Column

For the first few weeks of this month, a towering pile of cookbooks and glossy magazines is never far from my reach. And once I tire of flipping pages, I turn to Pinterest and other trusted web sites for inspiration. It becomes a part-time job. Thanksgiving is coming, and I seek perfection. A kind of Norman Rockwell-meets-Martha Stewart affair.

Unlike other holidays that drag us into debt, Thanksgiving celebrates the simple basics in life: nourishment, sharing, and gratitude. Preparing a thoughtful meal shows how much you care….about your friends, your family, and California’s bountiful resources.

I do the bulk of my Thanksgiving shopping at the farmers’ market—where the food is fresh, healthy, and locally grown. It’s also the most meaningful way I know to show my gratitude to the people who grow the food we eat throughout the year.

As I navigate my way through the market in the crisp morning air, I look for freshly-harvested walnuts and almonds to enhance everything from appetizers to desserts; plump raisins, dried apricots, and other dried fruits; just-picked lettuces; pure fruit juices; sugar pumpkins and crisp apples for pies; acorn and other winter squash; artisan breads to serve as is, or to cut into cubes for homemade stuffing; aromatic extra-virgin olive oil, yellow onions, celery, parsley, and garlic to enhance that stuffing; tender young carrots; broccoli; Brussels sprouts; sweet potatoes; locally-produced honey; russet potatoes and Yukon Golds for mashing; pomegranates, pears, persimmons, and all other matter of fall flora, fauna, fruits, and veggies to make a spectacular yet affordable still-life centerpiece for my table.  Thanksgiving comes but once a year, so this is no time to scrimp.

To lessen the odds of a family uprising, I plan the menu around tried-and-true old standards that simply cannot be messed with: roast turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, herbed bread stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. But just to keep things interesting (for myself), I go rogue with some of the appetizers, remaining side dishes, and/or desserts. Sometimes these new additions are met with great enthusiasm. Other times, not so much.

Brussels sprouts roasted until lightly charred, then topped with a hailstorm of glistening pomegranate seeds, was a winner. Ditto for Thanksgiving slaw—finely shredded green cabbage, a bit of shaved red onion, toasted sliced almonds, and dried cranberries tossed in a mustardy apple cider-maple vinaigrette—expertly assembled by my 12-year-old grandson while I fussed over something else. Those are the good memories.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was last year’s mashed sweet potatoes with chipotle chiles. (Can you say, muy caliente?) I am still haunted by the sight of five grandchildren frantically reaching for their water glasses, desperate to cool the fire.

Undeterred, I still like the idea of serving mashed sweet potatoes– primarily because they can easily be made in advance and reheated just before serving. This year’s version is also refreshingly low-fat, making a good foil for the many rich dishes served that day. The fresh ginger adds spice with just a hint of heat, and is tamed by the sweet tang of orange.

You may notice the conspicuous absence of marshmallows, puddles of melted butter, booze, pecans, and molten brown sugar in this recipe. (I’ve saved you a couple of hundred calories here.) If your family has a collective sweet-tooth, you can always add a tablespoon or so of honey. But that’s it. This is a vegetable. Not dessert. And it won’t scare the children.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH ORANGE & GINGER

4 pounds (about 4 large) red-skinned sweet potatoes (yam variety), scrubbed but not peeled, patted dry

2 medium oranges

3 tablespoons finely grated or minced fresh peeled gingerroot

Fine sea salt

Honey, to taste (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Prick the skins 2 or 3 times with a fork. Bake until a knife slips easily into the center of each potato, 50 to 60 minutes. Set aside to cool.

 

2. Grate the zest from 1 orange and chop finely. Halve and juice both oranges, straining out any seeds. (You will have about 2/3 cup fresh orange juice.)

       

3. When cool enough to handle, peel the sweet potatoes and cut the flesh into chunks.

 

4. Working in batches if necessary, combine the sweet potato chunks, orange zest, orange juice, ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Process, pulsing the machine on and off and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until smooth. (Alternatively, the mixture can be beaten with an electric mixer.) Taste, adding more salt to taste, or honey, if using. Serve at once, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Just before serving, reheat gently in a double boiler or heavy saucepan, or in the microwave. Makes about 5 1/2 cups, to serve 6.

The Danville Certified Farmers’ Market, located at Railroad & Prospect, is open every Saturday, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. For specific crop information call the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association at 1-800-949-FARM, or visit their web site at www.pcfma.org. This market is made possible through the generous support of the Town of Danville. Please show your appreciation by patronizing the many fine shops and restaurants located in downtown Danville. Buy fresh. Buy local. Live well.

 

 

 

 

I’m a sucker for an unsung hero. I’m betting that most of you have never heard of William Wilberforce. I hadn’t until I saw Amazing Grace. There is something inordinately moving about a man who stands up for what is right and makes a difference in this life.

Wilber, as he was often called was a man of stirring principle and tireless will.  Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21, and on his way to a successful political career, Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment and persuaded those in power to end the inhumane trade of slavery.  

