Chop all of your ingredients …

Wisk a simple dressing of olive oil, balsamic, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper and you have lunch

A simple lunch with a great bottle of wine.

A simple lunch with a great bottle of wine.

The Healdsburg Jazz festival is one of the best small jazz festivals in the country. It is spread out over different venues with different types of jazz artists. 

Like Jazz with your dinner?  No problem, there will be jazz at the Dry Creek Kitchen.  Like your Jazz free in the park.  No problem?  Want to see Jazz all stars? They have that too.

For times and venues and more information check out

http://www.healdsburgjazzfestival.org/wordpress/#

The black iris is amazing in that at sometimes it appears black while at others it appears a rich purple.  I first became entranced in this flower a few years back when I was going through a dark stage.  My garden was full of pink and red but I wanted something deeper and richer. 

One of the most beautiful flowers they do not fair well when cut.  If you cut one of these and put it in the vase it turns the water an inky blue and then furls up and dies.  It is not a flower to be cut and gifted.  It is a plant that needs to be with its root.  At least this variety and color do.  This is a tuberous plant which populates on its own.  The picture above was started with two tubers 3 years ago.  They keep growing and growing. A great plant to grow if you want to get a strong plant that will fill space and be beautiful,

Random Black Iris Facts:  It is the national flower of Jordan

No, apparently my friends field is not common.  Sweet Peas are not easy to find or easy to grow.  They are a fickle flower that with too much or not enough sun will die or just plain out refuse to grow.  I have given up on trying to grow them for now.  My backyard is a haven for sweet pea death as is my front yard, side yard, windowsill, etc…

The lady who I bought these from at the Farmers market told me that she even has difficulty with them even after 65 years of growing them.  That small bouquet is $5 which is a deal! They do not last long.  I would say 6 days at best whereas the Peony will last over a week if given fresh water and lightly trimmed.

They are one of the most delicious smelling flowers in the world.  A room full of sweet peas is perfection.  Good luck though finding a room full.  This is not a flower that you can buy at any florists.  Trust me I have tried.  If I could have sweet peas delivered every week I would.  It is not possible though.  This is a flower where you need connections or a local farmers market.  The sweet pea has been around since before the 1800′s.  It was quite the popular flower in late 1800′s England.  It is  the flower associated with the Edwardian age. 

In the language of flowers sweet peas are associated with blissful pleasure and childhood innocence.

The peony is named after Paeon (also spelled Paean), a student of Asclepius, the Greek godof medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeussaved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower.

The peony flower smells like a spicy old rose.  I mean a rose of antique varietal.  The cost of growing your own peonies can be as small as $10 to $1000+.  They are certain varieties that are very rare and thus very costly.  Personally, I do not think they are easy to grow.  The bud attracts ants therefore you have to be super diligent or else the ant will get to the bud before you can. The pink ones I bought at the farmers market for $7. I got 6 flowers for that price.

The Peony is used in eastern medicine for everything from curing bad dreams to relieving gall stones. There is speculation that compounds found in the peony will be used in modern medicine to treat some of our most serious diseases.  The peonies grown for medicinal use today come almost exclusively from China, Korea and Taiwan.

In Feng Shui the Peony is a cure for love and romance. It is considered metaphor for female beauty. It is often said that two peony in a single woman’s home will attract a mate.  It is crucial to have at least 2.  They also say that peonies in the bedroom of an older couple will bring an affair.  If you are married just keep them out of the bedroom just in case.  They look perfectly beautiful on the kitchen table.

(peony buds below)

To pair with the wine I made a flat iron steak on a bed of sauteed spinach with caramelized onions and Italian truffle cheese. This is a one pan meal which is always a bonus because who likes washing pans?  Not me.

Cook the onions first (remove) and then the flat iron steak (remove) and then saute the spinach in a portion of the juices left over from the steak.  Plate the spinach on the bottom with flank steak on top and caramelized onions around.  Cover with italian truffle cheese.  Enjoy:)

Total time less than 20 min. The pairing was delicious and low carb.

1) Willi’s Wine Bar, Santa Rosa.  Local small production cheeses with a bit of foreign chesse to provide the perfect mixture of ummm and hmm.  They always have truffle honey which is absolutley divine.  Don’t go there without trying their cheese plate.  Also their martini’s are pretty addictive too.  Martini’s and cheese for dinner = perfect.

2) Napa Rose, Anaheim.  I am amazed by the cheese they find.  Every cheese has a story and every cheese is one I have never tried or seen.  I am 90% sure they have a person whose entire job is searching out small production cheeses. If you are going any where near Disneyland, make sure you book dinner at Napa Rose.  You can bring kids and the waiters are amazing with them but for the experience and cost I would drop them off at the Grand Adventure hotel daycare.  The wine list is even better than the cheese plate.

The Great Chicken Cook off:

We do this once a year and invite a few of our friends over to compete for tastiest chicken.  It can be any variation of Chicken.  Chicken salad, whole chicken, chicken pot pie etc… It is up to the contestants to choose.  We have a fun competitive  group of pals that relish any chance of bragging rights over the group. 

The host provides, dishes, a salad and plenty of wine.  With the wine selection it is key to have a variation because you have no idea what type of chicken is going to come.   For sport we started with a Petit Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Noir.  We added a Chardonnay and Zinfandel later. 

Every year everyone has a great time and the food is plentifyul and divine.  See below for pics of the most recent cook off food.

La Crema is famous for their Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir but what many people do not know is that La Crema makes small batches of appelation designated Pinot Noirs from other areas.  These wines are designed to showcase the best attributes of the appelation.  The Anderson Valley production is fairly limited at a case production of about 1800 cases.  It is worth seeking out.

The wine has concentrated flavors of black and red cherries with hints of toasted oak intermingled with aromas and flavors of bluebrries and floral notes.

Recommend: Drink now and for the next few years.  Pairwith salmon slow cooked on the grill.

Buy here: La Crema

What you will need

Pot, candy thermometer,2 cookie sheets,

2.5 cups  Mixed nits (almonds, pecans and peanuts)

1 1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 1/2 cups of sugar

5 tbs butter

1 tablespoon vanilla(the twist) (good stuff not imitation)

2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon salt

 How To:

Start by greasing your cookie trays with butter. Next add sugar, corn syrup, water and salt to pot.  Stir infrequently while sugar dissolves.  Once the temp hits 290 add nuts and butter.  Stir constantly until temp hits 300.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Stir well and then pour on to cookie sheets.  Use spatuala to drag mixture along cookie sheet.  This is crazy hot so be careful.  Let sit for two hours.  Break and enjoy!

For a variation you can add just one type of nuts.