Sonoma Country Life

Pizza and Politics in Petaluma

Look who I captured on my phone cam whilst strolling homeward along B Street, in West Petaluma yesterday afternoon. None other than the flour-fingered, politically involved Naomi of Pizza Politana as she deftly dealt with a mound of the day's softest, fluffy, white dough for a fleet of delicious, wood oven artisan pizzas to please the crowd at Lynn Woolsey for Congress fundraiser at Petaluma Women's Club. With supporters from all over the North Bay in town for the afternoon, Pizza Politana was a warm welcome to Petaluma, showcasing the best of the best of our regional produce and family owned business. After all, that's what it's all about.

Men in Purple - Pressing of the New Wine

Having just slightly miscalculated the volume of juice he was about to extract in the garagiste's lair last night, the Italian husband was fortunate to have the help of a few good men (in purple - hands, feet, shirts!) to force the season's new wine through traditional press and into the barrel beyond.

And it just goes to show that German muscle, determination and technology (in the form of good friend, Rob Brockman, who innocently 'popped'  by to see the action en route to Cucina Paradiso for a civilized Friday night dinner with Karen) does succeed in kicking the casual Italians into top gear.

After shedding top layers (to keep clean for his supper at Cucina!), Rob was a one-man power house at the press, squeezing at least a couple more gallons than would have emerged had he not been on the spot and willing to get stuck in!

Pressing the new wine is a messy affair, let me tell you. Not for the faint of heart and certainly not for the house proud when the wine making process takes place at home.

What a massive sigh of relief when the last drop has been officially declared and our friend Mike hauls away the shallow skins for his happy cows.

It's done and dusted for another year, with the garagiste hard at it this morning with a power washer and a wicked clean up mission.

Noelle's Big Night - Petaluma Businesswoman and Women's Initiative Grad Award Winner

Three huge cheers for Petaluma's own Noelle Marshall of One Planet Global Handcrafted Fair Trade Store who scooped a major award for women in business from the Bay Area Women's Initiative - Marin County.

Noelle, a graduate of the ultra-educational, motivational and ultimately empowering Women's Initiative Program was recognized at a special red-carpet ceremony at Marin's R.A.B Motors, along with eight other outstanding North Bay Women in Business, including the Book Passage's Elaine Petrocelli, Bernice Baeza of Larkspur's Lark Theater, Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell of Equator Coffees, Kim Juarez of LOLA, Lydia Kindheart of Lydia's Organics and Lydia's Lovin Foods, Mary Loveland of Indigo Healing Arts, Molly Robbins of LicenZing and Serena Dugan and Lily Kanter of Serena and Lily.

The evening's presentation highlighted North Bay women in business at the plethora of successful entrepreneurship within the community alongside fledgling entrepreneurs such as Noelle, who share a common ground of embracing business models that give back through job creation, mentoring, innovation and visionary community outreach.

To shop for the holiday season from Bar Area Womens Initative member businesses, check out the wi orange pages  and help create quality jobs for future Women's Initiative Graduates by boosting the ability for current business owners to continue to inspire and mentor thousands of new members looking to establish new businesses each year. 

Noelle is readying for a busy holiday shopping season, as more and more of the community look to Fair Trade goods as a more meaningful way to gift and to recieve. Stop by to congratulate Noelle and have a browse goods from more than 20 developing countries at 4 Fourth Street in historic downtown Petaluma.

Dickens Dominates Upcoming Holiday Festivities

Consumed today's first reviews of Disney's A Christmas Carol with baited breath in case Dickens' most beloved, Victorian holiday story had been mishandled in any small way. With modern animation magician Robert Zemeckis (The Polar Express) at the helm and the one and only Jim Carrey infiltrating the very soul of Scrooge, the critics have been frolicking around like Fezziwig at the warehouse, leaping to new heights to applause the season's most anticipated cinematic offering.

Told the boys we'd wait until the holidays were actually here to head downtown to the Boulevard Theater and claim our seats for the festive ride of the year, though after absorbing the reviews I seriously doubt my own self-will to wait that long.

My soft spot for Dickens and his A Christmas Carol is revealed via my own particularly English brand of 'dulcet tones' , recorded at the 800 line for the upcoming San Francisco Great Dickens Christmas Fair! Call toll free on (800) 510-1558 for info and directions and details on how to pre-purchase tickets for the most fantastic Victorian Christmas card come to life:

FOUR WEEKENDS
including the FRIDAY
after Thanksgiving!
Fri. Nov. 27 thru
Sun. Dec. 20, 2009
11am-7pm
In the Cow Palace
Exhibition Halls

 It's one thing to immerse ourselves in the deep, dark depths of candlelit London in the comfort of a cinema auditorium and quite another thing altogether to wander the lamplit streets of the fantastic Dickens Fair, brushing shoulders with the literary likes of Nancy and Oliver, Mr Fezziwig and his family, even the maestro himself is approachable to the time-traveling visitor willing to participate in real life, festive living history of the unbeatable Victorian variety.

