Over Urth

I have been really excited to eat lunch at Urth Caffe in Santa Monica since becoming a Venice Beach resident. It's the place my friend Mark and I would go on all of my visits to see him over the past few years and when I was planning on moving here I relished the idea that I could pop into the cafe at whim and order up one of their urth-ly delights, because the food can be really good. Great matcha drinks in all different forms, luscious organic salads, interesting wraps, gobo teas, magnificent muffins and more.

But, the other day when I went to lunch there I realized that all my prior visits must have been filled with that kind of "ignore-your-wallet" mentality that allows us to plop down more than average dollars for items we normally wouldn't even consider spending that kind of dough for when we are on vacation or away from our home towns.

Yes, they have mastered the art of cappuccino foam art, but so has Groundwork where you file into a tiny hole in the wall space, get greeted by a jovial girl commandeering the espresso machine and get to read your daily horoscope that they paste on the counter top daily with care in a very grassroots and personalized way.

This whole meal cost me $16. That's not a dinner plate, but a small side plate of salad. And it's only the half order. Urth Salad is a yummy thing with hearts of pine, garbanzo beans, feta cheese and artisanal lettuces but notice the only two tiny tomatoes? Very delicious ginger, carrot, celery and beet juice as well but it came to me warm.

The place is always super packed, customer service doesn't seem to be high on anyone's mind, and it's oftentimes hard to find seating. I can do better at the Venice Farmer's Market and recreate that salad anytime at home. I'm over Urth and not likely to go back anytime soon.

Izakaya at Aburiya Toranoko

This past Sunday I was invited to a night of Japanese culinary and cultural celebration by my friend Bill that began with my first experience with Izakaya (Japanese tapas) and ended with a dance performance at the Japanese American Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

We chose the restaurant Aburiya Tokanoko because of its across the street proximity to the theater but also because we had both been reading exemplary reviews of the place that offered more than sushi and was rumored to have a bar staffed with an exquisite mixologist.

The restaurant, dimly lit and bustling with street energy, offered a New York meets Tokyo style ambiance with its graffiti mural along one wall and triptych above the sushi bar that was reminiscent of old traditional Japanese tiger, nature and warrior paintings. The service was a tad bit slow but the meal was memorable.

I love places where you can order a bunch of small plates and share them. We quickly chose a round of dishes that appealed to us, deciding to forego the sushi since we could get sushi anywhere and there were too many delights on the menu to tantalize us away from that usual fare. I imagine all of our dishes, if they had been dumbed down a bit in ingredient and price, could easily mirror things we might find at two a.m. on any Tokyo street side food vendor's cart. Although I thought our order wasn't going to be enough for dinner, as sizes here range on the very small side of the scale, I was pleasantly full at the end of our meal. It reminded me that when you order a bunch of small things and enjoy them with relish, taking your time between bites of creatively concocted cuisine, you actually have enough time to feel full and not overindulge.

Pickled Octopus with Cucumbers

Perfectly seasoned with just the amount of sweet pickled tang, this cold and refreshing starter was full of julienned, chewy bits of octopus and thin slices of refreshing cucumber intensified by the subtle nuttiness of sesame seeds that packed a lot of punch in each bite.

Eggplant with Sweet Miso

This was my favorite dish of the meal. I love eggplant and order it whenever I see it on a menu, always surprised at the myriad ways it can be cooked, seasoned and textured. This now competes with the the warm julienned eggplant, mozarella, corn and olive oil salad I ate daily at a bistro in Venice, Italy six years ago as my top eggplant dish. Boiling hot chunks of eggplant swimming in a creamy, warm sweet miso paste and topped with the added crunch of sprinkled sesame seeds. I will order this again and may make a special trip just because of this dish. Comfort food in small bites.

"Chikuwabu" Fish Cake

My dinner companion was not that fond of this dish but I liked it. For those who are not into "fishy" tastes, stay away, but those who love the taste of the ocean like I do, order away! It's an acquired taste for sure. A dense, chewy roll swimming in a sauce of pure briny delight, made even better when powered up by a dab of the accompanying specially made yellow wasabi sauce. The sea, the fire, and the flesh in one concise mouthful.

Chili Shrimp

Extremely spicy little plump and delicious shrimp full of fire that popped in the mouth and seared the tongue. 

