The Fire Rages On

The "Chips" fire from our front window

And on another day.....

The Chips Fire began in the Feather River Canyon NW of Quincy on Sunday, July 29th. When fire personnel arrived on the scene, the fire was 15 acres in size. The fire has now burned over 50,000 acres and it is still burning. Check out a NASA satellite photo of it here. When I worked for the Forest Service at Lake Tahoe, I saw the Fire Management Officer (FMO) pull out all the stops when a fire started in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Those first hours of a fire a crucial and this man was fearless in his conviction. In a world-renown tourist destination full of million dollar homes, a large scale wildfire is unthinkable. In South Lake Tahoe in 2007, the 3100 acre Angora Fire destroyed 242 residences and 67 commercial structures, and damaged 35 other homes. It was among the top half-dozen most costly fires in the U.S.

Now that the Chips Fire has grown so large and cost so much in dollars and habitat destruction, etc., it is tempting to be critical of the early management of the fire but in all fairness, conditions were not on the side of the fire fighters. We had a light winter and the fuels out there were dry to begin with. Add to that high temperatures, steep terrain, extremely low humidity, and afternoon winds and you've got yourself a problem.

The communities to the north of us have bore the brunt of the smoke but we have had our share as well. There are good days and bad days depending on the winds. On the bad days ash rains down, the sun is cranberry colored, and we keep all the windows closed to avoid breathing the thick, particulate-filled air. It can be rather surreal and oppressive. On good (for us) days the smoke stays to the north as seen in the photos above and we are in the clear.

On clear days, I hike when I can. Here is a photo of the fire from the top of Spanish Peak off the PCT:

Another day the smoke moved in during my hike up and when I got to Spanish Peak, I was in a white fog of smoke with hardly any visibility.

A clear day at Gold Lake

Seaweed snack

So life goes on, despite the fire. Our stream of house guests has come to an end for the time being. Below is an image from our last set of friends' visit. A truly summer scene.

Sandals left by the back door in between trips to the creek and strolls to town

And this last image from our back patio of mead and wild blackberries, geraniums and a new yard sale table in use. Speaking of blackberries, they are coming on strong here now; earlier than in most years. Leo and I go blackberry picking every other day or so. Sweetness......

Enjoy and if you have clean air, take a deep breath and be thankful!

Two Yummy Salads

I have two different salad recipes to share today. The first is a sweet and greasy German potato salad recipe passed down from my grandma. My dad used to make it when I was a kid. Something made me think of it recently and I called him for the recipe. He said he would get back to me. He had to dig and riffle for it. When he called back he expressed delight at what he encountered in the process of the hunt. Handwritten recipes on cards through the generations. Recipes written by me as a small child. Recipes my father carefully recorded after a particular success in the kitchen but maybe never replicated again. Difficult to read recipes scrawled in wavery cursive by aging grandmothers. Ahhhh, good stuff indeed. Among them all, it was there: German Potato Salad from Lydia's Kitchen.

We have harvested the small new potatoes from our potato container twice so far. There is nothing like the treasure hunt of digging for potatoes. Ours were red gems in the brown dirt. I used a mix of the new red potatoes with a few yukon golds I found in the fridge. The recipe called for sliced hard-boiled eggs on top. Because our eggs had just been delivered and were too fresh to successfully hard-boil, I fried a few over-easy in a bit of the left-over bacon grease and topped the salad with those. I modified the dressing slightly to accommodate the gluten-free me and voila. It was like I remembered it and a hit with our guests.

Look at that yummy greasy mess! Mmmmmm.....

