Life Begins at 30

Meditating with Marcella

It was a busy day. I didn't get up from my computer for hours on end, and when I did I had a ton of things to do. I went to the gym, only to find the pool so full that I left. I am not a good workout swimmer, and am slowly gaining confidence but wasn't prepared to jump into a packed pool today. I was going through the day with a heavy heart thinking about a tragedy - the worst kind of tragedy - that had befallen a family I have known for my whole life.

I had about 7 pounds of heirloom tomatoes from the weekend sitting on my counter. I had brought them home with the idea that I would spend Sunday making sauce and storing my tomatoes for the winter - taking advantage of the last gasp of tomatoes before the chill of the fall sets in. Sunday had come and gone. They were begging for attention, threatening not to last a minute longer and couldn't be put off until tomorrow.

So I paused.

I opened up Marcella Hazan's The Essentials of Italian Cooking, found the easiest recipe, and started to cook. Tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil. Looked easy enough. I began to prep the tomatoes, per Marcella's specifications. Dunk each tomato in boiling water, remove and allow to cool only until you can touch it. Then remove the peel. I got into a rhythm. Dunk, peel, wait for the water to boil again, repeat until all tomatoes are done

According to the recipe (which I doubled), I needed two large bunches of basil.

"Pull all the basil leaves from the stalks, rinse them briefly in cold water, and shake off all the moisture using a colander, a salad spinner, or simply by gathering the basil loosely in a dry cloth towl and shaking it two or three times. Tear all but the tiniest leaves by hand."

Come on, you have got to be kidding me, Marcella. I hung with you for the tomato preparation, but tear the basil? By hand? I took a deep breath and decided to just trust and go along with the recipe. That's the thing about Marcella Hazan and the great cookbook writers. You just trust. She takes you by the hand, and shows you her craft. You are the apprentice. As a person who is constantly changing recipes and revising them to my tastes, it is unusual that I take a recipe word for word and just follow with blind faith.

And something interesting happened as I followed. I didn't have to exert any energy worrying about adjusting, tinkering, tasting, changing. A couple of leaves in, I started to notice the noises around me. A dog barking, the water bubbling, a bus passing on the street. And I started to think. My mind wandered and quieted. I tore and tore. All but the tiniest leaves. The recipe had asked me to expend some energy in tearing, dunking, peeling and gave me energy in return. I walked out of the kitchen, sauce complete and delicious, with a renewed energy. The process of cooking and following this recipe had left me rejuvenated and re-centered.

Photo Friday: Furry

Monrovia, CA
Photo Friday submission

Locals Night at the Olema Inn

Jason's mom and stepdad celebrated their 10th anniversary this year in grand fashion - we all went to Death Valley in February for a remarriage ceremony and had a wonderful time.

Jason continued the celebration last week by taking them (and me) to the Olema Inn near Point Reyes. We both have spent a good deal of time in the Point Reyes / Tomales Bay area, and were very excited to share it with Jim and Cassandra.

Upon booking rooms at The Olema Inn, we were told that we should consider making reservations in the dining room downstairs, "Especially Monday nights," said the woman on the other end of the line. Monday nights? Who needs to make a reservation anywhere on Monday nights?

The Olema Inn dining room is an elegant, comfortable setting. The main dining area looks out on to a lawn and garden. There is a small bar that serves beer, wine, and shoju mixed drinks. Wednesday through Sunday, the dining menu is divided into salads, small plates, and entrees.

Monday night is considered "Locals Night" at the Olema Inn, and the general vibe is much more casual. The menu on Monday nights focuses on small plates only. The staff greeted many people by name - and it was clear that we were some of the only tourists there. Diners greeted each other, dressed in everything from shorts and flip-flops to nicer dinner attire. A live band, The Pink Sabbath, played lively music and added to the spirit of the at-capacity room.

The Olema Inn focuses on a seasonal and mainly organic menu. Reading through the list of offerings, I noticed the names of many familiar farms. The chef, Ed Vigil, has been with the Olema Inn since 2002.

Some of the dishes that we tried that evening included:

Star Route Farms Little Gem Salad, Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese Vinaigrette, Popovers, Bing Cherries. Very good, very nicely dressed. There were about 3 or 4 bitesized popovers on the plate.

Fish and Chips. Jason's step-dad, Jim, is a Brit and had his eye on this dish from the second he sat down. When the waiter told us that we should consider having two dishes each and sharing, Jim replied, "Ok, we'll have ten fish and chips". We actually ended up ordering three orders of this - so that Jim and Jason could each have their own. It was an excellent rendition of fish and chips. I don't remember exactly what fish it was, but the batter was light and crispy. Nice thin fries on the side.

Bellwether Farms Ricotta Gnocchi, Pine nuts, Sage Brown Butter, Lobster Mushrooms and Black-Eyed Peas. I really enjoyed this dish. It was one of my very favorites of the week. The fresh black-eyed peas were fantastic, and the rest of the dish really melded together. I ate every single bean off this plate.

