Archives

White Pony Express (WPE), a nonprofit group dedicated to ending hunger and poverty in Contra Costa County, is calling for volunteers to aid in responding to increased calls for help. WPE Food Rescue delivers close to 5,000 pounds of fresh, top-quality food every day to organizations that feed the hungry. WPE’s Free General Store gives away high-quality clothing, shoes, toys, and children’s books in low income communities. WPE serves about 60,000 county residents, all free of charge, working out of its Pleasant Hill distribution centers.

HowWPE Rescues Food

Seven days a week, WPE Food Rescue volunteers take trucks to supermarkets, restaurants, and farmers markets where they pick up donations of surplus food—good, nourishing food—that would ordinarily be thrown away. There are many generous donors to this vibrant food rescue program, including those located in Antioch, Concord, Danville, Dublin, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek. After WPE volunteers sort the food, they deliver it to Contra Costa nonprofit groups that feed the hungry. All this is done free of charge.

In just under three years, WPE has delivered more than 3,000,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, cheese, deli, and baked goods (equivalent to 2,500,000 meals) that would otherwise have gone to waste and that the hungry would have done without.

WPE Stages Innovative “Mobile Boutiques”

WPE’s Free General Store has hosted36 unique “Mobile Boutiques,” at which residents in need can “shop” at these Boutiques for new or like-new clothing, shoes, toys, games, and books and then take them home—all free of charge. In addition, FGS’s Direct Distributions Program partners with service providers around the county who let Store volunteers know what kind of clothing their recipients need. Then the Store sends high-quality clothing to help dress and protect those people. Through its Boutiques and the Direct Distribution program, the Free General Store has given away more than 250,000 items to people in underserved parts of the county.

Founded Solely to Serve Others

Carol Weyland Conner, PhD, spiritual director of Sufism Reoriented, founded WPE in September 2013 when she was troubled that in a county of such abundance, scores of thousands were going hungry, while at the same time food retailers were throwing out huge quantities of healthy, fresh food. Dr. Conner developed WPE’s Food Rescue and Free General Store as free programs to enable those who have more than they need easily give to those who have less, so that all could share in the happiness and abundance of life. In 2014, WPE became a separate public benefit nonprofit group. Dr. Conner wished service for WPE to spring from the heart, so today WPE is staffed entirely by volunteers who want to help, purely in the spirit of service.

Volunteers Needed Urgently Needed

“Our success has only been possible because of the selfless service of 400 volunteers who find great satisfaction and joy in being so helpful to others,”says Gary Conner, Executive Coordinator. “Going forward, our ability to help our neighbors is limited only by the number of people who join with us. We very much need and welcome more volunteers! We have many roles available with flexible schedules. Please just give us a call!”

Interested volunteers should contact Mandy Nakaya at 925-818-6361 or email her at mandy@whiteponyexpress.org.  For more on WPE, go whiteponyexpress.org.

Days may be shorter and the evenings a bit cooler, but here in California, September is little more than a gentle transition into fall.

Although the farmers’ market is still stocked with truckloads of vine-ripened tomatoes and sweet corn, this month marks the final days of watermelons, cantaloupe, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, and nectarines. As nature’s consolation prize, however, September brings the new crop of creamers and fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, citrus, figs, and my favorite: Bosc pears.

Unlike other pear varieties, these are best eaten while still slightly firm. For the next few months they will undoubtedly be part of every cheese course I serve—sometimes drizzled with a bit of local honey for added glamour. And Bosc pears will be my first choice whenever I reach for a piece of fruit to snack on, or something special to toss into a green salad.

With their long tapered necks, russeted skin, and almost sandy-textured flesh, Bosc pears maintain their elegant shape when cooked, making them ideal for poaching, baking, or grilling whole or halved. I often sauté sliced pears in butter, seasoned with salt and pepper and perhaps some chopped fresh rosemary or thyme, to serve alongside roasted or grilled pork.

To celebrate September, here’s an easy dessert that delivers all the goodness of pie without any of the angst. Its free-form structure eliminates the drama of easing pastry into a pie tin; blind-baking the crust; and worrying whether the edges will collapse in the oven. Known as a galette in France and a crostata in Italy, this rustic tart is something that belongs in every good cook’s repertoire.

The following recipe can be tweaked to fit your mood. To the filling, toss in a few dried cherries, raisins, chopped walnuts, or sliced almonds; add a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg; a teaspoon or two of finely grated fresh ginger; or a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped candied (crystallized) ginger. It’s all good.

