Sidetracked: A Day in the Lives of Foodies

It’s Saturday and we just got home from spending over five hours driving about a hundred miles and visiting some of our favorite food sources. Crazy? We both agree it was crazy…Crazy Fun! It was our idea of a good time. This is how the day started...Jana reminded me that I’d promised to can (and deliver) several pints of Pickled Jalapenos and Carrots. Like the kind you occasionally have at Mexican restaurants. I’d bought three large bunches of carrots (all different colors) the prior week in Portland and had plans to pickle them. Combining them with jalapenos was a great idea. A quick trip to town and we’d be ready to can.

Before we got out the door, our friend Otti called and asked us to drop off a couple dozen eggs. No problem. She lives about 15 minutes from us on the way to town. Otti greeted us with a box of produce she'd just picked from her garden/orchard: heirloom tomatoes, plums, Babcock peaches, early apples, and more. Perfect. This is my idea of fair trade. Back in the car, we drove on to our local grocery store prepared to buy the jalapenos and be canning within the hour. Big disappointment…their hot peppers in general were well past their prime. Verne is always ready for an adventure, so it took no convincing to drive another 30 miles or so to our favorite farm stand on the east side of Sacramento, Davis Ranch. We love it and rarely go more than a week between visits. When we got there, I was reminded that Tuesdays and Saturdays are open to the public for picking. Only $25 for a minimum of 100 pounds of produce. It was Saturday and the thought of getting out in the field and picking was tempting, but it was near noon by now and over 90° and our canning project was calling. We decided to postpone that adventure for another day when we could be there at sunrise. We bought 4 pounds of beautiful jalapenos, fresh corn, the best watermelon of the year, more tomatoes and were soon back in the car headed towards home. Another of our favorite farm stands, Strutz Ranch, is just a few miles from Davis Ranch and we hadn’t stopped since last fall when we got hooked on fresh pomegranate juice. The owner grows several acres of pomegranates, all kinds of citrus, and rare fruits. We saw that he was open (he parks an old pickup on Jackson Highway with an open sign, of sorts). It was our lucky day. Besides plenty of organic produce he had Asian Pears, the missing ingredient for one of our recipes we’d been wanting to make. FYI, they are actually more like an apple than a pear. Another success. We got back on Jackson Highway and again headed for home. As we were approaching the turnoff for Ione I suggested we stop by Maria’s house and check on the yard (she and Ruben are fishing and won’t be home until after Thanksgiving), including the two plum trees in her back yard and her neighbor’s Elberta peach tree that hugs the common fence with its branches reaching several feet into Maria’s yard. Easy pickins’ for an enthusiastic food preserver. It was perfect timing. About half of the peaches within reaching distance were ripe and ready for canning. The rest will be ripe in about a week. Memo for next time: bring a ladder. We left Maria’s and headed home with our bounty. Much more than the 4 pounds of jalapenos we’d set out to buy. But then the day would have been quite dull had we stuck to our original plan. And, we were going home with a week’s worth of good eats.

While on the topic of food and canning, I’ll bring you current on our Fair participation this summer. Last April we decided to enter some of our canned goods in three local fairs: Calaveras, El Dorado, and our local fair in Amador. I wrote about the Calaveras Fair in an earlier blog, but to recap (and brag), I was awarded a first (blue ribbon) and second (red ribbon) for my two entries. The first was for a perfect strawberry preserve (much harder to make than you might think).  Verne got a third place for his salsa and nothing for his BBQ sauce. Actually, he never received the white ribbon for third place and we only knew he was awarded a third because he received the $1 premium in the mail. The ribbons were amazing, large and more the quality of a “best of show” ribbon than what I’d seen at other fairs. For the record, I got the ribbons but never received the $5 I was told “was in the mail.” At our next fair in El Dorado I came home with a first place for my pear conserve and Verne came home with nothing. Sad. They were small silly ribbons but still worth displaying next to my previous win. I was very hopeful for our final fair and entered four products and encouraged Verne to enter his salsa, BBQ sauce and a peach ale mustard he made. He’d been whining about his “crappy” salsa and BBQ sauce (and no ribbons) for the previous two months, so I was really hoping he’d receive some kind of acknowledgement. I was quite confident I’d go home with four ribbons. Nothing went as expected. I received a first place for my blackberry jam infused with lemon verbena, which was my least favorite of the four, my cranberry pineapple preserve and my personal favorite, peach marmalade were both disqualified (technically they were just not judged because they didn’t meet the definition of the division and class). Major disappointment! I’m not sure what happened with my fourth entry…at that point I was numb from shock and embarrassment. Me, the “jam expert” in our local master food preserver program sitting in the audience surrounded by several of my MFP friends (I’m sure I heard some snickering)…well, you can imagine how I was feeling at that point. On a positive note, though, Verne was awarded ribbons for each of his entries…it would be unkind of me to mention the lack of competition, so I won’t. I will say the judge was quite taken with the BBQ sauce and even though, according to her, “it needed to be thicker” she sampled it at least four times and said it was delicious. Verne calls it “Best in the West High Sierra BBQ Sauce” and rightly so! He plans to add to the title “Blue Ribbon Winning blah, blah, blah”. That’s going a bit far. The important thing is this – no more whining! He’s got his ribbons! This was to be a one-time effort, but after my poor showing we’re already talking about next year. I’ve got to do something to save face. Maybe enter more products and more fairs, thus increasing my odds of winning. Something to ponder…

