Southern Sonoma Country Life

Out With the Old

Though I like to leave the Christmas deco dangling on its last legs of festive cheer through the New Year, an irrepressible urge comes over me at the tail end of the household annual calendar to start clearing out those over stuffed cupboards and drawers and all the odd places where peculiar bits and bobs of long forgotten jewelry and single socks inevitably end up during the busy year.

Some of this stuff, though no longer in vogue, outgrown or just plain unloved, might actually make another person of slightly differing requirements and taste quite happy, and so I've started to stuff the big, white trash bags from under the kitchen sink with an assortment of material delights to donate to Alphabet Soup, downtown.

And as tomorrow marks the occasion of old year's night, it's the last official opportunity for 2008 to actually benefit from a tax break for the generosity of donated household goodies, clothing and toys.

A whopping 100% of proceeds of Alphabet Soup go directly to Petaluma Educational Foundation. So think of the kids as you clear your closets for 2009. Alphabet Soup is located at 213 Western Avenue. Open 10-5 Monday-Saturday. Don't forget to ask for your donation receipt.

Happy New Year!

Life After Shopping

Despite our valiant efforts to keep the economy afloat this holiday season, the ship has already sunk for so many outdated, giant retail groups, here in the US and in the UK.

Though the gaping high street holes of Britain's practically institutional Woolworth stores have led to absolute public realization of the radical shift from indulgent decades past, there's a wave of opportunity sweeping both nations for rethinking the cultural psyche on why we've felt the need to shop til we drop.

Be honest. Can you live without a trip to Mervyn's every once in a while? Sure, we'll all miss the occasional pit-stop for sale price Levis, six pack of sports socks, pair of tennis shoes perhaps. Apart from the unfortunate loss of employment for many Petalumans, I'm not going to lose any sleep at the lack of embroidered hand towels, silk flower arrangements and cheap photo frames from China. That, we can all do without.

We are going to have to get creative with our retail casualties. Here in P'town, our Downtown is in good hands with the Downtown Merchants Association, already utilizing minimal empty storefronts for special events and occasional non-profit use. If you see a light on in an empty store front, something creative could well be in the works.

It's the big, honking, cavernous retail casualties which will gradually alter the American (and British) attitude to mass consumer's addiction to 'stuff' we can't afford and don't need. And we're going to have to think of other ways to entertain ourselves other than turning to the alternate lure of internet shopping.

Joking around this Christmas, we came to the conclusion that Amazon.com is surely the new North Pole. UPS an army of uber-efficient elves. The possible threat of closure to stores such as K-Mart here in Petaluma (and the final demise of KB Toys)would make it awfully hard for an electronics or toy consumer to find the sorts of items on many a young P'towner's next year's Santa List, making on-line shopping if there's any money left, all the more appealing. 

Will this radically change our shopping habits? Will this current climate result in expanded opportunities for local merchants to make a stronger impression in providing the public with quality, essential goods? It will all come out in the wash in the end.

Until then, there will be life without shopping, and as the fabulous English columnist Libby Purves writes today in the Times, we might actually figure out a way to have a little more fun without the constant headache of wondering how to afford it.

Mid-Winter's Winemaker Supper

Mid-winter break is the perfect time to round up a handful of wine making pals, as they collectively take pause from all that crushing, pressing, pruning, racking, bottling..... the vintner's calendar is rarely at rest.

Last night's impromptu gathering gave cause for a hearty British supper, something less formal than the typical Christmas fayre we've been imbibing over the past week.

And so it was a giant dish of Shepherd's Pie, roast parsnips and carrots, preceded by steaming, brothy bowls of kale and chestnut soup which graced the table in a rugged fashion for a mid-winter's vineyard dinner party to compare the latest wines to come out of the cellars of Petaluma Gap's Azari, Ridgeway and Singer Cellars, plus a nicely aged 2004 from the Que Syra stash.

Remember Mr Bing's cherry post back in the summer? Those tart, ruby cherries were pitted and brandied and preserved for an evening such as this and made for a simple dessert over vanilla ice cream, cherry brandy blending well with a side of my Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes.

I'd stealthily saved a half box of Christmas crackers to complete the British theme, though one of the boys must have snuck one for the prize and the joke and the paperhat. Eight wine enthusiasts wearing gold paper crowns was a splendid sight by candlelight as we compared mental notes of the year's harvests for grapes and olives, pruning techniques and barrel use. It has been a good year for the wine here in Sonoma County. And now it's time for the vines to take a well deserved rest. Along with the Christmas china I've collected over the years from I Leoni. And the rich foods. Beans on toast for the rest of the year?

