Ulises Valdez, Bartolomei Ranch Vineyard Manager

Ulises, our vineyard manager, who happens to be one of the most respected guys in the Russian River Valley, showed up too (which doesn’t usually happen during our harvest).  When Rod asked him why he’d shown up and why he was picking grapes (again, doesn’t happen), he said, “It’s the first day of harvest for us and we’re celebrating”, Rod and I celebrate everything.  Any chance for some champagne, a great dinner with the kids, a cake….  Rod said, “Oh, how are you celebrating?”.   Ulises said, “Man I’m PICKING GRAPES”.  Oh, that kind of celebrating…

 The weather was gorgeous, the kind of crystalline sunshine that makes everything gleam and photograph perfectly.

Megan, me and my husband Rod, sorting our Russian River Valley pinot noir at harvest

My kids, Rocco and Helen doing the real work- picking! Oh, wait, eating...

Megan, our Farmhouse sommelier, and No Name Winery (no,not the name of the winery) Winemaker, had already arrived with her Dad.  As an aside, I’d never met her dad, Ted, before- it was great to have him there with us!  If you read my first entry on our little project, you might remember that Megan comes from a restaurant family, her dad’s the chef/owner of Passionfish in Pacific Grove.  As another aside, if you did read that, would it have killed you to comment?  Anyway…

The weather was amazing, the crew was in action and the fruit flew off  the vines and into the bins, all gorgeous and purple and with very little sun damage (we’d worried that there was more).

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Clone 16, Jackson Clone

We only picked a ton (enough for about 60 cases of finished wine), so of course it wasn’t going to take long.   As the fruit came in, we sorted out any M.O.G (matter other than grapes) and the few clusters that did have sun damage, or sun burn, from a nasty heat spike a couple of weeks ago.  Once all of the fruit was into the half-ton picking bins, the crew loaded them up and hauled them over to C. Donatiello Winery, where we’re going to use their facility to make our wine.

Winemaker, Megan Glaab, sorting fruit

They spent the night in cold storage- just to make sure they were good and cold when it was time to process them.  Then, early Tuesday morning, the crew got back together, over at the winery, and the grapes were de-stemmed, sorted (to make sure nothing but pristine fruit went into the fermentation bin) and tucked into bins to cold soak.  The grapes will spend 5-7 days, just gently resting , while temperature control is used to hold off fermentation.   A juice panel went off to Vinquiry for analysis of acid and sugar, and so far, it’s all looking great.  Next step: Fermentation!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Well, not actually the middle of summer- worse than that, it’s the gosh darned end of summer.  Gosh darned, by the way, isn’t something that I actually say.  Here in the heart of the gorgeous, temperate, Russian River Wine Valley, my vines and vines of heirloom tomatoes are well, green.  Mostly anyway.  And, starting to shut down.  Those bushels of ripe red, yellow and green (you know the ones that are deliberately green) tomatoes that we gorge on daily until we can’t stand the sight of them anymore, just haven’t materialized this year.  So, what’s a girl to do?  Pick ‘em green and fry them, pickle them, turn them into relish…. or get her Michelin starred chefs to do it for her…. (are you guys reading this?).

One Big Fat Green Tomato

I’ve been trying out all kinds of recipes for green tomatoes.  And, funny, this is my first year ever to do that.  Usually we just sit back, stay patient, and sometime around mid-July, presto, tons and tons of juicy ripe tomatoes.  Why start with the green ones?  Well, turns out that you start with the green ones because they’re fabulous.   Really, I never knew. 

Here’s one that I’ve been making regularly it’s from Cooks Illustrated (my favorite resource of all time, thank you Christopher Kimball) – it’s amazing with a slow roasted pork shoulder- perferably one that’s totally biodynamically raised and finished by your neighbor on wild herbs…  But if you can’t get one of those, shoot for organic…

Green Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

• Bring tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, coriander, salt, and red pepper flakes to simmer in medium saucepan. Cook until thickened, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours or overnight. Stir in lemon juice just before serving.

