Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture

Local chefs and farmers pair up at Macy’s ~ April 16
CUESA is partnering with Macy’s Cellar again for a series of three cooking demonstrations and farmer/chef interviews. At the first event, on Wednesday, April 16, farmer Brandon Ross of Ella Bella Farm and chef Charles Phan of The Slanted Door will talk about how they are both staying true to their values of sustainable agriculture, seasonal produce, and worker’s rights as they grow their companies. Seating is first-come, first-served starting at 6 pm in the Union Square Cellar Kitchen at Macy’s. A $10 donation to CUESA (tickets at the door) will get you a seat at the demonstration, a sample of the featured dish, a glass of wine from Benziger Family Winery, a canvas Ferry Plaza Farmers Market tote, and a sample of Origins’ new organic skin care line.

I went to the CUESA cooking demonstration and farmer/chef interview at Macy’s Cellar last evening. I had gone to two of their series of three last year and found them interesting and enlightening, enough so to forgo a film on Schindler’s Houses sponsored by the SF chapter of the American Institute of Architects the same evening.

This one featured farmer Brandon Ross of Ella Bella Farm and chef Charles Phan of The Slanted Door. Of course I knew Charles Phan as the master of the Slanted Door empire of Vietnamese restaurants, he is, after all, a celebrity chef in terms of his appearances on TV and in newspapers and magazines, but it turns out I knew little about the man and his values. Brandon Ross, I hadn’t heard of, although I pass by his Ella Bella stand at the Farmers Market every Saturday.

Lordy, I had a lot to learn and learned a LOT. These programs are more about education and sustainable agriculture — the ES and A of CUESA — than about cooking, although who would want to attend a program featuring Charles Phan and not have him whip up a little something — in this case, a broccoli decicco stir-fry. Continue reading →

An Eater’s Manifesto

I tacked this onto the end of Super (Bowl) Food, but it’s too important to be hidden there, so I’ve reprinted it here.

FOOD IN THE AFTERMATH
The day after the Super Bowl, I went to a talk and book signing by Michael Pollan regarding his new book, IN DEFENSE OF FOOD, An Eater’s Manifesto at a local bookstore. His mantra is on the cover: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. I’m reading the book and urge you to do so, as well. Michael Pollan is an engaging speaker and packed the house. He has a lot to say and his talk was peppered with humor. You can see an NPR story on the book here.

Back home, Carol had already eaten dinner. With Pollan’s words in my head, I started my dinner. Leftovers from the Party crudités were in plastic bags in the crisper, and I had saved the trimming scraps from the prep, as well. Yellow and green bell peppers, broccoli stems, and celery sticks, as well as some slices of the Speck ham would make a nice stir-fry.

I sliced an onion and sautéed it in olive oil, added the other vegetables and cooked those with a little white wine until it had nearly evaporated. While that was going on, I sliced the ham into strips and stirred those in along with some beef broth. That cooked down nicely for a few minutes and I had dinner.

Food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Yum.

Then Tuesday, for lunch, I mixed the leftover stir-fry with noodles and a touch more broth. Oh, my, Yum!

My Engagement Calendar

Just before the New Year, I went shopping for a new engagement calendar. This was never a problem when I had the bookstore, because I could just pick one out from those I ordered for sale. I use my engagement calendar primarily to record what I’m doing day-to-day. This is good for my journal writing and also handy at tax time.

I went to three or four bookstores before I found the perfect engagement calendar, cloth bound no less!

Chez Panisse
35th Anniversary
2007 Engagement Calendar
Poster art by David Lance Goines
Introduction by Alice Waters
Ten Speed Press

It is a treasure. I’ve used weekly engagement calendars for years, always insisting on an engagement calendar with an illustration for each week. It all started back when my former sister-in-law used to work at a Williams Sonoma store in Orange County. Every year she would send me a Frank Lloyd Wright engagement calendar for Christmas. For a couple years I loved it, before getting really tired of Frank Lloyd Wright. She switched to M. C. Escher, one can tire easily of M. C. Escher. I was spared years of Escher’s when my brother remarried. That was in 1992, the year we moved to San Francisco, and I had to start buying my own engagement calendars. I’ve had everything from the SI Swimsuit engagement calendars to Mapplethorpe to the Taschen series, All American Ads of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s. My favorite for the last five years or so has been the Redstone Diary, published by Chronicle Books. They have a theme every year, so one doesn’t get tired of it, and rather bizarre drawings and photographs. A Redstone Diary was not to be found in this year’s quest. Continue reading →

A ways back, I wrote about my Food Book.

Well, the electronic age caught up with me. I now have a folder on the iMac that contains recipes for the meals I want to cook this week, a menu document and a menu history document. The menu history may seem a little narcissistic but sometimes I remember something for dinner a few weeks ago—what the hell was it—and I can page back and find it. Or, what did we have the last time whosis was here?

Menu posted.

(On the right, time of day in San Francisco and France.) Continue reading →