Wine grapes are fabulous.  Heaven knows we love what they turn into.  Wine!  (Ok, that’s stating the obvious…)  But, one of the many things that makes our lovely Russian River Valley, and Sonoma County as a whole, unique, is our incredible diversity of agriculture and artisan produce.  We farm- and our farming really speaks to the old world traditions of using the land for a variety of different crops, livestock and native habitats.  More and more, we’re seeing the farmers and ranchers expand from one crop or one animal on the land to a variety of uses on one property.

On our ranch, where we’ve farmed for five generations, we have chickens for eggs and meat, antique apple trees, vegetable gardens, bee hives for honey and polination, prunes, plums, cherries, peaches and berries scattered about the property and lovely creeks with riparian habitats.   

Lettuces and Heirloom Shelling Beans

This kind of farming is wonderful, because it’s year-round.  We have produce, eggs and meat every month of the year.  But, I have to admit that this month and the next few months are just amazing and so incredibly bountiful! 

An heirloom squash and its delicious blossoms

Late July in the Farmhouse Inn gardens is something to see! Sonoma County Wine Country is in full bloom, and the gardens at Farmhouse Inn are exploding with color, variety and wildlife.  Our gardner, Jana Mariposa, has provided the following account of who, what and where, all around our beautiful Russian River Valley property.

Many of our mid-summer flowers are in their full glory now, and we are all enjoying the mild weather.  We are seeing many kinds of Butterflies:  Swallowtails, California Sisters, and I’m hoping for some Monarchs, now that we have our Milkweeds for their dining pleasure.  Some Butterflies, such as the Swallowtails and Monarchs, are very specific about which plants are suitable for their ‘children’;  Monarch larvae can only feed upon Milkweed (Asclepias sp.), and the Pipevine Swallowtail larvae can only feed upon the native California Dutchman’s Pipe, which is growing happily inside the large yellow-flowering St. John’s Wort (Hypericum sp.) shrub on the West side of the Restaurant.   If you are lucky, you may see the striking Blue-Black caterpillars with bright red spikes….but they are elusive, and like to stay in the shade. 

The Tiger Swallowtails prefer plants in the Parsley (Umbelliferae) family; I am leaving many of the Parsley plants in the Culinary garden to go to flower and seed; the flowers attract dozens of kinds of beneficial insects, and the seeds are medicinal; and perhaps the Swallowtails will lay their eggs there and we will be able to see the stunning black/white/yellow/green striped caterpillars.

California Sister host plants are the various local Oak (Quercus sp.); Coast Live Oak, Valley Oak, and Black Oak are present on the Farmhouse Inn property.

West Coast Lady, Red Admiral, Lorquin’s Admiral, Mourning Cloak, Buckeye, and some Skippers have been seen in our Habitat Garden. Their palates are much more varied, as their larvae can feed on many kinds of both native and ornamental plants.

Of course our Hummingbirds think they are the ‘bosses’ of all the flowers in the garden….and they very generously share their territory with the Butterflies and other Pollinators.   It takes a lot of variety to keep everyone happy.  

It is a sad task to have to take out the ’spent’ Sweet Peas, that perfumed the air for 4 or more months…….but happily the Summer Vines are blooming and will continue to bloom until the frost.   On the West Pool fence, the Scarlet Runner Beans are already providing nectar for the Hummers and other pollinators, and the Honeysuckle(Lonicera sp.) Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia sp.), Morning Glory (Ipomoea sp.),  and Purple Hyacinth Bean (Dolichos sp.) are all making their way up the fence for privacy and beauty.

Come and sit for a while in the Habitat Garden, and see how many kinds of flying gems will keep you company!

Here are a few of my favorite resources for this time of year:

The Natural Gardening Company will ship organic seeds from Sonoma County to you.

Creating an Organic Hummingbird habitat can be fun and easy with a little know-how.

The Halberg Butterfly Gardens are the perfect place to learn more about butterfly gardens, and you can visit when you’re in Sonooma County.

The folks at Beekind keep the bees on the Bartolomei’s Ranch.  But their site has a wealth of information about bees, habitats and organic practices.

