Posts by Edible East Bay
Plum Perfect
Japanese-style umeboshi made in Berkeley By Kristina Sepetys Photos by Charlotte Peale If you’ve spent any time looking around the shelves at Monterey Market, the Local Butcher, Berkeley Bowl, Three Stone Hearth, or online at Good Eggs, you may have noticed some pretty jars with very simple calligraphed white labels reading “ume boshi.” Filled with…
Read MoreCelebrating Ten Years Helping Food Writers and Readers Connect
Interview by Anna Mindess | Illustration by Lila Volkas Two widely respected East Bay entrepreneurs are celebrating ten-year milestones in the food and publishing worlds. Cheryl Angelina Koehler marks a decade as editor and publisher of Edible East Bay, and Dianne Jacob celebrates the 10-year anniversary of Will Write for Food (known to many as…
Read MoreSHOP UGLY
There’s a new kind of CSA box in town—the cosmetically challenged kind. “We’re trying to create the first major consumer brand around ugly produce in America,” says Imperfect cofounder Ben Simon. His business launches this month with deliveries of great-tasting fruit and veggies that aren’t quite mainstream in size, shape, or color to locations in…
Read MoreSWAP YOUR CROPS!
Share your garden’s bounty and come home with someone else’s at these free weekly crop swaps. Some swaps encourage trading gardening tools and materials, recipes, baked goods, and tips on getting more involved in your community. Arrive on time for the best selection. Mondays, 6:30–7:30pm Berkeley Ohlone Greenway Sacramento & Delaware sts Tuesdays, 6:30–7:30pm Albany…
Read MoreThe Growlers’ Arms
A SAVORY PUZZLE Finding clues in the pastry at the Growlers’ Arms BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY STACY VENTURA Think of a word that means “dog,” “pork pie,” and “refillable beer jug.” The answer can be found in Oakland’s quiet Glenview neighborhood. Look at the sign above the archway into the Mediterranean-style turret on…
Read MoreHeirloom and Cherry Tomato Salad with Creamy Anise Hyssop and Lovage Dressing
This Heirloom and Cherry Tomato Salad is featured in “A Savory Puzzle,” one of our stories in the running for an EDDY award. Please vote today: https://www.ediblefeast.com/eddyawards/vote/9363/savory-puzzle From A SAVORY PUZZLE, Finding clues in the pastry at the Growlers’ Arms. Chef Brian Ventura’s inspiration for this summer salad comes directly from his experience touring the Irish countryside: “I…
Read MoreFarm Frolics
Events at local farms feature surprises like Zydeco dancing and the chance to help build a playground. In this newsletter: ● Revel in Cajun music and cuisine at Ardenwood Historic Farm – Aug 15 ● Help build a playground at City Slicker Farms – Aug 18–20 ● Explore native plants and busy bees at Ploughshares Nursery –…
Read MoreThe New West Oakland Farm Park
BY JILLIAN LAUREL STEINBERGER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARMEN SILVA It’s a new chapter in an organization’s life: After enduring the rigors of farming on borrowed land since 2001, City Slicker Farms is turning yet another blighted lot in West Oakland into a lush food oasis—but this time on its own land. The lack of land…
Read MoreAlameda Point Collaborative
HOME BASE At Alameda Point Collaborative, farming helps to break the cycle of homelessness By Rachel Trachten | Photos by Lindsay Dobbs “I never wanted to be a farmer; that was hard work,” says Vincent Figueroa, who came to farming relatively late in life. The 56-year-old self-described former drug addict arrived at Alameda Point Collaborative…
Read MoreZero-Waste Living
From a plastic-free picnic to a waste-savvy kitchen, here are some events and ideas to help you walk gently on the Earth. In this newsletter: ● Picnic with the plastic-free crowd – August 1 ● Sip and savor at the Urban Wine Xperience – August 1 ● Documentary film charts the race toward zero waste – August 6…
Read MoreSustainable Picnic!
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys Long, warm summer days are a great time to load up your picnic basket and head out to the seashore, mountaintop, or woodland glade to celebrate with friends or enjoy a quiet meal alone in the beautiful outdoors. These three new titles will help you to plan and pack a sumptuous…
Read MoreDive In
The longer days of summer offer more time to try new things, like exploring new wines, entering a food contest, or heading back to school for a green career. In this newsletter: ● Sip and savor at the Oakland Wine Festival – July 18 ● Feed your creativity at Berkeley Spark – July 18 ●…
Read MoreSwap City
Share your veggies and meet your neighbors at local crop swaps. In this newsletter: ● The swaps are hopping! ● Call for contestants: Be a yardfarmer on reality TV ● Bake your own amazing bagels with Laurie Leiber ● Book Review: The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Cookbook Swapping Spree Share your garden’s bounty and…
Read MoreKitchen and Garden Inspiration Book
review by Kristina Sepetys The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Cookbook: Fresh-from-the-Garden Recipes for Gatherings by the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center and Olivia Rathbone (Chelsea Green, 2015) Out along the Bohemian Highway, on twisting, bucolic Coleman Valley Road in West Sonoma County you’ll find the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. Established in 1994, the…
Read MoreSwap City Events
Mondays 5:30–6:30pm Huntington Park, Richmond, (corner of Carlson Blvd and Huntington Ave) Info: playndirt.com@gmail.com Mondays, 6:30–7:30pm Ohlone Greenway, Sacramento & Delaware streets, Berkeley Info: here Tuesdays, 6:30–7:30pm Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave Info: here Thursdays, 5–6pm Richmond Public Library, in the courtyard 325 Civic Center Plaza Info: here Alternate Saturdays: July 11 & 25;…
Read MoreRecipe: Grilled Asparagus with Charred Lemon and Pullet Egg
Enjoy the late days of asparagus season with this recipe from Bay Area chef Calley Prezzano. She uses pullet eggs as a perfect creamy topping for a summer crostini. The large and luscious yolk combined with grilled lemon is reminiscent of a light hollandaise. Prezzano recommends the eggs at Shelly’s Farm Fresh in Brentwood, where…
Read MoreGrilled Lamb Chops with Chimichurri from The Local Butcher Shop
The Local Butcher Shop sources its lambs from two nearby farms. At Emigh Lamb, located in Rio Vista, Solano County, Martin and Jeanine Emigh run Rambouillet cross ewes with Suffolk/Hampshire rams. After being weaned, the lambs graze free on natural pastures of alfalfa, clover, filaree, and rye grass with no added pesticides or fertilizer. At Magruder…
Read MoreFig Chutney
Encuentro chef Lacey Sher prepares this fig chutney using fruit from Rick and Kristie Knoll’s Brentwood orchard. She serves it with pâté and says it’s also delicious with cheese and a host of other things. Yields approximately 3 cups 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 cup onion, diced small 1/4 cup red wine 1/4 cup balsamic…
Read MorePersian Lime Curry Chicken
Oaktown Spice Shop co-owner Erica Perez wrote this recipe to use with their Persian Lime Curry Rub. She recommends serving the chicken with rice and salad or roasted veggies. 1–2 tablespoons Persian Lime Curry Rub Salt 4 bone-in chicken thighs 2 tablespoons olive oil 3/4 cup water 4 cloves garlic, minced Sprinkle chicken with…
Read MoreSugar and Spice
We have an especially flavorful array of opportunities on this week’s menu. Scroll down to explore all the spices and sweets. In this newsletter: ● Oaktown Spice Shop thrives in its new home ● Get the dirt on hops at Ploughshares Nursery – July 4 ● Peek behind the scenes at Three Stone Hearth…
Read MoreSummer Salad
Step into the season with a gourmet dinner on the farm and a spectacular arts fair. In this newsletter: ● Shop, taste, and support KPFA – June 20 & 21 ● Join the fun in Paradise – June 21 ● Celebrate Dad’s Day with a pig roast – June 21 ● Mix a drink…
Read MoreTurn Up the Heat!
