A Farm Stand Thanksgiving

Turkey-Day Recap!

Check out this map... You've got Monterey Bay on the left, what is probably Elkhorn Slough up top, and Highway 1 going up the center. 
That star-arrow thing in the middle is pointing right at one of the neatest/cheapest/diverse produce stands in the whole entire world: Farm Fresh Produce. 
Check out the Price indicator on Yelp. ONE DOLLAR SIGN. That's not a joke! This place is super duper di doooper cheap! Also check out "Hours Today: 6:00 am until 5:30 am" That's not true, because that would mean that they are open for 23 1/2 hours a day. You know what? They are actually open 24 hours a day! 
They get new produce around the clock so why not stay open around the clock? Driving from Santa Cruz to Monterey at 3 am and need 10 oranges? Want to get them for a buck? Well this is where you should stop!
My roommate Sarah originally told me about this place and the first time I went I was overwhelmed by all the deals. Now I've got it down to a science... I like to get grapes there, and freeze them for snacking on during the week. I'll also get some apples, plums, and usually an onion.

Before Thanksgiving, I made a booklet of all the dishes I wanted to prepare on turkey day:

1. Seared Brussels Sprouts
2. Orange Cranberry Sauce
3. Alton Brown's Best Ever Green Bean Casserole
4. Honey Glazed Carrots
5. Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms
6. Cornbread and Dutch Crunch Apple Stuffing
7. Pumpkin Pie!!
8. Salad stuff <- but I didn't end up making the salad



I bought my brussels sprouts from the Marina Farmer's Market on Sunday and the rest of my veggies came from Farm Fresh Produce in Moss Landing. Check out my spread:




Orange (#2), Green Beans + Portobello Mushroom + Onion (#3), Parsley + Carrots (#4), Baby Mushrooms (#5), Apple + Onion + Celery (#6), Lettuce + Tomatoes (#8)... Lemons are for beer... MMMMM I love lemon in my beer. Better than orange fo sho.




Yeah... and my total for ALL of that was $12.78 (plus I got a bunch of frozen grapes, not pictured).




Thanksgiving morning David, my mom, my sister Nicole, and I drove at the crack of dawn in the freeeezing San Jose weather to go run the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot! 
One of my favorite traditions is running this race with my Mom and Nicole and Aaron, but sadly he couldn't make it this year because he has a girlfriend and she lives in LA area.

We quickly started the race, and finished the race, and grabbed a bunch of freebie snacks - hoping for any sort of warm sun rays (didn't get any though). Instead of sticking around for a while, we jammed back to the car and drove back to my moms.

After showering, I got to work in the kitchen. Timing things is pretty difficult. I was so nervous that it would be 5pm and everyone would be starving with no food ready. With Nicole and Kyle's help, we actually got a lot of the food ready to bake ahead of schedule.

Adding to the list above: the turkey, Kyle's mashed potatoes, Nicole's secret-ingredient banana bread, and my mom's sweet potatoes (favorite dish), we had 5 things that needed oven time.

Luckily, everything finished on time and was warm and delicious. While it sounds kind of corny,  Thanksgiving dinner truly was delightful. In attendance: Mom, Nicole, David, his 3 sons: Nathan, Sam, and Ben, David's coworker Doug, family friends Becky, Megan, and Andrew, and good ol' Kyle Dozeman... and myself. After my pumpkin pie slice, Ben brought me a chocolate chip cookie he took home from Starbucks - perfect end to the perfect meal. It was so much fun to spend the day cooking in the kitchen with Nicole and Kyle.

I wish I had more time to make fun, creative meals. Sadly, during the week I just don't feel as motivated to make tricky things for just myself to enjoy. Maybe if I had the "Cooking for One" cookbook I could learn how to spice things up without having to eat leftovers for lunch/dinner 2 or 3 days straight!

