The Seabird Hotel on Mission Avenue in Oceanside, California

From time to time I highlight “places to know” around San Diego County. Maybe you know, and maybe you don’t, there are two new hotels in Oceanside, California next to the beach and a stone’s throw from the Oceanside Pier. One is the Mission Pacific, and the other is The Seabird Resort.

My husband John, and I are a little partial to The Seabird. Our architect and interior designer, Bill Bocken, who mastered our personal home remodel eleven years ago, has along with a design team done the stunning Seabird Resort interior design. The moment we walked into the inviting lobby, we sensed Bocken’s undeniable style.

The Seabird’s Inviting Lobby

While daytime is spectacular, I couldn’t help thinking how enchanting it would be to experience The Shore Room at sunset.

Summer Sunflowers Greet Lobby Guests

The atmosphere at The Seabird Resort is tasteful California casual, light and airy, with lots of blue tones that repeat the adjacent boardwalk setting, spectacular Pacific Ocean, and sky. A smattering of vintage California seaside photos punctuate the vibe and bring a smile to your face.

Both hotels are an asset to the ever evolving town of Oceanside! Check them out if you are in the area, or you have guests that are planning to visit the area!

A Stone’s Throw from the Oceanside Pier

As a side note, Oceanside has a plethora of great independent eateries, breweries, and cafes mainly along the Coast Highway corridor. One of our favorites is the popular Local Tap House (LTH), 308 South Coast Highway, (tel) (760) 547-1469.

Inside Local Tap House, Outside Dining Also Available

Always packed, be prepared to join a waiting list. The American cuisine is marvelous and the menu extensive. Being a Moule & Frites (Mussels & Fries) connoisseur from my Belgian days, I usually order mussels when I see it on the menu. Recently at the LTH, I ordered their Pozole Verde Mussels which came with avocado, crispy hominy, serrano crema, cilantro, garlic, radish, lime, and grilled torta roll. Heaven! Listed under “Snacks” on their menu, it was a delicious feast that got my two thumbs up!

Pozole Verde Mussels at Local Tap House, Oceanside

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Antipasto Tortellini Skewers, Recipe from Half Baked Harvest

This is a great summer appetizer, that is both tasty and dramatic. Also suitable for an easy summer lunch, adding a simple green salad and a slice of rustic country bread or focaccia. You can mix up the ingredients according to your taste! Perfect for utilizing your ripe cherry tomatoes and fragrant Italian basil from your summer garden. Make your own pesto, or buy your favorite.

Just like lasagna and layering, once you assemble your “mise en place,” the skewers go very quickly. Save some time, assemble a day ahead, store in the refrigerator. When ready to serve bring the skewers to room temperature, place on your serving platter, add a bit of garnish, and drizzle a little of your pesto over the skewers.

This recipe is lovingly adapted from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. This is simply a recipe you “can make it your own,” adding this or deleting that. What is recommended is a nice variety of ingredients that can stay on a skewer well. Enjoy!

More Related Links:

24 Carrot Gold

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Grape Clusters Forming

After the grapevines flower, the grape berry clusters being to form on the vines. Still immature and green, the berries will continue to gain in size, and the march is on to harvest. Grapevines thrive on warm summer temperatures with cooler night temperatures. In a few weeks the grape berries will begin to change color which is called verasion, and the onset of the ripening of the grapes. At Domaine de Manion, once the berries begin verasion, we estimate we are about six weeks away from harvest.

I love the look of the vineyard this time of year because the vines are full, flowing in the wind, and unbridled. With the onset of verasion, we have to net each vineyard row and clip the nets together using clothespins. Birds and other wildlife will be eager to eat the grape clusters as the grapes continue to ripen and their sugar (brix) rises.

The Summer Vineyard at Domaine de Manion

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Tomato Plants Growing Near Potting Shed

I missed the boat on sowing tomato seeds this past February. I did have the chance to round up all of my volunteer tomato seedlings coming up from compost use throughout the garden and transplanted them all in raised beds in my potager. Interestingly, most of these volunteer tomato seedlings are Roma tomatoes.

Green Thumb Nursery in San Marcos, California always has a nice selection of tomato and vegetable seedlings in six packs late spring into summer. I bought six packs of Celebrity, Early Girl, Cherry Red, and Cherokee Purple. Much more than I usually plant, but this year I really wanted to have an abundance of tomatoes.

Out of room in my potager, I planted the six pack seedlings in a row near my potting shed, using a curly rod for support that I initially saw in Provence, Tomato Staking Technique. I haven’t looked recently, but I got my stakes at Dixieline Lumber, and I have seen them at Home Depot. As my tomato plants grow I wrap them carefully around the stakes, and also use gardener’s green tape for more security. For irrigation, and with my sandy soil, I installed a versatile 1/4” soaker hose, you can find at Home Depot, which has worked well.