And while I'm on the subject, I'm just wrapping up a read of author Mathew Pearl's "The Last Dickens" which I picked up on a mad dash through Heathrow Aiport en-route back to California from England romps this summer. It sat on my bedside table for quite some time as I ploughed through a pile of great books that took me on a literary tour of various regions of the world. Waiting for the air to chill, Dickens would have his way before the winter and Pearl's novel, fictional approach to uncovering the mysteries of Dickens' unfinished, final "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" has forged an exceptionally fascinating link between the epic writer's extraordinary successes in the USA and the inspiration behind his enduring characters.  

2009 Community Crush Season at Petaluma's McEvoy Olive Ranch

 

The rush to crush may be over in the wine world here in Sonoma County, but the next mad dash is hot on its heels - for Tuscan-varietal olive trees are a ripe for the picking and Petaluma's magical McEvoy Ranch makes it ever-so-easy for producing community crush oil.

In addition to milling McEvoy's own olive fruit, the ranch offers its Rapanelli mill and expert oil makers to other growers in the region. "We can mill your olives with our stone wheels or with one of our two blade mills. Our commitment to making high quality oil continues in our custom milling program, giving our customers the best possible oil that can be made from their fruit," says the web site for the scenic west Petaluma ranch positioned right along the border with West Marin off the D Street extension.

Due to the size of the McEvoy mill there is a 250 lb minimum for individual custom milling; those growers with fewer than 250 lbs of olives are invited to join one of two 2009 community mill days: Sunday November 15 or Sunday December 5. Price per lb of fruit: $1.00

For customers with small quantities of fruit who want to pool together with other growers, Tuscan olive varieties and all other varieties will be milled in two separate batches. Arrive between 9 and 12 p.m on either Sunda, preferably having picked your fruit the day before milling, keeping it dry and cool.

Alternatively, charge is $450.00/ton for custom milling (250 lb minumum) and the McEvoy mill is open from late-October to mid-December. Reservations can be made with Shari DeJoseph (shari@mcevoyranch.com 707-769-4100.

Bring your own oil containers (well-marked with your name) unless you would like to purchase them from McEvoy Ranch. Plan on 1 gallon from approximately 60 to 80 lbs of fruit depending on the overall ripeness.Fruit will be weighed and charged accordingly upon acceptance. Due to the amount of time to calculate and divide up everybody’s share of the oil, the following Tuesday is the designated pick-up day.

If the weather is looking wet, be sure to check with Samantha Dorsey at 707-769-4123 or samantha@mcevoyranch.com.

Fruit which is very badly damaged by olive fly will not be included in the milling and leaves must be thoroughly discarded. Thanks to Teela Ridgeway for reminding me and many more Tuscan olive tree growers in and around west Petaluma to get on with our annual harvest and participate. Teela is a passionate protector of the Petaluma olives, having launched a program last year to hand pick practically every unwanted specimen in town in order to protect growers like herself and husband Mike from having to endure a potential olive fly infestation that would swiftly swamp the area. It is really imperative not to leave unwanted olive fruit hanging or rotting on the ground. And why would you when the offer to conveniently produce your own house oil awaits at McEvoy?

Yard Dogs Roadshow - Bringing Vaudeville Back Where it Belongs

Scooped up a couple of the last handful of hot tickets for the sensational Yard Dogs Road Show which rip-roar-romanced the vintage boards of  Petaluma's historic downtown Mystic Theater appropriately the night before Halloween.

Yard Dogs Road Show  :"Born from the saloon vaudeville that toured the Wild West in the late 1800's and slammed into the underworld of modern American road culture" was as close a revival of the original theater's era imaginable to modern day show goers such as myself. A wild ride back through time to the unbeatable music-hall culture of Victorian underworld.

Creating: "a timeless space for the union of ancient theatrical alchemy and modern pop culture," the troupe of ultra-talented originals might best be described as a rare breed of intimate Rocky Horror Picture Show come Dickens Fair/Cirque du Soleil salon.

