Chilling on the California Coast
Gravenstein season ended months ago. “U-pick” opportunities are over. But the Bay Area apple harvest doesn’t end officially until Nov. 30, and fresh late-season varieties are available. So go ahead, schmoosh some apple butter! Recipe included. Continue reading “As Bay Area Harvest Ends, Apple Butter Season Begins; Time to Schmoosh!”
You would think the Coastside Farmers’ Market would provide a guilt-free hour of virtuous, pretentious healthiness for gathering ingredients for a Tomato Pesto Crostata recipe. Oh no, not for the Slackers!
October makes me crave hearty braised meats, warm stadium blankets and scary stories. Lots of scary stories. So I am celebrating October with a vampire novel and a culinary trip to Transylvania. My novel of choice is Baltimore, or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden (impulse Amazon purchase). This book is a well written gothic horror novel, interspersed with dozens of illustrations by Mignola, the talented comic artist.
My food choices just had to be traditional Transylvanian fare. Paprika Chicken (Csirkepaprikas) and Romanian polenta (Mămăligă Cu Smăntănă) are pretty much the national dishes of Romania, even earning mention by the hapless Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s famous Dracula. Continue reading “Paprika Chicken (Csirkepaprikas) and Romanian Polenta with Sour Cream (Mămăligă Cu Smăntănă)”
I have noticed that there aren’t a lot of persimmon recipes out there, compared with apples, pears, squash, etc. Not that many people like them? Not readily available everywhere? I don’t know. For whatever reason, people seem to mainly make puddings, pies and salads with them. Continue reading “Persimmon Crostini”
Persimmon season has started and I found some delicious fruit at the Coastside Farmers’ Market this week — a farmers’ market that I had to prod myself to go to. I tend to approach farmers’ markets with both excitement and annoyance. Actually, farmers’ markets trigger a planning neurosis in me. Here’s why: Continue reading “Persimmon Refrigerator Jam”
Believe it or not, summer just began. At least for us. The warmest time along the northern California coast runs from September through mid-November. While people in other parts of the country are pulling sweaters out of closets Continue reading “Beef Barley Bowls”