I have one word – Beignets!
There’s a booth that serves them at the Redwood Empire Farmers Market at the Veteran’s Building. I would have taken a picture of the ones I got but you know the story, I ate ’em the second I got ’em. Next time, I’ll get a good shot. Yea, right.
Strange Fruit
I absolutely LOVE going to farmer’s markets. My favorite is Saturday mornings at the Santa Rosa Vet’s Building, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Saturdays are like a street fair with music, prepared food, and lots of little kids. There are so many different markets, last season when the Press Democrat printed a list of where and when each was happening, I printed it and color coded it by day. It was really useful when I wanted to remember where I could shop depending on what city I was in. I found a list of the surrounding area markets for you if you want it.
Does anyone know what this fruit is? It was beautiful but I have no idea.
I am a fairly new member of Rotary Club of Santa Rosa West and my club does something special. The club has for the last two years provided new members or “Red Badge-r”s the opportunity to take a $1000 stipend and either donate it to a cause or turn it into something more. The first year this was done an event to fundraise for a program called Dogs for Diabetics. (I will talk more about their upcoming July 17 soon). My team has decided to support the Bayer Neighborhood Park & Gardens which is commonly known as Bayer Farm. We visited the site to get a better feel for what they do. (stay tuned for an announcement of the way my Red Badge team will support the farm)
Community gardeners, currently 37 families, maintain 34 plots as well as the common land. It sits on City of Santa Rosa land and will eventually be turned into a public park. The city provides the water and compost setup while LandPaths is the organization that operates the endeavor. The main goal is providing a chance for urban families to experience nature by maintaining their own gardens, education, and supporting the neighborhood.
Community gardeners must agree to perform a predetermined amount of volunteer hours before being assigned a plot, pay $20 per year as an honorarium, and continue to participate in maintaining the community grounds. There is a waiting list but thankfully it isn’t too long.
Redwood Empire Food Bank runs a Free Summer Lunch Program Monday-Friday 11:30-1pm in the summer, feeding an average of 80 children a day.
It has a teaching & demonstration garden and workshops are taught where one can learn various things like how to plant a winter garden (upcoming Aug. 21 and I WILL be attending). The cost for the workshops are on a sliding scale, approx. $20 at the top end. They are hoping to incorporate cooking classes soon. The produce that is a result of the teaching garden is sold at the Bayer Farmstand right on site August-October.
Friday events are a community party. Aztec drummers, food, families, pumpkin carving in season, puppet shows and more. They partnered with KRCB on Tom Sawyer Day with many small town activities for the kids including a treasure hunt and three legged races.
Several nearby schools have educational relationships with the farm. Curriculum has been developed and provided to teachers so that they can bring their classes to the farm on their own, if desired. Educators are also encouraged to use the farm for lessons other than gardening. If they can think of ways to teach math, science, languages and more using the space, bring it! The Girl Scouts and 4H have many days spent in the sun, working on the land. 4H is donating the produce from their plot to the farmstand. High school kids are able to log in their required volunteer hours working at Bayer. Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) even get their kids that are staying in the shelter out of the house and into the therapeutic work of gardening in their plot.
The greatest need Bayer Farm has is the money to pay for the operating costs of the program as well as the salaries for the employees it takes to make everything run. They also have something unique, Magdalena, LandPaths’ Bayer Farm Outreach Coordinator. She is bilingual and that is absolutely necessary in the neighborhood that Bayer is located in.
If you have a recession/victory garden, are part of the slow food movement, love sustainability, your community, are locally minded, want to fight obesity, raise awareness about the importance of getting back to the land and feeding our brothers good food, please visit Bayer Farm. You will fall in love and want to romp the grounds like a little kid. And I promise I won’t tell anyone if you climb the big tree.
The Big Tree-the first some kids have ever climbed
The bedside table of a person that reads too much.
I am a bibliophile, a person who loves or collects books. I love the paper, I love the kinetic sense that I am educating myself.
One of my first memories of “being big” was on a trip to the library. My dad would bring me to the downtown Santa Rosa Library and lead me to the children’s section. Safely esconced among the kid stacks and watched over by a librarian, he would head over to the magazine section. He was such an avid reader that going to the library was a smart way to read as many of them as possible without having to pay the astronomical subscription price should they have been mailed to our house. After doing this many times, I finally decided to go find him when I was ready rather than wait for him to fetch me. I ventured into the cavernous main library room and took the long walk to the other side of the building. Since I couldn’t have been more than 6, that’s like hiking multiple football fields. As an adult, it only takes me 2 minutes to cross from corner to corner but it was the longest trek of my life up until that point. The pride I felt in overcoming my fear of that journey will forever stay with me. As well as the relief that my dad really was at the other end of that scary walk.
