A Cozy Nook

Look what I did with my poorly-covered ottomans (ottomen?): I made a cozy window seat for reading in my office. If I'm in here, I tend to be at the desk. It's nice to have a space to read that has plenty of light during the day and is not right in front of the computer.

Spaghetti with Acorn Squash, Ham and Bok Choy

Ingredients
1 acorn squash, halved and roasted until tender
(or 1/2 butternut squash)
2 small slices ham, about 1 cup
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups bok choy, rinsed and roughly chopped
Spaghetti for 2 people
butter or olive oil

Tools
Pot to boil spaghetti
Knife
Cutting board
Cookie sheet or roasting pan for squash
Short tongs

Method
Put pasta water on to boil.
I skipped right to the part where the squash was already roasted in the ingredients list, but if you need to, cut it in half, seed it, sprinkle with salt, and brush with olive oil. Roast at 350 until tender but not mushy. This is going to take a while-- maybe 45 minutes to an hour, so don't start your pasta too soon.
Add pasta to boiling water.
Cut ham into small cubes, mince garlic, chop bok choy. Set aside.
With a knife, peel skin from squash once cooled, or scoop out flesh with a spoon. Cut in cubish shapes as much as possible. (You can also purchase pre-cut squash at the store and roast cubes.)
When pasta is cooked al dente, drain, leaving just a bit of water in the pan. Put garlic and ham into hot pasta pan and stir for a minute or two. Add the squash and bok choy and stir so that the steam from the squash and the pan steams the bok choy.
Toss the pasta with a dab of butter or olive oil to keep it from sticking. When the bok choy has softened but is still bright green, mix the pasta in with the ham and vegetables. The ham should be salty enough that you shouldn't need salt or parmesan for flavor, but a generous sprinkling of pepper is nice. Sorry no pictures. It's too dark and I'd have to use flash.

Now, can someone help me with some ideas for peppers? I must have 3 weeks worth of peppers in the fridge, and we just don't eat them fast enough. Lately I've been slicing them and putting them in everything. Actually, they were delicious in a carnitas taco with lots of lime on a soft corn tortilla. Make that 3 tacos.

What to Eat Recap II

Okay, after a brief book break, I am again slogging through What to Eat. And I'm glad. The second half is going fairly quickly. I really like Marion's common sense style and enlightening but not overly technical prose. She writes like a very good teacher speaks, and illustrates her points well. The second half of the book deals with a lot of the things I don't even look at or buy anymore, like frozen processed foods, cereals and kids stuff. I don't even have to go down those aisles in the store anymore.

I did take a closer look at some bread packages in the store because of her chapter on grains. And I do feel justified in buying organic (unless it's from China) even when it doesn't matter (mostly it does), just to cast my vote for organic farming. So I searched a little harder for the bread that said "made with organic grains" and then I looked for the fiber content and picked the one that had the most fiber from whole grain.

Fish: No farmed salmon. No shrimp. Go nuts on the farmed mussels and shellfish. But not raw, at least not often. Go here to get your fish advisory card from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (This is an overlap from last time, as fish spans several chapters.) The fishing industry is for the most part an "extraction" industry-- like timber and mining-- unless regulated otherwise. You have to vote with your dollars and your voice to force the industry to become sustainable. Some parts of it already are.

Eggs: Don't eat too many. Cook them before you eat them. Don't buy eggs that are "United Egg Producers Certified"; it doesn't mean anything at all in terms of how the eggs are produced or the hens are treated. BO-gus marketing crap.

Frozen Processed Food: Skip it. Does it really take that long to heat up a quesadilla? Make yourself some soup, grill yourself a sandwich. Go to Epicurious, or even the George Foreman Recipes page for some inspiration.

Frozen Vegetables: A-ok. The shorter the ingredient list the better. Nutritionally, often as good as fresh.

Oils: All oils have the same calories. Look for oils vs. solid fats, and aim for zero trans-fats and zero saturated fats. Animal fats have cholesterol, vegetable fats don't. Look for olive, safflower and canola oils.