BBQ Pig's Feet

The restaurant serves up an alternative chef's specials menu nightly depending on whatever they have around for that day. We asked the waitress what we should order for the evening in this spirit and she pointed to an adjoining table where the patrons were slurping bones joyously. So we ordered the BBQ pork feet in the spirit of Anthony Bourdain and were pleasantly surprised. Although you had to literally wield around bones and between toes to get the elusive slivers of gelatinous, chewy, and tiny chunks of meat amounting to probably only a few bites in the overall experience, it was fun and very tasty in a sweet caramelized meaty way.

Shiso Leaf Vodka Infused Martini

The place has the ordinary list of good sakes, Asian beers and rice or traditional wines and my dinner companion who is a straight up martini man stuck safely with those. I am typically a Sapporo girl in joints like this but because I am always tantalized by the words "expert mixologist" I decided to try a cocktail. My first attempt, the Ginger Dream Martini, was a disappointment. It tasted like watered down champagne absent of vodka. But my second attempt, the Shiso leaf infused vodka martini was incredible. Floating with a giant leaf, it tasted verdant, bitter and green like the forest and is something I would definitely drink again.

Although we also ordered the White Fish Sashimi with Kiwi, we were both not pleased with the thinnest ever slices of fish that were almost transparent and swimming with a thick kiwi sauce that was way too sweet that it overpowered the fish that was hardly there to begin with. 

I would like to go back to see if this is the case with all the sushi or not and will definitely go back for a fresh round of untried tapas in the future until I conquer the entire menu!

Sumptuous Saturday Sloth at Joe's

I walk past Joe's Restaurant everyday on my afternoon walk but today I had the opportunity to eat within its hallowed walls. I say hallowed because my favorite places in the world are the ones where the chefs decide what they are making daily on the day that they are making it according to what is fresh, local and interesting in the moment. What a way to stay passionate about your culinary calling! Everyday a blank slate to fill with something thought up on the spot and delivered to a crowd used to trusting such surprises....

A meeting today with my friend Michael and his gallerist over the most interesting brunch I have had, ever, maybe. The reason simply being in my entree of grilled shrimp served with a fried egg over honey grits with walnuts embedded into the mix. Comfort food gone extreme, served in small portions to just delight the palate but not overindulge it.

Prior to that a bread plate was served. Sweet dark breads shared a plate with a bastard child of sourdough and brioche that was fluffy and served with jam or butter. The hostess suggested the pate plate as a starter and we enjoyed it, again in small bites. A slice of perfect pate with some radish and salmon and grainy rich mustard worthy of an Austrian meal.

Everything in small bites so that you had to savor each one.

To top it all off, very good espresso in tiny white cups with lemon wedges.

Unorthodox Meals: "Worthy of its Rainbow Moniker" Trout

You know how it is when you first move into new digs, the kitchen is usually the last thing you unpack and replenish. Especially when there are colorful art supplies to arrange, clothes to arrange and all your favorite photos to place around your new space. The pantry suffers until exhausted from your efforts you realize suddenly on a Sunday afternoon that you are hungry.

I had made a trip to the Farmer's Market for greens but hadn't gone much further and was living on salads for a week when I realized I would finally have to go shopping the next day but alas wasn't ready to put on the shoes and make the trek to a local Whole Foods yet on a grey, gloomy beach afternoon. I finally opened the freezer to see what bounty a close friend had brought over to hold me over and found an odd assortment of things: frozen fiber bagels, some stir fry veggies, a whole turkey leg, a piece of rainbow trout and some jars of exotic condiments.

Rainbow trout! I have never really been a friend of trout. I think the last time I ate a piece it was seriously smoked and laid on a bed of greens at lunchtime years ago when I worked for an insane artist who had a penchant for dry fish. I wasn't really impressed and usually am a bit of an embarrased snob when it comes to filets of the sea, preferring salmon and halibut and scallops and shrimp and other bizarre bits. But I was determined to try and make something glorious with the glowing pink steak and ended up making something that was worthy of its "rainbow" moniker.

My Midwest mother raised us on dishes where every protein on the plate could easily be mashed in a pile with the veggies and potatoes and cream sauces that seemed to accompany everything so that the whole mushed together bite would deliver a delight. I am proud to say that this meal qualifies in that realm as well, albeit in a signature to Southern California way.