"Cooking for One"??? That sounds like a depressing gift. Nobody give it to me out of pity! I will make do until my move to San Jose. Hopefully then I can cook with my mom, Kyle, friends.... any takers for dinner dates??

While there weren't any pictures taken of the Thanksgiving dinner spread, I did take pictures of breakfast the next morning: Apple Walnut Sticky Buns!!




Adapted from a Sandra Lee recipe I saw on a Bake Sale special on the Food Network:

You'll need:
1 Granny Smith apple
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T. softened butter
1 (8-count) tube of refrigerated cinnamon rolls
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 to 2 t. water

Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 12-count muffin tin a lil' bit.
- Peel/core/dice apple into 1/2-inch cubes
- Stir together diced apples with walnuts and brown sugar.
- Divide apple mixture evenly into 8 of the 12 muffin tin slots.
- Put the 8 cinnamon buns, cinnamon side up, on top of the apple mixture.
- Put the muffin tin on a baking sheet and bake until the tops are golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Put a clean baking sheet on top of the muffin tin and flip to remove the sticky buns.

For glaze:
- In a small bowl, combine the frosting from the cinnamon roll tube with the pumpkin pie spice and 1 to 2 teaspoons of water.
- Mix until very thick and of pourable consistency. Drizzle over buns and serve.

SO YUMMY!




Now let's start thinking about Christmas dinner... I'm thinking Vegetable Parmesan?

Monterey Beer Festival

 Lauren goes to the fairgrounds....

Accompanied by fantastic, amazing, wonderful friends....

Let's back it up a little bit....

On Saturday June 5th I went with a group of my comrades to the Monterey Beer Festival, which is held annually at the fairgrounds. 

The website described this event as the "greatest assortment of Beer ever assembled on the Central Coast. Sample varied styles of Ales, Lagers & Ciders from over eighty (80+) breweries with hundreds of beers to taste. On hand will be the best of beer from around the world, including:

America, Belgium, Germany, England, France, Australia, Thailand, Italy, Asia, Ireland, Russia, Mexico, Jamaica & California."

These folks weren't kidding.

The weather was absolutely perfect.

The night before Beerfest, Sarah and I had friends over for a game of battleship. Guys vs. Girls... the girls won, naturally. Before heading to bed I went with Chris and Combo to a liquor store to buy some Smirnoff Ice. Yes, the Icing phenomenon was unleashed this weekend.

We woke up Saturday morning and headed to Tommy's in Marina. Kyle's keys were stashed away next to a Smirnoff Ice. Therefore he had to get on one knee and down it like a chick bro.

Between the seven of us, our bill was only $27 bucks. I ordered the French Toast with a side of hash browns. $3 dollars. Combo ordered 9 pieces of toast, 6 eggs, and 3 chunks of hash browns. $3 dollars. This place is crazy! So back to beerfest.... the line to get in was extremely long. 12:30 came and passed and the doors did not open.

Finallllyyyy we were let in and were able to taste the yummy beers (I just wrote 'bears' ha). My personal favorite was the Russian-made Baltika's wheat ale. I sampled almost all Baltika had to offer but the wheat stood out.











Other favorites include the pear and raspberry ciders from (I believe) Widmer's, and a mix of beer and champagne offered up by First Awakenings, a breakfast/lunch spot on Cannery Row.





As the hours passed, my focus strayed away from the beers and on to food - I vaguely remember pizza. I also strayed into the tent that was showing bits of short films as part of the Short Pour Film Festival. We all spent the last half hour (or was it longer?) listening to some of the bands and apparently there was a chicken fight?

     

We left the fairgrounds, headed back to my place, and a few people took some naps. After what seemed like a while, we decided to go get food. Restaurant of choice? SAFEWAY! People grabbed a variety of food, including ICE CREAM SANDWICHES! MmmmmMMmM...