Whether you favor burgers, salmon, or tofu on the barbie, it’s time to clean your grill and get cooking. In this newsletter: ● The Local Butcher pops up at the farmers’ market – Tuesdays through October ● Contemplate food ethics at Mrs. Dalloway’s – June 11 ● Dine with a chef and a revolutionary – June…
Read MoreSpring Medley
From sampling ice cream to mixing cocktails, we’ve got events to suit every palate. In this newsletter: ● Scrumptious samples at Mark Bittman’s book signing – May 30 ● Help your garden thrive with less water – May 30 ● Book extravaganza in Oakland – May 31 ● New Rockridge ice cream tour starts…
Read MoreTouring Rockridge, Bite by Bite
by Amanda Polick A slight drizzle began as I approached Lauren Herpich, who leads locals and visitors alike on her Rockridge Food Tour. As people arrived, Lauren handed out food tour maps, water bottles, and morning buns from La Farine French Bakery. As soon as the soft dough and sugar hit my lips, I knew…
Read MoreSaving Seeds
Our summer issue is out! And we have something special this time: A new online video by Scott Peterson accompanies our story about Rebecca Newburn and the seed-saving movement. Enjoy! In this newsletter: ● Video Release: A Face-Place Story features seed-saving dynamo Rebecca Newburn ● Meet the hogs, turkeys, and fainting goat at Grabishfarm –…
Read MoreNocino
From Green Walnuts Anyone can magically transform incredibly tannic walnuts and clear, sugary alcohol into this “black gold” Italian liqueur. I like to keep my nocino pure so I can taste the walnut-y goodness but have successfully experimented with adding vanilla bean and cinnamon. Try pouring nocino over vanilla ice cream, using it in a…
Read MorePickled Green Walnuts
From Green Walnuts My favorite way to enjoy these pickles is on crostini with a sharp cheese, such as cheddar. Garnish with fresh herb, such as chervil, for a bit of brightness. Yields about 2 quarts. 30 green walnuts ¼ cup kosher salt 1 quart water 1 quart apple cider vinegar ½ cup…
Read MoreCharcuterie Condiments: Red Wine Gelée and Kumquat Marmalade
From GRABISHFARM ON THE PLATE at Lungomare Here are two condiments Chef Craig DiFonzo makes to serve with the charcuterie at Lungomare. Red Wine Gelée The spice and texture of this gelée is a nice complement to cheese, and the acid helps cut though the fat. 16 sheets gelatin 2 cups cabernet sauvignon ¼ cup sugar 3…
Read MoreCamino’s Gin and Borage Cocktail
From On the Menu: Backyard Bounty by Sarah Henry Borage is an herbaceous plant that grows all over the East Bay in a kind of weedy way. The leaves have a cucumber flavor and the flowers are sweet. The flavor is pretty mild so it requires a little muddling to bring out the oils in the…
Read MoreIndulge
OCHO A couple of fathers were tired of the crummy Halloween candy their kids brought home. One of those dads was Denis Ring, who started the 365 brand for Whole Foods and was closely involved with the O Organics line at Safeway. Ring teamed up with Scott Kucirek and a handful of food science graduates…
Read MoreGrabishFarm on the Plate
Recipes from Chef Craig DiFonzo of Lungomare PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN JOLIN Meats from Grabishfarm inspire many dishes on the Northern-Italian-style menus at Lungomare and Chop Bar. Craig DiFonzo, partner and executive chef at Lungomare, offers the Grabishfarm guinea fowl, when it’s available, Mulefoot pork, most of the time, and a variety of charcuterie items made…
Read MoreTHE THREE-TIER ROADBLOCK TO BARROOM CREATIVITY
White Negroni 2 ounces St. George Spirits Terroir Gin 1.75 ounces Lillet Blanc .75 ounce Suze Stir, strain over ice, and garnish with a lemon twist. BY SHANNA FARRELL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MORTIMER Craft distilling is booming across the nation, but Lance Winters, owner and master distiller of St. George Spirits in Alameda,…
Read MoreTaste:
Pumpkin Cuisine Pumpkin may not be the first thing you think of with Nepalese or Indian cuisine, but it’s on the menu in abundance at Himalayan Tandoori and Curry House, a bright, pleasant spot at 1645 Solano Avenue in Berkeley. The organic pumpkins, cauliflower, squash, and other vegetables in many of the dishes come from…
Read MoreMulefoot Pork Shoulder Ragù, Corzetti Pasta, Fava Beans, and Broccoli Rapini
From GRABISHFARM ON THE PLATE at Lungomare I like to braise meats. Maybe I’ll do short ribs in the winter and rabbit in the summer, but pork is all year long. The process of braising (cooking at low temperatures for a long time) allows the meat to become fork tender, and you get maximum flavor when the…
Read MoreRead and Savor!
Bay Area Book Festival, June 6 & 7 Food lovers and food writers, take note: the first ever Bay Area Book Festival promises a weekend to savor. The downtown Berkeley fest features 150 exhibitors such as indie bookstores, writing programs, publishers, and authors from the Bay Area and far beyond. In the food-themed area you’ll…
Read MoreSummer Green Rice Salad
From What’s in Season Recipe by Barbara Kobsar | Illustration by Patricia Robinson
Read MoreTaste
Ruby’s Roast Have you noticed Ruby’s Roast coffee on sale around town in bags or fresh-brewed at a growing number of East Bay restaurants? Pert, wide-eyed Ruby (drawn by Karen Adelman, co-owner of Saul’s Deli)looks out from the drawing on the label, but in fact, Debbie Segal and Sherry Bloom are the effervescent gals behind…
Read MoreA Mindful Salad
A Mindful Salad of Red Oak Leaf Lettuce, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Roasted Radishes, and Chervil RECIPE AND PHOTO BY CHEF MARIO HERNANDEZ Mario Hernandez created two short videos on water saving to go with this recipe. You can find them at the bottom of this page. Mario Hernandez is a chef and coordinator for Pacific Coast…
Read MoreEditor's Mixing Bowl
March 20: Famine was looming for the residents of Vanuatu when the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) sent out a message to the people and farmers of that South Pacific island nation. Three days prior, a category 5 cyclone called Pam had obliterated everything on the islands, including the food supply, and the FSAC…
Read MoreNurturing Young Lives at Tender Greens
BY RACHEL TRACHTEN | PHOTOGRAPY BY SHANNON MCINTYRE Caridad Johnson (known as Cari) admits that she’s terrified of bugs and had a lot of trouble when a caterpillar turned up in some kale she was cleaning. But at 18, she’s soaking up culinary skills, along with an appreciation for new foods and experiences, which sometimes…
Read MoreRead
Twelve Recipes Berkeley resident and longtime Chez Panisse chef Cal Peternell’s book Twelve Recipes (William Morrow Cookbooks, 2014), is a New York Times best seller and the recipient of the 2015 IACP Award in the General Cookbook category. It’s earned these accolades because it’s a thoroughly charming, personal book and a very useful and accessible…
Read MoreCaamaño Bros. Take Soda Back to its Roots
BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT PETERSON Pity the poor bottle of pop in Berkeley. Much maligned for its fake flavors and high-fructose corn syrup, it now drags around an ignoble tax of shame. But that’s another story. We’re here to report on a local triumph in bringing dignity back to the humble soda.…
Read MoreSaul’s Deli Toasted Celery Soda
From What Do You Pair with a Reuben? Recipe courtesy of Saul’s Deli Serves 1 4 ounces celery syrup (recipe below) Seltzer water Ice Lemon slice Add 4 ounces celery syrup to a pint glass. Fill with seltzer water and ice. Stir and then garnish with lemon slice. Serve with a straw. To make celery…
Read MoreWhat Do You Pair with a Reuben?
BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER | ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARGO RIVERA-WEISS Long before the Caamaño Bros. started making and marketing their sodas, Peter Levitt, owner of Saul’s Deli in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, was looking for a non-imitation-flavor wild black cherry soda. “It goes really well with our Reuben,” he says, referring to that quintessential New…
Read MoreThe Spice Whisperer Make House Calls
STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANNA MINDESS Vinita Jacinto arrives in a sparkly blue blouse, fuchsia skirt, and intricately embroidered shawl. Jingling pink and green bracelets trim her wrists and a red bindi adorns her forehead. Like a colorfully attired Indian Mary Poppins, she efficiently gets down to business, removes a multitude of items from her bag,…
Read MoreSource Guide Summer 2015
Arts & Education INSTITUTE OF URBAN HOMESTEADING Offering the best in Bay Area sustainability education since 2008. iuhoakland.com LAURL BOOK STORE Downtown Oakland’s new indie bookseller. 1423 Broadway. 510.452.9232. laurelbookstore.com THE LOCAL FOODS WHEEL Learn more about your foodshed. localfoodswheel.com MRS DALLOWAY’S A full-service, independent neighborhood bookstore, featuring a wide variety of garden…
Read MoreBerkeley Ecology Center’s Big Win
$3.7 million USDA grant expands Market Match to the benefit of farmers and low-income shoppers By Rachel Trachten California farmers’ markets just got more affordable for people on public benefits. In a stunning example of public policy done well, the USDA awarded $3.7 million to Berkeley’s Ecology Center for its Market Match program. Through Market…
Read MoreThe Spice Whisperer’s Coriander and Fennel Spiced Cabbage
Recipe by Vinita Jacinto from The Spice Whisperer Make House Calls This rustic dish is common in North India, where cooks might vary the spices according to the seasons or Ayurvedic needs. Cumin seeds might be used instead of fennel, and red chile powder and/or green chiles could be added to generate heat. Jacinto created…
Read MoreThe Seed-Saving Controversy
BY JILLIAN LAUREL STEINBERGER PHOTOS AND ONLINE VIDEO BY SCOTT PETERSON “In the last 30 years, seed has become a commodity that’s bought, sold, and traded like any other commodity—like oil, like minerals—when really, seed is a resource that’s best shared, stewarded, and governed within a community.” —Matthew Dillon, Seed Matters Rebecca Newburn was…
Read MoreAgricole Daiquiri
from The Three Tier Roadblock to Barroom Creativity Recipe courtesy of Beretta 2 ounces St. George Spirits Agricole Rum .75 ounce fresh lime juice .5 ounce Martinique cane syrup To make the Martinique cane syrup, boil ½ cup water and add 1 cup Martinique sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Cool before using. Combine rum,…
Read MoreSeven Stars of Summer
BY JESSICA PRENTICE Jessica Prentice, Maggie Gosselin, and Sarah Klein created the Local Foods Wheel to help us all enjoy the freshest, tastiest, and most ecologically sound food choices month by month. Here are seven of Jessica’s seasonal favorites illustrated by Sarah Klein (sarahklein.com) with coloring by Maggie Gosselin. You can learn…
Read MorePeace in the Kingdom
at Grabbish Farm BY ERIK FERRY | PHOTOS BY KYLE SHIBUYA “Meet Gidget,” invites Amy Grabish, an affable, elfin woman whose rapid-fire dialect betrays an urban East Coast upbringing. Gidget, a coal-black brood sow about the size of Pennsylvania, sighs heavily and shifts in her earthen bed under the canopy of eucalyptus trees. The earth…
Read MoreOn the Menu: Backyard Bounty
Residents barter garden surplus with top chefs and food producers Continuing our year-long series about relationships between local farms and restaurants BY SARAH HENRY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN JOLIN For Christine Hwang and Tim Drew, it started with an abundance of honey. Then they moved on to herbs and root vegetables, which they bike…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season?
BY BARBARA KOBSAR Choosing produce harvested at its peak is your sure bet for flavor and freshness. Want to try picking your own summer produce? East of Mt. Diablo in Brentwood, lots of farms offer the season’s choice fruits and vegetables for picking and much more pre-picked at farm stands. Many of the 50 or…
Read MoreElderberry Kefir
Elderberry Kefir from Seven Stars of Summer by Jessica Prentice This nourishing and delightful beverage can be made with either fresh or dried elderberries. The recipe involves three stages: making a basic water kefir, making elderberry syrup, then blending the two parts. You’ll want to save the water kefir grains for your next batch. Some people…
Read MoreGrow
Kitazawa Herbs Oakland-based Kitazawa Seed Company has been operating for nearly 100 years, selling seeds for over 400 varieties of non-GMO Asian herbs and vegetables. Commercial growers and home gardeners alike reach for the familiar manila packets with their classic green ink designs when they want to grow plants that can help cooks achieve authentic…
Read MoreWhite Negroni
From The Three-Tier Roadblock to Barroom Creativity Courtesy of St. George Spirits 2 ounces St. George Spirits Terroir Gin 1.75 ounces Lillet Blanc .75 ounce Suze Stir, strain over ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.
Read MoreContents Summer 2015
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SIDE DISH Berkeley Ecology Center’s big win for farmers and shoppers Nurturing young lives at Tender Greens The Spice Whisperer makes house calls Caamaño Bros. take soda back to its roots What do you pair with a Reuben? SEVEN STARS OF SUMMER THE SEED-SAVING CONTROVERSY GREEN WALNUTS: An elegantly bitter harvest Recipes…
Read MoreVideo
How to Save Water Inside and Outside Your Home
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys We’re all well aware of the drought conditions plaguing California by now, but learning more about how to use water in a sustainable way, minimizing waste, is a higher priority than ever before in many of our lives. Here are two books that provide ideas and instruction for using the valuable…
Read MoreReady, Set, Cook!
Food incubator Kitchen@812 hosts an action-packed evening featuring the Culinary Clash on Wednesday May 20. This food competition supports the Pinole-based food incubator, which helps local food entrepreneurs launch new businesses. The event is in the style of Food Network favorite Chopped, with ingredient baskets that chefs see just before the clock starts ticking. Contestants…
Read MoreAbout our Cover Photographer, Robin Jolin
The photographs on the cover and Contents page, as well as in two of our feature stories, are by Robin Jolin. For the past 10 years, Robin has been in Oakland, shooting clothing, restaurants, and happy people enjoying amazing food. Robin fell in love with photography as a child while living on a mountain in…
Read MoreUrban Adventures
It’s time to venture about in our East Bay cities among the urban farms, wineries, and edible weeds. In this newsletter: ● Celebrate spring at the station: May 2 ● Stamp your passport for an urban wine tour: May 2 & 3 ● Local artist offers a Mothers Day fundraiser: through May 6 ● Walk…
Read MoreWhat’s Old is New Again: Beyond Whole Wheat and Back to Ancient Grains
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys Shopping around the East Bay, you may be noticing more whole-grain choices like quinoa, Kamut (a long-cultivated Iranian wheat, Khorasan, that’s been trademarked), teff (a highly nutritious Ethiopian/Eritrean gluten-free grain), three farro wheats (einkorn, emmer, and spelt), freekeh, millet, and a host of others. Many are called “ancient grains” because they’ve…
Read MoreBrown Rice Sponge Cake with Three Milks
Excerpted from Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2014. Photographs by Leigh Beisch. Of course you could serve this buttery sponge cake plain (or splashed with a little sweetened espresso or coffee liqueur) and topped with strawberries and whipped cream. But the brown rice flour adds a delicate caramel flavor to the…
Read MoreGarden Parties
Local celebrations honor Berkeley’s public-school gardens and a thriving community farm. In this newsletter: ● Permaculture in action at the Gill Tract Farm: April 25 & 26 ● Water smarts for gardeners: April 28 ● School garden gala: May 1 Plant and Plan at the Gill Tract Honor the 45th…
Read MoreEmbrace the Earth
Find joyful, creative, and useful ways to care for our planet at a local Earth Day event. In this newsletter: ● Earth Day fun and learning at the Brower Center: April 18 ● Volunteer at earth-friendly projects in Oakland: April 18 ● Reflect on soul and soil in Lafayette: April 19 ● Guide…
Read MoreEating Plant-Strong!
