Monthly Archives: June 2008

A Mustards Celebration

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Before Yountville became home to more Michelin stars per capita than any other city in the world, there was Mustards Grill.

At a time when Yountville wasn’t exactly a dining paradise, Chef-Owner Cindy Pawlycn created the landmark restaurant at the gateway to Wine Country a quarter century ago. There, she deftly began serving her own blend of California cuisine with global influences in a come-as-you-are, laid-back atmosphere.

Pawlcyn went on to become a James Beard award-winning cookbook author, and chef-owner of Go Fish in St. Helena, and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen also in St. Helena.

Throughout June, Mustards celebrates its 25th anniversary by bringing back a menu of greatest hits, as well as wine selections from its early years. Look for grilled sweetbreads with lemon, parsley, and caper brown butter (1986); tea-smoked Peking duck with 100-almond-onion sauce (1992); and lemon-lime tart with “ridiculously tall brown sugar meringue” (1998).

Cocktail Time

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With pricey, fancy cocktails all the rage at Bay Area restaurants, why not learn how to make your own?

You can at a series of mixology classes at the Bay Club in San Francisco and other member Western Athletic Clubs. The classes are being taught by H. Joseph Ehrmann of San Francisco’s cocktail saloon, Elixir. The next class is “Farmers Market Summer Cocktails” at the Bay Club in San Francisco. The two sessions for that class are: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., both on June 18.

Price is $85 for members; $100 for non-members. For reservations, click here.

Find More Of Food Gal

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Today marks my debut column in the weekly Metro newspaper, which serves the South Bay/Peninsula. It’s called, appropriately enough, “A Girl’s Gotta Eat.” (Like the caricature?). It will appear on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in Metro. I hope you’ll join me each month as I explore the interesting and scrumptious world of food.

You also can find out why a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in Sunnyvale holds a special place in my heart. “Words Without Borders,” an online magazine for international literature, graciously asked food bloggers around the world to write stories this month to spotlight the connection between food and culture. You can read my contribution here.

Cookies You’ll Want to Bake Even When You Don’t Feel Like Baking

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Triple Play Peanut Butter Cookies

I love to bake.

I bake when I’m happy. I bake when I need to relax. I bake when I’m frustrated. I bake when I’m sad.

With just one exception.

Last year, when my Dad passed away on President’s Day, I stopped baking for months. It took awhile for me to even realize I hadn’t taken out my baking books like usual, leafed through recipes, stirred up cookie dough in a big mixing bowl, and baked spoonfuls of it on sheets in the oven with eager anticipation.

But when you’re numb, when your heart is broken, and your eyes still well with salty tears at every little memory, it’s hard to muster the strength to make anything in life sweet.

So for months, I didn’t bake. Didn’t even notice I wasn’t baking. Until one day, I started to miss it. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, because I realized that every time I used to bake, I’d always share some with my Dad. It didn’t matter if it was cookies or muffins or brownies or fruit galettes or coffeecakes, I’d always save some for him. It didn’t matter that he lived an hour away. I’d just wrap some up carefully and store it safely in the freezer until I went to visit him and my Mom.

By far, my Dad and I had the biggest sweet tooths in the family. We both never met a chocolate bonbon we didn’t like. My Dad was known to enjoy a piece of pie before dinner, even if dinner was only an hour away. He thought of it as his version of an appetizer. And in the last years of his life and my Mom’s life, he kept a freezer full of ice cream — a ritualistic treat he would dish out for the two of them almost every night for dessert.

Months went by until I realized this cloistered, non-baking life was crazy. My Dad wouldn’t want me to act this way. And though he was physically gone, his spirit still was there, and probably wondering why the heck nothing sweet, warm, and sugary was coming out of my kitchen oven anymore.

So I started baking again. And I realized how much I had missed it. I think of my Dad often now when I’m trying out new baked goods recipes, such as this cookie one. I think he would have liked this one. His tastes were simple. He appreciated things that were done well. That’s what this cookie is all about: It’s a classic, beloved peanut butter cookie, only it’s just a bit more intense in flavor from the welcome additions of not only peanut butter chips, but dry-roasted salted peanuts, as well.

I may not be able to share them with my Dad anymore. But now I do the next best thing: I share them with you.

Triple Play Peanut Butter Cookies

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Pie? Oh My!

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Olson's cherry pie

It’s cherry season, when Food Gal’s fancy turns to cherry pie. Not just any cherry pie, though, but the one made by C.J. Olson’s Cherries stand in Sunnyvale.

The fruit stand, which has been in the same location since 1899, has weathered a lot of changes over the decades, including development all around it. But one thing hasn’t changed: During cherry season, you’ll find sweet, juicy, fresh cherries sold at the stand in abundance May through August, and November through February.

Deborah Olson, fourth generation owner/manager of the fruit stand, is a trained pastry chef. Is it any wonder then that her Bing cherry pie is the stuff of dreams? It boasts a super flaky crust, and the filling is bursting with cherries without being cloyingly sweet. When a pie is this good, it’s almost a waste of time to try to make one better yourself.

A 6-inch pie is $11.99, and available for shipping year-round. The 8-inch version ($17.99) and 10-inch one ($21.99) are offered only at the fruit stand.

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