My favorite things about San Francisco…

Yesterday was Cesar Chavez Day,  a California state holiday and luckily, a day I did not have to go into work. I love having weekdays off and I decided to take an early morning walk. As I was wandering around, I saw many of the things that remind me of why I really love San Francisco. At least on days like yesterday.  Though one thing I encountered yesterday I found quite shocking! A parking enforcement officer  was driving around and instead of just ticketing everyone, was giving everyone an opportunity to pay the parking meters and even calling into some local shops to say “If this is your car, you better come and pay the meter!” Astonishing!

The Elders of the Community

One of the things I enjoy most about San Francisco are the older generations. Watching them congregate in the many parks dotted around the city teaching each other how to waltz, practicing Tai Chi or just enjoying the day gives me a sense of calm and community that, frankly, I wouldn’t mind having now.

Hidden Treasures

San Francisco has many hidden treasures; staircases, gardens, courtyards and tiny neighborhoods that few people have heard of.  It always feels like a privilege to catch a glimpse of one of these or like I’m in on some great, local secret.

Telegraph Hill

In its own right, Telegraph Hill is a bit of a hidden treasure and rarely visited by anyone that’s not a tourist or resident. The hill is covered with gardens, steps and a surprisingly large variety of wildlife including wild parrots, mice, skunks, raccoons and the mosquitos and bees that the rest of San Francisco is oddly free of. Whenever I see this hill from a distance, it always seems quite exotic and lush.

The Quiet and the Waterfront

I love being close to the water and I love the docks and piers and, once again, some of the hidden spots to sit and watch the bay. this photo was taken near Fisherman’s Wharf which is probably the largest tourist area in San Francisco. It is much nicer to visit at 8:30am and in my opinion, the morning and the sea are perfect companions.

The Fog

aka The Weather

I don’t think there is anyone that can convince me that the weather in San Francisco is anything less than wonderful. Of course there are cold days when there should be warm days and warm days when there should be cold days and each neighborhood seems to have its own micro-climate but I really enjoy these parts of Bay Area weather. In fact I think we are really quite lucky here. Fresh, local produce is available year round and within driving distance there are mountains, temperate rain forests, beaches and deserts.

And the fog? Simply beautiful.

Food & “Farm” Update – Summer 2009

This summer has been very interesting and busy! Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Garden:

• Two tomatoes plants (out of the original 4 varieties that I planted in March) have produced fruit – the Tomatoberry and the yellow Marvel Stripe heirloom – those most are still green.  I have one (color TBD) bell pepper still growing, a row of too-tiny-to-mention purple carrots and a handful of fava bean plants that may or may not be unhappy. All but two of the other plants that I bought as seedlings have survived in pots for months and are now happily residing in a big pile of soil enriched with the compost I’ve been preparing for months: oregano, sage, mint, strawberries and two kinds of lavender. The 3rd kind of lavender was trampled by a construction worker and the basil – well, so far I cannot get basil to work in the clay and debris filled soil back there. See garden photos here.

Events:

• Eat Real Fest – held on the weekend before labor day in Oakland, CA. It was hot. No, I mean HOT – like nearly 100 degrees and for the Bay Area… that is HOT.  But it was much more interesting that the Slow Food Nation event in San Francisco last year. Eat Real Fest was all about food for the masses – not just the people who could afford to spend hundreds of dollars for exclusive tasting events.  The food was great – local, organic and inexpensive. Street food vendors and taco trucks filled Jack London square and sold a variety of dishes – all $5 or less. The also had a large indoor farmers’ market. I’d definitely go again.  See pictures here.
• Ghost Town Farm tour – This was held on the same weekend as the East Real Fest as both were in Oakland. Novella Carpenter and her partner Bill are essentially squatting on a lot next to the apartment in which they live and have turned it in to a little urban farm. Novella has since written a book, Farm City, about her experiences with developing the farm and raising plants and animals in such an urban environment. It’s a great read and a great inspiration. I think what I love most is how they put something together pretty much out of nothing and created not only a garden, but a community as well. Her blog is here and my pictures are here.
• A reading from the book, Cooking Beyond Measure,  by cultural historian, hippie, cook and writer Jean Johnson.  The reading was a joint venture between the Culinary Historians of Northern California and Omnivore Books in San Francisco. I have been to a few CHoNC events now and usually feel a bit out of place since most of the other members are professional chefs, food writers and culinary historians and even though Jean is a bit of all of those, I feel like she could make anyone feel at ease. She came of age in the 60′s, lived for a decade on Native American reservations in the Southwest and is just a genuinely nice person. When the reading was over I went up to her and said “You’ve just written the book I was planning on writing in a few years after I got my act together.” Somehow, I’d love to grow up to be the combination of Novella Carpenter and Jean Johnson! Jean’s blog is here.