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys The choice to follow a vegan or vegetarian diet might be for health reasons, such as to control weight, blood pressure, or cholesterol. For some, it might be to honor personal commitments to living sustainably. Many people who follow plant-intense diets are interested in choosing varied and balanced ingredients to ensure…
Read MoreRediscover Your Garden
It’s spring, so go play in the dirt! In this newsletter: ● Celebrate spring at local plant sales: various dates ● Study compost with soil maven Dr. Elaine Ingham: April 13–17 ● DIY supplies and a hands-on fermentation class at Pollinate Farm & Garden: April 19 ● Grant funding for innovative farmers: application…
Read MoreAlex Lewin’s Fermented Carolina-Style Slaw and Lacto Fermented Vegetables
The recipes below are reprinted with permission from Real Food Fermentation: Preserving Whole Fresh Food with Live Cultures in Your Home Kitchen by Alex Lewin. Fermented Carolina-Style Slaw Carolina-style slaw is a type of coleslaw traditional in the southeastern United States. . . . It’s clear to me that today’s Carolina slaw, soured with vinegar, is a re-creation…
Read MoreGarden Goodies
Saturday April 11, 10am–3pm West County Edition of the Great Tomato Sale Adams Crest Urban Farm 5000 Patterson Circle, Richmond Info: here Saturday April 18, 9:30am–2pm Edible Plant Sale & Spring Event Sunol Ag Park 505 Paloma Way, Sunol Info: here Saturday April 18, 10am–3pm Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden Spring Plant Sale…
Read MoreEating on the Wild Side
Open your mind and excite your taste buds with wild foods and other local delights. In this newsletter: ● Wild Food Week: April 4–10 ● Open house at Standard Fare: April 4 ● Savvy advice for grant seekers: April 8 ● Uncorked wine competition gala in Livermore Valley: April 9…
Read MoreWild Local Flavor
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys We’re enjoying an exceptionally lovely springtime, especially for a drought year. Tender new shoots and colorful flowers are pushing themselves up through the ground on area hillsides, pathways, and even between cracks in the sidewalk cement. You might be surprised to discover how much of what you’re seeing is edible. There’s…
Read MoreWild Weeds
Saturday April 4, 10am Where the Wild Things Grow (Foraging Walk) Meet at Codornices Park on Euclid Ave, Berkeley Discover the edible plants at your feet with three expert foragers from UC Berkeley on a three-mile loop to Grizzly Peak Blvd and back down, including lots of stair paths. Berkeley has about 90 common species…
Read MoreBooks for home gardeners
How does your garden grow? Reviewed by Kristina Sepetys The Mix & Match Guide to Companion Planting: An Easy, Organic Way to Deter Pests, Prevent Disease, Improve Flavor, and Increase Yields in Your Vegetable Garden by Josie Jeffery (Ten Speed Press, 2014) Companion planting places two or more plants in close proximity to use…
Read MoreDIY Dreamin'
Longing to create your own food forest, food biz, or farmhouse cheddar? Upcoming events offer the chance to get savvy and learn plenty of new skills… Oh, and to taste some incredible cheese! In this newsletter: ● Taste, learn, and explore at the Artisan Cheese Festival March 20–22 ● Create your own food forest –…
Read MoreThe Nourishing Homestead
Review by Kristina Sepetys As springs bursts out all over, thoughts turn to gardens, new baby chicks, the delights of young spring produce, and hand-crafting specialty foods. Some may wonder how to dig more deeply into these pursuits to honor the seasons, and to live and eat closer to the earth and in community. A…
Read MoreFood: The Best Medicine!
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys Deliciously Ella: 100+ Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Plant-Based, Gluten-Free Recipes by Ella Woodward (Scribner, 2015) London-based Ella Woodward writes the food blog Deliciously Ella. At 19, Woodward was diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, a breakdown of the autonomic nervous system, a condition she attributes to a poor diet. Bedridden, in chronic…
Read MoreHungry for Satisfaction
by Kimber Simpkins I wrote my memoir out of a desperate desire to stop feeling empty all the time. I knew I had no good reason to be hungry, but that didn’t stop my belly from wanting more. I’d finish every bite of steamed greens, rice, and roasted vegetables—and even a bowl of hearty miso…
Read MorePi to Die For
We’re sending this extra Appetizer your way with tempting events for pie lovers and gardeners too. In this newsletter: ● Infinite Fun on Pi Day ● Get Your Hands Dirty Infinite Fun on Pi Day Still scared of math? Well, no significant math skills are needed when you join Niles Pie Company for…
Read MoreFabulous Ferments and Delicious Dried Foods!
By Kristina Sepetys People have been drying and fermenting foods for flavor, storage, and good health since time immemorial. Food preservation techniques offer inexpensive, easily managed ways to avoid letting food go to waste. Find yourself with more greens or fruits than you can use this week? Put ’em up! Sandor Ellix Katz’s The Art of…
Read MoreThe Food Movement:
Women Leaders, Dynamic Careers By Jillian Steinberger Last week, around 100 women packed themselves tightly into a gallery space at Impact Hub in downtown Oakland. Ready for lively discussion, they came to see a panel of “women warriors” talk about waging policy initiatives against Big Food. Marion Nestle, the renowned author of many books including Food…
Read MoreMake Your Day with CSA!
then Help with our Facebook Switcheroo! Two things to do: Think Inside the Box Have you considered signing up for a CSA (community-supported agriculture) subscription? Wondering what it means to be a CSA member, and what’s waiting for you inside that goodie box? Edible East Bay makes it easier to sort through the options with our…
Read MoreBay Bucks Teams Up With Let’s Go Farm
Bay Bucks is a thriving barter exchange for Bay Area businesses. The service is growing, and it now has a CSA box on offer. Let’s Go Farm in Santa Rosa recently joined the Bay Bucks exchange, which lets business owners offer up their extra inventory or skills and benefit from someone else’s. “We help businesses…
Read MorePeople’s Grocery Events Honor Black History Month
Join in for two events celebrating Black History Month with the People’s Grocery. On Friday, February 27 civil rights lawyer and activist Howard Moore hosts a panel on lessons learned in the past to help grow the future. The discussion is followed by an all–ages dance party. On Saturday February 28, a garden event…
Read MoreBreaking Into the Food Biz
Tempted to start your own food business? Getting launched and staying afloat are tall orders, but help is at hand, thanks to the Food Craft Institute, Food Funded, and Bay Bucks. In This Newsletter: ● Food Funded Hosts Entrepreneurs and Investors – March 26 ● A Food Craft Institute Success Story: Three Trees Nutmilk…
Read MoreJenny Eu and Three Trees Nutmilk
Since her start as a seven-year-old selling “imported” Kool-Aid at a premium to neighbors in Taipei, Jenny Eu has had a knack for food business. Although her beverage preferences have evolved from sugary punch to healthy, plant-based drinks, Jenny’s passion for food has been relentless as her skills and experience have evolved. Her Three Trees…
Read MoreRecipes Featuring Three Trees Nutmilk
Three Trees founder Jenny Eu offers two recipes using different varieties of her crowd-pleasing almondmilk. Carrot “Cake” with Creamy Citrus Frosting For Frosting: 1 1/4 cups raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours 1/2 cup Three Trees Unsweetened Original Almondmilk 1/3 cup honey 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract Pinch of sea salt…
Read MoreGood Food, Great Business
Good Food, Great Business: How to Take Your Artisan Food Idea from Concept to Marketplace by Susie Wyshak (Chronicle Books, 2014) Review by Kristina Sepetys Home cooks are often told their homemade sweet or savory specialty item is so amazingly delicious they should consider selling it. For those who let their imaginations travel down that…
Read MoreContents Spring 2015
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SIDE DISH Josephine Food Start-Up Keeps Willard Students Cooking Classroom Cooks Welcome the Charlie Cart Liba Falafel Sets Down Roots SEVEN STARS OF SPRING WASTE WARRIORS CHEESE THERAPY COMPOSTING TO SAVE THE PLANET FIELD TO PLATE CANCÚN WHAT’S IN SEASON SOURCE GUIDE DIGITAL EDITION RECIPES Spring Tonic Nettle Soup Roasted Cauliflower Soup with…
Read MoreSource Guide Spring 2015
Artisanal Foods CALIFORNIA’S ARTISAN CHEESE FESTIVAL Friday–Sunday March 20–22 in Petaluma. 707.523.3728, artisancheesefestival.com FENTONS CREAMERY Handmade ice cream, quality ingredients, and friendly service. E.S. Fenton founded the Oakland creamery in 1894. 4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland. 510.658.7000. fentonscreamery.com FRANTOIO GROVE Award-winning Tuscan varietal extra-virgin olive oil from the Martin family in Gilroy. frantoiogrove.com IL FIORELLO Extra…
Read MoreComposting to Save the Planet
BY CHERYL ANGELINA KOEHLER ◊ ILLUSTRATIONS BY LILA VOLKAS The real dirt on Farmer Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm is some very rich humus indeed. Compost. Huge heaps of it. “We see this as a model for farming that could address climate change,” says Courchesne, whose conversion to the way of composting grew in earnest…
Read MoreCheese Therapy
THE MOVEABLE MOUSE IS IN “Pauline” Dispenses Cheese Therapy BY LAURA NESS Cheese makes people smile, literally,” says Teri Tith Concannon, co-founder of Cheese Therapy, the unique artisan cheese delivery company she operates with friend and co-founder Chef Denise Garcia. And those smiles aren’t just about the psychological connection to that oft-used phrase encouraging people…
Read MoreFood Shift and LeanPath
WASTE WARRIORS Food Shift and LeanPath keep food out of the landfill BY RACHEL TRACHTEN The soup was passed to waiting hands, bowl after bowl of fragrant broth brimming with carrots, potatoes, and onions. Make that super-skinny carrots, not-so-pretty potatoes, and oversized onions—veggies that would otherwise have been plowed back into the soil because they didn’t…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season?
