It's time to cross the river to Yolo County and enjoy some great food at the first ever Taste of Yolo event on June 10th. Instead of focusing on just one city, Taste of Yolo features the bounty of the entire county. The first of these soon to be annual events takes place in Davis. Future plans will have the event moving to other locations in the county - Woodland one year, Winters or Capay in the future.

Food, of course, is the draw and the focus. After all, Yolo County is filled with fertile farmlands supplying not only our region, but the rest of the country. Taste of Yolo will include cooking demos, food sampling, wine tasting, and local food purveyors.


Nearly 90 exhibitors from Davis, Woodland, Winters, Clarksburg, Capay Valley, and West Sacramento will have booths, with each community represented by a specific cluster of vendors. “There will be restaurants offering bites from their menus, wineries, breweries, olive oil, nuts, honey, fresh produce, and more, all from Yolo County producers,” says Mo Stoycoff, Events and Marketing Coordinator for Visit Yolo. “Visitors will also be able to buy products on site and take them home in our complementary tote bags.”




The Nugget Market culinary stage will be headlined by Chef Tanya Holland, owner and executive chef of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland and author of Brown Sugar Kitchen cookbook. Also, appearing will be Chef Patrick Mulvaney of Mulvaney’s B&L in Sacramento, and Chef Fred Reyes of Buckhorn Steakhouse in Winters. 

TICKETS
General Admission ($15) ticket holders receive admission to the park and food tasting. Wine/Beer Tasting ($35) ticket holders will receive a glass and a wristband (must be 21 or over and be able to show valid I.D.) for wine and beer tasting, in addition to food tasting.

DO/DON'T BRING
No outside food or drinks are allowed. No bottles, coolers, chairs or shade umbrellas. No dogs or bicycles inside the park (bike valet is available on 5th and C). Bring your I.D., sunscreen, hat or whatever makes you comfortable. 


To purchase tickets, go to www.tasteofyolo.com For more information about the festival, call Visit Yolo at (530) 297-1900 or email info@visityolo.com.

Photos courtesy of Taste of Yolo


As you travel down the road you might be concerned that your GPS is wrong. After all, there is nothing around you but farmland and the occasional farm house. Eventually you come across one farm house that stands out among beautiful flowers and shading trees. You've arrived at Park Winters.



Park Winters is a renovated farm house that is now a Bed and Breakfast Inn. It's become popular for the weekend getaway or the intimate wedding. I'm here by invitation to enjoy one of their farm dinners, al fresco. 


Love the door to the pool

We've arrived earlier than expected and take the time to stroll the grounds. The owners have taken the time to enhance the property with a swimming pool and event building. There's a sunken garden and the old water tower has been converted into a three story "room" available to reserve. Inside the house are an additional four rooms.


Park Winters offers farm dinners throughout the year, no overnight stay required. The six course dinner is $125 per person. They've just introduced an Al Fresco Farm Dinner with four courses for $85. Chef John Iocono prepares wonderful dinners featuring items from the property's garden. 



GARDEN HUMMUS
Algonquin soil - Radish - Cucumber - Carrots - Flowers
EMERALD FARM CURRY
Asparagus - Alliums - Carrots - Fingerlings - Cilantro
BRICK OVEN ROASTED CORNISH GAME HEN
Mustard Frisée - Arugula pesto - Arugula greens - Green grapes
FRENCH CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Caramelia chocolate - Citrus - Whip - Pistachio crumble


Take the time to stroll off dinner before the drive home. From downtown Sacramento it took us about 45 minutes.

For more information and dinner tickets go to https://parkwinters.tocktix.com/.
Part of the garden

Artichokes

Sunken garden


We all know how miserable hot days can be for attending fairs and events at CalExpo. You can rejoice, though, as this weekend promises to be very nice weather to take the family to the fair.

