Wednesday:
We had a very loose itinerary. After dropping off Jax at my parents' house, we had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. In the rush to get everything done, we hadn't had breakfast and I was quite hungry. I ordered a shrimp salad with whole beans and cheese on the side. I used salsa as the dressing, added beans and just a sprinkle of cheese, avoided the shell and chips, and it was a satisfying lunch. I would order that again, even without shrimp as the beans gave it enough protein and plenty of fiber for keeping me full for a while.
St. Helena Olive Oil Company was the first stop in wine country. We tasted a variety of olive oils, vinegars, mustards, and dips, all delicious and many made on site. I particularly liked the lemon olive oil, with a crisp lemon bite and fruity olive flavor, and brought a bottle home for salads.
Our next stop was at one of the two wineries on our itinerary, Frog's Leap. (We never made it to the second!) We were too late for a tour but spent half an hour chatting with Megan, a friendly administrator who gets to work in the sales room one day a week. She told us about the organic, sustainable practices that the winery employs and gave us samples of the Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. We're not big wine drinkers, but we really enjoyed it and bought half a dozen bottles. The tours were booked for the next few days, but Megan took our number to let us know if there was a cancellation, and sure enough she was able to get squeeze us into a tour the next morning.
We drove up to Calistoga where we stayed at the Calistoga Inn. It's a quaint, European style hotel (shared bathrooms) over a restaurant and pub. We walked down picturesque Lincoln Ave. (like walking in a 1950's postcard!) and stopped for dinner at All Seasons Bistro. We sharing two delicious, locally sourced meals: roasted pork loin medallions with stone fruit chutney (melt-in-your-mouth tender) and a glass of chardonnay, and Sonoma duck duo - seared breast and leg confit - with pan juices and Provencal vegetables (and bacon! yum!) and a glass of petit syrah. For dessert, s'mores with homemade graham cracker, homemade marshmallow, and a decadent espresso-chocolate ice cream. We "mmmm"-ed all through dinner! The waiter recommended the wines to us (as I said, we're not big wine drinkers and wouldn't have known where to start) and they complimented the meals quite nicely.
We spent the evening in the pub at the Calistoga Inn listening to a local band and drinking excellent beer, brewed on site. We tried the Kolsch, Porter, and a guest India Pale Ale from a microbrewery in Eureka. I also enjoyed a few mojitos. The bar staff was friendly and atmosphere was great for sharing company with a few locals and a pair of Swedish college boys on a whirlwind US tour.
Thursday:
We were back at Frog's Leap for the tour first thing Thursday morning, which in Napa means 10:30 am. (Nothing is open in the valley before 10 am!) Rachel led the tour, and she had so much energy and enthusiasm that it was hard not to be excited with her about the winery. The organic, sustainable winery utilizes dry farming methods (no irrigation, no fertilizers, and no pesticides), solar panels to cover all of its electricity, and is home to 5 acres of organic orchards and vegetable gardens which adds natural biodiversity and encourages beneficial insects throughout the property. Their 200 acres of vineyards boast grapevines with 22 feet deep root systems; industry standard is a mere 2 feet. Having such deep roots help the grapes retain water in the soil and withstand root pests, which only live in the top two feet of soil. They plant cover crops off season as nitrogen fixers and to add nutrients to the soil. (Who knew I was so interested in soil?!)
The barn is one of 5 original red barns in the county, restored with 80% of its original boards and 20% reclaimed wood. The main house was also built with reclaimed wood, geothermal heating and cooling, and a variety of green building methods. We were encouraged to pick fruit and vegetables from their garden, and living local enough to use it, we brought home two full bags of apples, peaches, and peppers. I'll be freezing peaches, drying apples, and roasting peppers this weekend!
And, of course, the wine was fantastic. We found the tour fascinating and would highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. The tour is free, and we tasted five wonderful wines. As wine novices, we also learned quite a bit about what to look for in different types of wines and how they are produced.
We ate a packed lunch of black-bean and wheat berry salad with fresh veggies and apples picked at Frog's Leap, and then went back to our room for a short nap that turned into a long nap. The second winery that we planned to visit was snoozed through.
For dinner, we visited The Girl and The Fig. This was another amazing meal. We started with a cheese and fruit sampler (left to right): cow's milk Three Sisters Serena, goat's milk Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, and sheep's milk Bellwether Farm's Pepato. All three are California cheeses, and they were delicious! We especially liked the sheep's milk cheese, studded with peppercorns. They were served with apples, nuts, fig chutney, and fig cakes.
We both had heirloom tomato soup with basil and saffron, and for our entrees, Mr.M tried the grass fed flatiron steak with pommes frites and I had the daily special, herb-crusted halibut with saffron Israeli couscous and spinach, sauteed baby squash, and a red-pepper sauce. It was beautiful, colorful, and tasted spectacular. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside; the couscous had that warm, rich saffron flavor, and the sauce complimented both. Mr.M's steak was equally delicious and very tender. For dessert, I enjoyed a small scoop of chocolate orange sorbet, fig and port ice cream, and hazelnut gelato. I had the "wine flight" with my meal - three tastes of wine, one with the soup, one with the entree, and a port with the dessert. I didn't write down what they were, unfortunately, but they were tasty!
Friday:
Friday morning we headed down to Napa to visit Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food, and The Arts. They offer cooking demonstrations (we attended one featuring tomatoes), wine tastings, and regular classes in addition to their ongoing exhibits, Forks in the Road about the American food experience and Hungry Planet, a fascinating photo series documenting what families eat for an entire week in countries around the world, based on the book of the same name by Peter Menzel. It is a beautiful building and the grounds house several acres of edible gardens. We ate lunch at Julia's Kitchen inside the Copia, which offered a number of the garden's fruits and vegetables on their menu.
For lunch, I had the portobello mushroom wellington with eggplant puree, asparagus, and tomatoes. It was almost too pretty to eat, and tasted as good as it looked! The pastry was flaky and the sauce had a creamy texture but tangy, savory flavor that was just delightful.
After the Copia, we picked up Jax and came home. It was so nice to just spend time with Mr.M alone, no work, no baby, no worries for a few days, and we had fun just being together.
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I was sure that I gained weight as I indulged in all of these amazing meals, eating the bread, desserts, and delectable sauces but when I went to Weight Watchers this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to have lost .4 lb.! Sweet!
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At the farmer's market after Weight Watchers, I renewed my CSA box a year in advance. Add $686 to my monthly total and my budget is blown out of the water, but broken down it's just $58 a month for fresh, local, organic produce delivered to me. You really can't beat that. By paying a year in advance, I save a dollar a week. Since summer is the busy season for our family business, and the time of year when I have a little extra cushion in the budget, it was worth it to pay upfront and not have to worry about coming up with it in the winter, when the budget is tighter by necessity.
Today's box includes:
corn
cucumbers
eggplant
cantaloupe
honeyloupe
peppers
potatoes
tomatoes
This will be a tasty week! I also spent $24 on Pacific snapper for dinner tonight, cheese and butter from Spring Hill, onions, and Glaum eggs. I still need milk, rice, and yogurt, which will bring the total closer to $44 for this week's groceries, plus the CSA payment.
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Daily Menu
Breakfast
apple
2 slices Alvarado Street Bakery toast and 1 t. Spring Hill scallion-lemon butter (3 Points)
Lunch
red lentil soup with tomatoes and potatoes
1 oz. cheese (3 Points)
peach
Dinner
more red lentil soup (yummy!)
WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 6
WPA points available: 35
Activity points today: 8 (The Firm video)
Activity points this week: 8
Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - whole wheat bread
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes (fish)
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes
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