*Warning* Serious Rant Follows, Proceed With Caution

So I know this rant is the sum of beating a dead horse but I abhor the abysmal selection of places to nosh within the 15 or so mile radius of Castro Valley which includes all of Hayward and San Leandro. The population in this area has learned to settle due to a lack of exposure to what really good, high quality food should taste like.

I'm a loyal member of the Yelp community and take the reviews of my fellow Yelpers very seriously. However, I am beginning to see a trend that exists within the community of Yelpers in the East Bay, specifially Hayward, San Leandro and Castro Valley that does not exist with Yelpers that either live in or regularly journey to such cities as Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland to eat at and Yelp about restaurants. Because of this and many other observations, I draw the conclusion that the standards have been substantially and woefully lowered by my fellow neighborhood Yelpers due to the approximate 15 mile in radius, culinary black hole which surrounds us.

I suppose the average C.V., S.L. or HAY person could scale the walls of this nightmarish, foul food prison to run unfettered through endless pastures of culinary enlightenment merely minutes away. But for some reason, be it gas prices, fatigue or complacency I must deal with the tragedy of seeing my friends, neighbors and yes, even family memebers happily settling for the relatively expensive swill that passes for food in our back yard. Can they not see that just over yonder fence awaits freedom? Can they not unshackle themselves, for just a moment, from the likes of Rigatoni's, Buffalo Bill's and Banchero's?

I grimace as I drive in to Castro Village and see the parking lot brimming to full with the eager patron's of Rigatoni's and Don Jose's. Just the other day a good friend of mine excitedly told me that a new Rigatoni's was opening up close to her house in Hayward. She clasped her hands with glee as she told me that she and her family would no longer NEED to travel to the one in Castro Valley!? If felt like shaking her... I felt like asking her "Why not spend that gas money more wisely and travel just a mile or two further, past the bad lands to one of the bone fide culinary jack pots surrounding us?" Sigh, and sigh again, it would have been to no avail.

Alas... I find myself a character in the midst of a bad B grade movie surrounded by people who's minds have been imprisoned and taste buds swiped by insidious aliens who covet them. For this I grieve.

Andouille

I made some smoky, garlicky *HOT* andouille sausages. I used the medium grinder plate on my Kitchen Aid and ground a five pound pork butt. Pork butt is too lean in and of itself to be used straight up in sausage so I used a pound of pork fat back in the grind as well. After grinding the meat I mixed in the spices, chilled it to ice cold and stuffed it in to 1 1/2 inch natural casings. I linked it and ended up with 15 fat links. After resting them a full night to allow the flavors to meld, I hung them in my smoker and used apple wood to smoke them. I like to make my andouille three alarm hot with a serious dose of smokiness.

Mauricio and I constantly fantasize about taking over the old Bobby Lee's location in Hayward. With my culinary background and his butchering background we think we could make a serious go of it. We've actually tossed the idea around with a couple of his butcher buddies. For now we'll just have to add this to our growing list of culinary fantasy careers.

Jason...

Having as swing on the playground at his school. We were at an open house for his kindergarten class last night.

Busy in the garden = busy blogging

This afternoon, as tired as I was I dredged up the energy to put on sweats and a pair of garden gloves and got busy prepping my primary vegetable bed. It was a glorious afternoon with sunshine galore. My youngest son insisted on helping me double dig the soil. He's a great little helper whether it be in the garden sowing seeds or in the kitchen cracking eggs. He simply loves to be at my side with his sleeves rolled up, tackling a project.

So we dug and tilled until sunset - I have a nice tool called "The Claw" to help break up the soil. It's back breaking work but it really aerates the soil and allows the plant roots to reach as deep in to the ground as they want. I used "The Claw" to turn over the soil and Jason came behind me and broke up any large clumps with his mini-claw. We found many beautiful worms (red wrigglers) as we broke deeper in to the bed. The soil is dark and rich, slightly clay(ish) but still loamy enough to break up when crumbled in the hand. After working in the rich contents from our compost pile, the consistency became optimal.

