What can I say? I’m homesick. Santa Barbara’s great and all, but there’s nothing as comforting as being in my hometown at the beginning of spring with the farm fresh air (yay cows!), muddy Petaluma River, and funky old downtown that has something different in it every time I come home. Seriously, how much construction can they do? Our town is only so big! But no matter what changes, no matter how they attempt to dress it up with fancy boutiques and expensive restaurants, it’s still Petaluma, and it’s still a funky old farm town. I mean, come on, the downtown shuts down by ten o’clock (save for a few bars) and you’re bound to run into a dozen people you know anywhere you go. There’s a joke that if you go to McNear’s, a bar and restaurant venue on Petaluma Blvd, you’re bound to run into your ex-boyfriend’s mom, your junior high gym teacher, your elementary school crush, and your dentist. But hey, that’s the beauty of a small town. It’s comfy and rustic and personable and I’m proud to call it my home. Sure, I complain every time I’m there about how there is nothing to do, but even still, I miss it when I leave.
Anyway, I wanted to give you a little run down of our home area, but more detail will come in later posts (you can’t get out of knowing about Petaluma that easily). I say ‘our’ because all four of us grew up on the north side of the Golden Gate. The funny thing is that we are all interconnected somehow and at one point in time lived in the same town, I didn’t know La and Annie until I came to college. Meesh and I go way back to soccer days… but in any case, this isn’t a time for reminiscing.
In my longing to be back in the bay, I made a rash decision to buy Organic Marin, a cookbook all about the awesomeness of west Marin county and (as the title implies) organic farming. I bought it off amazon.com so I thought it would take a couple weeks to get here but low and behold, when I came back from class yesterday, there it was! Wrapped in white shipping paper and sitting so peacefully on my door mat. I think I may have let out a gasp of excitement when I first saw it. I wasted no time in unwrapping it and quickly began to flip through the pages. You know that kid in a candy bar analogy? The really cliché one? Well I’m going to use it because it fits perfectly for how I was feeling about that book.
The photography in the book is beautiful. And what makes it even better is the fact that I know exactly where they are talking about! There are about three dozen farms mentioned in the book and all are in a thirty or so mile radius of my home! It’s so great that such an amazing farming revolution took place so close to where I grew up. In fact, a few mentioned including McEvoy Ranch (aka really really good olive oil) and Cowgirl Creamery (aka amazing artisan cheese) are in Petaluma. As I was reading through the book last night (instead of proof reading my research papers oops!), I was picturing my drive out to Bolinas to go surfing on crisp spring mornings and could map out the exact spot of some of the farms mentioned. Though I’ve always noticed the farms along the drive, I’ve never actually thought about how cool they are! Take Straus Family Creamery, for instance, did you know they turn all there cow manure into energy and run their entire farm off of it? Or that the Star Route farm stand in Bolinas, that I always thought was closed when I drove by, is actually just unattended and you pay for what you take on the honor system? Where else are you going to find things like that?
This book in a basic model for our philosophy on food and Alice Waters sums it up quite nicely: “Eat what’s locally available. Eat with your family and friends. Buy from a nearby market. Eat what’s exactly in season.” And that's what we do: we eat fresh, local, organic, and we definitely know how to enjoy the food. We can also appreciate the hard work that goes into farming it, as well as appreciate the unique varieties of organic produce. We've learned to bathe our senses in the beautiful appearance, aroma, and taste of whatever we are eating. As I’m writing this, I’m visualizing an heirloom apple from Paradise Valley Produce in Bolinas and can almost hear that sweet, crispy crunch of taking my first bite. YUM!
The final part of this book that is great is the recipes. (well, duh, it’s a cookbook) The recipes are divided into seasons and all come from local restaurants in San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma counties. I don’t even know where to start! They all just look fabulous! Of course, I’ll start with winter and then work my way through spring and summer… And as I try to recreate the recipes just as the restaurants do, I will share my experiences with you. Because that’s what food is all about, enjoyment!
Until next time,
Caroline
p.s. there will be recipes from this book soon! I promise, I just have to have time to go get the ingredients.
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