Break out the Bubbly! – New Leaf Community Market set to open in Evergreen Feb 1

Signage going up today!

My local neighborhood has been without a nearby grocery store for over a year and a half. You probably remember me whining about this missing resource in my previous posts: Whole Foods Almaden and the announcement of New Leaf Evergreen.

The upside of this grocery store deprivation is that I know my neighbors so much better – we have to borrow staples from each other all the time, rather than drive 45 minutes round trip to buy a dozen eggs.

But in my less optimistic moments, not having a grocery store has felt like going on a restrictive diet and suddenly craving the forbidden foods exponentially more than you ever did before. Our closest store is a Lucky or an old, unremodeled Safeway. For a food-obsessed person like me this has been torture! Keep in mind, my idea of a fun break is to stop at an interesting grocery store and tool around in it for an hour just reading labels and imagining what I might do with an ingredient I’ve never seen before.

Booklet all about New Leaf proudly displaying the Evergreen location!!!

I feed my food imagination by talking to the butcher, tasting samples from the deli, asking questions of the cheese specialist, or finding a new-fangled superfood grain to test out. Well finally, I will be getting this sustenance and so much more – a juice bar, wine expertise, healthy pre-made foods hot and cold, lots of local and organic produce and the list goes on. This afternoon, I stopped by to see the progress and New Leaf’s marketing coordinator, Naomi Dresser, welcomed me in for a sneak peek and a brief photo session. I’m also including a link to all the classes and events they have planned to get us acclimated to the new store.

OMG! – the anticipation is palpable! Welcome to the neighborhood New Leaf – you better be here to stay!

Wine section near front right entrance to store

Oh to be able to buy a sandwich again...

Some of the cheese ready for the opening

Setting up the cheese section

Juice Bar Menu

Produce section just waiting for fresh arrivals!

Another sign...

Tags: Grocery store, Lucky, New Leaf Community Markets, Retail, Safeway, Whole Foods

French Fridays with Dorie: quatre-quarts Cake and Coffee with a Purpose

As you’ve come to expect, here is OMG! Yummy’s Saturday edition of French Fridays with Dorie. My motivation for this post is two-fold -

1. I always enjoy interacting with the French Fridays with Dorie group and miss it when I don’t;

2. My daughter loves sweets and has a long weekend of work ahead – I thought this would get her day started off in a happy way.

Quatre-quarts from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook Around My French Table is a simple pound-cake-type recipe that Dorie has tweaked to work with our American measurements. As she explains, the direct translation of the name is four-fourths – equal parts eggs, flour, sugar, and butter. What really sold me was her description: “… a look so sweet and plain that you’d think the cake had the word home etched into its slightly domed top.” How can you not want to make a cake described that way?

So out came the ingredients and tools with a determination to quickly prepare the cake and start writing the post while it baked. It comes together easily with the four ingredients mentioned above plus some baking powder, a pinch of salt and your choice of vanilla extract or dark rum or cognac. I opted for a little cognac and a little vanilla. Dorie also adds some brown sugar on top for color and a surprise punch of sweetness. In addition, she has us separate the eggs and whip the whites, which for a little Saturday morning exercise, I did by hand.

While I prepared the cake, @dormantchef appeared and started making a fresh pot of coffee – the perfect accompaniment to the cake. But like most things in my kitchen, this coffee has a story attached to it – the beans were purchased from a struggling coffee shop in Williamsburg, Virginia – Harbour Coffee - that he visited while attending our nephew’s graduation in December. My brother, who described the shop this way – “a beautiful mom and pop coffee store, roasting their own coffee, talking to all the customers, making great homemade pastries and other food” - took it upon himself to help this hard-working shop stay open by imploring his friends and family to buy their coffee. We jumped on the bandwagon and have two pounds of their Harbour Blend beans to enjoy. If you are a lover of coffee and supporter of small businesses, you might want to check out their story and support their business.