Sweet and Greasy German Potato Salad
Ingredient List:
1 large red onion finely chopped
1/2 pound of good bacon
3 or so lbs of small to medium potatoes
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 T. cornstarch
3 eggs
Instructions:
Boil, peel, and slice the potatoes. Fry bacon until it is crisp. Save the grease. Boil gently 1 cup of water, the vinegar, and the sugar. Mix the cornstarch in 1 T. water and add to simmering dressing. Stir for a minute until you see it begin to thicken. Add 3 or 4 T. of the bacon grease to the dressing. Let thicken for a couple more minutes while stirring.
Pour the dressing over the potato slices in a serving dish. Top with chopped onions and crumbled or chopped bacon pieces. Fry eggs over-easy. Place on top of salad and break yolks. Serve warm. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

***************************************************************
The second salad I encountered at a Mexican-themed birthday party I attended a couple weeks ago. It is a simple slaw with colors that say, "Eat me and thrive!". The whole dinner was like that actually. If I'd had my camera, you can bet I would have taken pictures. The hostess worked at a cafe in Chico, Ca in her college days and they served a salad similar to this. She's been making it ever since. It goes something like this:

Colorful Mexican Style Slaw
Salad:
1 small purple cabbage
4 carrots
1/4 cup chopped parseley
Shred the cabbage and carrots in a food processor. Place in a large bowl and stir in chopped parsley.
Dressing:
Combine:
1/4 cup canola oil
1 T. olive oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. rice vinegar
(Note: fresh squeezed lime juice would be a good substitution here for either or both of the vinegars)
3/4 t. ground cumin
3/4 t. ancho chili powder
1/2 t. salt
Optional: 1 small clove pressed garlic
Pour over salad and stir to combine.

Eat your colors and enjoy!

Canning Peach Salsa and the Seduction of Real Life

This is what I expected and even hoped would happen at the peak of summer. I have been carried away by the activity of the season and consequently carried away from my computer. I do love my computer but like in any healthy relationship it is nice to have some time apart once in a while. Yesterday I had a choice to finally sit down and write a post or climb a mountain with a friend. Blog or climb mountain, blog or climb mountain, hmmmmm..... The views along the trail of granite and lakes, trees and wildflowers, were inspiring. My brow was sweaty, my legs dusty, and our bodies, happy to be put to use, moved us through actual space as opposed to cyberspace. There was lovely conversation, human connection. So, dear beloved computer, sometimes real life proves even more seductive than you, thank goodness. 

We've been blessed with house guests every weekend for the past month. More are on the way. We love it. It helps us appreciate our surroundings when we can share it with others. We love the company, the stimulation, and the excuse to stop doing chores for a spell and just enjoy...

Summer peaches are still in full swing. Last week we bought a whole box (lug) from "the fruit guy" who brings them up from the valley to sell out of his truck once a week. There were 60 peaches in the box. That is a lot even with company. I decided to try making a peach salsa. I worked off an internet recipe and canned 12 half-pint jars of salsa. It works great with meat; think chicken, pork, and fish. I love it on fish with diced avocado! Diced avocado is a great addition to the salsa when you are ready to serve it. It is also good with salted corn tortilla chips. There was a lot of chopping involved. I did it all by hand but if you try it you may want to employ a food processor for some of it.

Peach Salsa (Adapted from a recipe posted by William Anatooskin on food.com)
These are directions for making a peach salsa for canning. A bowl of fresh peach salsa is easy to throw together and could include such ingredients as: red onion, jalapeno, orange juice, mango, corn, cilantro, lime juice, red and/or yellow bell pepper, garlic, fresh mint, cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt mixed with your chopped peaches.

Ingredient List
7 or 8 cups chopped peaches 
3 large chopped fresh tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped red onion
4 medium jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 small sweet red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 small sweet yellow pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons liquid honey
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions

-Sterilize 12, 1/2 pint jars or 6 pint jars, then place upside down in a 250F oven for about 15 minutes.

-Blanch peaches, cool in cold water, peel, pit and chop to measure 7 to 8 cups.

-Blanch tomatoes and cool with cold water, peel, remove seeds and cut into chunks.

-In a large stainless or enamel cooking pot, combine peaches, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno peppers, sweet bell peppers, cilantro, vinegar, honey, garlic, cumin and cayenne pepper.

-Bring to a boil, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. If the mixture is too sloppy or soupy you can pour off some of the liquid through a sieve. 