BY BARBARA KOBSAR Choosing produce harvested at its peak is your sure bet for flavor and freshness. February Citrus gets top billing during the winter months but even as the season winds down there’s one more star to come forward: California navel oranges are at their peak during February when they are heavy with…
Read MoreCancún Sabor Mexicana
FROM FIELD TO PLATE Farmer Jorge Saldana Grows His Food Business The first in a series of stories about relationships between local farms and restaurants BY SARAH HENRY │ PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN JOLIN Farm-to-table restaurants are a dime a dozen in the Bay Area now. The term even induces eye rolling among jaded food critics.…
Read MoreAnna’s Apricot Amaretti
By Anna Buss, Culinary Coordinator at Frog Hollow Farm Makes 20 cookies For the apricots ¾ cup finely chopped dried apricots 1 lemon 1 teaspoon sugar For the batter 2 cups almond flour ¾ cup sugar ½ cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 egg whites (room temperature) For dusting…
Read MoreChef Garcia’s Goat Cheese Artichoke Strata
From Cheese Therapy by Laura Ness This baked savory bread pudding sells out most days from the Cheese Therapy truck. It’s a delight in every bite. The artichoke hearts make it hearty, and the bright flavors of goat cheese and lemon zest really make it pop. Garcia and Concannon serve it with fresh vegetables…
Read MoreChef Garcia’s Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Comté
From Cheese Therapy by Laura Ness This recipe is by Cheese Therapy cofounder Denise Garcia, who is extremely fond of Comté. She says this French beauty is a regulated AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) cheese, much like Champagne is in the wine world. Garcia once asked their Cheese Therapy distributor how they would grow Livermore up on beautiful…
Read MoreFava Bean and Green Garlic Crostini
From What’s in Season, Spring 2015 Recipe by Barbara Kobsar | Artwork by Patricia Robinson Makes 12 crostini 1 1/2 pounds fresh fava beans 1 small shallot, chopped 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 bulb green garlic, chopped 1 baguette, sliced into 12 thin slices Salt and pepper to taste Mint,…
Read MoreSpring Tonic Nettle Soup
From Seven Stars of Spring by Jessica Prentice This recipe is adapted from Jessica Prentice’s Full Moon Feast (March 2006) and is printed with permission from Chelsea Green Publishing. Some important notes about nettles: If you’re picking wild nettles for eating, don’t touch them with your bare hands, and harvest only the top 4…
Read MoreSeven Stars of Spring
BY JESSICA PRENTICE Jessica Prentice, Maggie Gosselin, and Sarah Klein created the Local Foods Wheel to help us all enjoy the freshest, tastiest, and most ecologically sound food choices month by month. Here are seven of Jessica’s seasonal favorites. You can learn more about the Local Foods Wheel and the group’s other ventures at localfoodswheel.com.…
Read MoreLiba Falafel
AT HOME IN OAKLAND Liba Falafel Sets Down Roots BY SARAH HENRY ◊ PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT PETERSON Liba Falafel, the food truck, has had lots of loyal fans since it started rolling five years ago, but its owner, Gail Lillian, always wanted a brick-and-mortar joint for her falafel business. In fact, she hopes to run several falafel shacks.…
Read MoreCharlie Cart
Classroom Cooks Welcome the Charlie Cart BY SARAH HENRY ◊ PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIANNA NOBRE A streamlined kitchen on wheels is set to roll out soon in California schools. The Charlie Cart is a mobile, modern, playful design solution to a serious, longtime problem of underfunded or limited cooking instruction in schools. Carolyn Federman, who cooked up…
Read MoreEditor's Mixing Bowl
Sometimes I wonder if I’m having too much fun at work. It’s like the efforts of these earthworms: They happily burrow through the murky rubble, digesting it for three months. Then they come up to the surface and announce that they’re done, looking around to see who is ready to appreciate what they’ve made and…
Read MoreJosephine Food Start-up
UNEXPECTED PARTNERS Josephine Food Start-up Keeps Willard Students Cooking BY MOLLY GORE ◊ PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIKA GASINU On a mild Thursday night in late October, long after the school day had ended, the Willard Middle School campus drew a lively, hungry stream of visitors. Against the backdrop of a thriving, terraced garden, students doled out Styrofoam bowls of…
Read MoreAbout Our Cover Artist
Edible East Bay readers should be well-acquainted with this issue’s cover artist, Margo Rivera-Weiss, and for good reason: Margo’s work has graced three past covers, and her fantastic illustrations have made many of our articles dance and sing during the seven years she has been contributing. An Oakland-based artist originally from Miami, Florida, Rivera-Weiss previously…
Read MorePanch Phoron Raspberry Sauce
Panch phoron is a bittersweet and aromatic five-spice whole-seed spice blend used in Bangladesh, Eastern India, and Southern Nepal, which typically consists of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, and fennel seeds in equal parts. This recipe is from nurse, nutritionist, cook, and world traveler Roshni Kavate and Alembique Apothecary owner Babak Nahid. 6 ounces…
Read MoreSavory Lemonade
Panch phoron is a bittersweet and aromatic five-spice whole-seed spice blend used in Bangladesh, Eastern India, and Southern Nepal, which typically consists of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, and fennel seeds in equal parts. This recipe is from nurse, nutritionist, cook, and world traveler Roshni Kavate and Alembique Apothecary owner Babak Nahid. 1 cup…
Read MoreSweet and Savory Dishes Featuring Panch Phoron
Our recent newsletter featured a recipe for Brussels sprouts flavored with panch phoron, a bittersweet and aromatic five-spice whole-seed spice blend used in Bangladesh, Eastern India, and Southern Nepal, which typically consists of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, and fennel seeds in equal parts. We learned that panch phoron is also delicious with fruit, so we’ve added the following…
Read MoreSavor the Sweet. Embrace the Bitter.
Of course, it’s mostly those sweets and sweet sentiments we want to share on February 14, but sophisticated foodies and those looking at health properties of foods are learning to appreciate the bitter, as this week’s book review points out. In This Newsletter: ● Sweet Notecards: The Affection Collection ● For the Love of Chocolate –…
Read MorePanch Phoron Brussels Sprouts
This recipe comes from nurse, nutritionist, cook, and world traveler Roshni Kavate and Alembique Apothecary owner Babak Nahid. It features panch phoron, a bittersweet and aromatic five-spice whole-seed spice blend used in Bangladesh, Eastern India, and Southern Nepal. It typically consists of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, and fennel seeds in equal parts. These seeds…
Read MoreBitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes
Review by Kristina Sepetys Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes by Jennifer McLagan (Ten Speed Press, 2014) “Bitterness is a double-edged sword: it signals toxic and dangerous, but it can also be pleasurable and beneficial. In the kitchen, eschewing bitter is like cooking without salt, or eating without looking. Without bitterness…
Read MoreWe're Jazzed!
Musical winter cocktails, books on wheels, and a small but growing farm are on today’s menu. In This Newsletter: ● Jazz on the Rocks at the Ferry Building – Feb 4 ● Lungomare gets cooking for the Peralta Colleges – Feb 7 ● Ready, set, grow at Happy Acre Farm! ● Library on Wheels…
Read MoreSautéed Chanterelles
Cookin’ the Market Chef Mario Hernandez offers this recipe from The Order of the Fat Tongue, a group of farmers, chefs, artists, and activists who care about food justice and the local food system. In Japan, where Hernandez grew up, someone with a “fat tongue” concerns himself with the quality of food. 7 medium-sized chanterelles…
Read MoreTomato Futures and Chanterelles Now
As 2015 rolls in, new adventures await in your garden and kitchen. Learn how to grow your own little fruit tree, collaborate with tomato farmers, and sauté some chanterelles to perfection. In This Newsletter: ● Oakland Restaurant Week: Jan 15–25 ● Book party for Grow A Little Fruit Tree: Jan 16 ● Baia Nicchia Farm…
Read MoreWhat's Cooking in the Legislature?
