The Dead

May 14th, 2009
Shoreline Amphitheater-- Mountain View, CA

(Set 1)
Jack Straw
U.S. Blues
Mason's Children
Ship Of Fools
Friend Of The Devil
Standing On The Moon
Lady With A Fan
Terrapin Station
Standing On The Moon

(Set 2)
Estimated Prophet
New Potato Caboose
Born Cross-Eyed
Dear Mr. Fantasy
Drums
Space
Morning Dew
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider

(Encore)
Scarlet Begonias
Fire On The Mountain
Deal

The Big Eat SF

I'm a sucker for lists, and an even bigger sucker for food challenges. So naturally I was all over 7x7's list of 100 Things to Eat and Drink Before You Die. I checked off 11 items right from the start, and made it to 18 in just a few days. Here's a few highlights:

#40 Cheeseburger from Taylor's (shown left): I've worked in the Ferry Building for over 3 years and this was my first time here. Delicious indeed, though I can think of many other burgers that deserve to be on the list. Oozing with cheese, nice squishy bun, crunchy pickles.


#27 Papaya salad with salty crab from Sai Jai Thai (left): Nearly burned my face off. The salad was worth the venture into the 'Loin, except for the gray mealy tomatoes and massive hunks of cabbage rind on the side. What was that about?


#36 Dry-fried chicken wings from San Tung (not shown): The place was packed when I showed up around 1:30 on a Thursday. Everyone was eating the wings! I got my order to go and went straight to the N Judah. They smelled so good I got off the bus 3 stops to eat them on the sidewalk. Fried in batter with garlic, ginger and roasted red peppers.

#8 Morning bun from Tartine Bakery (not shown): The bun was good, but the gougère was better. I'm just not that into sweet breakfast. Here's the recipe if you'd like to make them at home.

#50 Giant pretzel with mustard and and beer cheese at Monk's Kettle (left): Giant is an understatement. I came in for a snack and ended up with a meal. Served piping hot with stone ground mustard and house-made cheddar ale sauce. I couldn't resist a glass of the bourbon barrel aged ten FIDY from Oskar Blues.

#91 Albondigas soup at Mijita (not shown): I had this for lunch on Cinco de Mayo. Perfect for the cold rainy afternoon it was. A tomato based soup with beef and pork meatballs and LOTS of veggies. Served with tortilla strips (think fritos).

I'll keep working down the list, even though it has a few flaws. For example, the coffee-rubbed pork shoulder (#2) hasn't been on the menu at Range for quite some time. But, if you're up for the challenge you can track your progress with the Big Eat facebook application. Check back soon for progress reports...

Spiritual Salad

Amazing how you can start with an empty bowl and end with a feast. Unfortunately our annual garden party was postponed due to yesterday's rain, but luckily the few gardeners and guests that came anyways weren't deterred. With a little creativity we put together a spiritual salad (in the tradition of stone soup) made with veggies from the garden and offerings from our guests. The romaine, butterhead and red leaf lettuce went first, followed by grated carrots, baby red onions, peas, tomato, celery and cucumber.

It's comforting to know that, with all the challenges we face as urban gardeners, we can still come together and nourish both body and soul. Many thanks to everyone at the table yesterday for your contributions to the pot.

Magic Curry Kart and Amuse Bouche Stand

So we finally made it out to the Magic Curry Kart. We have meant to for a long time but always get sidetracked or never make it out of our little SOMA area. The green curry was great though we were probably the last ones of the evening. It's been some time since we have actually seen decent street food in the US. Street food is a key to all of our trips around the world. Eating food off the street not only supports individuals but also brings you back to the roots of your food supply. Recognizing that eating is a human necessity and not just a fancy private event in a restaurant is very important. Eating food in public and supporting food stalls bring a sense of community that is hard to reach in a large restaurants.

To occupy the time we snacked at the Amuse Bouche Stand below and played some reggae music for the visitors. Murat had some excellent onion tarts as well as a small quiche. He also had some delicious Evening Glory Muffins that were nice little treat while we waited for the curry list to shorten.

First Strawberries

The first strawberries of the year. All the kinds are producing ripe
fruit now. We have Albion, aroma and chandler.

Della Fattoria Bakery

Shaping loaves by hand

Della Fatttoria Bakery Tour:

Meaning "from the farm" in Italian, there's no better phrase to describe this small bakery in Petaluma. The bakery was founded in 1995 by Kathleen Weber, and has since grown into a family operation. Most of the ingredients in Della Fattoria's breads are organic and sourced locally, many coming from the Weber's farm and close neighbors. Each loaf of bread is shaped by hand, leavened with a natural starter, salted with course grey sea salt from Brittany and cooked in a wood-fired oven.


Dough resting in antique french bread baskets

Assorted tools


Wood fired ovens

Cowgirl Creamery Tour

Cowgirl Creamery Tour:

Founded by cowgirls Sue Conley (pictured) and Peggy Smith in 1997, the artisan cheese company has come a long way since first opening in 1997. After much success in their small barn in Point Reyes Station, Cowgirl Creamery has expended to a new location in Petaluma's Foundry Wharf. Cowgirl makes a small selection of organic aged and fresh cheeses using milk from neighbor Straus Family Creamery.

Co-founder Sue Conley shares the story of Cowgirl's beginnings.

Here you can see the pasteurization tanks in the Petaluma facility. The stacked forms on the left are cheese molds.

Cheeses soaked in brine for several hours

Stacks of cheese during the aging process

Eric Patterson, who manages the aging of the cheese, allows us to taste cheese at various ages, as well as Cowgirl's different vatieties.

Guerrilla Garden #1 - Sprouts Ahoy

So in under one week our first large guerrilla garden has taken shape. The dirt is pretty sandy and rocky so we have taken a lot of time to pull up rocks and remove old roots masses. We have been stirring up the dirt in hopes we can keep it soft enough for some root crops. Currently planted is chard, cilantro, radishes, mesclun salad mix, green leaf lettuce, potatoes, snap peas and carrots. In the picture you can see the mesclun salad mix has sprouted and taken off very quickly.

There have been no vandals and we have found a water supply that is very close. Treasure Island itself can be miserable. Yesterday the wind was so strong we could barely stand it. However, our location is completely shielded from the wind and once you reach the garden it is 10 degrees warmer inside.

I am kind of curious how long it will be till someone notices us. Carrying 4-5 gallons of water from a faucet in front of a convenience store to the back of an abandoned building has to look kinda fishy.

Gordan Ale

Gordon Ale
Oskar Blues Brewery
Lyons, Co

"If you knew Gordon Knight, this ale needs no explanation. If you
didn't, we're sorry."

Big, Red, Sticky

Stevenson Alley, April 25, 2009

So its been just over a month since we posted the last picture of our stoop garden. In this picture you will see that the snap peas have take off from several places. There are 2 kinds of nasturtiums starting to slower as well as some purple wave petunias. Scarlett runner beans and jasmine have just started to climb the gate from the bottom and purple passion flowers are just a week away from starting to flower. Our mint still lives a sad existence under the buildings dryer vent but at least it lives there. Our herb garden is lower in the center inside the porch. The dill, oregano, rosemary and chives are doing great but the cilantro and basil seem to have gone on strike. Recently I was given some blackberries starts from and invasive spot. They hopefully with grow from the empty bottom right corner, we'll see. There is also some broccoli that has begun to take off in the very top planter.

The most challenging thing for this poor garden has been the extreme weather. It was very very hot in SF this week and the peas all got very angry and droopy in the sun. After it cooled down the wind picked up and it loves to do a number on the vines. Every day we have to help train the vines towards the fence or the wind will rip them right off eventually.