Now back to the regularly scheduled post – I just took my first bite and this cake is a winner – a cross between a coffee cake and a sponge cake with a little crunch to the bite from the brown sugar. I like the combination of the cognac and vanilla, though I suspect kids would prefer just the vanilla. And as I devoured it, I could imagine using orange or lemon zest to flavor it as well.

To read more experiences with this recipe, check out the French Fridays with Dorie web site and buy Dorie Greenspan’s award-winning cookbook Around My French Table. You will cherish the purchase and learn from each recipe and story that she shares.

P.S. If you are a French Fridays follower or Dorie-lover, don’t miss this darling interview with her on NPR’s Talk of the Nation this past Tuesday about her long-standing Tuesdays with Dorie baking group, based on her legendary baking cookbook – Baking from My Home to Yours.

Tags: OMG! Yummy, Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, breakfast, French Fridays with Dorie, NPR, Coffee cake

Get your Kids in the Kitchen!

Looking back on our two-week holiday break from the normal routine of school, driving, homework, driving, activities, driving and did I mention driving?, I realize my favorite moments of the holiday season revolved around eating or cooking with friends and family (big surprise, right!). But most impressive of all is what my kids and their friends created in the kitchen.

As my Why Am I Blogging page says, one of my proudest parenting successes is that my kids love food. But even better, they are learning to love preparing the food, not just eating it. I suspect neither of them will be subsisting on only Top Ramen in college unless they simply can’t afford anything else.

(PioneerWoman (Ree Drummond), if you get a chance to read this, I just want you to know that my son is a new fan. He made no less than four of your recipes. And I made your roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic reduction twice! I even converted a devout brussels sprouts hater into a lover with that one! So thanks for the inspiration.)

Here’s a photo recap of what the kids in my kitchen created over the holiday break:

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Mocha Frosting

Recipe: thepioneerwoman.com

Chef: TechSavvyTeen

Sous chefs: Mom and Sister (Cake Boss in Training)

Photographer: Dormant Chef

Peppermint Snowball Cupcakes

Recipe: Crate and Barrel mix received as a gift

Chef: Cake Boss in Training (13 yr old daughter)

Sous chefs: TechSavvyTeen and Mom

Burgundy Mushrooms

Recipe: thepioneerwoman.com

Chef: TechSavvyTeen

Sous chef (and photographer): Dormant Chef

Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes

Recipe: simplyrecipes.com

Chef: Cake Boss in Training

Sous chef: Mom

Chocolate-Covered Cake Pops

Recipe: from a blog called Little Miss Momma

Chef: Cake Boss in Training

Sous chef: her best friend

Chocolate-Covered Bon Bons

Recipe: http://www.celebrations.com/content/mint-ice-cream-bonbons

Chef: Cake Boss in Training’s best friend

Sous chef: Cake Boss in Training

Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders

Recipe: thepioneerwoman.com

Chef: TechSavvyTeen

Sous chef: SOLO!!

Sorry – no photo for this one – you’ll have to head over to pioneerwoman.com to see these. They smack you in the face with their flavor, just the way a good slider should! And since the sauce is so snappy and spicy, you can easily trim the fat and calories on these by using turkey instead of beef.

Baklava

Recipe: thepioneerwoman.com

Chef: TechSavvyTeen

Sous chef: Dormant Chef (but mostly solo!!)

If you’re looking for a family food-related resolution for the New Year, follow the lead of many famous chefs – Tyler Florence, Mario Batali, Ferran Adria, and so many more who are writing about the importance of family meals. But I say take it a step further. Be resolved to get your kids cooking in the kitchen, not just eating at the dinner table.

What did you and your kids create in the kitchen over the holidays? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below. Here’s to a yummy and healthy 2012!

