In and Out of the Garden: A Blog

There are two bloggers that I want to highlight. The first is Alelia's Red Door Epicure. I had the pleasure of spending time with Alelia at the Full of Life Flatbread dinner for Douglas Gayeton's wonderful book "SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town." It was an unbelievable evening of fantastic food and wine and companionship. Please read Alelia's entry about the evening with mouthwatering photos and descriptions of the entire evening:

SLOW ~ Anatomy of a meal in the Santa Ynez Valley

The other blogger that I recently discovered is Katie Falbo's California Organic Foodie. She is currently participating in our Eat Local Challenge and she has some informative and interesting entries about what she's eating and doing. Start with her first entry for October and then continue to follow her all month:

Pledge to Eat Local

In October we're co-sponsoring an Eat Local Challenge in Santa Barbara. This is something that I've wanted to do for quite some time. Perhaps the idea was planted when I first read Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. And perhaps the idea really came together after talking with Sam Edelman of the Farmers Market and realizing that this was something that we could do in conjunction with epicure.sb — the collection of food festivals and events throughout the month of October.

I particularly like the fact that it's for a month. It's long enough to feel like you're embarking on a challenge and yet not so long as to feel daunting. In fact, I think the interesting thing about it might end up being how very unchallenging it is. How can we feel deprived with all of our fantastic sources of produce, meat, seafood, honey, oils, wine and beer? And yet, perhaps there will be some interesting lessons to be learned. Why does Santa Barbara County not have a dairy industry? Why do we have to go up the coast to find artisanal cheese?

I also like the fact that I'm not embarking on this alone. Here in Santa Barbara County, the Isla Vista Food Co-op is doing an Eat Local Challenge for the month of October and nationally the group blog "Eat Local Challenge" will be doing one as well. So there will be ample resources and the feeling of a shared experience. We have just set up a Google Group called SB Eat Local Challenge where you can post questions and share information about finding sources of local food. There are already some great discussions up there about dairy, coffee and local sparkling water.

So consider participating in any way that you can. Whether you take the pledge to eat exclusively local foods for 31 days, or whether you just try to incorporate more local foods into your everyday buying habits, I think there are huge benefits to building this awareness of local foods.

When I mention that I'm a member of a CSA, people often ask what the heck that is. CSA is the abbreviation for Community Supported Agriculture, and it describes a program or a relationship with a farm where the consumer pays upfront for a share of the produce throughout the season or year. Every CSA program is slightly different, but what they all have in common is that they connect you in a very tangible way with the farm and farmers who grow your food.

There are now several CSA programs in Santa Barbara County, and though I'd like to be a member of all of them at the same time, that would be a little challenging even for me. So I think I'll have to try them out one by one. Currently I'm happily a member of the Shepherd Farms CSA. Membership is $300 a quarter or $1,000 for the full year. If you go to the farm in Carpinteria, you can pick out what you like or you can arrange to pick up a box of preselected items at Backyard Bowls in downtown Santa Barbara. Either way it's $25 worth of produce and it varies according to the season.

The picture above is what I picked out at the farm this week:

1 bag of Shepherd Salad Mix
1 bag of spinach
3 small yellow onions and 2 white onions
2 heirloom tomatoes
1 avocado
2 peppers
1 basket of strawberries
a bunch of basil
a bunch of kale
a handful of carrots
lots of little yellow zucchini
a large bowl of thin green beans
a large bowl of dried white beans

You can see that you can get quite a bit for $25. And what will I do with this bounty of produce? Well, this week the tomatoes and avocado will get used with the salad mix for a few salads. The strawberries will get eaten with breakfast or as a dessert. I'll use some of the beans, carrots, onions, kale, green beans, zucchini and basil for a minestrone soup. The veggies that are left over will probably go on top of pasta on a couple of nights this week. And then it will be time to go pick up next week's batch!

Recently my husband, Steve and I went on a wine tasting tour with Sustainable Vine Wine Tours. I have to confess that I have never actually gone on a wine tour. We've been to plenty of wineries on our own or with a group, but never actually done the tour approach. Perhaps it was because the idea of getting into a giant gas guzzling bus with a horde of people didn't sound all that appealing. But the premise of Sustainable Vine Wine Tours is altogether different and quite appealing. In the interest of full disclosure, they also happen to be an advertiser in Edible Santa Barbara for which I am the editor and co-publisher. I knew that their business seemed like a good fit for what we were doing with the magazine, but I really wanted to experience one of their tours first hand to find out more about it.

To start off, transportation is in a 9-passenger Mercedes biodiesel van, so right away you're feeling better about the environment. Owner and tour guide Bryan Hope is as passionate about sustainability in all things as he is knowledgeable about the wine industry in our area. So, as soon as he started to give us a little overview of organic and biodynamic winemaking on the drive out there, I knew this was going to be an incredible experience. The day's agenda is paced perfectly: three vineyards/wineries to visit and lunch in between. The wineries can vary, so the three that we went to on our tour were Cimerone, Alma Rosa and Demetria. Others in the lineup might include Beckman, Ampelos, Coquelicot, Sunstone or Presidio.

