Big Sur, California

Despite having seen most of the state while growing up and living in it as an adult, California still surprises. Over and over it reveals itself to me, reminds me of its beauty, and still makes me think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It had been a number of years since I'd been to one of my favorite spots: Big Sur. Robert and I recently spent a long weekend there and I fell in love all over again. There is something magical in the Big Sur air. Everything about the place appeals to me. The remoteness, the residents still living like it is 1968, the overwhelming natural beauty. We approached the area by car from the north; as soon as we drove into the valley where Big Sur starts we entered a lovely time warp. There is little to none cell phone coverage (bliss!). We stayed at Deetjen's Inn where there is no television, no Internet (more bliss!), and no locks on the doors. It was just the break I'd needed and was looking for from all the noise of modern society. It's amazing how quiet it can actually be without all the technology we surround ourselves with. I'd been hearing about Deetjen's for a number of years from my friend Jill, an American living in London who goes whenever she's in California. I am so glad we chose to stay there.

Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, 48865 Highway One, Big Sur, California, 93920, (831) 667-2377, http://www.deetjens.com

Built in the early 1930s by Norwegian Helmut Deetjen, Deetjen's is world famous for its rustic charm and quiet isolation. The story goes that Helmut left his native Norway to get away from the 'authorities'; when he discovered the remote Big Sur coast he decided to stay. He and his wife Helen Haight bought several acres in Castro Canyon which offered the privacy and seclusion he sought. Starting with a redwood barn made from materials from the canneries along Monterey's Cannery Row, 'Grandpa Deetjen' went on to build more structures all constructed using local, scavenged redwood. The inn now comprises twenty rooms and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Over the years it has been visited by numerous famous names from old Hollywood, (Rita Hayworth, Orsen Welles, Kim Novak) to such writers and artists as Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Ansel Adams, and Edward Weston.

We stayed in 'Edy's Room'; only big enough for a bed, and a couple of chairs and small tables but so full of charm that the lack of space was quickly forgotten. The room was cozy against the chill temperatures outside, and once inside I found it hard to leave. The doors only locked from the inside which at first gave us pause but as long as we were careful to take valuables with us was not an issue. This lack of locks fits right into the laissez-faire Big Sur attitude. For an additional bit of intrigue the room is supposedly haunted by Edy's
ghost. Reading through the journals left behind by prior guests
we learned of possible ghostly sightings. If she was around during our stay she didn't let us know. While we were at Deetjen's we ate a dinner and a breakfast in the quaint dining room; the food was hearty and filling in keeping with the Deetjen's spirit. Now that I have been I look forward to going again soon.

Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant, Highway One, Big Sur, California, (831) 667-0520, http://www.bigsurbakery.com

I used to go to Big Sur on a very regular basis when I worked in the restaurant business in San Francisco in the '80s. Jeremiah Tower, chef and owner of Stars restaurant, was once chef at Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur. Because of that connection, I always stayed at Ventana -- an upscale resort nestled against the Big Sur mountains just above the fog line. I usually ate in the Ventana restaurant. I also generally stayed put and enjoyed the beauty of Big Sur from on high. This time was different. Robert and I jumped in and really experienced it. We drove, we looked, we hiked and we explored almost every inch. One of the places I knew I'd be visiting was the newish Big Sur Bakery which I'd read about in the Los Angeles Times. I was quite intrigued by the story of three Los Angeles chef friends who chucked their urban-city lives to open a bakery and restaurant in the rustic wilds of Big Sur. It sounded so wonderful to me. Michelle Rizzolo, Philip Wojtowicz and Mike Gilson met while working in such Los Angeles restaurants as Campanile, La Brea Bakery, Joe's Restaurant, and Mélisse. At Big Sur Bakery Michelle handles all the baking and pastry making; Philip is responsible for the kitchen while Mike handles the front of the house. Using a wood-fired oven they bake bread every morning to be sold in the bakery and used in the restaurant. Many dishes on the restaurant menus are also cooked in the wood-fired oven; they honor the local, sustainable, organic credo as well. The trio has published a cookbook, 'The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook: A Year In The Life of a Restaurant,' about their first year in business in Big Sur. We had two meals both deeply satisfying. The wood-fire pizza ('Traditional wood fired tomato & cheese pizza') and salad ('Salad of seasonal organic mixed greens with shallots, herbs, roasted carrots, toasted sunflower seeds, and lemon poppy seed dressing') we shared after hiking to a waterfall was just what we needed to fuel up for our next adventure. The dinner we ate one night was the perfect antidote to the cold rainy weather outside. There is a dearth of good, reasonably priced eats in Big Sur so the cozy, rustic charm and hearty food of Big Sur Bakery is a most welcome addition. If I lived in Big Sur I'd be a regular patron.