Tags: balsamic vinegar, Brussels sprout, Cooking, Cupcake, Kids, OMG! Yummy, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

A Happy Holiday Dinner at Radius in San Francisco

Lest you think I dropped off the face of the earth this holiday season, I bring you a fabulous restaurant find in San Francisco. Radius, located in SOMA (South of Market), is a relaxed bistro-like restaurant offering outstanding local-sourced food (within a 100-mile RADIUS) with warm and caring service. Deciding last minute to head to San Francisco as tourists with another family, I offered to leverage my Twitter friends and tackle the Thursday night reservation with the following simple (NOT!) requirements: large group (9 people), fabulous food, vegan AND carnivore-friendly. Twitter to my rescue and @thedapperdiner suggested I try Radius. I contacted the chef @wholehog415 (Chris Geremia) and booked our reservation with assurance that the vegan in our midst would not feel like she was an afterthought, despite the fact that clearly from the chef’s Twitter handle, pork is a specialty.

We were not disappointed. Each dish from appetizers to dessert was well-executed, creative, and bursting with interesting and yes, yummy flavors. The only service mis-step was handled with grace and class. Bravo Radius for helping us enjoy a special holiday meal in the City. (and the 15 yr old vegan diner was grinning from ear to ear after finishing all four courses of her meal!)

Here are a few of the highlights:

Amuse bouche of a crispy potato chip topped with a tiny roasted cherry tomato with flavor far outweighing its size

Pork Belly and Farm Egg with sautéed mushrooms and roasted onion dashi

Dungeness Crab Salad with orange and lemongrass gelée

Local Oysters with Cucumber mignonette

not pictured: House Charcuterie Platter comped to our table with duck liver mousse, pork belly rillette, and mortadella artfully accompanied by a boysenberry glacé

Cauliflower Soup with brown butter popcorn and chive oil – provided to keep me happy while my entree was delayed – nice touch!

House Specialty of Stout Braised Lamb Shoulder with goat cheese polenta

Aged Top Sirloin with bone marrow and red wine beef jus

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with apple and brussel sprouts – worth the wait!

Lemon Curd Tart with chocolate praline crunch – OMG!

Vegan dessert of soy ice cream and persimmon on a bed of pistachios

not pictured: Goat Cheese Semifreddo and Vanilla and Olive Oil Milkshake

Not to short change the wine list – the Paul Matthew Pinot from Horseshoe Vineyards in the Russian River Valley was an outstanding selection enjoyed with all of our entrees and appetizers. It was a big pinot that stood up to the flavors without overpowering any of them.

If you find yourself in San Francisco with a yearning for flavorful, creative food in a relaxed atmosphere while supporting the locavore movement, Radius should be your choice!

Thanks again to Chef Chris Geremia, managing partner Christian Baker, and the rest of the staff for creating a memorable meal and holiday celebration for our family and friends.

I hope that my readers are enjoying a peaceful, yummy, and joyous holiday season!

Tags: locavore, OMG! Yummy, Radius, San Francisco, SOMA, South of Market San Francisco, Twitter, Veganism

An Elegant Vegetarian Entree for your Holiday Meals

I must confess, I almost never have time to read the newspaper anymore but if I make the effort, it’s usually on the day the food section comes out. This strategy paid off for me last year when the San Jose Mercury News reprinted a wonderful recipe from Melissa Clark, food writer for the New York Times and cookbook author (In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite). The recipe was for a Vegetable Wellington – a variation of a popular beef dish but clearly without the main star satisfying only the carnivores on your guest list. I was intrigued as I was preparing a menu for Thanksgiving at the time and one of our guests would be a vegetarian.

My goal was to find a dish that could be prepared ahead of time and would taste hearty enough to count as a suitable substitute for the turkey protein the rest of us would be enjoying. This recipe absolutely hit the spot. Everyone enjoyed it, perhaps more than the turkey, and it returned to our menu this year by request of all guests. So I wrote to Ms. Clark to ask if I could write about the recipe and she obliged happily.

