David, our produce manager, popped his head into my office just before the end of my shift yesterday. His eyes were shining with excitement as he said, “One of our local farmers just brought in edible flowers. Do you think you could put something up on Facebook about them tomorrow?”

Shoot, I’d do one better than just put it up on Facebook. How could I resist the concept of local, edible flowers for my Eat Local dinner? And if I was going to eat it, I should blog about it, right?

I clocked out and headed to the produce department, giddy with anticipation. I was going to craft a dinner around flowers! Awesome, awesome, awesome! My brain began to spin with options. Obviously, I was going to make a salad with the flowers as the main ingredient. Local greens, blackberries, and Sungolds rounded out the edible posy. We had some green beans we had picked during our last visit to our CSA farm. If I kept it simple and tossed them with some regional butter, they’d compliment the sweet greenness of the salad. Then a little bit of protein… my Charles helped me out with that decision – regional chicken it was (and it was reduced – score!).

The minute we walked in the front door, I started warming up the stove-top, cast iron grill and put a pot on to boil for the green beans. Then I began arranging the salad. I must admit that almost half of the local blackberries didn’t make it into the bowls. They’re wild, so they have that wonderful untamed tang as well as sweetness. A healthy amount of Sungolds, sliced in half so their juices incorporated with the greens were next, and then I added the flowers. It was like arranging in a vase, but better, because it would soon end up as our meal. As soon as the green beans and chicken were cooked, dinner was served.

The flowers gave a green pop to the palate. I especially enjoyed the nasturtiums. They presented a sprinkling of spice across the tongue followed by a delightful burst of mandarin oranges. My Charles wasn’t as enthusiastic about his edible arrangement, so I helped myself to his nasturtiums too. Because of the wild, green flavors of the flowers accompanied with the chicken and green beans, I’d recommend a Sauvignon Blanc made in the New Zealand style. It complements the range of flavors wonderfully.

A little bit of exotic beauty for dinner – it’s so great to work in a place where I get to be introduced to so many wonderful, new experiences, especially when those experiences are on a plate.

Wine and amazing food – these are the things my Charles’ and my dreams are made of.

Last night, our area’s newest tasting room, Grass Valley Wine Company, had a pre-grand opening. Four wineries share the space: Montoliva, Pilot Peak, Solune, and Bent Metal.

The Company is located in an historic building on Mill Street in downtown Grass Valley. The interior is rich with walls of brick, murals, and gorgeous accessories including plush couches and leather stools. Multileveled, it’s a glorious place for events or just to hang out with an excellent bottle of local wine.

For the pre-grand opening, tables were set up around the perimeter of the lower level, each table representing one of the four wineries. Two choices of wine and one excellent dish from Jim E’s were available at each stop.

My Charles and I started at Montoliva’s table. Mark Henry, the owner and winemaker, was pouring. He was also the lovely individual who invited us to the event, so starting at his table just felt right. Plus, he’s such an easy person to talk with, it made it easy for us to relax and feel a part of the group as a whole. Mark’s table had the most wonderful roasted tomato and goat cheese tarts, and they paired gorgeously with his yummy wines.

  We then drifted, talked, and made our way over to Solune’s table. This was exciting for us, as we hadn’t had a chance to make it out to their winery and taste their wines. It should come as no surprise that they were terrific, and their food for pairing was a braised sausage. I didn’t try the sausage, as I was still rather full from an early dinner and the amazing goat cheese tart, but my Charles enjoyed every bite.

  Our next stop was Pilot Peak and their awesome wines. This time, I couldn’t say no to Jim E’s creation – chicken, wrapped in bacon, with chipotle basil sauce! Mmmm… taste sensation heaven. I was tempted to take another, but my full tummy and good manners prevented such a social faux pas. And again, the wine paired perfectly.

The last table was Bent Metal’s. Their wines were paired with meatballs in a Dijon mustard sauce, which I wanted, but that lovely bacon had taken up the last of the food room in my belly. My Charles said they were mighty tasty, and I was content with that. This was the first time either of us had met Judy Brown of Bent Metal, and I gotta say, she’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in Nevada County.

