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Here, Piggy Piggy!

My grandmother and three of her five siblings lived on land that had belonged to their parents. They each built homes less than a football field apart and pretty much had their own little community. My cousins and I had free reign of the dirt roads between the houses, and we ran from one home to another from dawn till dusk. Now, we were not bad children, but we did get into more than our fair share of mischief. One of my grandmother’s sisters, my Aunt Helen, had a home at the back of my grannie’s place. She had a …

Reading Rainbow

When I was a child, I lived for mornings. I woke up early, scrambled off my bed with my trusty blanket, and tip-toed into the kitchen. A bowl of Cheerios and a glass of orange juice later and I was nestled in front of our TV eagerly awaiting my two favorite shows – Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and, my ultimate favorite, Reading Rainbow. I can still hear the theme song in my head, “Take a look. It’s in a book. A reading rainbow. Reading rainbooooowwwww!” This show is where my love of storytelling and books began. My favorite episode was Bread …

Pie Crust Mishap

While speaking to my cousin-in-law Carol recently she decided to share a tale of pie crust gone wrong that had me shaking my head and upon hanging up the phone crying with full blown belly laughter. When it comes to class Carol has it in spades. She’s always dressed meticulously. I honestly can’t recall ever seeing her in jeans. Granted, I didn’t see her often in my 28 years living in Mill Valley but whenever I did she was dressed well. My cousin, Don, her and their children moved into the best neighborhood our town had in 1979 and to …

Merry Christmas

Growing up, Christmas was a big deal for me. School hallways dripped with decorations and letters to Santa. Throughout the town, buildings were aglow with lights and Christmas cheer. Presents nestled under the tree just waiting to be unwrapped. Our family tradition was to visit my dad’s family on Christmas Eve and then go to my Grannie and Pawpaw’s on Christmas day. We thoroughly enjoyed both places but, when it came to my Grannie and Pawpaw’s, the gifts were a little different. We did receive toys and things, but the bulk of it was homemade – crochet slippers and throws, …

The Deer

I am not a venison eater. My husband and sons are and they hunt responsibly each year. While they aren’t trophy hunters, they do occasionally harvest a deer they are extra proud of and so I end up with antlers displayed on my wall. Though it is not my aesthetic, it is their home too, so I try to compromise since they do harvest ethically and responsibly, which is important to me. When we moved into our new home a few years ago, the one thing I told the men was that they could put their “decor” anywhere but the …

Where Did It Come From?

When I married in early 2002, my husband and I chose a cruise to Cozumel as our honeymoon trip. While we spent most days eating pizza on the deck, we did make sure to have at least one meal a day in the dining room where feasts of epic proportion were served every evening. It was in those chandelier-lit tiers that I developed a love of fine dining and an appreciation of the art that is food plating. It is also where I had one of the most disturbing parts of my trip. The evening began with cocktails with the …

Sugar Cane

I have many memories of my grandparents, their home, and farm-to-table life. It is where I spent most weekends and summers, where I learned to cook, and where I experienced quite a few life lessons…including how to make sugar cane syrup. If you’ve never seen the making of cane syrup, it’s not an easy task. Months of growing give way to hours of grueling labor. You have to strip the leaves off the hundreds of canes, let them stand a few days, and then cut the canes – usually by hand with a machete – before transporting it to the …

The Wonderful World of Flour

When I think of the biggest events in my life, pizza is usually in the picture. My first Valentine’s Day with the man who would become my husband was spent eating pepperoni pizza and laughing through a movie on the living room floor in my tiny home. Our honeymoon – a cruise to Mexico – found us at the pizza bar with large slices of goat cheese and basil more often than any other place on the ship. Saying we love pizza is putting it mildly so, when our favorite pizza shop closed its doors a few years ago, I …

Gilroy Garlic Festival

The Gilroy Garlic Festival was founded by Dr. Rudy Melone in 1978 after reading an article about a garlic festival being held in a small French town. After reading that the town was considered to be the “Garlic Capital of the World”, Dr. Melone felt compelled to prove to the world that his hometown, Gilroy should be worthy of that particular title. He set out to convince the owner of Christopher Ranch, Don Christopher, along with other businesses and local farmers to host their own garlic festival.  As it were, and still is, Christopher Ranch is the largest producer, processor, and shipper …

Seasonal Produce

My appreciation for farm-to-table food began with a salt shaker and a tomato. I can remember the day clearly – my grandfather putting on his old cowboy hat, picking up that Tupperware shaker, and taking my five-year-old hand. As we walked over the grassy yard towards the tilled acres that served as a shared field between my grandmother and her sister, we talked about planting, growing, cooking and how important it was to pick your produce at just the right time. I can still feel the damp earth that squished between my shoeless toes and see the white shaker swinging …