Part of what I like about Big Sur is its hippy-bohemian vibe. We saw more hitchhikers in three days then I have seen in thirty years. The people we saw out and about, wandering down Highway One on foot, bicycle and car, in shops and restaurants, and at the beach often seemed to be aged hippies of yore, throwbacks to the '60s and the earlier Beat Generation, or for the younger generation -- modern day 'hippies.' The whole Big Sur vibe reminded me so much of growing up in the '60s and '70s along the Central Coast of California where these types were the norm. Hitchhikers thumbed rides freely; men had long hair and beards; everyone wore tie dye T-shirts, peace signs around their necks, and bell bottoms. It was an awesome time to be a kid; so much was happening. I felt a bit of this energy in Big Sur. A place where Beat author Jack Kerouac spent time; and where 'Tropic of Cancer' -- it's 1961 U.S. publication date led to an obscenity trial -- writer Henry Miller lived from 1944 to 1962. Naturally, one of my favorite places we visited was The Henry Miller Library.

The Henry Miller Library, Highway One, Big Sur California, (831) 667-2574, http://www.henrymiller.org

The library reminded me of City Lights Books in San Francisco's North Beach; a once fertile gathering place for Beatniks, subversives and hippies. Not just a library or a place to sell books but a meeting place; a place to find like-minded souls; a place to hear poetry or a lecture, to see a performance, or attend a workshop; a place to get back that counter-culture, hippy vibe lost long ago. The library does all of that while keeping the spirit of Miller alive. It's seemingly the nexus of all that Big Sur energy. Magnus the current 'librarian' holds court at the cashier's desk answering questions; passing on Miller tidbits, facts and history; and explaining upcoming activities at the library. Again, it felt as though I was stepping back in time. I loved the poster for 'Celebration At Big Sur' -- a counter-culture concert featuring some of my counter-culture heroes: Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Crosy, Stills Nash & Young -- hanging in the library. The poster (see below) says 'Celebrate with...' and I'm sorry I didn't get to.

After we left the Henry Miller Library we ventured down the road to another famed Big Sur location, the can't-miss 'Nepenthe.' A restaurant and bar perched above the Pacific that offers breathtaking views down the Monterey coast. I'd been years ago on a hot summer day, and sat outside on the deck with a cold drink looking south down the coast. My memory of the view and the place has remained strong over the years. The weather was wet and cold the day Robert and I went but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Nepenthe Restuarant, 48510 Highway One, Big Sur, California, 93920, (831) 667-2345, http://www.nepenthebigsur.com

'Nepenthe' means 'isle of no care' in Greek. Original Nepenthe owners Lolly and Bill Fassett and their five children settled into a cabin on the property called the Log House in 1947. The Log House's most recent owners had been Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles neither of whom lived in the house due to their filing for divorce soon after they bought it. Once settled in the Fasset's proceeded to slowly build what is now Nepenthe. The original vision was for 'an open-air pavilion with good food and wine and dancing under the stars.' A place where people from up and down the coast would come and forget their cares.' [from the Nepenthe website]. Lolly opened the Phoenix Shop, now a gift shop, so local and traveling merchants could show and sell their wares. The family lived an idyllic Bohemian life surrounded by artists, crafts people, writers, performers and travelers. Like the Henry Miller Library, Nepenthe is still a gathering place for thinkers and creative types both those living locally and those traveling through; as well as for the endless stream of tourists traveling down Highway One who stop in for a drink, some food and the bewitching view. Nepenthe is like the cream on top of the Big Sur bohemian pie. One does have to wonder if Big Sur would be 'Big Sur' without Nepenthe. I have to say that it would not -- Nepenthe is such a part of the history and fabric of Big Sur that without it, it would be something else entirely. [While relatives of Lolly and Bill run the day-today of the restaurant], granddaughter, Romney Steele, has taken over the running of Nepenthe and has [recently] published a book about the history and food of the famed restaurant: 'My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur.'

Easlen Institute, 55000 Highway One, Big Sur, California, 93920, (831) 667-3000, http://www.esalen.org

There is one other remarkable and fun thing that we did in Big Sur that I want to mention: visiting the hot springs at the Esalen Institute. Esalen, an organization and retreat center, "...was founded in 1962 as an alterntaive educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the 'the human potential,' the world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond the imagination." [from the Esalen website] Now comprised of twenty-seven acres perched on the cliffs above the crashing Pacific ocean, the institute holds a wide range of classes, workshops, and retreats offering introductions to Gestalt, massage, sensory awareness and meditation. And then there's the natural hot springs that pour forth from a seaside cliff. Because the institute allows registered guests top priority in using the hot springs, they are only open to the public from 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. I'd heard about the springs before, and I knew admittance was in the middle of the night, but Robert and I still wanted to go. We took a nap and went. We are so glad we did. The springs are set atop a cliff right over the ocean. While soaking in the hot springs we watched the waves crashing on the rocks below us, we looked out into the dark sea, and at the stars twinkling above us. It was a magical two hours. Two hours that I hope to experience again. In fact the whole weekend was a magical experience I hope to experience again. One I also highly recommend.

Upcoming Posts: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I went to in Napa. Reviews: My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur by Romney Steele, The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe.

