George Eliot once said, “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” If I had the option to fly from autumn to autumn all over the world, I would, too. It is, by far, my favorite season, and all year long, I eagerly anticipate the crisp air, the rustling leaves and the scent of apple pies baking in ovens that comes with fall. Although the seasonal change is not as pronounced here in Califonia as it was in Illinois, there is still that lingering expectancy in me for cool breezes, red and orange leaves and harvest festivals. We are experiencing a bit of an Indian Summer here in the Bay Area, but the anticipation this weekend for even the slight change of seasons that is to come was in the air.

Saturday I volunteered with CUESA in the morning. I was in charge of shopping for the chefs this week, and naturally I did a little shopping for myself at the same time. I stopped at the Juniper Ridge booth for the first time, attracted by the smell of cedar coming from the display. I purchased a cedar smudge whose smell is intoxicating, as well as some White Sage incense that makes my apartment smell like a forest.

I noticed the absence of asparagus and artichokes and apricots and berries at the market; soon the figs and strawberries and peaches and pluots will no longer be coloring the stalls; but in their place, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, melons, apples and jujubes are appearing. In a few weeks, I expect to see quince for sale and I can't wait to make a lattice-topped quince pie!

In the afternoon, I went to the Oakland International Film Festival at the Grand-Lake Theater to see ‘Ripe for Change,’ a documentary by Emiko Omori about the intersection of agriculture and politics in California over the last thirty years.

From the film's website: "Through the 'window' of food and agriculture, Ripe for Change reveals two parallel yet contrasting views of our world. One holds that large-scale agriculture, genetic engineering, and technology promise a hunger-less future. The other calls for a more organic, sustainable, and locally focused style of farming that reclaims the aesthetic and nurturing qualities of food and considers the impact of agriculture on the environment, on communities, and on workers." It was a great short film; I recommend seeing it if you get the chance.

On Sunday, Petey and Alicia and I headed up to the Russian River Food and Wine Festival in Monte Rio, at the aptly-named intersection of the Gravenstein Apple and Bohemian Highways. The festival itself was nice. We did get to taste a bit of wine and hard cider as well as cheeses and other artisianal foods.

Feeling that we deserved a little more for the $22/each we spent to get in, we hatched a plan to try and con our way into the VIP area where there was more food and drink, but we failed miserably. Specifically, I failed miserably for the group. I was promptly escorted out of the area and sent back to the 'common' festival. We ate pizza, instead. And drank more. And more. And more. We may all be 5'4" or less, but we can pack it away!

After we’d had our fill of food and wine and embarrassment, we went down to the banks of the Russian River and played with ducks, threw rocks at people rowing past in boats and took loads of pictures of our butts. I mean, c'mon! Who wouldn't with backsides like that?

On the way home, per the suggestion of a man we met at the festival, we stopped at ‘Ace in the Hole,’ the cider pub where Ace Cider is made.

I’d been wanting to go here forever and I was *so* excited that the girls were up for it! We each got cider (I got the Wild Card Cider, Alicia the Perry and Petey the Apple) and French fries with malt vinegar, and we sat out in the open courtyard, laughing, cussing and carrying on like the rowdy divas that we are.

Quite a fun day weekend, I must say!

I really wanted to just drink a bottle of wine for dinner tonight, but I reasoned past that...knowing far too well how painful the next morning would be...and made myself a delicious fig-centric meal. I chopped up some onions, tossed them into a saute pan with melting butter, then threw in a handful of sugar...and let them carmelize over medium heat for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, I sliced a few rounds of baguette and some fresh figs. When the onions were ready, I placed a pile of them on each slice of bread, topped each with a fig slice and sprinkled on some gorgonzola cheese. Then I baked 'em for about ten minutes. Mmmwah! I also made a salad to accompany: mixed greens, chevre, and toasted walnuts tossed with a fig vinaigrette and garnished with fresh sauteed figs (that had been sauteed in the juices of the onions). AND. Plenty of white merlot. It was dee-licious!

Saturday, September 16th
I woke up today earlier than I do on any normal day...and I'll be honest. I don't get out of bed for just anything anymore. I'm not sure what has happened to my sheets and comforter and pillows in the last few months, but they've acquired some sort of magnetism that makes it really hard to crawl from their grips in the morning. And that's pretty amazing considering it's a bed I bought off craigslist for $50, box spring and all...and sheets I got on mega-sale for like $10.

Anyhow. I headed east across the Bay Bridge to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, where I was set to volunteer with the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture at 8:00 am for our Tomato Festival.

Since I've been working there for almost a year now, I pretty much know what needs to be done and when and how it needs to be done to set up...so I usually start off by writing the day's events on our four chalkboards that I then wheel around to different parts of the market (they're really heavy!). then I usually help set up chairs and the sound system...and then I start prepping the food. This time, along with three other volunteers, I helped to chop about 20 different varities of tomatoes, all sourced from farmers at the market. They ranged in color from deep purple to light green and had varietal names like Black Prince, Early Girl, Mortgage Lifter, Green Zebra, Ivory Pear, and Cherokee Purple.