Vegetable Wellington co-stars with turkey

Ms. Clark was inspired to create this dish as the fall days came and the idea of puffy, flaky pastry was swimming in her head. As functional and toasty as the puff pastry is as a blanket for the filling, it’s the ingredients it envelopes that really steal the show. The filling is simple — butternut squash with a hint of thyme and maple syrup, mushrooms sautéed with white wine, garlic, and shallots, and creamy, crumbled goat cheese. The combination of  sweet squash, savory, pungent mushrooms, married together with melted goat cheese and swaddled in flaky puff pastry is nothing short of divine. If you are a vegetarian, are serving vegetarians, or just like to go meatless on occasion, add this recipe to your repertoire and consider it as you prepare your upcoming holiday meal menus.

Vegetable Wellington

adapted from a Melissa Clark recipe

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (can prepare in advance, leaving just the bake time to the last minute)

• 4 tablespoons butter (or 2 tblsps butter and 2 tblsps olive oil if you roast the squash)
• 1 small butternut squash (1 1/4 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (you can buy pre-cut squash at many stores which can be a real time-saver)
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika or regular paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 3/4 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Flour
• 1 (14-to-16-ounce) package puff pastry
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1 egg, whisked with 1/2 teaspoon water.

1. If you’ll be preparing these immediately, heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment.

2. In a very large skillet over high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the squash in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, for 4 minutes. (If squash won’t fit in a single layer, cook it in batches). Stir and continue to cook until squash is golden, 7 to 10 minutes more. Stir in the syrup, thyme, paprika and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook one minute. Scrape mixture into a bowl.

Alternatively, you can roast it at 400 degrees in the oven with some olive oil, salt, and pepper – it will take about 20 minutes. You can stir in the syrup, thyme, and paprika when you take it out of the oven. I did this the day before and stored it in a container in the refrigerator.

3. Turn the heat down to medium and melt the remaining butter in the skillet. Stir in garlic and shallot; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and remaining salt. Cook until mushrooms are soft and their juices evaporate, about 10 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook until the mixture is dry, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pepper and parsley. Taste and add more salt if needed. You can also do this the day before, if you like.

4. On a lightly floured surface, unwrap the puff pastry. Cut into two 5-by-15-inch rectangles. (I did not cut the puff pastry – I folded the wellingtons into a wider form than she suggests but that’s really up to each chef and how you want to present it on your plate. It worked well as a larger piece for me.) Spread mushrooms on each pastry rectangle leaving 1/4-inch border. Spoon the cheese crumbles over the mushrooms. Then spoon the squash over the cheese, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border (it will look like a stripe of squash lying on a bed of cheese and mushrooms).

5. Brush the exposed borders of dough on each rectangle with the egg wash. Fold the long sides up to meet in the middle and pinch together to seal; pinch the ends, too. Transfer the pastries to the baking sheet (I used a spatula to help since my form was larger) and turn them over so that the seam is face down. If you end up with any small holes in the puff pastry, just close them up with your hands. There isn’t any liquid, so a tiny hole won’t destroy the wellington.) Brush the tops with more egg wash. Bake until they are puffed golden, and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes.* Let cool for 10 minutes, slice and serve.

* I wrote to Ms. Clark to ask her if the puff pastry would be ok if you prepared these early in the day, refrigerated, and just applied the egg wash last minute and baked them. She said it would be fine, but to expect a few minutes extra baking time if they were cold from the refrigerator. I used this method and it worked perfectly!

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Tags: A Good Appetite, butternut squash, meatless Monday, Melissa Clark, New York Times, puff pastry, San Jose Mercury News

Craving Carnitas? – Crock Pot Method Offers Fabulous Flavor for Minimal Effort

I find it especially difficult to prepare home-cooked healthy meals during the busy holiday season. Often, the slow-cooker solves this problem for me – the meal is brewing while I’m out running around all day and the house smells wonderful when we finally arrive home. But I never would have guessed that you can create carnitas, a traditional Mexican pork dish, in your crock pot. Traditionally, they are prepared in manteca (lard) in a copper pot, likely in your backyard.

In fact I was lucky enough to try them prepared this way last June, when my neighbors’ daughter requested that her dad cook traditional carnitas for her college graduation party. You can see from this photo that dad honored her request. Food geek that I am, I quickly pulled out my iPhone to snap a photo.

