CSA & Pig Pick Up

Thursday picked up our CSA.  We're contemplating whether or not to get the Winter Share this year, but will definitely get the Regular Season Share next year (beginning in April 2012).

Up at Summit Lake Vineyards the younger Griffin daughter raises pigs for 4-H.  The eldest daughter used to raise 4-H pigs, but doesn't any more.  Now her pigs are raised for college money.  We purchased half a 300 pound pig to supply us with protein for the next year.  Not only did we see the pigs when they were young arrive at the farm, we saw them grow up.

Some may have great issue with knowing that one of these sweet pigs ended up filling our freezer.  I've said many prayers and given much thanks for the pig.  I know they were not overcrowded, that they were fed well, treated well, cared for; will help a talented young, hardworking lady go to college; and I know when, where (at home), and how the animals were shot and butchered.  All of it done with much respect for the animals.

On Saturday we picked up our pig from the butcher at Willowside Meats, Inc. in Santa Rosa, CA.  One can see the quality of their meats.  Having not personally bought a half an animal before, I was surprised to learn we had 19 pounds of sausage (made into breakfast links).

Sunday morning we had sausage pita for breakfast; and a bacon, lettuce and tomato salad for dinner.  The sausage was relatively lean, the bacon very lean and meaty, both had excellent flavor.  We requested the butcher put the pork into small packages as there are only two of us.  I'm sure you'll hear more about the pig in the future.

For the dear pig who gave up it's life

for us to eat and be nourished well.

Dominion & Dinner with Friends

Last weekend while dining with friends, we invited them over for dinner tonight.  After watching Barefoot Contessa, shopped for a few items for the menu I'd created earlier in the morning.  Lately, I've spent hours looking on eBay at beautiful antique china/porcelain.  It's been a very long time since the china in our collection was used, so I thought we'd go a little fancier tonight and see some of the pretty plates that usually sit in the cabinet.

Dishes sitting out awaiting their respective course.

Amuse Bouche of mushroom, yogurt and carrot parfait with a squash blossom bought at the farmers market by our friends.  This was served with a 2010 Monte Volpe Pinot Grigio from Mendocino (purchased on my parents' 45 Anniversary at Graziano).

Earlier I'd prepared items from the CSA: green beans, eggs, potatoes and lettuce for the Salad Nicoise.  In the pantry I didn't find the black (nicoise) olives that I'd hoped, and only found the pimento stuffed green olives, oh well!  The tuna was from our local market, and seared briefly on each side.

Tuna salad nicoise served with 2009 Eric Kent Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

Scallop with prawn under mashed sweet potatoes, served with a "Root of All Evil," absinthe mixed with root beer.

Preparation of the scallop with prawns.

Braised lamb with roasted sweet and yellow potatoes served with 2006 Retro Petite Sirah Howell Mountain

Cheese course, petite creme with applesauce made by a coworker and toasted Companion Bakers bread, served with Spiced Pear Vodka mixed with gingerale

After the main course, we took a break to play the card game "Dominion," which is a little like Settlers of Catan--without a game board.  It's an enjoyable game to play with 2-4 people.

The evening ended with strawberries stewed in a peppered wine sauce with whipped cream and Pocky sticks.  A 2002 Summit Lake Clair Riley Zinfandel Port from Howell Mountain was served, though I think it would have gone better with the cheese course.


Surprisingly clean up was much easier than I would have thought, as serving and removing plates was done in an organized manner.  Also, it probably helped that there were only four of us.


For an evening that was planned on the fly, seven hours from conception to delivery, it turned out well.  Life is what one makes of it.

Camping Lake Almanor

From our home in the San Francisco/Santa Cruz Bay Areas of California, Lake Almanor and Lassen Volcanic National Park are about a 6 hour drive.  We took Interstate 80 North out of the Bay Area and over toward the State Capital of Sacramento, eventually we ended up on 70 North and then took 32 East from Chico, CA.  Leaving just after 6 am, we arrived at our Lake Almanor Campground South at noon.  Stepping out of the car, we were instantly relaxed.  Fresh cool, clean, air; blue sky; tall, happy trees made us want to set up our new hammocks and take in our temporary home.  The Lake Almanor area is like a blissful, calm, quiet, uncrowded, low-key version of Lake Tahoe.

We took a ride around the lake after settling in and setting up our tent.  The photo above was taken on the southwestern corner of the PG&E-created lake, looking north toward Lassen Peak.