I have to admit, as an American, when I think of slavery my thoughts go immediately to my own American history books, but this story is not just about slavery, it’s about  slave trading.

As played by Ioan Gruffudd, William Wilberforce is the sort of grave, God-fearing young man who annoys everyone else by being both moral and right.  We see his concern for whipped carriage horses first, but its whipped humans who become his life’s work, by the late 17^th century, there were 11 million Africans in the West Indies, and Great Britain was the superpower of slave traders. The details of the Middle Passages are hideous but business is so good that no one wants to hear about them. 

With perseverance and yes, sometimes cunning, Wilber is able to turn the tide.  Watching the film, you get a sense of Europe reeling under the weight of history.  At the start, England is about to lose the Revolutionary War; by the end, beheadings in Paris have those across the channel fearfully fingering their collars. It was a time of birthing new ideas; a birthing that was painful. 

By now you may be asking how the song many of us first heard as children ties into the movie; John Newton (Albert Finney), an ex-slave trader turned minister wrote these lyrics and became Wilberforce’s spiritual counselor. Torn between ministry and politics, Newton convinced Wilberforce that he was born “for such a time as this.” That he had been placed in a position as a powerful Member of Parliament to secure the abolition of the slave trade. It was in the House of Commons, Newton stated, that Wilberforce could best serve God.

There is a love interest, Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai) met Wilberforce in 1797 when she was 20 and he was 38. After two weeks of courtship they married. The pair shared their lives for 36 years until his death in 1833.

As a sidebar, in my research I found a Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Founded in 1856, Wilberforce University can trace it’s origin to a period of history before the Civil War, when the Ohio Underground Railroad was established as a means of escape for all those blacks who sought freedom in the North. England actually abolished slavery a half century before the United States.

In Amazing Grace we have an incredibly robust and talented cast, a superb director and a truly Amazing story. A little taste of history that you may not have been aware of portrayed in an epic adventure. An evening well spent. I invite comments, Carolyn@carolynhastings.com

This month, we celebrate Veterans Day, a day that provides us with a special chance to take away time from our busy schedules and think of and thank veterans for the sacrifices they have made for our common good and wellbeing. It is a day for us to honor the brave men and women who have selflessly served, and in many cases still continue to serve, our nation.

When I talk to the veterans in our program, I am continually inspired by their desire to continue serving others after their time in the military has come to an end. Not surprisingly, this kind of sense of commitment is not uncommon among veterans in general. Many veterans also make it their mission to help, in one way or another, other veterans making the transition to civilian life. To me, that is incredibly admirable.

One of these veterans committed to a lifelong mission of service is a Sentinels of Freedom program graduate Doug Connor – a man who overcame a difficult transition and is now using his skills and personal experience to help other Veterans on their post-military journey.

First Lieutenant Doug Connor, US Army

Doug joined the Army at the young age of 17 and served for three years before deciding to pursue a degree in nursing. When the war in Iraq started, however, Doug felt like he could make a difference with his training and returned to active duty. He served at Walter Reed Medical Center’s surgical ICU and was deployed to Mosul, Iraq, from 2005 to 2006. “It was a tough year,” he says, “There was a lot of pain to work through.”

After having completed his time in the service, Doug decided to “make a go of the civilian world again,” as he called it. He started working but was feeling depressed, and his PTSD became overwhelming. “My time in Iraq and at Walter Reed was hard to shake,” he explains. Doug sought help from the Concord Vet Center and completed a program at the National Center for PTSD. While there, he started to heal.

When he returned home, Doug decided he wanted to go to graduate school and become a Family Nurse Practitioner. “The problem was, I didn’t know how I was going to take care of my responsibilities to my family and achieve this goal,” he recounts. Determined to not give up, Doug started researching scholarships and found Sentinels of Freedom.

I was actually the one to return Doug’s first call to our organization. I remember being inspired by his perseverance and invited him to come in and talk to me in person. After Doug was accepted into the program, he moved to Walnut Creek with his family. “The Sentinels team made sure that my goals would be achieved,” he told me recently. I think he finally felt like he had a clear direction to move towards.

Through SOF’s comprehensive support, Doug was able to complete his degree and find his first job. Wanting to help other veterans, he eventually started working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he felt he could make a meaningful impact. “The veterans have great need, and I feel like I am paying forward what was done for me,” he says.

Because of the help of our community and supporters, the veterans in our program have the chance to pursue their dreams and continue giving back after their service. Hearing veterans like Doug say that “I truly believe that my life was changed by picking up the phone and talking to Mike” truly makes it all worth it. I believe it is incredibly important for us to give back to our veterans after everything they have done for us, and I am glad we have Veterans Day to remind us of that importance.

To learn more and to make a difference in the life of a veteran like Doug, visit www.sentinelsoffreedom.org.

 

 

Before I started studying wine, I imagined there were only a few varieties of wine grapes: chardonnay, pinot grigio, cabernet sauvignon, and the ever-popular merlot. Possibly there were a few others, but certainly not more than say, eight or ten. I was shocked to learn that there are literally thousands of varieties of grapes that hail from regions all around the world.