Rainbow Chutney Trout and Green Beans

Cut a beautiful one inch thick filet of trout from the middle, most wide portion of the steak.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of crudely diced white onion, 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup of chopped fresh mango, salt and pepper and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Let sit for ten minutes so the flavors have a chance to meet and mingle.

Oil a piece of tin foil and place the trout filet on it and cover that with the chutney mixture. Pull the tin foil up and pinch at the ends so it makes a nice little boat for the fish but leave a hole open in the center for steam to escape.

Separately, fill a baking dish with green beans. Chop up two cloves of garlic and throw them in the dish around the beans. Throw in three pats of butter and sprinkle rosemary on top from three long, fresh sprigs. Salt and pepper to your liking.

Put the trout and the beans into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and voila! The trout comes out beautifully moist with a sweetness accentuated by crunchy onions and exquisite cilantro scents. The beans get all shriveled and crusty with the fragrance of rosemary. Put on a pretty plate and enjoy! My mother would be proud...

Manhattan Beach Greek

In early September I made my annual trip to Burning Man and the theme was Rites of Passage. For me, this held particular meaning because the moment I came back from the ten days out on the Playa I moved right into my new home in Venice Beach. I had bought a bike for the Burn and settled into my new home with the intention to begin bike riding again regularly. I made a vow to use my car as little as possible, instead biking when I could to go about my daily life. One of my friends who I met at Burning Man is a man named Ray who coincidentally, I came to find out, lives only a four minute bike ride from my new place. Last weekend, he helped me begin my new biking goal by taking me on a 22 mile round trip ride along the coast from Venice to Manhattan Beach.

Riding along the coast was interesting as we passed the cities of Marina Del Rey, El Segundo and Playa del Rey and watched all the weekend revelers on the sand. Fit young things playing beach volleyball were interspersed with the RV set who plopped their chairs in the ground around smoky smelling barbecue grills. Serious speed roller bladers whizzed by me as I pedaled feeling the long lost muscles in my thighs become rejuvenated. At the end of the jaunt, Ray rewarded me with a meal at an upscale Greek restaurant in Manhattan Beach called Petros., which touts itself as serving Hellenic-California cuisine.

We had to power our way up the steep road from coast to the restaurant and by the time we arrived, locked our bikes, and took our seats, I was ready for a nice glass of foreign red and a healthy meal to accompany my new healthy, physical routine.

An open air atmosphere and serene beige interiors weaving the in and outdoor seating areas were dotted with simple, peach and light pink lead crystal candles on the table centers. It was unadorned and elegant, just like the simple bread basket filled with nice olive studded dark and sweet, sesame crusted white slices, upon which we spread a garlic and fava bean spread from a pool of high-caliber olive oil.

 

Lucky for me there was a special peach salad of the day in honor of the fruit's fresh seasonality. A crisp white plate appeared with five plump, grilled shrimp surrounding a magnificent bed of arugula towering atop diced, moist peaches. The arugula was mixed lightly with olive oil and manouri cheese  so that it became a fluffy, creamy and peppery dream in each bite that mixed perfectly with the room temperature, perfectly ripened peach chunks. The charred bite of the shrimp added to the salad, blending into the perfect combination of juicy, light and tangy that my taste buds were singing for. It filled me up but was light enough to give me fuel to head the 11 miles back home afterwards.

Ray had traditional chicken souvlaki and the menu boasted all the regular Grecian fare from spanakopita to lamb kebabs, but it was this special salad that impressed me and will have me going back for more. I could easily get used to this 22 mile ride with a delicious pit stop midway to rev up my body's fire.

Garden Topped Margherita Pie

Tea With Iris' spokesmodel Elle in one of the company's new upcycled bows!

Yesterday I was visiting the desert for some business meetings and had an hour to kill between them. I have been missing my beautiful friend Leslie of Tea With Iris and her garden that used to provide my weekly doses of homegrown goodness. So, I gave her a call and she invited me over for an impromptu pizza lunch.

The beautiful thing about having a garden in your backyard is the multitude of additions you can throw onto a Trader Joe's pre-made, frozen margherita pizza. 

Ours was topped with diced yellow squash and new, ripe, gloriously-purple eggplants freshly plucked. 

 

Diced red tomato provided a nice crunch and after the pizza cooked on went chopped up pieces of fragrant basil, cilantro and arugula!