The remainder of our camping party had joined us by the second night, the night before the full moon.  We hoped in the car to obtain a great sunset shot, and this moon rising photo as well.  This southeast-facing photo was taken after the adventure of crawling down a couple of embankments to the lakeside.  Rocky Point PG&E Campground affords visitors tent sites right on the lake shore, we discovered.

Every morning while camping, the mother ground squirrel (ground squirrels don't have stripes that go all the way down their noses, unlike chipmunks) scurried around for food.  Meanwhile, her three babies, one of which is pictured above, would come out for some sun.  What a cute family with whom to share our campsite.

While waiting patiently for the Lassen Volcanic National Park road to open, we rented a boat.  The boat was equipped with a "fish finder," so we could see the best fishing was on the least populated side of the lake, about 300' off shore.  Lake Almanor is a wonderfully relaxing lake.  My husband I both commented on the cloud formations:  reminded me of Georgia O'Keefe's paintings, and my husband of "The Simpsons" clouds.

One night we ate at the Pines Resort on the lake shore.  The restaurant was memorable only for it's Friday and Saturday night live bands.  When I saw the sun setting, I ran out onto the dock and photographed the colors.  Loved that people just boated across the lake to eat dinner, then cruised back to their country club homes.

The night after the full moon, this amazing moon came up behind us: a huge orange moon sitting in a dark blue sky, reflecting a deep orange off the turquoise lake water.  The colors reminded me of something tropical like southern Florida.

Listening to me, my husband drove Highway 89 South to go home.  We took the scenic route, which surprised us with it's wonderfulness.  Passing many quaint towns; Quincy, CA being my favorite; Lure Resort on the river in Downieville, CA looked sweet as well.  Highway 49 South followed 89, where we stopped to take the photo above.  Our friend, who drove this route the previous night, said that he saw two giant mountain lions sitting on a boulder looking for food in the river.  What an exciting trip!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We entered Lassen Volcanic National Park in northeastern California on Thursday, July 14, 2011.  Little did we know the road through the park was closed due to snow.  Our small camping group was able to go one third of the way through the park, then a closed gate at Bumpass Hell (a bubbling geological site) stopped vehicles from going further.  I didn't believe the website posting, from a week before we went camping, that stated a number of the popular hiking trails in the park were closed due to snow.

 This bubbling mudpot is clearly visible from the road, and one of the first thermo-geological sites one comes across from the southern entrance to the park.

A short hike up a hill, affords the view of this steaming, rapidly bubbling hot spring across the stream (the trail right up to this spring was closed due to danger of stepping through the thin crust between hiker and boiling water!).

Parking at Bumpass Hell trailhead (as far as we could go), we walked the road behind the closed gate to this view of Lake Helen.  We were awed by the beautiful frozen lake and the pretty icy blue color of its water.  Across the street from this lake was a 24' high wall of snow, it made an impression on us from the snowless part of California.

Lucky for us, the road all the way through Lassen National Park opened while we were still in the area.  We drove back through the park on Saturday, when we were sure that the road would be open.  Above is a picture of the back side of Lassen Peak, it shows the devastated area from Lassen's 1914 and 1915 volcanic eruptions (its last big eruption was in 1922).

Yountville, California

We visited the new chicken coop at The French Laundry garden in Yountville, CA on our way to Bouchon Bakery after spending the night with friends. The chickens are small and have a great home.

Liked this purple variation on bachelor buttons growing in The French Laundry garden (bleuet is French for Cornflower/Bachelor Button, as these flowers grow in corn fields).

For dinner we enjoyed beef short ribs at Ad Hoc restaurant. We were invited to stay the night at friends' home in northeast Napa Valley.

Earlier in the day we tested Ad Hoc restaurant's new "take out" lunch program called Addendum (Thursday-Friday-Saturday 11 am-2 pm only). Arriving late, with an hour to closing, they were out of the barbeque option, so we tried the fried chicken. It came to the lovely picnic benches behind the restaurant in biodegradable containers.

Wine Bottling

 It feels like we've had a weekend, and it's only Saturday evening.  Thursday after work we drove up to Napa Valley and stayed at an historic building, now a bed and breakfast inn.  With friends we ate at Ad Hoc restaurant.  I was feeling not entirely myself and had the most ill manners while eating--guess we all have off days.

Friday for nearly twelve hours we helped friends bottle their wine.  Due to some miscommunication and machine parts not working properly, we had plenty of breaks during bottling that kept us comfortable.  On an eleven-person crew, five were new to the bottling process.  All-in-all the 2,500 cases were bottled by the end of the day.  (See May 5, 2010 post for details on how the automated bottling production functions with human help).