Doesn’t eveyone just love the idea of a Wine Country picnic?  You and your sweetheart tucked  in amid the vineyards and the rolling hills of Sonoma Wine Country, or out on the Sonoma Coast, toasting your everlasting love with Russian River Valley sparkling wine (or maybe pinot noir), nibbling bites of locally made Laura Chenel cabecou cheese, hand-crafted salumi and Farmhouse cured olives…  Well I do.   Throw in some lovely Russian River Valley spring or summer weather and nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon and I don’t think there’s much that can beat it.

For some time now, I’ve been asking our fabulous team of chefs to come up with the “Perfect Wine Country Picnic”.  Which, now that I look back, is sort of a lot of pressure.  Not just the “Ok” or “Fine Wine Country Picnic”, but perfect.  Definitive.  A brown tote bag filled with a lovely selection of delectable foods, all prepared by us or our friends.   And, easy to prepare, maintain, tote and enjoy.  So, ok, a little pressure.

We’ll they’ve finally pulled it together.  We offered our first picnics to guests about two weeks ago.  And, the feedback’s been worth the wait.  I’ve even packed one off to the beach myself- and loved it!  The picnic changes with the whims of the chef, but always includes salumi, olives, local cheese, house-made hummus or something similar, fresh greens and a vinaigrette, seasonal fruit from our ranch or a neighbor, flatbread and the most amazing desserts from Patti (right now it’s a decadent chocolate brownie).  We offer some great wines that you can purchase to take along, or, if you’ll be picnicking at a winery, pick up wine there.

Copain Winery

Our concierge team is equipped with a list of our very favorite spots.  From Copain Winery, up on a hill overlooking the Russian River Valley, to Quivira Winery, deep in Dry Creek Valley, where you can picnic in the biodynamic vegetable garden overlooking their vineyards, to the Armstrong Redwood Forest

Armstrong Woods, Redwood Forest

or, my favorite, out on the Sonoma Coast… we can send you in a million great directions.  Oh, last Monday, we packed up and headed down to Marshall to Hog Island Oyster Company where we added briny, fresh sweet water oysters to the mix. 

Oysters at Hog Island

 (If you visit their website, download their clam chowder recipe.  I brought home 5# of clams and made their chowder with carrots and celery from my garden….So crazy good!  But that’s another post…) 

Summer’s heating up, the produce coming in from our farm is incredible, the winery gardens are in full bloom or full swing, and, doesn’t a picnic just evoke magical images of timeless, laid back, romance and good old fashioned fun? 

I’d love to know some of your favorite picnic ideas and locations- around here, where you are now, or around the world. 

A year ago today, we opened The Barn (whew!), and I started this blog.  What a day!   And what a year!  I consistently look back and marvel at just how naive Joe and I were- over and over and over… after every phase of expansion…  from the day we bought Farmhouse until today.  We always think we have it all figured out… lucky we’re quick adapters.  Farmhouse really is the “University of Farmhouse”.  We continue to grow and to learn.  Fortunately, we also continue to meet and recruit excellent mentors and team members who rise to the challenge and help us keep charging forward.

While construction and interior remodel during a recession was truly an excellent experience (the contractors and designers were both on time and under budget… )  selling that new room inventory was a whole different ball of string.  Joe, I and our team, have had to really adjust our thinking to move from a high-end inn to a small hotel (which has actually been unbelievably fun!).  Instead of just sitting back and waiting for the phone to ring (which is what we always did), we had to come up with strategies to get Farmhouse out to new markets and create and expand a new guest/customer base.  We’ve historically been really fortunate with the press and accolades that we’ve gotten, and that’s just driven people to us- oh, and it doesn’t hurt that we’re smack in the middle of the Russian River Valley… Then we could just concentrate on providing an excellent experience for them once they got here…  But at eighteen rooms, rather than just ten, and in a recession to boot, some tactical changes needed to happen. 