BTW: Over 75 people had popped into La Dolce Vita WIne Lounge for the early December Petaluma Gap Grape Alliance holiday gathering, a phenomenal turn-out for such a relatively new organization. With a new website coming up and lots of action anticipated for the upcoming board nominations, expect to hear a lot more from the Petaluma Gap and its member wine makers and growers this coming year.  

Day After Boxing Day Blog

About now the short, dark days tend to blend into one another and there's little chance we're tempted to take down the tree or the fairy lights outdoors as these beacons of shimmery festivity keep us in a cheery mood now that Christmas has passed.

Over the past several years of Michaelmas on Rivetti Mountain, the 24th, 25th and 26th have become an annual three day stream of immediate family, friendship and feasting in a style superbly suited to the simplicity of Southern Sonoma Wine Country, and though we have been most fortunate to toast the season with fine local wines and wonderful company each day, one of the highlights of those three lovely days of merrymaking is always the traditional Boxing Day do down in Keokuk Street.

A gathering of loud and naturally obnoxious Irish, English and those of an American heritage who can make heads or tails of all that confusing banter about strange sounding, antiquated Anglo Christmas traditional foods and antics, Boxing day is to Christmas Day, what January 1st is to New Year's Eve. A day of celebration without the expectation of glitz, glamor, or overly-effusive gift giving!

Boxing Day dates back to centuries past when it was customary for the wealthy Lords and Ladies of the manor to give gifts to to household servants and other lowly paid individuals within their community. Extra generous landed gentry were occasionally known to take the rare initiative to actually reverse roles for an hour or two on Boxing Day, inviting the peasants to lord it up in the great hall for an afternoon as they waited on them. Well, it was only once a year.

Nowadays, Boxing Day is observed as a national holiday in many parts of the English speaking world, insuring that most everyone gets at least two days off to wine and dine on left-overs, squeeze in a visit to the in-laws, nap and play cards with the kids!

For those who grew up with an Irish/English Christmas, Boxing Day is the best day of the year to roll out the barrel of long-missed winter treats and stretch out the spirit of Christmas Day just a little bit longer.

Pulled myself up by the bootstraps today to tackle a couple of impending editorial deadlines, entailing a trip up North to Healdsburg's hidden tasting rooms tucked away in swirling fog of blanketed old vines. Not a bad gig to have to go back to work for!

 

Stop the Cavalry

A winter holiday storm is about to hit today, slick on the heels of a rainy Tuesday which kept us indoors all day long to launch the annual Christmas bounty bake-athon.

Cranking up the Christmas album of festive tunes from the dulcet tones of Mud, Slade, Sir Paul, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Pogues and the late and great Kirsty MacColl, it was British day in the vineyard kitchen as the younger boys and yours truly concocted all sorts of traditional sweets for the week's parties ahead.

Marzipan and icing for the robin-topped brandied Christmas Cake, homemade in October, chocolate guinness cupcakes (above), chocolate gingerbread loaves with ginger ale frosting (sprinkled Cadbury Flake on top of each - available in UK section at Powells), a (cute but probably inedible) gingerbread house, a few more open-topped mince pies, and a tiramisu for Christmas dinner as we're on our Italian theme this year (alternating between the old fashioned English Christmas dinner, which is more or less like Thanksgiving dinner here in the US, only with Yorkshire Pud and roast potatoes).

This means that my turn in the cucina is officially over for the next few days and the stage is set for the Italian husband to reinvent the fabulous Christmas meals of his childhood (minus approximately half of the courses, but delicious nonetheless with so many amazing meats, cheeses and produce on the market here in Sonoma County).

Thanks to terrific neighbors there's a smorgasboard of lovingly made homemade cookies on the counter-top to add to our Christmas table. Think we'll be braving the rain for some rigorous pre-feasting exercise this morning.

Hope your holiday preparations are jolly and smooth and wishing you safe travels if you plan to hit the road this Christmas Eve.

A Very British Christmas

Put the kettle on chuck. Light a fire, grab a mince pie and a pair of slippers and turn on to BBC America starting tonight (Tuesday 23rd) for a three day round of A Very British Christmas.

Yes, it's time for some guilt-free goggle box viewing, with a veritable feast of Christmas Specials including Blackadder, Doctor Who, the fantastic Absolutely Fabulous, the original UK production of The Office and lots, lots more to make you laugh and bring some British cheer!

Season's Sacred Spaces

Spreckles Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park may seem like an unlikely sounding name for finding one's own personal sacred space this holiday season, yet in the midst of Nutcracker frenzy and frothy-skirted little girls with their grannies filling the foyer with anticipation of candy canes and ballerinas, I found mine.