Self described as a 'hobo cabaret - a living patchwork of vaudeville and rock and roll', the yard Dogs Road Show was outrageously entertaining, quite simply the best thing to come to the Mystic in my book in years.

Vaudeville theater originated in London as Music Hall in the mid 1800s -  concert of songs, ribald, sentimental and patriotic with comedians, dancers, acrobats and conjurors being added to the mix as more and more members of the public partook in exhuberant audience participation of now legendary whooping and hollaring - plenty of which was heard in the halls of the Mystic on Friday night, as the troupe's illustrious individuals shocked and astonished a lively crowd. 

Petaluma High School Theater Group Performs Neil Simon's Comedic Plaza Suite

Tony Award winner for best director of a play, Neil Simon's 1968 Plaza Suite consists of three acts, each involving different characters in Suite 719 of New York City's legendary Plaza Hotel.

Petaluma High School Theater Group takes on this brillant, hilarious comedy for six shows running November  12, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21st at 7pm. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and seniors.

Meet not-so-blissfully wedded couple Sam and Karen Nash,as they revisit their honeymoon suite in an all-out attempt to rekindle their marriage in Visitor From Mamaroneck. In Visitor from Hollywood, movie producer Jesse Kiplinger and his old flame, suburban housewife Muriel Tate have the suite to themselves for old times sake while married couple Roy and Norma Hubley deal with all sorts of slapstick shenanigans on their daughter Mimsey's wedding day in Visitor from Forest Hills.

Petaluma High School is located at 201 Fair Street, West Petaluma.

Calm Waters Predicted for Dropping Anchor Along D Street This Halloween

Hoist the mainsail and head for Cavity Cove along Petaluma's famous D Street this sultry Saturday (October 31st) for ship-shape Halloween romps with the natives.

Captain Jack and his cabin crew have been up all night a'fixing the island greeting in time for a steady stream of thousands seeking some seriously delicious golden doubloons. 

See you in the slipstream, me hearties....

To Be or Not to Be

Come clean, are you a Halloween enthusiast or not? Have you been planning your look for the past six weeks or will you be one of the many friends and neighbors showing up at my door tomorrow begging for a forage in the costume box?

It's slim pickings at this stage, as the boys have had at it, draping sofas, chairs and any clear surface inside of the house with scrunched up wigs and gold, lame bomber jackets, tatty old fake fur coats, an Elvis suit, pirate attire of various shapes and sizes, face paint, fake blood (all over the bathroom counter, thanks for that), Renaissance shirts and rapper glasses. It's all coming together, in a haphazard, somewhat eccentric sort of way. At least that's what I'm told. And the fantastic thing about the offspring all being of double digits in age at this stage, is that I haven't had to go traipsing around town and county in search of some random essential costuming element.

We all here in the house remember the oldest's rather unfortunate eighth grade Edward Scissorhands episode. Then there was a series of masks, Austin Powers, that sort of thing. Way too sweaty, ultimately distressing and almost totally vision impairing to parade safely up and down D Street.

Whatever mish-mash of a creative outfit comes out of the door for last ever elementary school parade is A OK with moi. It's only been about 14 million years since the oldest was at kindergarten, maybe I should be sporting a cave woman outfit in recognition of my tenure in line to view the annual grade-school parade?

As for me, I'm still thinking along the lines of historical Petaluma chicken ranch proprietress, but haven't decided if I need to hard boil the eggs first? Italian husband tends to look at me cross eyed whenever I bring up the concept. Think he'd prefer the French Maid approach, but why be boring with such rich, cultural heritage to call on? I know, how about exhausted English/American mother, sporadic writer and wife with faint image of ghostly, golf-club toting Italian Husband somewhere in the far outreaches of background? That might be a good one.

Calling All Crockpot Recipes

Calling all crockpot cooks from Petaluma and beyond. Please take a few minutes to email your favorite crockpot recipe to littlepepper16@hotmail.com.

"We had such a wonderful gathering at the Peterson Farm," says Krista Gawronski of the Petaluma Fabulous (Fundraising) Women Group. "We supported COTS, raising over a thousand dollars for our local Committee on the Shelterless Organization.  We are in the process of putting recipe books together for the transitional homes.....We plan on giving each home a book along with a new crock-pot.  The gesture is perfect as we enter the cold season.  I did get several recipes for soup and crock-pot meals, but we are still in need of more recipes.  It takes a few moments.......but you'll feel good knowing that you were a part of this project.  We aren't just donating money, we are sharing, teaching and influencing lifestyle changes.  I'm putting the books together with a few women on Thursday night.  Please send your recipes before then."