Sustenance

I've begun an adventure to live 3000 miles away from my lifelong home, accompanied by my 13-year old son.  My husband remains in Alaska with my family on a multi-generational homestead where I grew up, while our son and I explore living in Northern California near his family.  I've traveled south to seek sun, heat, and new opportunities. Along the way, I'm sharing my journey about pursuing dreams, discovering what matters most in life, and finding the strength to be brave in the face of uncertainty.  For me, healing and strength are often found in simple pleasures and frequent communion with nature, so join me as we embark into the outdoors to reveal what's inside of us.

~

Sustenance

(food for body and spirit)

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." - Robert Beault

I had this post already written, but then I erased it.  I wrote about my desire for a "fresh-food-lifestyle" and being "rooted in a local-food culture" and about the "importance of something as little as picking a ripe apple from its mother tree" to tie it all together, but it read like fluffy nonsense.  It felt shallow.  It wasn't what I needed to say.  So, I scrapped it.

What I think I needed to write about is all the searching ways in which I've been struggling to sustain myself on this so-called adventure in California.  I needed to write about the messy side of how I was actually thinking and feeling.  

Long before the time I picked the apples in these pictures, I was starving for something. 

I tried to satiate my undefinable hunger with anything and everything I could get my hands on.  I gobbled up apples like they were the cure to my emptiness; and road-trips were the cure; and quality time with new people was the cure; and sunshine was the cure; and the perfect job was the cure; and my son's happiness was the cure; and blogging about all of it was probably the cure to satisfying that aching hungry pit in me.

I think I did know then what I am pretty sure I know now...that none of those things were the cure.  None of them provided complete, sustainable satisfaction.  They were each nibbles, bites, maybe meals, on the path of this journey.

Each personally fulfilling experience provided the nutrition I needed to feed my mind, body, and soul...for a time, just long enough to crave the next experience.  

I physically and mentally absorbed the essential nutrients from things like farmers market produce, friendship, and an occasional excursion out of town, but I noticed that, like an apple, the nutritional value only lasted for a bit.  I didn't stop to contemplate why.  I reasoned that only in repeating the input of these good experiential nutrients as often as possible was the key to creating the complete and sustaining diet I needed.  After all, the old saying goes, "an apple a day..."

Naturally, I became an experience addict. I developed a voracious appetite for anything new. 

I thought the answers to my deep questions lay in the satisfaction of the experiences themselves.  I was still missing the underlying point of this good diet of happy-moment-meals, which was to feed the vital processes of my spirit and soul - where the true answers lay.

I was fixated too much on the satisfying experiences as the ends, rather than as the means to nourish bigger, deeper, more basic functions of myself.  I was living to eat rather than eating to live.

Or, in other words, I was living to find happiness rather than finding happiness in living. 

I naively tried to achieve fulfillment through happenings - thinking that those happenings would bring me happiness and give me focus. The satisfaction of happenings supplanted my ability to be satisfied wherever I happened to be.  I hoped that good happenings would write my purpose across the sky in an undeniable way.  But happenings can't be relied on, they're transitory and notoriously unpredictable, especially when other people are involved.  It's almost impossible to successfully coordinate the desires of more than one person into a single event or plan.  People inevitably diverge, unless there is compromise.

I needed to end my reliance on perfect happenings, and learn, instead, to perfect my own happiness from within.

And what I had within me was a lifetime of wonderful, nutrient-rich experiences that demonstrated my ability to find happy moments in a variety of circumstances.  If I viewed the endless variety of events that could happen in my life as just various combinations of nutrients meant to feed my soul, then it didn't matter what happened so long as there was enough nutritional substance for me to extract what I needed.

Any nutrient-rich event could be used to fuel the process of my spirit creating happiness.  There's no formula for a perfect happy-moment-meal, but I know it when it happens...and I'm grateful.

I think my point is that I don't know what events will provide answers, or will become touchstones to future pathway decisions.  I never can tell, until I look backward, what little things have become big things.  