These Fried Green Tomatoes have become an absolute favorite of ours this summer.  Don’t cut the tomatoes thicker than 1/4 inch, or the tomato to crunch ratio gets askew.  And, don’t use coarse corn meal or they’re just too crunchy and kind of bitey.  We’ve been eating these with grilled local halibut or, yes I’ll admit it, fried chicken- once you’ve got the skillet going…

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes 1/4 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
3. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

I’d love to hear about what you all are doing with your green tomatoes.  And, if you’re having a summer chock full of  ripe, juicy tomatoes, no need to tell us….We’ll talk next year.

The Wine Country Shipping Van, All Refrigerated and Ready

You visit the wineries, purchase a bottle here and there, a case here and there, whatever you like.  You bring them back to Farmhouse, fill out a little form, and voila.  A whole future of memorable evenings is on the way to your door. 

Our guests put together such fun combinations (we always peek, I have to admit that).  We have people that have a theme- all pinot noir from small producers for example.  We’ll see twelve different bottles from twelve different wineries (Copain, Lynmar, Porter Creek and Hartford Court seem to be some big Farmhouse guest favorites- this week anyway).  Some go with all white or all big heavy reds…  I’ve been seeing a lot of that fantastic Martinelli Zinfandel… Or visit each of our eleven Winery Partners and have one slot to spare…Some guests want to make sure they won’t run out of that tiny production wine they’ve fallen in love with- they’ll ship home a case or two of each.

And, if guests want to mix the Wine Country Take Home up just a little- they can even include olive oil, jams and other non-wine memories… They tuck right into those fabulous- eco-friendly, recyclable shippers!  No extra cost to mix it up a little.  We love Preston Olive Oil, Kozlowski Jams and absolutely everything up at Quivira! 

Kozlowski Farms Jams, Russian River Valley Wine Country

You purchase it, leave it with us, and they pick it up and do the rest for you.  They’ll hold it for you if you’re not headed home right away (they’re holding some for guests who won’t be home unitl October).  They package it and they ship it to you under perfectly controlled conditions.  Oh, for those of you on Horizon Air, you can carry one case back with you for free.  Then Wine Counry Shipping willl ship the rest for you…

When you get here, don’t hesitate to ask me or my brother or our fabulous concierge team for recommendations for your own specialized take home box.  We love to help create fun, exciting vacations followed by really wonderful (and tasty) evenings at home.

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.

I love that about this place!  Almost ten years into Farmhouse and the guest experience gets better every single day.  Our newest, and perhaps most exciting, program has just launched.  So far, the feedback is incredible. You know how we’re always talking about a Farmhouse stay being “experiental”?  Well this new program really speaks to that goal.

We call it our “Winery Friends” program.  Clever, huh?  We’ll, if you have a better name, send it our way…  But, here’s how it works.  We’ve collected information, over the last year or so, on the Russian River Valley wineries that our guests just rave about.  Then, we polled Geoff, our MS, and Megan, our sommelier, on their favorite local wines.  Then Joe and I sat down and thought about the actual people that we like the best at the tons of wineries around us.  Where all of those criteria converged- great experience, great wine, great people- we circled the winery.  Then, we made a bunch of calls. 

Basically, the premise was simple.  When Joe and I and our staff show up in your tasting room, you roll out the red carpet.  We want you to do the same for our guests.  That reserve wine you open for us, open for them.  That impromptu tour, or grape tasting, or sample from the barrel, offer it to them.  And, just about everyone we approached was incredibly enthusiastic.  So, you might be asking, “What do the wineries get in return?”.   Ha! Another win, win.  They get to come over a couple of times a year and have their wines featured during a private tasting for our guests.  Plus, we promote their events and promotions to our guests.  So, we send them our fabulous guests to taste and maybe buy their wine, and then they get to come over to Farmhouse to meet them again. 

These wineries are all open to the public.  No appointments required (that was another critical point in being chosen to participate)  They’re all nearby.  And they’re all treating Farmhouse guests like old friends.  Just like we think it oughta’ be. 

Here’s the list of wineries.  You night like to peruse them before you visit.  Some are little,  some are bigger, some are in their second or third generation, some are quite new, but they’re all really  special. 