We were chopping the tomatoes to get ready for the free tasting that we were sponsoring from 9-11am at the market. As an aside, I really recommend that whenever your local farmer's market has an organized tasting, that you go! It's an amazing opportunity to compare, side by side, different varieties grown by different farmers. It also really allows you to appreciate the diversity that's out there. So often, when we think of tomatoes, for instance, we think of the unnaturally-shiny, lipstick-red, hard torpedos called 'Roma' at our local grocery warehouses. That's hardly a fair representation of a tomato!

Along with the tasting, we were preparing for CUESA's first ever 'Iron Chef' competition. We invited two chefs, Rick Hackett from Market Bar and Kevin Koebel from Rogue Chefs, to compete, in front of a large audience in a Tomato Cooking Contest. Until about fifteen minutes before the competition started, the chefs had no idea what they'd have to cook with (in terms of spices and pantry items); they were allowed to bring a protein of their choice; and they knew that they would have lots of tomatoes to cook with...and that tomatoes were supposed to be the focus of their dishes.

I put all the spices into little dishes with labels and I thought this simple setup was so beautiful! Click on the pixx to see better images.

After a brief introduction, the competition was on. The chefs had 45 minutes to prepare their food. Rick had brought his own Sous Chef and Kevin worked with one of our volunteers. There was a lot of sauteeing, chopping, peeling, kneading, and grilling. Rick grabbed some figs; we were all wondering what he planned to do with those; Kevin grabbed some grapes and threw them into a saute pan with tomatoes and sugar. It was frenzied...and the audience was fully engaged, their eyes darting from chef to chef, gasping when the chefs threw something unexpected into a pot.

After 45 minutes, each chef had come up with THREE courses. I was amazed. It takes me that long to decide on one dish to make, let alone completing three! These men are definitely well-practiced.

Rick made some sort of grilled eggplant and tomato dish for an appetizer; a delicious trout-with-capers-and-tomatillos-and-tomatoes as a main course; and for dessert, a fresh fig salad.

Kevin..who won, by the way, made a sort of quiche topped with a tomato-cream sauce and garnished with greens for an appetizer;

a stuffed pork loin for the main course...

and for dessert, my *favorite* dish of the competition, a sweet tomato scone topped with a tomato-grape jam and garnished with a tomato peel brittle. Shazaaaaaaaaaaam! It was SO good.

The judges, of course, couldn't eat all of each plate that they were given, so the extras were shuttled back to the volunteers and I've never seen a group of people acting so much like vultures. But there we were, spearing food with forks and grabbing it with our hands; it was totally unsanitary, but completely satisfying.

I was sent home with leftovers from the competition, which I've since shared with friends: fresh parsley, cilantro, basil enough to make pesto for twenty, and rosemary; a jicama; tomatillos and brussels sprouts and onions; two huge melons (tee hee); and about 7# of tomatoes...ranging from large, deep violet heirlooms to small, nectarine-sized red and green-striped tomatoes.

Tonight on the list of things to do: make a spicy tomato chutney so that I can eat these delicious fruits for weeks!!

I seriously hope this isn't my fifteen minutes of fame...but at least my voice was heard:

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-09-13/news/letters.html

If you're looking for something to read and you're in a place where American magazines are readily available, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this month's 'The Nation.' It's their first ever food issue...and the collection of authors who've contributed is amazing! It's only $3.95...so get out and buy a copy!

A sampling of the writing follows. It's a poem written by Calvin Trillin, food writer extraoridinaire...mixing, as much of this issue does, the gastronomical with the political :) I love it!

Presidential Eating Preferences

by Calvin Trillin

Each President had favorite foods that we

Identify with him. We still can see

Dick Nixon following some global crise

While pouring ketchup on his cottage cheese.

Those grits were loved by Carter best of all -

For eating or for Spackle-ing a wall.

And Reagan, though his mind might wander far

In meetings, he could focus on that jar

Of jelly beans and know just where he was.

Bill Clinton, doing what a bad boy does,

Ignored what all the doctors had advised him

And ate Big Macs until they supersized him.

For LBJ so many 'cue pits burned,

It looked as if the British had returned.

Bush One? By eating pork rinds and not crepe, he

Believed we wouldn't see him as a preppy.

So what does this Bush eat? We just don't know

We do know, though, what he won't eat is crow -

As if some allergy or something makes

Him sprout a rash if he admits mistakes.

"Just have a taste," say critics of the war.

"It's much like quail, which you and Dick adore.

One bite? This dish is yummy, and homemade.

Admit it was an error to invade."

He won't eat crow. No crow. No, not a bite.

He's never wrong, cause Jesus makes him right.