-Add salt last and adjust seasonings to taste.

-Ladle salsa into hot jars to within 1/4 inch of top for headspace.

-Wipe jar rim to remove any stickiness.

-Center lid on top of jar; apply screw band just until finger tight.

-Place jars in a hot bath in a canner and process for 10 minutes.

-Remove jars and place on a towel, then cover with another towel to cool slowly.

-Jars are sealed when the lids pop and are curved down, (concave).

-Label jars and store in a cool, dark place.

Quickly blanching the peaches causes the skins
to slide right off.

Enjoy your days!

The PCT Thru-Hikers!

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a 2,663 mile hiking trail that stretches all the way from the Mexican border to the Canadian border through California, Oregon, and Washington. Some intrepid souls attempt to hike the entire length in one season. These amazing people are called "thru-hikers". This summer my cousin Evan is among them. Although he isn't called Evan anymore. Within a few weeks on the trail most hikers are christened with a new name; their trail name. My cousin Evan is now Spud. Spud is blogging about his experiences on the trail when he gets a chance. It is good reading and can be found here: Spud's Blog


The PCT runs very close to Quincy. Just 15 miles west of town the trail crosses the road at Buck's Summit. Then it crosses Hwy. 70 down the Feather River Canyon at Belden. When you reach this point in the trail you are nearly half-way along. 1289 miles to be exact. The four-day High Sierra Music Festival was in town on July 5-8. There were a lot of "rock stars" but they all travelled here by car. The real rock stars are people like my cousin and his three hiking friends who walked 1289 miles to get here. And guess what? They are here! Check out this gorgeous bunch! This is after showers and laundry. Should have taken a before and after.

From left: Spud, Oasis, Honey Bear, and Histo

If you are curious about their trail names as I was, I'll illuminate you. Food is a big topic of conversation out on the trail. Spud kept talking about how much he loved and missed potatoes. Oasis is known for carrying a surplus of water. Honey Bear, well, she loves honey. Once she bought one of those honey bears full of honey for the trail but it didn't last long. Histogram (Histo) got his name because he was making graphs of trail progress (math geek). So there you have it.


I was warned about the appetites of PCT thru-hikers. Spud and his friends average from 20 to 30 miles per day. They eat everything they can get their hands on and still lose weight. My cousin weighed in this morning. He was shocked to see that he has lost nearly 30 pounds since setting out on the trail months ago. For dinner last night I made potatoes, of course. I mean Spud was going to be here! I found some fine looking freshly dug organic russets at our co-op. I baked those and had garden chives, and cheddar, and butter, and sour cream for topping. If I had been cooking just for our family, that would have been dinner. But we also grilled corn and zucchini and onions and chicken and sausages. And, of course, there was beer. Then for dessert there was homemade ice cream and warm cherry compote. I'm pretty sure they got enough to eat. This morning was a different story. I made them all French toast with yogurt and various toppings. They all licked their plates clean and then sat at the table as if waiting for the second course. I sent them to the donut shop. : )

Spud cradling a baked potato

The hikers eating dinner on the patio. Our son made sure he was
right in the middle of them. He is so excited to have them here!

Histo's plate minus the piece of corn he is eating.

Surely one of the bonuses of being a thru-hiker is a genuine appetite born of physical exertion. Another is the potential to develop lifelong friendships with fellow hikers. These four are like a family and their bond strengthened by shared experiences is palpable. They are enjoying a "zero day" (no miles hiked) today and we'll drop them back in Belden tomorrow so they can continue the trek north. We are envious of their adventure but maybe also a tad relieved that it is they and not us who have set such an ambitious goal for the summer, even if our appetite does suffer.


Enjoy!


P.S. A few people have told me that they have been unable to leave comments on this blog lately. Sorry about that. If it doesn't resolve itself soon, I will contact Google for advice.

Peaches in the Summertime.......