Refined Flour, Sugar and Cereals: Read the label for hidden sugars (including processed fruit juices), aim for whole-grain products. Try and keep sugar to 10% or less of your daily calories.
Cereal boxes with the Heart Association endorsement have to pay for that privilege. Boxes that say "proud supporter of" pay for that as well-- it doesn't have anything to do with what's in the box. Post cereals don't get to have the Heart Association heart because they are owned by a company that makes cigarettes.

Bottled Water: Don't need it. Try a re-fillable Kleen Kanteen or Sigg bottle.

What it often comes down to is the fact that every industry wants to continue to grow and profit, and nobody wants to change or stop doing what they are doing until it becomes profitable to change or inevitable that they will die if they don't. Sustainability only works if there is financial motivation to be sustainable. Organic growers who can't make a profit will perish. So support what you believe in.

I do feel like I've gotten a good foundation in what's real and what isn't from the book, and I'm pretty happy with my buying habits. By the way, I calculated the cost per day of our weekly veggie box from River Dog , and it's less than $2.50 a day. That's a latte. Or a fancy bottled water if you buy it at the gym. For organically grown vegetables, in season, picked close to home and delivered the day they are picked. If you have a CSA nearby, it makes sense to support it. Here's a resource to find one.

At The Lake

Mike and I spent Saturday and part of Sunday celebrating a friend's birthday on the lake in Lake County. Something like 14 adults, 7 children, more wine and beer than we could consume (maybe we're just getting old), and tons and tons of good food and laughter.

All That Junk-- Drinking and Blogging II

My hair (which is huge) is thick with the smell of cigar smoke. In the distance, I can barely make out the throb of "My Humps" (What you gon' do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk? If you have not seen the Alanis Morisette version, you must.) I've had a glass of wine, and a shot of tequila, but I'm home and on the computer. I'm not sure, but I think I might actually have become a grown-up.

Tonight was/is the winery's annual post-harvest party. I came home from work, had a little snack because I knew I'd be having wine, took my vitamins and drank a glass of water. I touched up my makeup, cajoled my hair into taking a less Roseanne Roseannadanna-like shape and went over to the party. I made a point of saying hello to nice people I remember from last year's party, and people I've been meaning to meet. I tasted thoughtfully through a "vertical" of ten years each of Petit Syrah (their spelling) and Cabernet Sauvignon. I ate dinner and listened to mariachis play La Bamba, and a bunch of other deafening traditional songs featuring many trumpets. In my ear. While I was eating a taco. Made by a German.

I watched the kids (and some adults) dance to a bad dj. The same bad dj they had last year. Crap segues from, for example, Brick House to Billie Jean, with a little classic TEQUILA! and Baby Got Back thrown in. (He has to play it, it's on the list.) Now and again something actually from this decade. I'm surprised there's no chicken dancing. The kids love it. They just dance and dance. The oldest one is 12, the youngest, an exceptionally tired-and-wired 3. My little ranch neighbor girls, Arnulfo's daughters, are pretty bad-ass dancers, by the way. I wish I had their cool style when I was 8. Rather than slamming back another couple of shots of tequila and showing my age by jumping up to boogie to KC and the Sunshine Band (not that I didn't bust out some Rollercoaster of Love on the i-pod today, which I did) I walked home. You Shook Me All Night Long serenaded my starry egress. (A starry egress, you say? Would that be a leggy bird painted swirly blue?)

Now I can hear "Shout" creeping in my open screen door from the darkness. Truly one of the most annoying songs in the whole world to dance to. But that's beside the point.

The point is, in spite of my grousing, I had a good time. It was a really nice party. Everyone had fun, but I didn't need to be a part of every nook and cranny of it. I didn't feel the need to keep up with the boys. (Nor to go home with them, except the one I came with.) I didn't nervously over-serve myself, or get myself into drunken conversations from which I couldn't extract myself, or from which someone else couldn't extract him or herself. And I didn't worry that anyone would think that I was this or that if I simply walked home. I'd like to take a shower and wash this smell out of my enormous hair. I would like to read in bed, clean and cozy in my flannel jammies, and most importantly, I'd like to wake up tomorrow feeling normal instead of having throbbing eyeballs and a sweatered gecko for a tongue.