The seedlings are still under lights as I type this but will be taken outside and hardened off over the next week. Before we proceed with planting the seedlings, I will be adding bat guano, earthworm castings and sea kelp to further fortify it. Earthworm castings, by the way also contain the eggs from earthworms in it and can provide a boost in worm population.

My good friend Gary Ibsen, founder of the Carmel Tomato Festival called me today to see if we could make a trade, my olive oil for his heirloom tomato seeds. Gary grows more than 600 varieties of organic heirloom tomatoes from around the world. It will be a tad late, at least for me, but when I do receive the seeds I plan on starting them. Gary's got some amazing tomato varieties and I have had nothing but success with his seeds.

Happy gardening to all!

Daffodil in Lavender

This dainty little daffodil popped up yesterday after being completely closed the day before. Last year I planted a numbers of daffodils and yellow tulips in the border of a bed which contains a large lavender bush. I like the foil that the deep purple lavender creates when contrasted with bright yellow flowers.

I planted 100 miscellaneous bulbs when we first moved in to our house a year ago. They are all in various stages of bloom right now. Bulbs are great because you plant them and just forget about them until they burst forth in Spring. I love low maintenance plants that give so profusely.

Sunflowers in December?!

Here's a little sunflower that volunteered itself in my garden. This actually started growing in December and has really taken off since the weather has become more hospitable.

I Salumi, you say Salami...

either way, yum. So along with cheese making, I am also trying my hand at charcuterie. Not sure what that is?

Take a look here =======> The Fatted Calf

The Fatted Calf creates amazing, succulent morsels of meaty goodness. "Hi!" *Waves to Toponia*

and here=============>Salumi Cured Meats

Sausage making is fun and relatively easy. There's an infinite variety of sausages that can be made from every country around the globe and I've made my fair share of them but I felt the need to take the "Art of Meat" to the next level. I'm married to a butcher for god's sake so it's a natural progression. Curing, aging and drying are time honored ways in which to preserve meat but what's also true is that the flavor of cured and aged meats is second to none and impossible to duplicate without adhering to very specific techniques. Deviating from the recipe's temperature for aging or salt can prove to be costly on many levels.

After reading a number of books written by authorities on the subject as well as talking to several experts, I'm once again faced with a dellima. This is a craft that requires precise environmental/temperature control. I got over this hurdle by purchasing a cheese cave (wine cooler) for aging my cheese wheels but it's going to be much harder to maintain the temperature control necessary when aging huge pieces of meat and salumi. I haven't quite figured out where I'm going to hang my giant legs of prosciutto. I wonder how Mauricio would feel if I converted our dining room to a temperature controlled cooler where I could hang tasty morsels such as whole pigs legs, by the trotter to age for up to 7 months at a time? Hmmmm...

The Nursery

So tiny and precious! I have three more flats this size in various stages of growth for a total of 100 plants. I've planted Lemon Verbena, Marjoram, Chives, Opal Basil, Thai basil, Italian Basil, Italian Purple Artichokes, Mary Washington Asparagus, Aunt Ginny's Purple Tomatoes, Florida Pink Tomatoes, Zebra Green Tomatoes, Yellow Sun Cherry Tomatoes, Black Krim Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple Tomatoes, Eight Ball Squash, Burpless Bush Cucumbers, Lemon Cucumbers, Year Round Cauliflower, Everlast Broccoli, White Icicle Radish, French Breakfast Radish, Neon Lights Swiss Chard, False White & Blue Indigo (native perennial butterfly magnets) Salsify, Chamomile, Fennel, California Wonder Peppers, Hungarian Goat Horn Peppers, Anaheim Peppers, Italian Frying Peppers in a bed solely devoted to salad as well. These all come of course, from my good friends at Heirloom Seeds Company in Pennsylvania.

This list will just about cover the 270 sq. ft. of bed space I have prepared. I may be able to sneak in some corn and a melon plant or two but probably not.