We took our eats over to Tyler's house and checked to see if anyone wanted to go downtown. Those who were willing - the Safeway crew - drove down to Alvarado Street and went to the Mucky Duck. But first... a sneak Ice attack:

The Mucky Duck is such a fun bar! They have an outdoor dance floor, fire pits, a DJ, an outdoor bar, and $2 jello shots haha.... Oooh and they had a photographer. I informed him that we love getting our picture taken. That might have backfired considering my coworker told me she saw me on Mucky Duck's Facebook page :S



I had such a great time with all my friends and I owe each of them a big huge THANK YOU!!! for driving from all over California to visit me. See you all next year!

P.S. Sarah - I had no idea this happened! HAHA :)

Mi Tierra, Seaside

After I bought my 3rd and 4th scoops of ice cream from Baskin Robbins during their 31 cent cone promotion, I giddily ran back to my car. Perhaps it was the sugar coursing through my veins or maybe it was just because of my fondness for legitimate mercados - regardless, I decided to pop across the street and check out Mi Tierra Taqueria (also a Mercado y Carniceria) (1000 Broadway Ave, Seaside).

I really liked the inside of this place. Compared to Mi Pueblo in Mountain View, they have a much wider selection of pre-made salsas and ceviche stuff:

- Seasoned Pork Ears $4.40/lb.
- Seasoned Pork Feet $2.69/lb.
- Cactus Salad $3.49/lb.
- Ceviche de Camaron $5.99/lb.
- Salsa de Guacamole $4.99/lb.
- Salsa Mexicana $2.99/lb.
- and... Salsa Verde, Roja, Molcajete (<- anyone know what that is?)




They also have a more extensive butcher bar. I'm guessing that's where the carniceria part comes in...

Beef tendons, beef tongue, marinated pork, pork marinated steak (how does that differ from the one before??), marinated chicken, marinated flap meat, pozole mix (??), patas de puerco (??), pork leg, higado de res (??), beef intestine, cornish, marinated chicken leg, etc!

Enough talk about random animal parts! There was a taqueria in the back of the store, I didn't check out the prices, but I'm sure they were reasonable...

I ventured over to the fruit area and that's where I stayed and ate my ice cream - that's correct, I was not eating my ice cream and staring at the beef tongue display. Instead my mind was whirling around the Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge. I wanted to use Haitian flavors such as mangos and plantains, but I was unsure which to pick and how much I should grab. I used my iPhone a bit and decided to purchase a couple of plantains, a papaya, and a few mangos. (Or is it mangoes?) I also bought a coconut creme that I'd like to integrate into a coconut recipe some day, some chocolate wedges for Mexican hot chocolate (used some in the billiard ball cupcakes I made for my dad), and sugar cane (<- impulse buy! NO IDEA what I'm going to do with it). It was a fun place to shop, cheap, I'll definitely go back to find secret/mystery ingredients!

Trader Joe's Monterey

Trader Joe's is one of my favorite grocery store chains, simply because they stock mini peanut butter cups. Those things are deadly! They are also the reason why I've learned to avoid TJ's because if I let myself go inside, I just can't help buying them! Two hours later I've inhaled 3/4 of the container and feel sick to my stomach. No self control when peanut butter and chocolate is involved!

The downtown Monterey location (570 Munras Ave, Monterey) is moderately sized and has a bit of a wonky floor plan with an almost hidden cereal aisle. Tyler, Dave, and I stopped at TJ's after Easter mass in Carmel. I was hoping to find some quality white vinegar (for Red Velvet cupcakes :), but they didn't have any! No white vinegar whatsoever! Can you believe that? There's a Peet's Coffee in the same shopping center, so the parking lot can get busy. It's also next door to a pharmacy and R.G. Burger (<-- read about my wonderful experience).

After grabbing the mini peanut butter cups, I strolled over to the baking aisle and was saddened to see that it was a mere four feet wide. I just wasn't winning. In addition to needing white vinegar, I was also looking to find some Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa. No luck here.



