Edible Monterey Bay

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Kathryn McKenzieKathryn McKenzie

Kathryn McKenzie, who grew up in Santa Cruz and now lives on a Christmas tree farm in north Monterey County, writes about sustainable living, home design and health for numerous publications and websites.

Local Grocery Stores Working Hard to Keep Up With Demand

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March 17, 2020 – Demand for food, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other supplies has surged at local markets and grocery stores, as locals stock up in anticipation of staying home for extended periods of time due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Around the Monterey Bay, grocery shelves have been stripped bare at some supermarkets, challenging managers, checkers and other personnel to keep up with the unprecedented demand. Staples such as potatoes, oatmeal, canned tuna, pasta and frozen meals were in high demand; people also continued to seek out cleaning supplies such as sanitizing wipes and bleach.

“We are doing our best to keep everything upbeat and stocked,” says Andre Beauregard, owner of Shopper’s Corner independent market in Santa Cruz. “We are definitely ordering heavier to accommodate the panic buying, and … Read More

EDIBLE NOTABLES

A Passion for Preserves

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN SCOTT

EMB’s own Preservationist, Jordan Champagne, debuts new cookbook

Cookbooks are often just simple collections of recipes. But a brand-new book on fruit preserving aims to be much more than that—it’s a toolbox for cooks who love to tinker in creative ways with jams, jellies, syrups and butters.

That was the compelling concept which led to It Starts With Fruit: Simple Techniques and Delicious Recipes for Jams, Marmalades, and Preserves (Chronicle Books, $29.95), the debut cookbook of Jordan Champagne, co-founder of Happy Girl Kitchen in Pacific Grove. It Starts With Fruit will be released in May.

The 285-page book is organized into sections that reflect the way Champagne teaches her workshops, with tips, tricks and troubleshooting all included, as well as an entire chapter on how to … Read More

EDIBLE NOTABLES

Quacking Up

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHELLE MAGDALENA

A duck egg business in Hollister and Gonzales takes flight

Duck, duck, goose. The children’s game comes to mind while touring the Gonzales ranch that is home to thousands of waterfowl and other birds. It also is the birthplace of the Metzer Farms hatchery and its recent spinoff, Olinday Farms. Ducks shuffle around their covered pens and eye visitors suspiciously, letting out low quacks of alarm.

Olinday’s Marc Metzer (above top left) and his white golden ducks, which produce up to 30,000 eggs a week

Their attitude does not faze Olinday president Marc Metzer as he walks through the ranch, pointing out some of the more unusual breeds, like the Rouen, a meat duck that is twice the size of mallards, and the white golden, developed … Read More

PG’s Mezzaluna Brings Fresh, Seasonal Approach to Italian Cuisine

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Since opening this past April, Mezzaluna Pasteria & Mozzarella Bar has become the new favorite restaurant for many Pacific Grove residents as well as diners all over the Monterey Peninsula and beyond. Now, in keeping with chef Soerke Peters’ philosophy of eating with the seasons, the Mezzaluna menus have been updated to reflect the winter bounty of the Central Coast.

But that isn’t the only change at the restaurant. Mezzaluna has also added a special Sunday brunch menu that’s creative and playful, paired with bubbly Italian spritz cocktails, and a new to-go menu offering housemade pasta, sauces and gelato, as well as wine to take home.

Tater Tot Waffles at Mezzaluna’s new Sunday Brunch (photo: Manny Espinoza)

Peters was already an energetic force in the Carmel restaurant community, first as … Read More

EDIBLE NOTABLES

Sea Jewels

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK TREGENZA

Seawater, sunshine and big tanks are all that Dr. Michael Graham needs to cultivate culinary seaweeds.

Chefs are swooning over the savory seaweeds cultivated in Moss Landing

As The Beach Boys so aptly put it, “Catch a wave, and you’re sittin’ on top of the world.” For Dr. Michael Graham, surfing the edge of an unexpected explosion in the sea vegetable business has put his company front and center with high-end restaurants throughout the country.

Graham, a seaweed biologist and professor at California State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, founded Monterey Bay Seaweeds five years ago, when he had a mere handful of land-based saltwater tanks growing West Coast dulse. Now, his bayfront patio in Moss Landing is filled with round white containers in which several … Read More

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