A Farmers Market, Bay Area Style

Last weekend I went back to the Bay Area for my grandmother's 90th birthday. Let me tell you, 90 is old, but I hope when I am 90-years-old I have her life of living independently with my husband, dog and garden. Then I want to celebrate the big 9-0 surrounded by close friends and family- this is exactly what happened last weekend.

Every time I return to San Francisco for a visit, it is nothing short of an eating marathon. Much amazing food was consumed including from Whole Foods, a Falafel sandwich, high-end Peruvian food (with the most amazing Sangria I have ever tasted- and I lived in Spain for six months), crepes and Zachary's pizza (I was raised on this pizza, it is the best pizza on the planet- read about it on Yelp). Anyway, one of the perks of the trip was going to one of the many Sunday farmers' markets. This particular one was the Montclair Village Farmers' Market. This is one of the smaller markets around, but it was jam packed with yummies that would be rare to find in a square state's farmers' market. Here are some highlights:

German Bakery

Peaches as far as the eye can see.

Tomatos.

Enough said for those of you, like us, who live where it snows in late June and have an insanely hard frost on September 7.

Beautiful salad mix.

Squash galore.

Giant fruit and veggies down every aisle, you know the kind of goodness that it takes three months or more to grow.

They also had fresh seafood stands, but since I got there right when it opened the fishy goodness was not out yet. I also really enjoyed all the ethnic food prepared on sight to munch on while shopping. Those of you that are still unsure about this small market, you can read about this place on Yelp.

Bottom line, where ever you are take time to check out the local farmers' market, you won't be disappointed. And if you are in the Bay Area go to Zachary's.

by Lindsey

What do chocolate and a paring knife have in common?

Tomorrow I am headed to what I consider to be the food mecca: San Francisco. I could be a bit biased though because I grew up there. I ate Thai food before it was popular, my grandparents have long frequented specific Indian and Sushi restaurants and brought my sisters and me along. Of course I have been planning my meals for this weekend for months. This trip back to S.F. I will stay with my best friend since I was two-years-old and am going to bring a local Jackson Hole gift. So I selected this duo:

Who doesn't love chocolate and a Flamenco colored Fusionwood paring knife?

This is not just any chocolate and knife combination. The chocolates are each hand crafted locally at Atelier Ortega. I don't really even care for chocolate, but these little morsels are just plain delicious, melt in your mouth goodness. The knife is the Fusionwood Paring knife. This small handy knife is great for peeling, garnishing and intricate work.

So, have you figured out the answer to the post question, "What do chocolates and a paring knife have in common?" The answer is of course that both of these are little pieces of functional art.

Bonus answer: Both make great hostess gifts!

When the pros come to town Meal #1.

When my Brother and Sister in Law come to town it is always a culinary delight. They are both LA uber chef's. My wife's brother, Chris Kidder, has been cooking on the highest level for over 15 years. He is probably best known for being the Chef de Cuisine at LA institution Campanille when they won the James Beard Award for being the best restaurant in the US. These days in true LA fashion he works as a personal Chef for an LA power couple. In the last couple months besides entertaining movie stars he has cooked dinner for the likes of Michelle Obama and Tipper Gore. Chris's, wife, Kim Sklar Kidder, is one of LA's finest pastry Chef's. These days she is mostly cooking pastries for my niece and nephew but her resume includes pastry chef for La Brea Bakery and later pastry chef for LA hot spots AOC and Lucques. Normally, I am the Lord of my kitchen but when Kim and Chris come to town, I get out of the way and let them make the magic.

I tried to document some of the delicious food we had during there visit. I'm going to do a few posts with menu's and recipes of things we had while they were staying with us. This is truly a special time for eating as it is also the peak of harvest from my garden.

As much as possible, everything we ate, I grew, was grown locally or Kim and Chris brought with them from their local Cali Farmers market.

Sunday Night Dinner Menu

Grilled locally handmade sausages

Roasted home grown potatoes and mustard green salad

Cremed local Sweet Corn and butter

Star Valley (local) cucumbers with home grown mint, basil, and chive salad with rice wine vinegar

Roasted local carrots and onions

Utah Watermelon

Kim's Cali peach and blueberry crisp

Dinner was incredible, tons of delicious fruits and vegetables, as is the season. The following blogs will give some recipes for some of the different dishes we created.

www.newwestknifeworks.com