The end result produced extremely pungent, crispy, crunchy, and cheese-gooey slices of wonderful pizza pie to enjoy our catch up time alongside!

"Just Like Momma Made It" Spanakorizo

Last night a dear friend of mine contributed a native dish to a potluck I attended and I loved it so much that I took the leftovers for today's lunch.

Panos is a filmmaker from Greece and he made creamy Spanakorizo, a traditional side dish served in every Grecian home, equivalent to mashed potatoes or rice pilaf or any Midwest casserole in America. Those side dishes are not so glamorous to us foodies who were raised on them, although when it comes to hankering for home cooked comfort foods they are often the dog-eared and grease stained recipe cards we turn to for a belly full of yum and nostalgia for mom's cooking.

When Panos came to America he remembers having to call his mother constantly for the recipes of his favorite foods. I recall my sister and myself doing the same thing to our mother upon fleeing the coop, items such as Swedish pot roast, tater tot casserole, creamed peas and salmon patties and scalloped potatoes.

Paired with a sweet eggplant spread-stuffed turnover and a can of Name Tag Lager, the rice tasted even better on day two. It will definitely be a go-to for me in the future.

PANOS' "JUST LIKE MOMMA MADE IT" SPANAKORIZO

Buy three bunches of spinach, 1 bunch of scallions, a can of tomato sauce, and 1 cup of rice.

Bring water to a boiling point, and boil the spinach for 5 minutes, then drain.

Saute the scallions in olive oil.

Add two cups of water to the scallions.

Add the rice, spinach and tomato sauce.

Bring it to a boiling point and then turn down to half.

Cover it up and let cook for 25 minutes.

Unorthodox Meals: Sinless Squaw Sandwich

Squaw bread is a beautiful thing. Dark and rich, it's typically made with unbleached, whole wheat and rye flours, yeast, milk, butter and not much else. My latest purchase of a loaf came from The Breadman, an L.A. based bakery that specializes in all natural artisan breads and pastries. They add a tiny bit of honey and brown sugar to create just the slightest hint of sweetness to the taste.

It is the bed of choice for one of my favorite sandwiches that includes all the right textural ingredients for a blissful mouthful. Creamy, crunchy, and popping with bursts of juice!

Sinless Squaw Sandwich

Cut two slices of squaw bread from a fresh loaf about half an inch thick.

Spread a layer of lowfat ricotta cheese on one slice.

Spread half of a soft avocado on the other slice.

Stud the ricotta layer with sliced, ripe cherry tomato halves.

Grab a handful of leafy artisanal lettuces and pile on the avocado side.

Salt and pepper to your liking and fold together.

Voila!

In Praise of Farmer's Markets

I am a firm believer in buying fresh and local foods in support of our farmers, organic producers and overall environmental factors that favor fresh and sustainable seasonal eating over transportation waste, energy usage, packaging, manufacturing, and fare chock full of bizarre chemical preservatives.

It used to be that people were weary of eating organic because they thought it cost more than a regular grocery store but today with the advent of weekly farmer's markets, it's easy to buy your weekly food for fractions of the cost you would pay on similar items in the grocery store that factor in travel from farm to store shelf as well as employee labor into the mix. Plus, you get the best tasting food because it is grown, plucked and delivered right to your neighborhood market as it is grown, when it is in season, and while it is fresh.

Today, I visited the Venice Farmer's Market in my new neighborhood with a veteran shopper and new friend Jacquelyn who owns the organic, herbal elixir company Chakwave and spent $58 dollars on enough food for a whole week. Times four, that equals $232 dollars, a fraction of my old monthly supermarket grocery bills. Sure, I will have to supplement my bounty once in a while with things like salt and pepper and other staples, but I am thrilled to eat what is readily available and to know that every week will be a treasure hunt of what is ready for the eating and a creative new approach at daily recipe creation.

But it's not only about the cornucopia of the food. It's about the relationships I will build with the farmer's and sellers and the dialogue about food and interesting ways to use it that will come into play that excites me.

Today's bounty was not about merely shopping, but about getting to know the sparkle of the individual vendors and discovering items and new ways to consider their usage.