So this past year has been truly event filled.  We’ve tried some new things that have been aces and we’ve come up with some really bad ideas (oh well!) We’ve taken our reputation on the road and introduced Farmhouse to some incredible new people-

We’ve reached out to new markets through donations to and participation in various charitable events around the country.  Just last weekend Joe and I attended both the Croquet Tournament for Make a Wish, held at Sonoma Cutrer winery and the Gala for Meals on Wheels at the Fort Mason in San Francisco.  We donated weekend packages to the auctions and our chefs participated in preparing the incredible food served.  We had a great time, met some amazing people and got the word out about Farmhouse to a brand new group of folks. We’ve been getting out and doing a lot more of that sort of thing- turns out it’s nice to get out now and then…

Our trip to New York was insanely cool- we’ve gotten such amazing response from editors.  Just about everyone we met with has committed to a story over the next six months!  I’ll keep you in the loop, but we did get a little  spa story in the May Vogue Magazine already!

Farmhouse in Vogue, May 2010.

We’ve learned, through our new and wonderful friends at Kurtz-Ahlers and Associates that the travel agencies are alive and thriving- if you can connect with the right ones!  We’ve travelled to LA, where we met an extraordinary group of Virtuoso and American Express Centurian Agents.  Talk about incredible knowledge- these agents plan the most exotic and complicated trips for people who really know how to travel!  Luckily they’ve been interested in us and many have visited and are now sending clients our way!  Joe and I are off to Dallas next week to meet with agencies there!

Social Media is King (or Queen, or something).  We’re still totally clueless about how it really works (thank you almost 1200 Facebook Fans for bearing with our lame posts) but we’ve hired an Expert to come in and set us straight (fingers crossed!).

And that all just scratches the surface of our new initiatives and ideas.  We’ve also done something that we’re VERY excited about.  We’ve promoted our amazing Guest Services Manager, Meilani Naranjo into a brand new Revenue Manager position and we’ve hired Tamera Shaw as our  new Guest Services Manager.  Tamera is charged with implementing a host of new programs, all designed to better serve you.  She’s already got a Bell Team in place so we will now offer Bell Service, Room Orientation and Turn Down (starting early June!), She’s expanding retail to offer picnics and a host of cool Farmhouse-style retail items for you and she’s working with our team to bump or level of service to the next level (stuff like this is what I live for!)

The home ranch continues to expand.  We’ve budded some pinot noir grapes to an interesting varietal called trousseau and will be selling that to one of our very favorite wineries, Arnot-Roberts- we’re looking forward to seeing that on Farmhouse’s wine list one day!  We’ve expanded our garden from one acre to two- and have added a whole slew of new vegetables and fruits, all of which will end up on our guests plates.  Our flock of chickens has expanded from 10 to 250.  Yes, that’s a big jump!  We have a good friend, Marc Felton of Felton Acres, who’s brought his flock of Heirloom Breed layers to our orchard.  They’re happily munching grasses, bugs and whatever else they’re finding out there, and the eggs are fabulous!  They’re also nicely fertilizing our apple orchard…

And the very best news it that naive but lucky, we’ve come out of our first year as a grown-up “hotel” stronger, more polished and better than ever.  And, shockng, but true, we had a great time figuring it all out.  Farmhouse has always been, and continues to be, one fantastic adventure.   Joe and I come in every day, excited and enthusiastic about what the day will bring.   And we’re rarely disappointed.  Farmhouse is such an exciting collaboration between our extraordinary team and the new mix of guests that every day brings- It’s a continually evolving entity, and sitting at the helm of the whole thing is one fantastic place to be!

Images of our new spa taken by photographer Edward Duarte

In partnership with Francis and Alexander (of Auberge du Soleil, Calistoga Ranch, Solage, and Mansion on Peachtree fame, just to name a few) Farmhouse, or rather I, get to announce the launch of our fabulous new farm-to-table spa- Spa at Farmhouse, by Francis and Alexander.  Romantic couples treatments, girls getaways or individual therapeutic healing, our new spa embraces and celebrates it all!  Exciting, huh?  Well, it really, really is for us.  Spas are hard.  Really hard.  I should know.  My brother, Joe and I have been at this for nine years.  And we’re just getting it right. 

Peggy Francis and Loma Alexander

 Joe and I bought the then rundown and oh so creepy (but loaded with potential and a great location in the Russian River Valley Wine Country!)  Farmhouse back in 2001 (Valentine’s Day was our first day of ownership), with an incredibly optimistic business plan and about $.50 to update the entire property and realize our “vision”  (oh my!).   

