Fresh Duck Egg Pasta with Swiss Chard....Yum

This one of the most simplest yummy recipes I ever put together and it was a delight to make and eat.

The pasta is so easy to make all you need is 1 1/2 cups of flour, a sprinkle of salt and mix in 2 large duck eggs (preferably from Metzer Farms).
Just knead a bit until smooth and not sticky, sprinkling on flour as needed, then let dough rest as you prepare the rest. Put a pasta pot on to boil.

The smell of mixing the flour with the duck eggs is reminiscent of an expensive durum wheat pasta, which got my taste buds going.

Take 8oz or so of chevre and rub in the bowl where you plan to toss your pasta together with the sauce.

This is a time to multi-task a bit. Start prepping your toppings as the water comes to boil. Roll out your pasta, as thin as you can easily manage, don’t stress if it is thick, it’s just wonderful. Cut into ribbons with a knife. The pasta only takes 4 minutes once it hits the water so see below and time the two to come out at the same time.

My topping is so very simple. Dice the chard part of the Swiss and set aside the leaves. With a bit of olive oil heat your skillet until it is smoking and throw in minced garlic (use as much as you like) 1/2 of a small onion and the diced chard saute until onions are transparent. If you like add a handful of sliced mushrooms and cook until tender. Add onion medium diced tomato and at the last moment wilt the Swiss chard leaves in the pan. If you need to add a bit of water take it from your pasta pot.

Drain, toss and serve. Ahhhhhh..... PS a little parm on top doesn't hurt either!

Old Vines make great Wines and so much more...

If old vines could talk the stories they could tell. Have a bit of history under your glass and create your own memories.

Let's go back through the time machine to 1907 where an Italian family was growing grapes in the prohibition era. These entrepreneurs had a collection of hot rod's where their route (eluding police along the way) extended clear from San Diego all the way up the coast to San Francisco where they sold their "grape juice". After prohibition they started selling their excess grapes to Mondavi, Gallo, and other wine families who were just starting out developing the wine industry into what it is today.

Well I want to talk about another Entrepreneur but from this era. Michael Weiss is a very talented artist whose creative eye was caught by these old vines. Each twisted old vine has it's own personality and it is Michael's aspirations to let their natural beauty out. Usually they come in forms of one-of-a-kind furniture pieces.

As a result he also created these wonderful coasters where, they too, have a natural sculptural feel where their beautiful wood grains and textures make each one a work of art. Each set comes from one piece, cut sequentially. The final step with these handmade coasters is to carefully seal them to resist even the worst of wine spills.

These can be ordered plain or for the industry where you can have your logo handed stamped on each coaster making them as individual as you are. Each set of four comes tied with a red ribbon then carefully wrapped in tissue paper and packed a handsome gift box retailing at $26.00.

All industry orders can be arranged by contacting Deborah Mills at 805.712.0203 or drop an email at landscapediva@gmail.com for prices.

The Plant Detective - Frank’s Black Lilies

Photo's by Frank Starkey

Oh there is nothing like meeting new people and sharing not only friendship, stories but plant material too.

My new friends Barbara and Frank Starkey own this wonderful old historic home when they transformed it into the Carriage House Inn, right here in King City. As a matter of fact, it is the ONLY B & B here. Seeped with history, charm and lot’s of love, Barbara and Frank have created a little piece of heaven here on earth which they share with their guests.

The home was originally built in 1892 by William C. and Birdie Janette Hamilton who was the niece of Charles H. King, founder of King City. In day’s to come much more of King City’s rich past will be explored.

Barbara and I have become email buddies and communicate all the time. I adore her wit and humor towards life and appreciate our new found friendship. In one e-mail she mentioned Frank’s Black Lilies, and wham! The plant detective side of me came out. I just had to see them for myself and I wondered how old these lilies might be. That is a question that both Barbara and Frank pondered too.

The only information Frank had about the lilies was someone identified them as Dracunculus vulgaris. Dracunculus, which in Latin means small dragon taken from the look of the spadix and spathe which appears to look like the tongue of a fire breathing dragon. Vulgaris, which is usually a name given to the most common species in a genus. Common names include, Dragon Arum, Voodoo Lily, Stink Lily or Lily Snake.

I love to find out folklore about plants, especially one’s that are curious in nature and also in name sake. It was thought that the plants were carried on boats to repeal the sea serpents that plagued our oceans many moons ago. Supposedly if you were to carry the roots or leaves it is said they will protect you against vipers and serpents. Also, if you wash your hands in a liquor made from the plant you can handle snakes with impunity!