This included:

-a leafy head of kale for my thyme-tinged omelets, for baking olive oil spiced kale chips and for sprucing up a salad with crunchy texture

-pungent cilantro for salsas and slaws

-plump blackberries to pluck at random from the fridge for snacks or to blend into probiotic rich smoothies

-enormous heads of garlic

-sweet baby red onions for tacos

-gluten free, moist cookie squares adorned with chocolate chips and peanut butter made with love by opera singer Sonia Kazarova

-a bunch of yummy goodness from the cute boys at the Greek booth including eggplant turnovers that are great sandwich substitutes, greek feta cheese in a tub of oil, large balls of falafel for stuffing into pita with hummus, and tabouleh salad for refreshing side dishes

-bags of pinolas and filberts to accentuate fruity mixed green salads

-a long stick of rosemary to rub on roasted chicken and new potatoes

-a round loaf of dark squaw bread to pull chunks from for dipping into soups and various vegetable dips

-starter pots of swiss chard and collard greens for planting in the garden accompanied by directions by the passionate seller on what conditions to grow the goodness within

-clean, cool, and juicy radish sprouts from ther Jazzy herbalist who sticks to his sobriety program by playing music to his various sprouts with love for sprinkling on hearty tomato, ricotta and avocado sandwiches

-Korean pickled daikon and tempe for sprucing up vegetarian dishes and stir frys

-brown sticky rice to eat with the fingers for snacks

-robust yellow squashes to slice and then simmer in olive oil, salt and pepper with a crust of blackened parmesan cheese

-beautiful and massive peaches to slice up for dessert with lemon juice or creme fraiche

 -and a cup of hearty brewed and bold coffee to enjoy the beautiful morning while shopping

I am not sure I will ever enter a conventional store again.

Miramonte Munchies with the Mentor

My mentor, the artist Gesso Cocteau, is constantly feeding me when I go to her house for my regular monthly afternoon visits. Vitamin packets and art catalogs from international museums, special art supplies like Japanese papers and potions and herbs for my health like astralagus root and bags of Indian bark and dirt for cleansing teas. And that is exactly the food I wish to be fed by her.

But the last time I went for my bestowing of wisdom visit, she surprised me by heaping a salmon caeaar salad onto a plate for me, from Miramonte Resort. I have been to the resort before. For breakfast once, I had the huevos rancheros, one of my all time favorite breakfast choices. It was truly gourmet and exotic with a simple corn tortilla topped with egg, beans and creamy sour cream sauce. Not my favored Mission Street brand but something I would go back again for. The salad was perfect, and saying that about a basic caesar is bold because it's hard to mess up a caesar even though there are clearly better distinguished versions in the memory.

With a glass of Italian sweet white wine, warm and freshly uncorked, it was an ideal lunch spent eating the chewy croutons, expertly dressed lettuce and perfectly poached salmon steak.

The Miramonte's Restaurant is always open to the public and guests can wander the grounds that have olive trees and other Italian adornments. 

Cactus Fruit Delights

The other day I stumbled upon an odd delicacy, plucked straight from the garden of a green-thumbed friend and then peeled, sliced and placed on my breakfast plate: Cactus fruit.


Apparently, her breed of the night-blooming Cereuses had plumped up a bounty of small, strange purple globes that taste eerily like a more mellow and bland kiwi. The fruit inside was a fantastical white flesh pocked with tiny black dots (seeds) looking kind of like an ice white gelato studded with poppy seeds. Slightly sweet and great dipped in cold vanilla yogurt, I was thrilled to discover this new form of fruit.

The fruit is fairly soft and easy to cut and peel with a knife to get to the yummy center. Once peeled, it can be thrown right into the mouth, or sliced up an added to meals like fruit salads or granola. After telling someone about my discovery, they told me how to cut the fruit in halves and freeze to turn them into little individual bowls of refreshing sorbet for the kids.


Here’s a salad recipe I adopted for the occasion of my new fruit discovery that is perfect for our current torrid season.


Cactus Fruit Salad
2-3 cactus fruits
8 strawberries
8-10 blueberries
1 orange, segmented
1 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. freshly ground cinnamon


Wash and clean all the fruit. Peel the prickly-pear cactus fruit. Chop into pieces. Peel the orange and segment. Place all the fruit in a bowl. Squeeze the juice from the orange over the fruit. Mix gently with clean hands. Drizzle the honey over the fruit. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the fruit and toss gently with a spoon. Serve immediately.


