a food-filled adventurous weekend & canning demo at the Hollywood Farmers' market

(we got a pumpkin for $4!)

(our demo table at the Hollywood Farmers' Market)

this weekend again was packed with a number of adventures, new people and friends...unfortunately i am now several days behind work...but i have to admit it will be worth the 20 hour days i will have to pull this week.

(spicy crickets anyone??)

On Saturday, our store hosted the inaugural signing for Eddie Lin's book Extreme Foods. for those unfamiliar with food writer (and Good Food contributor), Lin, we his the author of the popular blog Deep End Dining-a blog dedicated to eating the bizarre, strange and unusual in cuisine. on-hand were crickets, jellyfish sandwiches and nopales (cactus) for fans to try out while listening to Lin and his hilarious stories...Eddie is a great guy and we have a combined interested in wild foods...

(Eddie's daughters LOVED the cardboard house!)

(the crowd for his book signing)

during the event, i had the pleasure of meeting several other food writers including Todd and Diane of White and Rice Couple (BTW an AWESOME, yummy food/photography blog-i already made the beet green/goat cheese dish...)-we have couldnt stop talking to each other about food & gardening-i am sure we will be seeing each other soon!

Later that evening, we stopped by Lisa's house and had a great dinner with her and our friends August and Jack. August made this amazing flourless chocolate cake, that for someone who is not too crazy about chocolate, i had 2 servings of (hint-hint August, i need the recipe).

unfortunately though, we had to leave early as i had to prepare for Hollywood the next day, and this time it was going to be a a little different- a live canning demo in the middle of the market!

This would be the first time that Ernest and i would do a canning demo together-the people at the market were great in setting us up with chairs, a tent and a KILLER stove that could do basically everything that we needed. There was a great crowd of enthusiastic future food preserves ready to watch Ernest make pickled asparagus and my curried carrots.

(Ernest and i working together making pickled carrots)

(for the curried carrot recipe-check PreserveNation blog)

While at the market, we also met up with one of the Ladies from Chicks with Knives Sustainable Supper Club-i have been wanting to go to one of their dinners for a while-i think this is a sign that we should!
We also saw Adriana from Anarchy in the Garden and her husband, they came to check out the demo, but we were already finished :( they also wanted to check out the Vegan Soul Food stand too.
I also saw Natalie Portman at the Farmers Kitchen-she can in for 2 seconds..very quite and tiny!

Then, right when we were about to finish packing, we saw my old-friends Ayshea and Robin, just back from their wedding festivities in Mexico! Ayshea and Robin were the friends that we had the tomato canning extravaganza with during the summer (PS planning more!), we shopped together and then had lunch at the Farmers' Kitchen. Then we headed back home to feverishly catch up on all the work that needed to be done during the weekend while watching the Oscars with Jack and August...boy and am i tired!

(my take on White and Rice's beets with goat cheese-GOOD)

Farmers' Market sighting contest- March

I was very surprised to see this A-list actress on Oscar Day at the market...but wait she wasn't nominated this year, so i guess she decided either to not attend or put in the work of many other people attending. Was not surprised to see her at the market though, she is vocal about some of her food choices.

You have until tuesday evening to post the answer-the correct guess gets a preserve.

Ed Begley and....Delilah Snell ????

well kind of.
for the past 3 years, i have had the honor of presenting at the Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza. the peeps at the show have really made an effort to show more green-minded people/topics and they have been super great...have to admit-it is pretty cool b/c i think other than Ed Begley, i think we are the only people who are not in the garden/design industry. i must be doing something right, b/c not only did they ask me back-but they want me to do another topic!

this year, i will be doing the following lecture:

Food Preservation-Making Food Last Longer After Harvesting

Delilah Snell, owner of The Road Less Traveled Store, a locally-based certified green business and Master Food Preserver will demonstrate the various methods of making food last longer after harvesting. Learn about the history of food preservation, cultural significance and how it celebrates flavor and tradition. Tasting samples will also be available as well.

if you are not sick of me already, come by (i might be wearing one of those microphone headsets-i hope not!). I will be speaking on Friday, April 23rd from 2:30-3:30.

i have got some really great customers

i have been saying this for a while- i love my customers. i have probably had 1 bad experience in the 4 years i have been in business, the rest have been incredible people who have been loyal to this little store and have helped to spread the word. many of them have come to be my friends and simply stop by to say hello or to let me know about things that would interest me...they just care!
one customer Jane, has been coming in for a while and is not only a big fan of Backyard Bees Honey, but is also a prolific preserver-every time she comes in we swap stories of what we made/what we want to make/trading...
a while ago she loaned me a book on eating snails, as you know i am planning to do this (VERY soon actually) and while having my adventures in long beach, found myself a copy of it at {open}...
just today at the store, while having coffee with a friend, in comes Jane with a bottle in one hand and kumquats in the other...Jane's been busy...

