My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, and her garden, were the impetus for me to start writing this blog.  She was a major influence all through my childhood.  She lived a ‘local’ life without realizing she was doing so.  She simply lived her life.  This series is part of a longer piece I am working on about her, and her life.  Herewith, Part 6…

Spring, Summer is Coming

The advent of spring always thrilled me because it meant that my favorite season — Summer! – was just around the corner.  The spring garden was magnificent – and it was then that the blackberries, raspberries and strawberries began to appear.  If we were lucky and spring was on time, we would have fruit as early as mid-May or early June.

But spring was really about the very tall and brilliant vermilion poppies that invaded my great-grandmother’s garden.  It was as if they had bloomed over night.  I would wake-up one morning, and there would be a sea of red floating in the breeze.  I was absolutely sure the poppies had not been there the day before.  They had, without a doubt, magically bloomed in the night.

My great-grandmother, Ora Chandler Goodman (left) standing in her flower garden with a family friend.

I would run outside and plunge into them, disappearing from sight for hours on end as the flowers towered over me.  Down on my knees in the fine sand they grew in, I would crawl around exploring, catching bugs, squinting up through the flower petals to the sunlight and sky above.  When the day grew too hot, I would lie down and rest amongst the cool, red blooms.  It was my magical kingdom away from adults, away from all those things that frightened a small child.  Symbols of my great-grandmother, those amazing flowers sprouted up from the earth – iridescent, strong – year after year.

Summer!  It’s Berry Season

My favorite time of year in the garden was summer, when the flowers were in full bloom, and the fruits and vegetables were at their most flavorful.  My sister and I would always visit the strawberry patch first, kneeling in the sandy soil and plucking fruit directly from the vine — warmed by the sun and the most flavorful I’ve ever tasted.  Next we would go to the raspberry and blackberry bushes and eat as many of those as we could.  By the time we were finished, our fingers, teeth and tongues were stained bright purple, as were the clothes we wore.  We were the happiest two kids for miles around.  Cooking and eating outside became summertime priorities.  Gathering fruits and vegetables ripe and right off the vine was another.

To be continued…

Here’s a simple recipe for garden-ripe tomatoes:

Print Recipe

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Grilled Cheese Invitational 2011.”  I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Los Angeles ~ Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig, and Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

My great-grandmother, Ora Chandler Goodman, and my mother's dog, Tuffy.

My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, and her garden, were the impetus for me to start writing this blog.  She was a major influence all through my childhood.  She lived a ‘local’ life without realizing she was doing so.  She simply lived her life.  This series is part of a longer piece I am working on about her, and her life.  Herewith, Part 5…

Tuffy, My Mother’s Dog

Tuffy was my mother’s dog when she was a little girl.  He lived at her grandparents’ house, my great-grandparents, Ora and Rolla Goodman.  Tuffy was by all intents and purposes a member of the family.  Every family has its share of stories, lore if you will.  Of course our family has a whopper about Tuffy that is apparently true.  My great-grandmother was what is now known as a “housewife.”  She never held down a job of any sort.  Her “job” was to care for her family.  Her full-time duties included cooking, gardening, cleaning, washing, and sewing, and whatever else needed to be done to keep the family going.  All of these duties were much more labor-intensive in her day than they are now.  I have faint memories of her washing the family’s clothes outside on a back patio using a now old-fashioned electric wringer washer — an early version of our washing machines.  Then, of course, the clothes were hung outside on a clothesline to dry.  Gramma Ora also made most of the family’s clothes, as well as quilts using scraps of old clothing.  She canned garden vegetables and fruits to be eaten later in the year.  Her daily life was full, and never ending.

Tuffy with a package from Vic, the butcher, in his mouth.

“Go See Vic”

So the story about Tuffy goes that my great-grandmother somehow trained him to go by himself to the butcher a block or so away.  She’d write her order down on a piece of paper, slip it into Tuffy’s mouth and say: ‘Go see Vic.”  He’d trot through the dirt field across from the house, over to the main street of town to Vic, the butcher, knowing that a reward awaited him.  Vic would fill the order, wrap it up with string and Tuffy would head for home, the packaged meat in his mouth.  Once back home he’d set the package down on the kitchen floor.  Gramma Ora would then tell him to go get a newspaper.  He then sat until the package was opened, and his treat was put on the newspaper.  Once Gramma Ora said “okay” he’d eat his reward.  He was a true help to my great-grandmother while he was off getting the family’s meat she could continue with her household chores.

On the left, my great-grandparents' house in Orcutt, California.

Small Town Life

Orcutt, California is a small town on the Central Coast of California.  It was even smaller back when this story took place.  The house my great-grandparents lived in is the house my mother lives in now.  When she was a child everyone in town knew each other.  They all knew my great-grandparents.  My great-grandfather was the town barber for a number of years.  Vic’s butcher shop was part of a grocery store next door to my great-grandfather’s barber shop.  If everyone knew the Goodmans, they surely also knew Tuffy.  So as surprising as it may sound that a dog roamed freely between its house and the butcher shop, it’s also believable given when and where this story took place.  My mother has very fond memories of Tuffy even now decades later.  He made an indelible impression on her.  Having him as a pet was an important part of her childhood.  I never met Tuffy, and I’m sad I didn’t.  He sounds like an extraordinary animal.  Happily his legacy continues, and the story of the little dog that obediently fetched meat from the butcher lives on as well.

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Monday, March 14, 2011 – Blood, Bones and Butter ~ A Dinner in Honor of the Publication of Prune Chef, Gabrielle Hamilton’s First Book ~ Lucques Restaurant, 8474 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  323-655-6277 ~ http://www.lucques.com/

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the last of the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens, fennel.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe “Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya” was selected to be in the cookbook: “Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.”  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports coming soon. Cookbook Reviews: Grilled Cheese, Please! by Laura Werlin, and Southern My Way by Gena Fox.

