I’ve been so busy of late, hence, the infrequency of my blog posts. And, I’m off to Boulder in a few hours for a Backpacker Magazine sales meeting (I work for three main magazines — Yoga Journal, Vegetarian Times, and Backpacker).

Some recent musings:

I went to a Slow Food event in Sonoma the other week. We visited the Dry Creek Olive Nursery in the Anderson Valley, and learned how these magnificent trees grow from saplings to fruit bearing adults. We moved on to their olive oil mill and watched the press in action. We visited on community day, which means people came with their 1 pound, 5 pound, 10 pound buckets of olives to be pressed into oil.

I am just beginning to learn about olive oil, and have learned that bitterness is a positive attribute — not so good is mustiness and fustiness! How great is that!

We then had a slow food lunch prepared by Franco Dunn, the former chef of Santi Restaurant in Geyserville. I was blown away. We started with a salad of fresh greens, persimmon and pomegranate, followed by home made dry cured meats including a transcendent breasciola. The lardo I could leave, but tried it anyway. Not sure what the fuss is over that particular dish. Our main course was wild boar in a chianti reduction served over soft polenta and bitter greens.It was sublime. Desert was a plate of local cheeses made by Pugs’ Leap, local quince paste and local honey.

If all this sounds precious, it wasn’t. We sat at long wooden tables. The fire roared in the fireplace. Bottles of wine were out for all to enjoy. Everywhere I turned there were wonderful, fascinating people – a mushroom forager, a cheese maker, two bakers, and they were only my immediate neighbors. Convivial is the word that springs to mind. I felt that this was the way meals used to be, and I was nourished on every level.