The mom, on the other hand, was not nearly as excited as I was. She was appalled that her guests were standing in the side yard watching their dinner cook in a wheelbarrow. When the pork was done cooking, we carried it inside to the beautiful buffet and nobody (but his small audience) was any the wiser to its origin. And EVERYBODY gobbled the carnitas up, along with the homemade roasted pepper salsa served alongside. At the end of the party, not a shred of pork was left on the platter.

But in the reality of our busy, lard-free life the other 364 days of the year, how can we recreate this delectable traditional fare? That’s where the slow cooker comes in to play.

Recently, I happened upon a recipe from thekitchn.com espousing the use of the slow cooker to prepare carnitas. A bit incredulous, I gave it a try including just a few variations of my own. The results were remarkable and provide a busy family with at least two meals, perhaps more, of this spicy, succulent, satisfying taco filling. This recipe would be a great addition to a busy December schedule and even provide an easy buffet dinner for an impromptu holiday gathering.

The original recipe can be found on the delightful website called the kitchn.

Slow-Cooker Carnitas

(adapted from the kitchn)

Serves 8 – 10 people

• 1 8 lb bone-in pork butt or approx. 6 lbs boneless
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce or 3/4 cup tomato juice
• Juice of 2 limes
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 6 oz beer (1/2 of a 12 oz bottle)
• 1/4 cup salsa (any red salsa that you enjoy will work)
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 8 whole cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 chipotle peppers (canned or dried), roughly chopped

Trim any excess fat on the exterior of the pork butt and then place it in the crock pot.

In a medium size bowl or 4-cup measuring cup, mix the next 13 ingredients together and then pour over the pork butt in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours. Or if you get a late start, cook on high for a couple of hours, then low for another 4 or 5. The pork is ready when you can put a fork in it and it feels like it will fall apart.

Remove the pork from the crock pot and place it on a large cutting board to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred it with two forks, removing any large chunks of fat you find along the way.

On a foil-lined jelly-roll pan, place a single layer of the shredded pork and drizzle the pork with a bit of the cooking juice. Turn on the broiler and place the pork under the broiler (about 6 inches away) and let it crisp up for about 5 minutes (time will vary depending on how far away from the broiler you place the pan and how hot your broiler is. Mine was set for convect broil at 450 degrees about 6 inches from the element.)

The pork will now have some of the crispness you traditionally find in fried carnitas.

Serve with corn tortillas and a variety of taco garnishings such as salsa, sour cream, avocado, fresh tomatoes, crisp lettuce, a blend of mexican cheeses, cilantro or as a platter with refried beans, rice, and salad.

Tags: carnitas, crock pot, dinner, slow cooker, spicy food, tacos, thekitchn.com

Orange Thyme Cocktail Cookies – A Unique Holiday Appetizer

This week for French Fridays with Dorie, I am early! That’s right – already done with the cooking and post and it’s only Tuesday. The recipe selection this week is free choice. Just pick anything from Around My French Table that you want to prepare for the holidays. My choice was inspired by the book, is a Dorie recipe, and has been adapted slightly to become these earthy, citrusy delights.

Ever since I purchased Around My French Table, I’ve been intrigued by the cocktail cookie recipe called Sablés. Dorie explains that this recipe is from David Lebovitz, a famous chef and blogger who now lives and works in Paris. Along the lines of savory cocktail cookies, Dorie was recently featured in Food and Wine, writing about her sweet and savory creations including a recipe for Apricot Tarragon Cookies. This inspired my  friend Carol Sacks of the blog In Medias Recipe to write a beautiful post about this intriguing wine/cocktail accompaniment.

After finishing my Thanksgiving menu last week which includes a Clementhyme Sparkle Cocktail (by Chef Kathy Casey and Cuties Citrus), these savory cookies popped into mind with the idea of using orange zest and thyme to mimic the cocktail. I sent a tweet to Carol and Dorie to see what they thought of the combination and received encouragement to give it a try.