Review: 'Cooking The Cowboy Way'

Cooking The Cowboy Way: Recipes Inspired by Campfires, Chuck Wagons, and Ranch Kitchens. Grady Spears. Andrews McMeel Publishing. $29.99. (222p) ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-7392-1

Growing up on the central coast of California was paradisaical in many ways. The natural beauty. The rural feeling. My relatives close by. Farm fresh fruits and vegetables always at hand. Food and family often intermixed. My great-great-aunt Ona Chandler married into the Dana family -- a Spanish land grant family dating back to before California was a state when it still belonged to Mexico. Spanish land grants weren't actually Spanish, they were Mexican. Huge tracts of land that the Mexican government gave away to white men if they married the daughters of Mexican soldiers who were stationed in 'Alta California' -- the name it had at the time. The goal was to populate the region but it backfired when the white man took the land away from Mexico eventually making it the State of California. The Dana family operated a rancho near the small town of Nipomo -- a cow town, full of farmers and ranchers. Cattle was raised in the surrounding hills, and still is. And naturally where there's beef there's barbecue. Not just in Nipomo but also in the surrounding area: Santa Maria, Arroyo Grande, and San Luis Obispo. It's called Santa Maria-style barbecue and the cut used is tri-tip.

Santa Maria-style barbecue is a method of outdoor cooking that dates back to the early ranchos and land grants. It is still extremely popular and these days men spend weekends grilling away in grocery store parking lots on mobile barbecue pits; the smell of the oak wood fire, and grilling meat wafting in the air. Because of my Aunt Onie our family has a strong link to the area as well as to this style of cooking. As a child during the summer months the Nipomo's Men's Club held community barbecues on the weekends. A pit barbecue was brought to the Nipomo Community Center and the local men grilled tri-tip over oak and served it with homemade salsa, local pinquito beans, salad, and garlic bread. We sat outside at picnic tables covered with white paper and ate until we were full. And boy was it good eating. I have very fond memories of those days. Of those weathered cowboys both white and Latino who pitched in to cook that delicious food; and of the community coming together to feast.

When I received 'Cooking The Cowboy Way' for review, I immediately thought back to those summer barbecues. I was excited to see what recipes were included. Campfire, chuck wagon, and ranch cooking is a very distinctive way of cooking and one that I love. There's nothing quite like the experience, and the flavors, of cooking bacon and eggs, or a steak over an open campfire. The book is a wonderful compendium of this style of cooking. Chef, restaurant owner, and author Grady Spears explores this way of cooking by highlighting working ranches, and their food and recipes across North America. Each chapter is devoted to a different ranch in such states as Texas, Arizona, Missouri, Florida and Alberta, Canada. He includes cooking secrets, photos and stories about the cowboy way of life. While I was reading through it, it made me want to pack up my cast iron pan, and my camping gear, grab my horse, and hit the open road. I have everything but the horse. Maybe car camping is in the near future instead.

I cooked several recipes from the book and they were all a huge success. The recipes were well-written, easy to follow and pleased several friends that came over to eat them to the point that they asked for the recipes for themselves. The 'Porterhouse Steaks with Wildcatter Steak Rub' from the Wildcatter Ranch in Graham, Texas were heavenly -- the rub is a definite keeper. The salt pork and the jalapeño pepper gave the pinto beans in 'Tom's Ranch Beans' from the Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap, Texas a full-flavored kick. A sprinkle of chili powder on the 'Golden Corn Bread Muffins' from Rancho de la Osa in Sasabe, Arizona provided a welcome boost; and the 'Autumn Pear Crisp' also from the Perini Ranch was the hit of the meal. The food and flavors in 'Cooking The Cowboy Way' are simple, big and satisfying. This is not haute cuisine nor should it be. This type of cooking came about because of a need to feed large numbers of hungry men; it had to be easy to prepare as well as filling. It also had to be cooked for the most part out of doors which adds another layer to the cooking and eating experience. To me food always tastes different, better, when cooked outside. The wood fire, the fresh air, the grilling meat are intoxicating. I was a little uncertain when I saw several recipes that listed things like garlic and onion powder, granulated beef base, canned goods, and commercial condiments but then I realized it's a different style of cooking, that it's not, as I mentioned, high cuisine, and that some of these ingredients make sense for these recipes. From what I experienced with the recipes I made they had no bearing whatsoever on the taste of the food. I definitely plan to cook more out of this book while checking my food snobbery at the kitchen door. 'Cooking The Cowboy Way' is a book worthy of everyone's cookbook shelves.

Happy trails!

Please Vote For Me! The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook Contest: I have entered my baked papaya recipe, 'Chef Wally's Baked Papaya,' into the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest. If selected the recipe will be published in cookbook published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. To vote go to the top of my blog to the Foodista icon. Thanks!

My Status: Winter in Southern California -- warm days, cold nights, comfort food. Off to Yosemite at the end of January to attend a 'Chefs' Holidays 2010 at the Ahwanee' event: three days of cooking demos, lectures and eating with chefs Suzanne Goin, Duskie Estes and John Stewart. Can't wait! Also new cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to use. More cooking, eating, writing, and blogging.

Upcoming Posts: Reviews: Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine; and of the new cookbooks Venezia: Food & Dreams by Tessa Kiros, My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur by Romney Steele, The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe.

Guest Blog: My Mother, Dawn Goodman - My Food History

My great-grandparents, Ora and Rolla Goodman, at a family barbecue in Waller Park in Santa Maria, California.

