Life Begins at 30

Photo of the Day: Stormy Sunset

This shot has nothing to do with food, but I had to put it up. There have been large clouds around the Bay all week, and it made for a beautiful sunset last night. Coming home from the East Bay, I pulled off at Treasure Island - a first for me - and took a few shots. If you've never been to Treasure Island, I would highly recommend it. The detour off the bridge is a matter of minutes, and there is a great overlook area of the city.

Photo credit: Me
Camera: Nikon 990

Foodfight among Taiwanese Lawmakers

"You've got no shame!" screamed Chu Fong-chih of the opposition Nationalist Party, after throwing a take-out box of chicken and rice at Chen Tsung-yi, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who backed the special budget.

Chen responded by accusing Chu of sympathizing with Taiwan's arch-foe China, and flung his own lunch box at her.

View video here

Just call me Susie Homemaker

Yesterday, I was eating freshly made beef stew at noon. That meant that I was up and cooking beef stew at about 7.30. It was the first day in quite a while where I didn't have to do work immediately upon waking up, and I took advantage of my morning by setting a stew to cook in the early a.m.

I had purchased stew meat from Highland Hills Farm on Saturday and it needed to be cooked. Looking through my cookbooks, I landed on Nigella Lawson's recipe for Beef Stew with Anchovies and Thyme. I took tremendous liberties with the stew -- substituting shitake mushrooms and turnips for the recommended carrots and celery, and it came out wonderfully. I either used too many anchovies, or her recipe is a little heavy on them, because it came out very strong. Luckily, we both love anchovies so it was no problem. But next time I will probably cut back a bit.

I ate the stew over rice for a wonderful lunchtime meal.

Do you have a library card?

Before this year, I probably haven't had a true library card since I was in high school. Sure, I used the library in college, but that was just another function of your college i.d., and I didn't have to actually go and apply for a card.

I was recently doing research for this post, and wasn't finding what I needed for free on the net so I decided to take a trip down to my local library and look for some articles. Seeing as how I haven't been in college for ten years, I assumed that this would involve some computer work on-site, and possible some work on the microfiche machine (how's that for dating myself?).

Let's just say that things have changed at the library. Turns out that once you have your library card (easily obtained with a picture ID and proof of address), you can search articles from THOUSANDS of periodicals, email the articles to yourself, look through the card catalog, and order books ... all from the comfort of your own home.

There is no longer the need for paying for those pricey NY Times articles, or for filling out the horribly invasive (and non-working) application in order to be able to view current LA Times articles ... I just go to the library site, plug in my library card number and search search away.

Searching for that old recipe in the New York Times? No problem. Want to check out the amount of vegetables that California imports and exports each year (foreshadow for an upcoming post)? Log in and search away.

The article database seems to be completely up-to-date. Usually you can find an article within a day or so of it being printed. I have found very few limits to this system (One being the ability to search the U.S. version of the Wall Street Journal, though they have International versions).

Library services differ from state to state and county to county, obviously. I know for a fact that the computerized system is available throughout California.

So, dear readers, take a few minutes out of your day this week and go down and get a library card at your local library. If you're anything like me, it will open up a whole world of new resources to tap at the best price you can ask for -- free.

Illustration credit: Bulloch County Schools website, Georgia

Photo of the Day: Sugar Pie Pumpkins

Photo credit: Me
Location: Marin Farmer's Market, Star Route Farms (Marin County)
Camera: Nikon D70

Photo of the Day: Chard

Photo credit: Me
Location: Marin Farmer's Market, Orchard Farms Booth (Sebastapol)
Camera: Nikon D70

Continental Breaksfast

"Free breakfasts at hotels are overrated," I mentioned to Jason as we were driving through a small town in Vermont. A sign on the side of the road advertising a hotel boasted "free continental breakfast." We were on our way to a friend's wedding. The scenery was beautiful with the leaves burning bright as far as the eye could see.

That morning, we had left an Embassy Suites in Boston and eaten a dismal free breakfast. Chemical-tasting sausage, flaccid bacon, and weak coffee. That evening, we arrived in Vermont to stay at a Best Western. The man who was at the desk reached into a box behind him and handed us two lunch sacks. "Here are your continental breakfasts for the morning." I didn't look at Jason because I was afraid I would start giggling. We rushed to the room to check out our breakfast lunch sacks. "Plain cake donut". Soft, almost moldy orange. And an apple juice with a foil top. Needless to say, we went into town for breakfast!

Worth Checking Out

Alaina Browne, the publisher of NYC eats recently moved to San Francisco. I was anxiously awaiting the new iteration of her site ... curious about what she would do for San Francisco.

I could not have been more pleased this morning to find A Full Belly, a gorgeous weblog that I am looking forward to reading regularly.

Welcome to San Francisco, Alaina!

Straus Family Creamery

One of the gems of Marin County is the Straus Family Creamery. Straus was the first organic creamery on the West Coast, and the Strauses are true trailblazers in the industry. We went on a tour of the creamery last month through the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT).

If you live in the Bay Area, you are probably aware of Straus products: The glass milk bottles with the cream top, the yogurt and butter awarded prizes by the American Cheese Society, the new ice cream products, and my favorite - egg nog in glass bottles during the holiday season.

Straus is a great example of a company that melds wonderful product and taste with ground-breaking organic and environmental practices. There are many reasons I am excited about the Straus creamery:

* They are one of only a few companies that process their products -- and only their products -- in their own creamery. They make every decision from beginning to end.