And no one will complain if you serve a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

BOSC PEAR GALETTE

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Dash of salt

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 firm but ripe Bosc pears

Buttery Pastry Dough (recipe follows), well-chilled as directed

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the 3 tablespoons sugar, the cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the lemon juice. Working one at a time, stem the pears, peel, cut in half lengthwise, core, and cut into thin slices. Add the slices to the bowl, tossing gently to coat with the sugar mixture.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a 13- to 14-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Do not trim the edges; they should remain slightly ragged. Loosely drape the dough around a rolling pin and transfer to the prepared cookie sheet. (If the pastry has become soft, refrigerate or freeze the cookie sheet for a few minutes until the pastry is cool.)

4. Scrape the pear mixture onto the center of the pastry, leaving a 2- to 3-inch-wide border around the edge. Scatter the butter pieces over the pears. Using your fingers, fold the pastry border up and over the edges of the filling, pleating the pastry as needed. The fruit in the center of the galette will remain uncovered. Brush the pastry edge lightly with water and sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.

5. Bake until the pears are bubbly-hot and the pastry is crisp and golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Let the galette cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then use 1 or 2 wide spatulas to carefully slide it onto a wire cooling rack. Serve the galette slightly warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges with a pizza wheel or sharp knife. Serves 4 to 6. This is best served the same day it is made.

BUTTERY PASTRY DOUGH

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/3 cup ice-cold water

1. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Process briefly to blend. Add the butter and process, pulsing the machine on and off, just until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs with bits of butter still visible.

2. With the machine on, gradually pour in the ice water, processing just until the dough starts to come together. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1hour or as long as 2 days. (Freeze for longer storage.)

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!

Pear Pointers

Handle pears gently. Even hard, un-ripe fruit can bruise easily.

Pears are picked when fully mature but not ripe. If left to ripen on the tree, they develop deposits of lignin, which cause the flesh to become grainy. So purchase your pears several days in advance to allow time for ripening. (If you’re in a hurry, enclose the pears in a brown paper bag to accelerate the process.)  Once ripe, store in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

To judge the ripeness of a pear, start with the sniff test. Then gently press the neck of the fruit—near the stem—with your thumb. The flesh should give slightly to pressure.

The average pear weighs in at under 100 calories, with 5 grams of fiber.

Nashville singer-songwriter Paul Jefferson will be headlining Discovery Counseling Center’s fifth annual fall fundraiser, An Evening of Laughter and Music. Paul is an accomplished country artist; as a solo performer, a duo and as part of a popular band. However, it’s Paul’s songwriting talent that has kept him in high demand in and around Nashville for the past twenty years. Paul has written songs for the likes of Keith Urban, Little Texas, Jon Bon Jovi, Timothy B. Schmitt (Eagles), Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey (Go-Go’s), and Buddy Jewel, to name just a few. He co-wrote Aaron Tippin’s number one song, That’s as Close as I’ll Get to Loving You. Not bad for a kid from Northern California.

I first met Paul Jefferson Jaqua in the spring of 1989 at a little coffee shop in Mountain View. A mutual friend, Steve Silver, convinced me to check out this aspiring country artist whose brother was the starting quarterback on our community college football team. County music was beginning a surge in popularity with the emergence of such popular acts as Garth Brooks, The Judds, Travis Tritt, Brooks and Dunn and the band, Restless Heart, along with the more established artists like George Strait, Alan Jackson, Alabama and Reba McIntire. I’ll admit, my expectations were relatively low, knowing that Paul had grown up in Woodside, California, playing tennis and learning to fly while earning a Bio­ Medical degree at Cal. However, the minute he hit the stage, I could tell by his old-school country sound and appeal that audiences would gravitate toward such an authentic performer.

Over the next couple of years, I became Paul’s booking agent, merchandise manager, publicist, roadie, bodyguard and confidant. It wasn’t until the unexpected death of our good friend Steve that Paul would leave the comfort of the Bay Area to pursue his dreams in Nashville. “When Steve died, I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t push myself and give Nashville a chance,” Paul recalls with a heavy heart.

Before leaving for Nashville, Paul played a lot of small clubs and cafes around the South Bay. “Playing those blood buckets was tough. More than a few were barely keeping the doors open trying to capitalize on the popularity of country music,” says Paul, “What made it bearable was playing with a lot of really good people and talented musicians.” A highlight during those early times was when he was cast as Hank Williams in the San Jose Stage Company’s production of Lost Highway. Paul’s connection to the music of Hank Williams would live on for the next 25 years.