I'm like Johnny Appleseed scavenging wild apples 

from an untamed forest floor, tasting the bounty, 

saving the best seeds, and sowing them along my path.

I am as surprised as everyone else when something I've done produces good results. 

So, I just make my choices, enjoy the happenings, and send all the valuable nutrients down into my soul where I see how it makes me feel.  The answers come from down in me, hidden from the external events, but fed by them.  The answers are my own and my choices are perfect, because I made them.  They can't be any other way.  Good or bad, I make my choices and reap the harvest from the small seeds I've planted along the way.

Alaska in the Rearview - British Columbia

Before we left Alaska, I told my son that this road trip was important to show him just how far Alaska was from the rest of the United States.  It was a lesson I learned when I was eleven and took an epic road trip with my family all the way to New Mexico and back.  He tried to tell me that he got it already, Alaska was a far away, but I assured him he didn't know until he'd experienced it.

Look at where we came from!

We left the expansive, but beautiful, wilderness of the Yukon Territory on our fourth day of driving and entered British Columbia with some giddy anticipation at being more than halfway to California.  We soon arrived at one of the best sites of the whole trip: Liard Hot Springs.  I carved out a couple hours of our day to share this hidden gem with my son.  The excursion only cost $8 for parking and the springs were not very crowded.  We donned shorts and tank tops (because our swimsuits were packed away) and walked the long boardwalk through a steaming bog to its source.  Pretty little orange fritillary butterflies flitted about on buttercups and the sun filtered through the boreal forest leaves.  The changing rooms and decks surrounding the hot spring were surprisingly clean and modern, just as I remembered from 16 years ago when my husband and I drove through.  We waded into the sulfurous creek and my son's eyes lit up with wonder.  A hot creek!  We waded toward the cooler end and followed the water through a narrow passageway of undercut banks and overhanging roots that reminded me of a mythical swamp from a movie.  The water became cold and clear, but downed trees blocked us from going further.  Back at the steaming pool, we let ourselves just float and drift around while the heat penetrated deep in our muscles.  The whole experience felt very European.  I managed to dip myself into the upper hot pool nearer the source and let the scalding water reach into the core of my bones.  It felt euphoric!

Reluctantly, we pulled ourselves out of the water, put on dry clothes, and walked back to the car to press onward.  Our bodies felt all squooshy inside, like softened butter, so we didn't really mind smelling like rotten eggs.  My son exclaimed in a theatrical and breathy voice, "That was awe-some," and that's all I needed to feel like mom of the year.

By late afternoon, we'd reached Dawson Creek at Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway.  It felt like the first modern civilization we'd seen since leaving Alaska.  Imagine driving 1,543 miles while encountering only a couple towns big enough for a stoplight.  Suddenly, I had to pay attention to traffic and use my map to navigate streets.  But it also meant the convenient reappearance of recognizable stores like Safeway, Shell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  I indulged my son in a hamburger, root beer float, and sweet potato fries from an A&W restaurant, which totally topped off his good day.

As we traveled on through BC, I also noticed the warmer sunshine.  We'd left behind the drizzly rain and cool air of the northern territory and Alaska, replacing it with wide open blue skies and the warm penetrating rays of lower latitudes.  It was hard to imagine my grandparents starting up the newly built Alaska Highway from this point almost 70 years ago.  Things were so different then, so much more rugged.  I think traveling in a northerly direction as far as Alaska, was like going through a worm hole that transported one back in time.  The further North you went, the older the technology got, the rustier the cars, the less sophisticated the architecture, the fewer the amenities.  Anchorage, of course, was the anomaly to this trend, but it it didn't totally avoid the characterization (especially 70 years ago).  Likewise, driving south was like taking the worm hole toward the future.  I had a sense that as I drove further south, I moved forward in time. Mile by mile I entered the modern world. 

That's a good pack job!

Having reached the beginning of the Alaska Hwy., I offered a silent thanks and pat on the back to my ancestors for being such intrepid adventures.  Then we found the closest modern hotel with room service and a pool and I gave another silent thanks for progress!

