artichokes, breaded and trimmed
With only a vague idea of what Saturday might bring, I made a speck sandwich (this is the beautiful La Quercia Speck Americano you may be able to find near you) after yoga and waited for my wonderful friend Margaret and her family to arrive.
Another stop in downtown Santa Cruz for our friend Stephanie and her daughter Amanda, and then our boisterous carful was off to Pescadero for the town’s annual day of barn sales.
Amanda, Zsa, and Madeline whispered in the backseat until we arrived,
we all smiled at the day ahead,
and especially as Roman freestyled down the road,
as we approached the goats and dairy shop at Harley Farms.
There were goats to meet (I think this is Tony the Goat with Zsa Zsa),
near a great sign for edible flowers,
and my favorite blue edible flower, borage,
was growing near the fence that was painted (like the buildings) with goat cheese, a usual paint choice in the nineteenth century.
Upstairs at Harley Farms they hold monthly farm dinners,
and five courses begin after you tour the farm (sounds lovely).
Close to the goats at Harley Farms, large fields of vintage objects awaited—
Stephanie and I found an old pressing machine,
Margaret showed Roman a dragon’s flight path,
Stephanie found books for a side project she intends to pursue (Stephanie pursues things with admirable and directed intention),
and Zsa Zsa, Amanda, and Madeline negotiated for Barbies. (I’d like Summer Splendor Barbie’s outfit, especially the hat.)
Pescadero is known for Arcangeli’s Grocery and the artichoke bread they sell warm with a crispy crust and whole artichokes baked inside, and I now understand why the bread is worth the drive.
I’ll likely always remember standing in the sun on Pescadero’s main street with Margaret and Stephanie, wise women and mothers both, tearing off pieces, dipping the bread in a spread of artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes, and listening to bluegrass as the girls continued the Barbie negotiations…
Later that afternoon, I drove to Los Angeles to celebrate the day with other amazing women in my life. Saturday night we gathered at fire-station-turned-bar Edendale Grill to raise a glass to LJ’s next adventures (Laura has just begun a fun new gig befitting her passion for all things pop culture).
On Sunday morning, Laura and I were happy to hear Leftover Cuties playing the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market (video I took of them covering “At Last” a few months ago), the lead singer with her signature apple maraca that seemed particularly appropriate to the venue.
Children danced while their parents watched and talked at this very social market,
Laura and I did an initial market lap, comparing peaches, wondering about these artichokes, which are trimmed for steaming a day ahead of the market, revealing their purplish insides.
Laura’s friend Amy met us soon after,
and I sipped a coconut (the Planet Raw food stand will later halve the fruit so you can spoon out the lovely coconut meat),
and we made our way through daunting omelettes.
We watched passersby eat juicy pluots from the closest stand and stopped for a few on our way out of the market,
and I watched the sweet drummer let kids bang the Leftover Cuties’ drum kit, crashing away into the late morning as Laura and I strolled back to Venice for a beach day and Broadway night, catching the cast of “In the Heights” at Pantages Theatre with LJ.
Over dinner, we talked of the New York that Laura frequently visits, the one LJ soon returns to for a month or so, and the one I drive back toward in just a few weeks…
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010, 4:45 pm * Filed in Food, garden, Market, Santa Cruz, Travel. * Tags: california, kristen, kthread, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 21st, 2010 at 7:50 am
Wow, I wish I were getting the culinary experiences that these kids have. (Also, totally jealous of the name “Zsa Zsa”) I’m pretty sure that when I was their age, I *begged* my mom to give me Lunchables and fruit roll-ups in my lunch…
July 21st, 2010 at 9:02 am
They do have awesome moms, so that helps—also, beautiful fruit is widely available in California and makes for a good sugar option. I’m jealous too, Mica, but at least we’ve found our way later in life…