Thinking about the hubby...

I was just thinking about how much I love my hubby. Even after being with him for 11 years now, almost 9 of which we've spent married, he remains my soul mate and best friend. I love his sense of humor and share his love of good food. He loves my cooking and I love to cook for him. One of my greatest pleasures is to serve him food that I have lovingly prepared. I have to admit that he's a major factor in my pursuit to refine my culinary skills. He is supportive of my dreams and I of his.

I love him all the more because he's also a fantastic father and mentor for our children. They adore him in every way and show it by kissing and hugging him constantly. For having no father of his own, it's amazing how nurturing he can be. He works in their schools, donating time in their classrooms every week. He schedules himself to work during the weekends to accomplish this. After school he takes them to their swim classes, soccer and even finds the time and energy to coach Michael's little league team.

He's an amazing husband and devoted father.

Lavender & Geranium

Some shots of the yard taken this morning....

Above is a picture of the bulbs I planted last year beginning to poke up in the center of the birch tree circle. When we rip out the lawn and xeriscape this area, this circle will have seating built in so that the shade the birch trees provide can be enjoyed.


Here are some shots of the bed which runs parallel to the driveway. This will be terraced in to two raised beds. At their deepest point, the beds will be about 24" high. The existing soil is amazing so I plan to just have it double dug and will add another 24 inches or so worth of compost and organic soil on top. The beds will be 5' across which is the width of this strip and 18' long, divided in to two 9' long boxes. This area gets full sun exposure all day long. I will transplant most of my summer seedlings here when it's finished.

Glad for the rain

So it's raining for another week or so, according to several weather reports. To this I say "yay!". We need the rain, especially here in California. I firmly believe there will come a time in the not too distant future when potable water here and indeed everywhere, will be scarce. I will cherish my gardens while they last. Furthermore and on a more narrow note, my garden is soaking in the rain like there's no tomorrow. For the sea of tiny green and crimson lettuce heads emerging in my garden beds, this is just what the weatherman ordered.

All of my warm weather vegetables and herb seeds are sprouting under artificial lights right now. I cannot stand the spindly results I get by setting my seed trays in a window, even a sunny one. In a couple of weeks the raised, tiered planters in my front yard will be complete and I will have rich organic soil brought in to mix with the dark mulch in my compost bin. I have been saving the three or so cubic yards for just such a purpose.

Hubby has agreed to let me tear out our 350+ square foot lawn which will be replaced with gardens and planters. Lawns are lame, I'm sorry. They're just so 60's and people, especially home owners somehow feel like their house isn't complete without one. I am going to rip out our sponge of a lawn and replace it with a hardy but beautiful xeriscape which will suck up a fraction of the water. The plants I have selected will keep the space awash with hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. We are planning to build planter boxes of redwood which will be surrounded by arbors and a winding garden path. The perimeter of the front yard will be fenced. Grape vines and a mixture of other creeping garden delights will protect the garden from plain view. It will be a secret garden of sorts.

February is leading the march in to Spring...

With all of this beautiful weather, it seems as though Spring has sprung, or at least that's what my vegetable garden believes. I'm beginning to see the tiny chartreuse green and burgundy leaves of Lolla Rosa, Red Sails, Amish Deer Tongue, Simpson, Key Lime and Mizuna, poking up through the soil in my front planter. I kinda got artsy fartsy with the planting this year, seeding the greenest green lettuces as a backdrop for the burgundy and fiery red specimens. Most of the greens I selected for my "salad bowl" planter are cut and come again, meaning that I can harvest larger leaves from the plants which essentially remain intact to generate more leaves for future cutting. Last year, as I mentioned in a post below somewhere, this system was bountiful and gave relentlessly for upwards of six months. It's unexciting at this point but when it starts ramping up I will be posting many a picture.

