In the Kitchen » nevada city food

Archimedes Kitchen- a night in photos

Wendy Van Wagner — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:25:45 +0000

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!

Mama’s Winter Salad

Wendy Van Wagner — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:41:23 +0000

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…….

Loomis Flower Farm

Wendy Van Wagner — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 05:25:24 +0000

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!!

You are invited to In the Kitchen’s 4th Annual New Years Day Brunch!

Wendy Van Wagner — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:25:59 +0000

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!

The Ultimate Christmas Gift…..A subscription to In the Kitchen’s winter CSK

Wendy Van Wagner — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:36:13 +0000

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.

Holiday gift musings

Wendy Van Wagner — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:11:51 +0000

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.

Don’t worry, we already sat on Santa’s lap, once Felix put the whole Santa’s lap and gift connection together, he was all over that!

In terms of gift giving, I like to think back to what my great-grandmother told me she used to get in her stocking on Christmas morning. And yes, it was JUST a stocking of gifts, not a whole room full of presents, the opening of them taking all day! She would wake up and excitedly scurry into the living room to look in her stocking by the fire……in it she would usually find things like a big, bright, juicy orange! A candy cane, a small game like jax, new stockings and maybe a doll. These simple pleasures were a big deal 100 years ago!

Now maybe I am just getting old, but those gifts sounds so perfect!! Everyone seems to have their own holiday gift giving guide, so this is mine. These seem like pretty easy gifts to give to most people.

A 10 lb bag of locally grown mandarin oranges- I love Johanssons

Socks- I mean who doesn’t like socks!?

A special truffle fron Nevada City Truffle Shop

Giving the gift of an experience is always a winner….you can even go the route of the coupon gift……”good for one load of laundry, good for one back massage”. And make sure to cash them in!!

A special soap or candle.

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

Merry Christmas, enjoy the warmth and love of friends and family this winter!

xx,

wendy

Wednesday night soup night with Living Lands!

Wendy Van Wagner — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:42:19 +0000

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!

Eat Humble Pie This Thanksgiving!

Wendy Van Wagner — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:04:24 +0000

Usually I would encourage making your own or enlisting a talented relative to make the ubiquitous Thanksgivings Pies…….but this year, I suggest checking out Humble Pie’s awesome pie service.

Place your order ASAP, I know they are filling up fast!

In their own words:

Welcome to Humble Pie! We are a family business and we love pies! We make at least five different pies for Thanksgiving and everybody has their favorite request for their birthdays. The business was inspired by the people we love. We live in Nevada City in the beautiful foothills of the Sierra. Luckily, there are many farmers in our area where we source most of our ingredients.

You are invited to the Nevada County School Food Summit

Wendy Van Wagner — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:00:59 +0000

I am a part of a dynamic local organization called Live Healthy Nevada County. Have you heard of it?

We are committed to improving walkability, bikeability, transportation, and access to healthy foods in Nevada County.

Formed in January 2008 in response to findings from a community wellness summit addressing the growing obesity epidemic, the coalition is comprised of action committees in the areas of Bikeability/Walkability and Food and Nutrition. We recognize that individual health behaviors are greatly influenced by peer and family, community, and broader social environments. Live Healthy Nevada County is focused on creating healthier physical and social environments that will support healthy choices for residents of all ages and physical capabilities. Specifically, we hope to create:

accessible, walkable and bikeable neighborhoods
safe routes to schools
access to healthy foods in schools
farm-to-school connections

Our most current project has been organizing a Nevada County School Food Summit:

Why a Food Summit?

A Nevada County School Food Summit will be an engaging day of dialogue about food culture and policy and how it relates to getting back to cooking from scratch in our schools. The summit is an opportunity for the school and broader community to hear from experts about the importance of school food, its current status in Nevada County, and promising strategies for improvement.

The Food Summit will include speakers, a panel discussion, lunch, and workshops to build commitment to launch a Nevada County Cooks! pilot program in 2012/13. For more information or questions contact us.

Please join us in learning more about the exciting opportunities available to our community’s school lunch programs!

Dinner with Wendy, Joe and Felix

Wendy Van Wagner — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:27:00 +0000

I thought you might enjoy a sneak peak into a typical dinner at our house. I have several more sneak peaks lined up for the fall, but here is what dinner looks like at our house.

We live on 50 acres in Nevada City, it is very private and quiet, and in the evenings, we like to walk over to the garden and pick fresh vegetables for dinner. Whatever is ripe and looks good informs our menu.

Recently it has been tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and fresh herbs.

Combining what is in the garden with pantry and fridge staples we always have on hand, make for easy and fuss-free meals that appeal to us parents as well as child, Felix. Some of these staples include pasta, rice, quinoa, cans of organic beans, capers, olives, hard cheeses, oils, vinegars, dried fruits and nuts etc.

You can see Felix enjoys helping make dinner with us. By choosing to make dinner preparation an important and yet routine part of our day, Felix knows that when we begin the process, it will take some time, usually 30 minutes an hour including our trip to the garden.

Tonight I made a simple, rustic tomato sauce with lot of red peppers, capers, olives and fresh herbs, including basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram with plenty of olive oil and salt and pepper. I cooked the sauce for about 15-20 minutes as the pasta was cooking. I like making a fresh sauce like this because it takes about the same time to cook as the pasta.

I made a small salad out of endives left over from a recent catering event with blue cheese, dill from our CSA and some golden raisins that were in the pantry. Our meal was simple, light and fresh. We always have a few condiments at the table to round out the meal; sauerkraut, extra olive oil and cottage cheese to add some extra protein.

Stay tuned for more “Dinners with……..!”