Apples in the fall. If I can't have you all the time I won't have none at all. -Gillian Welch

I couldn't help but lead with a fruit photo again. Our visiting friends from Mississippi stopped at Tony's on the way here and brought more gorgeous stone fruit from the valley below. Peaches were diced and baked into an old favorite (non-gluten-free) coffee cake. They were eaten creek-side in the sunshine with juice dripping all the way to elbows. They were grilled on the left-over coals from a BBQ dinner until caramelized and insanely sweet and topped with homemade honey vanilla ice cream. They were sauteed in coconut oil and put atop crepes. They were diced and drizzled with rosemary honey. They were devoured within a few days with no canning required. 

We love the musician Greg Brown in this house. His lyrics are so down-homey, so farm-girl, so Americana. His voice is so deep and rich. One of my favorite songs is called "Canned Goods". If you have a spare 4 minutes you can listen to an older version of it with a delightful little slideshow by clicking the arrow below.

We are in the middle of a week of 100 degree daytime temperatures. This is when our house shines. The towering pines at the rear of our property provide afternoon shade. We close the windows during the heat of the day and open everything up in the evenings and through to the morning. This effectively keeps our house comfortable 24/7. We've been swimming everyday, either in the creek or the community pool or both. Swimming and eating ice cream!

Leo designed a drying rack for his swim suit after I mentioned that we should probably have a set spot that we hang it each time we return from the pool. He literally drew up the plans for it and we built it together. Then he directed me on how he wanted it painted (light blue waves against a white background). It was a fun project and, yet again, I was impressed with my 6-year-old's creativity and design sense.

We have a bright red Cuisinart electric ice cream maker. It has been working hard lately to keep up with our taste for sweet frozen goodness. We've been making all kinds of frozen concoctions. I am still avoiding cow's milk products for the most part and so I experimented with a coconut milk ice cream and was pleased with the results. I will share my simple recipe here:

Coconut Milk Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

You will need:

1 can (15 oz.) of full fat coconut milk

1/2 cup of pure honey

1 cup of almond milk (unsweetened, sweetened is fine too just reduce honey slightly)

1 T. pure vanilla extract

Do the first part in the morning so you are ready to make the ice cream in the afternoon. Place honey and coconut milk in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring until honey is dissolved. Remove from heat and add almond milk. Lastly stir in vanilla. Place pan in refrigerator and let chill 6 hours or more. Stir before adding to frozen ice cream maker canister. Follow directions for your ice cream maker. Our takes 25 minutes. Scrape ice cream into a lidded container and freeze till firm (approximately 2 hours).

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Solar Cherry Crisp....Bear-ly

Ahhh...July is upon us. Did I already mention that summer is my favorite season here at the 40th parallel north? Well, it so is. Fifteen hours of light a day, warm temps, and the fruits of summer all contribute to my exuberance this time of year. I've been busy, busy but in an indulgent, uni-tasking kind of a way. 

I've been creating a lot of stuff in the kitchen but not writing anything down. I've realized that I'm not the best food blogger. I occasionally use a recipe but far more often I am adding a little of this and a little of that and in the end I am hard-pressed to come up with a complete ingredient list, much less accurate quantities. Most things simply come out a little differently every time I make them which keeps things interesting. I expect that is the way most cooks cook but it can make it difficult to share an actual recipe here on the blog. 

I mentioned our neighbor's amazing Bing cherry tree in one of my earlier posts over the winter. This is because I was still surfing the wave of utter summer bliss that the tree (and our neighbors) bestowed upon us. In the past there has been competition for the cherries between birds, and bears, and people. Last year the tree was laden with cherries but for some reason the bear did not come to the tree and the birds left it almost alone. So last year the lucky people were swimming in cherries. Each one was like a jewel and cherished as such. The photos below will give you an idea of what the tree looked like last summer:

Me on ladder with grin

This year was a different story. The tree was again laden with cherries but before they could fully ripen a bear began to visit the tree. She or he would come at night, climb up into the tree, and gorge on the cherries. Then I imagine her back up in the woods during the day sleeping and dreaming about the juicy sweetness of her nighttime exploits. She returned night after night until every last cherry was gone and the tree stood pathetically mangled and broken. I was too sad when I saw it to think of photographing it. Rude bear. No manners whatsoever. The neighbors tried banging pots and pans and telling it in no uncertain terms to skedaddle but the cherries proved too big of an allure. One day my neighbor called to say if I wanted any cherries I better come and get some, so I did. At that point there were still thousands of cherries. I filled a large colander with almost ripe cherries. A few days later the tree was devastated. 