This article first appeared on Palm Desert Patch

Smoking Pasta at Guiseppe's

I read an interview of the feminine goddess Sophia Loren once where she was asked how she maintains her amazing figure and her reply was "a bowl of pasta everyday." Being otherworldly in her gorgeousness, I had no doubt that this prescription was one for the likes of Mt. Olympians, but one that surely would not work the same for us mere mortals. 

Pasta is a forbidden luxury for me and something that I usually eat rarely, angel hair style with just a little olive oil and salt and pepper, maybe a squeeze of lemon for tang. I also got spoiled in Italy with the hearty and simplified versions that are oftentimes mucked up in America with two much sauce, meat or cheese. 

But a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being taken to a new restaurant in Palm Springs by my two dear friends Sam (who is the director of Michael Lord Gallery) and his partner Carlo, (a well-known hypersurrealist painter). Guiseppe's, tucked away into the Smoketree Shopping Center, rekindled my love affair with good, family style Italian food. 

Walking into the place was like walking into a family living room. The tables and chairs in the low lit dining room were packed with people of all walks of life and lots of noisy camaraderie. A bar in the center was stacked seat to seat with after work drinkers and the family that runs the place was busy serving customers and spending time with their seasoned regulars, sitting down often to chat table side and share glasses of wine and conversation. 

One look at the menu and I was thrilled with the clever and creative pasta combinations going above and beyond the norm. A big bowl of dense bread and a nice glass of cabernet assuaged my hunger while waiting for my main dish of smoky chicken penne pasta. The penne was cooked to al dente perfection and studded with moist, tiny bites of white meat chicken, while strains of smoked gouda delighted every bite with a deep, rich aftertaste. Sam told me his secret of ordering a side of sauteed spinach to mix in with the pasta and he demonstrated on his own alfredo while I threw  a pile of the green deliciousness into mine as well. The bowls were so large I could only eat one fourth of mine, but had leftovers for two lunches later at home to enjoy. 

Before we left, our waitress Kim came to sit with us and drink a glass of wine. She told us that the restaurant was doing so well after opening in the "wrong" time of year, knee deep in the blazing summer, that they were considering opening a location in Palm Desert as well. 

Her tattoo summed up my feelings about the restaurant!

Marilyn Worthy Mouthful

My best friend Lisa and I have the same set of Marilyn Monroe small square dinner plates.  Mine most oftentimes carry squirts of bright acrylic paints as they've been relegated to a second life as artist palettes. My best friend brings hers out on special occasions on particularly fun girl-days when we have something decadent to share. If one is going to eat off of Marilyn's famous Warholized-face it better be something worthy of the iconic star's lush sexiness.

Yesterday fit the bill.

After a morning spent picking out glittery glosses and metallic green moss eyeliners at Sephora, followed by exquisite gym and jacuzzi time, we stopped in at Trader Joe's for a bottle of cheap but good rose wine to take to the pool. Passing the cheese aisle stopped us in our tracks as we noted a long thick log of goat cheese completely wrapped in a fresh, smashed blueberry fruit rind. Tongues smarting and tummies aching, we bought the novel treat along with some thin, multi-grain and flax seed crackers.

Dangerous is the only word I can use to describe the taste of this cheese. Four bites and we were stuffed. The blueberries are moist and sweet and the cheese log's middle becomes stained into a gorgeous purple and lavender blossom that melts on the tongue. Perfect alongside a not too sweet rose and post-pool floating on rafts after the culinary rapture.

We agreed that this food fit the halls of "orgasmic" cuisine. How apropos that we enjoyed it alongside the memory of the world's most famous sexpot. Here's to Marilyn!

Sonoma County Champagne Sojourn

Visiting Northern California always takes me back to the bliss of nature. Whether rural, suburban or urban bound, flora and fauna still reign supreme. Trees command street sides, doe appear across the street from housing complexes nipping on stray bushes and weeds, sidewalks are lumpy where green things are constantly threatening to break through and long lazy afternoon drives through wine country produce spontaneous culinary adventures found in verdant pockets and wineries along the American River.

 My most recent sojourn through this woodsy nirvana was accompanied by two friends who took me to a very old graveyard where family members lived in eternity amongst crumbling marble stones, petrified mushrooms and ancient monuments to icons like the God of Bacci. Pretty apropos for a crew whose next stop was the Korbel Headquarters in Guerneville.