California Offers a Bit of Breathing Room for Chickens Two new laws related to chickens and eggs went into effect in California on Jan 1. In combination, the two laws prohibit eggs produced in extreme-confinement conditions from being sold in California, regardless of where the eggs were produced. Proposition 2 was a ballot proposition passed…
Read More2014 Legislative Wrap-Up
In its annual report on food and farming legislation, the California Food Policy Council (CAFPC) says that 9 of its 22 priority bills were signed into law in 2014 by Governor Jerry Brown. The CAFPC is a statewide network of urban and rural advocates that encourages progressive food laws by tracking and publicizing legislators’ voting…
Read MoreLes Blank Films Available in a Box Set
Berkeley filmmaker Les Blank is known for charming short documentaries on topics as diverse as garlic, women with gaps between their teeth, and film director Werner Herzog. Following Blank’s death in 2013, fourteen of his films have been digitally re-mastered and are being released in a box set called Always For Pleasure, the title of…
Read MoreIn with the New
Ring in the new year with an exploration of new foods and flavors. Sample a cup of Mexican Mocha at Catahoula Coffee’s new shop in Berkeley or venture into San Francisco for mouthwatering bites from winners of the Good Food Awards. In This Newsletter: ● Catahoula Coffee: Gourmet sips in two cozy shops ● Ferment’n:…
Read MoreHomemade Treats and Crafts Galore
Institute of Urban Homesteading Winter Open House Saturday and Sunday December 13 &14, noon–4:00pm Straggler Sale Monday December 15, 6–8pm The IUH year-end social and sale offers lots to taste and explore plus amazing deals on homemade goodies. Everything is ultra-local, super small-batch, and only available once a year. For those who are too busy to…
Read MoreCrafts and Pickles in North Oakland
Support jobs for Oakland youth as you buy your holiday gifts. Offerings include beet pickles, raw kim chi kraut and sauerkraut, herbed salts, and home fermentation pickling/kraut kits from the Phat Beetz Youth Pickle Co. This local business creates jobs for teens from Children’s Hospital Oakland and for Oakland youth who face barriers to employment.…
Read MoreMarket Hall Bakery Fruitcake
Market Hall is known for exquisite foods, so when staff there swear that this fruitcake is the best they’ve ever tasted, you have to take note. Chef Sandy Sonnenfelt brought the recipe to Market Hall when she joined the company more than 19 years ago. Sonnenfelt, who grew up in South Africa, says the cake was a…
Read MoreBenchmark Pizzeria Olive Oil Cake
Makes 8 servings Need: 1 9-inch round springform pan Kitchen scale 100 grams citrus juice Zest of 6–7 lemons/oranges 8 grams baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 200 grams sugar 219 grams cake flour 3 eggs 150 grams Séka Hills EVOO 110 grams whole milk yogurt (plain) Preheat oven to 350˚.…
Read MoreSavor the Season
This is the time of year to indulge friends and family with edible treats and memorable gifts. In the spirit of the season, we’re serving up some tempting local pleasures to savor and share during the coming weeks. In This Newsletter: ● Holidays in the Vineyards – Dec 6 & 7 ● KPFA…
Read MoreDiscounts for EEB Readers
Discounts
Read MoreLegal Eats Comes to San Francisco
Legal Eats Saturday November 22, 10am–12:30pm The Women’s Building 3543 18th St, San Francisco Attention food entrepreneurs! Do you have questions about the law and how it applies to your start-up or existing food enterprise? Legal Eats offers the scoop on the legal requirements for operating a food business in the Bay Area. Learn about…
Read MoreRestaurants, Lodging and Resorts
Restaurants, Lodging and Resorts
Read MoreSide Dish
HOMEROOM EXPANDS TO MEET DEMAND BY SARAH HENRY • PHOTOS BY DAN JUNG Homeroom proved an instant hit with local diners when it opened in February 2011. Who would have predicted that a single-themed restaurant run by two women with no formal culinary training serving a comfort classic most Americans are raised on would be…
Read MoreSpiced Sweet Potato Bundt Cake
The recipe below, from Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland is published by and used with permission from Chronicle Books; text copyright 2014 Tanya Holland; photographs copyright 2014 Jody Horton. Sweet potatoes and chocolate chips seem like an unlikely combination, but they work really well together. I like to tell myself…
Read MoreSide Dish….
STANDARD FARE RAISES THE BAR FOR TAKEOUT FOOD, MINUS THE TRASH BY SARAH HENRY • PHOTOS BY STACY VENTURA Kelsie Kerr has the Chez Panisse pedigree: A former downstairs chef at the Berkeley restaurant institution, she’s also co-authored Alice Waters’ cookbooks The Art of Simple Food and The Art of Simple Food II. Not surprising, then,…
Read MoreGarden to Glass
The Bay Area’s Extraordinary Contributions to America’s Craft Cocktail Movement BY SHANNA FARRELL • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MORTIMER In the Bay Area, we are surrounded by an abundance of farms that grow high-quality produce and chefs who embrace the use of diverse seasonal ingredients. It’s easy to understand how bartenders, who frequently work alongside these chefs,…
Read MoreLessons Learned from 4-H
BY KRISTINA SEPETYS Early in the school year, hundreds of teenage runners and their families descend upon Hayward High School for the annual Farmers Invitational Cross Country races, an event that has come to be known simply as “Farmers.” Some attendees might know that “Farmers” are the Hayward High School mascot. Fewer still may realize…
Read MoreSide Dish..
NEWS FROM THE FARMER-VETERAN FRONT BY JILLIAN LAUREL STEINBERGER On screen, a soldier drives a tank through a war-ravaged neighborhood in Iraq. Cut to the next scene: We see a farmer driving a big orange tractor through a woodsy field. The film is Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields, a documentary that highlights the work of…
Read MoreSeven Stars of Winter
The New Year’s Good Luck Foods BY JESSICA PRENTICE Line drawings by Sarah Klein (sarahklein.com) with coloring by Maggie Gosselin. Jessica Prentice, Maggie Gosselin, and Sarah Klein created the Local Foods Wheel to help us all enjoy the freshest, tastiest, and most ecologically sound food choices month by month. Here are seven of Jessica’s…
Read MoreEditor's Mixing Bowl
This morning as I was getting ready to engage with the writing of this message, I fell prey to a ruse known well to expert procrastinators: I headed to the kitchen for something to eat. There on the counter was a fat pomegranate. It looked so much like the one on page 2—painted by our…
Read MoreAn Excerpt
Reprinted from Raise: What 4-H Teaches Seven Million Kids and How Its Lessons Could Change Food and Farming Forever with permission from University of California Press If I had undertaken this project eighty-five years ago, I wouldn’t have had to venture far from Oakland to find farm kids. From the archivist at a local historical…
Read MoreCONTENTS Winter Holidays 2014
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SEASONAL WHIMSEY SIDE DISH Mac ’n’ Cheese Grows Up at Homeroom News from the Farmer-Veteran Front Takeout Without the Trash SEVEN STARS OF WINTER A FEAST OF LOCAL TITLES LESSONS LEARNED FROM 4-H DIGITAL DINING Online ordering A to Z GARDEN TO GLASS MEDICINESHED Ancestral Apothecary Two recipes from Spinster Sister Pet…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season?