Originally the plant was found in Greece and in the south western part of Anatolia. Recently introduced to America and can be found thriving in Oregon, California and Tennessee.

It also is native to the Balkans, aside from extending as far as Greece, Crete and the Aegean Islands it is also in the south-western parts of Anatolia.

This odd plant is pollinated by flies not honey bees so when it is ready for pollination the plant produces a smell, well to be frank, like rotten meat or a carcass to attract the flies for pollination. In a couple of days, once pollination is complete the smell stops but I still wouldn’t recommend planting it next to a front door or window. Even though the bloom is beautiful I still wouldn’t recommend it as a cut flower.

With Frank by my side we took a tour of the rest of the garden. In the back was this fascinating tree, which to me didn’t really look like a palm. Well I set out on a mission to find out what this wonderful plant specimen was. I put word out to my horticultural friends and sure enough, Dutch Vanderwort pointed me down the right garden path.

This delightful tree is actually named Dicksonia antarctica commonly named “Soft tree fern” or “Tasmanian tree fern” which originally comes from Australia and is a true fern, not a tree but grows into the form of a tree with a single trunk. Dicksonia is a genus of “tree ferns” in the order Cyatheales. There are fossil records that include stems, pinnules and spores of these beautiful plants dating back at least to the primitive Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

This commonly known evergreen tree fern is found growing throughout the forests of eastern Australia, Tasmania and some sub-Antarctica islands (hence the name Antarctica) where temperatures seldom rise above 65° F. It has also been found thriving in the lower Alpine zones in Australia too.

This temperate tree fern species of Dicksonia (in it’s native setting) is probably one of the largest, where normally they get 20 feet in height but given the ideal setting with lot’s of moisture it can reach 50 feet in height! It’s trunk can also reach a couple of feet in diameter, with it‘s fronds easily reaching a spread of 20 feet. Growth habit’s are relatively slow anywhere from one inch to three inches per year, depending on conditions, these tree ferns sometimes have a life span of 400 years or so.

This tree fern is very popular in sheltered garden environments in Britain but can be found in the US residing well in the south coast of Oregon. Given the proper environment with plenty of water it will grow from central Texas eastward in the United States as well as California’s hot Central Valley. This adaptable species can survive in these hotter regions if provided shade and a sheltered micro-climate.

In Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties Dicksonia antarctica is slow growing, that in time will reach 15 feet in height. It is also not uncommon for the spread to reach 6 to 10 feet since this tree fern has many arching fronds that are divided into many small toothed leaflets, creating a nice full head. It’s general toughness also enables it to make for a good indoor specimen. As usual, this special plant will not be found in your local garden nurseries but most likely in a specialty, mail-order plant nursery.

As to dating these two plants? In my research I believe the Franks black lilies are probably 15 years old. As to the “Soft tree fern” based on it’s height, it could be as old as 30 years maximum but most likely, due to our climate and where the plant is, it is probably around 20 years old. It is my thoughts though, the previous owners of the home had a flair for oddity plants and they were probably planted at the same time period.

Yet another plant mystery solved but now I am trying to date the roses that are so prominent at my home.

Why Does Bread Go Stale? (It’s not just drying out!)

Photo courtesy of LoveFoodCookFood Bake on Jenn!



Sometimes it's nice to have a guest writer and today I have the talented Mark S Whitehead BSc Hons who is not only a food chemist but an avid baker himself. This has been an age-old question and now it is finally answered!

Normal white bread contains a lot of starch – in the order of 45-50%. Whilst bread contains many other nutrients (e.g. protein) and fibre, it’s the starch content that is important in bread staling.

Starch

Starch is a very long chain of almost circular glucose molecules joined together. The number of glucose molecules (called “residues” in labs) in the chain varies but in bread wheat it’s in the thousands, 15,000 being on the low side.
In the grain, these long chains lie more or less parallel for long stretches and are attracted to each other. This attraction, although not always a full chemical bond, is still moderately strong.


When we add water to starch and then heat it, the chains tend to break away from their straight-line format and form curves and waves. They are still attached to each other, but not nearly as much, and molecules of water often lie between the chains for much of their length. This allows bread to have its “fluffy” consistency.


Firming Up

The bending and curving of the chains is brought about by heat of the oven and is kept that way, to an extent, by the water from the dough. Chains of protein, also in the wheat, behave in much the same way though not to the same extent. This is why a still-warm loaf is not very firm and tears easily.
As the bread cools and some more of the water evaporates, the chains pull a little closer together and the bread gets its normal firmness.