Classes:

• UrbanKitchenSF is my new best friend! With one-off, 2-3 hour classes that are fun, informative and inexpensive. They are all about slow food and cooking styles for the urban dweller. My first podcast was about their first pickling class and I plan on doing an interview with the founders of UrbanKitchenSF in a future podcast. I’ve taken all but two of the classes – one I had already taken and one I missed – including kombucha, pickling, butchery, cheesemaking and bread baking. I have pictures of most of the classes here. My kombucha and homemade pickles have turned out quite well!

Books:

• Occassionally, I lament the fact that I never got my undergrad degree. While the study of food history and culinary anthrolopogy are becoming more well known and wide spread, it is a challenge to find classes for the beginner or hobbyist. So, instead of allowing myself to pine, I finally got myself a Library card. Seems a bit sad since I’ve been living in San Francisco for 7 years now. My first two books are Food in the USA and The History of Taste - both a relatively large collection of essays and heavier than most of the school and college books I’ve had over the years. It does make me happy to know that there are others like me – who are fascinated by the evolution of food and its impact on human development, society and culture and who can explain it a heck of a lot better than I can.
• Wild Fermentation – not only a cookbook but a really good read as well. As the title states, this book is about fermentation and not only provides many, very approachable recipes, but talks about the health benefits, taste and history of the craft.  I have successfully made a bright pink sauerkraut and am now trying a batch of kvass which seems like a lovely way to use up stale bread!

Food:

• Ah, well, I am always trying new experiments and recipes. Lately, it has been all about sourdough and some of my favorites of late I have found online and am happy to share them!
  • Sourdough Crackers: http://www.cuesa.org/seasonality/recipes/appetizers/app_sp3.php
  • Sourdough Pancakes: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughPancakes.htm
• I have also just tried my hand at sprouting grains and as I type, they are slowly toasting in the oven. Studies suggest that sprouts are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet and the act of sprouting (as well as fermenting) breaks down the harmful but natural enzime inhibitors present in seeds. My first try was with some local red wheat berries which, when sprouted, kinda tasted a bit like grass.  But since wheat is a grass, this makes perfect sense.
  • http://www.sproutpeople.com/cookery.html

Ok, well that’s all for now!

Good food & friends!

MindfulCast #1 – Fermentation: The Final Frontier

After years of thinking about it, I have finally created a podcast call “MindfulCast”. The goal of this podcast series is to discuss the rewards and challenges of living a balanced life in these modern, urban times. The first episode, Fermentation: The Final Frontier, focuses on a recent Pickling Party workshop hosted by UrbanKitchenSF and Happy Girl Kitchen Co. To subscribe to the podcast feed, check the box at the top of the sidebar!

The workshop was held on a pier under the Bay Bridge…

From left to Right: Todd Gonzales and Todd Champange from Happy Girl Kitchen

Chopping and filling jars

and adding salt water…

Pickled Cherries, Lemons and Spicy Carrots

mmm.. Pretty Pickles…

Getting Local Food, Locally Part II: Chipotle

Chipotle is a chain of Mexican Style fast food restaurants in the United States – and they don’t buy their pork from factory farms. That is only the start! While they are not 100% organic or sustainable yet, they have a fantastic “Food With Integrity” philosophy which includes “unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised, added hormone free, organic, and artisanal” foods.

There is a great Nightline Segment from 6/16/09 all about this Chipotle philosophy with a cameo from Joel of Polyface Farms.

The craziest thing about all this is that I have not yet been to this restaurant! Fortunately, we have two in San Francisco. We sent an email to Chipotle asking about their produce and rice as this is not discussed on their website as much as their meat and beans. They sent us a great response!

“We have currently committed to buying 35 percent of one bulk produce item for all of our restaurants, when seasonally available, from local farmers. We’re looking to build on this program for the future. Last year, when we began the program, we sourced 25 percent of one bulk produce item used in each store from a local farm. This year we have upped our goals to 35 percent so we are making some progress.

We need a lot of ingredients. Unfortunately these better suppliers are more of a niche than a mainstream. Our plan is just to start small, just as we did with our naturally-raised meats, and to grow the program from there as supply increases to meet demand.