The fair starts today and runs through Memorial Day. Some of the fair fun you can enjoy includes over 40 free events, performances & activities every day of the fair! Fair admission is only $6 and children 12-and-under are admitted free every day!


Deep fried chocolate covered marshmallows, S'mores funnel cake,
Deep fried oatmeal cookie. Chocolate covered frozen cheesecake, 
At a media event last night we got to try some latest fair food and check out some of the attractions. You can see some of the sweet treats above, but I have to give a shout out  to the Elote corn we tried from Noel's Food. That was the winner of our taste contest in the savory category. Very good! The cheesecake above from The Ice Cream Company won the sweet category.

A post shared by catherine enfield (@munchiemusings) on

The Ramos Bros motorcycle trick was fun to watch close up.


- Ramos Brothers Circus (Big-Top style) performs 3x per day every day of the fair.

- Walk on the Wild Side – exotic animals up close and personal (free with admission)

- Great American Petting Zoo


A post shared by catherine enfield (@munchiemusings) on

- All Alaskan Racing Pigs—Each show has four pig races. 

- Other premium (separate admission required) events include Lil’ Monster Trucks (Thursday and Friday), Stars and Stripes Bull Riding (Saturday), Gran Jaripeo (Mexican Rodeo & Fiesta) (Sunday), Tractor Pulls (Monday).

- 6 different live musical groups on both the community stage and the main stage throughout the fair (listed below), plus juggling acrobats (Something Ridiculous), hypnotists (Steve Bayner), a pirate (Capt’n Jack Spareribs) even a dinosaur (Charlie the Velociraptor)!

- Midway of fun! Over 30 rides to choose from

- All the Fair Food you come to expect, including a 2-story pizza truck!

- Awesome Shopping with over 100,000 square feet of vendor space

For more information on the Fair and a daily schedule visit www.sacfair.com and #ShareTheFair on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SacramentoCountyFair/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/saccountyfair
and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacfair

I actually love dairy products, but know that I should cut down on them. Can't really get rid of cheese, but I have stopped buying milk for some time. This has led me to try many milk alternatives, like soy, almond, cashew, etc. I've found one that I'm really enjoying — Ripple.



Rippleis a pea protein milk. It's high in protein, low in calories, high in nutrients. It also tastes good. I bought it for a quick, after workout drink, but have found that I really like it over my cereal as well. Keep in mind I was the person who put a couple of tablespoons of sugar on my corn flakes. Now I can eat my high fiber cereal with just some Ripple.

I needed to do better with upping my after-workout protein. I work out and then jam to work and so often I neglected eating protein, thus depriving my muscles of necessary nutrients. I now blend up a glass of Ripplewith a raw egg and it's like a quick, healthy, protein filled eggnog.


PROTEIN

I also do a super healthy "tapioca" by just adding two tablespoons of chia to the chocolate Ripple, shaking it really well, and letting it sit overnight. 

You can find Ripple in the refrigerated dairy section of most supermarkets. If you are looking for a good, non-nut, non-dairy alternative, then give Ripple a try.



Are you a fan of the wineries of Amador County? Then you might want to schedule a road trip for Saturday for the Amador Four Fires Festival

The Four Fires refers to four regions with open fire cooking. Traditional foods of Spain, Italy, France, and Heritage California will be paired with wines of the region. Five great chefs are participating as well: 


  • Beth Sogaard Catering – Chef Beth Sogaard
  • Hotel Sutter – Chef Chris Martin
  • Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort – Chef Matthew Broucaret & Chef Darius Somary
  • Taste Restaurant – Chef Mark Berkner
  • Vendage & Co. Catering – Chef Carolyn Kumpe


The day includes lots of food, lots of wine from 40+ wineries, demonstrations, a live recording of the BottleTalk podcast with Rick Kushman and Paul Wagner, seminars, and music. 

Here are some of the seminars:






TICKETS 
Amador County Fair and Event Center
18621 Sherwood St, Plymouth, California 
May 6th from 11am to 4pm