California – Page 64 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

The Little Luxuries of Summer

I love simple food in the summertime. Fresh vegetables, fruits, breads, grains, yogurt. There is a richness in flavor that is best at this time of the year because the world is full and abundant. Self-indulgence in these areas is not a bad thing. And when one is recovering from a cold, and the mere thought of handling food or eating is not at all interesting, it is a good time to go out and buy unusual and wonderful things. So I did . . . and ended up with:

yogurt from St. Benoit from Sonoma County, CA
Wensleydale cheese with blueberries
organic rolled oats for granola
a custom-made sandwich with, among the ingredients, red onion marmalade and arugula
Firestone Wookey Jack Black Rye IPA

I’ve never heard of St. Benoit, but did a bit of research on them, and think they are really onto something. You can learn about St. Benoit and see what you think. Dinner tonight was a bit of their yogurt, a nectarine, and chopped almonds. Very satisfying.

I used to make my own yogurt. I’m rather tempted to again. Yogurt is especially good with granola, too.

And, at the moment, I am baking a batch of granola in the oven, as I love the crunch of granola and the sweetness of fruit for breakfast. The biggest problem with most granolas is they are horribly sweet if boughten. I prefer to make my own. Formerly, for sweetness I chose real maple syrup, but my husband doesn’t much care for maple. I don’t like sugar in granola. One day I ended up with some agave syrup and a craving for granola, and used the syrup. The result was a bit of sweetness without a maple flavor (I like maple, personally . . . ) nor the intense flavor brown sugar can give foods.

Granola Recipe

6 c. organic rolled oats
2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1 1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. agave syrup
1/4 c. canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together all ingredients in a dutch oven, and bake, stirring every 15 minutes, for about an hour, until toasted to your liking. Let cool to room temperature.

You can substitute or add whatever you want. This is what I had available.

Looking for Organic & Local

All this self-indulgence started making me look for what is around here in Ventura County. Agriculture is a big industry in our county – the history of the county is tightly bound to raising crops, such as avocados, berries, citrus. We have a couple of excellent producers of organic produce – McGrath Family Farms and Underwood Family Farms are two with whom I am familiar. I looked up local honey after reading about the potential that a lot of honey may be tainted and illegally imported. Not a good thing. Locally, it looks like we have a good source nearby at Bennett’s. Meat is another issue. We have free range beef from Watkins Cattle Company.

At heart, I’m a backyard farmer. I would love to have the time to produce more of what we eat, but I have to work, and our backyard is too dark and shady at present for any real crops. Instead, I try to support the local farmers rather than the large chain stores. We also try to cook most of what we eat from scratch, but of course, not everything can be done this way. When we go shopping, we never cease to be amazed at all the packaged foods people buy as the mainstay for their meals. Our baskets are filled with very few boxes or frozen foods.

Kind of snobby, huh? I guess I literally put my money where my mouth is.

Discernment

Well . . . I think I am past the point where every picture I take has to be trotted out and uploaded. Yesterday the Photo Troupe went out to the beach behind the Ventura Marina, late in the afternoon (3:30 pm to be specific), parked itself at a jetty, and got to work. I took gobs of photos, but only a few were any good, or worth editing. Some pictures I edited in different ways, from subtle color movement, to dramatic HDR, and finally black and white. My main focus was composition of ocean and rocks; for the birds, I just ran around chasing them with a long lens.

My first attempts at really long exposures on water, using an ND10 filter, ended with my camera toppling into the sand – luckily not the ocean! – and getting a lot of sand on the filter. The filter was saved, set aside, gently brushed off, and cleaned with lens cleaner. However, the one picture I did get, while not particularly dramatic in contrast with the roughness of the rocks and the smoothness of the sea, was worth saving. The lens I used was the Tokina 11-16mm, which is wonderful for taking dramatic shots – but hard to use with refinement, simply because it is so wide.

One thing I totally forgot was I can change my iso settings on the Nikon! It does a really good jobs at high iso, so as the sun went down, I pushed the iso from the 100 I used earlier in the day, to 1600 toward sunset, and using a Tamron 70-300mm lens at that – but it was a grrr moment that made me remember that, when all my pictures were horribly dark.

Although I live in Southern California, the coast is damp and chilly, oftentimes very windy. The salt air clings to everything, and I end up feeling sticky and damp, even if I am not. All of us were shivery, with fingers capable of doing very little. Luckily, there is a rather nice cafe that serves excellent hot chocolate, so we ended up there before returning to our lives elsewhere.

Travelin’

We are off on a road trip for the next few weeks! It is so exciting to “get out of Dodge” and see other parts of the world, familiar and new. The morning of the 6th is when we slid out of town, stopping for a fast food breakfast just because we could. And then out to the I-5 to head up to Chico to stay at our favorite place there, the Goodman House Bed & Breakfast.

I always enjoy the drive up to Chico. There are so many changes in the landscape on the trip. Where we live, in the suburbs, we move into the congestion of Los Angeles to connect to the I-5, and from there drive through the craziness of the Grapevine, only to end up in the vast expanses of the Central Valley. This valley is one of the most productive areas in the country for crops, ranging from rice and cotton to stone fruits and nuts. Unfortunately, with the drought of the last few years, irrigation has become a problem as water is becoming more scarce and more stringently rationed by the state to farmers. Some crops require more water than others, which means some farmers suffer more than others. Fruit and nut trees take time to grow, as do vines, while other crops may be seasonal. I wonder, though, what the future holds for us as the planet continues to warm – what can we do as far as sustainable food production with more drought-tolerant crops? Some farmers are blaming it on Congress and the Democrats – there were signs posted along the roadside saying “Thank Obama and Congress for another dust bowl” or something like that. These days, water is power.