“Eat The Love”.   The very apt slogan for the new food delivery company Out of the Box Collective.  The OBC promotional flier also includes:  “Local”.  “Sustainable”. “Home Delivered”.   All good words in my world.  Out of the Box Collective is exactly those things.  They gather food staples that are local and sustainable, put them into boxes and deliver them to your door.  Unlike a C.S.A. they provide everything you need, or want to feed your family for a week.  Fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish, poultry, bread, pasta and dry goods.  A meal plan and suggested recipes are also included.  The only thing you have to do is cook, and then ‘eat the love.’

Founded by Jennifer Piette along with farm-to-table Chef Erik Stenberg, the goal of the company is to source “local, seasonal, sustainably produced groceries from [a] collective of farmers and artisans: [that include] ‘beyond organic’ produce; pastured meats, poultry and eggs; locally caught fish; dairy, including raw milk from Organic Pastures; regional specialties, such as local olive oil, honey, cheeses, Fair Trade products, and the list goes on.”  Jennifer and Erik have spent a good deal of time tracking down the best quality, organic, and sustainable products available in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg as they begin shopping the Santa Barbara Farmers' Market.

A Morning at the Farmers’ Market

Given that the collective will only use what is fresh and seasonal, the box contents change from week to week.  Additionally, new artisans, growers and vendors are being added all the time.  Piette and Stenberg meet each Saturday at the Santa Barbara Farmers’ Market to assemble the following week’s boxes.  Last Saturday I was lucky enough to spend the day with them as they gathered a week’s worth of food at the market.  Later in the day I watched as they assembled the boxes.  It was an educational and joyful experience — so much amazing food.  Santa Barbarans take food, eating, and their farmers’ market seriously.

The Los Olivos Roots Organic Farm stand from Los Olivos, California.

I trailed along with Jennifer as she made her rounds at the market before it opened.  Many of her orders had already been placed so she was picking up, and adding to where needed.  We stopped at the Windrose Farm booth for beautiful radicchio di Castelfranco, said ‘hello’ to the folks at the famous Los Olivos Roots Organic Farm stand, grabbed poultry from Healthy Family Farms, apple juice at Fair Hills Farms, fresh-squeezed orange juice from Ojai’s Friend’s Ranch, ground beef from Rancho San Julian, pork from Jiminez Family Farm, and blistered almonds from Fat Uncle Farms.   Jennifer also augments her farmers’ market purchases with produce from the Farmer Direct Produce Network, a wholesale produce distributor that features local and sustainably grown produce only.  Wesley Sleight from Farmer Direct met us at the market with a large produce delivery.

Jennifer buying eggs and poultry from Healthy Family Farms.

Buying pork chops from Jimenez Family Farm.

Buying 100% certified organic apple juice from Fair Hills Farms.

Buying blistered almonds from Fat Uncle Farms.

Two More Stops: A Fishmongress, and the Pie Shop

After we finished rounds at the market, I joined Erik as he made two more stops: for fresh fish, and homemade pies.  Cadena Yules of Cadena’s Fresh Fish is a Santa Barbara-based female fishmonger.  On a side street of downtown Santa Barbara she rents space along with several other male Latino fishmongers in a large industrial building that also sells meat (on one door is a sign for fish; a second door says “meat.”)  It was fascinating to watch Cadena at work.   She specializes in locally caught seafood.  Erik picked up line-caught halibut.  Our next stop was Simply Pies, a wonderful small pie shop that does a booming business.  We grabbed uncooked gluten-free pie shells, and freshly made apple pies.

Fishmonger, Cadena Yules of Cadena's Fresh Fish, Santa Barbara, CA.

Assembling the Boxes

The next step in the process was assembling the boxes.  Out of the Box Collective currently works out of a kitchen in Goleta.  I enjoyed watching this unfold as it was a bit like being a kid in a candy shop.  What amazing fruits or vegetables would go into each box?  What locally-sourced proteins?  What other local delicacies?  It was a flurry of activity as Jennifer worked on one side of the kitchen assembling the grocery boxes; while on the other side Erik worked on the produce boxes.  Both were assisted by Chris Schertzer, recently hired as packager, driver and deliveryman.

Jennifer, Erik and Chris as box assembly begins.

Erik assembling the produce boxes.

Finished produce boxes.

A finished grocery box.

The refrigerated delivery van ready to go.

Change Equals Growth

As with most new businesses there are moments of transition; Erik (aka The Surfin’ Chef) has decided to take a hiatus from OBC to catch a few waves.  In his place Jennifer has brought in Shaheda Gosla, a private chef and farmers’ market maven, to work on the meal plans and the weekly suggested recipes.  Until the business grows more deliveries are currently only made in northwest Los Angeles county.  Piette hopes to expand beyond that area soon.  When she does get to my area of Los Angeles, I’ll be her first customer.  I wholeheartedly applaud what she is doing.  OBC is of much value to anyone who enjoys fresh, local, sustainable food.

For more information ~ Out of the Box Collective.

To see more photos from my OBC outing, click here ~ http://tinyurl.com/6jknp92

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the Food World:

#1  – Mini-Review: A shout out to a recent cookbook I received ~ “Everday Grilling: 50 Recipes from Appetizers to Desserst” by Sur La Table.  Grilling tips and recipes for first courses to desserts all (or part of the recipe) cooked on the grill.  Grilled Quesadillas.  Endless ways to grill vegetables.  Grilled Pizza (!)  Grilled Pound Cake (!?)

My Status: Enjoying winter in So Cal and the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe “Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya” was selected to be in the cookbook: “Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.”  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood. Cookbook Reviews: “The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook” by Rachel Saunders, and “Italy Dish by Dish: A Comprehensive Guide to Eating in Italy” by Monica Sartoni Cesari.

My great-grandparents, Ora and Rolla Goodman.