WHAT’S IN SEASON? BY BARBARA KOBSAR • ILLUSTRATION BY MARGO RIVERA-WEISS Choosing produce harvested at its peak is your sure bet for flavor and freshness. NOVEMBER In season now, pomegranates and sweet potatoes are two must-haves during Thanksgiving month. Pomegranate seeds enhance the appearance and taste of many dishes, and the juice is great in…
Read MoreThe Year's Last Sip
BY NIKKI GODDARD SCOTT
Read MoreSeasonal Whimsey
A SEASONAL SCAVENGER HUNT FOR THE SENSES BY ANYA SOLTERO There is always some special magic afoot around the time of the winter solstice. Last year I found it at the historic Beltane Ranch, a B&B on a working ranch in Sonoma Valley—the golden light, a crackling fire, smoke mingling with fog, music of birds,…
Read MoreA Feast of Local Titles
Whether you’re looking for gifts, ideas for holiday meals, or a good book to curl up with this winter, the titles below from local writers should provide plenty of inspiration! Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland By Tanya Holland with Jan Newberry Chronicle Books, 2014 Tanya Holland is chef and…
Read MoreAncestral Apothecary
Atava Garcia Swiecicki has her feet in a few worlds. She is a Western clinical herbalist and also a folk healer, who reaches back through her lineages—particularly Mexico and Poland—to find answers from the ancestors. She teaches Indigenous Medicine at California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco and has helped revive curanderismo, a shamanic…
Read MoreSister Spinster
Two Recipes from Sister Spinster Liz Migliorelli is the owner of Sister Spinster Apothecary in Oakland. A graduate of Ohlone Center of Herbal Studies, Migliorelli teaches herbal medicine at both Ohlone and Ancestral Apothecary. Her products are available at Homestead Apothecary. A Winter Elixir Share this lovely wine with friends and family during the winter…
Read MorePet RX
PET RX! Elokin Orton-Cheung of Shooting Star Botanicals grows herbs at Sustaining Ourselves Locally, her community garden in the Fruitvale District, Oakland. All of the herbs she mentions here as remedies for animals are easy to grow. “Plant medicine has profound effects on animals, both physically and emotionally,” she says. “When treating animals injured in…
Read MoreONLINE ORDERING A TO Z
AmazonFresh: Same-day online ordering and delivery of fresh grocery and everyday essentials. fresh.amazon.com Blue Apron: Brooklyn-based digital platform for dinner kit delivery with national reach. blueapron.com Caviar: trycaviar.com Cover: App that allows diners to pay at restaurants without waiting for the check. paywithcover.com DoorDash: Restaurant delivery service similar to Caviar, for the South Bay, online…
Read MoreDigital Dining
BY SARAH HENRY// ILLUSTRATIONS BY JACK PERTSCHUK In the dark on digital dining options? Don’t know the difference between AmazonFresh and Zesty? Curious about how to source local seasonal foods online? Welcome to the newly disrupted food chain, where groceries, meal kits, and takeout, from fast food to fine dining, are available with just the…
Read MoreRecipes from Ohlone Herbal Center
Tony Siefert’s Herbal Boost Bon Bon Tony Siefert, medicine maker at Ohlone Herbal Center, offers this sweet treat for holiday parties. 1 cup raw honey 1 cup nut butter (almond, hazelnut, or walnut) 1 cup tahini 1 cup mixed dried fruit, minced 8 ounces “powered” herbs (or 2 ounces per cup of first 4 ingredients);…
Read MoreMedicineshed
The Not-So-Slow Herbal Economy By Jillian Laurel Steinberger The herbal economy is vital. Viable. Brisk even. “Herbal” seems too positive a word to stick next to “economy,” given the latter’s tarnished associations. Yet, the existence of a thriving “right economy” enables people to freely pursue jobs they enjoy; that sustain them; that don’t take…
Read MoreSeasonal Marketplace
Welcome to the Edible East Bay Marketplace! Find all kinds of possibilities in the categories below: Discounts for Edible East Bay Readers Artisanal Foods Arts and Letters Beverages Education, Energy, and Environment Farms, Ranches, and Farmers’ Markets Specialty Markets Health and Wellness Kitchen and Garden Prepared Meals and Catering Restaurants, Hotels, and Resorts
Read MoreKitchen and Garden
Kitchen and Garden
Read MorePrepared Meals and Catering
Prepared Meals and Catering
Read MoreHealth and Wellness
Specialty Markets
Grocers and Specialty Markets
Read MoreFarms, Ranches, and Farmers' Markets
Energy, Education, and Environment
Beverages
Beverages
Read MoreArts and Letters
Arts Crafts and Books
Read MoreArtisanal Foods
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Read MoreDig In: Sundaes and Books at Fentons (and Breakfast at Daisy's on November 29)
Thursday, November 20, 5:30–8pm Fentons Creamery 4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland The team behind This is Oakland joins Fentons Creamery with a delicious offer that benefits Oakland’s libraries. Meet author Melissa Davis and photographer Kristen Loken, creators of This is Oakland: A Guide to the City’s Most Interesting Places. Pick up a signed copy of the…
Read MoreOccupy the Farm
ONE PLANT AT A TIME Occupy the Farm Comes to the Big Screen By Rachel Trachten “We decided it was time not just to call on UC Berkeley to do something different with the land, but to actually do something different with the land.” These are the words of farmer Gopal Dayaneni, featured in the…
Read MoreSowing Change
Farms touch our lives in surprising ways. Opportunities are coming up this week to view a new documentary film about Occupy the Farm as well as to enjoy a local harvest dinner featuring dishes made with freshly harvested foods from farms in the Capay Valley. In This Newsletter: ● Occupy the Farm film premiere…
Read MoreHistoric Moments
It’s nice to be healthy and 100! This newsletter congratulates the City of Walnut Creek as it celebrates its centennial with a special festival at the farmers’ market. Meanwhile, we’ll all be watching as Berkeley voters go to the polls, where they might make history by passing the nation’s first soda tax. In This…
Read MoreDrink Up! Books that take you way beyond soda
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys Drink the Harvest by Nan K. Chase and DeNeice C. Guest (Storey Publishing, 2014) Many fruits, vegetables, and herbs can be concocted into delicious beverages that are healthier and more economical than their store-bought counterparts. Drink the Harvest shows you how to create juices, ciders, wines, meads, teas, and syrups…
Read MoreFall Colors
Two favorite annual events are just around the corner. Feast on artwork, poetry, and dance in Emeryville, then head over to College Avenue in Oakland for fine foods and cooking demos. Arts Extravaganza 28th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition Friday, October 10, 6–9pm (Opening Reception) & daily October 11–November 2, 11am–6pm Edible East Bay will be there in…
Read MoreQuesadillas from Doña Tomás
In celebration of their 15th anniversary in Temescal, Oakland restaurateurs Dona Savitsky and Thomas Schnetz would like to share this favorite recipe from Doña Tomás with Edible East Bay readers. Quesadillas with Rajas, Corn, and Salsa Roja (Makes 12) Salsa Roja: 4 Roma tomatoes 2 New Mexican chilies 4 arbol chilies 8 cloves peeled garlic…
Read MoreRock the Moke on October 10 to Protect Our Drinking Water
The National Forest Foundation presents Rock the Moke, a fundraiser to protect and restore the Mokelumne River. The “Mighty Moke,” a major Northern California watershed originating in the Sierra Nevada, supplies clean drinking water to the East Bay. Rock the Moke features celebrity chef Michael Cook of Oakland’s À Côté and Rumbo Al Sur creating special…
Read MoreSeptember 21, 2014
Student Medicine Showcase Friday October 3, 11am–7pm Ohlone Center for Herbal Medicine 1250 Addison St, Ste 113, Berkeley All are invited to a craft fair marking the culmination of the Center’s herbal intensive and therapeutic programs. Browse the selection of herbal potions, lotions, and elixirs, and take a free, student-guided herb walk through the neighborhood.…
Read MoreNew Cookery Titles
By Kristina Sepetys These new cookbooks are full of comforting, seasonal treats. For breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between, you’ll find sweet, savory, and creative ideas to inspire your meal-making! Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland by Tanya Holland with Jan Newberry (Chronicle Books, 2014) If you don’t already…
Read MoreFall Festivities
Fall Festivities Celebrations are popping up all around town. Choices abound, with a terrific array of fairs and festivals to savor. Shake Up the Margaritas! A Quinceañera for Doña Tomás Sunday September 21, 5–10pm 5004 Telegraph Ave, Oakland In many Latin communities, a girl’s passage to womanhood (at age 15) is celebrated with a big party…
Read MoreSeptember 15, 2014
Barnraiser Makes it Easier to Crowdfund the Food Movement Barnraiser is a new crowdfunding community designed to power healthy and sustainable food to the tipping point. Barnraiser offers an easy way to influence good food by celebrating the stories of modern-day food heroes and collectively funding sustainable food and farming projects. Founded by entrepreneur Eileen…
Read MorePack ‘Em Up!
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys Raise your hand: Who out there loves cooking, but preparing and packing school lunches…not so much? Maybe I’m in the minority, but the day-in, day-out effort of finding something nourishing that can be quickly prepared in the busy morning hours to entice a child’s palate can be a challenge. Leftovers are…
Read MoreSchool Lunch
School Lunch As kids try to focus on homework, many adults are thinking hard about school lunches. Read on for lots of kid-centric food news, plus a few enticements for the grown-ups… Beefing Up the Case for Healthy School Meals As school swings back into session, busy parents aren’t the only people thinking about…
Read MoreAugust 28, 2014
Soda: The Series Brings Conversations on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Berkeley Soda: The Series offers conversations about sugary drinks and their impact on the health of our families, community, and environment. At six different events, experts will discuss the science of sugary drinks, tactics of the soda industry, and disease prevention efforts. These events take place…
Read MoreAugust 24, 2014
Garden Fundraiser at Cleveland Elementary Help transform the hillside at Oakland’s Cleveland Elementary School into a terraced garden and learning lab. The finished project will include an incredible edible garden, a sensory flower/herb garden, and a wildlife area where students can create habitats with native plants and observe creatures in their natural environment. Donations will…
Read MoreDelicious Dinner Inspiration!