* They have a closed cow crop. The cows that they use are born and raised on their farms. They create a calm, stressfree environment for their cows. Cows are not crowded, and are allowed to roam.

* They create their own electricity with the methane waste from their cows - so much electricity that they are saving approximately $6000 a month in power charges. More importantly, they have been able to take something that can be harmful to the enviroment and turn it into a benefit. My hope is that this will be replicated many times over in other dairy farms. (Read more about the methane digester here.)

* They take their role as leaders in the industry seriously. They understand that others look to them. Mr. Straus is always answering questions from others in the dairy industry, and they provide educational tours and a great website for the public. To me, the most striking question of the tour was about the team of advisors that the Straus family had when going organic. The tour guide replied that there were not many people that they could look to for advice at the time, and that the Strauses figured most of it out themselves.

If you live on the West Coast, Straus also happens to provide cream-topped milk in plastic containers to the western region stores of an unnamed supermarket chain (two words ... second word rhymes with nose).

I'd highly recommend taking this tour if you are in the area. Check out the MALT site for adult tours. Straus also leads tours for families and children.

Marin Civic Center Farmer's Market

If you talk to any farmer's market fans in the area who have been around more than a couple of years, they will wax poetic about the "old" San Francisco farmer's market - before the Ferry Plaza - on Green Street, or before that in the middle of the Embarcadero.  This was a market with exceptional product and goods, but with the mellow, low-key, local feel of a small town.

Those who would like to recreate that memory need look no farther than the Marin Civic Center farmer's market.  This year-round market is set in the shadow of Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin Civic Center building, and is held on Thursdays and Sundays.

This market has always been a favorite of mine.  I often leave the foggy city, drive up and over the Golden Gate Bridge, and am brought into the sunshine and warmth of Marin County.  Sunday mornings, the drive up is a breeze, and it gives me an opportunity to listen to KFOG's Acoustic Sunrise and check out the beautiful scenery. 

In the spirit of my previous farmer's market reports, I set out to list all the vendors of the market.  This was a losing battle, however, as I would estimate there are over a hundred booths at the Sunday market and I was quickly sidetracked by shopping.

Unlike the San Francisco weekday markets, the Thursday market rivals the Sunday market in size.  Thursdays, I head directly to the Full Belly Farm booth, and am usually able to buy a good portion of my veggies from them.  This is an amazing example of a polycultural farm that sells everything from fruits and herbs and veggies to almond butter, popcorn and wool.  The workers at this booth are always in good spirits, and happy to answer any question.  De Santis Farms is another favorite (both Sundays and Thursdays), bringing citrus fruit and other wonderful goods from the central valley.  De Santis always has an unusual fruit that I have never tried.  This week they had fresh almonds, which Jason's mother has told me are just delicious.

Sundays bring many of the same vendors, as well as some additional farmers who don't come on Thursdays.  Quite a few are represented at both the Ferry Plaza and Marin FM:  Lagier Ranch, Eatwell Farm, Rancho Gordo, Roli Roti, Happy Quail, Hamada Farms, Jersey Hill Cheese, Star Route, and Bodega Goat Cheese Company just to name a few.

I always make a stop at the Rancho Gordo booth for corn tortillas and wonderful beans.  (While Steve is currently at the Ferry Plaza Market, he is not allowed to sell his corn tortillas there.  For the moment, the Marin FM is the best place to pick up these delicious tortillas!)  Orchard Farms from Sebastopol always has a wonderful variety of veggies.  There is also a pistachio vendor who has delicious varieties of pistachios ready for tasting.

If you have the opportunity to drive about 20 minutes up 101 from San Francisco, I can't recommend this market enough.  It is an excellent example of our area's best offerings.

Market information:

Location.  Marin Civic Center, North San Pedro Exit off Hwy 101, San Rafael.  Head east and follow the signs.
Date and Time.  Year-round.  Thursdays and Sundays, 8am - 1pm
More information: Marin County Farmers' Market Association

Interesting Read

A thread began on Chowhound discussing whether the French Laundry is overrated. I have never been to the French Laundry, but found what was said by 'sailorbuoys' (a friend) to be very interesting. She worked at FL over seven years ago, and has an interesting perspective about the French Laundry and the restaurant industry in general.

You can read the full post here.

Among the most eloquent portion:

When you eat at The French Laundry you are paying for someone's apprenticeship. You are paying the farmer (to follow Ms. Waters' work begun over 25 years ago) to grow her/his very particular crop, the one person cheese-making company, etc. This restaurant, CP and many others produce thousands of cooks, chefs and pastry chefs who have begun businesses that employ the same philosophies that they learned in these kitchens, or take them to uncharted territories of sustainability, community-interaction, 'green' building, intentional sourcing etc. (Have you heard of Nextcourse's work?)

The passion, dedication & unbelievably hard work that goes into this food & restaurant will never be measurable. From the farmers, to the slaughterers, to the dishwashers, to the commis', to the persons managing the room and staff of a landmarked (the building cannot be changed so that it will, by political design, only ever be able to seat over 65 diners) building and grounds.

While I don't know that I would ever feel comfortable paying the prices that the French Laundry charges, this post certainly gives another point of view.

Note: there is a possibility this thread will be deleted off of Chowhound. If that happens, drop me a note as I have a copy.