Gavin Newsome issued a “shelter in place” order for the Bay Area yesterday. With friends and family there, this hit home for me. I love visiting the Bay Area. My daughters went to college in Oakland and one still lives there. My dear friend from high school and her daughter live there. I love the restaurants. I have enjoyed two of my most memorable meals, at Chez Panisse and La Folie (to celebrate the end of cancer treatment) there. We have stood in line outside Burma Superstar many times, sipping tea in the fog, waiting for a table. No matter how mobbed they are, the coconut rice and the pea shoots are always perfect.
Indeed, consumption is the life-blood of San Francisco and the surrounding counties. It’s hard to imagine the most popular places still and empty. I am always struck by the paradoxes there. Everyone values the outdoors. People compost, garden, hike. Recycling is mandated and done carefully. Plastic use is minimal; reusable shopping bags are de rigueur. Farmers markets are in every area, with high-quality organic food. Culturally, especially in Oakland and Berkeley, the Bay Area embraces and celebrates diversity and individuality more than anywhere else I’ve visited. And local governments were forward thinking in preserving large areas of forest and grasslands for recreation. It’s easy to live in the city and hike regularly. Yet, traffic is horrible. Shopping, eating and buying are constant activities. The cost of housing is astronomical. Homelessness is widespread. It’s an urban area with the contradictions that large groups of humans create.
With all it’s problems and inconsistencies it’s a wonderful place and I have spent the last day thinking about it silent.
The Bay Area Freeze – advance prep required
Using the fruit you have around (except bananas), especially what you have left from last week’s shop at the Berkeley Bowl cut it into one inch pieces and freeze in a single layer. You’ll only need a cup for the recipe, but if you have kids, you might want three to four cups. Cubing and freezing fruit is a great way to preserve it if it’s overripe and beginning to go bad. You can use apples, peeled orange segments, pears, mango, whatever.
If you have some tangerines or oranges, make about 1/2 cup of juice. Again, for the kids you’ll need an extra cup or so of juice. But you can also use any juice that you have available.
1/2 bottle of whatever Napa red you like, preferable dry and fruity. The wine you opened last night for dinner but didn’t finish is perfect.
2 ounces of brandy. You can use rum if you don’t have brandy.
1-2 tablespoons of honey or sugar, to taste.
Put one cup of frozen fruit and the liquid ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with a meyer lemon slice.
For the kids, use one to two cups of frozen fruit and the same amount of juice. Omit the alcohol, obviously.
Sit on your backyard or find a sunny window. Open the window. Listen. Can you hear the Scrub-jays and the California Towhees?
Site Title 