News
September Events — We have two events this month that are very exciting. The first is coming right up, Thursday the 15th, the Park Avenue Grand Opening Party, sponsored by the city of Emeryville and our friends at the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce. We will be selling some great Cajun favorites at the event, which will be from 5:30-8:30 PM and will feature live music from Boco Do Rio. I’ll be making Jambalaya, red beans and rice, a nice salad, and New Orleans style bread pudding with rum sauce and whipped cream—all for sale at rock-bottom prices, and in limited supply.
Baby Announcement! — Tracy has finally, after a bit of a wait and an extended labor, given birth to Miles Alden Cates. He’s a lovely little boy, the apple of grandma’s eye. He was born Wednesday the 3rd, a healthy 7 lb. 1 oz., and of course all he wants to do now is eat and sleep. No doubt he’ll be running around the kitchen at a young age! Miles waited until summer camp ended to be born, just like his Mom requested. Camp ended with a great session for the 14-17 year olds, who made dinner every day, and hopefully all left inspired to continue cooking.
Attention Chocolate Lovers! — If your company is searching for an innovative and delicious party, we have a fantastic opportunity for you. Join us, and our good friend Derek Poirier, Executive Pastry Chef for Valrhona Chocolates, in an event featuring a chance to work with the best chocolates in the world, and one of the best pastry chefs, along with our crew of great local talent.
June in the Market — An explosion of flavors, from peaches to peppers, is upon us. The markets are alive with vendors we haven’t seen in many months, bringing specialty produce that only comes in spring and summertime. Walking around the market can be a challenge—so many cherries to taste and compare, and choose a favorite. The same with apricots, which have a relatively short season, peaches (those will get much sweeter as the summer progresses), and the long-season stalwarts, plums and pluots.
In the Market — Walking through the Saturday farmer’s market is getting exciting. The first cherries are here, there and everywhere, the strawberries and bright red and deeply sweet, and the spring onions and green garlic, spring peas and fava beans, artichokes, asparagus, young fennel and even a few blue lake beans and baby squash have arrived. There were raspberries this morning, tiny, early, but full of sweetness and flavor. The hard thing this time of year, is to not give in to temptation and buy more than you can eat or share in a reasonable amount of time.
What’s my favorite small knife? — True confession: I love my little $4.95 serrated paring knife. I just made a big batch of candied orange peels, inspired by our Italian cooking teacher, Rosetta Costantino’s well-illustrated blog post. I used the little knife to score all the peels, and again to trim away the pith after blanching them. I experimented a bit, trying a variety of other, fancier knives to see what did the job best. None worked as well.
Tracy’s Camp Notes — It was January of 2009 when we received our first phone call from an inspired parent of a young cook, “will you guys be offering any Summer programs for kids?” This was the first of many such inquiries to come.
My plum tree is budding, a sure sign that spring is coming. I have kaffir limes literally dropping off the tree, and picked the last of my Satsuma mandarins yesterday. The Meyer lemons form a bright yellow focal point up the hill from the window of my newly remodeled home kitchen. It feels like spring—but we know this weather won’t last, so will enjoy it even more as a fleeting reminder of what is to come. I’m loving the winter veggies and fruits this year, especially the lovely baby chicories I get from County Line Farm at the Saturday Grand Lake market.
2010 was certainly an interesting year at the kitchen—we had many highlights, beyond our usual business of team building, parties, classes, and catering.
Lifelong Memories—Gingerbread House Holiday Camp — When I was very small, my grandmother made gingerbread houses. The unveiling of these magical, candy-decorated, snow-frosted creations stands out in my memory to this day. Now, of course, you can get a cookie-cutter kit and do a one-day project, but designing and building one without a kit is a much more interesting challenge.