"Just taste," they say. "We've added some Tabasco.

Eat crow and put an end to this fiasco."

Bush says, "I'm hungry. I could eat a horse,

But not a crow. We have to stay the course."

"This course is crow," they say. "If you'll just try,

We'll get you for dessert some humble pie."

This year has been full of opportunities to discover people that are inspirational, eloquent and knowledgeable in their dealings with the American food system.

I've been fortunate enough to be part of small audiences listening to speakers such as Marion Nestle, Howard McGee, Michael Pollan and Alice Waters; I've met and cooked with Annie Somerville, Jessica Prentice and Bryant Terry; I've met farmers and food purveryors from all over the Bay Area...and on Friday night, I was fortunate enough to see one of my favorite authors speak to a group of us as we sat on haybales, listening intently, cozied up to one another as the chilly Point Reyes fog settled in and drifted through the cracks in the wood siding of Toby's Feedbarn.

Wendell Berry and a group of his peers from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth came out to Marin County ($$) from Eastern Kentucky. The entire discussion was interesting, but the highlight for me, I think, was just listening to Mr. Berry talk and observing the way he fielded questions and effortlessly and humbly responded with meaningful answers. This is not a man who in any way is searching for recognition or stardom; this is a man who feels from his gut the pain of an environment mistreated and who has an eloquent way of subtly breaking this pain down into terms that the layman can understand.

I've edited the rest of this post down to the essentials: the next day, I ate a lot of great food, tasted a lot of great wine and spent quality time with quality friends (Holly and Petey). I tasted my first morel...watched vultures circling on the thermals as the sun set...then watched a harvest moon rise over the Eastern hills of the Napa Valley...and had my palm read by Holly: apparently I've got a long life ahead of me; I'm headed in a direction that is truly right for me in terms of consciousness; I've got a strong connection to family and friends and loves, but a distinct independence from all of that that allows me to pursue what is most meangingful to me..and what most surprised her was the great amount of creativity that I've cultivated as well as the confluence of my head and heart lines...meaning, I suppose, that I will find it necessary to integrate my passions in creative, educational work with my passions of the heart. Not surprised :)

if ever i doubted nature's power over man, i especially don't today. i've got a *raging* case of poison oak and i'm just miserably itchy. at least i hope it's poison oak. the upshot is that get to take lots of benadryl and when i combine that with a few glasses of wine, i'm wiped out for the night! well, until like 3:00 am, anyhow, when i start itching like mad again and have to slather myself in hydrocortisone.

but enough complaining.

i've decided to finally get off my rump and start to really chronicle my adventures with food. i'll travel from my own tiny kitchen in oakland, ca to the vineyards of napa valley during the 2006 harvest season.. to coastal berry farms along the pacific coast where i'll pick my own fruit...to midwestern kitchens, where my mom and grandma cook up some of the best food i've ever had...to farmer's markets and farms...to a tiny winery in berkeley, california, and to friends' houses for gastronomy-gone-wild parties!

on friday night, immediately after work, i drove to a local winery to help out with the chardonnay crush.

tracey and jared run the small winery off 4th street in berkeley. since they're a tiny winery, they rely on a lot of volunteer help...which i gladly provide, especially since time spent in the winery almost always involves wine consumption! this friday we had a potluck, too, to celebrate the first crush of the season...a tradition in france.

the grapes had been picked that morning and they came in big crates stacked on pallets. we'd dump one crateful of grapes onto the steel sorter and hand pick out any bugs, twigs, large leaves and bad grape clusters and then push all the good clusters down the sorter and into a barrel at the end. the grapes tasted amazing; they were tiny and had little seeds in them. once the barrel was full enough, we'd call in the stompers and they'd start stomping away. we had volunteers there from estonia, denmark, nepal, scotland, israel and all over the USA! the little nepalese kids did all the stomping - they loved it and were tiny enough to fit two in the barrel :)

afterward, the juice was filtered a little and then put in steel tanks overnight before going into barrels to ferment.

once the work was done, we ate! i'm looking forward to more crushes this harvest season so that i can get my feet in there with the grapes.

sunday was a california-style food extravaganza. noelle, petey, louie, chelsea and ella and i met for dinner...and although the meal was really simple, it was amazing. the girls sat around and talked while the man went to work rolling out the fettucine, as it should be :)

the vino was plentiful; noelle had brought bottles from stag's leap where she's working as a harvest intern. even the baby loved it.

for starters we had salted almonds and concord grape foccaccia. and for the main course...cheese-filled, deep-fried squash blossoms on a bed of freshly-made fettucine with sauteed baby zucchini and cherry tomatoes...all tossed with a simple marigold butter. it was amazingly delicious. chelsea is a true artist in the kitchen :)

i was in charge of dessert and since petey had brought me some real marsala from italy, i used it to make some fig and raspberry tartelets with a marsala sabayon. *delicious.*