Just a quick note here: I spent most of the day learning how to add a Google search function to the site (hooray!), as well as adding some recommendations from Amazon. Other minor additions might be in the works, but hopefully they'll be improvements and not distractions.
The Locavore challenge is going pretty well. Not yesterday, however: we went to dinner with out-of-town guests who simply had to eat at Fiesta Tepa-Sahuayo (the whole reason for their visit). The boxes of tomatoes I saw in the back there were from Tracy, California, I think.
Breakfast was better: I made Mexican home fries with Thomas Farm German butterball potatoes, Early Girl tomatoes from Dirty Girl Produce, and (already in the house) organic black beans, Monterey Jack cheese, corn tortillas, and Buffalo Chipotle hot sauce. I topped those with some Everett Farms eggs, fried over medium. Delicious.
It's very interesting how much I am thinking about this on a daily basis. When I go into Trader Joe's, I want to ask them specifically if they have anything from my neck of the woods. The effect is not unpleasant, and I simply refuse to feel guilty if I don't make the goal 100%.
We visited Everett Family Farm (Logan and I) on Saturday, and came home with a dozen eggs, lemon cucumbers, strawberries, apples, beets, and basil. Kirsten told us that Theo's Restaurant (one of the best in the county) has requested them for the Harvest Dinner Series this year. That is wonderful news.
Also lovely are the samples of teas that Adagio Tea sent me in today's mail. They targeted food bloggers participating in an August event (a tea-based recipe) and I requested four kinds: apricot, mango, Earl Grey, and Yunnan Gold (but I received Yunnan Jig). The teas are fragrant, and I will try some tomorrow. I generally don't consider myself a food blogger, though technically it is about food, in the ultimate sense. There is some overlap, but I don't feel compelled or under a mandate to write about what I eat or cook. There are far more glamourous types out there to do that, and it's not like I have a culinary education.
Happy to see Bon Appétit magazine cover San Francisco as one of the top five food cities in the country, and specifically to focus on the Ferry Building Marketplace. It was two years ago this month that I first visited. Not much was there except Cowgirl Creamery, Scharffen Berger Chocolates, McEvoy Olive Oil, Acme Bread Company, and Peet's Coffee and Tea. We made a meal of bread, olive oil, Red Hawk cheese, chocolates, and jasmine tea, watching the ferry boats come and go across the bay. That is as pleasant as life gets.
Finally, I found this interview with Sherry Brooks Hinton, the author of Real Food Revival, linked at a great food blog I just discovered: Orangette.
Thought for the day: "Add your light to the sum of light." —Billy Kwan, "The Year of Living Dangerously"
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LINKS
Theo's Restaurant (Soquel, California)
Tana, I LOVE reading about the farms you visit and the foods you cook! German Butterball potatoes are excellent and I am going to try your Mexican Hashbrown recipe very soon.
Posted by: Lisa Wright | 09 August 2005 at 06:50 PM
Your web site looks great, and I really like the idea of the Food Bloggers map - thanks for putting it together. :) I've added a link for you on my blog.
Posted by: Sweetnicks | 18 August 2005 at 07:02 PM