Back to Basics.

1) Fertilize your tomato plants when they begin to flower, and monthly or more thereafter. I use GroPower Plus fertilizer, available at local Grangetto’s.

2) Water your tomato plants to 1” deep, and as frequently needed, if you have sandy or clay soil. Do not let your plants dry out and wilt, and do not over water when summer hot spells hit.

3) Tomato plants thrive with heat and sun, at least 6 hours or more. If you are coastal, tomato plants don’t really like ocean breezes and benefit from a protected sunny spot around your home that shields your tomato plants, possibly incorporating a house wall or fence. My west hedge and macadamia trees give my row of tomato plants some shielding.

4) Keep your tomato plants cleaned up, off of the ground, and opened up for air circulation and sunlight.

5) Indeterminate tomato varieties have a vining tendency. They can produce fruit until the plant is killed by frost. They bloom, set fruit, and ripen fruit all at the same time. These varieties need staking, and attention to removing suckers off of their main stem.

6) Determine tomato varieties are also called bush type, and are compact in form. They stop growing when fruit sets on their top bud. Their crop ripens all at once within a two-week period, and then the plant dies off. Ideal for use in containers, and don’t require staking, or pinching, and trimming of suckers.

7) Heirloom tomatoes or open pollinated varieties are generally considered 50 years or older, produce a true seed every year, and are known for their outstanding tomato flavors.

8) Hybrid tomato varieties are created from seeds produced by different plants that were crossed with each other to obtain certain desired characteristics. These varieties will not produce a true seed, and sometimes these tomatoes are considered to be slightly inferior in flavor and texture.

Years ago I interviewed Del Mar landscape designer, Linda Chisari, who is well known for her vegetable and tomato growing finesse. Linda back then grew over 30 different tomato varieties each year and shared, “the ones that do best for me are varieties that tolerate cool, overcast summer weather.” Linda’s “short list” then, was Juliet and Enchantment for eating fresh or in sauces. Green Zebra for it’s slightly acidic flavor and appearance. Dona, a small yet delicious French variety. Carmello for fabulous taste and appearance. Celebrity is a large flavorful tomato, and great when our summers are warm. Sun Gold, an outstanding orange cherry tomato. Of course, San Marzano for making sauce.

Growing tomatoes is all about preferences. What tomatoes you like to grow, and for what culinary purposes. Where you live and grow your tomatoes, be it coastal or inland, in the ground or in containers. How you prefer to support your tomatoes in your garden. Tomatoes are one of summer’s best experiences, sun-ripened mouth watering homegrown tomatoes, you won’t want to miss out on! Thyme for tomatoes is just around the corner.

Please share your favorite tomato varieties, and how you like to grow them.

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Cantaloupe and Avocado Salad with Chili Dressing

This is a great seasonal salad for summer, and possibly for your Fourth of July festivities. It is not a red, white, and blue salad you typically see this time of year, but it packs a punch! This recipe is from my dear Mom, from a Colorado cookbook, and other than it is so flavorful, colorful, and seasonal—that is all I know about this recipe.

This recipe is so easy, and simple to make. The recipe calls for making the chili dressing ahead of time, and chilling it covered in the refrigerator. I make it a day ahead. You can also take liberty with the type of greens you use.

In California, cantaloupes are in season from May to November, and avocado peak season is April to August. Key to this recipe is having a beautiful, sweet, and room temperature ripe cantaloupe to slice. I recommend Reed avocados that are round like baseballs, creamy dreamy in taste, and don’t brown once exposed to air. You can find them at Farmers Markets, or you might be lucky and have a tree in your garden. Other ripe avocados can certainly be used, with a squeeze of lemon or lime over them before adding to the salad.

This is the best kind of salad because it has refreshing flavor, texture, presentation, sweetness, and spice all in one. The chili dressing will stand up to and complement barbeque flavors. The original recipe doesn’t call for it, but to further dress up this salad, you could add chopped, lightly toasted pistachios as a garnish. Avocados and pistachios are a particularly nice flavor combination.

Cantaloupe and Avocado Salad with Chili Dressing

Chili Dressing

1/4 cup prepared chili sauce

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons minced onion

1/2 cup canola oil

Fine sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

Salad

1 small head butterhead lettuce, torn

1 small head red leaf lettuce, torn

1/2 cup chopped celery (optional)

1 small ripe cantaloupe, sliced

1 large ripe avocado, sliced

Garnish option, 1/3 cup chopped, lightly toasted pistachios.

Directions:

For the dressing, combine the chili sauce, honey, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and onions in a bowl and mix well. Add the canola oil and whisk until blended. Add a pinch of fine sea salt and desired cracked pepper to taste. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator. Whisk before serving.