My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, and her garden, were the impetus for me to start writing this blog.  She was a major influence all through my childhood.  She lived a ‘local’ life without realizing she was doing so.  She simply lived her life.  This series is part of a longer piece I am working on about her, and her life.  Herewith, Part 3…

Home, Where the Hearth Is

I am six or seven-years old, down in the sandy soil of my great-grandparents’ garden picking carrots for Sunday lunch.  My Grampa Rollie is next to me watering a row of beets.  The loamy smell of the dirt fills my nostrils.  My hands turn brown as I shake the earth off each carrot.  The hot sun burns the back of my neck.  I run a just-picked carrot under the hose my Grampa Rollie holds and bite into it.  A loud crunch.  A burst of carroty vegetable-ness fills my mouth.  It tastes of the earth like only a fresh-picked vegetable can.  Its freshness astounds.  I love every minute of helping my Grampa in his garden.  An hour later my great-grandmother, Gramma Ora, serves the family the carrots cooked in sweet butter, and they’re the most delicious carrots I’ve ever eaten because I picked them myself.

If life began in the garden then it certainly continued in my great-grandmother’s kitchen.  While Gramma Ora lived simply, the flavors she produced were extraordinary.  It might not have been the fashionable thing at the time, but the vegetables and fruits she served were picked fresh from the garden the day they were consumed.  When she was ready to start a meal Gramma Ora went down to the garden to see what was ready to pick often minutes before she cooked it.  It couldn’t get much fresher than that.  In addition, eggs came from hens she raised out back of the house, honey from beehives Grampa Rollie kept, milk from the cows in the field across the way, chickens from the coop in the backyard where my great-grandfather chopped off their heads.

I grew up eating farm-fresh fruits and vegetables right out of my great-grandparents’ garden.  Anything my great-grandparents didn’t grow, or raise themselves, was procured within five to ten-miles of their home usually from other farmers and ranchers.  This is how they lived their lives.  They didn’t know any other way.  It’s also the way I was lucky enough to grow up, and I am deeply indebted to them for showing me their way of life:  local, sustainable, and regional.

A Favorite Family Treat, Home-Cured Deer Jerky

With winter came deer hunting season, and one of my favorite things to eat.  My great-uncle Herman, a true hunting man, usually returned from a week in the wilds of the Colorado mountains with a couple of deer that he would skin and butcher himself.  One of the family’s favorite winter treats was the melt-in-your-mouth home-cured deer jerky that Uncle Herman made.  We helped ourselves to what seemed like an endless supply from a string of it dangling beside the fireplace.

Print Recipe

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the Food World:

#1 – Wednesday, January 26, 2011 ~ Farm Dinner at Fig Restaurant in Santa Monica, California.  A menu based on produce from Garcia Organic Farm.  Garcia Organic Farm grows 40 – 50 varieties of citrus, avocados, and deciduous fruit.  Chef Ray Garcia created a menu using produce from the farm.

#2 – Mini-Reviews: There are two other cookbooks I’ve received recently that I want to give shout outs to ~ ‘Simple Comforts: 50 Heartwarming Recipes’ by Sur La Table.  Easy-breezy, comfort food recipes for everyday cooking.  Herb Corn Bread.  Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  Chicken Pot Pie.  Classic Extra Macaroni and Cheese ~ and more!  ‘I Love Bacon’ by Jayne Rockmill.  Who doesn’t?  This book contains 50 recipes from chefs across the country.  Recipes to make your own bacon, followed by recipes for brunch to dessert ~ all using bacon.  A portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to Share Our Strength and Food Bank for New York City.

My Status: Enjoying winter in So Cal and the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m (still) published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.  I am thrilled (still).

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders.

My great-great grandparents, Lamerlis Caldonia Doak, and Christopher Columbus Chandler. These are my great-grandmother's parents.

My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, and her garden, were the impetus for me to start writing this blog.  She was a major influence all through my childhood.  She lived a ‘local’ life without realizing she was doing so.  She simply lived her life.  This series is part of a longer piece I am working on about her, and her life.  Herewith, Part 2…

Heritage, A Very Rich One

My maternal great-great grandparents, Christopher Columbus Chandler (1852-1925) and his wife, Lamerlis Caledonia Doak (1861-1934), had eleven children.  Two of the eleven children were truly great women in my life:  my great-grandmother, Ora Esther Goodman (1884-1978) and her sister, my great-aunt, Ona Dana (1893-1991).  Both women had a true pioneer spirit, and were a big influence on me growing up on the Central California coast.

Gramma Ora married Rolla Charles Goodman in 1907 in Modoc, California, a small town on the Oregon-California border.  After my great-great grandfather Chandler moved his large brood to the Central Coast town of Nipomo, my great-grandparents followed with their two boys, Donald, my grandfather, and Herman, my great-uncle.  The family eventually settled in Orcutt, California, another Central Coast town.  At that point the entire extended family was settled in the Central Coast area and would remain there through present day.

My grandfather tells the following story about his arrival in the area in 1918 and his first sight of Grandpa Chandler’s farm:

Grandpa had established quite a one-man operation on his little farm.  He raised pigs for their bacon, headcheese, smoked ham, and fresh meat.  I remember how good the pork chops were with gravy, mashed potatoes and fresh peas and Grandma’s freshly baked bread.  He raised bees for their honey and honey sugar.  He raised all kinds of vegetables, which he stored in the root cellar along with fruit and berry jams and jellies.  He had apricot and peach trees whose fruit he dried over sulphur fires.  He made apple cider and applesauce.  He had his own chickens for their eggs and meat.  And a few cows and steers for milk and meat.  He even raised a turkey or two for the holidays.

From this story about my great-grandmother’s father I can see very clearly the origins of her do-it-yourself ways as well as of her talents in the garden and the kitchen.

My great-grandparents, Rolla and Ora Goodman, barbecuing in a local park.