Staling

Whilst the starch can’t move much once the bread is cool, it can still move to a small extent. It is not held in rigid lines, so the bread remains flexible. However, the starch “wants” to get back into its original shape with the long chains parallel and attached to each other. It can do this only gradually and the water molecules, which are strongly attracted to the starch chains, get in the way.
However, over time the starch can get some of what it wants. Some parts of the chains can get parallel again firming up the bread a bit more. Eventually, given enough time, lots of the chains go back (“retrograde” if you listen to food scientists) to their original state. The bread becomes firmer, and as it is no longer closely attached to the starch, water will evaporate and the bread will become dry and firm.
This is what we call “staling”.

Preventing Staling

In most bread recipes, there is some fat – oil, lard, butter or something similar. This stops the water moving around so much, leaving it attached to the starch chains, and gets in the way of the starch chains when they try to come back together. This is what prevents immediate staling.
The fat also stops, or at least slows down, the movement of the water that is attracted to the starch chains. The water also helps stop the chains coming back together. However, as the bread dries out, there is less water to keep the chains apart. This makes it easier for the chains to meet up again. You don’t need to lose much water to allow your bread to become stale. It will manage to do this eventually, but the less water the easier it is for the starch to retrograde.

What To Do With Stale Bread

The usual thing to do is to chuck it out. However, if it’s your last cob and you’re starving, just heat it up a little – a microwave will do the job well. The heating causes the chains to flex out of their parallel state and the bread becomes edible again. However, you don’t get all that long, as you’ll lose some water when you re-heat the bread, thus allowing it to go stale that much quicker.
You can also use it for toast (and many people say that slightly stale bread makes better toast) or as a “trencher” – a warmed “slab” of bread that has some kind of moist, hot food on top, such as a casserole.

Color in the Landscape

Have you ever wondered why some gardens are attractive and soothing while others appear disjointed, busy and even a bit disturbing? The answer lies in one word: design.

Appealing gardens have the same elements as beautiful paintings: Good composition, balance, color and perspective are the elements of any successful work of art, on canvas or living.


If your present garden is just a flat stretch of barren land, it can be a lot easier to create a work of art, but what if you are already dealing with a mature landscape? The easiest way to enhance your existing garden (aside from ripping out the entire landscape) is to focus on the use of color.

A simple and safe way to establish (or re-establish) your garden color scheme is to start with the colors of your background.

The house, paving and fence, whether warm redwood or white painted wood, all are part of your color scheme. Even colors in the distant background affect your color design.

Views from the interior of the house also should be considered.

Colors sets the tone or mood of a landscape and is a matter of personal taste. Color is affected by its surroundings, and its character is affected when you put another color next to it. For instance, a pale green often will seem warmer and darker against a cool blue background than it would if placed next to a bright orange, where it takes on a cool, bluish tinge.

Certain colors appear to jump out while others seem to recede. Generally speaking, warm, strong colors such as bright red or vibrant orange seem to push forward while cooler, muted tones of gray, green and blue seem to set back.

If you want a quiet, restful setting, you may favor harmonious colors, especially those in the duller or neutral zones such as gray-green, gray-blue, dull violets and dusty pinks.

For an exciting, lively, warm atmosphere, you might turn to complementary colors such as yellow, orange, red and blue. The contrast of these colors placed side by side creates a bold, bright statement.

One solution to avoid costly landscape mistakes is to experiment with potted plants to help you develop a successful color scheme that works for you.

Consider that contrasts need not always be vivid. By using soft, subdued shades of complementary colors, you can still achieve a contrast with a refined ambiance.

Blue has a cool, refreshing quality and is especially welcome in warm climates because it suggests sky, sea and lakes. Blue needs the accent provided by flowers of complementary or contrasting colors such as yellow and orange.

Pinks, particularly the soft and salmon pinks, are good companions for clear blues. White adds sparkle to these combinations.

In general, reds are uncomfortable in combination with blue but a red that leans toward the yellow side can be very effective.

Gray makes most colors sing and tones down those that shout.

Gaudy reds take on a smart sophistication when supported by plants with gray foliage. Gray also brings out a hidden sparkle in quiet colors and creates harmonious transitions.