For what seemed like the worst, but turned out to be the better, we didn’t have the upfront money to simply come in and fix everything that was wrong .  We had to do it bit by bit, as we earned the money.  But, in retrospect, we could have spent millions- and we’d have spent it all wrong. Our first “direction” for the property “Wine Country Chic Amid the Vines” (what does that even mean?) involved a lot of shiny fabric that couldn’t be burned with a blow torch or stained with squid ink…  (apparently we didn’t have much faith in our guests-to-be…)  Although we’ve always emphasized local, seasonal and organic- for ages, we just didn’t know how to take that out of the restaurant and into the rest of the business.

We”ll, through endless fits and starts, we’ve finally come to a point where Farmhouse is a truly Farm-to-Table property-wide.  Meaning that the food and products from the farm, ours and our neighbors,  make their way into every corner of the business.  From breakfast to spa to dinner to the product you use in your after dinner bath, the farm is present.

Early winter honey from the bees on our ranch

Last year we added the Barn, redecorated and re-renovated the Cottages and restaurant- and last but far from least, we’re finally launching the spa we’ve been dreaming of.

The spa has been, by far, the toughest thing to get our arms around.  When we purchased Farmhouse, our then marketing consultant convinced us that we needed a “spa”.  Guests of a “Wine Country Chic” Inn wanted massage!  Well, that sounded good to us.  So we hired a local massage therapist to head it up, got some phone numbers from some local therapists and voila!  Most of our rooms were too small to fit a massage table, so our “spa” moved all over the property, each location weirder, colder and more remote than the last. 

Finally, about 5 years ago, Joe and I decided to give our little spa a home at last.  Still, with no budget, we committed our vast and completely under utilized “event center” (that’s a whole other story) to the spa.  We built some walls, painted them sky blue and yellow (I know, what was I thinking), brought in a wonderful local woman to “manage” it, and called it a day.  With grand dreams of farm-to-table treatments, utilizing our own cream, eggs and honey, Joe and I waited.  And waited.  And, what we ultimately found out was that spa is easy to talk about and as hard to make happen as a Michelin Starred restaurant.  See, we’re learning as we go!

Outdoor massage, fireside on a Barn deck

This time, I think we’ve done it right.  We turned to Myra Hoefer again for the interior design.  Weathered wood floors, creamy wainscotted walls and fresh, farmy accents have evolved our two spa rooms into cozy, warm and simply lovely spaces.  Our great room has been transformed into a haven for relaxation.  Comfy chairs, ottomans and sofas invite guests to choose one of our many lovely spa, art or design books off our huge farm table (or bring a book of their own) and stay a while. 

One of our lovely new spa rooms, designed by Myra Hoefer

Well, I’m so pleased and proud of the partnership that we’ve created and that’s resulted in our incredible new spa!  Please, take a look at our new spa menu, an actual masterpiece by Francis and Alexander.  We think it’s simply delightful- and hope you’ll join us soon and take advantage of one of our new treatments.  They’re all so exciting and will make you feel divine.   ”Catherine’s Favorite” really is my favorite.  Every time I have it my five year old daughter makes me bring her a towel with the delicious scented oil for her to sleep with (cute, huh?).  But the Carrot, Carrot, Carrot is wonderful too.  Loma actually has added a fresh carrot eye treatment and has been finishing it up with a carrot muffin.  So Carrot times 5?  Maybe too much.  Then again, maybe not.

My own naivete continues to amaze me.  I could be talking about any number of weird little things that come up during the course of a day- but, in this instance, I’m talking about a little conversation my brother and I had, sitting in this very cramped, little office, about a year ago.  It went something like this, “Cath, this construction project is really a lot of work”.  “True, Joe, but once the building’s up and we have all of the interior work done, then we can really relax for a while.”  “Yeah, wow, what are we going to do with all of our time??”  “Well, Joe, I hadn’t thought about that.  Probably take some vacations?  And I’ll have time to blog all the time!”…

Needless to say, once we finished building the building and expanding the property, we had to learn how to run the thing.  And, while it’s been challenging in a number of ways, to go from a tidy little ten room country inn to what really amounts to a small hotel, in a recession to boot,  I don’t think we’d change a thing. 