For the salad, toss the lettuce and celery in a large salad bowl. Add the desired amount of dressing and toss to coat lightly. Compose the cantaloupe and avocado slices on top of your salad greens. Drizzle desired chili dressing over cantaloupe and avocado slices. Sprinkle pistachios over the salad. Serves 6.

French Fabulous! We all know and love Ina Garten for her numerous cookbooks. Did you know she has playlists she shares too? I had no idea, until dear visiting family mentioned it! Search Spotify, Sonos, etc.

Ina Garten’s Trip to Paris

Ina’s Dance Party

Other Ina Garten genre playlists people have created:

Ina Gartens Cooking List

Ina Garten French Dinner Menu

Ina Garten’s Summer Playlist

Bon Appétit, Bon Weekend, et Bon Fourth of July….Bonnie

The Kitchen Garden at Allt-y-bela in Wales, Garden Design 2012 Magazine

From my post last week, Down The Garden Path, followers were asking me where I got my willow fencing. I thought it might be fun to revisit the original post and my original kitchen garden inspiration from photos and the Garden Design article. I hunted “high’ and “low” to find willow products, and finally found them at Master Garden Products in the Pacific Northwest. I actually called them as I had several questions and needed more information to make my order. Master Garden Products couldn’t have been more helpful and so friendly. I highly recommend the company and their products.

Now is a great time to get your gardens plans in place, make an order, and enjoy the beauty of willow!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

The inspiration for my kitchen garden, or potager, came from a Garden Design, Winter 2012 magazine article, Simplicity Rules, on well-known garden designer, Arne Maynard’s rustic and historic late medieval farm, Allt-y-bella. Located in Wales, much of the rustic gardens and garden structure remind me of Provence. I envisioned borrowing a lot of the main elements featured in the article and photos, creating the look of a rustic kitchen garden. Some of these elements that caught my interest were the wattle hazel fencing, arching fruit trees with a centered bench, raised beds for vegetables, obelisks for climbing vegetables, easy pathways around the raised beds, and select spots for larger perennial plants like rhubarb and artichokes.

Allt-y-bela Kitchen Garden Pathway, Arching Fruit Trees, and Bench, Garden Design 2012

In 2015, I started creating a kitchen garden space to the north of our vineyard, with 4’ x 8’ raised bed kits. I looked high and low for hazel or willow wattle fencing for enclosing the kitchen garden similar to Allt-y-bella. I couldn’t find any source at the time. I needed about 75’ total. However, I happened to find a large amount of rolled willow fencing at Rogers Gardens at 50% off in an obscure sale corner. My intention for fencing the perimeter was to keep our chickens out of the kitchen garden as well as any random critters.

Up until 2020, my kitchen garden was good, and a work in progress. Over time, with sun exposure and high winter winds the willow fencing began to come apart and break down. This is common. I started looking for what I call wattle or willow fencing again.

My Kitchen Garden, June 2020

Last month I found willow fence panels online at Master Garden Products. They offer a nice selection and sizes of willow fencing, panels, borders, obelisks, etc. They are out of the Seattle area, and will freight orders to you. I purchased 6’ L x 3’ H woven panels for my entire perimeter, and used the same anchoring rebar and metal stakes that were already in place. I am really pleased with the look, and the material overall. I also purchased three obelisks for climbing beans. The willow panels are stronger and sturdier than the rolled fencing, but will eventually break down over time.

My Kitchen Garden, May 2021

Fine tuning the willow fence, I will put put larger rocks around the bottom of the fencing, to discourage critters from burrowing under the fence.

Starting an Outside Row of Perennial Artichokes

For more information and musing on how I create garden rooms from garden magazines, photos, and design ideas, please go to my previous post, The Making of a Garden Room.

French Fabulous! On Netflix, there is a new French subtitled drama series, Lupin. It is like a modern day “Houdini” Thriller series. Lots of twists and turns. Not only does it keep you on the edge, it is filmed mainly in beautiful Paris. Once you watch an episode or two, it draws you like a magnet. With two series completed, I see there is a third one coming.

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

À Kathy’s Maison

I have a dear friend who exudes “joie de vivre” whether she is here in San Diego, at her little stone house in Provence, or anywhere in the world. Ma Amie, Kathy Hurder. We are both Francophiles, and share the love of French country cooking, the wine, the copper, the markets, the brocantes, the lifestyle, and the beauty in the simplicity and quality of life.

With France opening up once again to tourists and foreigners, I remember with fond memories our last trip to France in 2019. Kathy and her charming husband, Ron Lauderbach, graciously invited us to their special corner of Provence. My husband, John, and I in turn invited them to share a weekend in Beaune, Burgundy, France, together a week later. We had so much fun, and yes, it was cherry season!

