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COOKING AND LOVING “IT” in the Valley
Leaving our friends of thirty plus years behind in Ventura County several years ago, my Hubby Norman and I relocated to Ben Lomond where we could enjoy the mountains with its’ wildlife and to be nearer our children and their families.
Norm and I soon learned, however, our children’s lives were very full and their visits “home to us” were much less often than anticipated, and our “old” friends now were too far for our weekly “get together.”
Added to the disappointment, the deer quickly ate my roses, the raccoon families came nightly, and “Sammy Skunk” took up residency under our deck. So much for wildlife!
One morning while watching the Jacques Pepin and Julia Child cooking show on TV, I thought about our distant friends and how we would prepare fabulous meals together as Jacques and Julia were on the program.
I sadly looked around my kitchen; pots and pans, too many and too large for only two people and a table that would seat twelve for meals, now empty. I turned back to the TV where Jacques and Julia were “trussing a goose”; Julia holding the goose, and Jacque wrapping the twine. As Jacques “popped” the goose into the oven Julia remarked… “One person can’t do anything, Jacque; it’s only with others that things get accomplished.”
I turned off the TV and while sitting there in my quiet kitchen I wondered how many of you in this beautiful valley, have also relocated; for jobs, retirement, downsizing your home, or are simply “empty nesters” as we were.
My mind went back to Julia’s quip to Jacques….”it’s only with others that things get accomplished”, and from that phrase, the Santa Cruz Mountains Gourmet Dinner Club was created
My mind filled with thoughts of fruits and veggies purchased from our Farmer’s and local markets. I saw myself making trips to the Santa Cruz wharf to purchase fish, caught that very morning; trips to the Corralitos Market in Watsonville for sausages, all of which would be prepared, cooked and served to “new friends” sitting around my table for twelve
Could I, an unknown in this valley, start a “gourmet dinner club”? “Of course you can” Hubby Norm said…”do it”.
“It’s what this Valley needs” Peter Burke, this paper’s Editor told me as we sat in Felton’s White Raven coffee shop, three years ago.
I shared my plan with Peter. Three couples once a month at several homes on a Sunday evening, each couple contributing to the dinner. A few days later, the Press Banner ran the story.
Today, this plan is exactly what the Santa Cruz Mountains Gourmet Dinner Club is about; fifty-four people filling dinner tables with delicious food and lively conversation. Once again, “my table is full.”
When inquiring about the Gourmet Dinner Club, women and men alike have stated “people tell me that I am a great cook”, and I think I am; but Gourmet? I don’t know.
Many associate the word “gourmet” with an expensive restaurant, reserved waiters serving foods they did not recognize and prepared with unfamiliar ingredients.
My response to people is the same as Julia’s when she said “Gourmet cooking simply means excellent food quality, prepared and presented well.”
Each time I baked a Pavlova, cooked a lobster for a bisque or flambéed brandy for a spinach salad using extraordinary ingredients, I realized that I was on the “gourmet cooking path.” A fragrant and beautifully browned chicken, its’ juices flowing, surrounded by the freshest of vegetables is, in my mind, on its way to being part of a Gourmet dinner
In the months ahead, through this column our members will share with you their cooking successes and yes, even failures; wonderful “finds” we have located tucked away in Ben Lomonds’ Mountain Feed Store which include cookbooks, specialty jams, cooking equipment and herbs from their nursery
On Sunday, October 2 at 4:30 P.M. the Gourmet Dinner Club will host a HOPS AND HARVEST Gourmet Beer and Dinner in the Ben Lomond fields of Members Cindy and Danny Thorpe. For more information email me at czelak@sbcglobal.net.
Hopefully, I can reawaken in you, those cooking and gardening talents which were “put to rest” when you came to these beautiful Mountains and Valleys.
Bon Appetite!
Colly Gruczelak
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