So, this is a long way of saying that I really thought I’d have more time to write blog entries.  But, I spend all of my time working on sales, marketing and public relations programs, plus all of the wonderful fun day-to-day stuff that still goes on everyday.  Joe and I have brought on some amazing, incredibly talented consultants to help us brand and position Farmhouse, and now we have a lot of meetings.  But, boy, have we learned a lot.  And it has actually been so much fun!

But, here it is, a super-rainy day.  Joe’s gone on an actual vacation (Nevada to take the kids to see the in-laws, but I’m calling it a vacation…)  My meetings are done for the day.  The river is rising, and I’m drinking a fabulous cup of cocoa and thinking about how lucky I am. 

Here’s the recipe for the cocoa and marshmallows- in case you’re in the mood for something cozy.  (This is a great rainy day project with kids, too).

Cocoa Mix

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (we use Valhrona)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Homemade marshmallows
Hot water or millk
Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly. In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water or milk. Stir to combine. Add marshmallows to taste. Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry.

Vanilla or Peppermint Marshmallows       
 
3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin ·        
1/2 cup cold water ·        
2 cups granulated sugar ·        
2/3 cups corn syrup ·        
1/4 cup water ·        
1/4 teaspoon salt ·        
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla or peppermint extract ·        
Confectioners’ sugar for dredging
Preparation:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for 10 minutes.
Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix at high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. Add extract and incorporate into mixture.
 Scrape into a 9 x 9-inch pan lined with oiled plastic wrap and spread evenly.
(Note: Lightly oil hands and spatula or bowl scraper).
After pouring marshmallow mixture into the pan, take another piece of plastic wrap and press mixture into the pan.
Let mixture sit for a few hours. Remove from pan, dredge the marshmallow slab with confectioners’ sugar and cut into 12 equal pieces with scissors (the best tool for the job) or a chef’s knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners’ sugar.

Hope you enjoy it.  I sure am.

Oh, I wish you could all join us for this little outing…  Friday, July 31st, Geoff and Joe (my brother) are going to take four very lucky Farmhouse guests, and two very illustrious members of the press (they’ll remain nameless for now…) out into the wilds of the Russian River Valley for some serious Wine Country adventure- Master Sommelier style.  Isn’t that just a picture?

Views of Russian River Valley

The Russian River Valley is becoming known for it’s new wave of grassroots winemaking.  A dozen or so incredibly talented and passionate winemakers have split off from bigger gigs or other ventures and have started their own things.  They’re blowing off the scores and making wine that we actually want to drink!  Food friendly wine.  Terroir driven wine.  Wines made from organic and even biodynamic vineyards.  Wines that taste like grapes not grape syrup!  It’s serious and we’re really excited. 

Geoff and I have put together a series, starting on July 31st and continuing each month on the last Friday, that will give him the opportunity to take you out and turn you on.   Geoff’s at the absolute forefront of what’s going on.  He’s tasting, he’s consulting and he’s hanging out with this whole new scene within the wine scene.  He’s going to show our guests vineyards on the coast that grow pinot noir in extreme conditions and result in miniscule volume but extraordinary quality.  He’s going to take guests into caves, into garages, onto mountains and underground to sample wines they would never have access to on their own. 

Each event will feature a farm-fresh picnic-style lunch at a winery or in a vineyard.  Joe will drive everyone around and Geoff will teach tasting and wine basics between stops.  Doesn’t that just sound like so much fun?

Here’s the Itinerary for the 31st  (written by Geoff, not me- and I love it!)

10 AM Leave The Farmhouse

10:15 AM to 11:30 Radio Coteau

Meet with winemaker Eric Sussman to taste some of California’s most sought after Pinot Noir and Syrah. The wines at Radio Coteau manage a rare balance of rich California fruit with plush textures and elegance. An unusual chance to taste these limited production wines.

Grapes coming in at Radio-Coteay

11:45 AM to 1:30 PM Scherrer Winery

We will join Fred Scherrer at his annual open house to taste through a range of current release and older vintages. Fred offers a wide range of wines from Cabernet to Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Always one of Sonoma’s sleeper wineries, they are not only moderately priced but develop beautifully with a few years in bottle. Lunch will be provided from a local chef.