(the gift next to my new book from {open} on wine making!)

first: she came in with a gorgeous bag of kumquats, thank goodness! i had already ran out with the vodka recipe and marmalade that i already canned...looks like more booze is on the way!

she also came in with a somethin'-somethin' special...a homemade orange liquor made from citrus, juice, honey and everclear! homes knows how to start a party!
i was totally intrigued and when a few hours later, another fave customer Bonnie (you will see a post about her soon)...came in i told her about Jane's nectar. first thing she said was, "well, let's taste it!" so we sat there, in the shop sampling Jane's nectar...AND WOW!
again, i love my customers and the fact that they know how to appreciate a fine drink.
thank you Jane!

the story of hanging out in Long Beach

earlier this week, i was in long beach doing a number of things with several of the new friends i have met over the past year who are doing some amazing things:

In the AM:
met some of the folks of Downtown LB to discuss the possibility of having our indie-craft fair in the Arts area...seems like a good fit and it naturally compliments the urban-type scenery that we have in Santa Ana...lots of old buildings and an eagerness of revival...it seems like it could fit.
This in no way would happen however without the work of community-movers-and-shakers We Love Long Beach. Founded and ran by Scott and his sister Robin Jones, this duo and their supporters, volunteers and board are truly making Long Beach a better place by connecting people and building a strong community...something that we need here in Santa Ana (hint-hint, wink-wink!). i have to admit that while sitting there talking of our ideas and ideals for making our homes/neighborhoods/community a better place i could not help but be inspired and so grateful for meeting each other...

For lunch:
i met with Robin and Scott part 2 and with another stellar LB person Adriana, founder of Anarchy In the Garden who is a woman on mission: to promote the world of gardening, punk-rock style...what were the 4 of us talking about?? Creating a Community Food Day for Long Beach. That's right- celebrating education, growing, community and the spirit that food can only bring for the masses! More to come on that...

(Adriana workin' her garden magic at last year's Patchwork Show in Long Beach)

In the afternoon:

I have heard of {open} and had been wanting to pay a visit, but as any small business owner knows, saying and "doing" are 2 totally different concepts-there is NEVER enough hours in the day nor days in the year that can allow you the time to do and meet who you want. at Patchwork LB, i made it a point to visit with the {open} peeps and what i found was a like-minded, spirited woman co-owner, Se' Reed who i immediately jelled with (pun!). After playing email tag for what seemed forever, we were finally able to meet and was able to visit this Long Beach fave destination-LOVED IT! this is truly a destination if you are in the area!

(an old-school {open} sign)

(se' talkin' books in the attic)

what did we talk about??? besides finding out that Se' and i have a cr*p-load in common and talking feverishly like old friends that had 2 hours to catch-up on 10 years lost, we also want to do few favorite classes in the LB at her space: and Foraged Foods and Preservation for Drinkers...excited about both of these events!!! below are some images from my visit.

(who would have thought i would find this treasure!)

(a fave for both of us-VONNEGUT- long live Cat's Cradle!!!)

(LOVE the artwork and displays here..everything is so special!)

needless to say i am thankful in my budding friendship with the several people i have come to know in Long Beach...to many great and fruitful endeavors! ...MORE TO COME!!!!

CSA cooking: curried carrot soup

basket inventory: radish, red leaf lettuce, celery, passion fruit, avos, kumquats, limes, blood oranges, mandarins, tangelos, beets, carrots, cilantro, mint, rosemary

i just recently started making this Curried Carrot Pickle that has been a real hit. i decided to make a soup inspired by the pickle b/c what better way to go through 2 large bunches of carrots but with a soup! this version is vegan, but you can swap out the coconut milk for regular milk/soy/etc...

CURRIED CARROT SOUP

• 2 bunches of carrots (at least 8 of them)-roughly chopped
• celery-2-4 ribs (or non if you are not info celery)-roughly chopped
• 1-2 onions-roughly chopped
  
• 1-2 cloves garlic
  
• 1-2 tbsp curry powder
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 6 c. broth or water
• can of coconut milk/cream/milk/soy
• salt and pepper, lime juice??
  
• olive oil

in a saucepan, heat onions and garlic, cook until soft. add carrots and celery and keep cooking on med heat until the onions are golden brown, about to caramelize (you want everything to be REALLY SOFT). add the spices and cook for another 5 min. add the broth and cook a little more, turn off heat.
get the blender out and in small batches, blend the soup up until it is creamy. add back to pot, crank up the heat and add the cream/milk. taste and season with s, p and juice until you like it.
also good with a scoop of rice in it.
PS i didn't take a pix of the finished product-we ate it all before i could remember too!

adventures with foraged foods

this past weekend, friend and naturalist Joel Robinson and I collaborated on our first Wild Edibles class at the store. Joel was responsible for the foraging and identification portion of the class and i discussed the preparation and made more of the time consuming items.
Hosting a class like this takes a lot of prep time before the students even come in-Joel spends hours foraging for certain plants, not only for identification, but in a quantity that can allow me to make a meal. on my end, i have to research recipes, prepare goods (aka the acorns!) and sample items before we actually make them.

(just a few of the items Joel harvested)

(Deb stopped by to visit and we put her to work smashing acorns!)

i have always wanted to know about foraged and wild foods personally-which is why i had contacted Joel for the class...but i really didn't know how other people would respond to eating acorns, chickweed, wild mustard and artichoke stalks-would people be interested in something like this?
the answer was an overwhelming YES...we had a terrific group of people who not only samples every item Joel brought but had a great time making their lunch (which by the way was terrific!). i even experimented in making a white sage jelly which turned out incredible (you will be seeing this available very soon). below are a few photos of the class.

(preparing salad greens: these ladies were having a blast!)

(another prep station-toasting red peppercorns to flavor some of our dishes)

(just a few of the items that we feasted on-everything was great!)

the event went so well that we have already scheduled another workshop for April 25th and are looking for a few more locations to teach-let me know if you want us to do one with you!