Where did my coffee go?  Last you saw it was on the roof?

On our last morning in BC, we made a hasty retreat from the somewhat seedy metropolis of Prince George.  Thanks to my son, who left my complimentary coffee from the hotel's continental breakfast on the roof of the car, I began to ween myself from the caffeine I'd come to rely on for our long days in the car.  The more frequent towns, increased traffic, and signs of civilization broke up the scenery sufficiently to keep me awake.  We aimed to stop anywhere interesting along the road, but pretty much kept to our goal of 500 miles per day.

At long last, the Canadian border came into view.  We lingered a bit at the duty-free shop to buy some Canadian maple syrup and playing cards to commemorate our trip through a foreign country.  And then we got in line to re-enter our own nation.

It's a little funny to think that America shares this continent with another country.  I think we forget sometimes.  While Canada isn't really very different from America in language or customs, it is still a foreign place right outside our back door that's worth exploring.  I had a good time visiting it again.  I feel accomplished to have driven through it by myself.  Give street cred to this mom!  We went 2,283 miles without a single major problem.  But, if I'm honest, which I usually am, I'm pretty darn excited to get back into my own country.  I want miles back.  I want smooth paved roads.  I want Taco Bell and Target.  I want tourist traps and kitschy shopping.  I want to feel like I'm with my people again, like I belong.  Washington state, here we come!

Certain Gifts of the Season

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted lately.  It's been more than two months, but I've thinking about my blog a lot, I promise.  See, this writing and posting thing takes quite a bit of time and I just haven't had it lately.  But it's actually a good thing.  A gift, you might say.

My lack of time to blog is due to the recent gift of a job.  Three jobs, actually.  But gifts can be tricky.  They come with obligations.  Don't get me wrong, I am so very grateful, in this season of gratefulness, to have an occupation that earns me some dough in my pocket.  After my summer spree in California I desperately needed to start earning a paycheck again.  I sent dozens of applications and networked with people in environmental education and natural resources.  After weeks of turning up nothing, I secured two half-time positions and some freelance design work in the space of a few days.  But, more about my job situation another time.  The point is that I was suddenly very occupied, so the blog fell by the wayside.  The gift of my jobs required the obligation of my time.  Thus, here we are in December!

And now gifts are on everyone's mind, right?  It's Christmastime and no one can resist the urge to be generous.  So, my spare time as of late has been dedicated to creating and sending gifts.  Given my recent obsession with healthy food and cooking, it seemed appropriate for me to design food gifts this year.  No, my friends and family will not be receiving kale chips or tofu cookies.  You're welcome.  Instead, I compromised with myself to create food that was scrumptious, but was also as healthy as possible.  The brilliance of food gifts is that everyone has to eat!  One of my favorite gift memories from childhood was when we would receive those mixed boxes of pepperidge farms sausages, cheeses, and crackers.  I loved the tiny packaging.

My gifts this year capitalize on the allure of chocolate, dark chocolate.  Who doesn't love that?

Dark Chocolate Bark with Coconut and Crystallized Ginger….so yummy and easy!

I threw some salty nuts in there to balance the sweetness.  With home-ground spices, I might add.

Grinding spices for Garam Masala…this is where the love comes in.

The message I'm trying to send here is that I prefer the heartfelt over the "hot and trendy"; the homemade over the store-bought; the affordable over the non-returnable.  Being generous doesn't have to mean spending a wad of cash.  However, I do live in Alaska, which means that shipping my lovely food items to friends and family outside probably costs more than making them.  But, that's just the way it is.

Please don't think I'm preaching some kind of gift-giving purity here, because I'll have you know that I also bought a certain "hot and trendy" electronic item for my own son this year.  And I bought a totally senseless gadget for my husband.  But I know these items will bring amusement and enjoyment to them.  Besides, they get my homemade-from-the-heart meals every day (plus, I saved extra homemade chocolate bark and nuts to tide us over during the holiday break, too).

Someone was taste-testing.