So that I did over the weekend, using the Apricot Tarragon recipe as a base. I just left out the apricot, and replaced the two tablespoons of tarragon with one tablespoon of fresh chopped thyme and one tablespoon of freshly grated orange zest. And wow – I am sold on this concept and the combination. Crispy, fragrant, buttery but light at the same time. As @dormantchef said, people will take one to see what it is and then want to repeat many times over. My two teens gobbled them up almost before I could take the photos!

The recipe is on Food and Wine and In Medias Recipe and here is my adaptation with the orange and thyme:

Orange Thyme Cocktail Cookies

The dough can be made ahead, rolled out between wax paper, and frozen so you all you have to do is bake them for your big day.

Makes 5 dozen

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves
• 1 tablespooon orange zest (zest of 1 medium orange)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk and chop the thyme finely.
2. Zest the orange using a microplane grater, if you have one.
3. In a small bowl, rub the thyme and zest into the sugar until the sugar is moist and aromatic.

Ready to infuse orange zest and thyme into sugar

Sugar after orange zest and thyme have been rubbed in

4. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with the orange thyme sugar at low speed until creamy. Beat in the egg yolk until just combined, about 1 minute. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until smooth. Add the salt and flour and beat until just incorporated.

Cookies dough ready to be put on work surface

5. Turn the cookie dough out onto a work surface and knead until it just comes together. Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk. Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Slide the wax paper–covered disks onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour, until very firm.

Cookie dough ready to be rolled out

6. Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one piece of cookie dough at a time, peel off the top sheet of wax paper. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out the cookies as close together as possible. Arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Cookies ready to go in oven

7. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until they are lightly golden; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. (if your dough, as mine was, is a little thinner than 1/4 inch, reduce the cooking time by about half)

MAKE AHEAD — The rolled-out frozen cookie dough can be wrapped in plastic and kept frozen for 2 weeks. The baked cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Be sure to check out the French Fridays with Dorie web site after you’ve survived Thanksgiving Day and put Dorie Greenspan’s award-winning cookbook Around My French Table on your Christmas or Hannukah wish list!  You will cherish the gift and learn from each recipe and story that she shares. And don’t forget to visit In Medias Recipe’s post and Dorie’s article in Food and Wine.

Tags: appetizer, Around My French Table, cocktail, David Lebovitz, Dorie Greenspan, French Fridays with Dorie, Thyme, Wax paper

International Food Bloggers’ Conference Santa Monica – A Few Nibbles to Whet your Appetite

The beach in Santa Monica on one of our early morning walks

After three days in beautiful Santa Monica at the International Food Bloggers’ Conference learning, listening, eating, drinking, walking and dreaming about food and blogging, I could write in depth just about the beauty of Michael Moore’s stunning dinner Saturday night or the crazy creativity of the local LA food bloggers’ dishes at an after-conference gathering, but instead I will give you what my schedule allows – just a few nibbles of the quality food and wine I was lucky enough to ingest during this speedy but energizing three days.

1. Lago Santa Monica’s Caprese Salad with basil sorbet – what a great example of what Ferran Adria talked about in his San Francisco book talk – taking an existing idea but changing elements to create a whole new experience – Burrata instead of mozzarella, cherry tomatoes instead of sliced, and the crown jewel – basil sorbet instead of fresh basil leaves. Brilliant.

2. Food truck lunch – the two stand-outs for me were the charming personality of one of the employees of the Steel City Sandwich truck – she made each of us feel special as she so graciously took our orders; and the pumpkin “grilled cheese” from the Grilled Cheese Truck was such a sweet, gooey, crunchy seasonal surprise when you bit into it – simple, sinful, superb.

