Tag Archives: soup

St. Helena – California

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The City of St. Helena is located in the center of the world famous wine growing Napa Valley, 65 miles north of San Francisco. The area was settled in 1834 as part of General Vallejo’s land grant. The City of St. Helena was incorporated as a City on March 24, 1876 and reincorporated on May 14, 1889.

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The St. Helena area was home to the Wappo people, a Yukian-speaking group who were the area’s earliest inhabitants. The local Callajomanes tribelet village was called Annakotanoma or Anakanoma and was located where Sulphur Creek meets the Napa River. The earliest white settlers in St. Helena were John York, who lived on what is now Dean York Lane, and David Hudson, whose house is still located at Beringer Winery.

We loved the quaint feel of the town and so appreciated that the old buildings were kept in their original manner

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We were planning to have lunch at  the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone

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….but alas…..they were closed!!!!

We came upon COOK and decided that the place was perfect for a lunch break..

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We loved the décor and found the wait staff to be relaxed and friendly..

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The Menu was quite lovely and promised all sorts of delights…

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The Kitchen was open so the Tin Man went to investigate the happenings…

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A cozy table was found and the culinary journey began…

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The faux trophy in the lobby was beautiful…

california 326 Of course then it was off to the streets to find a sweet something…….

Oh look…….The Model Bakery……..

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It is lovely here in St. Helena ……but we must get back to Napa and have dinner….

Beautiful Vineyards ……..

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So……….finally some food!……….Dinner in downtown Napa..at Celadon..in the Historic Napa Mill

Lovely rustic environment and first class service…..

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Sangria…….Soup………Crab Cakes……….Mussels……..ah perfection…

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It has been a day filled with culinary delights…….hope you are ready for a nap……..I am!

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Visiting the Neighbors – Enjoying the Garden

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The Garden Gate

  We have a big garden and try to grow plants that we can harvest and enjoy all year round.

Today, I decided to see what the neighbors were up to….

…I had seen them busy with their homes over the past few weeks…..

They were all occupied inside so I went on to visit the other neighbors………….

They expressed their dismay at my not bringing any vegetable scraps or at least some weed pullings so I moved on…..

the magnolia has been blooming so wonderfully this year…..

We have had several years of very harsh weather and this Spring and Summer have been filled with mild temperatures and wonderful rain so you can see the flowers giving thanks…….

 

The Gardner found this beauty on the property and brought it home to enjoy.

We are still harvesting Artichokes, so many that we have decided to let some bloom and enjoy the wonderful flowers…..
………..you do remember The Demoniac Vegetable – Artichokes blog post don’t you??!?

………but enough of all this let’s go to the garden….

all sorts of wonders…..corn, green beans, okra, white onions, yellow onions, red onions, cabbage……oh my!

………and then yummy cabbage…..when you garden organically, even the bugs get to eat a little…….


………almost ready for the kitchen…….


….the Fennel so prolific, we are unable to eat all the bulbs….

..now blooming and producing seed…….yum, more for next year……


..the carrots peeking out…..


….beautiful peaches…hopefully the squirrels won’t eat them all……..


….Figs…..they never make it out of the garden….we eat them right off the trees..

..this tree is from a cutting from my Great Grandmother’s tree……sigh…..


..even pears this year……..yippee….

More Sqaush growing

Elmer beat me to the Garden and has harvested this morning’s Yellow Crook Neck Squash and Honduran Beans. Here they are nestled in his shirt.

The Herbs are going wild…….for years I so longed for fresh herbs and now I have a jungle of them….

..sometimes I wish I was a cat so I could just roll around in them and enjoy the beautiful fragrances……

Beautiful Basil

…….Omnipotent Oregano……..

…..Timid…..yet Terrific Thyme……

…..Tender Tarragon……..

….Powerful and Potent Papalo….

…………back to the kitchen…….the rains are starting again……

………the counter full of garden goodies…….green beans…….

 
…….marvelous……..magnificant………beets….

……..cabbage already in the steamer……..

……then the final creation…….Augustine has worked his magic on the wonders from the garden and produced a Magnificent Vegetable Soup…..complete with garnish of Jalapenos, Fresh Lemon and Avocado………

…..I saved you a bowl…..wish you could join me……