With our program, our produce is generally coming from within 200 miles or less of our restaurants. This might also be on a seasonal basis. As you might be able to imagine, it would be quite a challenge to buy certain items, such as romaine lettuce in Minneapolis, in the middle of the winter.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you specifics for rice, lettuce or tomatoes as different restaurant are focusing on different things that will work better for that region. However, we are really focused on making a difference. As part of our Food with Integrity initiative, we are trying to operate our restaurants in a manner which is better for the environment, better for the animals, and better for the farmers who raise the animals and grow the produce. We also happen to think fresh food tastes better. In this way, we hope it is also better for our customers.”

www.chipotle.com

Spotlight: Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market: A Photo Story

Though the farmers’ market I usually shop at is the Heart of the City, I stop by the Ferry Plaza a few times a year. This is not so much for the produce, as I find that the fruit and vegetables at the Heart of the City are quite fabulous and much less expensive, but for the items that are harder to find, The Ferry Plaza Market is great!

Since today was such a lovely San Francisco day, I decided to head out early to see if I could get to some of the market goodies that tend to vanish before 10am, beat the lunch crowd and take some photos.

I am also starting to keep a list of the farms that I learn about and how far they are from San Francisco. To see a map of North California farms that travel to or sell in San Francisco markets click here: Northern California Farms

http://www.massaorganics.com/ Chico, California

Massa Organics

I have been a fan of Massa Organics since I first encountered them. They are one of the few grain producers in the area (currently brown rice and red wheat berries) and their almonds are wonderful too! You can even follow them on twitter now @MassaOrganics and get updates direct from the tractor. Which, if you are an agro-nerd like me, will make you giddy. But maybe that is just me. ..

Getting local food, locally. Part I. Cafe Divine

I’ve been seeking out local restaurants that provide information about using local, seasonal produce. I hope that one day I will have a long list of restaurants to recommend, but for the time being. I intend to mention establishments as I have the opportunity to experience them.

Cafe Divine – North Beach, San Francisco http://cafedivinesf.com/

According to the Cafe Divine menu: “We Support Small Farmers And Use Sustainable Products Whenever Possible.” Situated at the corner of Washington Park in North Beach, Cafe Divine has big windows and a comfy, somewhat artsy, coffee shop feel. The service is pretty good (but not great) but the food is very good and fresh and a decent price. I was a bit disappointed the first time I ate at this restaurant. I believe we had brunch, something like an omelet with a fruit bowl. It was in the winter; the time of apples, pears and oranges in the bay area, but my fruit bowl was still full of out-of-season melon balls – even though the display case was full of the season fruit I mentioned.  It’s also a bit sad that they don’t feel confident enough to proudly advertise their support of local agriculture on their website (it’s only on a scan of their menu) but at least they do mention it.

Eaten by the Chronophage

It’s been months since I’ve written anything of any interest, and much has happened: Slow Food Nation, an unexpected move, the presidential election and the Green Fest. All of which I will touch on at some point in this post. It’s been a tumultuous 3 months and I now feel that I am finally settling down a bit and after some periods of stress and worry, disappointment and disillusionment, I am now feeling hopeful and more inspired. Thank goodness.

Fleet Week 2008 – A Great Way to Reduce Military Spending and Fossil Fuel Consumption!

If you missed the post last year – read it here.

“A thought popped into my head today, October 4th, the first day of Fleet Week 2007 and my 32nd birthday: Why are we still having Fleet Week? Why do we continue to have air shows at all? In today’s world, when we complain about military budgets and our dependence on fossil fuels, why are we still having events all around the country, all around the world, where military personnel and various crafts and vessels are transported from place to place, flying and sailing around causing much air and noise pollution? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The Search for Local Food: Roy’s Restaurant

A few months ago I started doing some research online hoping to find Bay Area restaurants that supported local agriculture and had seasonal menus. One of the restaurants that I found in my search was Roy’s, located in the Soma neighborhood of San Francisco.  With phrases like “a tempting combination of exotic flavors and spices mixed with the freshest of local ingredients” on their website, I was looking forward to seeing what the place had to offer.

Now if I had truly done my research, instead of having just a brief look on their website weeks ago, I would have noticed a couple of things.

1. Roy’s is a chain with multiple locations in 10 different states.
2. Their menu is decidedly more exotic than local.

I did not look at the menu until we were seated. The only vegetarian option on the entire menu was a green salad.  When asked, our server (who I will talk about in detail later) presented me with a completely separate menu for vegetarian dishes. I thought it was a bit strange that this menu was not automatically presented, but it was a pretty nice menu.