3. Adding Wine to your Food Blog session – we tasted three wines as part of the effort to force us to think about what we tasted and how we would translate it into words for our readers. Fascinating panel members – Michael Wangbickler from Balzac Communications in Napa, Gwendolyn Alley, an art and wine enthusiast who writes a blog called Art Predator , and Michelle McClindon who is the winemaker for Don Sebastiani and Sons. The Sebastiani Crusher wines from the Clarksburg appellation served as a great springboard for learning how to describe the flavors of wine using the written word. For me – a brain-bending experience.

4. Saturday dinner with Chef Michael Moore from Australia. He is in the states promoting his new cookbook, Blood Sugar, a compilation of recipes focussed on offering diabetics fabulously tasty options that still support the dietary needs of someone closely managing blood sugar levels. His story is inspirational – diagnosed with diabetes, then a massive stroke only a year and a half ago, now back to full function and cooking wildly creative and healthy food that he shared with us Saturday night -

Salad with Sonoma goat curd, heirloom carrots, borlotti, lima & green beans, endive, pomegranate, meyer lemon, mint ruby grapefruit, radish

Photo courtesy of Chef Michael Moore

Beef Filet with red frill cress, pickled chili, horseradish, garbanzo & dixie beans, san marzano & heirloom tomatoes

Photo courtesy of Chef Michael Moore

Vanilla Brûlée with syrup & mascarpone, beurre, bosc pears, raspberries, persimmon, dried citrus & blueberries

Photo courtesy of Chef Michael Moore

5. Attending a gathering with food bloggers supplying the food can reframe your perspective on what to expect at your next potluck – OMG! Yummy is not nearly a strong enough descriptor. An example of what we were lucky enough to consume at the post-#IFBC gathering organized by Andrew Wilder of Eating Rules: Shaved brussel sprout salad whipped up at 6AM that morning by Greg of the blog Sippity Sup, homemade kimchi from Matty of I Make Pickles, tabbouleh creatively made with cauliflower (really) by Pamela of My Man’s Belly, four types of sushi rivaling in flavor almost any I have ordered in highly-acclaimed Japanese restaurants by Allison of Sushi Day, boxes of Buddha hands and Korean pears for all of us to take from Melissa’s Organic Fresh Produce, Chocolate Chai cookies baked by Valentina of Cooking on the Weekends, and I can’t forget the truffled potatoes, flavored by real truffles, not just truffle oil from Erika who writes In Erika’s Kitchen. The San Francisco/San Jose bloggers in attendance are awed and inspired to coordinate regular gatherings this impressive on a semi-regular basis.

I could continue – there was oh so much more yummy and impressive food at the potluck and so many interesting products and people to talk about from the conference. But it took me all week just to get this much “on paper” so let these nibbles gnaw at your taste buds and go enjoy the rest of this upcoming week of inspiring food, friends, and family.

By the way, the next IFBC is in Portland in August – I’ve never been and it’s high on my list of foodie cities to visit so you can bet I’ll be attending IFBC Portland in 2012! (and I hope my fabulous roomies will be too – Annelies of La Vie en Route and Carol of Uncovering Food)

Tags: Blood Sugar, Cooking, food trucks, Home, IFBC SAMO, Michael Moore, Santa Monica, Santa Monica California

Fall for the Warren Pear in this Easy Autumn Salad

Just as I was mourning the loss of our favorite summer berries, I received an email asking me to consider trying the Warren Pear from Frog Hollow Farm and sharing my opinion of the fruit if I was so inclined. The mention of Frog Hollow Farm made it an easy decision, knowing their reputation for providing local, organic fruit, especially stone fruits like peaches.

My friend Elaine, from virgoblue.net, described them as tasting like “buttah”. Really? A pear? The build up was big so I feared the reality might disappoint. Happily, it did not. It is the loveliest pear I have every bitten into – none of that mealiness we often find in a Bartlett. It explodes in your mouth with juicy smoothness but a heartiness you won’t find in a Bartlett. Other pear varieties like D’anjou and Bosc can compete on heartiness for salad making but not on texture, flavor, and juice.