There's Fred

1:45 PM to 2:45 PM Arnot Roberts

Unarguably one of the hottest new producers in Sonoma County. A diverse range of wines from low oak Chardonnay to cool climate Syrah and rich full-bodied single vineyard Cabernets. These two young winemakers are blazing the way for Sonoma’s next generation.

3 PM to 4 PM WesMar Winery

Denise Selyem, daughter of Russian River Pioneer Ed Selyem of Williams Selyem, makes elegant single vineyard Pinot Noir’s from Russian River and Sonoma Coast. Food friendly, feminine, delicate yet mouth filling wines that remind you what Pinot Noir is supposed to taste like.

That's how they do it at WesMar

 Call or email for more information.  707.887.3300 or catherine@farmhouseinn.com. 

So, if you’ve read any of my other posts- you probably get that I love this business.  Not the inn business or the restaurant business or the spa business per se- but Farmhouse.  There’s just something about it.  It’s this collection of really passionate, creative, loyal people who come together and really create something special.  Well, that was really sappy.   But, oddly sincere.  So, it any of you Farmhousers are reading this, there I’ve said it.  In writing.  Having said that, this place does still make me crazy most of the time.

Anyway, none of that really has anything to do with why I’m posting this morning.  Or maybe it does.  Yesterday and last night were just weird.  In a really good way.  We went from being a little slow this weekend, to being basically totally booked with last minute reservations.  And some of them were just a hoot. 

I was walking accross the parking lot, at around 10 am yesterday, and saw two really attractive,  well dressed women just wandering around the property.  They seemed to be looking for something so I asked if I could help.  Turns out they were just out on a day trip from San Francisco and were thinking about having dinner with us if they could find a place to stay.   So I said “stay here”.   And they did.  And instantly became our two best new friends and ambassadors.  Which is just the funnest thing.  I know funnest isn’t a word. 

So, this morning at check out they told me they were going to go home and read my blog- I guess someone here told them about it- and they hoped I’d post Carole’s Sour Cream Muffin recipe.  She served them this morning, and as always, they were a hit.  So, here it is:

Sour Cream Muffins with Summer Strawberries

Sour Cream Muffins

¾ c. unsalted butter

1 c.  granulated sugar

½ c. brown sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

3 c.  flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

12 oz sour cream

Streusel  Topping

1 c.  granulated sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 ½ sticks butter

3 ½ c. flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 350.  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs.  Add dry ingredients, mix well.  Add sour cream.   Drop into muffin tins and top with streusel.  Bake 20-25 minutes. 

This is a really versatile recipe.  Right now Carole’s dropping in strawberries, blueberries or really, whatever berries are on hand.  In the winter, they’re great with dried fruit or nuts mixed in.

Stacey and Ellen let me know how the recipe works for you. 

Happy 4th!

Life, for me anyway, is full of change and ideas.  I love to plan new programs and create packages and itineraries for guests that I know-or hope anyway- that they’re going to love.  I’m always thinking about what’s next- the next great adventure, the next season (we’re currently working on all of our holiday programs).  We work a few months ahead of ourselves in many ways.  But, what always brings us back to right-now-reality, is food.  We eat locally and seasonally.  And, it comes when it comes and often stays just a little while.

Right now we’re right at the cusp of early summer and full-on summer harvest.  We’re wallowing in strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.  Our favorite berry farm, Sebastopol Berry Farm, is delivering bushels of fresh berries, and we’re all gobbling them up like they’ll be gone tomorrow- which many of them will.  We’re getting both black and golden raspberries -which taste entirely different from the red ones you buy in the store.  Soon they’ll be just a memory but the blackberries will be coming in by the truck load.  Dry Creek Peaches have started rolling in, and Patti is roasting them like mad.  Carole and I are talking about jams and preserves that we’ll make and savor all winter long. 

On my ranch, where I live with my family, our strawberry harvest is in full swing.  My kids spend half their summer days down in the garden hunting for them and eating them on the spot,  still warm and dusty.

The favas, that we lived on all spring, are a sweet memory. So are the small, tender peas and that lovely green garlic.  So is the tart-sweet rhubarb that made everyone so crazy over Steve’s Rhubarb Napoleon with Deep Fried Pastry Cream.  