Our major landscaping plans are moving forward. We are anxious to get them done by May or June at the latest. We were looking to put a massive deck in our backyard but the quotes we got were exorbitant. We have a couple of good friends in the business who stepped forward with better plans at price we could swallow. Now, instead of a massive deck, we will be terracing the gentle slope of our back yard in to two perfect levels using stone retaining walls. This plan will accomplish three things that the deck wouldn't. It will solve the issues of erosion and drainage and allow for planters and gardens galore. I am very pleased with this plan which will also include a sizable play area complete with tan bark and a play structure for the kids. We are planning to fence the two upper terraces so that the dogs are not permitted access. They'll still have a small amount of yard, a full run on the side of our house and our patio to call their own. It's a win, win.

Another major aspect of our plans that I am SOOOOO.... excited about is the construction of a wood fired brick oven. We have a good friend who is a master brick layer that focuses on old world construction using natural materials. I have looked at a few plans which include an adobe and brick oven which has just a scattering of hand made/painted tiles incorporated in to the adobe.

I also really like this design...

At the end of the day, how the oven looks is less important than its' intended function. Wood fired ovens roast amazingly succulent meat poultry and game, produce cracker crust thin pizzas with a slightly smoky but heady aroma and bake the finest loaves of bread known to man. There is no comparison between the quality of food which comes from a wood fired oven vs. that made in any other type available.

Anyhow, I've rambled a lot. Can you tell that I'm excited? Woooo hooooo!!!!

Pictured here are approximately 10 pounds of organically grown nantes carrots from our big garden bed in the backyard. Jason and I got seriously dirty and had a great time digging these out of the soil. Carrots are an awesome crop to grow in the back yard. This is of course just my opinion... but they are so sweet and succulent! After a little frost, they're actually like eating candy. I also grew some red carrots this year... I'll be planting those again. By the way, in case you're wondering, all of my seeds come from the best heirloom vegetable seed company in the universe: heirloomseeds.com These guys rock. Their prices are substantially lower, their quality and germination rates substantially better and I dare you to try and find a selection of heirloom seeds that rivals theirs. And as if all that weren't enough, they always throw in a few extra packets that they think I'd like to try. This year they sent me some Bull's Blood beets and Lolla Rossa lettuce. I've tried both of these before and liked them very much.

So today my post is about wanting what I have...

I've been meditating lately on wanting what I have. It's one thing to say that I am totally happy and it's another completely, to say that I want what I have and really accept it. Wanting what I have means that I appreciate and more importantly, accept my path in this life with all of it's diverse scenery. There were and will be points during the journey which seem unjustifiable. Part of the notion of wanting what I have is putting these instances in to a perspective that is balanced with the big picture.

Anyhow here's an example of wanting what I have...

I took Michael (7) to see his doctor yesterday. His doctor wanted to make sure a dose of medication he's taking is still appropriate for his weight. Michael has been diagnosed with ADHD and Auditory Processing Disorder... in other words or rather letters, ADHD/APD. Anyhow, I must admit that I sometimes catch myself wondering what I did "wrong" when I was pregnant? He's a very healthy boy but he has a couple of serious learning disorders. Was it sanding the hardwood floors at our first house during my second trimester? Was it painting the walls of his nursery two weeks before he was born? Was it the Pitocin drip, unmonitored during my labor which sent my heart crashing and me in to emergency surgery?

I was driving and wondering on the way to his appointment. We pulled up to the office and got out. Michael kissed me. He kisses me a million times a day and I'm telling you it's the best thing ever. I decided at that moment, that I would not look back and wonder because I wouldn't change who Michael is given a chance. So why lament? I want what I have and more importantly, I love him completely.

My son is the kindest child I have ever met. He has a wise and gentle soul that belies his years. The child cries when bugs die, while most children his age are trying to kill them. He has a sense of empathy well beyond his years. His wit is sharp and his imagination puts mine, even as a child, to shame. I would like to take credit for some of this list of attributes but I can't any more than I can take credit for his learning disabilities. He is who he is and I love him with all my heart.