The rag-tag crew of friends heartily ate barbecue in the mosquito-filled evening.  Visitors from Alabama contributed great Southern dips:  cheese with bacon; and cheese with red bell pepper and sausage.  Steak and pork chops were barbecued for appetizers.  An encouraging red-head (taught us a funny name for a red-head--"Fanta") grilled sausages for dinner, our hosts made green and potato salads for dinner.  A baker friend made three cakes for dessert and sweet dreams.  All went down with more than a case of delicious great-scented wine.

After staying the night with the winery owner's daughter, rose and indulged in Bouchon Bakery treats.  Spread them far and wide over Napa Valley:  to friends staying in St. Helena, and to four homes in Angwin, CA.

On our drive back, we stopped at the harbor in Half Moon Bay (photo above is Pacifica, CA--just north of HMB) to buy fresh fish and crab from the returning boats.  At home, baked the firm white-fleshed fish and boiled the crab to eat for dinner.  The low price and great taste leaves us wondering why we don't visit the docks more often.  It is helpful to support the nearby fishermen who work hard to bring healthy food onto dry land.

Memorial Day Weekend

Thursday, May 26

2:00 pm Pick up CSA in Los Altos, CA
7:00 pm RCIA meet in Los Altos, CA


Friday, May 27
7:30 pm View "Midnight in Paris" in San Jose, CA with coworker


Saturday, May 28

11:00 am Asian Auction preview in Scotts Valley, CA
1:00 pm UAF Championship Game with friends, end with Pork Chop Brunch in Ben Lomond, CA
5:30 pm Brother's-in-Law Birthday Party in Los Gatos, CA


Sunday, May 29

11:00 am Asian Art Auction in Scotts Valley, CA
5:00 pm prepare salad for beach camping dinner
6:00 pm Dinner at Sunset State Beach, CA with friends


Monday, May 30
11:45 am View "Hangover II" in Scotts Valley, CA with a friend

4:00 pm Wine Tasting at Heitz in St. Helena, CA

5:15 pm Ice Cream Sandwich at Ad Hoc in Yountville, CA

7:45 pm Dinner at Morimoto in Napa, CA with hubby and friend
2:00 am Arrive home


Tuesday, May 31
7:00 am Arrive at work

Omakase Morimoto Napa II

A friend, who works in the restaurant industry, had one day off on Memorial Day. On Saturday he threw out his desires (his fiancee is out of town working), "Let's watch Hangover II or go to Morimoto! . . . OR Both!" After all, he only had one day.


The reservation we could get on short notice was 7:45 pm, though we weren't seated until 8:15 pm. The bartender made us a drink while we waited. Staff was tired, and wanted to go home after working the long holiday weekend. We tried to cheer them.

The two boys ordered the Omakase ("Chef, do what you want."), while I ordered lobster and sushi [(above) believing it would be 5-6 pieces beautifully garnished like the one with the Omakase . . . this was not the case, though delicious]. The sushi I ordered was similar to other sushi restaurants, the sushi on the Omakase is absolutely beautiful (being very visual).


It was our friend's first time at Morimoto Napa, while my husband had the Omakase December 30, 2010 (see photos from blog post of that date). Our Ad Hoc friends suggested ordering the crab rangoon, which we did.

Their Omakase began the same:

toro tartare

kanpachi carpaccio of Amber Jack


At which point we were brought printed menus of the Omakase with the sake pairings. I inquired how often, if at all, the Omakase menu changed. Was informed that the chef makes different items for subsequent Omakase orders. Told the nice server that it was my husband's second Omakase. Friend stuck with the original Omakase, while hubby was given different items (which shook things up).

Instead of bagna cauda (vegetables with hot garlic oil fondue), he received a beautiful scallop with morel mushrooms.

Instead of foie gras chawan mushi (duck custard), he was presented quail with cherries--heavenly.

The three of us were given the intermezzo of sorbet.

He received a different variety of sushi, that included a piece of Kobe Beef sushi (second in from the right).

Instead of surf, turf and turf; he had turf, surf and surf

The three of us ended with chocolate raspberry cake with a presentation of poured chocolate magic shell. Great dessert!

We ordered the donuts for our friend, and the restaurant brought us ice cream sandwiches and chocolate pieces. The staff enjoyed our table, and we really enjoyed the staff. The Japanese are like the Italians in that they love to feed people! It was everything our friend could wish for on his ONE DAY off.