Review by Kristina Sepetys Yummy Supper: 100 Fresh, Luscious, & Honest Recipes from a [Gluten-Free] Omnivore by Erin Scott (Rodale, 2014) Following from Scott’s award-winning blog of the same name, her new cookbook has the same clean, visual aesthetic and family-friendly recipes that emphasize naturally gluten-free ingredients to create easy, tasty meals. Scott likes…
Read MoreAugust 22, 2014
Two Weekend Events Slow Food Solano’s Annual Tomato Day Sunday August 24, 11am–3:30pm Morningsun Herb Farm 6137 Pleasants Valley Road, Vacaville Come enjoy heirloom tomato tasting including more than 100 varieties of ripe, juicy tomatoes. Watch cooking demonstrations with area chefs, sample the results, and purchase local products from a variety of vendors. Suggested…
Read MoreKids in Mind
Kids in Mind As kids head back to school, we offer up a host of events the whole family can savor, from a new PBS series that serves up inspiration, humor, and music about food to a book signing party (plus popsicles) at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. Sundaes & School Supplies Sunday August 24, noon–4pm Fentons Creamery…
Read MoreAugust 19, 2014
California Grape Harvest Workers from Oakland’s Dashe Cellars sort grapes from the 2014 harvest, pulling out any stray leaves or clusters not suited for wine. “It is going to be a very early year,” says Mike Dashe, who gets most of the grapes for Dashe Cellars wines from the Dry Creek Valley. The wineries that…
Read MoreBerkeley vs. Big Soda
Can Berkeley take the fizz out of Big Soda? By Rachel Trachten • Illustration by Nikki Goddard This November, Berkeley voters can stand tall against Big Soda. The City Council has unanimously approved a ballot measure that would impose a one-cent-per-ounce tax on the distributors of sodas and other sugary, low-nutrition beverages like energy drinks,…
Read MoreAbout Our Cover Artist
We like to feature a different artist on our cover each season, but Celia Wedding had the perfect image for us twice in a row, so we couldn’t pass them up. “I live up against some green space in the Oakland hills,” says Wedding. “The turkeys march past my window on a regular basis. Once…
Read MoreKitchen Sentimental
By Gary Handman xxxxx
Read MoreWhat’s in Season?
by Barbara Kobsar • Illustration by Margo Rivera-Weiss Choosing produce harvested at its peak is your sure bet for flavor and freshness. August Watch out as the melons start to roll in from California’s interior valley. Like squashes and cucumbers, melons are members of the huge Cucurbitaceae family. They are easily crossbred to meet the…
Read MoreCounting the Beans
Will a Hike in the Minimum Wage Lift Up Workers or Bring Down Restaurants? By Sarah Henry • Photos by Stacy Ventura Michael LeBlanc wants to lift up Oakland as much as anyone. LeBlanc is the owner of Picán, an anchor restaurant opened in 2009 that’s helping fuel a dining boom in Uptown. He’s also…
Read MoreSeven Stars of the Fall Harvest
By Jessica Prentice Jessica Prentice, Maggie Gosselin, and Sarah Klein created the Local Foods Wheel to help us all enjoy the freshest, tastiest, and most ecologically sound food choices month by month. Here are seven of Jessica’s seasonal favorites. You can learn more about the Local Foods Wheel and the group’s other ventures at localfoodswheel.com.…
Read MoreEditor's Mixing Bowl
Working on our fall issue always gets me a little disoriented. It’s lazy midsummer vacation time, but here we are creating coverage for a soon-to-be-busy fall season with its harvests and holiday preparations… oh, and an election. The drought and election were on my mind as I was talking to Aldo Assali of A.P. Farming,…
Read MoreBay Bucks Means Business!
Local currency opens new doors for entrepreneurs by Rachel Trachten • photos by Gabriella Gamboa Berkeley architect Michael Robbins needed a website to launch his new business, but found himself short on cash. At such a time, many businesspeople might apply to a bank for a loan, but instead, Robbins turned to Bay Bucks, a…
Read MoreLivermore Valley Wine Adventures
A Visit to Livermore Valley Wine Country By Christy White • Photos by Annie Tillis • Map by Nikki Goddard A few years ago when I was dating a guy from Pleasanton, my Oakland and Berkeley friends often asked dubiously “Pleasanton?” as they glanced at each other in alarm. “You could never live in Pleasanton.”…
Read MoreTomatoes at the Station
Kassenhoff Growers takes root at Oakland landmark By Cheryl Angelina Koehler • Photos by Andrew Ellis In May, when Kassenhoff Growers invited a group of devoted customers to a debut plant sale at their new West Oakland digs, owners Helen Krayenhoff and Peggy Kass weren’t quite prepared for the frenzy that would ensue over Krayenhoff’s…
Read MoreVegan Virtuoso
Bryant Terry dishes up food with heat and heart — and music for good measure By Sarah Henry Bryant Terry is literally a poster child for Oakland: You can find him alongside the likes of chef Tanya Holland and urban farmer Novella Carpenter as part of a campaign celebrating this city’s diverse residents designed by…
Read MoreA Valley Hotspot
Underdog Wine Bar at Concannon Vineyards Story and Photos by Deborah Grossman The Restaurant at the Wente Vineyards event center is the alpha dog of winery dining in Livermore Valley with its half-acre organic garden and 25-year history of white-tablecloth cuisine. But Underdog Wine Bar at Concannon Vineyards has established its own fan base for…
Read MoreErin Scott
Maker of delicious dishes, no caveats attached By Sarah Henry • Photos by Erin Scott Here’s what you need to know about Erin Scott up front. She loves eating, cooking, and photographing food. Period. Sure, she has this pesky (okay, more than pesky) problem called celiac disease, a chronic digestive disorder that can damage the small…
Read MoreContents Fall Harvest 2014
EDITOR’S MIXING BOWL SIDE DISH Bay Bucks Means Business Tomatoes at the Station Bryant Terry, Vegan Virtuoso Erin Scott’s Yummy Supper Berkeley vs. Big Soda SEVEN STARS OF THE FALL HARVEST KITCHEN SENTIMENTAL LIVERMORE VALLEY WINE ADVENTURES UNDERDOG WINE BAR WILD TURKEY COUNTING BEANS WHAT’S IN SEASON ABOUT OUR COVER ARTIST Read about Celia Wedding,…
Read MoreWild Turkey
A good choice for the sustainability pilgrim’s Thanksgiving By Erik “Daemon” Ferry | Illustration by Celia Wedding For those who have what it takes to get ’em, there’s a flavorsome, healthful, thoroughly organic, and environmentally appropriate source of harvest-season poultry running amok in the East Bay hills. We are, of course, talking wild turkeys. Introduced as…
Read MoreAugust 10, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 4–7pm Harvest of Shame Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve 1595 Railroad Ave, Vallejo California’s Institute for Rural Studies presents Edward R. Murrow’s 1960 groundbreaking documentary Harvest of Shame. The film, originally televised on CBS the day after Thanksgiving, offers a poignant exposé of the brutal conditions experienced by migrant farm workers. A discussion with anthropologist Dr. Seth Holmes…
Read MoreFibershed Recipes
SOUPE AU PISTOU Serves 8 1 to 1½ pounds fresh shell beans, shelled (about 1½ cups shelled) 3 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly 1 leek, sliced and soaked in water until clean 1/3 cup olive oil 2 medium onions, peeled and diced 6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed Bouquet garni with: 1 sprig thyme, 1…
Read MoreSummer Grilling: It’s all Fun and Flames!
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys People have been cooking with fire for thousands of years. Wood fires suggest comfort, fellowship, and celebration, and many chefs think they’re the best way to coax flavor out of foods. Whether you’re planning to grill up some goodness at a campsite, in your fireplace, over the grill on…
Read MoreGrill Time!
Grill Time! Summer grills are sizzling hot, cooking up everything from pork ribs and burgers to squash, peaches, and figs. We’re featuring five books on outdoor cooking with equipment that ranges from backyard grills to cob ovens and camp stoves. Some include how to make your own condiments. We’ll also take you to a matsuri (that’s the Japanese word for “festival”) where you can sample…
Read MoreIt’s climate change, stupid.
Reviews by Kristina Sepetys Three new books use different lenses to examine climate change in the food and farming world. A fourth on summer grilling provides a recipe from a chef-author who lives the sustainability principles, working to restore our relationship with the ocean, the land, and community. Local: The New Face…
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