Sainte-Cécile-les Vignes Morning Market

No need to buy cherries this morning, as Kathy and Ron have their own happy cherry trees in their “petite jardin.” When it is cherry season, you enjoy them fresh, but also make a Cherry Clafoutis.

Cherry Clafoutis is a very popular French dessert, simple and seasonal, in which you can easily exchange seasonal fruit of the moment. If I remember correctly, we made Mimi Thorisson’s Cherry Clafoutis from her first cookbook, A Kitchen in France, and in her 2013 blog post, which she shares the recipe along with her complementary Duck Burger recipe. Yum!

Kathy and Ron, in Medieval Village, Séguret, Provence and overlooking Sablet, Provence

One of our incentives for a rendez-vous a week later in Beaune, besides the incredible Burgundy wine and regional food, was taking a “Day in Burgundy Cooking Class” with American ex-pats “mother daughter duo” Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini, at The Cook’s Atelier. Planned well in advance, Kathy and I were lucky to land the last two spots in a Saturday June cooking class. While at our cooking class, our fellas were happy to further explore Beaune and dabble in some wine tasting. Needless to say, it was an incredible day and experience, full of special memories. For more info on The Cook’s Atelier see below.

I can’t say enough about Beaune, Burgundy, and highly recommend spending some quality time there. It is really worth it to bike or hike into the surrounding world famous vineyards. There is a real sense and spirit of place, and the terroir is immaculately managed and revered.

Past and Present Merge in these Vineyards

A Special Burgundy Birthday for John

It is a real gift to have “joie de vivre” and the ability to put a spark in other people’s lives, just by being your passionate self. Merci Kathy and Ron!

Well Fed and Content in Beaune

French Fabulous!

The Cook’s Atelier, by Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini, is one of the best cooking classes I have been to. From start to finish, it is a whirlwind for your senses. I often thought about them, through this pandemic. Was this small family business surviving, with no classes, no brick and mortar storefront retail? Were they writing a new cookbook? Well, good news, yes, and yes, and yes.

The Cook’s Atelier hosts regular one day classes, and also offers week long master classes. The Cook’s Atelier has taken this gift of time to expand their country home outside of Beaune, creating a large potager and teaching kitchen. They are now growing most of their own fruit and vegetables for their culinary classes, and in the week long master class will be bringing the class to their country setting for more culinary instruction and Burgundian experience. Adding to this, they have expanded into custom copper gardening tools, found on their website. Amazing.

Another Related and Past Blog Link, The Cook’s Atelier

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Bright and Flavorful Pea Pasta

“P” is for Peas and Parmesan Pasta is a tongue teaser, but also a very passionate pea and pappardelle pasta recipe, a must if you love peas! This recipe is from Manhattan’s Pó restaurant, and Pó chef John Baron, which I originally saw featured in Oprah magazine, January 2001. Pó restaurant was established in 1993, and is permanently closed now, but it’s memory will live on with this recipe.

Keeping frozen peas in your freezer— olive oil, dried pasta, and red onions in your pantry, it can be an easy “go to” recipe when needed. With that said, this recipe calls upon best quality ingredients as usual for your best flavor and outcome. Fresh pasta is preferred, but you can easily used dried too. For the recipe this time I used bucatini pasta. I have always used frozen peas for the recipe with fabulous results, but I do want to use fresh peas from my garden one day.

Add a nice slice of rustic bread with your finished pasta, and you have a bright, flavorful, simple pea pasta dinner of comfort food.

Pappardelle with Peas and Parmesan

Lovingly Adapted from Pó Restaurant, Pó chef John Baron

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh or dried pappardelle (or fettuccine)

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 cup coarsely chopped red onion

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed

1/2 cup chicken broth or water

1 Tbsp. butter

12 whole mint leaves, optional

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to taste

Whole cooked peas and lemon zest for garnish

Directions:

1) Boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta of your choice until al dente.

2) Meanwhile, in a wide skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, sugar, salt, pepper, and peas. If you are using fresh peas, cook 10-12 minutes or until the peas are soft and tender, stirring occasionally. If you are using frozen peas, add them when the onion is tender, and cook 2 more minutes stirring. Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree with broth or water and the remaining olive oil, scraping down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula.

3) When the pasta is done, drain it. Mix the pea puree and butter in a saucepot; add the pasta and stir until it’s evenly coated. Add the mint leaves and toss well. Serve with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and garnish with whole cooked peas. Serves 4. Enjoy!

Adding Pasta to the Pea Puree

Please share if you have a simple pea recipe. Please share if you make this recipe.

French Fabulous!

I want to mention a wonderful French film (subtitled) (comedy, drama, and family) I saw recently which was so sweet, School of Life (2018), L’ecole buissonnière is the original title. I found it to view on Amazon Prime Video. Beautiful characters, beautiful story, beautiful France, and a theme that “life sometimes rights itself.”

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend…Bonnie