I will probably stay up late if I can, just to make sure Mike gets home ok. He's got a short walk, but he looks after the boys to make sure anyone who overdoes it is in good hands. William, the Kiwi assistant winemaker, takes over when it gets down to the final few stalwarts still playing pool stonefaced, like old-time sharks, down in the smoking room. The company pays for free taxis for anyone who wants one, but you know it's about as easy to get a drunk in a taxi as it is to get a big baby in a small snowsuit. Still, they've put the taxi company number on little slips of paper in discreet little trays all over the place, next to every bar, and the taxi company knows that the company picks up the tab tonight. I actually overheard one guy telling another that it was a good deal, and he should think about it for later.

The dog just wanted out, so I danced a few funky steps with my shadow to the thumping beats still ringing out in the dark of our little valley. Over at the party, the youngsters (not the dancing children-- the older ones) are still drinking and smoking cigars, and apparently, they still need the funk. Gotta have that funk.
G'nite.

Walk This Way

I haven't posted very many pictures lately, so I thought I'd put up some images from our walk this morning. The garden has sort of quieted down, but the valley is just stunning. It's the last day of picking for just about everyone. We had a nice, solid rain the night before last, and the air is again fresh and full of mist and the smell of bay. Wish you were here.

Say Goodbye to The Man

Ok, my one month experiment with AdSense is now over. I don't know if you noticed, but I had some small Google ads along the side of the blog for a while. AdSense ads pull keywords from your blog and direct readers to topical advertisers. You don't get paid to have the ads on your blog, you get paid when someone clicks through to the ad. But you're not allowed, according to Google's rules, to say "Hey, go check out these ads so I can make money." The advertisers want legitimate customers, not just drive-bys. So I thought I'd stick some on there and see what happened. In one month, I managed to rack up a whopping fifteen cents. That's right, .15. Woo-hoo! So, as of today, the site will be ad-free for a while.

A Couple of Good Ideas

You know when you're cooking, and the recipe calls for "1 c red wine" or some other silly amount? You don't want to open a bottle of something if you're not going to finish it. Quite often, you're going to have wine anyway, but sometimes you're not. Or sometimes you don't want to dump two cups of the special wine you've bought to have with dinner into the sauce, forcing you to open a second bottle with dinner. For a while, I was keeping small amounts of leftover wine in the freezer in bags, but it never freezes all the way, or I forget about it, or it gets in the way. I take after my grandma in the freezer department, so I'm always needing to make room for something else, and the fermented grape slushies had to go.

I'm sure that the Gotts and Co. of Three Thieves didn't intend to make cooking wine when they made these little 250 ml "bullets" but they sure work for that. The wine is not that great, but it's just fine for sauces, and you can stow it in the pantry until you need it. I'm a pretty open-minded wine drinker, by the way, and I'm not afraid of a low price tag in and of itself. (A two-buck price tag is a no-no, however, if you get my drift. I have tried that stuff, and it is gross.) I have been known to buy whole cases of $6.99 chablis from Trader Joe's and like it. Not often, but once or twice. I've had their tetra-pak of Pinot Grigio before, and it was actually ok. But anyway, it's a solution to the cooking wine dilemma.

The next good idea is this Pharmaca thing. We just got one. Very smart. It's a beautiful, open store, with pretty displays and lots of light and color. There are testers, free samples and a licensed aesthetician in the cosmetics area... and a sink and towels for washing the tests off. Why is this smart? Because cosmetics are high-dollar items. Not only are they profitable for the store, but people want to check them out before they take them home. If I trust that I'm getting good advice, and I get to feel and smell the product, not only am I going to buy it, but I'm going to feel good about my purchase and return. See? Smart.

They are stepping right onto the escalator of the current natural/organic trend, but by being an "integrative" pharmacy, they also offer band-aids and regular old stuff like Doctor Scholl's products for your feet, and tampons (conventional, organic cotton and bleach-free), and soap and magazines. So if I'm curious, I can pop in there and check out my options without worrying that I'm wasting a trip. A lot of the things I want are there. It has its drawbacks, of course. The main and most profitable purpose, and the one that takes up the most shelf space, is supplements. Of which they have their own brand. Which most people don't need. There are all sorts of trendy things, like CLA, whey protein, I couldn't even begin to list them all. If you want it, it's there. And the illusion is that if it's there, it's good for you. And there are some things that just aren't. So I'm hoping that the sales-folks are well-trained enough not to overly recommend things that are potentially harmful in high doses. That could lead to trouble.