I’m passionate about books and I feel the same for the library. I love to get excited about a random subject, be it quantum physics, photography, organization or science fiction, and being able to read to my heart’s content. Try to do that at a bookstore or even Amazon.com. Would you be willing to completely go out on a limb and research how to shoe a horse if it would cost you a lot of money to do so? I think not. I want to absorb information like oxygen, I’m greedy about it. I have visions of entering the Library of Congress and seeing endless stacks of knowledge spread before me. I have to remind myself that I can’t read them all and that they are constantly being written. I will simply not get to them all. Call me obsessive.
When I had a baby, my daughter seems to relish the open air space. She would tune up her little lungs and let loose just to hear the echo. No wandering stacks for me with a newborn. I learned that you could reserve books and have an alert email sent to you when it was ready. My daugher is almost 5 yet I still use this feature all the time. I regularly get recommendations for books from many sources and I can simply drop them into my queue. Whether I am number 1 on the list or 453 (as was the case with the “Twilight” books), I don’t have to do anything but pick them up when they tell me they are ready.
Join me at the Friends of the Library Book Faire at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds April 16-19.
Friday from 3 – 7:30 p.m. – Preview sale – $5 admission
Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Half Price day
Monday from 2 – 7 p.m. – Bag Day – all books $4 a bag
Help support your local library. Research subjects you are passionate about.
Learn and never stop.
I’ve eaten at Cucina Paradiso before when they were at their previous location and never had anything to write home about. This time was different.
I’m not a food writer. I’m a real person that enjoys writing about the places I go. That’s why I have this blog. I don’t know about you but I go through phases as to what foods and flavors I crave. Lately it’s been briny, pickled, and spicy foods. When I saw duck with balsamic vinegar, I knew this was right up my flavor alley. (Petto di Anatra al Balsamico e Timo $17.95, Roast breast of Petaluma duck with balsamic vinegar and Fresh thyme sauce)
Roast breast of Petaluma duck
So I’m telling you I will be dreaming about this bird for weeks to come. I don’t know when I’ll get back there for the perfectly tangy taste of that wonderful duck. But trust me, I will not stop thinking about it until I do. I don’t really even remember what else was served on the plate (potaoes and squash, I believe) but I do know that as I was eating, I kept hoping the plate would never be emptied. No such luck.
Also eaten: butternut squash soup (good but needed more than a bit of salt and I never salt ANYTHING, just ask my husband) and vanilla ice cream with espresso poured all over it.
Overall grade: A-
Bonus points for dreaming of tangy duck
I’m hungry now.
As an Ambassador for the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, I go to a lot of ribbon cuttings. We get to see a new or improved business, take tours, meet nice people, and eat good food. It’s tough (sob). Anyway, for the dozens of ribbon cuttings I’ve attended, never have they cut meat.
Anyone that’s lived in Santa Rosa for any amount of time is familiar with the old world charm of Traverso’s (@traversos on Twitter). They used to occupy the building between 2nd and 3rd Streets at B Street right next to the bus depot. That small location was filled with wonderful food and wine but never did I realize exactly how much was in there. I’ve only been there once in the last 10 years (since I stopped riding the bus…well then it’s been a lot longer).
Their new location is on Stagecoach Road on the Fountaingrove Parkway across from Villa Varenna and the Fountaingrove Country Club. At first I wasn’t sure that would be a good place for them. Boy, did they pick the right neighborhood.
First, I’ve never seen so many people at a ribbon cutting. Normally, the Ambassador team dwarfs attendees of any other category at an event like that but this time we were in the minority by far. When I got there, there were easily 75 people waiting anxiously for the festivities to begin. Three generations of Traverso’s were on hand to cut the salame (Italian spelling) and usher in a new era of tradition. Old customers and friends were so happy to tour the new store and I was surprised to realize the strength of their reputation in this community. Their loyal fans, customers, and friends were excited to be there and support the family business.
They offered us a wonderful selection of Columbus salame, a wide variety of cheeses, a balsamic vinegar tasting with strawberries (sounds strange but it was heavenly, picture of sample provider), wine and deli food tastings.
I walked down one aisle of wines and was surprised to see that each label not only represented a renowned winery but my friends and neighbors. These aren’t just well known vintners, these are people I grocery shop with, see at the Downtown Market, and break bread with. This is our community and gosh darnit, I’m proud we have such a wonderful tableau at our fingertips.
Eat up!