The Nipomo Rancho, the Dana Family, and the Dana Adobe

My great-aunt Ona Chandler married Goodwin Dana – the Danas were a Spanish Land Grant family in the Nipomo area — thus bringing the Spanish-Mexican influence into the family.  The Danas had quite an influence on the development of the area over the years.  They originally settled on the 37,000 Nipomo Rancho when Captain William Dana, a Boston sea captain married Maria Josefa Carillo, the daughter of a Mexican provincial governor and a Spanish Land Grant owner.

The rancho was given to Captain Dana in 1828 when the couple married, and the adobe ranch house that Captain Dana built for his new bride still stands, and is now a registered California State Historical Landmark.  The Captain and his wife went on to have twenty-one children.  Their adobe was the hub of a very active rancho; not only did it support the Captain and his large family but it also employed many workers and ranch hands including Mexicans, local Indians and a Chinese cook.

The rancho served as a social and business center for the local area, and at various times offered ad hoc assistance to the developing state.  It became the first mail stop between San Francisco and Los Angeles when mail services first started in California.  And when the railroad was put in, the Captain allowed tracks to be laid across the rancho.

The self-sufficient, hardworking ethos of the early Danas continued with the later Dana generations; Aunt “Onie” and her husband Goodwin Dana, a great-grandson to Captain Dana, continued the family legacy of living and working off the land.  Aunt Onie, my favorite great-aunt, was also a good cook; whenever we went to visit, she always had freshly baked cookies in which she put walnuts from her backyard tree.  It was the Danas who held the frequent family reunions where we ate Santa Maria-style barbecue, a local delicacy.

This style of barbecue is unique to the Central California Coast, the beef having been raised in the Santa Maria area.  The dish hearkens back to the rancho days when the rancheros gathered in the spring to help each other brand their calves.  In thanks, the host prepared a Spanish-style barbecue for his vaqueros, family and friends.

Tri-tip roast, the cut of beef used in Santa Maria-style barbecue, is a boneless cut from the bottom sirloin; it’s also called a “triangle” roast because of its shape.  Red oak, a local tree to the area, is the preferred wood for the fire as it gives the meat the unique, smoky flavor now associated with this dish.

Print Recipe

My Status: a few warm, 80 degree days last weekend made it feel summery again.  That didn’t last.  My mind has been on winter dishes; fun, interesting things like fondue bourguignonne, pieces of raw beef cooked in a fondue pot of hot oil.  Or a cheese fondue, those are always fun.  Then there’s the Swiss dish of raclette, set a whole half of a raclette cheese next to a fireplace, as it slowly melts, scrape it off onto your plate, then eat it with boiled new potatoes, and cornichons.  Or a choucroute garnie, or a cassoulet. Dishes I learned to make in France.

I’m (still) published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.  I am thrilled (still).

Upcoming Posts: a write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective.  More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, and Biscotti by Mona Talbott and Mirella Misenti.

My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, and her garden, were the impetus for me to start writing this blog.  She was a major influence all through my childhood.  She lived a ‘local’ life without realizing she was doing so.  She simply lived her life.  It’s been awhile since I’ve written about her.  So this post will be about her.  This is part of a longer piece I am working on about her, and her life.

Sustenance, A Way of Life

My great-grandmother was obsessed with water.  She was always saying “there isn’t enough water for all these people.”  As the population of California grew she became even more fanatical.  Back then I used to wonder if she had a point, and now I’m certain she did.

The story goes that when my great-grandparents were young and homesteading a parched area of Central California near the small town of Chittendon, the land had no water.  It was the early 1900s and a particularly difficult period in their young lives; Grampa was frequently away trying to earn a living and Gramma was left alone on the farm with two small boys.

A Team of Dray Horses, and Five Oak Barrels

It was left to Gramma to supply the farm with water.  The closest source was five miles away and to get to it she had to saddle up a team of Dray horses, load a wagon with five oak barrels, and travel ten miles round trip just to have enough water to keep the farm going.  Doing this several times a month for months on end, the experience forever influenced her perception of the value of water.  So it was never wasted in my great-grandparents’ house.  My great-grandmother wouldn’t allow a drop of it to go down the drain; she reused dishwater several times, much to the disgust of the rest of the family, and when she decided it had washed enough dishes it was dumped over the fence into the garden.  Truth be known, nothing was wasted in my great-grandmother’s house – there was always a “slop” bucket outside the back door into which all the scraps from our meals and her cooking were tossed; it, too, was eventually dumped into the garden, and when she had time she’d go out and dig it all under.  Today composting is accepted practice, but as a result of her ways my great-grandmother’s garden was among the more bounteous in the small town of Orcutt, California.

Acts of Charity, Hobos and Pancakes

Gramma was also famous for feeding the many hobos who lived in the area, or were passing through, with leftovers from family meals; they all knew when to stop by the back door to get their plates of food.  When Sunday – ‘pancake day’ – rolled around, she always made enough extras to feed the hobos before going off to church.  These were her little acts of charity, and her simple, caring ways speak of her as a woman, as a mother, and as a great-grandmother.  Nothing in her life was very complicated.  She was emblematic of the self-sufficient, pioneer, salt-of-the-earth ways with which she was raised.

For me, life began in my great-grandmother’s garden. The plot of land my great-grandparents owned was small — one to two acres at most – and the garden that sat in front of the moderate-sized house that my Grampa Rollie built nearly filled the entire plot. A dusty dirt path split the garden down the middle and while Grampa Rollie raised vegetables and fruits on one side, Gramma Ora grew all types of beautiful flowers on the other.

Of course, the seasons were always reflected in both the garden and the table – one of the many joys of their forgotten way of life and a rare experience nowadays.

To be continued…

My Status:  It’s been cold!  Our winter has arrived.  Time for winter-cold weather cooking.  Maybe something from Julia Child, or Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook ‘Around My French Table.’

News! I’m published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.  I am thrilled.

Upcoming Posts: a write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, and Bon Appétit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild.