I made a gluten-free nectarine cherry solar crisp with a cardamom cashew custard. Mostly though, we just eat one each time we walk by them. We have a little bit more restraint than the ill-mannered bear. 

I love my Sun Oven! More about it later.

Cherry/Nectarine Almond Crisp
A gross approximation of a recipe:
Cut up about 4 cups of white nectarines and cherries and place them in a baking pan or dish. Melt about a quarter cup of butter or butter alternative (I've been using Earth Balance) in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup of almond flour and 2 T. each of white rice and tapioca flour. Add 1/4 cup of muscavado or other brown sugar. Stir well to combine. Lastly add 1 t. vanilla, 1/4 t. almond extract, and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle over fruit and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. The topping crisps up nicely and tastes like marzipan. Great on its own or topped with vanilla ice cream or you can try the dairy-free custard below.
Cashew Cardamom Custard
From Whole Living Magazine, July 2012 issue
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 cups, plus 1 Tbsp plain rice milk
Pinch coarse salt
1 Tbsp maple syrup
5 cardamom pods, crushed
1 1/2 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions:
In a blender, process cashews, 2 cups milk, salt, and syrup for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a saucepan, add cardamom, and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk remaining Tbsp milk and the arrowroot until smooth. Add to saucepan and thicken mixture over medium heat, whisking, 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Strain custard into a bowl and let cool slightly, then transfer to refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Enjoy the summer!

Arugula Pesto (and 41 hrs of non-parental bliss)

Where the Russian River meets the sea

My husband and I spent the weekend at the coast. We had two kid-free nights in a row. This is the longest we have been alone together since our son was born over 6 years ago! Pretty amazing when you think about it. If you would have told us back in early 2006 that it would be 2012 when we would next have 48 hours (41 actually, but whose counting?) to ourselves, I doubt we would have believed it or been able to comprehend it. We took advantage of our time together by dining at a nice Thai restaurant in Santa Rosa called Sea Thai Bistro. My favorite dish was the coconut chicken soup in which lemongrass was a powerful component. I love the flavor of lemongrass. The menu reads: Chicken Galangal Soup in coconut milk broth, crimini mushroom, cherry tomato, shallot. No mention of the lemongrass but that is what made the soup amazing. Yum!

The next day we did a leisurely 6 or 7 mile hike from the edge of the Pacific over the bluffs to a lush redwood grove and back. There were views of the Russian River flowing into the sea as seen in the photo above. There were ferns as tall as us and interesting plants like this lily: 

I consulted my fellow Quincy blogger, naturalist Joe Willis, who posts prolifically here: black oak naturalist, to find out what it might be. Here is his response: It's definitely a lily. Probably a species of Clintonia. Probably Clintonia andrewsiana which has red flowers and blue fruit. So there you have it. Anyway, it was a lovely day full of uninterrupted conversation, synchronized hiking, and quiet moments.....


Back at home, I've been making arugula pesto like mad and freezing it for next winter. I've made it 3 ways so far and will share my favorite. Pesto (from the Italian pestare: to crush, grind, or pound) consists usually of nuts, oil, garlic, salt, cheese, and leaves of an herb. The most typical combo is basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, salt, and parmesan cheese. But let your imagination be your guide. You can use sundried tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, or arugula in the place of basil. You can use any kind of nut. You can use any kind of hard cheese. You can play around with different oils and salts. The possibilities are endless. I experimented with walnuts, pistachios, and cashews in my 3 different versions of arugula pesto and the cashew version was, hands down, my favorite.