Introduction - My Life in Food

I have very fond food memories from my childhood growing up on the Central Coast of California during the 60s and 70s. I grew up in the near-coastal town of San Luis Obispo. Even though I lived in other places as a child, it's my hometown. My mother, Dawn Goodman, was born in Santa Maria, a town further south on the 101 freeway; and her grandparents, Rolla and Ora Goodman lived in Orcutt, a small town just south of Santa Maria. Most of my memories are of my great-grandparents, their profuse garden and their sourcing of local-area ingredients for family meals. Their home was the locus of all family gatherings and many happy times were spent there. However, my mother, my sister, Traci, and I have our own food history of which I also have memories. My mother recounts much of it in this post: read on...

Recently I celebrated a 'big' birthday. My friend, Karen Roorda, devised the most extraordinary gift for me: my life in food. From childhood all the way up to this blog. She brought a large duffel bag to the party and proceeded to take out all manner of items related to my food, cooking and eating history including a Big Mac, large fries and chocolate shake from McDonald's. Was I surprised by this? Yes!! My mother had told her that we subsisted on fast food when my sister and I were in our pre-teens and teens. Karen had contacted my mother without my knowledge and gathered the necessary information to make this gift-presentation. It was an amazing surprise and a wonderful gift. Afterward I found out that my mother had written Karen an e-mail recounting my food history. I learned a lot from reading it, and remembered things I'd forgotten, and enjoyed it so much that I thought it would be fun to share on this blog. It also shows a bit where I came by my interest in food.

Before I let my mother take it away, I'd like to point out that she did raise my sister and I as a single mother without benefit of financial security. Food and cooking were not really a priority as she had a hard enough time keeping up with everything else. She did get us fed, she cooked often because she had to, we did eat out at fast food restaurants for awhile. I have no complaints. We all survived. I thank her for what she was able to do for us and show us about life. Now then, here's my mother, Dawn Goodman, writing to my friend Karen Roorda (I have inserted my comments in [brackets]):

Charles' History in Food by Dawn Goodman

Hi Karen:

What a wonderful thoughtful gift to give Charles. My problem is trying to remember 30 plus years ago, as well as having given Charles all his history (baby book, school records, photos, etc.) a long time ago, but I will do my best. Charles was nine pounds at birth and as a baby was not picky, he ate everything. At nine months he had to be put on low-fat milk because he was too roly-poly. He remained 'chunky' until junior high school when he shot up to six feet and thinned out. I do not remember him disliking any particular food although I'm sure there were some.

Being a single mother, working full-time, and keeping up the house and kids, I did not have much time for cooking. Also, Traci was a very picky eater, and as result we had a limited diet. I remember using a lot of Bisquick -- in pancakes with bananas, biscuits, coffee cakes, etc. But mostly it was the usual, over and over -- meatloaf, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages (pigs in a blanket), macaroni and cheese (from a box), spaghetti, tuna casserole, fried chicken, pork and lamb chops, turkey, beef stew, potato and macaroni salad, Iceberg lettuce salad, coleslaw, and pizza. We ate a lot of zucchini, in bread, as a pureed soup base, patties and in salads. When pizza first came out it was in a box with a can of tomato sauce and dough. The toppings were up to each person. This was just before pizza parlors became popular. We ate out more often than not. There was McDonald's, Chinese food, Taco Bell, A&W drive ins, Sizzler (they were just starting). I seldom used a recipe only because I made the same things over and over. This was when nearly every recipe was made with one or the other of Campbell creamed soups; and yes, every dessert had some Jello in it. We ate few sweets except for cookies. I did make a banana bread/cake. Traci took the recipe to 1st grade for a Christmas book of recipes the kids made for their families. In it was our 'Rotten Banana Bread,' as the kids called it.

I was not a good cook and did not enjoy cooking. Because I didn't, I think it was in junior high when Charles took an interest in cooking. He made up a recipe and entered it in the once-a-year recipe contest in the local newspaper [Telegram Tribune, San Luis Obispo, California]. He didn't win but it was printed. It was called Pizza Casserole. There was Italian sausage, onion, zucchini, and tomato sauce with Bisquick biscuits on top. We ate it often. It was good. One time I was busy painting the outside of the house when he came out with a picnic lunch he had put together. He made me stop, clean up, and go for a short ride in the country. We had a lovely lunch which I've never forgotten. After he had been in France and come home he started culinary school. When a close friend was getting married he and two other students did the entire reception as a gift. He has always been interested in good food.

We were lucky to live near my grandparents and uncle and aunt. Because the ocean was only a few miles away we had access to fresh fish, clams, and abalone. This influenced Charles more than anything. When he was born there were still clams to be dug up at low tide in Pismo Beach [Clamming is now restricted due to over harvesting]. Grandma Ora made clam chowder and clam cakes. The abalone were on their way out by the time Charles was aware but we did have them from time to time. Grandpa Rollie raised sheep which we ate [I assume it was lamb we ate vs. mutton], and all the vegetables and fruit came out of their garden. Charles' favorite item was the homemade jerky our Uncle Herman made from deer that he hunted. We also had wonderful barbecues at the local park [see picture above], on homemade pits, and even in the fireplace when it was cold outside. It was a way of life fast disappearing. Favorite family recipes made by grandparents and aunts: Tamale Pie, enchiladas, Heavenly Hash - a fruit salad, Macaroni Loaf, Mock Ravioli, Hot Fudge Pudding (I think I've seen this in a box by Betty Crocker now?), Velvet Crumb Cake, plus others.

