Thursday Night Pomelo Sour

I mentioned a cocktail during our class on Tuesday that I have been making with some of pomelos and I thought that a recipe might be in order. I am but a budding bartender but I think that this cocktail is a really good one. I believe that it technically falls into “sour” family of drinks – spirit + citrus + sweetener + egg white – but we’re not going to use egg whites (pomelo juice foams up fine

Making Your Own Preserved Lemons

People who like to eat and to cook are crazy about preserved lemons, but I must confess that before the “Thursdays in the Kitchen: Cooking with Lemon” class at the Fullerton Arboretum,  I had never even eaten them. With a heavy lemon crop on the branches and the need for a subject to film in my kitchen at home, I decided to make this short film. Thanks to Jonathan Dye and Alicia Hitchcock for the inspiration!

Want to make your own batch? It’s easy. Follow these short directions and watch the posted video…

French Bistro Cooking, this Thursday at Fullerton Arboretum

Getting excited the upcoming Thursdays in the Kitchen: French Bistro Cooking class at the Fullerton Arboretum. Jonathan Dye will be demonstrating a mouthwatering menu of beloved French classics and Jonathan Davis will be talking to us about what local, seasonal ingredients we can…

Cooking With Lemon at Thursdays in the Kitchen

Last week’s class at the Fullerton Arboretum was much sweeter than its staring fruit. Farmer Jonathan Duffy Davis gave us a primer on lemon ecology and why this ubiquitous fruit is under appreciated. Then, Jonathan Dye and Alicia Hitchcock showcased an amazing menu that included…

A Love Affair With Lemons

Any time of year – any type of lemon –  my attention is centered.  With the 2^nd class in our culinary series fast approaching, I am excited to be revisiting favorite recipes and an AMAZING ingredient in preparation for Thursday the 31^st at the Fullerton Arboretum.  We’re going to explore at least six recipes in class this week in which lemon is the “star” ingredient – but I am MOST excited by two of our selections…

First Class: Southern California Cool Season Cuisine

The stalks of Rhubarb snapped as I twisted them free from the base of the plant that I put in the ground over 18 months ago. Later in the evening this rhubarb would be folded into a cake batter to provide tart contrast to a sweet walnut streusel and crunchy crumb. Our guests were coming not only to eat, but to learn a bit about cooking by watching us prepare a seasonal meal.

I am passionate about growing fantastic food and I am lucky enough to do so for a living. My journey into small-scale agriculture began four years ago at Fullerton Arboretum, a botanical garden in north Orange County. Today, the eastern acres of Fullerton Arboretum include 16,000 square feet of vegetable beds, a new orchard filled with nearly 200 young fruit trees, and an apiary (bee hives). The intense and often mundane physical labor and the searing Southern Californian summers made a tentative farmer of me at first. I can no longer imagine a life that doesn’t involve growing food.