Coloring Eggs With Natural Dyes: A Recipe Review and Tip Roundup

Egg season is upon us! Whether you are celebrating Easter with a bonnet and a basket, or simply enjoying the ongoing nesting of your backyard birds, springtime is synonymous with The Egg. It’s likely that many of you plan to color eggs over the coming week, for display and hunting this weekend. If you’d like to try something a different than the typical grocery store dye kit, we suggest coloring your eggs with natural ingredients. Naturally dyed eggs will take a bit more work than the store bought kits, but the creativity, shade variations and recipes are almost endless. And, if you’d rather limit the ingestion and exposure of less-than-natural substances for you and your family, this is the way to go!

Bailey & Alex’s Backyard Wedding!

OurLocaltopia was lucky enough to make lunch for Alex and Bailey’s wedding this weekend, which was set amidst fruit trees, garden boxes and succulents  in the garden of their vintage Craftsman bungalow in Old Town Orange.

Thursdays in the Kitchen: An Elegant New Year’s Eve – Final Class of 2013 on 11/21

Hello friends! Don’t forget… on Thursday November 21st at 6pm, we will be hosting the final Thursdays in the Kitchen class of 2013, our “Elegant New Year’s Eve” celebration.  This class will be team taught by Jonathan Duffy Davis and Jonathan Dye and will serve a dual purpose: to explore a wonderful menu of elevated cuisine, perfect for end of the year parties AND to celebrate the success of the Thursdays in the Kitchen series, all while enjoying a fabulous evening!

The Great Squash Soup Duel: Davis vs. Dye

Squash Soup Duel:

The Jonathans Throw Down.

 

As most of you know, the Jonathans are the creative culinary force behind OurLocaltopia. They are each extremely talented cooks, with divergent styles that inform and strengthen each other. Occasionally their differences come out in epic Iron chef style duels, like the one detailed below. I was lucky enough to experience this duel in person, and while I could never pick a decisive winner, the  process was educational and, of course, delicious! Read on for details on two seemingly similar dishes,

Thursdays in the Kitchen are BACK!

Thursdays in the Kitchen: Exploring the Autumn Harvest classes start this week at the Fullerton Arboretum!

Don’t forget, folks! The Jonathans are back on Thursday nights at the Fullerton Arboretum this fall! Our three part, holiday focused cooking series kicks off this week with an Early Fall Dinner Party. The menu

An OLT Field Trip: Farmers Market at The Orange County Great Park

If April is the cruelest month, Sunday may the cruelest day. Mixing relaxation and subtle dread of the coming work week, stirring that border between living and making a living. Luckily, Orange County is ripe with Sunday morning activities that can wring every last drop out of your weekend. The Farmers Market at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine is just such an activity. Held on Sunday mornings, this food, farm and crafts market is worth the trip… a trip that OurLocaltopia recently made. Check out our Great Park Farmers Market report, the edible booty we plundered and the meal it inspired.

Thanks To All Our Tailgaters!

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight to OurLocaltopia’s Tailgating Party at the Yorba Linda Public Library! Check back soon for the recipe packet and more pictures from class. A special thanks to the Library and its great staff for having us!

Fig Jam with Balsamic Vinegar, Made from Backyard Figs: A Recipe & Gallery

Figs! Fresh from the farm. Oh MY.

Fresh backyard figs, washed and cut into quarters.

Figs have, without a doubt, been an overriding force for OurLocaltopia this season.  These tender gems have somehow made their way onto our plates and into our kitchens with alarming regularity lately, and none of us…. none of us can ever seem to turn them down.

Burnt Eggplant with Tahini – A Report, A Recipe and A Photo Gallery

Fresh from the garden

Fair warning, folks, this is an Evelyn post. Evelyn… you know, the non-cooking, non-farming third of OurLocaltopia. I coordinate a bit, and work the computer machines. As some of you know, my interest in local food has always been present, but I fall definitively into the eater category. That is, I’m a patron, a customer, an observer, a consumer… but never a maker, never a cook. Because, frankly, I am a cooking failure.