In my garden, there’s a little lull right now.  The chard and kale are still going strong, the cabbages are finally almost ready, but the real heart-of-summer stuff is about to explode. When we stand down there in the golden evening light, we can almost hear the bean tendrils climbing and the tomatoes and squash multiplying.  Every day there are more blossoms and more bees and more tiny fruits and vegetables.

When I find myself thinking, “Ugh, blueberries again?  I want melons!”  I try to remember how tired I was of those favas- and how I’m already longing to have them back.

Having Geoff on the team these past four or so years has been a great experience.  When Joe and I bought Farmhouse, there was literally no wine program.   Steve, our chef, would actually tell anyone who asked to bring their own wines- there was nothing on the list that went with his food.  The food was amazing, the rest of the restaurant was a train wreck.  The previous owner just didn’t care about the wine program, and didn’t have the finances or staff to allow anything to change.

So, Joe and I had nowhere to go but up.  In the beginning, I did the list.   But, tasting, ordering, updating the menu, training the staff on the wines, is really time consuming.  And plus, I wasn’t that good at it.  So I passed it off to our Maitre d’, who got things rolling along a little more swiftly, but still, it was miles from what it should have been to complement the quality of Steve’s food. 

Finally, after a few more stabs at sort of pasting a wine program onto the restaurant, the person who was running it, while maintaining a full server position, decided to move on.  It was time to give wine at Farmhouse some serious thought.  We were still really small, and money was still really tight, and the thought of hiring someone just to manage wine seemed impossible- we weren’t selling a whole lot of wine, and profits weren’t very good.

But, timing and luck have seemed to be in our favor over the last eight years (I probably just jinxed that one), and as luck would have it the person we were seeking was also seeking us.  Joe placed an ad in Craig’s List of all places, for someone to come in and I’m not sure what- basically take over the program, cost us little and make us tons. 

Within a day or so, Joe got a call from this “great sounding guy in New York”.  Geoff was working as Sommelier for Balthazarin the city, and helping to manage the programs for their other restaurants as well.  His girlfriend had been offered an opportunity to come out and work harvest at Williams Selyem, and so he was looking for something fun in Sonoma County, while he prepared to take the Master Sommelier exam.  We got together, struck a bargain and it’s been great for both of us.  Geoff passed the Master’s almost two years ago- and now finds himself on a short list of top young American wine professionals.  Which is, of course, great for us!

So, things like the StarChef award, while not uncommon for our Farmhouse Crew, provide great opportunities for us to get out, attend the events planned around the awards and see what’s really going on out here.  As we already knew, Wine Country is amazing.  Joe and I attended the “Gala Awards Party,” at Charles Krug Winery in Napa, last night. 

Charles Krug Winery at Sunset

What an incredible collection of talented people.  Visit the StarChef link above- it takes you to the list of winners, with their bios and the “Dish That Cinched It” for each of them.  Each chef prepared that dish last night, and Geoff paired all of the wines to go with each dish.  So, the Barrel Room at Charles Krug was transformed into a series of stations, where they were preparing and serving these incredible little morsels paired with wines or beers from around the world.  Two of the dishes that really stood out were Restaurant Eloise’s Egg Yolk Ravioli with Sweet Peas, Local Butter and Black Truffles and Bouchon’sTrumpet Mushroom and Sunchoke Salad.  John and Duskie, from our favorite neighbor,  Zazu, did housemade salumi and antipasti that were some of the best I’ve ever had.   I have all of the recipes- actually all of the recipes listed on the StarChef site- let me know if you’d like any of them.  And, Scott Beattie’s Bella Ruffinas and Bellinis

Scott's Bellini

were incredible.  He has a beautiful book out with all of the seasonal and ground breaking cocktails that he invented/created while he was at Cyrus.  A few of the wines that, had I not been driving, I’d have gone back for more of were the 2007 Pinot Gris, RRV, from Wind Gap (a new producer, right here in Forestville-we can make you an appointment to visit when you come to Farmhouse) and the Sheldon Wines 2005 “Vinolocity”, cooincidently the owner/winemaker, Dylan Sheldon, is part of our Farmhouse Team in his “spare” time. 

So, all in all, a wonderful evening under a spectacular Napa summer sky, celebrating tributes to well deserving industry professionals.  So, it’s not all hard work for me and Joe…