Weekend of Food

This past weekend, Peter and I went up to his grandparents' farm-vineyard in Sonoma County for a much needed (read: wanted) 4-day vacation. I freakin love that place. The air is fresh, there is greenery everywhere you look, people are so friendly, and the food is so fresh and actually tastes like it is supposed to! (aka not like cardboard.)

This is a bowl of the sweetest raspberries I have ever tasted and the most beautiful shiny, red grape tomatoes. Unfortunately, they were left on the counter overnight and were attacked by ants. Sad face! It was so terrible because we couldn't see the ants until we shook the bowl and then they came pouring out. So. Gross. And talk about disappointment.

Not to worry. There were plenty of heirloom tomatoes to drown my sorrows in. We bought some fresh mozzarella, a loaf of sweet french bread (you see where I'm going with this) and some fresh basil, drizzled with a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar...... It was fanastic. I can't even begin to describe the taste explosion. I took pictures of the amazing stack of deliciousness, but they don't do justice to it at all. I'm sure your imagination is working wonders though.

Next, a little fresh fruit tease. A big bunch of grapes hanging on the vine, and freshly picked Roman Red apples. We took a stroll along the vines, picking grapes, spitting out seeds, picking grapes, spitting out seeds... I love harvest time.

This is the dinner we made for ourselves on our last night there. Heirloom tomato pasta sauce with fresh zucchini, bell peppers, basil and grape tomatoes smothering tomato-basil fettucini. Sometimes I could swear I'm a real chef.

I know it looks like all we did was sit around and eat, but we also went canoeing down the Russian River (salami/cheese and apples/peanutbutter on ritz crackers) and we meandered around Sebastopol (sweet sushi/tempura lunch) and Healdsburg (homemade turkey-salami-tomato sandwiches and strawberry gelato). So really, there was walking and eating too... Who am I kidding, it was a weekend of delcious guilt-free gorging. I can't wait to go back.