That said, the San Joaquin (another name for the Central Valley) is impressive! The closer we got to Chico, the closer the hills came, and the more the crops became fruits and nuts. Orchards never cease to draw my eye; I love trees, and lines of trees are endlessly fascinating to me. Chico is a college town, with a state university in its midst, as well as the famous Sierra Nevada Brewery. Walking around Chico is very pleasant as there are tall, old trees lining so many of the streets. It was rather sticky and muggy, but still worth the bit of sweat we worked up just to be able to enjoy another city.

At the very top of the Central Valley along the I-5, you move into mountains formed by volcanos, the most famous of which is Mt. Shasta. To me, that first look at that snow-covered ancient volcano is awesome – snow in the middle of summer, pointed, and unlike everything else around it. That, to me, tells me I am moving into new territory.

Spring Break: Days 5 & 6

Day 5

Today I drove up to Santa Barbara where I lived ages ago. It’s hard to believe I spent 15 years of my life there, but in many ways it hasn’t changed. While not the small town it used to be, it is still quite beautiful. Careful city planning makes sure that construction codes are stringent, and renovation of many of the sleazier or slummier parts of the city are increasing its beauty. The problem is that it is very unaffordable. Outlying communities offer more reasonable, but still expensive, housing, and the result is that what was once a small town is now a tourist attraction. The charm of the city is that it is walkable, surrounded by mountains and the sea. Many famous landmarks dot the city, and my favorites tend to be the mission, the botanical gardens, and Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. Above the city, the Santa Ynez mountains offer hiking, vistas, and if you are willing to travel the back roads, hot springs and other natural wonders. The ocean forms the western border of the city, and the best beaches are along the pier, at Henry’s, and at Butterfly in Montecito. Dining is phenomenal and ever-changing. Oh, how I wish I had bought property!!

Well, now that I have listed some pros and cons of the city, one of the cons I found was that the botanical gardens are now charging an $8.00 admission fee, unless you are a member. Since I didn’t have any cash on me – duh, why didn’t I? – I didn’t go in. I wish I had, though, as I love it, and certainly would consider being a member if I still lived in SB. Rising costs, though, make it necessary, and if you love beautiful spaces, it is a definite plus and worthwhile.

So, my photo shoot was limited to a park that went in when I was still living in Santa Barbara, Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. This has a pond, drought tolerant and low-water landscaping, beautiful trees, flowers and other plants. The pond is home to ducks and turtles, and at one time koi, and an abandoned piranha. It has grown a great deal, is beautifully maintained, and a place to relax, look, sniff, nap. When I was there, someone was playing a violin under a tree.

Besides taking pictures, I visited a few stores, called up friends for lunch, went to the beach. It was a very peaceful day, and certainly one I needed. There was a bit of nostalgia, too, when I think of that time in my life. Hard to believe the passage of time, of aging, of lost youth and love (tra la), and yet, here I am, despite (or in spite) of it all!

Below are some pictures I took at Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. This is a place of serenity and beauty, all within a city block. A very old city park, Alameda Park, is directly across the street, and is home to a bandstand, playground, old and fascinating trees, and the Summer Solstice celebration every June.

There were a lot of red-pink and yellow flowers in bloom, on stems and on trees!

Day 6

Today is Day 6, the midpoint of my spring break. Yesterday was Day 5, and a day of total relaxation. Today, I plan a work day. Papers will be graded, and I will sit down at the computer to start reading some books on software I bought. And that will be really, really difficult. I hate being inside when I can be outdoors! The patio has the papers to be graded piled on its table, and a couple of textbooks to look at for class prep. That should keep me busy for the morning. And tonight, our photo group meets. We will do a walk-around shoot in a local park – walk a bit, stop, look around. Find something to photograph in a creative way (a bench, a person, a piece of trash), move on, and repeat. Should be interesting to see our results.

Day 7 is already planned – a friend is arriving by bus to spend the day!

Weathering the Season

These past weeks here in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties have seen odd weather – not seasonally odd – but overall odd. Thunder and lightning seldom occur here – but they did, in abundance. Cold weather, and a week of rain. Now, up into the 70s and 80s, the east winds are blowing dust and pollen everywhere. Everyone is congested and feeling as if hayfever has descended like a plague. The winds are drying up people and plants. Tomorrow, we can expect more rain.

Despite my whining, it has been really lovely to get a week or so of rain. The problem is the sudden shift from high humidity to low, and the winds just add to the mix by drying everything up more so than just higher temperatures might. The skies have been beautifully clear and blue, and the clouds are more than usual – the usual is no clouds around here!

After work, a friend and I took our cameras and headed out to a local park in Thousand Oaks, Wildwood Park, which is part of the land dedicated to open space around the city. This park has meadows and scrub, rocky paths, vistas. In the early evening, with a week of rain behind us, the winter vegetation is beginning to green up. Underfoot, the earth gives a little, which feels strange when one is used to a dry, dusty crunch.

The cacti are rather fat and full of water. The prickly pear have ripening fruit.

Sagebrush flowers are dried, hollow shells, but the leaves erupt in an acrid spiciness when crushed. While the hills still look burnt from the dryness of the summer, a hint of green may be seen.

The sunset was bright and clear, with a majestic descent of the sun into the western mountains, turning clouds pink and the valley gold, orange, purple, and gone.