However, I did spot a Trader Joe's version of unsweetened cocoa (with cupcakes on the label!) and added it to my cart. I grabbed a thing of eggs, baking powder, and baking soda. Now I know that when I need baking supplies, this is not the best place to go looking. I'm excited to try out the cocoa though!

Georis Winery in Carmel Valley

After hiking the Fort Ord trails, we got in the car and drove to Carmel Valley for wine tasting! I wanted to give my mom a day full of activities that she'd enjoy (we were celebrating her birthday after all). Hiking and wine was the easy solution!

Carmel Valley's "Village" has a handful of wine tasting rooms that represent the various wineries in the area. Ever heard of Bernardus, Chateau Julien, Chateau Sinnet, Georis, or Talbott? Yup, they have wine rooms here! After looking around on Yelp for the best place to take my mama to, I settled on Georis' tasting room (4 Pilot Rd, Carmel Valley). 

Interesting fact about Carmel Valley: the Jamesburg Earth Station calls Carmel Valley home. It's basically the largest tracking satellite dish antenna in the whole entire world and NASA used it during the Apollo moon landings. If you are ever on a game show: Apollo's 1 - 6 were unmanned, 7 - 10 were manned earth/lunar orbit missions, 11 was our first successful lunar landing (!! [duh] !!), 12 - 17 more lunar landings, except for 13 (think: Tom Hanks). 

Back to the winery recap! Georis was breathtakingly beautiful. Sunny, mid 70s weather, blossoming flowers, wrought iron wine sculptures - a perfect day. 

There were two main seating areas. One just behind the tree in the above picture. The other was to the right of this fish pond. We ordered our wine flights from inside before finding a cute table to sit at. My mom got the "Grand" flight, five delectable reds. I decided to get the "Premium" flight because I am more adventurous than her. The real reason is that I haven't figured out yet if I like reds or whites better. I guess I'll have to do further research to determine... Both of us enjoyed our wine selections. The flight portions are slightly bigger than a traditional tasting portion AND they include a cheese and cracker plate - that's why prices were in the $15 - $20 range, rather than the standard $5.

Much of the gazebo area was covered by wisteria. Wisteria has the prettiest flowers, such a shame that this climbing vine only blooms one season of the year. I'd list this flower as top 10 in my book, easily.

Earlier that morning I went to Whole Foods in the Del Monte Shopping Center. My experience there was less than pleasant. I wanted to order some quasi gourmet sandwiches to pack for a picnic lunch. I ordered two of their combo meals that include a sandwich, small side salad, and bottled water. My hope was to get a good deal by adding the $3 side salad instead of ordering the salad separately. The problem was that their "small" portion size was about 1/2 a cup! Thumbs down! I actually had to go to the salad bar and get more salad greens to add a bit of substance to the strawberry salad!

My mom and I cheered each other, Nicole sipped on her water. My mom said that all of these reds is her version of "heaven."

       

More pictures of the cute wine tasting "room":

The turkey, bacon, guacamole sandwich on a toasted baguette from Whole Foods. This was actually worth the money! Everything else - eh. Not so much.

Roast beef sandwich from Whole Foods on foccacia (?) This wasn't my favorite. I didn't like the bread choice either. My sister loves roast beef sandwiches, specifically of the Arby's variety, so I went out of my way to get her a roast beefer. I'm practically shaking with excitement to let her know I got a RB, and she tells me she gave up meat for lent. D'oh! I knew that, but forgot, because WTF who gives up meat for lent?

She ate the sweet potato salad that I brought and crackers from the cheese and cracker plate that was included in the price of the wine flight. Check out our delicious spread!

The wine flight carry case:

On Wikipedia, there was a blurb about the Monterey Wine Trolley, which is a public bus nicknamed the Grapevine Express (route 24). Supposedly it stops at most of the tasting rooms in Carmel Valley's Village. LET'S GO PEOPLE. This screams convenience! This hoots fun! This beckons for debauchery!