Food, Glorious Food

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I've made some fun food discoveries lately, and I think they are worth sharing.

The first is a really interesting concept call the CSA. CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture", and you can think of it as a step above a farmer's market. Rather than sell to a wholesaler or at a farmer's market, the farmer picks produce for a group of subscribers who support the farm. The one I just joined is run by Morning Song Farm, between Temecula and Escondido. They drop off the produce down in Costa Mesa, at a new restaurant called the Old Vine Cafe. For $42.50 a week, I get a large basket of produce that was picked that day, all organic, and all grown within 80 miles of our home (most of the food we get in the supermarket travels at least 1500 miles). I tell you, you really notice the difference in taste - it's the next best thing to growing it myself.

As it turns out, the cool thing about Morning Song Farm in particular is that they have a real variety of fruits and vegetables, and they change with the seasons throughout the year. The blackberries have been great recently, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming pomelos and macadamia nuts. Here's what I received in my basket this past week:

Swiss Chard – 1 bunch
Heirloom Beans – 1 bag
Baby Carrots – 1 bunch
Baby Lettuce – 2 bags
Basil – 1 bunches
Zucchini – 3
Tatsoi – 3 bunches
Beets – 1 bunch
Tomatoes – 2 small containers
Blackberries – 2 small containers
Melons – 2
Lemons – 3
Limes – 8
Small asian pears – 12
Rosemary – 1 bunch
Mint – 1 bunch

And the second great discovery is the Old Vine Cafe itself. I just learned of it because it's the closest drop-off point for my basket, but I took the time to meet some friends and enjoy dinner there when I picked up the produce this past week. I didn't realize what a treat it would be - Chef Mark McDonald takes the freshest and most interesting ingredients, and turns them into culinary delights. We enjoyed 8 small plates among the 4 of us and left satisfied. Among our dishes were olive bruschetta, octopus carpaccio, quinoa jambalaya and a wonderful antipasto. Apparently I wasn't alone in my appreciation for the food - the OC Register just gave them a nice review, and we almost couldn't get a table without a reservation on a Wednesday night! Along with the food, they have a great wine list, and believe both food and wine should be accessible and affordable. I'm hoping to try out one of their wine and cheese Monday nights sometime soon.

What's your latest food discovery near Seabridge? Share the scoop in the comments section!

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Latest Changes

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As I wrote about in this post, I implemented in July some changes to restrict Seabridge Journal to homeowners only. While I still believe this is appropriate for some articles posted here, blogger/google doesn't make the login process very easy. As a result, I lost regular readers, and it's no fun talking to myself. In addition, some people are under the impression that only certain homeowners can participate. That's not correct. Had I been asked about this, I would have cleared up any confusion.

Still, I realize that the password features weren't very friendly, and that didn't help matters either. It struck me that I could actually have two blogs - one for public consumption, and one for homeowners only. I've given them the same look and feel, and tied them together with common links. And that way, readers can also get better information about how it works and how they can access things.

You'll still need to sign up if you want access to the private section - see the info on the right.

Best of all, the open nature of the public section allows me to revive the "subscribe via e-mail" feature. Just enter your e-mail address on the right, and you'll be notified automatically of any new posts, within a day of posting.

I hope you'll agree that this should improve Seabridge Journal all around, and that helps me with my mission of communicating news and topics of interest to the community.

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Backseat Drivers

When I was learning to drive, my dad was the worst person to have riding along with me. It wasn't that he was a bad driver - rather, he was a very good driver but quite picky. I recall one of his gripes in particular was that I wouldn't start braking soon enough. I didn't see what the problem was - I knew that we were going to be able to stop in time. Fast forward 20 years, when I recently had a teenager driving me around in my own car, and I got a good feel for how it felt to wonder if you were going to plow into the car in front!

Now as I'm driving, I'm continually reminded of all the habits and techniques I learned from my father, and I really appreciate what he shared with me. I think I'm a better driver for them. That doesn't mean that he knew everything, or that he never got a speeding ticket himself (though I don't think he ever did). I may have even gone on to become a better driver than he was for all I know. But I do know that his guidance helped keep me from learning a lot of things the hard way.

I am reminded of my teenage driving when I think of our board of directors. No one likes a back seat driver. We've all at one time or another gone into something thinking we know everything we need, and oftentimes suggestions come across as criticism and lack of confidence in the driver. It's not easy to stomach - and it's not always right. But there's something to be said to listening to what others who have gone through it have to say. It may just be important in preventing a collision or getting pulled over for an infraction of the law.

I remember thinking many times, "Fine, if you can drive better, I'll pull over and let you take the wheel!" And we similarly need to remember that our board members are all volunteers who have taken on a responsibility that few others were willing to do. Having them behind the wheel lets us nap during the drive or frees us up to watch the scenery pass by - and for that we owe them a debt of gratitude. But community service, like driving, is a privilege and carries responsibilities, among which is the duty to understand the rules of the road. And if someone has driven down a road before and returned to say that the road is washed out, then it's worth considering whether it's a good idea to take the car down it, even though the driver has every right to do so.

Math Class

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Beat 10, RD 152

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Change Is The Only Constant

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Buzz off!

They say misery loves company...

I thought I was alone in wondering how in the world I could be suffering mosquito bites when we're in the driest year on record. But as I talked with neighbors, I learned that we're all "feeling the sting"

As it turns out the OC Register reports a problem at Bolsa Chica Reserve that's contributing to our woes. Hopefully they're gone in 2 weeks or less.