For I'd been leafing through the mail a few weeks back when Celtic harpist and master storyteller Patrick Ball's commanding front cover photo fairly leaped from the Spreckles holiday season brochure and into the pages of my calendar. Opting for his last performance of the season, as close to Christmas as possible, I hoped that he'd bring forth a little mid-winter lore from the old country just in time to stop me on my path to an annual longing for a 'beam me up Scotty' just for an hour or two, to wander the frosty streets of my childhood, peer in through a window or two at traditional English Christmas gatherings and hear the Abbey bells peal across the town and countryside.

Stepping into a magical world of English and Irish literature, Celtic legend and traditional folk beliefs, Marin County born Patrick Ball recorded a Christmas/Winter season CD a few years back, naming it The Christmas Rose and scooping in due course a National Association of Independent Record Distributors Indie Award for best seasonal recording. Becoming a best seller in its own very indie way, the CD prompted Patrick to produce a live concert featuring the pieces on his recording and a selection of his most beloved stories.

Drawing out such captivating tales as (my favorite) Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, enchanting chapters from The Wind in the Willows (cheese on toast and a hot toddy), and passages from Thomas Hardy, Yeats and Shakespeare, this exceptional Sebastopol-based, International artist enthralled the audience with jokes and quips in between his ethereal music, gathered from many years of music and folklore discovery throughout the United States, Ireland and the UK.

Rightly considered one of the premier Celtic Harp Players and master storytellers in the world, I was certainly not disappointed with Patrick's compelling one-man-show. And more telling to his talents, I took all three boys along with me, hopefully infusing them with appreciation of Irish and English Christmas themed literature and a magical dose of their cultural heritage.

Cookies for Santa

 
We have a little baker's circle in our neighborhood - and we know just who to go for in a pinch for a cup of canola oil, a spot of sugar, a drop of vanilla! It's one of the nicest ways to keep in touch in the midst of the whirl of holiday shopping, parties, work and all the mountainous domestic duties!

Because I know she loves to bake, I picked out the cutest patchwork apron for my sweetest little neighbor, whilst browsing downtown for vintage ties for the boys.

Not only was my pint-sized baking buddy sweet enough to have her Mommie send me over a photo of herself in apron-clad cookie-making action, she's lending me her favorite recipe perfect for Santa's cookies:

The Looper’s Classic Spritz Cookies
1 ½ cups butter                  
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar                  
 ½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg                           
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons milk                   
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375º.  Thoroughly cream butter and sugar.  Add egg, milk, vanilla and almond extract; beat well.  Stir together flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing to make smooth dough.  Do not chill.  Place dough into cookie press and press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet.  If you desire, add colorful sprinkles.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges.  Remove cookies from sheet; cool on rack.

Makes 7-8 dozen cookies.  Enjoy!

Got Milk?

Straus Dairy and Good Earth Natural Foods (the Fairfax-based, most beloved health food store in the Bay Area) need your help!

The USDA has proposed sweeping changes to current regulations guiding organic standards in the dairy industry.

The intent was good - to clamp down on giant factory farms that have been abusing the spirit and letter of federal organic law by primarily confining their cattle to feedlots.

Unfortunately, the proposed rules offer a “one-size fits all” solution to an industry that is regionally diverse in climate, water usage and herd-size, and would make it virtually impossible for the Northern California small organic family farms to comply. The unintended consequences would be to put out of business the majority of all family-scale organic livestock farmers in Northern California who have the strongest commitment to the welfare of their animals.

The USDA needs to hear from you, the organic consumer - by Tuesday, December 23.

click here to support our North Bay family owned dairy farms

Petaluma's Not So Secret Santas

Last night's combined not-so-secret Santa Claus and company community gift-bearing mission by Petaluma Rotary and the Petaluma Chapter of Realtors was a nice reminder of the generosity still abounding amidst all of this season's economic woes.

Dozens and dozens of Santa's not-so-little, local helpers collected bulging bags full of thousands of hand selected gifts for needy children living in the Petaluma area, blanketing the many routes around city and countryside with good cheer as delighted recipients opened doors to accept their gifts.

Translating delivery lists from Spanish with my limited knowledge of the language, I could just about make out what the contents of our specially allocated gift-wrapped deliveries contained, as I hopped into the car to accompany the hubby and boys for this super rewarding mission.

Many of the most remote country farm shacks in the countryside surrounding Petaluma house families with lots of small children. Most asked for warm pyjamas, jeans, long sleeved sweatshirts and practical items of clothing, though I was glad to make out the shape of a toy or two in each bag we dropped off at the various doors.

It was a dreary, rainy December evening for a gift-delivery along some of those rambling dirt roads, but the light from inside each home as doors opened to beaming recipients, ready and waiting with an appreciative handshake was enough to warm our little delivery crew for the rest of the night!