Cashew Arugula Pesto
3/4 cup raw cashew nuts
1 clove of garlic
1 to 2 oz. of dry cheese cut in chunks (I used an aged dry Monterey jack)
a large bunch of arugula
1/4 cup of olive oil (or more depending on the consistency you like)
salt to taste
*****************************
Place garlic, cashews, and cheese in a food processor and process until crumbly. Add the arugula leaves and the oil and process again until it looks like pesto. Open the lid and scrape down the sides with a flexible spatula and sprinkle in some salt. Blend again. Adjust salt and oil to your preference. Done! *********** I've been eating it with rice crackers and on spiral rice pasta; husband has been slathering on sandwiches. The little bit of hard cheese doesn't seem to upset my tum-tum :-) And again, it freezes well.


Enjoy!!

The Panacea

The potatoes are liking their home in the re-purposed stock tank

Since cutting gluten out of my diet 3 months ago I've experienced some remarkable changes. I lost the 10 pounds I've been wanting to lose for years. My wrinkles have smoothed out. My gray hairs have been replaced by brown. My singing voice has become amazing and I am thinking about joining a band.

No, not really.

Okay, now for real, these are the changes I have noticed: I've lost 5 of the 10 pounds I've been wanting to lose for years. My back feels better. My gums which were a bit inflamed aren't anymore. My gut feels good. My skin seems clearer. My lifelong affinity for sweets has abated (but hasn't disappeared). So that's pretty good, even without the singing voice.

More on my back.... My mid-back has been giving me problems for years. There seems to be just one activity that aggravates it: doing the dishes. I think our sink is too low for my 5'9" stature. I actually enjoy washing dishes so its not psychosomatic. (I enjoy washing dishes so much that although we have a dishwasher I have never used it. I've actually never used a dishwasher in my life and truth be told, I am a bit intimidated by them. I always feel like there is some secret to loading them and that I should have a dishwasher training session before I can be trusted to do it correctly.) A few dishes didn't bother it but every time I finished a whole sink-load, I would have to ask my husband for a crack. This meant he would stand facing me and embrace me with both arms around my mid-back and squeeze. This invariably produced several loud cracks that immediately relieved my discomfort. I even trained my 6 year old son to crack it by walking on it. As I spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and doing dishes, I would need cracking anywhere from 1 to 3 times a day, every day! I knew it wasn't a good situation but I really didn't know to rectify it.

Well, a couple months into the gluten-free experiment, I realized that I hadn't felt the need for a crack in a long time. Now another month has passed without a request for a crack! So it appears that something about eating gluten was causing inflammation in my joints, gums, skin, and belly. 

I went ahead and had a blood test done to test for celiac disease indicators recently, but from what I understand those mostly come back negative. I haven't received the results yet. It would only be interesting to me if it were positive, which I doubt. I just think I am one of the growing number of people who develop an issue with it and/or realize how much better their body feels and functions without it.

So, for now life continues......gluten-free and happy.
Enjoy!

*Update*
December 1, 2012: Now approximately 8 months gluten-free. I have lost 15 of the 10 pounds I had vaguely wanted to lose for years. I feel lean and strong and clear-headed. I still have not once asked to have my back cracked after doing the dishes! My eye-glass prescription has stabilized (coincidence?) and gum inflammation has been reversed.

The Amazing Color of Rhubarb and a Sweet Succulent

Clearly I need to plant some rhubarb because this year I had to BUY some at the store! And then when I returned a couple days later for more, it was all gone. Now, I fear, I will have to wait an entire year to taste their unique flavor and SEE their unique color again. If you have a healthy rhubarb plant or two of your own, you likely take it for granted. They tend to get large and produce more stalks than you know what to do with. I am one who has taken them for granted in the past but not so this year. Although I don't have my own plant, my parents have a huge one and the neighbors have several and the rental I manage has a monster, so there has always been rhubarb in rhubarb season. This year the only rhubarb to pass through my kitchen were the 6 or 7 stalks I picked up at the co-op and hiked home with, their red and green canes protruding from my cloth bag.