Me, age 1, at Avila Beach, California

I have always loved the ocean.  It has always been a part of my life.  Growing up along the Central Coast of California it was a big part of my childhood.  I spent most of my childhood in San Luis Obispo, a medium-sized California city half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  From a very young age I swam in the ocean.  My parents tell me they couldn’t keep me out of the water.  San Luis Obispo lies inland from the coast by a half hour driving.  The closest beach is Avila Beach — a place where I spent many a summer day swimming in the waves, body surfing, and playing in the sand.  For my single mother it was an inexpensive way to spend a weekend day; she got to relax in the sun while my sister and I wore ourselves out.  We usually went home sunburned and covered in sand.

Pan Roasted Arctic Char, Cannellini Beans, Baby Artichokes & Preserved Lemons

I have also enjoyed eating the food that comes from the sea.  Being that we lived so close to the coast seafood was a big part of our diet growing up.  Both my great-grandfather and great-uncle fished the Central Coast waters.  My mother often took us to Morro Bay, a coastal town north of San Luis, for fish and chips dinner.  The lingcod used in the meal was caught a few miles out to sea.  In those days no one gave a second thought to overfishing, pollution, and questions of sustainability.  Now we must.  We have no choice.  We are quickly depleting our seafood sources.  I find it horribly sad.

I recently met Martin Reed who started a sustainable fish company called i love blue sea.  It’s a genius idea.  I know for myself that when I’m in a store at the fish counter my eyes cross, I hyperventilate, I can’t remember which fish is the ‘right’ fish, wild, or farmed; all that confusion overwhelms me and I often don’t buy anything.  Martin’s company takes the guess work out of the process.  He sells nothing but sustainable fish, and he ships it anywhere in the U.S, overnight.  Here’s a quick rundown from i love blue sea’s website:  “Wondering where to buy seafood online?  No more guesswork!  Only the highest quality sustainable seafood.  Every dollar spent supports fisheries driving our ocean’s recovery.  It’s a simple, nutritious and delicious way for you to make a positive change!”  Martin recently sent me some Arctic char and asked me to come up with a recipe which I did.  Here’s to the health of our oceans and all the creatures that live in them.

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Recommendation: Savor Los Angeles, Friday, July 30th, 7pm to 10pm ~ a sweets tasting event of one-of-a-kind bites from an exclusive set of L.A.’s best purveyors of sweet treats.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

Despite having seen most of the state while growing up and living in it as an adult, California still surprises. Over and over it reveals itself to me, reminds me of its beauty, and still makes me think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It had been a number of years since I’d been to one of my favorite spots: Big Sur. Robert and I recently spent a long weekend there and I fell in love all over again. There is something magical in the Big Sur air. Everything about the place appeals to me. The remoteness, the residents still living like it is 1968, the overwhelming natural beauty. We approached the area by car from the north; as soon as we drove into the valley where Big Sur starts we entered a lovely time warp. There is little to none cell phone coverage (bliss!). We stayed at Deetjen’s Inn where there is no television, no Internet (more bliss!), and no locks on the doors. It was just the break I’d needed and was looking for from all the noise of modern society. It’s amazing how quiet it can actually be without all the technology we surround ourselves with. I’d been hearing about Deetjen’s for a number of years from my friend Jill, an American living in London who goes whenever she’s in California. I am so glad we chose to stay there.

Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn, 48865 Highway One, Big Sur, California, 93920, (831) 667-2377, http://www.deetjens.com

Built in the early 1930s by Norwegian Helmut Deetjen, Deetjen’s is world famous for its rustic charm and quiet isolation. The story goes that Helmut left his native Norway to get away from the ‘authorities’; when he discovered the remote Big Sur coast he decided to stay. He and his wife Helen Haight bought several acres in Castro Canyon which offered the privacy and seclusion he sought. Starting with a redwood barn made from materials from the canneries along Monterey’s Cannery Row, ‘Grandpa Deetjen’ went on to build more structures all constructed using local, scavenged redwood. The inn now comprises twenty rooms and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Over the years it has been visited by numerous famous names from old Hollywood, (Rita Hayworth, Orsen Welles, Kim Novak) to such writers and artists as Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Ansel Adams, and Edward Weston.

We stayed in ‘Edy’s Room’; only big enough for a bed, and a couple of chairs and small tables but so full of charm that the lack of space was quickly forgotten. The room was cozy against the chill temperatures outside, and once inside I found it hard to leave. The doors only locked from the inside which at first gave us pause but as long as we were careful to take valuables with us was not an issue. This lack of locks fits right into the laissez-faire Big Sur attitude. For an additional bit of intrigue the room is supposedly haunted by Edy’s ghost. Reading through the journals left behind by prior guests we learned of possible ghostly sightings. If she was around during our stay she didn’t let us know. While we were at Deetjen’s we ate a dinner and a breakfast in the quaint dining room; the food was hearty and filling in keeping with the Deetjen’s spirit. Now that I have been I look forward to going again soon.

Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant, Highway One, Big Sur, California, (831) 667-0520, http://www.bigsurbakery.com

I used to go to Big Sur on a very regular basis when I worked in the restaurant business in San Francisco in the ’80s. Jeremiah Tower, chef and owner of Stars restaurant, was once chef at Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur. Because of that connection, I always stayed at Ventana — an upscale resort nestled against the Big Sur mountains just above the fog line. I usually ate in the Ventana restaurant. I also generally stayed put and enjoyed the beauty of Big Sur from on high. This time was different. Robert and I jumped in and really experienced it. We drove, we looked, we hiked and we explored almost every inch. One of the places I knew I’d be visiting was the newish Big Sur Bakery which I’d read about in the Los Angeles Times. I was quite intrigued by the story of three Los Angeles chef friends who chucked their urban-city lives to open a bakery and restaurant in the rustic wilds of Big Sur. It sounded so wonderful to me. Michelle Rizzolo, Philip Wojtowicz and Mike Gilson met while working in such Los Angeles restaurants as Campanile, La Brea Bakery, Joe’s Restaurant, and Mélisse. At Big Sur Bakery Michelle handles all the baking and pastry making; Philip is responsible for the kitchen while Mike handles the front of the house. Using a wood-fired oven they bake bread every morning to be sold in the bakery and used in the restaurant. Many dishes on the restaurant menus are also cooked in the wood-fired oven; they honor the local, sustainable, organic credo as well. The trio has published a cookbook, ‘The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook: A Year In The Life of a Restaurant,’ about their first year in business in Big Sur. We had two meals both deeply satisfying. The wood-fire pizza (’Traditional wood fired tomato & cheese pizza’) and salad (’Salad of seasonal organic mixed greens with shallots, herbs, roasted carrots, toasted sunflower seeds, and lemon poppy seed dressing’) we shared after hiking to a waterfall was just what we needed to fuel up for our next adventure. The dinner we ate one night was the perfect antidote to the cold rainy weather outside. There is a dearth of good, reasonably priced eats in Big Sur so the cozy, rustic charm and hearty food of Big Sur Bakery is a most welcome addition. If I lived in Big Sur I’d be a regular patron.