The pear is named after its founder – Thomas Oscar Warren and has not caught on commercially because it is difficult to grow. Frog Hollow is one of the few commercial growers of it in the country. Its origin is Mississippi.

Truthfully, we really just wanted to eat them all plain – it almost seemed a shame to create a dessert or other course when we could just cut them up and devour. But I adore fall salads with toasty nuts, hearty cheeses, and spicy greens like arugula. So I came up with this yummy salad that is easy enough to prepare anytime, elegant enough for a dinner party, and flexible enough to modify to meet your dinner theme or family’s tastes.

If you want to try these wonderful Warren Pears, you can order them through Frog Hollow Farm (froghollow.com) or you’ll find them at Whole Foods and local farmer’s markets:

- Select Bay Area Farmers’ Markets:  SF, Berkeley, Danville, Santa Cruz
- Frog Hollow Farm Cafe @ The Ferry Building

Arugula Salad with Warren Pear, Toasted Walnuts, Gorgonzola, and Lemon Thyme Olive Oil Dressing

Feeds 4

10 oz. Arugula or Mixed Greens with arugula

1 Warren Pear

1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola, blue cheese, or sliced parmesan

1/3 cup toasted walnuts or pecans*

For Dressing:

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

*You can toast nuts by placing on a baking sheet in a toaster oven or in a regular oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them – they go from deliciously toasty to burnt rather quickly.

Slice the pear, skin on, into bite size pieces. Place greens on 4 salad plates, top with crumbled cheese, nuts, and pear. Salt and pepper the salad to taste.

For dressing, combine the fresh thyme, lemon juice, and zest in a small bowl, then whisk in the olive oil to combine. Be sure to taste – my amounts are approximate and depend on the size and juiciness of your lemon and flavor of your olive oil. Add salt and pepper, taste again, then dress each salad and enjoy!

Note: I received the pears for tasting for free from Frog Hollow Farm but received no compensation or input for writing this blog post. The opinions are entirely my own.

Tags: Frog Hollow Farm, Gorgonzola, olive oil, OMG! Yummy, Pear, Salad, Warren Pear

French Fridays with Dorie: Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good

As you’ve come to expect, here is OMG! Yummy’s Saturday edition of French Fridays with Dorie. What a gem this recipe is – especially for Halloween weekend and Thanksgiving just peeking around the corner. A Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook Around My French Table is a home run of a recipe. As usual, Dorie’s story-telling and cooking instructions are fascinating and exact.

And what a show-stopper this could be for a fall dinner party or your Thanksgiving table. Her basic stuffing recipe includes cheese, stale bread cubes, fresh thyme and chives, bacon, and heavy cream seasoned with nutmeg. I used a combination of cheddar and Guyere cheese, and subbed pancetta for the bacon. But she suggests a multitude of variations in her side notes such as using sausage or nuts or dried fruits. My plan is to stuff one or two pumpkins with Thanksgiving stuffing —  the flavor will be outstanding and oh how festive it will look on the buffet.

The method is simple – you carve a top just as you would for carving a pumpkin. Then you clean out the strings and seeds – this is the only time-consuming part of the process. Save the seeds to toast with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder – a great snack.

For the stuffing, you mix together the bread cubes, cheese, crisp bacon or pancetta, thyme, chives, and garlic. Put the stuffing in the pumpkin, then pour nutmeg-spiced cream over it, put the pumpkin top on, and place in the oven to bake for about 2 hours.

For a vegetarian version, just leave out the bacon – possibly adding in pecans instead. The result was satisfying for a main course or would have been (and will be) excellent alongside a poultry dish.

To read more experiences with this recipe, check out the French Fridays with Dorie web site and buy Dorie Greenspan’s award-winning cookbook Around My French Table. You will cherish the purchase and learn from each recipe and story that she shares.

Other than pie, what’s your favorite way to eat pumpkin in the fall? Please share your stories in the comments below!

Tags: Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, autumn food, Cheese, Cook, Dorie Greenspan, French Fridays with Dorie, olive oil, OMG! Yummy, side dishes