There is tons more that I've been up to in the last two months that I wish I'd shared: attending Palmer's Winter Farmers Market at the train depot on Monday's, sledding down the icy driveway at night with my boys, watching moose eat our Halloween pumpkin and raspberry bushes, cooking up Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon, or making homemade sushi.  My life is full of gifts!

Here's wishing that yours is, too.

Good Morning Grains!

I love breakfast, but I hate instant oatmeal.  Sorry, Quaker.  It's either soupy or sticky, overly-sweet, disappointingly homogenous in texture, and sadly devoid of ingredients that are real things.  Thankfully, the idea of warm oats for breakfast has been redeemed for me, thanks to a cookbook by Maria Speck called Ancient Grains for Modern Meals.  She is my breakfast hero.

This is how I make Muesli by-the-bowl: 1/2 cup ingredients + 1/2 cup almond milk.  Zap it 45sec-1min.
Let it sit a couple minutes to continue soaking in the goodness.  Then enjoy!

Maria's recipe for warm Muesli is the best food thing to happen in my breakfast life in a while.  If you can't tolerate gluten, this will still work if you find organic whole oats guaranteed to be gluten-free (try Bob's Red Mill).  Traditionally prepared Muesli is a concoction of oats, fruits, and nuts covered in milk and allowed to sit (or cooked) until the whole mixture is softened.  Hence the name Muesli, which means "little mush," according to Maria.  This breakfast from Switzerland was made popular by physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner in the early 1900's as a high-fiber health food.  His recipe used oats, grated apples, nuts, condensed milk, and lemon.  But the options are really only limited by your pantry and your imagination!

Pardon the grainy photos, it's still night-ish around here at breakfast time.

Muesli can be eaten soaked, cooked, or raw (for extra chew).  I love how it retains the individual textures of the ingredients.  And there are SO MANY ingredients!  I like to use unsweetened almond milk, but feel free to use organic or raw milk, cream, or even orange juice to soften your muesli.

Banana Date Almond concoction (walnuts would have been better, but I didn't have them).  Add cinnamon, too!

I also tend to make mine by-the-bowl, rather than make a big batch of the dry ingredients (though that's a super good idea if I ever take the time).  However, I recently tried a recipe that warrants making a big batch, because my two men actually liked it.  If you have eaters who are more "white toast and peanut butter" people, try this one...

Maria Speck's Dark Chocolate Muesli with Hazelnuts.  Totally.

Dark Chocolate Muesli with Hazelnuts
from Maria Speck's Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

1/4 C chopped dried dates
1 Tb packed light or dark brown sugar
2 C old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 C chopped toasted hazelnuts
1/4 C dried blueberries or raisins
2 1/2 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa content), chopped
2 Tb cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of fine sea salt

Finish with 1/2 cup milk (of your choice) to 1/2 cup muesli

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, breaking up the date pieces, until well mixed.  Add milk to specifications and microwave for 45 sec. to 1 min.  Let sit for a minute or two until the oats soak up more of the milk.

Optionally: Heat milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan until small bubbles appear around the edge.  Remove from heat and add muesli, cover, and let sit 1 min.

I hope this brings you spoonfuls of warm, oat-y, coziness on a chilly fall morning.

Three Ways with Cucumber

I'm not one for preparing an ingredient the same way every time.  I have an insatiable need for variety in life, both in food and otherwise.  That being said, it's quite a miracle that in two days I will celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary! I guess it's a testament to our life together never getting dull.  As far as food goes, however, my family often wishes that I did repeat a recipe once in a while.  They are more routine-types.

In honor of the two men in my life (husband and son), I'm sharing with you some recipes involving cucumber that have recently been repeated in our kitchen.  First: pickles.  Second: Stone Fruit Salad. Third: Cucumber Salad.  The cucumbers are ripe around here after our super-warm summer and there are a few places to get them local.  My favorite has been Bushes Bunches on the Old Glen Hwy. just east of Palmer.  They have a farm stand on the way to the Butte that will stay open through October. FYI.