Part of what I like about Big Sur is its hippy-bohemian vibe. We saw more hitchhikers in three days then I have seen in thirty years. The people we saw out and about, wandering down Highway One on foot, bicycle and car, in shops and restaurants, and at the beach often seemed to be aged hippies of yore, throwbacks to the ’60s and the earlier Beat Generation, or for the younger generation — modern day ‘hippies.’ The whole Big Sur vibe reminded me so much of growing up in the ’60s and ’70s along the Central Coast of California where these types were the norm. Hitchhikers thumbed rides freely; men had long hair and beards; everyone wore tie dye T-shirts, peace signs around their necks, and bell bottoms. It was an awesome time to be a kid; so much was happening. I felt a bit of this energy in Big Sur. A place where Beat author Jack Kerouac spent time; and where ‘Tropic of Cancer’ — it’s 1961 U.S. publication date led to an obscenity trial — writer Henry Miller lived from 1944 to 1962. Naturally, one of my favorite places we visited was The Henry Miller Library.

The Henry Miller Library, Highway One, Big Sur California, (831) 667-2574, http://www.henrymiller.org

The library reminded me of City Lights Books in San Francisco’s North Beach; a once fertile gathering place for Beatniks, subversives and hippies. Not just a library or a place to sell books but a meeting place; a place to find like-minded souls; a place to hear poetry or a lecture, to see a performance, or attend a workshop; a place to get back that counter-culture, hippy vibe lost long ago. The library does all of that while keeping the spirit of Miller alive. It’s seemingly the nexus of all that Big Sur energy. Magnus the current ‘librarian’ holds court at the cashier’s desk answering questions; passing on Miller tidbits, facts and history; and explaining upcoming activities at the library. Again, it felt as though I was stepping back in time. I loved the poster for ‘Celebration At Big Sur’ — a counter-culture concert featuring some of my counter-culture heroes: Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young — hanging in the library. The poster (see below) says ‘Celebrate with…’ and I’m sorry I didn’t get to.

After we left the Henry Miller Library we ventured down the road to another famed Big Sur location, the can’t-miss ‘Nepenthe.’ A restaurant and bar perched above the Pacific that offers breathtaking views down the Monterey coast. I’d been years ago on a hot summer day, and sat outside on the deck with a cold drink looking south down the coast. My memory of the view and the place has remained strong over the years. The weather was wet and cold the day Robert and I went but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Nepenthe Restuarant, 48510 Highway One, Big Sur, California, 93920, (831) 667-2345, http://www.nepenthebigsur.com

‘Nepenthe’ means ‘isle of no care’ in Greek. Original Nepenthe owners Lolly and Bill Fassett and their five children settled into a cabin on the property called the Log House in 1947. The Log House’s most recent owners had been Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles neither of whom lived in the house due to their filing for divorce soon after they bought it. Once settled in the Fasset’s proceeded to slowly build what is now Nepenthe. The original vision was for ‘an open-air pavilion with good food and wine and dancing under the stars.’ A place where people from up and down the coast would come and forget their cares.’ [from the Nepenthe website]. Lolly opened the Phoenix Shop, now a gift shop, so local and traveling merchants could show and sell their wares. The family lived an idyllic Bohemian life surrounded by artists, crafts people, writers, performers and travelers. Like the Henry Miller Library, Nepenthe is still a gathering place for thinkers and creative types both those living locally and those traveling through; as well as for the endless stream of tourists traveling down Highway One who stop in for a drink, some food and the bewitching view. Nepenthe is like the cream on top of the Big Sur bohemian pie. One does have to wonder if Big Sur would be ‘Big Sur’ without Nepenthe. I have to say that it would not — Nepenthe is such a part of the history and fabric of Big Sur that without it, it would be something else entirely. [While relatives of Lolly and Bill run the day-today of the restaurant], granddaughter, Romney Steele, has taken over the running of Nepenthe and has [recently] published a book about the history and food of the famed restaurant: ‘My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur.’

Easlen Institute, 55000 Highway One, Big Sur, California, 93920, (831) 667-3000, http://www.esalen.org

There is one other remarkable and fun thing that we did in Big Sur that I want to mention: visiting the hot springs at the Esalen Institute. Esalen, an organization and retreat center, “…was founded in 1962 as an alterntaive educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the ‘the human potential,’ the world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond the imagination.” [from the Esalen website] Now comprised of twenty-seven acres perched on the cliffs above the crashing Pacific ocean, the institute holds a wide range of classes, workshops, and retreats offering introductions to Gestalt, massage, sensory awareness and meditation. And then there’s the natural hot springs that pour forth from a seaside cliff. Because the institute allows registered guests top priority in using the hot springs, they are only open to the public from 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. I’d heard about the springs before, and I knew admittance was in the middle of the night, but Robert and I still wanted to go. We took a nap and went. We are so glad we did. The springs are set atop a cliff right over the ocean. While soaking in the hot springs we watched the waves crashing on the rocks below us, we looked out into the dark sea, and at the stars twinkling above us. It was a magical two hours. Two hours that I hope to experience again. In fact the whole weekend was a magical experience I hope to experience again. One I also highly recommend.