Originally signed as a songwriter by a Los Angeles based publishing house in 1993, Paul was flown to Nashville to perform a collection of original songs at the legendary Bluebird Cafe. While in Nashville, he was recording demos and performing new material with a session vocalist named Steve McClintock, a slightly older music veteran.The pair was quickly offered a record deal, as the duo, Jefferson McClintock. Paul had fewer reservations about dropping his given last name, Jaqua, than he did becoming part of a duo, so he passed on the offer. Oddly, Paul has certain regrets about both of those decisions to this day.

Paul Jefferson signed a management contract with legendary music manager Miles Copeland (no relation) who had managed The Police, REM, The Go-Go’s and The English Beat. “Miles was new to Nashville and looking for country artists. He also signed a young Keith Urban,” Paul recalls. Shortly thereafter, Paul released his first CD with Almo Records and his first single, Check Please, hit number 40 on the country music charts. Sadly, Paul was going through some personal and professional struggles just as his video for Check Please made its debut on CMT (Country Music Television), which didn’t allow him to truly enjoy a lot of his early success. He parted ways with both his management team and Almo, and eventually went on to record and self-release his follow-up album; Greatest Hits Volume Ill which he says is a record he is extremely proud of due to the strength of the songs. This trying period did open the door to writing sessions with Sonny Lemaire of the band, Exile, and with John Scott Sherrill (Paul’s all-time favorite songwriter) and Porter Howell of the band, Little Texas. His work with Porter eventually led to the foundation of their group, Hilljack.

Paul likes to say he and Porter just clicked when it came to writing and performing. Hilljack released an independent record, but had a major league management and booking team. This allowed the band to tour the U.S. and Europe opening for some of country music’s biggest names including; Dwight Yokum, John Berry and Wynonna Judd. Unfortunately, after little more than a year, and just as the band’s popularity and success was starting to take off, Little Texas reunited and Porter left Hilljack to rejoin his original band.Try as he might to replace his good friend, the chemistry was never the same with other guitarists and the band eventually broke up.

Paul met the immensely talented and very successful Canadian country artist, Lisa Brokup, in 2008. She and Paul were married 24 months later and the couple has a daughter, Ivy, who just turned seven. When asked if Ivy can sing, Paul gave the response, “She’s very loud, but she prefers to dance.” Lisa and Paul regularly write together and perform regionally and around Nashville as a duo, The Jeffersons. Their debut album, TheJefferson’s Vol. 1, was released in June of 2011 by Royalty Records to very strong reviews. Today, Lisa is enjoying success performing in a critically acclaimed Patsy Cline tribute and the couple takes turns touring so that one of them is always home with their daughter.

Throughout the course of our interview, I juggled the role of journalist with friend and fan. When I asked Paul how he felt about the success of the ABC series Nashville, he indicated that it’s brought a lot of new fans to country music and packs the venues around town, but he admitted that it feels the storylines hit just a little too close to home.”I feel, in a way, like the show is imitating my life.” When I asked if he has a favorite song that he’s written or one that he’s most proud of, “You’re not my God,” was his immediate response.The song was written with and recorded by Keith Urban. Paul candidly revealed that the song is about addiction. “Keith and I are both in recovery and it’s a song about conquering your demons. It’s inspired a lot of people, and that’s something that really means a lot to me.”

Knowing that Paul has played the Grand Ole Opry twice (solo and with Hilljack), I asked him if that was the pinnacle of his career. While he acknowledged that playing there was a wonderful experience, he recalled a tour opening for Trisha Yearwood in Europe. “Playing the Civic Center Opera House in Birmingham, England was the greatest performing experience of my life. It was a magnificent theater with absolutely perfect sound,” Paul recalls.

I also inquired about the cross-over “pop” appeal of such country artists as Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum and The Zack Brown Band. Paul never expressed any animosity or jealousy, but he did say the music market goes through cycles.”A lot of the new songs are catchy and they appeal to the younger buyers, but it’s gotten away from the music I came here to make. Music goes through cycles and it will eventually come back to pure country.”

When it comes to the pure country sound, it doesn’t get any more pure than the music of Hank Williams. Over the years, Paul has often talked about how much he loved performing as Hank in the Lost Highway production in the early 90s. It’s with this in mind, along with his wife Lisa’s success with the Patsy Cline project, that Paul has begun working on a Hank tribute. “This isn’t a play where I have to portray Hank in his 20s, it’s just me doing Hank songs and a few of my own that were inspired by Hank.” The Hank project has already received a lot of advance buzz, and Paul hopes to launch a tour early next year. Until then, he is always in demand to collaborate with his peers and for a guy with Bay Area roots that’s pretty flattering and impressive.

