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Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sunflower Seeds

Chocolate chip cookies with sunflowers

The seeds of inspiration: Marion Cunningham

“If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Many years ago I was given a copy of the The Fannie Farmer Baking Book written by Marion Cunningham as a birthday present. It is the 1984 edition which includes over 800 baking recipes. Holding a place of prominence on my bookshelf, it is a cookbook that has stood the test of time. My daughter now uses this cookbook. My favorite scone recipe is here. I have tried other scone recipes, but I always return to Marion Cunningham. My daughter uses the The Fannie Farmer Baking Book for “Soft Oatmeal Cookies” and the recipe I adapted for this post “Chocolate Chip Cookies”. She likes this recipe with peanut butter; just hold the peanuts. For years it was the only baking book I used. I was busy, working full time while raising a family. When I baked I needed to be sure the final product was a stellar success. There was no time to experiment. This is the book I used. READ MORE . . .

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Lavender and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Candied Orange Peel

Lavender Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Candied Orange Peel

Summer Lavender Harvest

“It was a fair place even in the summer when the sun laced into it. A line of river willows and sycamores banded it in the middle, and the western hills were yellow-brown with feed.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Between Monterey and Santa Barbara lavender farming is thriving in California. Just inland from the coast in the area between Paseo Robles and Santa Ynez the Mediterranean like climate is perfect for lavender cultivation. It was time for a road trip to Paseo Robles to visit the lavender fields of Central Coast Lavender before they closed for their annual harvest and the local Lavender Festival. The farm was quiet and calm; yet the bees hovered and buzzed about as lavender was bundled in preparation for the weekly farmer’s market. It was a warm afternoon filled with all things lavender. READ MORE . . .

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Olallieberry Financiers

Ollalie Financiers

Summer Berry Mania

“Wouldn’t it be funny if she never left Watsonville, thirty miles away? She could even slip in over the line and see her friends if she wanted to. Maybe she came to Salinas sometimes. She might be in Salinas right now.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

It was mid June. It was time for the local olallieberry harvest at Gidzich Ranch in Watsonville. If I held my breath it would be over. I grew up with the olallieberry harvest at Gidzich Ranch every summer. During those years I found my mother’s fixation with the olallie to be a bit obsessive. Often we would go pick berries each week of June and the beginning of July. We would leave early in the morning when it was still cool so my mother would have time to process the lush berries on the same day they were harvested. I am beginning to follow my mother’s path. I have been to Gidzich twice for olallies. I made pie, jam and froze olallieberries just as my mother did. But this year I tried a new berry recipe with my olallies. And I am very glad I did! READ MORE . . .

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Triple Cherry Brownies

Triple cherry brownies

A decadent summer dessert

“Look Charles, things grow so fast in California they say you have to plant and step back quick or you’ll get knocked down.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

I left a sunny 65° Salinas and headed northeast to Gilroy to pick Bing cherries. Buckley Orchard is a small family owned orchard in the southern Santa Clara Valley. When I arrived in Gilroy at 10 a.m. it was already 82°. Heading home several hours later, the temperature had climbed to 93°. It was very warm at the cherry orchard for someone used to living along the coast! The trees were bursting with cherries and picking them was easy. Photographing the lush cherries was my favorite part of the trip to the orchard and that is how I ended up in the heat long after my basket had been filled. READ MORE . . .

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Whole Wheat Bread with Radicchio

Radicchio bread

Radicchio di Chioggia

“The departure of six carloads of lettuce packed in ice was given a civic overtone. The Chamber of Commerce attended the departure. The cars were decorated with big posters which said, ‘Salinas Valley Lettuce’. But no one wanted to invest in the project.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

In East of Eden John Steinbeck writes about the Salinas Valley before it became known as the “Lettuce Bowl of the World”. Transporting the bounty of the Valley across the United States began in earnest in the late 1920’s with rail cars filled with lettuce packed in ice. Now trucks move an ever growing variety of produce from the Valley to it’s destination. Like lettuce, radicchio thrives in the Mediterranean like climate of the Salinas Valley. I wanted to learn more about the crisp, bright, maroon chicory that is grown locally by Royal Rose Radicchio. Emily Lyons, Marketing Manager at Royal Rose Radicchio graciously gave Athena and me a tour of a Salinas radicchio field. READ MORE . . .