Balsamic Vinegar & Strawberry Tasting @ Traverso's
Okay, three words. Potato Skin Fondue. Are you kidding me? Stark’s, you had me at “Potato Skin”. I’m at a loss for words.
Thanks to Christopher Wisner @wizzlestick for the great local Railroad Square neighborhood chat! And to @sharayray for hooking us up via the interwebs (Twitter for all those that don’t get the @s).
They say we are getting further apart.
This is one instance where technology brought us closer together and made friends from neighbors.
Stark's Steakhouse Potato Skin Fondue
One foggy morning I was driving to work and I was listening to KZST and I heard the owner of a new restaurant, Jack and Tony’s Restaurant and Whisky Bar, doing a tasting with Heather Irwin of The Press Democrat (find her @biteclubeats on Twitter). It was early and they were so animated in their conversation about whiskey, it made it really a good listen. I had to turn the radio off before the interview was over but it made me want more. I decided then and there that I was going to do a tasting.
I finally got the chance to go there last week. It’s modern/contemporary, I think, dark wood, big booths, cigar and whiskey classic. I asked the waitress what she recommended on the whiskey tasting flights available. She asked what kind of coffee I drank and what kind of alcohol I liked. I told her French Roast and vodka. She looked a little flummoxed then finally recommended the most expensive flight they had. The price range of the flights is $14-16 so it wasn’t that much of a difference. I randomly chose one in the middle, the Irish. It had Jameson, a 12 year old whiskey I can’t remember the name for, and a Red Breast. The Red Breast was definitely the one I liked. But for the price of the flight, I was happy because it took me the rest of dinner to get through them all. All you need is one, I’m telling you.
I had their pork loin and my husband had the lobster stuffed crab. He gets lobster a lot and, let me tell you, it was THE BEST LOBSTER I’VE EVER HAD. My pork loin was awesome too. Highly recommend the food. And it’s a good idea to have reservations or eat a little late (we arrived at 8:45p) like we did. Next time I go, I’m going to sit in the cocktail area and try an appetizer and another set to expand my horizons a little more.
All around, thumbs up!
In all my years, the only time I ever brunch is on a major holiday like Easter or Mother’s Day. I find eating out on holidays to be stressful and, generally, not very good food when so many people are being served. But boy did I enjoy my last weekend’s Sunday brunch!
There were a group of 6 of us ladies and we held court in the Terrace Grill at the Flamingo for several fun filled hours! The food was great with all your standard great brunch foods. I am a “breakfast bruncher” and I wasn’t disappointed with their French Toast, which I consider one of the hardest eating out breakfast foods. They didn’t use a fancy bread that doesn’t toast well. But the best part was the champagne! I don’t usually drink so early in the day but the weather was beautiful, the company was great and the servers were very quick to return with the bottle. The topper was 3 out of the 6 of us (myself included) won a certificate for a free brunch in their frequent drawing.
Next month, Bruno’s on Fourth!
**Disclaimer. I am a two time former employee of the Flamingo (banquet bartender, banquet server/hot dog cart maven).
I had the pleasure of eating at East West Restaurant this summer. My husband and I had no baby, the sun was out, we sat on their patio and….chilled. It was wonderful. The food was good and I’d been thinking about it ever since. Every time someone asked me where I wanted to go to lunch, I mentioned it but no one took me up on it. So, I finally got someone to go there with me yesterday. Update: Gayle Lash from WSI treated me for sending a referral her way. I was so excited!
Someone once called me predictable in my food choices (that’s an insult!) and I took it as a lifelong challenge. Ever since, I’ve made a habit of really trying to sample new things. I review the menu and whatever calls to me I order.
East West’s first specialty is Mediterranean food and secondly is Vegetarian. I love veggies but I can’t quite get all the way to vegetarian. Every time I order a strict veg meal, I’m disappointed. I ordered their Veggie Wrap and it came with soup or salad. I’m sick (so soup) and already had a plate of veggies (not salad) so I went with the soup. Broccoli, to be exact. I’m not really a soupophile but it was either that or lentil. Bravery taken in small steps, I’ve eaten more broccoli than lentil and found that to be the safer choice. It was really good, the wrap, but it was HUMONGOUS!!!!! There was no way I could’ve eaten all that. I would’ve liked it better as an appetizer. Oh! With a tangy dip would’ve been even better! The soup was alright but my taste buds are a little off while being sick.
I will return. I love the concept. I love their logo (I’m partial to butterflies). I loved their teriyaki chicken when I had it before. Their servers are pleasant and helpful. It’s a great restaurant to be daring and brave. And their fries are organic! Beat that!
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