Arista… C. Donatiello…Copain… Hartford Winery…Iron Horse… J Vineyards… Lynmar…Porter Creek… Russian Hill Estate…Thomas George… Woodenhead

Joe and me in front of the Conde Nast Building.

Susie Dobson, our fabulous PR person, put the word out that we’d be there introducing our new spa.  We gave her a “wish list” of editors and publications- O Magazine, Elle Magazine, Vogue, Travel and Leisure, Conde Nast Traveller, Town and Country, Departures… You get the gist.  And Joe and I were astounded by the response we got.  They ALL agreed to meet us.  Plus, Susie set up loads of meetings with freelance writers and tucked them in everywhere.

Then we got nervous.  Showing them around Wine Country is one thing- it’s easy to get how beautiful, friendly and delicious it is when you can actually see, experience and taste it.  But bringing the Farmhouse to them?  What to do?  So, after much pondering, we came up with a cool little gift bag.  The concept was Farm-to-Table.  And the bag included the makings for an afternoon tea and a mini facial.  Using the same ingredients- carrots, chamomile and honey- all from our ranch.  We offered the chamomile as a tea, the honey as a sweetener and the carrots baked, by Pattie, into gorgeous little white chocolate dipped madeleines.  Then, for the spa/facial component, the chamomile as a bath addition, the honey as a “honey pat” skin treatment (see below for technique) and the carrot tops as a facial spritz (our Spa Partners, Peggy and Loma actually made a carrot-top infusion that we packed and brought.)  We hand stamped some recycled cotton bags, tucked the goodies in with a bottle of Fred Scherrer’s fabulous RRV Pinot and a bunch of fresh carrots (those were interesting to manage- I was obsessed with the tops staying fresh and crisp throughout the trip.  They actually ended up living in the bathtub, slathered with ice.) and volia!  Farmhouse in a sack.   Or something like that…

So, we spent three days, dashing around the city from amazing office to amazing office talking about our incredible new spa and our recent expansions and our never ending plans for what’s next.  We ate to-die-for food in extraordinary environments with great new friends and really lived it up.  But, boy were we glad to get home!

Here’s the Honey Pat Technique:

Autumn honey from the Bartolomei Ranch

The Honey Pat from The Spa at Farmhouse Dip your fingers into a bit of honey and apply it to your face in an upward revolving motion.  Now pat your face with your fingertips as if you were typing a letter on your face.  Once the mask is very tacky, rinse your face with tepid water or mineral water.  Honey is a natural rejuvenator and humectants and leaves you feeling refreshed and invigorated.  Skin ages not because it loses its ability to hold oil, but because it loses its ability to retain moisture.  Honey is a natural hydrator, that is, it seems to have the capacity to maintain or restore the normal proportion of water in the skin.   The Honey Pat feels smooth and leaves the skin lightly tight and firm with a warm feeling and light, pleasant smell.  Because the honey is acid, it helps to rid the face of blemishes and blackheads.

Spring arrives with the Swainsons thrushes .  Their haunting flute-like calls serenade us in those cool evenings.  Spring means counting and identifying our new fawns, scores of mama quails followed by their scurrying chicks, baby rabbits everywhere and incredibly darling raccoon cubs (it’s so hard not to adore them, even knowing how truly awful they’re going to be in  a month or so).

Look at that little monster. He doesn't even care that I'm two feet away...

Last night, while we were sitting out on the porch, enjoying a glass of Scherrer rose, an all-time, summer-time  favorite- Late Summer arrived.  With a vengeance.  As the sun set, and the nest of Great Horned owls, up in the old pine above the vineyard, woke up, and the warmth of the day shifted abruptly to the cool of the evening, the summer chorus of cicadas and tree frogs started.  Just like that.  I know it doesn’t sound that exciting- but you really had to be there.    Out of nowhere, this cacophony of sound erupted from the creek and voila!  Summer’s here.

You know what makes it so exciting, right?  Blackberries.  Tomatoes.  Gravenstein apples.  Melons.  Corn.  Shell beans…. On and on.  When the cicadas and tree frogs come, so does our summer bounty.  The first berries are ripening as we speak.  The vines are heavy with our summer harvest and  we are ready!

Here they come...