Dawn Goodman

Please Vote For Me: The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook Contest: I have entered my baked papaya recipe, 'Chef Wally's Baked Papaya,' into the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest. If selected the recipe will be published in cookbook published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. To vote go to the top of my blog to the Foodista icon. Thanks!

My Status: Continued wet, cold weather here in Southern California which is nice for a change. Planning to make some hearty winter dishes, recipes. Also new cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to try out. More cooking, eating, writing, blogging coming soon.

Upcoming Posts: Reviews: Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine. Cooking The Cowboy Way, a review of the new cookbook by cowboy-chef Grady Spears.

Review: 'Bread Matters'

Bread Matters - The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own. Andrew Whitley. Andrews McMeel Publishing. $34.99. (373p) ISBN 978-0-7407-7373-0

When I was a kid my sister and I baked all the time. That is we baked when weren't running all over Kingdom Come. We were latch key children being raised by a single mother. It was the 60s and 70s in small town California and it was safe to run all over K.C. with abandon, without worry. When we were old enough to care for ourselves my mother gave us house keys which we wore around our necks next to our skate keys on those metal ball chains like soldiers use to wear their dog tags. Running all over K.C. was pretty much a full-time activity but on those days when the weather was inclement, where we had to stay indoors, my mother often came home at five o'clock to two dozen chocolate chip cookies that we'd spent the wet afternoon baking. We simply followed the directions on the back of the Toll House chocolate chips package (still one of the best recipes for chocolate chip cookies ever!) and voila! Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. Even though my mother could barely keep up with it all she did manage to always have flour, white and brown sugar, baking soda and powder, oil, butter and Crisco on hand. If we were running low on a precious baking necessity Traci or I added it to the grocery list on the refrigerator. If we weren't making cookies it was cupcakes, or full on cakes from those Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines boxed mixes. We had no fear, we pretty much baked anything. Our solo forays did stop at yeast baking however but I do know that on more than one occasion we made bread with my mother. I have fond memories of slicing the still hot loaves and slathering butter all over them, and gobbling them down. Those were kitchen events where we all baked together as a family.

And then for some reason as an adult I did a whole lot less baking. I did bake massive amounts of sourdough bread at my first restaurant job as a cook which was both a challenge and a lot of fun. The place was called Sourdough Jack's and fresh-baked sourdough loaves were the first item put on a diner's table. But after that both personally and professionally I moved over to savory cooking; cooking the first courses, main courses, and sides. My culinary interests solidified. I didn't actually find the time for yeast baking and it sadly fell by the wayside. So when I received 'Bread Matters' to review from Andrews McMeel Publishing I was excited. I looked forward to reading it and to trying the recipes. 'Bread Matters' is not just a book about baking -- it's a book about a lifestyle. Author-baker Andrew Whitley has owned an award-winning bakery near Cumbria, England since 1976. He has devoted over twenty-five years to perfecting the craft of baking bread. In 2002 he founded Bread Matters, an organization devoted to improving the state of bread. He is also a founder of the Real Bread Campaign in Great Britain which started in 2003 and aims to encourage the increased and local consumption of 'real bread' in Great Britain.

The first three chapters of 'Bread Matters' are devoted to the issues surrounding the production of commercial bread. Whitley believes that store-bought bread has little nutritional value and unnecessary additives, and that it is made too quickly. He advocates that slowing down the process makes for better tasting, more nutritional bread. Chapter Three - Taking Control is a call to action: leave the store-bought, commercial stuff behind and buy or bake your own organic bread. The rest of the book tells you how with over fifty recipes. The book is for all levels of baker from beginner to expert. The first recipe I tried was from Chapter Six - First Bread and Rolls and is titled 'Basic Bread.' For not having made a yeast bread in a very long time it was just like getting back on the proverbial bicycle. It took several hours but they were relaxing hours; once I set the dough to rise on the back of my stove there was a giddy anticipation of will it rise properly, will it work? And it did, my basic bread loaf was a beautiful sight and tasted even better. Whitley's recipe and explanations were clear and straightforward. To have a complete experience I kneaded the dough with my hands vs. a mixer or Cuisinart and I am glad I did. It put me in closer touch with the process and it was fun!

What I like about the book is the detail to which Whitely goes to explain all the technical aspects of yeast cookery. Types of flour, water, yeast, baking equipment, essential ingredients, temperature, ovens, nutritional value, troubleshooting -- he even includes a section on gluten-free baking. While making my basic loaf I had a question about the process and quickly found the answer in another section of the book. I tried several other recipes including Baps (Small Rolls) and a recipe for calzoni; all worked beautifully. Next on my list of attempts will be something with sourdough and possibly croissants. The book is thorough, well-organized and full of great information on baking and yeast cookery. Whitley walks readers through the baking process with chapters like Starting From Scratch, Bread-A Meal in Itself, and Easy As Pie. If you don't already own one of the many yeast cookery books out there, or are looking for a good primer, I highly recommend Bread Matters. If you already have one or more of the others out there, this will make a perfect addition to your library. It's always good to have more than one source, isn't it? Andrew Whitley absolutely knows what he's talking about.

