Monday, September 14, 2015

Introducing MeadeHouse Manor

When last I wrote, we were moving out of our Temescal home and I alluded to our finding our new home; well, here it is! I'm excited to give you a preview of our forever home: MeadeHouse Manor. 
Our new home is located in Alameda, a "man made" island between Oakland and San Francisco. While I'm never a fan of unnecessary quotes, calling the island man made is a bit of a misnomer. Let me explain. When people in the Bay Area hear Alameda, the man made island, they assume the whole island is landfill and will fall into the Bay when the next Big One comes. This belief isn't true, however. Alameda was once a part of the Oakland landmass but a canal was dredged in 1902 to provide better access to the expanding Port of Oakland. So yes, the island is "man made" but not in the way that people traditionally think. 

Friday, August 28, 2015

Saying Good Bye to Oaktown Manor and our Temescal Garden

As the saying goes, all good things must come to end. And sometimes this happens sooner then we'd like to. This month marks our last month in our Temescal abode. It's bittersweet to leave but everything happens for a reason. 

Enough "sayings" for ya? 

Here's our garden in June, just as it start to warm up and the tomatoes were reaching their full height. This is how I want to remember our garden. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

How to Fold in Fava Beans


After several seasons of constant use, our garden soil was in need of some TLC this winter. We planted a large bag of fava beans in our veggie garden and nothing else. Fava beans are legumes that take nitrogen from the air and fix it to use for bean production.

A few months after planting the seeds, our garden was filled with fava stalks! Fun fact about favas: the grow so quickly that it's rumored that the "magic beans" in Jack and the Beanstalk are favas. Right before the favas started producing bean pods--the beans will take away from of the nitrogen the favas have fixed--we folded the favas into our garden.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Romanesco, Meyer Lemon, Pine Nut, and Green Garlic pasta


Spring in California is short and not as defined as spring on the East Coast. No long, snowy winter being broken by crocus blossoms but a slow and subtle transition into warmer weather and longer days. Blink, and it's gone. But spring does happen in California; for few weeks, fruiting trees will bloom white and pink flowers, daffodils will come up, and green garlic can be seen at your local farmer's market.

To me, nothing quite says spring in California like the delicate, slightly sweet flavor of green garlic.

I love this recipe because it combines winter produce (romanesco and Meyer lemon) with spring's green garlic--It's like the two seasons are saying hello!--The nutty flavor the the pine nuts and slightly charred romanesco perfectly compliment the sweetness of the meyer lemon and green garlic.