Seared scallops on a bed of mixed fresh beans. This had cranberry beans, and others in the medley. Well executed.

In addition to these dishes, we had several others which escape me - I didn't take notes specific to this meal. A couple of steak dishes, another salad, and several desserts including house-made ice creams, a peach crumble, and a trifle.

This was the first night in a fantastic four days that we spent at the Olema Inn, and I think that it was the best meal. The other meals were excellent, but there is something special about locals night at the Olema Inn.

Photo credit: The Olema Inn

Home

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I have lots of new posts developing that will come soon, promise. We just returned from a few days in West Marin County staying at The Olema Inn. It was a great week away. Much more about that later.

Aside from that, we moved about ten days ago ... so everything is upside down. Happy, but upside down. (For those of you paying attention, that was a we ... as in moved. in. together.)

Looking forward to a week of eating in, and getting back to basics food-wise. I celebrated my birthday last week (life begins at thirty-one?) and between that and going away, we have been doing a lot of dining out. We had fantastic meals - some of the best in recent memory - but I am ready to do some cooking and eating uncomplicated meals this week.

We went to the farmer's market this morning to help with this goal. We are in between seasons here ... some of the summer fruit is sticking around, and it's a little too early for most of the fall fruits. A friend at the market told me "It's kind of a boring week for product" - while I don't completely agree, I didn't see anything new this week, save for some additional apple varietals. Fresh dates came into the market two weeks ago - those are a treat for anyone who hasn't tried them.

I picked up: kale, spinach, tomatoes (new zealand pink paste, black brandywine, pineapple), poblano chiles, beets, tomatoes, mint, oregano, lemon verbena, dry beans, black mission figs, mushrooms (forgot what type - jason picked them). It was a great trip.

Thanks for sticking with me through the couple of weeks of sporadic postings ... things should be much more normal now. Now if I could only find my digital camera in these stacks of boxes ...

Photo Friday: Blossom

Photo Friday theme: Blossom
Berkeley Botanical Gardens, Berkeley, California

Birthday Dinner at Home

A few weeks ago I began thinking about Jason's birthday and made reservations at Quince. Neither of us have been, and he had mentioned maybe going for his birthday. Perfect, I thought. Birthday plans done.

About a week ago, he asked that we do something mellow for his birthday. When I mentioned the Quince reservations, he asked that I cancel them. All of a sudden my perfect plans were out the window and I had to come up with a new idea - a new way to celebrate his birthday.

I set out to make a dinner that was fun and elegant, and something that we don't usually eat. We cook a lot, but tend to stick to the same types of meals and I wanted something that was a little more exciting.

With a menu in mind, I set out into the city to find my ingredients.

One of my dishes called for preserved lemons and I ventured off to a Middle Eastern market that is on Sutter and Larkin. (Update: The store is called Queen of Sheba) It is hard to describe what a great experience I had at this market. The owner of the store really took to me, and she and her Moroccan friend were so excited that I was buying authentic Moroccan ingredients. Everything that the owner pulled out of my basket she would show to her friend who would ooh and ahh at the fact that I, the white girl, was purchasing these items. The adventure concluded with at 15 minute lesson by the Moroccan friend about how to make couscous (that's another story - I am very anxious to figure out what exactly she was talking about and am going to need to investigate further).

I also made a stop at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. It was quiet in there, and so I had a lot of attention as I carefully went through each dish with the guy helping me, and he made wine recommendations and also made some very good menu suggestions as well.

My plan all along was to have a starter of grilled sardines on a bed of greens, so I called Swan Oyster Depot to check on their sardines. "We have them, but they're about the size of trout right now." Uh, no -- not exactly my idea of a starter. "Anchovies?" I inquired. Nope. So I decided on scallops. This is something we eat fairly often, so it wasn't as special, but still was a great starter.

With the menu set, all I had to do was cook. The only thing that was going to be out of the box for me was going to be the tagine. I am used to making lamb stews, but usually make it up as I go along. This time, I decided to follow a recipe from one of my favorite books and committed to sticking to the recipe as much as possible. The spices used were not ones that I am used to using, so it was a leap of faith to try it out. I am happy to report that it was a great success. It was one of those recipes where you aren't sure until the end whether the dish is going to come together. And then all of a sudden, it does. I was thrilled.

The final menu for the birthday dinner was:

Seared scallops on top of frisee and greens
Couscous with toasted almonds and parsley
Moroccan lamb tagine served with harissa
A trio of cakes from Citizen Cake

The recipe for the tagine can be found here. I made some modifications to the original recipe, and those are reflected in the link. I would highly recommend trying it out.

When all was said and done, Jason got his mellow evening, though it was a lot more work for me than just going out to a restaurant. It was a fully satisfying dinner for both of us, and I am glad we did it.