First, we ordered the Ponzi Pinot Gris from Oregon. A lovely crisp wine that went well with all of our dishes.

For appetizers, we had a very interesting Kobe Beef wrapped around Dynamite Crab, Tempura Asparagus & Avocado and (from the vegetarian menu) a Wild Mushroom and Truffle Risotto. The risotto had shredded shiso leaves which gave it an amazing flavor.

My Entree was the Sea Scallops with Purple Potato Gnocchi and my S.O. got the Monkfish with vegetables in a curry sauce. This is where things got a bit weird. Though visually stunning and cooked to perfection, the flavors of both dishes seemed a bit confused. The scallops were wonderful and the gnocchi as well but they did not seem to work together as well as I had hoped. The monkfish in curry sauce was very nice, but the vegetables seemed to makes no sense at all.

The desert – a chocolate souffle – was wonderful.

The one really good thing I can say about this restaurant was that the service was amazing. Our server immediately told us that he helped with the wine selection and would answer any questions we had about any of their menus. I asked him if they had any local produce, meats or fish. The non “exotic” produce was local, but none of the meat or fish on the menu. I also asked him a couple of times if he could find out what some of the ingredients were and was happy to do so. The staff was very attentive, friendly and professional without being pushy. A+ on that!

So, based on the flavor of dishes, the variety of local food available and the service, I give Roy’s 3 Purkle Stars. I would visit this place again, but not on a regular basis! It is a bit too expensive, too confused and has a high carbon footprint – even for a restaurant.

http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

Urban Farming in San Francisco

A couple of years ago, I was listening to one of the Deconstructing Dinner shows about Urban Farming and one of the guests was discussing the use of city backyards as a way to use the existing green space to grow crops. I have been fascinated with this idea ever since and have been trying to find information about a similar project in San Francisco. Today I stumbled upon Victory Gardens which, according to the website, is a pilot project funded by the City of San Francisco to support the transition of backyard, front yard, window
boxes, rooftops, and unused land into organic food production areas.

It is still early days yet, but I am very interested to see where this goes.

The State of Food in San Francisco

As many people know, San Francisco is one of the wonders of the foodie world. With it’s melting pot population, coastal location, climate that offers year-round produce and upwards of 10,000 restaurants, foodies are spoiled for choice.

San Francisco Magazine‘s recent issue focuses on food in the Bay Area. Though it’s not my favorite magazine it did definitely have some very good articles this month.

To eat local, kill local With just one slaughterhouse remaining within 80 miles of San Francisco, we stand to lose not only our local beef industry, but our grazing lands as well. Now a thick-skinned herd of ranchers and environmentalists are determined to keep the cows close to home.

The State of the Plate When it comes to dining out, is San Francisco becoming a Valhalla or a Vegas with hills? Josh Sens looks back on a confounding 12 months of meals and takes the measure of a region and its restaurants.

Moth Class What the light brown apple moth—and the pesticide shower it nearly unleashed—taught us about the future of our fruits and vegetables.

Weapons of Moth Destruction How the Bay Area maneuvered to beat back an impending pesticide assault.

Update: California Green

Here are some interesting stories I’ve collected over the past few months about California and the San Francisco Bay Area. Thanks to Green Daily!

Fresno-Yosemite International Leads Green Airport Movement

San Fran tests new parking technology to decrease traffic, emissions Visit SFpark website!

San Jose, CA’s Green Vision

San Francisco’s New Solar Program

Mayor Newsom trying to make S.F. recycle

San Francisco’s First Grease-To-Biodiesel Facility

Conservationists win battle on key California land

Downtown Garden

SF’s Civic Center Welcomes Fresh Veggie Garden

“For the first time since 1943, the first edible garden was planted Saturday at San Francisco’s Civic Center, with the hopes of encouraging residents to eat healthy food.”

http://www.kcbs.com/pages/2588388.php?

Some additions to the blog.

I have added a few RSS feeds of my favorite podcasts and articles in the sidebar. I hope you find them interesting and informative!

Deconstructing Dinner http://kootenaycoopradio.com/deconstructingdinner/

The Ethicurean http://www.ethicurian.com

The Food Chain http://www.metrofarm.com

Indy Bay http://www.indybay.org

Eat Feed http://www.eatfeed.com/

Edible San Francisco http://www.ediblesanfrancisco.com

California and Water

I’ve been thinking about water a lot lately with the drought and all of the fires that are still burning around the state as I type. I am not the only one thinking about this, of course, and there’s a great, locally produced 30 minute program about the future of water in California:
State of Thirst: California’s Water Future
“Are we in danger of running out of water? California’s population is growing by 600,000 people a year, but much of the state receives as much annual rainfall as Morocco. With fish populations crashing, global warming, and the demands of the country’s largest agricultural industry, the pressures on our water supply are increasing.”