Upcoming Posts: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I went to in Napa. Reviews: My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur by Romney Steele, The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe.

Cooking The Cowboy Way: Recipes Inspired by Campfires, Chuck Wagons, and Ranch Kitchens. Grady Spears. Andrews McMeel Publishing. $29.99. (222p) ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-7392-1

Growing up on the central coast of California was paradisaical in many ways. The natural beauty. The rural feeling. My relatives close by. Farm fresh fruits and vegetables always at hand. Food and family often intermixed. My great-great-aunt Ona Chandler married into the Dana family — a Spanish land grant family dating back to before California was a state when it still belonged to Mexico. Spanish land grants weren’t actually Spanish, they were Mexican. Huge tracts of land that the Mexican government gave away to white men if they married the daughters of Mexican soldiers who were stationed in ‘Alta California’ — the name it had at the time. The goal was to populate the region but it backfired when the white man took the land away from Mexico eventually making it the State of California. The Dana family operated a rancho near the small town of Nipomo — a cow town, full of farmers and ranchers. Cattle was raised in the surrounding hills, and still is. And naturally where there’s beef there’s barbecue. Not just in Nipomo but also in the surrounding area: Santa Maria, Arroyo Grande, and San Luis Obispo. It’s called Santa Maria-style barbecue and the cut used is tri-tip.

Santa Maria-style barbecue is a method of outdoor cooking that dates back to the early ranchos and land grants. It is still extremely popular and these days men spend weekends grilling away in grocery store parking lots on mobile barbecue pits; the smell of the oak wood fire, and grilling meat wafting in the air. Because of my Aunt Onie our family has a strong link to the area as well as to this style of cooking. As a child during the summer months the Nipomo’s Men’s Club held community barbecues on the weekends. A pit barbecue was brought to the Nipomo Community Center and the local men grilled tri-tip over oak and served it with homemade salsa, local pinquito beans, salad, and garlic bread. We sat outside at picnic tables covered with white paper and ate until we were full. And boy was it good eating. I have very fond memories of those days. Of those weathered cowboys both white and Latino who pitched in to cook that delicious food; and of the community coming together to feast.

When I received ‘Cooking The Cowboy Way’ for review, I immediately thought back to those summer barbecues. I was excited to see what recipes were included. Campfire, chuck wagon, and ranch cooking is a very distinctive way of cooking and one that I love. There’s nothing quite like the experience, and the flavors, of cooking bacon and eggs, or a steak over an open campfire. The book is a wonderful compendium of this style of cooking. Chef, restaurant owner, and author Grady Spears explores this way of cooking by highlighting working ranches, and their food and recipes across North America. Each chapter is devoted to a different ranch in such states as Texas, Arizona, Missouri, Florida and Alberta, Canada. He includes cooking secrets, photos and stories about the cowboy way of life. While I was reading through it, it made me want to pack up my cast iron pan, and my camping gear, grab my horse, and hit the open road. I have everything but the horse. Maybe car camping is in the near future instead.

I cooked several recipes from the book and they were all a huge success. The recipes were well-written, easy to follow and pleased several friends that came over to eat them to the point that they asked for the recipes for themselves. The ‘Porterhouse Steaks with Wildcatter Steak Rub’ from the Wildcatter Ranch in Graham, Texas were heavenly — the rub is a definite keeper. The salt pork and the jalapeño pepper gave the pinto beans in ‘Tom’s Ranch Beans’ from the Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap, Texas a full-flavored kick. A sprinkle of chili powder on the ‘Golden Corn Bread Muffins’ from Rancho de la Osa in Sasabe, Arizona provided a welcome boost; and the ‘Autumn Pear Crisp’ also from the Perini Ranch was the hit of the meal. The food and flavors in ‘Cooking The Cowboy Way’ are simple, big and satisfying. This is not haute cuisine nor should it be. This type of cooking came about because of a need to feed large numbers of hungry men; it had to be easy to prepare as well as filling. It also had to be cooked for the most part out of doors which adds another layer to the cooking and eating experience. To me food always tastes different, better, when cooked outside. The wood fire, the fresh air, the grilling meat are intoxicating. I was a little uncertain when I saw several recipes that listed things like garlic and onion powder, granulated beef base, canned goods, and commercial condiments but then I realized it’s a different style of cooking, that it’s not, as I mentioned, high cuisine, and that some of these ingredients make sense for these recipes. From what I experienced with the recipes I made they had no bearing whatsoever on the taste of the food. I definitely plan to cook more out of this book while checking my food snobbery at the kitchen door. ‘Cooking The Cowboy Way’ is a book worthy of everyone’s cookbook shelves.

Happy trails!

Please Vote For Me! The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook Contest: I have entered my baked papaya recipe, ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya,’ into the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest. If selected the recipe will be published in cookbook published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. To vote go to the top of my blog to the Foodista icon. Thanks!

My Status: Winter in Southern California — warm days, cold nights, comfort food. Off to Yosemite at the end of January to attend a ‘Chefs’ Holidays 2010 at the Ahwahnee’ event: three days of cooking demos, lectures and eating with chefs Suzanne Goin, Duskie Estes and John Stewart. Can’t wait! Also new cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to use. More cooking, eating, writing, and blogging.

Upcoming Posts: Reviews: Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine; and of the new cookbooks Venezia: Food & Dreams by Tessa Kiros, My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur by Romney Steele, The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe.

My great-grandparents, Ora and Rolla Goodman, at a family barbecue in Waller Park in Santa Maria, California.