For tickets to Paul’s upcoming show at the Village Theater in Danville on September 29^th, go to: www.discoveryctr.net/eventsandnews/fallfundraiser.html

Under 20K for the Under 20 Crowd!

Are you looking for an affordable car for the newest driving member of your family or just a very fuel-efficient commuter vehicle? Well, there are a few options to choose from in the sub-compact car category; however, which one holds the claim as the most fuel-efficient, non-hybrid gasoline-powered vehicle available in America? That would be the 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage!

The Mirage is the smallest car in the Mitsubishi stable. It was refreshed for the 2017 model year which may be why they decided not to produce a 2016 model. It hasn’t been hot on the buyer’s list when searching for a sub-compact car with sales dropping for the past couple of years. I’m sure one of the goals of the redesigned 5-door Mirage was to help re-spark interest in this little hatchback.

The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage is available in three trim levels: ES ($13,830), SE ($15,630) and GT ($17,330). Prices include a destination fee of $835. The U.S. version of the Mirage is built in Thailand.

Power comes in the form of a 3-cylinder, 1.2-liter motor with only 78 horsepower. The fuel economy isn’t bad at all with 37 City and 43 Highway. It’s not a rocketship at 78 horsepower and there definitely isn’t a warp drive, however, on flat roads it doesn’t get in its own way. The ES and SE come standard with a 5-speed manual transmission and an optional CVT automatic transmission that is also standard on the GT.

Mitsubishi claims to have made significant improvements to the handling and it does have a great turning ratio. I did experience wind noise and if you don’t give the doors a decent push, they will not close tightly.

The Mirage is one of the smallest five-door hatchbacks sold in the United States, yet it is longer than a Fiat 500. The styling is smooth and cute. New changes for the 2017 model include new front and rear bumpers and lower-body treatments, different headlights, foglamps, a new grille, new 14 and 15-inch wheels and a new spoiler.

The interior is simple and clean with offerings that include air conditioning, full power accessories, keyless entry, steel wheels and a four-speaker 140-watt sound system. Bluetooth compatibility is an option on the ES. In addition, a new available 300-watt Rockford-Fosgate™ audio system with EcoPunch™ is available with Smartphone Link Display Audio, Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™–the first Mitsubishi model to feature this popular infotainment system in the States.

Some new features for 2017 include new front and rear seat materials, 4-way adjustable driver’s and front passenger seat, keyless entry with panic feature, new front fascia with chrome upper/lower grille, new hood design, LED tail lamps, rear spoiler, color-keyed front and rear bumpers, folding side-view mirrors, door handles and tailgate handle, new 14-inch alloy wheel design; 15-inch alloy wheels (SE/GT), HID automatic on/off headlights (SE/GT), and beveled fog lamps (SE/GT).

Room for improvement:

• The dash and door pieces are hard plastic
• The rear camera image is a bit fuzzy

Cool Features:

• Push Button Start
• Available Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™

Safety on the 2017 Mirage has improved from previous poor ratings to mostly good ratings by the Institute for Highway Safety. The Mirage’s safety features include seven airbags—driver and passenger front and side bags, side-curtain bags over the front and rear windows, plus a knee airbag for the driver. For an inexpensive vehicle, the Mirage still includes stability control, traction control, and all of the typical anti-lock braking systems.

In Summary –The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage is a decent vehicle for getting around town without putting much of a dent in the gas tank. Mitsubishi has truly improved the looks and style of the vehicle as it continues to move in the right direction. Let’s not forget that you get a fair amount of features for nearly under $14,000.

Specifications

2016 Mitsubishi Mirage GT

Base price:                  $16,495as driven: $17,330 (including destination & optional
features)

Engine:                         1.2-liter MIVEC DOHC3-cylinder

Horsepower:               78 @ 6,000 RPM

Torque:                        74 @ 4,000 RPM

Transmission:                5-speed CVT automatic

Drive:                          FWD Drive

Seating:                       5-passenger

Turning circle:            30.2 feet

Cargo space:               17.2 cubic feet

Curb weight:               2117 pounds

Fuel capacity:               9.2 gallons

EPA mileage:              City 37/Hwy 43

Wheel Base:                 96.5 inches

Warranty:                    5 years / 30,000 miles powertrain limited

Also consider:             Chevrolet Spark, Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, andToyota
Yaris