Second Life: The New San Francisco?

When I first moved to San Francisco, I was expecting a mecca littered with open minds and interesting and collaborative ideas; that I’d have to cut my way through the creativity and activism that would naturally blanket the city like it’s oh so famous fog. Of course I was being naive. Every place where human beings live there live the problems of those human beings. There’s still violence, racism, poverty, prejudice and community divisions. But here we have hope I think. San Francisco is definitely a breeding ground for many new and wonderful things and a true melting pot of ideas and cultures.

I feel the same way about Second Life. I don’t believe that I’ve written about Second Life before in this blog, but I’ve been a resident for more than two years doing everything from event planning to building, design, photography and volunteering for non-profits. It is a place where you can pretty much do what you want, look like you want, explore different aspects of your personality or discover new ones and collaborate with people around the world in an immeasurable variety of ways. A good friend of mine has a child avatar (Marianne McCann) in Second Life, simply to create a wonderful childhood experience. She swims and plays, carries around a teddy bear and explores to her heart’s content. There’s been plenty of controversy about child avatars in Second Life, many finding it difficult to believe that their intentions are not inappropriate and harmful. And throughout all of that, I’ve been especially proud of my friend for keeping her child avatar.

A recent article on massively.com states that Linden Lab (the creator of Second Life) is not allowing child avatars to attend the Second Life anniversary event this year. If this is indeed true, it is indeed sad and perhaps it is fear of the possible repercussions that has prompted this decision. My thoughts? Stand up and continue to give a solid representation of what is good and creative in the world. Actions like this can make people feel disregarded, disrespected and persecuted.

I’m curious to see what happens…

Read the article on massively.com here.

EDIT: Linden Lab update: “All exhibits, in substance and form, are PG on Linden Land. Any Resident can submit an application to exhibit. A team of Lindens and Resident organizers will review the applications, and if accepted, builders can be in any avatar form they choose (provided they are within PG guidelines).”

Read More @: http://blog.secondlife.com/…b-birthday-expanded-and-new-submission-deadlines/

Transgender Issues on NPR

I happen to hear a great story on NPR yesterday about one particular family with a young transgender child and learned that they’ve done a few pieces on this subject in the past couple days. It’s a subject that interests me and living in San Francisco, certainly an issue that comes up on a regular basis. And, even here in San Francisco, there is still violence and prejudice against the transgender community and more than a little confusion.

I hope these links are informative, interesting and enlightening!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90247842

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90229789

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90289426

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90273278

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90234780

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_Day_of_Remembrance

Farmers’ Market Excursion and a New Recipe.

So I was finally able to meet up with a good (and busy) friend of mine and took him to the farmers’ market. He brought his 3 year old son, who is adorable and smart and calls his father by the nickname of Gravel Balloon Face. How can you not love that? I recorded most of the trip and, assuming it all sounds pretty good, will be putting together my first podcast.

The weather has been really warm this weekend and I got a pretty good sunburn while walking around today. Due to the heat and not wanting to stand over a hot stove and cook dinner, I made a chilled soup which turned out great. The recipe is below.

Chilled Pea Soup
This recipe gets 4 Purkle Stars

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups steamed fresh English peas
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 cup fresh lettuce/mixed salad greens
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1-2 Tbs
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the zucchini into a few pieces and put in food processor. Put all other ingredients (leave the salt and pepper until last) into processor and blend until creamy. This recipe is similar to others out there but has less liquid and is lower fat so it won’t get perfectly smooth. You can add cream or stock if you are going for that texture. Otherwise, this is a pretty bright, crisp and fresh soup.

Serves 2-3.

Media Alliance Event – April 24th

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/15/18493055.php

On Thursday April 24th, Indybay will participate in a panel discussion, sponsored by Media Alliance, about building community in the practice of independent media. The program will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church at the corner of Cedar and Bonita in in Berkeley, at 7:00 p.m.

Lights out all night?

I just found an article discussing a proposal that would discourage and possibly fine businesses in San Francisco for leaving their lights on all night. I think it’s very interesting idea. But possibly poses a number of problems. I’d love to get some opinions on it. Read the article and tell me what you think!

http://tinyurl.com/3ahfuk