Bryan Hope of Sustainable Vine Wine Tours

We started off our tour at Three Creek Vineyard which makes Cimerone wines. It is located in the area known as Happy Canyon, which will soon have it's own sought after AVA (American Viticultural Area) status. Cimerone is not open to the public, so we would have never have been able to go there on our own. And what a treat to meet owners Roger and Priscilla Higgins.

Above Roger shows us the ripening grapes protected from the birds by netting. We tasted a grape and learned what they look for to determine when to pick — the taste of the grape and the taste of the seed, as well as how the color of the skin influences the flesh of the grape.

The vineyard grows their grapes organically but the wine is not technically organic, due to the fact that sulfites are used to protect the wine from damage by oxygen. Without the addition of sulfites, wine is much more unstable and susceptible to spoilage. So rather than try to look for organic wines, you are much better off looking for wines which are made from organic grapes.

The winemaker for Cimerone is Doug Margerum, who is well known as the original owner of The Wine Cask, and he also produces critically acclaimed wine under the Margerum wine label.

Stepping into the immaculate and chilly barrel room, we were all overwhelmed with the delicious smell of the wine, and we were thrilled when we got a barrel tasting of some of their fantastic syrah. Notice how winery dog Kali, who is the mascot on their logo, keeps an eye on us.

Our next stop was Alma Rosa. Owner Richard Sanford first planted Pinot Noir vines in Santa Barbara County in 1970. Whether you refer to him as a pioneer or a legend, clearly he is a pivotal figure in the wine industry, and he was on hand to chat with us as we tasted some of their delicious wines. Their vineyards are certified organic and owners Richard and Thekla are both committed to the environment and to promoting sustainability. From their Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris to their well loved Chardonnay and their stellar Pinot Noir, it was a fantastic tasting and a perfect prelude to our gourmet and organic lunch.

Left to right: myself, Michael, Trish, Bryan, Steve and Tiffany (from New Hampshire)

We gathered in front of the winery for a group shot and Richard Sanford joined us (second from right).

Our final stop for the day was Demetria Estate, one of only a handful of biodynamic vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Demetria is only open by appointment, so it is not for the casual visitor. Tucked amidst stunning scenery, the winery is picture postcard beautiful.

We sat out on the terrace and tasted the wines while learning a little bit about the principals of biodynamic farming. Similar to organic in that they don't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, biodynamic goes a step further in trying to achieve a holistic and balanced ecosystem. The features of biodynamic farming include using a lunar calendar when planting, pruning and picking and controlling pests or weeds by using their ashes as a deterrent. Some of the attributes of biodynamics seem to stray into philosophy and the concepts of anthroposophy as taught by founder Rudulf Steiner... and as the conversation become more esoteric it all somehow seemed fitting while relaxing on the terrace and drinking their stunning wines.

After a tour of the winery and a more detailed description of how they make the wine, we were all completely satisfied, and it was time to head back to Santa Barbara after a full and rewarding day.

I felt so privileged to have gone on this tour—what a fantastic experience. Many of us who live in this area forget how amazing our wine region is. We have so many world class vintners in our midst. But finding out about some of these organic and biodynamic vineyards takes it to another level. Going on this tour deepened my awareness and respect for what they are doing, and once again reminded me of how fortunate we are to live in Santa Barbara County.

For more information about taking a tour with Sustainable Vine Wine Tours call (805) 698-3911 or visit their website.

A couple weeks ago I had one of those things that people like to celebrate, a birthday. And my idea of celebrating is to go out to dinner. But it was a Monday night and we were out visiting some wineries in Santa Ynez Valley, so where to eat? I decided that it would be the perfect time to try Root 246, Bradley Ogden's new restaurant in Solvang. I've been wanting to try it since they first opened in April.

Before I get to the mouth watering details. I have to start off we where we started off, with a little wine tasting of Arcadian wines with winemaker Joe Davis at Tastes of the Valleys. As you may have seen in our Summer issue of Edible Santa Barbara, Arcadian wines were featured in our "What the Grownups are Drinking" column by Diane Murphy and Laura Lindsey. So it was a special treat for us to meet Joe and taste a couple of his wines that weren't in the article.

Talking to Joe was as fascinating as drinking his wines, and we could barely tear ourselves away to walk over to the restaurant. But we are so glad we did. The only thing better than drinking fine local wine is pairing those wines with fine local food.

From it's creative name to its modern elegant interior, Root 246 is definitely impressive. I particularly admire their farm to plate philosophy and the fact that they source so many local ingredients. We were lucky enough to get a tour of the restaurant and to meet Bradley Ogden as well as executive chef Jonny Hall, which was a huge treat for this birthday girl. I had a hard time choosing where to sit down to eat: one of the two distinctly different but equally stylish bars or the main dining room. We finally settled on a cosy booth in the dining room. And then we had a simply fabulous dinner. There was a refreshing amuse bouche berry sorbet and a pre starter demitasse cup of corn soup served with a bite sized puff topped with crème fraiche and caviar that was utterly exquisite. We shared several starters, and I think my favorite was the ultra simple Sea Salt Roasted Radishes with Sweet Cream Butter.

I loved my entree of braised lamb shoulder with spring garlic, corn spoon bread and chimichurri.

And top the meal off, dessert was a trio of peach cobbler, a peach ice cream sandwich and peach ice tea.

I can only sum it up by saying incredible food and incredible people. It was a birthday night to remember.