My Status: The cold weather is here in Southern California and I'm loving it. Time to pull put those winter dishes, recipes. Also new cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to try out. More cooking, eating, writing, blogging coming soon.

Upcoming Posts: my personal, childhood food history as told by my mother, Dawn Goodman. Reviews: Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine. Cooking The Cowboy Way, a review of the new cookbook by cowboy-chef Grady Spears.

Gleaning

My great-grandparents, Ora and Rolla Goodman, Orcutt, California

One of my favorite family stories is about how my great-grandmother, Ora Goodman - the inspiration for this blog - fed the hobos on Sundays. Sunday was pancake day at my great-grandmother's house. Every Sunday Gramma Ora made pancakes for the family, and always made extras for the local hobos. They'd come by the back door and she'd pass plates out to them. This isn't something I experienced but my mother did. She has childhood memories of this happening. The town this took place in, Orcutt, California, was a small town back in those days, and it still is. It was a poor town as well. The time period was the early to mid 1940s. The Great Depression was still a recent memory. There were still a lot of people living in poverty. My great-grandparents didn't have a lot but they did have a giving, generous spirit. When I first started reading about 'gleaning' - the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields - I thought of this story. I thought of what I knew about my great-grandparents, and how spreading around the little bit they did have was true to form. It was probably also a more giving time. My mother tells me that the hobos would mark the houses that gave them food. A mark on a fence post, a pile of rocks, who knows exactly how they let each other know that this was a house that gave handouts. I love how the message was spread. Any hobo passing through town could easily find a meal. My great-grandmother's house wasn't the only house in town that gave out free food. Apparently it was a common practice of the time -- and I love that. That generosity of spirit. The helping hand.

Gleaning has been around for a very long time. Historically, going back to biblical times, farmers purposefully left the edges of their fields unpicked, and unharvested for the less fortunate. My mother currently lives in the area where my great-grandparents lived. It's an agricultural area. A lot of produce is grown there. She tells me that after a field is picked any leftovers are taken to local food banks. A practice that has endured for centuries. Ancient cultures promoted gleaning as an early form of welfare. Some ancient Jewish communities required farmers to not reap all the way to the edges of a field so as to leave some for the poor. (Source: Wikipedia) There has actually been an uptick in the act of gleaning recently. Our current economic downturn seemingly a turning point. The desire to live simpler, to reach out to others. An urban gleaning movement has taken hold. Urban gleaners harvest public fruit: like picking from a neighbor's over-burdened tree; an untended orange tree is picked free of ripe fruit; trees that bear fruit in public places, parks, libraries, government buildings are targets as well. A group in Los Angeles, Fallen Fruit, has made it their mission to collect as much public produce as possible and give it to the poor, hungry and needy. Fallen Fruit has a list of gleaning 'Dos and Don'ts':

• Ask first, or leave a note with your contact information

• Take only what you need

• Be friendly

• Share your food

• Take a friend

• Go by foot

Fallen Fruit creates maps to publicly available fruit. Some groups distribute unwanted food to shelters, and soup kitchens. Others collect food that isn't sold at farmer's markets. Volunteers go into farmers' fields to harvest produce that can't be sold. Home gardeners grow extra produce and give it to local food pantries and soup kitchens. One such group in Washington D.C. started a program called 'Grow A Row'. Participants plant an extra row or two in their gardens and donate the vegetables to a local food bank. Neighborhood Fruit helps find public fruit local to where you live. Their homepage states "10,000 registered trees and more get added everyday." Another site Veggie Trader is for those with excess produce in their gardens looking for other home gardeners to exchange with. Food Forward collects backyard produce to donate to local food banks, and has donated 30,000 pounds of citrus to food pantries this year. All of these groups, and there's a whole lot more out there, have taken the Victory Garden concept and created a modern social movement.

Maybe all of this giving, this generosity of spirit, is something positive that has come out of our nation's financial malaise. It reminds me of the story of Gramma Ora's pancakes and feeding the hobos. Her act of 'gleaning.' It makes me think of simpler times when the act of giving was just a part of life. No forethought, no planning. If someone had less than you, you helped. If they were hungry, you gave them food. It's nice to see that giving spirit returning. I thank my great-grandmother for setting the example for me. Those were some very lucky hobos.

Follow: twitter.com/fallenfruit; twitter.com/backyardfruit; twitter.com/veggietrader; twitter.com/foodforwardla; twitter.com/snailwrangler.

My Status: Settling into late fall, happily. New cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to try out. More cooking, eating, writing, blogging coming soon.

Upcoming Posts: my personal, childhood food history as told by my mother, Dawn Goodman. Reviews: Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine. Bread Matters, a review of the new bread book by Andrew Whitley.

The Local Report - Lotusland

89 miles, about 1.25 hours, from my home in Atwater Village.

