Came across this photo in my files, courtesy of cook, teacher, author, matriarch of a movement to unlock the secrets of the farmer's market and the modern American pantry, Petaluma's own Kay Baumhefner.
It struck me that this is how a fresh-veggie basket should look. Not at all like the overblown, artificial behemoths of 'green' bounty depicted in the fantasy-land garden of Meryl Streep's picture-perfect character in the movie "It's Complicated".
Designed as a virtual trip to the Santa Barbara lifestyle on steroids, a forty/fifties-something escape into the pages of house beautiful if edited by the Barefoot Contessa with fashion and accessories by Sundance, 'It's Complicated' is laugh-out loud in its impressive depiction of luxury mid-life after divorce.
Don't take this the wrong way, I, like millions of American women all across the country, lapped up the good looks and warm feelings of the shoot locale, a sumptuous, mission-style Spanish ranch, the home made pies and fabulous wines, table settings to die for dining at, hilarious happenings of cringe-worthy recall between the sheets, the beyond stylish bakery and cafe where Meryl's character entwines with the Steve Martin role for an all-night chocolate-croissant session.
But the vegetable garden in her front yard took the biscuit in the rose-colored glasses department, falsely inspiring viewers to start raking the frozen soils in anticipation of such a glorious development in their own yards come spring!
Regular reader, Tracy wrote me last evening that she'd seen the flick and had fallen in love with the idea of resurrecting her dormant garden in the Meryl mode: "Which was beyond beautiful," she said.
"Of course then I read an article in the LA Times that reported that it was all fake and that the tomatoes had been wired to the plants!"
Tracy's planning on joining me on the field trip to Tara-Firma Farm this weekend, in pursuit of the authentic. But for those of you who have yet to discover her, look no further than Kay Baumhfener's direction this summer in Sonoma County. For Kay's "Come Home to Cooking" sumptuously simple kitchen classes and tours of the Farmer's Market here in Petaluma and Marin are the real deal. The only difference between Kay and Meryl's character is that Kay and her back roads cyclist, winemaker husband, Don share the same table. It's just not 'that' complicated!
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