We just got back from a week on the big island, relaxing and visiting family and celebrating my mother-in-laws 70th birthday! We went swimming, rested and ate a lot of really good food!

My brother in law and sister in law love experimenting with new foods and so we all had a great time creating dishes using some of the more obscure tropical fruits like jackfruit, which we deep fried in ghee and them added to a smokey green tomato sauce that joe brought to them from his canning adventures last summer. The jackfruit actually had a really savory flavor and tasted kind of like chicken!

One morning we used breadfruit, which is like a very sweet and starchy potato, to make “french toast”! We made a batter with raw milk, cane juice, cinnamon and nutmeg and then reduced the sauce in a pan while we fried the bread fruit……yum! Let’s just say I didn’t feel like being in a bikini after that breakfast!

On the night of my mother in law’s birthday, we made cupcakes with a passion fruit icing from passion fruits on the farm!

As beautiful and magical as Hawaii is, I was happy to come home, I love my life here in Nevada City.

The Pop-Up Dinner was a fabulous success,  to begin, we had 4 brawny lads cooking away all day In the Kitchen…..2 of them are cooks at New Moon Cafe. Here they are preparing to plate the first course!

Here we have a composed beet salad with goat cheese whipped cream, roasted beets, shaved radish, cress,smoked carrots and a “soil” made from steel cut oats, beer and some other magic.

Smiling Chef Aaron preparing to serve the soup course! Each bowl had a whole poached egg!!

The dinners look on as Aaron discusses each course…..yum!

Plating the polenta and local rabbit entree with smoked carrots, savory granola and other goodness!

Watching the chefs work was so much fun! The way we set the table up gave everyone a perfect view into the kitchen!

We look forward to hosting another pop up dinner at In the Kitchen, and attending one soon at Polly’s Paladar!

I LOVE bitter, winter lettuces like radiccio and endive. They have such a sharp flavor and a wonderfully crispy texture. They make an impressive salad for guests, but also a special treat just for yourself.

Today I combined one hand full of torn raddiccio and one handful endive leaves into a bowl. I added a handful of sliced almonds, 1 grated carrot, a handful of micro greens (sprouts would work too) and topped it off with a 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese.

Talk about feeling healthy but also tasting great!

I whipped up a quick dressing, using my trusty mason jar and lid method. 1/4 olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vin, 1/4 nutritional yeast and a pinch of sea salt. Lid on and SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE!

Dress salad, toss and plate. I had 2 booming plates of salad and still had some left over for Joe. He better get home soon though…….

I just catered a beautiful wedding in Loomis at a new (to me) venue called the Loomis Flower Farm.

Here are some photos of the wonderful, happy and talented In the Kitchen staff cooking amazing food and creating a convivial atmosphere! Thanks for another great event guys! I love what I do!

*Note the the man at the stove is Aaron Taber who will be cooking this Friday’s pop up dinner at In the Kitchen under the name Archimedes Kitchen….i think there are 2 spaces left!!

* Note the bride in one of the photos helping herself to a very large platter of delicious food!!

I love this feeling, putting to bed the old, the past……..starting out fresh……as an ex- boyfriend said upon dumping me, “New beginnings, babe!” Indeed!

I know 2012 has a lot of fabulous things in store, and I can’t wait to see what they are!

Before we begin a new year, I want to thank you. Thank you for reading this blog, thank you for taking cooking classes, thank you for hiring In the Kitchen to cater your event, thank you for making me feel like a valued part of our community.

Thank you to my family, my mom and dad for believing in my dream to open In the Kitchen. Thank you to my brother  Tim for always be willing to help with the heavy lifting and for picking up the compost each week and for growing AMAZING food! Thank you to my husband Joe for the countless loads of kitchen (and home) laundry, for taking out the trash, for re-prioritizing your own work schedule so that you can help me at the kitchen, for being such a devoted husband and father. Thank you Felix for lighting the fire within me to keep on!

Thank you to everyone who has worked with me this past year to cater weddings and other events, it is very hard work and you are all so gracious and hard working. Thank you to Jen Smitt for often being the lead in this kitchen for these events and making beautiful food!

Thank you to Atma, Susan, Ann, Brenda and many others who create their own yummy food products In the Kitchen, while expanding our community. Thank you to Briar Patch for championing my classes and now offering your own!