A Circuitous Route to Portland

Our big adventure in July was a trip to Portland by way of Highway 101. Scott and his family (it was made official in late June at a backyard wedding in Seattle) planned a vacation near Gold Beach, Oregon the same time we had planned a trip to Portland to meet with Lara, Rick and their boys. Scott suggested we leave a few days early and drive Highway 101 through the redwoods on our way to Portland spending a few days in Gold Beach. Great idea as I’d never been that far on Highway 101 and since making the drive to Portland over the past six years we’d always taken the 5, which is a straight shot from Sacramento, and we’d never seen southern Oregon near the coast. A new experience and perfect opportunity to spend some time with family.

There were three practical options to get from Volcano to Gold Beach: (1) driving the 5 freeway to Grants Pass, Oregon and then taking a highway southwest to Crescent City (back into California); (2) driving the 5 freeway to Redding and then cutting across on a windy road through a forest to the 101; or option (3) driving the 5 freeway to around Colusa and taking the 20 west past Clear Lake to the 101. Against Scott’s advice, he has taken all three and suggested we take the first option from Grants Pass, we regrettably chose the third option, a long windy and slow drive with a million stops for road repairs. Eventually we made it to the 101, which was also long, windy and slow with a number of detours for road work. I was under the impression the 101 went directly through the redwoods. That is, close enough to actually see them. It was a life-time ago when Verne made his only trip through the redwoods and he couldn’t remember getting off the highway to see them. Apparently, that’s what you need to do if you’re going to have an up close and personal experience with the trees. By the time we saw the last of four signs pointing to a redwood park off the 101, it was getting very late and we were two hours past the ETA I’d given Scott. So much for our drive through the redwoods. We pushed on. I’m sad to say I still haven’t been close enough to give one of those old majestic trees a hug. Next year.

We arrived in Gold Beach early evening and had a great dinner with the McKenzie’s. Up early the next day we continued our circuitous route to Portland north on the 101 a short distance stopping at the Prehistoric Gardens Dinosaur Park. This was largely, actually entirely, for Joshua’s benefit. We walked through the rain forest, which was amazing (I’d never seen such large ferns) stopping and reading about each life-sized replica. As most 8-year old boys, Joshua loves dinosaurs and knows them all.

Joshua, Ini and Scott

 Scott and Joshua on trail through Dinosaur Park

There are a number of blueberry farms along that part of the highway and as it has become a tradition for Scott and Ini to go home from their vacations in southern Oregon with blueberries, we stopped and picked. Joshua and I teamed up looking for the largest and sweetest berries. He was the scout and continually called to me as he found the best bushes, “Joyce, Joyce, over here.” Cute. He would have a handful of berries to show me and then leave me to pick while he continued to scout. This was our favorite blueberry bush as it held a surprise. Look closely and you’ll find a frog that blends perfectly with the foliage.

Joshua picking blueberries

Find the Frog!

The second half of our vacation began with a drive to Mount St. Helen where we met the Rausch family at the Forest Learning Center. Unfortunately, there were low clouds and we didn’t get a good look at the mountain (minus its top), but enjoyed the exhibits and full documentary of the volcano at the learning center.