Lotusland in Montecito, California is a wonder to behold. I had the privilege of seeing it this past Saturday. Faye, a follower of this blog, and a docent at Lotusland, very kindly invited me up to visit. I took Robert and my mother, Dawn, along with me. Lotusland has nothing to do with food but it is so unique that I decided to write a bit about it here. A 39-acre botanical garden containing subtropical and tropical plants from around the world, Lotusland also includes rare cycads (the oldest plant species in the world), cacti, palms and euphorbias. The place is a botanist and gardener's dream.

A well-known Polish opera singer and socialite, Madame Ganna Walska, purchased the estate that would become the gardens in 1941. She spent the next forty-three years designing unusual displays with exotic plants. A series of gardens takes the visitor through a labyrinth of landscape adventures. There are a total of twenty-six uniquely different gardens spread across the thirty-nine acres. Gardens such as the Japanese, the Aloe, the Fern, the Cactus, the Topiary, the Cycad, and the Succulent to name a few. Her original purpose for purchasing the property was to create a retreat for Tibetan monks. The original name was 'Tibetland' and after the monks never appeared, she renamed the property Lotusland in honor of the Indian lotus that grew in one of the property's ponds. 'Madame,' as she is and was known, spent a lot time and resources seeking out the most unusual species of plants, and often securing the biggest and the best plants available. She was a demanding, intelligent and extremely creative personality. She had a vision of what she wanted and didn't stop until she had it. After marrying and divorcing six husbands designing, overseeing, and working in the gardens became her life work. She worked on Lotusland up to her death in 1984 when she was in her late 90s. She left the property to a foundation in her name, and the gardens are now owned by the citizens of Montecito.

The gardens are truly stunning. My favorite garden was the Theater Garden. A theater with stage and seating all in plants. Curved hedges and a raised grassy area formed the stage. Rows of hedges behind and around the stage formed the backstage areas where props were stored and actors changed costumes. Madame actually staged plays there often. I had heard about Lotusland from my mother who had visited before but I didn't quite grasp the uniqueness of what it was. It's hard to until actually witnessing it in person. The only way to visit Lotusland is to make a reservation to go on a docent-lead tour. As mentioned above, our docent was Faye. Her knowledge of the plants, and the history of the place was astounding. Not only did she know every plant's botanical name, she was also able to tell us where it came from, how it grows, and why Madame chose it for Lotusland. It was a vastly interesting two and half hour experience. One I absolutely recommend.

Me, my mother, Dawn, and Faye, our docent.

Pictures don't really do it justice but here are few we took during our tour.

The following two photos are of my favorite garden: the 'Theater Garden' where Madame put on outdoor plays!

Lotusland is located in Montecito, California, for reservations call 805-969-9990, or e-mail: reservations@lotusland.org. Website: http://www.lotusland.org/

My Status: Settling into fall, happily. New cookbooks to try, some to review; new kitchen equipment to try out. More cooking, eating, writing, blogging coming soon.

Upcoming Posts: 'gleaning,' or the act of gathering public produce, or leftover farmer's market produce, and giving it to the poor, needy and hungry. A history of the movement, and those that are involved with it. Reviews: The Berghoff Cafe Cookbook and Cooking Light, a review of the redesign of the Time Inc. magazine.

The Local 100 (Redux)

Needing to take a quick, deep breath (to do some food research and recipe testing), and also wanting to go back in time a bit, I am re-posting a previous blog post. I started this blog on January 30, 2009; as I am nearing the six month mark I thought I'd take a moment to pause and focus on why I started it. The post below was not my first post but it is the post where I explain why I started '100 Miles', and what I hope it will accomplish. I've been posting recently about a great trip Robert and I took to Europe, and while all those posts were food-related, I now want to circle back around to the origins of the blog, and to more of the themes and activities that 'living life locally' engenders.

My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, standing in her garden in Orcutt, California

This is a re-post from February 3, 2009.

Victory gardens. A White House farmer. The Slow Food movement. Eating local and organic. One hundred miles from where you live. The idea of keeping life local intrigues me. Not only as it regards food and eating but for living life in general. If we all lived our lives locally how different would they be? Quite different in my view. More intimate. Possibly more rewarding. None of these ideas are necessarily new. American chefs have been pushing ‘local’ for years. And I have no political agenda in writing this blog. Yes, living life locally will help the carbon footprint but I am not advocating total abstinence from living life – one should still travel to overseas locations, take trips by car and airplane, do the things that make life pleasurable. I just wonder -- if our lives were consciously more intimate might they be more fulfilling?

As I mention in my blog description, my great-grandmother lived her life locally but it was by dint of circumstance not of choice. She and my great-grandfather were not rich people yet they lived an abundant life. Somehow they didn’t need a lot to survive. My great-grandmother’s backyard garden fed a family of four plus any and all visiting relatives for many years. My great-grandfather fished local waters, hunted with my great-uncle in local mountains, and grew fruits and vegetables in the garden. I learned very valuable lessons from them about living a simple yet satisfying life.

My great-grandparents, Rolla and Ora Goodman's garden in Orcutt, California.

