Street (the restaurant formerly known as Theo’s). We called, got a table and drove straight there!
We started the sunny summer evening by peeking into the garden. When an old friend worked at Theo’s, he took some of hubby’s hops and planted them in the Theo’s garden. They are still there and are happy and flourishing. Then we returned to our table to peruse the menu of, seemingly, all local fare. We started with the Happy Boy Farm Watermelon Gazpacho with Monterey Bay Squid, Garden Pancetta and Calabrian Chili Oil. No, they aren’t growing pancetta in the garden, the italicized “gardens” on the menu all refer to things they cure or grow themselves. The gazpacho was wonderful. I could not decipher the ingredients. It wasn’t too sweet so there was something in there with the watermelon, but whatever it was, it was mild and just added some slight savoriness. The pancetta was crispy, the squid was tender, the chili oil was perfectly proportioned. It was a wonderful balance of salty, spicy, sweet and creamy.
You can’t go wrong with slices of raw, fresh, yummy fish. I don’t like halibut cooked. I never order it. It’s too easy to dry out and I’m just not interested. However, it was on the menu here as a California Halibut Crudo with Garden Sun Gold Tomato Conserva and Garden Radishes. It tasted like summer. Fresh, crunchy, not fishy at all. It was good. But even better was the California Albacore Crudo with Armenian Cucumber and Cucumber Water Aioli. And this wasn’t better because of the fish but because of the ailoi. It was so flavorful, it really made the dish.
We ordered the 2 salads on the menu: Lindencroft Farm Lettuces with Fennel, Almonds, Everett Farm Raspberry Vinaigrette. This was lovely. Nothing new and earth-shattering about it but it wasn’t over dressed, the dressing was well balanced and it was crisp and nice.  The 2nd salad is one of my favorite summer flavor combinations: Arugula Panzanella with Albacore Conserva, Garden Tomato & Cucumber with Golden Balsamic Vinaigrette. You cannot go wrong with bread and tomatoes…and basil, and vinegar and really, very mild arugula. I have said this before but, I LOVE SUMMER!!
The only main course we got (we got 5 of the 6 appetizers) was a lovely plate of Squid Ink Ravioli with House Cured Salt Cod, Potato, Cured Tuna and Garden Chive Blossoms. I know squid ink doesn’t really do anything for the flavor of pasta but it looks damn cool to get a plate of black food! It’s creepy and halloweeny and they still taste awesome. The chive blossoms looked so cool on top and I thought they’d be a bit of an innocuous flavor but they were sharp addition that I wanted in each bite.
For dessert we had chocolate overload. A Caramel-Chocolate Pot-de-Creme and a Flourless Chocolate Torte. Both were rich and lovely and creamy and rich…oh, and rich. Did I mention they were rich? There was no chocolate missing there…I think maybe we should have shared one dessert, neither of us could finish either chocolate death dish.
We will return. Our only criticism at this point is the wine list. It’s very, very slim. It’s all local which is great but there are many, many amazing wineries around here. I hope they get the capital to expand the list. Until then we did enjoy a wonderful Windy Oaks Pinot Noir. No complaints about that one.
See you soon Main Street!
Posted in chocolate, dinner, gardening, gazpacho, raviolis, restaurant, restaurants, review, santa cruz, squid, table dance | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
The garden is in full force. So much so that I can’t keep up with it and my CSA boxes! The thing about having a CSA and a garden is that things, you know, grow at the same time!
Kale anyone?
Spinach, thyme and marjoram galore!
The tallest lettuce ever:
The hops have loved the weather this year…rain/sun/rain/sun:
Already getting cones and they have 2 months to go!
Some Braeburns are popping up on our tree:
It looks like we’ll get Asian pears this year too. It didn’t produce last year:
Some Bartlett pears are forming too:
The blueberries are crazy! Hopefully they all ripen and the birds don’t get them:
Lemon verbena survived the winter and has come back to it’s fragrant self:
Every year we get pomegranate flowers but they never fruit. I think they get too much water here but they’re pretty nonetheless:
It’s been a long wet winter and spring but the plants are really happy to be out of the drought. Everything is beautiful.
Tags: apples, blueberries, kale, lemon verbena, lettuce, marjoram, pears, pomegranates, spinach, thyme
Posted in gardening, photos | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Whatever shall I make this week!?!? So many yummy choices! Can’t wait to get cookin’:
Sprouts ‘salad’ mix – sunflower, pea, buckwheat, broccoli and radish
Fuji apples
Artichokes
Red beets
Cabbage
Carrots
Rainbow chard
Collard “rapini”
Green garlic
Red Russian kale
Leeks
French breakfast radishes
Rutabagas
Strawberries
Tags: CSA, local farm
Posted in amateur, apples, dinner, farmers market, food, fruit, gardening, leeks, organic, photos | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
  Sorry to my Midwest peeps out there but it’s a gorgeous day. It’s been a gorgeous week. My lettuce is leafing, my kale is getting bigger, my parsley is parsleying. We’re supposed to get more rain next week but it’s ok by me as long as we keep getting these wonderful spring-like breaks!
Posted in gardening, photos | 2 Comments »
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