Matthew attacking Logan with an eagle's claw

Rausch family hiking a mile trail around wetlands

Beautiful wetlands around Mount St. Helens Visitor Center

The following day was a busy one with an early trip to the Nike outlet store near Salem where Nike products are sold at a deep discount. Nike employees are incented to wear Nike clothing and shoes and receive perks throughout the year as encouragement to “buy Nike.” Lauren had recently received a discount card that entitled her to an additional 40% off her entire purchase at the outlet store. Combine all these discounts with no sales tax (8% in California) and it sounded too good to be true. We power shopped for almost two hours, finally leaving with three or four huge bags of shoes and clothing. During this time, Verne sat next door at Starbucks and kept the boys entertained so Lara and Rick could shop, but even he scored a new pair of Nikes. Verne hates to shop and it took some trickery to get him in the store to try on the shoes Lauren and I had chosen for him. First, you need to understand Verne sees nothing wrong with his dirty, worn, 30+ year old no-name brand tennis shoes. We do. Secondly, he thinks tennis shoes are purely utilitarian and not worn to make a fashion statement. Wrong. They are both. As Lauren and I worked at convincing the man he needed to replace his old tennies, I was reminded of a scene from one of our favorite movies, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In the movie, a mother explains to her daughter how things really work in a marriage…”The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.” Solid advice. We had a good laugh and made it our mission to “turn the head” and we did. In fact, so much so that this morning Verne said he regretted not buying a second pair of $27 Nikes to leave at Lauren’s. Mission Accomplished!

Under the Nike Swoosh

We spent the afternoon at OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. As a reminder, Lauren is a weekend volunteer giving submarine tours at OMSI and according to her supervisors (paid employees), she is the gold standard of volunteers. She now has another fan. Matthew, Lara’s oldest son, said Lauren’s tour was the best he’s ever been on and it was the highlight of his vacation. It was our second tour of the USS Blueback, ducking and squatting to get through the small spaces. Visualize that old saying, “Packed like a can of sardines,” and you will appreciate the cramped conditions of the Blueback. We followed the Blueback tour with a visit to the OMSI Planetarium and lecture on the night sky and then watched a movie in the IMAX theater, National Parks Adventure. It was an excellent day. Verne and I enjoyed it so much we’ve decided that every trip to Portland will begin with a trip to the Nike store (that’s the neck speaking) and a day at OMSI.

USS Blueback Tour

Best Tour Ever

Our trip couldn't have been better beginning with our time on the Oregon coast with Scott and his new family and then spending a few days in Portland with Lara, Rick and their precious boys. We love Portland and always enjoy our time with Lauren, but sharing vacations with our loved ones was special and made this the best Portland trip ever!

Walking LA

A quick trip to SoCal, a lot of time spent master food preserving, and walking loops around the property just about sums up the month of June. I’ll begin with our weekend with Jana. After spending over thirty years of my life in SoCal, I never really experienced Los Angeles. LA, as everyone knows it. Since taking a job in the area, Jana has lived in Beverly Hills (on the edge of West Hollywood or WEHO, as they call it). Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City, Mid-City (Miracle Mile), and now spends much of her time in court or at her boyfriend’s home in downtown LA.  Basically, it’s all LA and we’ve found it all to be enchanting. I understand the draw LA has on young people. It has art (Jana is less than a mile from LACMA and works directly across from the museum), music, theater, great food of many cultures, and old, beautiful architecture.  It’s exciting and always changing. And, if the traffic and congestion gets to be too much, Uber is available within a couple minutes of making a call.

We experienced it all in our three-day visit. Late afternoon on our first day in LA we went to the Grand Central Market, a landmark since the early 1900’s, and drank wine and ate oysters on the half-shell. 

Eating oysters at the Grand Central Market

Our table gave me the perfect view of Angel’s Flight (no longer in operation). Were I not a big fan of Michael Connelly (having read all of his books two or three times), Angel’s Flight might not have held such significance. But, I am and it did. Connelly’s sixth Harry Bosch novel (Bosch is a veteran homicide detective with the LAPD/Hollywood Division) was called Angel’s Flight. What a thrill it was to see the setting of that story! 

Angel's Flight

The Market is amazing. I didn’t have much time to explore (reason to go back), but it’s a one-stop-shop for a foodie. If it’s edible, I believe it can be found at the Grand Central Market. As we walked to our table, we passed a meat market that had fatback. Again, this wouldn’t have held much significance if I hadn’t just spent two months preparing for an MFP sausage class. You can’t find fatback (that thick layer of fat on Ms. Piggy’s back) in Amador County. I could have spent a full day walking from vendor to vendor. But, I wasn’t in LA to grocery shop. *Sigh* 

Front view of Grand Central Market

Dinner that night was at Maccheroni Republic one of Jandy’s (Jana and Andy) favorite Italian restaurants. Clearly it’s one of their favorites, as the host knew them by name. Jana said she’s made a concerted effort to achieve that status as she thinks it gives them a bit of an edge when they show up without reservations and the waiting line wraps around and down the street. We arrived early that evening (to keep me happy…I like to eat by 6 p.m.) and since that hour is just not hip in LA, we were seated without a wait.