IfIf you live on the Central Coast Please call me for a free design consultation or a plant health care walk through. I can be reached at 805.712.0203

Vineyards, Venues and Vows

Mary Allegreta - Butler Owner of Joyfully Joined

Oh, in these days of the upcoming wedding season; it is only appropriate to discuss what many are faced with when taking their wedding vows. This time of celebration and union is sought by many to be held on the Central Coast of California. A dream of all dreams, a day to remember forever, at one of our fabulous vineyard venues however;there are a few things to take into consideration before booking that date. The conditions of what makes for good wine (grapes) can be a bit taxing on those who simply want to celebrate amongst it's beauty. Remember the goal is to have family and friends gather in an environment that enhances the gift of nature with elegance, and with a touch of class but without having nature take over and spoil the party.

I myself being on the Central Coast for almost seven years, have a bit of insight to the needs of the Bride and Groom to be. At the forefront, the most important person you can have is the best-of-the-best Event Planner. I personally recommend Mary Allegretta - Butler, owner of Joyfully Joined. She has been professionally trained through the Association of Certified Professional Wedding Consultants and it is her, that I give my hat off to. She has been a Wedding and Event Coordinator on the Central Coast for the past decade with an extensive background in Event Management and experience being the On-site Event Coordinator at numerous prestigious venues in the the area, such as the Inn at Morro Bay, Ventana Grill and The Carlton Hotel.


I met Mary many years ago at Villa Toscana when she headed up all special events at this five star B&B and I decided she would be the key person for me to interview when it comes to Vineyards, Venues and Vows, Part I, Tips on Selecting the Proper Venue- Mary and I discussed at length her insights coupled with my insights and agree on many when choosing an appropriate outside venue for your celebration.

We were in agreement that on the Central Coast, the typical time of year for an outdoor wedding happens in-between late March through October months. She refers to the most current years Farmers Almanac to see what conditions have been in past years history to minimize Mother Nature taking a hand in the celebration.

As to the time of day, the earlier in the year, the earlier the ceremony should take place. Early afternoon is best in-between the hours of 2 and 4pm. Come summer months, early evening time, around 5 or 6pm. Later Starts however, may allow you less time to celebrate at most venues if they are with-in city limits due to the city ordinance rule where all events must conclude at 10pm. If you plan your event outside of city limit's you may be able to celebrate longer but it is important to know this upfront prior to booking your venue.

First and foremost, it is important to realize that if you choose the Central Coast Wine Country for your venue, that we are inland and not on the coast so NO over-cooking of your guests should be allowed. Think, shade, shade and shade! Though the months of July and August makes for ideal grapes when the sun is high and the heat is dry, it can also greatly effect your wedding guests. No one wants to be stuck roasting, waiting in the hot sun for the groom and bride to appear, especially Grandma and Grandpa. There is the option to put up free standing umbrellas that may only shade some areas but keep in mind they also make for unsightly wedding photographs. Choose a venue that provides the relief from the sun's rays for both ceremony and reception e.g think "Pergola" to accommodate everyone.

Also a point to keep in mind, not only in Paso Robles but areas in Monterey County towards summer months the winds tend to pick up later in the day, which could lead to problems with not only the ceremony but the reception if it is held outside in a courtyard or open area.

During certain months, critter populations maybe up and will be out. When the venue is heavily in bloom be sure to know the bees are soon to follow! Often times in summer, when there is not much moisture, ants may be seen in areas where food is continuously served and there may be flies if farm animals are in the nearby area. During harvest time (October) fruit flies are seen everywhere.

Terrain is certainly an important factor when choosing a venue. Its important to consider how your guests will travel from parking their cars(or being shuttled in) to each transition of activities (ceremony to cocktail hour to dinner and dancing). Most venues have grass, which are not ideal for women in heels. Loose gravel, rocks may cause difficulty for those wheeling elderly or infants. Check to see if the venue is hilly or uneven and always find out from venue manager/owners what options you have in making it as comfortable as possible for your guests.

Another important feature is proper lighting. This can make or break an event as well, not only for looks but as well as safety. Mary recommends visiting the venue prior to booking ,during the day and then again in the evening to see what light is existing and what should be additionally brought in.

Keep in mind too that Mother Nature is always in charge and you are at her mercy when you opt for an outdoor event. Certainly consider having an indoor refuge in the case of inclement weather.Regardless if that protection be a tent,a banquet room, or even a covered overhang from a building at the venue. Providing a dry area for your guests can save your day from turning into a disaster.

Always think, Plan A, Plan B and maybe a C when it comes to taking your vows within nature.