Happy Times in Healdsburg

Every time we stop by to see our sister and brother-in-law we have a great time. And this time was no exception. The four of us are quite compatible and truly enjoy each other's company. We arrived at their home in Healdsburg late in the day on Thursday and we had nothing but fun the whole time we were there. Jackie and I love to spend time in the kitchen cooking together. After spending semi-serious time planning and shopping for and cooking the next meal, there was lots of time left catching up on each other's lives and sharing much love and laughter. We were only there for two full days but you can see by the photos that we had just lots of plain ol' fun!

THURSDAY . . . Jackie roasted a delicious organic chicken for dinner, and served it with roasted zucchini from the garden, red potatoes, and a nice garden salad. And, of course, good wine.

FRIDAY MORNING . . . Up bright and early we enjoyed our morning cappucino and a nice breakfast before starting our day at the vineyard. Of course grape harvesting is finished but we look forward to all the other things growing at "the farm." We were really looking forward to harvesting walnuts. Last year we did this and having the wonderful fresh walnuts throughout the year was fabulous, so we wanted to indulge ourselves again. A storm was predicted to come in (the same storm we had experienced a couple days ago while in Trinidad) so we didn't have any time to waste.

Standing at the barn, looking down toward the creek, you can spot (with the help of the white hand pointing at it) the huge walnut tree. Jackie and I and the dogs headed out on foot, while Ken caught up with us in the ATV. He had been helping Rick with chores earlier.

Here is Jackie, far left bottom corner of picture, gathering the nuts. The nuts fall from the tree when they are ready to be gathered.

The husks need to dry up a bit for the nuts to fall to the ground.

Hard work picking them up one by one, but so worth the effort.

The tree is about 60 feet in diameter . . . so it seemed everywhere we looked there were nuts to be harvested. And it's like you don't want a one to go to waste.

This is what Ken and I are bringing home with us . . . of course we'll share some with Jen . . . we'll have to have a nut-cracking party!

Last time we were here was in the spring so we looked forward to see what was ripening in the fall. There is so much being grown here, even though the main crop is varietal grapes. Here are pomegranates ready to pick.

Isn't this a beauty!

The persimmons were not quite ready. Last year we were here a few weeks later in the month and we were able to bring some home.

I discovered this pecan tree . . . hmmm, I wonder when they'll be ready!

The largest grapefruit tree I've ever seen, it's taller than the house!

And even olives! Some day I'm gonna look into brining olives.

We were pretty pooped after gathering nuts all morning so we decided to go out for lunch. Jackie and Rick took us to a new gourmet pizza place which had recently opened up in Geyserville. Needless to say we had a great time and enjoyed a couple of delectable pizzas!

FRIDAY AFTERNOON . . . Jackie's counter top was full of bright red tomatoes when we arrived yesterday. She said she had been drying them all summer because they—unlike Ken and I—had so darn many ripe red tomatoes—unbelievable! So today she taught me how to do this. We oven-dried them at 250° for three-four hours. And they turned out absolutely devine . . . not dry like leather, but soft and sweet and delicious.

This is just a tenth of what was displayed in her kitchen.

They are seasoned with a little salt and pepper before placing in the oven. Here's the first batch just out of the oven ready to cool and store. She served them with a walnut half on top as an appetizer.

FRIDAY NIGHT . . . Jackie wanted to try a new recipe . . . Sausage and Mushroom Risotto. After lunch we dropped the guys off and went to the grocery store to pick up what we needed. We made it with chicken sausage so we could keep it healthier and this is how it was put together, using a pressure cooker. Getting the ingredients ready takes longer than cooking it! Served with a nice salad and some great wine, enjoyed every morsel.

I started by sautéing the onions, sausage (taken out of the casing), and mushrooms in a quarter cup of olive oil.

Then the arborio rice is added and stirred to coat it with the oil.

Then a little wine and chicken broth is added and stirred a bit. The cover of the pressure cooker is locked on and brought up to heat and cooked for four minutes!

After the pressure cooker has been cooled off and the lid released we added chopped spinach, chopped oven-dried tomatoes, and dry jack cheese.

Voila! Delicioso!

SATURDAY MORNING . . . up bright and early, Jackie greeted us with a nice cup of cappucino. We planned on going over to the vineyard once again, this time to see the new trailer which was delivered to house Rick's right-hand man who had been living in their camper. The trailer will give him more room and be a better place to live now that the rainy season is upon us. Ken was able to give them a few tips on living in a trailer! Then Jackie and I helped the guys uncover the tomato garden . . . three rows of tomatoes . . . most of them red and ready to pick . . . they had covered them up when they knew the storm was coming yesterday. And it's a good thing they did, because the storm dropped a few inches of rain which would have done the tomatoes in at this stage of the season. Now they'll have many more to enjoy. They even sent some home with us!

SATURDAY AFTERNOON . . . Hmmmm . . . it's lunch time and we packed chicken with tarragon sandwiches for a picnic at Dry Creek Winery. We had heard on the radio this morning that Dry Creek Winery had just won the White Wine Sweepstakes prize for their Fumé Blanc at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, so we just had to try some with our lunch.

A cool but sunny afternoon, we enjoyed our picnic under the winery's umbrella.

Jackie and Ken toasting the winners, Dry Creek Winery, Healdsburg, CA. They sell some of their grapes to Dry Creek . . . some of their merlot.

Here's Rick and I showing you our sandwiches and the bag given to Jackie when we went in to buy a case of the winning wine.

And this pretty little chicken running around the grounds made me ready to hurry home to the chickens waiting for us in Coarsegold.

SATURDAY EVENING . . . One more dinner to prepare before our stay comes to an end. This time Rick chose Pork Tenderloin which he barbecued while all Jackie and I had to do was bake some zucchini and a nice fat sweet potato, make a salad, and oh . . . I almost forgot . . . we baked a pumpkin pie for dessert. Then we enjoyed a quiet evening watching a movie with Tom Cruise and Paul Newman "The Color of Money" in honor of Paul Newman who died recently.

Life is good . . . especially spending time with family!