Introduction – My Life in Food

I have very fond food memories from my childhood growing up on the Central Coast of California during the 60s and 70s. I grew up in the near-coastal town of San Luis Obispo. Even though I lived in other places as a child, it’s my hometown. My mother, Dawn Goodman, was born in Santa Maria, a town further south on the 101 freeway; and her grandparents, Rolla and Ora Goodman lived in Orcutt, a small town just south of Santa Maria. Most of my memories are of my great-grandparents, their profuse garden and their sourcing of local-area ingredients for family meals. Their home was the locus of all family gatherings and many happy times were spent there. However, my mother, my sister, Traci, and I have our own food history of which I also have memories. My mother recounts much of it in this post: read on…

Recently I celebrated a ‘big’ birthday. My friend, Karen Roorda, devised the most extraordinary gift for me: my life in food. From childhood all the way up to this blog. She brought a large duffel bag to the party and proceeded to take out all manner of items related to my food, cooking and eating history including a Big Mac, large fries and chocolate shake from McDonald’s. Was I surprised by this? Yes!! My mother had told her that we subsisted on fast food when my sister and I were in our pre-teens and teens. Karen had contacted my mother without my knowledge and gathered the necessary information to make this gift-presentation. It was an amazing surprise and a wonderful gift. Afterward I found out that my mother had written Karen an e-mail recounting my food history. I learned a lot from reading it, and remembered things I’d forgotten, and enjoyed it so much that I thought it would be fun to share on this blog. It also shows a bit where I came by my interest in food.

Before I let my mother take it away, I’d like to point out that she did raise my sister and I as a single mother without benefit of financial security. Food and cooking were not really a priority as she had a hard enough time keeping up with everything else. She did get us fed, she cooked often because she had to, we did eat out at fast food restaurants for awhile. I have no complaints. We all survived. I thank her for what she was able to do for us and show us about life. Now then, here’s my mother, Dawn Goodman, writing to my friend Karen Roorda (I have inserted my comments in [brackets]):

Charles’ History in Food by Dawn Goodman

Hi Karen:

What a wonderful thoughtful gift to give Charles. My problem is trying to remember 30 plus years ago, as well as having given Charles all his history (baby book, school records, photos, etc.) a long time ago, but I will do my best. Charles was nine pounds at birth and as a baby was not picky, he ate everything. At nine months he had to be put on low-fat milk because he was too roly-poly. He remained ‘chunky’ until junior high school when he shot up to six feet and thinned out. I do not remember him disliking any particular food although I’m sure there were some.

Being a single mother, working full-time, and keeping up the house and kids, I did not have much time for cooking. Also, Traci was a very picky eater, and as result we had a limited diet. I remember using a lot of Bisquick — in pancakes with bananas, biscuits, coffee cakes, etc. But mostly it was the usual, over and over — meatloaf, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages (pigs in a blanket), macaroni and cheese (from a box), spaghetti, tuna casserole, fried chicken, pork and lamb chops, turkey, beef stew, potato and macaroni salad, Iceberg lettuce salad, coleslaw, and pizza. We ate a lot of zucchini, in bread, as a pureed soup base, patties and in salads. When pizza first came out it was in a box with a can of tomato sauce and dough. The toppings were up to each person. This was just before pizza parlors became popular. We ate out more often than not. There was McDonald’s, Chinese food, Taco Bell, A&W drive ins, Sizzler (they were just starting). I seldom used a recipe only because I made the same things over and over. This was when nearly every recipe was made with one or the other of Campbell creamed soups; and yes, every dessert had some Jello in it. We ate few sweets except for cookies. I did make a banana bread/cake. Traci took the recipe to 1st grade for a Christmas book of recipes the kids made for their families. In it was our ‘Rotten Banana Bread,’ as the kids called it.

I was not a good cook and did not enjoy cooking. Because I didn’t, I think it was in junior high when Charles took an interest in cooking. He made up a recipe and entered it in the once-a-year recipe contest in the local newspaper [Telegram Tribune, San Luis Obispo, California]. He didn’t win but it was printed. It was called Pizza Casserole. There was Italian sausage, onion, zucchini, and tomato sauce with Bisquick biscuits on top. We ate it often. It was good. One time I was busy painting the outside of the house when he came out with a picnic lunch he had put together. He made me stop, clean up, and go for a short ride in the country. We had a lovely lunch which I’ve never forgotten. After he had been in France and come home he started culinary school. When a close friend was getting married he and two other students did the entire reception as a gift. He has always been interested in good food.

We were lucky to live near my grandparents and uncle and aunt. Because the ocean was only a few miles away we had access to fresh fish, clams, and abalone. This influenced Charles more than anything. When he was born there were still clams to be dug up at low tide in Pismo Beach [Clamming is now restricted due to over harvesting]. Grandma Ora made clam chowder and clam cakes. The abalone were on their way out by the time Charles was aware but we did have them from time to time. Grandpa Rollie raised sheep which we ate [I assume it was lamb we ate vs. mutton], and all the vegetables and fruit came out of their garden. Charles’ favorite item was the homemade jerky our Uncle Herman made from deer that he hunted. We also had wonderful barbecues at the local park [see picture above], on homemade pits, and even in the fireplace when it was cold outside. It was a way of life fast disappearing. Favorite family recipes made by grandparents and aunts: Tamale Pie, enchiladas, Heavenly Hash – a fruit salad, Macaroni Loaf, Mock Ravioli, Hot Fudge Pudding (I think I’ve seen this in a box by Betty Crocker now?), Velvet Crumb Cake, plus others.

Dawn Goodman

Please Vote For Me: The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook Contest: I have entered my baked papaya recipe, ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya,’ into the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest. If selected the recipe will be published in cookbook published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. To vote go to the top of my blog to the Foodista icon. Thanks!

My Status: Continued wet, cold weather here in Southern California which is nice for a change. Planning to make some hearty winter dishes, recipes. Also new cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to try out. More cooking, eating, writing, blogging coming soon.

Upcoming Posts: Reviews: Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine. Cooking The Cowboy Way, a review of the new cookbook by cowboy-chef Grady Spears.