The rest of the day we spent walking LA. There was a time I might have whined about all the walking we did (Verne was the whiner this time). But, as I’ll explain later in this blog post, over the previous few weeks I'd been bragging to Jana about walking several miles each day and she wanted to make sure I met my goal of 10,000 steps. Actually, she and Andy walk a lot. I doubt the primary reason is fitness…it’s just so much easier (and cheaper) than dealing with parking. Not to mention, it’s often faster to walk than to drive and deal with traffic. So, we walked several miles to Mumford Brewing, where we (not me – I’ve tried, but never learned to like beer) drank beer and we played Rummy. Jana is really into card-playing and carries a deck with her wherever she goes. These aren’t ordinary old Bicycle playing cards. She has Game of Thrones (hand drawn images of all of the main characters) and The Walking Dead playing cards. I’ve got to have a deck of each! I love The Walking Dead. Just a warning, though, if you aren’t current with the show, the cards may hold a few surprises. Spoiler Alert! There’s a not-so-favorite character (Merle) who is featured on one of the cards (as a Walker). Hmm…wonder when that happens. I used to like playing cards, but haven’t since before the girls were born. Guess my life just got too busy. Well, whether or not I take up the game, I’ve got to have my own set  of Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Grimm (another favorite series) playing cards. 

Another hand of Rummy...she had no mercy on us!

Dinner that night was at Baco Mercat (kind of modern Mediterranean cuisine), where we shared about a dozen small-plate sized vegetarian dishes (each served as it was made), a couple crispy flatbreads, and desserts that we were too full to eat, but wasted no time devouring. It was another excellent LA dining experience.

Jandy (Jana and Andy) at Baco Mercat

Raelin, Aaron and the kids (actually, teenagers...Kendall is almost 16 and Sam is 13) joined us for brunch at the La Brea Bakery on Sunday morning before we left LA and headed for home. It's always good to take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with family, even if it's only a few hours. 

All that eating over the weekend was the exception to the rule for June.  In late May I decided (with a little nudging from my doctor) that I needed to get my blood sugar levels under control through weight loss and daily exercise. The alternative being an early demise as none of my other heart disease ‘markers’ are particularly good either. I first accused Verne of trying to kill me with good food (he’s an incredible cook)…it’s always easier to blame someone else than to take responsibility for one’s own actions, idn’t?! After I got past the accusations, I faced the fact I needed to make a lifestyle change (one that I could enjoy and sustain long-term) and I ordered a Fitbit (an electronic device worn on the wrist that keeps track of steps, heart rate, weight, etc. and syncs with a smart phone).  I am only disclosing this highly personal information because (1) nobody every reads this blog anyway and (2) my overeating and under-exercising has been apparent to everyone who knows me for years now anyway and (3) I am so excited about my Fitbit. I love it! It’s only been a month and I’m walking four miles on average each day. I started by pacing a walk from the house down to the cabin (studio) and barn and back up the driveway to where I started (about 1/3 mile). I call this the ‘loop’ and walk it several times each day until I’m close to the 10,000 steps recommended by the American Heart Association. I’ve also changed my approach to food and have lost ten pounds in four weeks. It’s not happened without a few sacrifices, like giving up all dairy (no more heavy cream and no more cheese); giving up desserts and other sweet treats; giving up jam! I’m spending more time in the kitchen, because admittedly my cooking pales by comparison to Verne’s and it’s easier to lose weight eating my food (raw vegetables and salads) than Verne’s decadent creations. So far so good and no complaints from my honey. The next step in my eating regimen may meet with some resistance, though…juicing. I’ve got my eye on the Vitamix Professional Blender. The price is shocking, but it is an incredible piece of equipment! I can only assume that when blenders became juicers the price jumped from around $50 to $500! 

Verne and I participated in our second canning competition in June...the El Dorado County Fair. He entered his barbeque sauce and salsa again, but didn't receive any kind of recognition. Dang! The MFP in the family (that would be me) did, however, come home with a ribbon of each color and a $3 premium. Yahoo! I've taken time out to write this blog post as we are preparing for our final fair this year, the Amador County Fair. Verne has added to his repertoire a Peach Ale Mustard that he's entering. I'm entering four different jams and really feeling the pressure. What will my fellow-MFPs think if the old braggart goes home empty handed?