Thank you farmers who grow beautiful food. Thank you Zion St neighbors and businesses who have welcomed me to the neighborhood.

Thank you everyone who came out on Sunday for our 4th annual brunch to celebrate the new year together! thank you Amber for taking these photos!

January 1st

1pm

FREE!

You are invited to In the Kitchen’s 4th annual New Years Day Brunch on January 1st at 1 pm!

We are mixing it up this year and will feature a South of the Border menu……all vegetarian, all love.

This is our way of saying thank you to friends, family and community for another year of support of In the Kitchen!

We are looking for a few volunteers the morning of to help prep with us starting at 10:30 am. Email me if you would like to help out, it will be fun!!

I will also be giving out a beautiful In the Kitchen (3 year anniversary!) calendar created by the lovely and talented Miranda Currie!

Saturday, February 11th
KIDS In the Kitchen is BACK! Ages 5-9
Valentines Treats
9-10:30 am
$25/child


Cooking is a great way for children to build confidence and learn about the foods that nourish the body and the soul…….in each class we will discuss proper food handling, preparation, kitchen safety, table setting, manners and well as cooking!

Menu

Easy Chocolate Truffles

No Bake Buckeye Cookies *made with peanut butter

Apple Compote with Cream
Email or call Wendy at 478-0669 or info@wendyvanwagner.com

Saturday, February 25th
KIDS In the Kitchen is BACK! Ages 5-9
Winter Soups
9-10:30 am
$25/child


Menu
Tomato Soup and Cheesy Toasts
Chicken Noodle Soup
Lentil Soup with Caramelized Onions

Saturday, March 10th
KIDS In the Kitchen is BACK! Ages 5-9
Puff Pastry Phun
9-10:30 am
$25/child


Menu
Brie Cheese Wrapped in Puff Pastry
Cheesy Twists
Mini Empanadas

Saturday, March 24th
KIDS In the Kitchen is BACK!
Ages 5-9
PYOL *Pack Your Own Lunch
9-10:30 am
$25/child


Menu

Peanut Butter and Jelly Stars

Ants on a Log and then some

Quiche

Fruit Salad

Have you heard that In the Kitchen is offering a Winter CSK (community supported kitchen)?

* This makes an awesome Christmas gift!

For 6 weeks, you will pick up a box of wholesome prepared convenience foods to aid in the feeding and care of your family throughout the week. Each box will include:

1 qt of soup

1 qt of a gluten free grain salad

1 pint lacto-fermented vegetable, or a sauce or jam, each week will be something new!

A bundle of burritos (5 bean, cheese and rice burritos)

A raw goodies from next Level Foods

A loaf of break from the Breadnk

The CSK will provide go-to items to stock your refrigerator throughout the week so you always have something to pull a meal together with! Kids LOVE the burritos in their school lunches.

All food will be packaged in either glass mason jars (that we ask you to bring back each week for re-use) or recyclable packaging. All food is vegetarian and prepared with a high vibration!

When:
Mondays- January 16, 23, 30 February 6, 13, 20

Where:
In the Kitchen- 648 Zion St, Nevada City
(530) 478-0669

Time:
Monday 4:30-6pm

*if you forget to pick up your foods, it is up to you to contact ITK to pick up the following day.

Cost:
$342 for 6 weeks
$57/week

To register for the CSK, please send a check payable to In the Kitchen to 648 Zion St Nevada City, Ca 95959
Please include your name, email and phone number and note which CSK session(s) you wish to subscribe to.

I think more and more of us are trying to pair down our lives, simplify the excess and focus on what is real, what is truly meaningful. Christmas is a wonderful time to put this into practice I think. Not that you have to be a scrooge about, I think of it more being a time to focus on quality, not quantity. Now that Joe and I have our son Felix in our lives, it both makes me what to re-live the magic of Christmas and the winter holidays, as well as create new traditions for our family.

I know these gifts are not mind blowingly unique, but basically they are the gifts of the year I have decided will be my go-to gifts and I feel pretty solid about them

Victorian Christmas Soup Night, December 14, 5 – 7pm in Nevada City

Start your evening at Victorian Christmas with a warming, soup dinner with Living Lands. We’ll be serving soup in downtown Nevada City so you can walk from dinner to the evening festivities on Broad Street. Suggested donation: $7 – $10 per person. All proceed will go directly to supporting our work in Nevada City!