Curly Girl

I don't know if you know this (it sort of depends on how long you've known me) but I have curly hair. With rare exceptions, I've blown my hair straight or pulled it back into a straight ponytail every single day for ten years. If I allow my hair to dry all the way from wet, I have little ringlets all over my head. My adult hair is the hair of my father's side of the family: brown with a little red, and curly. I remember seeing my uncle Lee in the 70s. He had a glorious head of soft past-shoulder-length corkscrews that was tinged with gold at the front from sun and surf. That was some joyful hair.

Through junior high school, when "feathered" hair was the thing, I got up at 5:30 in the morning to shower so I could dry my hair and re-curl it with a curling iron, dress and run to catch the bus. Thick Central Valley fog or worse-- drizzling rain-- often turned my carefully arranged tresses into silly-looking swirls, the most annoying being the two devil horns that would emerge at my temples. Winter was not a good time for me during those years.

But let's move quickly through the history of my hair and to the present. (Honestly, how interesting can it be?) Recently, I came upon a book in the public library called "Curly Girl" written by a ringlet-topped hairdresser from New York. I was inspired. She calls her little book "a celebration of curls". I've never celebrated my curls. Except, I now remember, one summer in the 80's, when big hair ruled and I got voted "Best Hair" on the college swim team. How about that?! But fame was fleeting, and straight hair came right back in again and has been in ever since.

It was not until I picked up this book that I ever considered my curls might be "Botticelli curls" (one of three types she mentions in the book, the others being "corkscrew" and "wave"). Suddenly, I felt lucky, rather than cursed. I was skeptical when she described her curl-care regime, which required that I give up *gasp* shampoo. Shampoo?? Never wash my hair again? Gosh darnit, but it works. I rinse my hair with clean water. I condition my hair and scrub my scalp gently, and then I rinse out some, but not all, of the conditioner. My hair has been soft and curly, and I have spent about 1/4 of the time on it each day, as long as you don't count air-drying. I have even gotten out of the pool after swimming, conditioned it, and dried it by driving home with the windows open on a warm day. I am free. Mike says it is flattering on me. People seem nicer. I feel more relaxed, less worried about whether I am having a good or a bad hair day. I don't have to check the weather before I decide how to do my hair for the day for the first time in years.

I am not looking forward to breaking the news to my hairdresser that I'm going to be growing it out for a while: that's the "let's just be friends" of the hairdressing world. I'll still go back for highlights and maybe some richer color later this fall.

As I wrote this post, I kept stopping myself. It's kind of boring to talk about your own hair, much less how you wash your own hair. Snoresville. Can I see your vacation slides after that? I am posting this just in case some other curly sister (this is how I've come to think of other curly girls when I see them on the street) is frustrated and feels ugly and awful and like she doesn't fit in. She's searching "curly" on google or something, and she comes across this post, or this book, and finds a way to appreciate herself for who she is and let go of conventions about beauty that don't fit. That's worth a little bit of boredom on the part of straight-haired folks, isn't it?

Oh hey!

The saga of Angel, the little dog without a home, has a happy ending: Angel has just this past weekend gone to live with a single mom and her 16-year-old daughter, who love her and goo all over her and think she is the ultimate doggie princess. Just as she should be.

"When I'm open, joyful, curious and compassionate, I look my best." --Susan Sarandon, in Bobbi Brown's Living Beauty

The Hills are Alive with the Smell of Manure

The valley is at its most beautiful right now: colored leaves, beautiful light, morning mist. Today is the last day of picking at Hendry. By noon, the last of the Cabernet will be in tanks, sweet, dark berries awaiting fermentation. Throughout the valley, farmers are doing what farmers always do after the harvest-- fertilizing.

What to Eat Recap

To summarize, so far we have the following:

Produce: Buy organic, in season and local when you can. Do your best. It is better to eat fruits and vegetables that are locally produced and conventional than none at all. If you can't get either, it is still better to eat the vegetables.

Milk and Dairy: Buy organic. Choose non-fat versions wherever possible. Though there are many claims that dairy calcium specifically (vs. other forms of calcium) aids in weight loss, the total calories, and calories from fat (which is saturated fat) still count toward your daily total. Buy non-fat or at the least, low-fat.