I spilled a bit trying to photograph and pour at the same time.

For the first time ever, I made refrigerator pickles!  Pickle recipes are all the rage on food  blogs right now.  But while I'm not much for canning, this recipe makes me feel like an industrious homestead wife putting up food for the winter.  And they're so good that I might have to get some of my canning friends to help me pack some away for real.

I can't believe it's this easy to make pickles!!

Garlic Dill Pickles
adapted from Joy the Baker

2 lbs pickling cucumbers
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbs sea salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled, diced
3 tsp dill seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Rinse, scrub, and slice cucumbers into coins or spears.  Bring vinegar, water and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, divide the spices between three clean pint jars (or one quart jar).  Add the sliced cucumbers until cozily packed. Pour warm brine into each jar, leaving about 1/2-inch headspace.

Tap jars on the counter to loosen air bubbles.  Place lids on the jars and let cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge.  Best if allowed to rest 2 days (but also good later that day).

Homemade pickles are a beautiful thing.

Slightly Sweet Dill Pickles
adapted from Bon Apetit

1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 lbs pickling cucumbers, sliced into 1/4-inch coins
1 Tb yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup wine vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup natural cane sugar
1 Tb Stevia powder (or another 1/2 cup natural cane sugar)
2 Tb sea salt
2 tsp dill seeds, plus small bunch fresh dill (optional)

Divide sliced onion and spices between two 1-quart glass jars.  Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with fresh dill, if desired.

Heat vinegars, water, sweeteners, and salt in a small saucepan until simmering.  Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

Pour hot brine over cucumbers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Cool in jars before placing in the refrigerator.  Best after 2 days (but also yummy within hours).

Homemade sweet dill pickles, cream cheese, and crackers...totally yum.

Another great boon of summer produce are the fresh stone fruits like apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums.  Call me crazy, but I don't really like eating these fruits by themselves.  It's okay to devour a perfectly ripe nectarine straight from the store, making slurping sounds and letting the juice run down your hand, but I don't want to do that all the time.  The following salad is a great alternative for using those last couple fruits floating around your fridge, and they don't even have to be the same kind of stone fruit!  The addition of cucumber is great for your health and to tame the sweetness of the other ingredients.

A pretty little pluot (plum+apricot).

Stone Fruit Salad with Raspberry Dressing

1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1-2 drops liquid Stevia (or 1/2 tsp sweetener of your choice)
1 large nectarine (or other stone fruit)
2 Tb olive oil
1/2 Tb dried tarragon
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

3 cups Swiss Chard or Romaine lettuce, torn
2 nectarines (or other stone fruit), pitted and chopped
1/2 cup cucumber, diced or thinly sliced
1/4 cup cinnamon toasted pecans, chopped
1/2 cup fresh raspberries (optional)
1/2 cup feta (optional)

Prepare the dressing by blending the first seven ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Toss the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with dressing.

The raspberry dressing in this salad is a gorgeous pink, naturally.

This last cucumber favorite is a recent one, but will become a regular at our table.  I was suspicious about the combination of flavors when I first found the recipe at Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com, but I should know to trust her taste buds by now.  Follow her link to the original recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor.  This is a salad you MUST try, trust me.  You'll be surprised how fresh and bright it tastes, and not weird.  Heidi took some liberties with the recipe and so did I.  Feel free to do the same, but try this version first!

Cucumber Cashew Salad
adapted from 101cookbooks.com

2 medium cucumbers, diced
1/2 cup cashews, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup wide chip coconut, toasted
2 Tb fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp stevia powder

1 Tb butter (or coconut oil, salted)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
scant 1/2 tsp sea salt

handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Toss diced cucumber in a large bowl with cashews, coconut, lemon juice, and stevia just prior to serving.

Over medium-low heat, melt the butter or coconut oil in a small skillet.  Add mustard and cumin seeds.  Toast for just a minute, shaking the skillet so they don't burn. Popping and sputtering may ensue. Remove from heat and stir in salt.  Immediately pour over the salad.  Top with cilantro and serve.

