spring menu

it's sunday march 20th and i still haven't ever confirmed wether the first day of spring is march 20th or the 21st.

this is my second spring running the kitchen at the local 123. it's gone by quickly and i am honored to be able to be true to the seasons and to be in alignment with nature with my food offerings.

some things to look forward to: local poach with fennel buttered toast. steel cut oats with strawberry inna jam, maple candied almonds and fresh strawberries. spring granola with coconut chips, sliced almonds and dried apricots. the return of meyer lemon viniagrette. corn cherry muffins. lemon lentil soup. famous oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips.

i'm meeting friedafresh at the cafe tonight for salad and sausages and wine and then we'll be up on the ladder updating our menu board. the dream is real.

i hope that our guests appreciate all the little changes. happy spring.

ghost town farm

your work can be your life. that's the feeling i get when i bike down west or mlk to visit novellafresh at ghosttown farm.

work+love+life=same thing. my homegirl makes it look easy. a sign that you are good at what you do.

come visit this sunday for a pop-up farm stand & fundraiser

sunday february 27th 11 t0 2

mlk & 28th in oakland

rabbit pot pies, homemade chai with goats milk & ghosttown honey, books, tee-shirts & greens

donut farm

even though i live at the chicken coop now, joshfresh is still my donutman.

the holidays were tough for me this year, but i had a really nice new years eve and day, and this morning after a brisk early morning bike ride i had the most incredible brunch at the donut farm.

every saturday and sunday in the building where pepples organic vegan donuts are made, josh and his team make vegan brunch. this isn't random, experimental, food-not-bombs vegan food. brunch at the farm is gourmet.

josh shops locally at the berkeley bowl or monterey market and personally curates each menu from the inspiration of the markets creating a single brunch plate each weekend.

the plate today had crispy hash brown fried in red palm oil, curried tofu and vegetable scramble, savory hodo soybeanery okara knish and choice of dave's killer good seed or acme sour dough toast with house made fake butter. there are also pancakes available with the option of adding organic blueberries and bananas that are served with a housemade candycap syrup.

january 2nd 2011. so far so ood.

the chicken coop

late in october i moved in with two other ladies: ms kerry & ms olive. we live in an upstairs flat on the best street in oakland. we have a lemon tree and a cat named louis that came with the apartment. there is a big kitchen, a garden and a laundry room downstairs. we call it the chicken coop.

kerry and olive are both artists, and so am i. sometimes we hang out together in the kitchen and drink wine while we make our own dinners. sometimes we're all at home quietly working on projects. we all like going to bed early most of the time. sometimes they wash my dishes for me. i can't believe how lucky i am to have found them.

home is the most important place in the world.

spice alphabet

allspice

basil

bay leaves

black pepper

caraway

celery seeds

chili flakes

chili powder

cinnamon

coriander

cumin

cumin seed

curry

dill

five spice

ginger

herbs de provence

fennel seeds

long pepper

mustard seeds

nutmeg

oregano

paprika

salt

saffron

tarragon

turmeric

white pepper

zatar

pie off

today i took the entire day off to make a single pie. i am participating in an event called pie off.

it is 11:30 and i still haven't made my pie. the judging starts at 4:00. i have spent almost $50 on making this pie. okay, maybe $35.

i bought butter, milk and cream. i bought 32 ounces of maple syrup because that was the best price per ounce and i want to start making decisions like a financially solvent person. i went to a second location and bought pumpkins: two sugar pie and one japanese pumpkin; a tiny kabocha. i also needed a pie pan.

arriving home i consulted a few different recipes for pie crust. i made one very large recipe and fifteen minutes later decided that by the way it looked and felt it i knew wasn't a winning crust, and that i really wanted to win pie off. i started over with are recipe i made up on the spot. crust #1 went into the trash.

when i finally had a crust i was happy with rolled out and chilling in my freezer i walked to the liquor store by my house and bought some dried beans to weigh it down before i could blind bake. i'm serious.

i have mostly baked and cooked my entire working life, and while i think nothing of spending an hour making a weekday meal even just for myself, i seldom if ever bake at home. it's much more difficult than doing it at work.

pie off. wish me luck.

blender sauce

for a long time i had a boyfriend i lived with, and we cooked all the time. it's been two months and as okay as i feel this morning i was up at seven biking around oakland crying. it was something i read that set me off.

i was with nate in the grocery store last week buying caramel apples, and someone was listening to what we were talking about... "you know how me and your dad are both chefs? we really fight about food." we had a style we called vitalitarian. it had something to do with eating lamb chops and a lot of raw vegetables. there was more to it than that, but i'm being flip.

this is what we made the last time we cooked dinner together: gluten free (corn) pasta with blender (tomato) sauce and live dinosaur kale salad.

it was right after i told nate me and his papa weren't going to be together forever and that we were breaking up and i was going to move. he said he was surprised, but that it was okay. he rubbed my leg while i tried not to cry. then he asked me to help him with his homework so we could do something fun. we walked to the corner store and bought ice cream and lottery tickets.

josh was at a meeting, and while he was gone i picked all the tomatoes out of our backyard garden. raised beds that he made for me. we collaborated and josh took care of the kale salad when he got home.

blender sauce is something i learned to make from my mom, and a version is in the cookbook of family recipes that she made for me. it's more method than recipe. same with the kale.

blender sauce

1. depending on their size saute slice 1 to 2 onions and cook over low heat with generous olive oil until clear, but not caramelized.

2. wash all of your tomatoes, about two pounds, which could be 4 to 5 really big tomatoes or 10 little guys. cut them in half around their equators and squeeze out the tomato water and seeds.

3. put cooked onions, raw tomatoes, maybe two branches worth of basil leaves and 1 to 3 cloves of fresh garlic in the blender. puree. re-warm the pasta in the sauce. it's better that way.

kale salad

1. wash 1 bunch dinosaur kale. roll the leave tightly and cut straight across (ribbon-cut).

2. add citrus juice or apple cider vinegar and salt and squeeze the leaves with your hands until they soften.

3. dress with a little bit of olive oil and adjust the seasonings.

we were a great team at dinnertime.