 I love wine tastings but have never tried a champagne tasting: 6 samples of champagnes varying from super sweet to ultra brut. I ventured off my usual course for the rose and was pleasantly surprised by the semi-sweet blush that wasn't cloying but fruity and crisp. This is a rose I would buy at home. I also didn't realize that Korbel made brandy but they do and it comes in a sampler pack alongside champagne varieties for about $50.

I was happy we had brought along an ice chest packed with interesting sodas bought at an old fashioned candy store along the way. A bottled coffee soda from Simpson Springs tasted amazingly similar to my old time favorite soda Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge and was perfect caffeine kick response to the bubbly in our brains.

The Korbel deli provided an exquisite foraging in the forest worthy lunch that consisted of a vegetarian sandwich that took my breath away. Thick artisan brown bread spread with tangy olive tapenade and layered with grilled eggplant, provolone cheese, mushrooms, tomato, red pepper and dark lettuces. 

Belly full, I could have easily spent another few hours there listening to the sounds of the nature around me. And watching the romantic ebbs and tides of the life going on all around us, including this beautiful little grasshopper duo playing piggy back across a thin wood railing.

My Big Fat Greek Fantasy Life

If I ever had the need to create a request for my single last meal before death, it would contain honey greek yogurt. I have been obsessed with the food of Mediterranean Greece for as long as I can remember but it wasn't until this past year when greek yogurt started popping up the shelves of almost every boutique grocery store that I realized I could be perfectly happy eating just this item of food for the rest of my life.

Growing up American, yogurt was always a part of my culinary fare. I have had many phases with the creamy dairy delicacy and minor periods of obsession with certain flavors. My Catholic school '80s era lunch boxes were full of Yoplait strawberry banana. My high school lust was for boysenberry generic brands. And my twenties were filled with plain yogurt mornings mixed with granola or vanilla tubs taking the place of ice cream for dessert.

My Sebastopol sister Sonia picked me up from the airport on my last visit and the minute I got in the car she asked me if I had a spoon. She asked it as if having a spoon getting off an airplane was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. My first thought was, "What, does she want to do a snort of cocaine? That is so '80s" but those sordid thoughts were relinquished when she pulled out the big tub of honey greek yogurt that she had purchased along the way and couldn't wait to dive into. We spent the next two days making trips to Trader Joe's for the stuff. At least I know now that I am not the only crazy one.

Greens Addiction

I know this ranks under the freak files, but I crave greens like normal people crave chocolate. I was one of those kids who actually loved brussell sprouts, too. As an adult I have come to relish the discovery of all things verdant and plucked from the earth from mustard greens to burgundy tinged artisanal lettuces, from broccoli to radicchio.

My obsession of late has been to visit my friend Leslie's garden on a weekly basis for a canvas tote full of freshly grown kale of which I eat daily in egg scrambles. Our mutual friend Paige, who runs a major art gallery by day, is a member of our kale-crazed club who is constantly surprising me with her own creations like kale chips which are basically made by throwing kale onto a baking sheet and sprinkling with olive oil in a hot oven till crisp.

If you're still reading and are like me, then you will love this warm, Southern, summer greens salad that I tossed together yesterday. All ingredients can be bought for discount prices at your local Fresh and Easy market. In under fifteen minutes, I had a savory dish that can be eaten alone or as a side accompaniment to meat and fish.

Warm Southern Greens Salad

Total dish is 300 calories
Makes one serving as a entree salad or 2 servings as a side dish

Ingredients:

1/4 bag of Fresh and Easy's Southern Greens (a delightful mixed bag of kale, leafy dark cabbage and whatever else is currently in season)

3 slices of Fresh and Easy's center cut bacon

One tablespoon Olive Oil

One tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

One tablespoon crushed garlic

One tablespoon Fresh and Easy's flake parmesan cheese

Heat up a pan and the olive oil. Throw in the garlic and heat until just before brown. Throw in the greens and heat on high until they wilt down, about ten minutes. While heating the greens, cook the three slices of bacon in a microwave on a plate between paper towels for four and a half minutes to get it extra crispy. Crumble the bacon and then throw into the wilted greens along with the balsamic vinegar and toss together for about 30 seconds. Heap it all onto a plate and cover with the parmesan cheese!