Don't knock it until you try it.

U-Pick Alaska

In a futile search for blueberries.

The cloud covered skies cleared at last!

It seemed like a miracle the day I woke up to find sunshine gracing my Alaskan world outside.  I wasted no time heeding the unwritten rule of the north to soak it up while it lasted.  I had been waiting for just such a day so I could go blueberry picking.  It's our tradition each August and I was so happy to finally have a nice day to do it.  I packed up my mom and son and headed to my favorite blueberry patch, only to find it barren.  I have seen it trampled and picked-over, but never barren!  There wasn't a single berry to be found and the branches were gray and withered.  There were other berry pickers wandering the hillside just as dumbfounded as I was.  Apparently, it was the result of Alaska's unusually hot summer (which I missed) that caused the berries to mature and drop earlier than usual.  I was crestfallen.

But my mom had an alternative plan.

If you don't grow it, you can still pick it at Pyrah's U-Pick Farm.

I reluctantly got back in the car and followed her directions to Pyrah's U-Pick Farm in the Butte.  We made a quick stop at Bush's Bunches farm stand just outside Palmer for some crookneck squash, beets, and tomatoes.  I was pleased to find out that they sell produce until October!  Once at Pyrah's, we grabbed a cart and headed out into the fields.  My son hopped into the cart for a free ride, which reminded me of when he was a toddler and we bought a zucchini from Pyrah's that was as big as him!

This scenery beats the ambience of a grocery store any day.

Even longer ago, when I was a little kid, I remember going to Pyrah's U-Pick with my mom to get strawberries.  That was when I learned how good a sun-warmed strawberry could taste.  No other strawberry ever compared!  Naturally, most of what I picked ended up in my mouth, which is probably why Pyrah's doesn't allow strawberries to be picked by customers anymore.  Sorry.

It's a daikon radish (I didn't know what it was at first, either).

The beauty of Pyrah's is that customers can just walk out into the fields and pick many of the vegetables themselves: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, mustard greens, kale, snow peas, radishes, rhubarb, and a dozen other kinds of produce.  It's a fantastic way to feel like a farmer in an afternoon.  And if you pick on a nice day...it's even more life affirming.

My pretty mama picking snow peas below Pioneer Peak.

Although I was still sad to have missed out on the blueberries, I quickly perked up at all the lovely veggies I found at my fingertips.  I filled a plastic Safeway bag with the most beautiful green and purple kale.  Next, I had to use a spade to loosen a couple large daikon radishes.  Thankfully, Pyrah's posts helpful information on each of the vegetables, just in case you're like me and are a bit clueless on the more exotic varieties.  The best discovery, by far, was a row of young kohlrabi plants.  I observed another family for a while, speaking in a foreign tongue I didn't recognize, and tried to glean their technique for removing the large turnip-like heads from the tough root.  The best method required a very sharp knife and included removal of all the stiff leaves protruding in every direction.  Only then was the vegetable manageable enough to put into a bag.

Another mystery vegetable for me: kohlrabi.

Lastly, I employed my son to help me harvest snow peas.  I should have known that this would be a loosing prospect.  My twelve-year old boy was far too distracted by the odd-shaped, too big, or too small pea pods to be an effective picker.  And then there was the complaining about the heat, or his hunger, or his fatigue.  I wondered if the situation would be different if he was picking ice cream cones, or jelly beans.  It's a fair bet that his bag would have been full lickity-split, without complaint.  Alas, I accepted what effort he gave and supplemented our bag with my own efficiently harvested haul.

My boy shows pride in his pea-pod picking.

Back at home with our bounty, I went in search of recipes for preparing the local produce that filled every nook and cranny of my fridge.  The kohlrabi quickly became my favorite find of the day.  It was like a cross between sweet raw broccoli and turnips.  If you like your cruciferous vegetables cooked, try the following recipe. It was very tasty!