The idea for this blog actually came to me through a friend, Martine Rothstein, who makes every attempt to live her life locally. Her company, Burden Free Foods, uses only local ingredients in all its products. On a recent visit we were discussing buying and cooking with local ingredients only. Through her work with her company she has sourced many local New Jersey farmers and purveyors for both her business and her family. She mentioned trying to keep it all within a 100-mile radius. It made a lot of sense to me. I began to think about it as a way of life.

I live in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles -- a small 3-block ‘village’ with restaurants, cafes, hair salons, a taco stand, yoga and dance studios, and various shops. On one end is a Starbucks, and in the middle is Kaldi Coffee & Tea, a small independent coffee house that roasts its own coffee beans. I am currently re-training myself not to automatically go to Starbucks (not a big fan anyway) but to go to Kaldi instead – a local business that needs my support. My partner, Robert, and I often walk from my condo to eat at one of the restaurants; we try to get to the weekly farmers market; and I recently started getting a haircut at Salon Mix, a local Atwater Village hair salon. All efforts to localize my life.

It is 100 Miles as a concept that I will explore in this blog. As well as a place where I will put down on paper memories of my experiences working in the food industry, of other foodies, chefs and friends I have met along the way. Old and new discoveries made. Places visited and recipes prepared. Amazing meals I have had. All with the idea that living closer to home as much as possible is ultimately better for the spirit.

One hundred miles from home.

Charles G. Thompson
February 3, 2009

End of re-post.

My Status: it's been hot in Los Angeles, summer really is here (finally!); enjoying all the summer produce; writing, cooking, blogging and eating!

Upcoming Posts: The Wedge Salad: a recipe, the origins of the salad and of Iceberg lettuce. Review: 'The Barcelona Cookbook'.

Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya

October 10, 2010 ~ If you are here because of the 'Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices' this blog, 100 Miles, has moved to a new URL: http://www.100miles.com. If you would please click the link below it will take you to the blog post 'Chef Wally's Baked Papaya' (where you may also print out the recipe) at its new location:

http://tinyurl.com/248bpj4

Thank you,

Charles G Thompson

100 Miles

One of my earliest memories of a great dish -- when I first understood that food could be amazing -- took place when I was 10 years old. My mother, sister and I lived on the Central Coast of California near Hearst Castle in San Simeon. We lived in a trailer park across Highway 1 from the Pacific Ocean about fifteen minutes south of the castle and about twenty minutes north of Cambria. The entire area is stunningly beautiful. We spent many afternoons walking the rocky usually chilly beach five minutes from home picking up shells and rocks, and collecting driftwood.

As I remember the day, after one of our afternoon walks, we returned home and upon opening the door the most wonderful, amazing smell wafted over us. I was instantly intrigued as it smelled delicious. Like nothing I had smelled before. I went to the kitchen and looked in the oven, and inside were six papaya halves baking away. But there was no one in the trailer. Who had made this amazing dish?

It turns out that, Wally, a family friend had come down from Carmel and while we were out made one of his signature dishes: Baked Papaya. The smells of the cooking process had permeated the small trailer. He had stepped out to get something. For a 10-year old it was all very magical and mysterious and who knows how much the interceding years have affected those memories. It is still one of my earliest and strongest food memories. When Chef Wally returned we all sat down and ate the baked papayas and they were as delicious as they smelled. I asked Wally to send the recipe and he did. I have made it many times over the years.

The funny part to this story is that when I recently asked my mother about it she had to correct a few things. I thought Wally really was a chef at a restaurant in Carmel – all these years I thought that. He had signed the hand written recipe ‘Chef Wally'. Well, as my mother patiently explained, Wally was not a chef but a traveling auto parts salesman -- albeit one who liked to cook and was quite good in the kitchen. So my memory of this great chef giving me one of his coveted recipes was dashed. No matter it’s still a recipe that I cherish, and make, to this day.

This dish can be eaten alone, or can be served with pork or fish dishes -- like pork chops, roast pork, or a sturdy fish like Mahi Mahi, or red snapper, etc. A full-bodied white wine like a Chardonnay is a good wine to accompany it.

CHEF WALLY’S BAKED PAPAYA

Ingredients

2 papayas; if green when purchased allow to ripen 1-2 days to a green-yellow color. Soft to the touch.

1/4 cup fine bread stuffing

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese – I used Parmigiano Reggiano

1 cup onion, finely diced

1 tomato, skinned & chopped

2 tbsps. butter

Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the stuffing and parmesan cheese together in a bowl and set aside. Cut papayas in half length-wise, remove and throw away black seeds. Dig the meat out of each half with a spoon leaving the remaining shell intact for refilling later, chop the meat coarsely then set aside. Skin and chop the tomato and set aside. Finely dice the onion.

Heat the butter in a skillet until it bubbles then add the onions and cook until clear not brown. Add the papaya meat. Add the tomato. Stir the whole mixture together. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently from time to time. When mixture is thick, after several minutes, turn off the fire.

Place the papaya shells in a casserole dish in a half-inch of water so they won’t burn. Spoon the cooked mixture into the shells evenly. Top each off with the bread crumb-parmesan mixture. Dot each with butter.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the tops are brown.

Bon appétit.