While this could have been the end of our evening, we decided to extend our night just a tad further by purchasing a glass of wine each. My Charles chose Solune’s 2006 Petite Sirah. The grapes were sourced from Clarksburg, and the wine was fantastic. While it would be good with steak, you may think I’m nuts, but I think this wine would also go terrifically with sushi, especially ahi. There were enough levels that told me they’d compliment the green saltiness of nori, the smoky base of wasabi partnered with tamari, and the flavors of the tuna, that I’d love to try this pairing. I had a glass of Pilot Peak’s LiVedo, one of my favorites, and one that I thought would end the evening on a high note. I was right. Oh, for evenings that end on a contented sigh…

  One of the things I thoroughly enjoy about the local produce season getting under way is the challenge of trying new things. Before Heaven and Earth Farm brought garlic scapes into the store last week, I had never heard of them, but typing the words into Google gave me a few ideas about how to cook up these bad boys. Specifically, this blog gave me a recipe that screamed to be made.

So I did. I don’t have a food processor, (someday, oh one beautiful someday, I shall!) but I do own a blender. The blender worked okay, but I ended up needing to put in about a tablespoon more olive oil to get it to mix together properly.

I tossed the pesto with some al dente fettuccine, sprinkled some extra parmesan on top, and WHAMO! Talk about a taste sensation – the intense flavors of garlic and greenness danced upon my taste buds in a very pleasing samba.  We paired it with a Viognier from Pilot Peak Vineyard and Winery which was an extremely good call. The garlic amazingness brought out pear flavors in the wine that were lovely counterpoints.

My Charles pointed out that some sourdough bread with a little bit of butter would have been a nice addition to the meal, and I agree. We didn’t have any on-hand, but if we had, the meal would have gone from wowza to complete contentment. Even without the bread, it was fantastic.

There's something so rejuvenating about driving around the foothills on a sunny day, listening to good music, chatting with great people, eating yummy food, and drinking WINE.

Saturday, Charles and I did the Northern Sierra Wine Trail. It happens every year, but this year was a bit different than in years past. This year, we knew people. And we got to do one of the things that we thoroughly enjoy -- we got to talk about wine.

All that gabbing meant that we didn't make it to too many wineries -- only three to be exact. We started off at Montoliva Vineyard & Winery. There we picked up our glasses, had some of Mark Henry's always lovely wine offerings, and even got to try some of Mark's home brew. The man knows how to make a good beer. Besides getting to chat with Mark, which is always a fun time, my favorite experience at Motoliva was getting to barrel sample his 2008 Teroldego. I can't wait until this beauty, with its nose of wild roses and vanilla bean, is ready for the bottle!

Then we were off to Naggiar Vineyards & Winery. They were recently voted Best Winery in KCRA's A*list. Now, we've been fans a long time. I even wrote an article about them a couple of years ago. We tried every wine they offered for tasting during the Trail. We couldn't say no to any of them, they're just all so spectacular. Then Diane Naggiar discovered us and made sure we were fed. We were served a lovely pulled pork sandwich along with a plate of fresh fruit and another plate of fresh vegetables and paired that with their wow-factor Petite Sirah. After chatting with Mark Foster from Nevada City Winery and purchasing a bottle of wine, we were off to our last stop.

All of our great chit chat over the course of the day had really eaten into our five hours of Wine Trail. We wouldn't have had it any other way, and it meant that we got to end our afternoon at Pilot Peak Winery. Again, we tried every wine offered because how could we resist? We love it all so. Which meant that yes, we needed to eat some more food. Hooray! We were lucky enough to have their famous coleslaw and omg! tri-tip sandwiches. We paired our food with one of my favorites, their Cabernet Franc. After purchasing another couple bottles of wine, we drove home, full and contented and wishing it wasn't another year until our next Wine Trail.