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood

One of the things I was really looking forward to when I planned my summer in California was the fresh local food and farmers markets.  Recent diet changes have expanded my food menu to include a lot more fruits and vegetables in brave new arrangements.  Salads no longer equate to only iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, bacon bits, and ranch dressing (though sometimes that is exactly what I want). Now, salad might be all I eat for dinner, because it’s filled with kale, romaine, blueberries, avocado, pistachios, and a homemade yogurt poppy seed dressing.  Salad has become a creative meal that includes all the food groups and the complex flavors I crave.  I actually look forward to salad and am enthusiastic about new flavor combinations.

Romaine salad with avocado, blueberries, pistachios and homemade yogurt dressing.

I added these fresh figs to a spinach salad topped
with strawberry balsamic vinaigrette.

So, it’s no small wonder that I was excited to partake in local California produce like heirloom tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, blackberries, asparagus, and whatever else I found at the farmer's market.  And, boy, have I found a lot of delicious food.  So delicious, in fact, that I often devour it before I remember to take a picture for posterity (and the blog).  Some of the most appetizing food disappears into my mouth before it even makes it to the fridge.  I apologize to any Alaskans living vicariously through my tasty pictures.

Tasty jewels at the Redding Farmer's Market.

This stack of empty berry baskets is the evidence of our addiction enjoyment.

I was also eager to share opportunities to discover local produce with my son, though this desire has not panned out as ideally as I hoped.  Granted, what 12 year-old boy can maintain any enthusiasm for kale when he’s standing in the 90-degree sun at 8am waiting for his mom to choose the perfect bundle?  Not mine, I can tell you that.  But, I think the experience still counts.  And, thanks to a terrific program at the local farmer’s market called Healthy Shasta, he even got to spend some free tokens in exchange for fruits or vegetables of his own choosing.  He really liked the blackberries (and they kept his energy up in the heat while I shopped). He and his cousins were also able to use their tokens to buy herb plants that we put in pots on the deck and add to our meals whenever we can.  They get excited knowing their plant is in the dish and it actually tastes good.

The Grass Valley Grower's Market was surprisingly large and diverse.

Blackberries growing wild at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.

This book is on my wish list.

Visiting the markets has been one of the highlights of my trip, right after eating all the produce I find there.  I love that when my son munches on that purple carrot from the fridge, I know it came from just down the road and I met the person who grew it.  That person was able to tell me whether it had been sprayed with chemicals (I always ask), what the flavor is like, how the growing season is going, and what I can look forward to from their farm in the coming weeks.  I love that!

I can't think of anything more scrumptious than sun-warmed strawberries fresh from the field!

Pesto made with our own basil plant, local grass-fed beef sausage, local-made sourdough bread, and market veggies.

This recipe for tomato-mozzarella-pesto-topped sourdough toasts came from the tomato grower who recently
served them at his wedding.  To die for!

Eggs don't get much local-er.  These come from my hostess' backyard chickens.

Backyard chicken eggs with tarragon, local lemon-boy tomatoes and avocado.

Some of the more interesting items I’ve purchased at farmers markets included white peaches, figs, green zebra tomatoes, tiny patty-pan squash, and nettles.  It has all been good.  And the farmer’s market movement is strong even in small towns like Grass Valley and Nevada City, located in the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento.  They are great places not only to find fresh local produce, but tasty prepared food, local honey, flowers, and artisans as well.

Some of Nevada City's market bounty.

Not just food at the farmers markets.

In honor of all this great tasty food, here’s my recipe for blueberry pistachio salad:

Salad (serves many):

1 head romaine lettuce chopped

1 cup fresh spinach chopped (optional)

1 avocado diced

¾ cup fresh blueberries

½ cup roasted and salted pistachios

¼ cup feta cheese (optional)

2 Tb sunflower seeds

Poppy Seed Dressing:

½ cup plain, lemon, or honey yogurt (I like Greek Gods brand)

¼ cup or less of apple cider vinegar (I used strawberry infused balsamic too!)

1 Tb poppy seeds

Enjoy!