I love finding interesting wines made from little-known grapes. As much as I enjoy the big favorites like chardonnay and merlot, they do get a bit boring if you drink them frequently. It’s fun to shake it up and try wines with weird and wonderful names like “piquepoul blanc.” Wait – what?You probably have never heard of piquepoul blanc (also spelled picpoul blanc), a white grape hailing from the Rhone Valley and the Languedoc region in the south of France. But just wait – you will! Piquepoul blanc is being touted as the ultimate accompaniment to oysters and seafood in general. What a treat. And the best news of all is piquepoul blanc also pairs beautifully with roast poultry. Just in time for Thanksgiving!

The French are surely shrugging their shoulders at us. They’ve known about this little gem of a wine for centuries. Piquepoul blanc is one of the permitted blending grapes in the famed Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. The French are well aware of how good it is and up until now, piquepoul blanc has been kind of a secret. But the cat’s out of the bag and the time has come for Americans to enjoy the pleasures of piquepoul blanc. As the holidays approach, this might be just the wine to offer at your Thanksgiving table for both flavor and intrigue.

Piquepoul means “lip stinger” in French. The acid in piquepoul blanc is very high and gives the wine a distinctly zippy quality. The citrusy freshness will make your mouth pucker with delight.  A fairly simple white wine, piquepoul blanc is light bodied with a nose of sweet, white flowers. The palate is dry and tangy with a bright, lemon acidity and a lingering minerality. When grown in a warm climate, piquepoul blanc offers lush notes of tropical fruit, such as pineapple and mango, and the wine can take on an almost buttery quality on the palate.

American and Australian wine producers seem to have discovered piquepoul blanc at the same time. New plantings of piquepoul blanc in South Australia and the New South Wales region have proved very popular and will likely lead to a true market demand for the tasty and refreshing wine Down Under. Best of all, it won’t be long before Aussie-produced piquepoul is imported to our side of the planet.

In the USA, piquepoul blanc is taking root in the popular winegrowing areas of California such as Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and Paso Robles. You can find locally produced piquepoul blanc up and down the California coast. Top vineyards such as Tablas Creek Vineyard and Adelaida Vineyards in Paso Robles produce a 100% Piquepoul Blanc that is well worth the trouble of seeking out. You can find a delicious bottle of 2016 “Picpoul” produced in Santa Cruz at the eclectic Bonny Doon Vineyards.

Interestingly enough, piquepoul blanc is also grown in the hot and sunny wine regions of Texas and Arizona. If piquepoul from the Southwest intrigues you, try a bottle of 2015 Picpoul Blanc from Bending Branch Winery in Comfort, Texas, or check out the Picpoul Blanc blended with Viognier at Keeling Shaefer Vineyards in Willcox, Arizona.

Best of all, piquepoul blanc won’t break the bank. You generally won’t pay more than $32 for a bottle, and usually much less than that. French produced bottles can often be found for as little as $10.95. You’ll find fabulous piquepoul blanc from France at your favorite wine shop. Look for Domaine La Grangette, Picpoul de Pinet 2016, Julie Benau, 2016 Picpoul de Pinet, or La Croix Gratiot, 2016 Picpoul de Pinet from France’s Coteaux de Languedoc.  As ever, a little searching online will reap a bounty of wonderful piquepoul to whet both your curiosity and your thirst.

This sassy white wine is fun and different and offers a lot of bang for your buck. Try something new. Go grab a bottle or two of perfectly puckery piquepoul blanc for your Thanksgiving table. Your friends and family will thank you.

Bon appétit! And cheers!

 

Questions or comments? Email Elizabeth at 4elizabethkate@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @ielizabethkate.

 

As we watch another World Series, we have to adjust to not seeing either of our beloved teams, the Giants and the A’s watching from home , like we do. It was not always like this. The A’s in particular won consecutive World Series, 1972 to 1974, which is still very rare. Let’s see how well we remember those glorious days.

 

1. The 1972 Most Valuable Player in the World Series was an Oakland Catcher, who only became a regular the last few weeks of the season. All of a sudden, in the Series, he became a Homerun hitter. Who was he?

 

2. A defensive highlight of that Series occurred when Oakland’s left fielder snagged a Dennis Menke line drive off the left field wall and saved a win for the A’s.  Who was that left fielder? 

 

3. In 1973, the A’s took on the New York Mets. The Mets center fielder was a long time great local player finishing a fabulous career. Who was he?

 

4. The highlight of the series, unfortunately, occurred when A’s owner, Charles Finley fired the A’s second baseman after game 1 for making the error. The player’s teammates were upset and wore a patch on the uniforms in protest. The second baseman was reinstated, but did not play. Who was he?

 

5. In 1974, the A’s met the LA Dodgers. The A’s won in 5, primarily because of their pitching. One of them was selected as the MVP of the series. Who was it?

 

6. The A’s that year featured a Designated Runner. This fellow rarely batted. He was a pinch runner. His one time running the bases in that series resulted in being picked off first base by the Dodger pitcher. Who was this player?