Spring 2021
Meet the Harvest Made Market Cart
No more aching arms and squashed strawberries By Rachel Trachten Have you seen someone like me at your local farmers’ market—a bedraggled shopper with an overloaded bag on each arm and a bulging backpack bringing up the rear? Even as I’m leaving the market, I can’t help making one last impulse purchase, stuffing…
Read MoreA Pour of Diversity at the Local Wine Table
Phil Long at work in his Longevity winery (Photo by Ron Essex Photography) By Mary Orlin In early 2020, vintner Phil Long was on the verge of something big. The founder and winemaker for Livermore Valley’s Longevity Wines had inked a major deal to make and distribute his wines nationally just as he stepped into…
Read MoreHarvest from Your Own Subtropical Paradise
By Joshua Burman Thayer | Illustrations by Helen Krayenhoff If you enjoy the pleasure of picking a lemon at home, you know the sense that we live close to paradise. Growing subtropical—and even some tropical—perennials around the Bay Area is possible because of our “warm-winter Mediterranean” climate. Microclimates in certain parts of the Bay…
Read MoreWhat’s in Season?
Produce harvested at its peak is your sure bet for flavor and freshness. By Barbara Kobsar | Illustrations by Charmaine Koehler-Lodge By 7am on a typical Sunday at the Walnut Creek Farmers’ Market, Regina Gonzalez and the Garcia brothers, Julio and Adolfo, are unpacking, sorting, piling, and laying out their array of fresh organic vegetables…
Read MoreFood I Want to Remember
from a year I’d like to forget Story and photos by Meredith Pakier Opening and sustaining a restaurant or food business is a monumental undertaking in the best of times. During 2020, as an unmitigated global pandemic devastated millions of businesses and livelihoods, an indifferent government largely left the restaurant industry to fend for itself.…
Read More5 Herbs for Your Culinary + Medicinal Garden
By Anna Beauchemin | East Bay Herbals | Illustrations by Cheryl Angelina Koehler Looking to spruce up your springtime planter boxes with some fresh herbs? These are my top five medicinal and culinary herbs for growing in the home garden. Each makes a lovely addition to the kitchen and adds a vibrant dose…
Read MoreFood Connects Us All
Caring for food and each other, one bite at a time Food may offer up a bright spot during the pandemic as we share home-cooked meals, try out new recipes, or splurge on takeout from a local restaurant, but there are many in our communities who can’t afford even the most basic meals.…
Read MoreHow to Cook a Steak with only Salt, Pepper, and Olive Oil
From Olive Oil Synergies There are lots of ways to cook a steak. This simple stove-top method from The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley is ideal for featuring a robust extra-virgin olive oil. One 1-inch steak from your local butcher Extra-virgin olive oil Salt Cast-iron pan Pull your cold steak out of the…
Read MoreYou Mean Fish Have Seasons?
Two local architects depict seasonality through food, flowers, and whale migrations By Rachel Trachten Brian Friel and Meghan Dorrian of Young America Creative (YAC) put their skills to work on a set of posters that depict seasonality of food, flowers, and whale migrations. (Photos courtesy of YAC) It was the summer of…
Read MoreOlive Oil Carrot Cake with Seeds and Orange Zest
From Olive Oil Synergies Recipe by Marykate McGoldrick of Sesame Tiny Bakery The flavors of sweet spring carrots and fruity, peppery, extra-virgin olive oil come together in this versatile cake, which is equally good dressed up with whipped cream for a special dinner or served plain for a low-key snack with coffee or…
Read MoreSauté of Baby Artichokes, Fava Beans, Green Garlic, and Spring Onions
From Olive Oil Synergies Recipe by Sandy Sonnenfelt, member of the COOC Taste Panel and former prepared foods manager at Market Hall Foods “When these spring vegetables are in season, I enjoy leftovers of this sauté in a breakfast bowl with quinoa or buckwheat topped with feta and a poached egg.” Serves 2–3 as a side…
Read MoreMeyer Lemon Salad Dressing
From Olive Oil Synergies This recipe is by Roberta Klugman, recipient of the California Olive Oil Council Pioneer Award, and possibly our region’s best expert on how to appreciate local extra-virgin olive oil at the daily table. Her Meyer lemon vinaigrette is simple and adaptable. Use the best and freshest extra-virgin olive oil…
Read MoreCelery Root and Leek Soup with Green Garlic Gremolata
From Olive Oil Synergies Cori Goudge-Ayer, chef-partner at Persephone in Aptos, California, created this recipe to feature this season’s extra-virgin olive oil made by her neighbors at Wild Poppies. Serves 4–6 For the soup 1 medium yellow onion, diced 2 sprigs thyme 2 tablespoons neutral oil Pinch salt and black pepper 1 medium-large celery…
Read MoreFarmers’ Market Spring Rolls
From What’s in Season? By Barbara Kobsar | Illustrations By Charmaine Koehler-Lodge Strips of fresh market vegetables make these spring rolls delicious and gorgeous! Serve with a sweet chili sauce or the peanut sauce included here. —BK Makes 12–15 rolls 4 ounces rice noodles (optional) 4 watermelon radishes, thinly sliced 2 carrots, cut into…
Read MoreFood Shift’s Scrap-Saver Veggie Broth
From Food Connects Us All Broth can be made with most vegetable trimmings: carrot peels and tops, celery ends, onion ends and skin, potato peels, herb leaves and stems, garlic skins, mushroom stems. Wilted vegetables work just fine too. Place 3–4 cups vegetable trimmings with 3 quarts water in a large pot. Simmer for…
Read MoreEditor’s Mixing Bowl | Spring 2021
When our Spring issue went to press a year ago, nobody was imagining we would spend much of the next 12 months in some degree of pandemic lockdown. Since that time, home has been the safest place to be. It’s where we have learned how to wait, be patient, and make a better practice of soothing…
Read MoreOlive Oil Synergies
Networking and mentorship make a difference for small producers, from grove adopters to a former governor By Cheryl Angelina Koehler Clockwise from upper left: Olga Orlova in her Olica olive orchard; Kim Null and Jamie de Sieyes during their Wild Poppies harvest; Kathryn Tomijan at work milling a Fat Gold harvest; Susan Ellsworth sorting…
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