There are no "magic" foods, so just because something is labeled "yogurt" does not mean it is good for you-- before you buy yogurt-based products, especially those directed at kids, be sure to note the sugar and fat content.

Meat: Buy less of it if possible. If you are going to buy it, buy organic. If organic is not available (as it often is not) remember that "natural" has no officially monitored or agreed-upon definition, so you are depending on the producers to police themselves. Read the package label if available and decide for yourself if it is worth the price.

Fish: Again, do your best. Except for tuna, swordfish, caviar, shrimp* and shark, it is still better to eat fish than no fish. Seek out resources like the Monterey Bay Aquarium's guide to sustainable and least-likely-to-be-contaminated fish species. Try tilapia, but make sure it's from the U.S.. Ask at your fish counter where the fish come from and how they are caught. If they don't know or give you "fishy" answers, shop elsewhere.

*This is from my own research, not the book. It breaks my heart to have to give up shrimp, but American shrimp are netted with drag nets, and imported shrimp are farmed in such an environmentally devastating manner that not only would you not want to support the practices, you wouldn't want to consume them. There is one producer I know of, Kauai shrimp, which is farmed sustainably. Buy those and keep them in the freezer for when you have a craving. DO NOT support chain restaurant "All You Can Eat" shrimp events, or buy shrimp that is not sustainably fished or produced. Ever. For me.

Soy: Just another food. Don't overdo it, don't worry about it. As above, buy organic.

Margarine: Don't bother.

Vitamins: Don't overdo it. Food is a better source than supplements, but it won't hurt you to take one now and then.

Summary: Don't forget that everyone is out there to sell something. Don't believe everything fed to you by food industry lobbying and marketing agencies. The best food is the most local, the least processed, and organically grown, eaten in moderation. Eat more fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors, whenever possible. Enjoy your food.

Coming up in the second half of the book: Eggs, cereals, flours, beverages.

Quick White Bean and Tomato Soup with Chard

Quick White Bean and Tomato Soup with Chard

Ingredients

2 cups broth of your choice
1 cup large cooked white beans
1 cup swiss chard, fresh or frozen, cut into 1 inch strips
1/2 c stewed canned or fresh chopped tomatoes plus juice
Salt
Herbs of your choice- try fresh oregano

Materials
Small saucepan
Knife

Method
Combine all ingredients in saucepan, bring to a boil, simmer
Season to taste
Serve with Kristin's Irish Soda/Oatmeal Bread, recipe below

The more time you have, the more dimensions you can give this soup. This was the super-quick version, but you can also start with 1/2 cup diced white or yellow onion and 1/c diced ham and a teaspoon of chopped fresh herbs, cook until carmelized, then add the rest of the ingredients, or sprinkle the ham cubes in at the end... or make your own chicken stock. If you come across an abundance of swiss chard this Fall as I have, wash and chop it, and keep it in zipper bags in the freezer to add to soups like this, or to make a very quick winter vegetable side dish.

This delicious bread was made for me by my friend Kristin. We have been having a slice for breakfast every day, and today I dunked it in my soup. Yum.

Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I used half whole wheat)
1 1/4 cup quick rolled oats (I used multi-grain)
1 1/2 tablespoon baking power
1 tablespoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease well , dust with flour, a bread pan

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients flour, oats, baking powder, salt In a separate bowl, using a rotary beater, mix wet ingredients egg, honey and milk

Mix two bowls together--mixture will not be smooth--(I think I'd do this part by hand next time).

Pour into bread pan, bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (mine only took 45 -50 minutes), or until crusty and tester comes out clean.

Pour melted butter over hot loaf and turn out on wire rack.
via cdkitchen.com

Looks Better Than It Tastes

I made this so-called Ricotta Teacake with Lemon Curd after swooning over Tartelette. The texture of the cake appears similar to the texture in her photo, but I am sure it is not supposed to be as heavy as mine turned out to be. Her layers somehow appear more delicate, and I doubt her lemon curd was laid out in slabs due to the fact that it had become very resilient lemon jell-o. The flavors were nice, but I would not say this is my favorite cake. Might try again.