When I got home I chopped them up and and cooked them down with ginger, sugar, red wine, and lime. This mixture was then strained, creating two products: a rhubarb butter and a rhubarb syrup.

These jars of ruby sweet-tartness didn't last long. The syrup was drizzled over homemade ice cream and used to ginger up sparkling water and prosecco. The butter/jam was eaten directly from the jar and used in a solar fruit bar thingy.

In case you'd like to try it:


Ginger-Lime Rhubarb Syrup and Quick Jam


4 or 5 cups of chopped rhubarb
1 cup organic sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup cab sauv or other red
1 t. finely chopped fresh ginger
juice of half a lime


Place rhubarb, sugar, water, ginger and wine in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until rhubarb is very soft. This doesn't take very long but I didn't time it. I'm guessing 20 minutes of simmering. Turn off heat. Stir in the lime juice and let the mixture cool to at least warm. Pour liquid through a strainer into a jar. Press solids to extract most but not all of the juice. Put solids in a second jar. Done!


Now for this cute succulent that Leo picked out a couple years ago at the St. Helena farmers market. Each year around this time it blooms, sending out its single long tendril adorned with tiny iridescent white-pink flowers. So sweet.

Hmmm......I think I need to wash the windows

June is in full swing! 

Enjoy!

Pangaea and the Orange Dressing

I've mentioned this before. While Quincy is a really great town, we are lacking a little bit in the restaurant department. There are actually around 10 restaurants in Quincy but because there is only one that we go to, it feels like there is only one restaurant in Quincy. That's not very many..... And the next town is quite a journey away. 


But oh, how we love this one restaurant! It is called Pangaea. If it weren't for Pangaea.....I don't know. I'm not saying we would move for sure but Quincy wouldn't be the same. We don't go there a lot; maybe once a month, but the fact that it is there when we need a family restaurant fix it is huge. It is walking distance from our house (as is all of the downtown). As a popular local gathering place it is usually buzzing with conversation, music, laughter and a busy kitchen. Out of the kitchen comes delicious, creatively presented, mostly organic and local fare. They carry a variety of local craft beers on tap so many patrons saunter right on up to the bar for their evening tipple. If you've lived in Quincy any length of time you are guaranteed to see familiar faces as you enter. The atmosphere is relaxed, the service prompt and friendly. It is always a good experience which is why we will continue to return again and again. It's a gem; I can't say it enough.


We have been bringing our son there since he was a baby in a stroller, an orange BOB that now can be seen rolling around town with a new little occupant. When they bring your plated food, they also bring a 4-pack of dressings, 3 of which are house-made. One of the house-made dressings is an invigorating orange color, kind of like the stroller. It is Leo's favorite. It is my favorite. Husband loves it too. We can go through three quarters of a 12oz. bottle in one meal. It is great on rice dishes, salads, home fries, steamed veggies, wraps, you name it. It's packed with flavor and it is healthy! One of the primary ingredients is carrot. 


I've had the recipe for years. It traveled around the Quincy underground via emails and whispers....... But for years I didn't make it. I would say most dressings that I make average 5 ingredients. This one has 11. Every time I pulled out the recipe to make it there would be one or two ingredients I was missing. Oh well. "Does anybody feel like going to Pangaea tonight?"


This dressing is worth the effort. The recipe makes a whole quart and if you like it as much as we do, that is not too much. It keeps well refrigerated. 


Pangaea's Orange Dressing
You will need:
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 cup canola oil
2 t. sesame oil
1/2 to 1/3 cup of apple juice
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup sesame seeds
a small piece of fresh ginger (~1"x1/2") coarsely chopped
5-6 peeled cloves of garlic
2+ cups grated carrot
1/4 onion cut up
3 T. prepared mustard or 1 T. mustard powder


Gathering all the ingredients is the work. Once you have them you just put them all into a blender and blend until smooth.

Ready to be drenched in orange goodness

Enjoy!
And if you ever find yourself in Quincy, California, you know where to go: Pangaea Pub and Cafe!