Food I'm Eating/Places I'm Visiting: Yank Sing in San Francisco

Santa Rosa has a good restaurant for dim sum – San Francisco stalwart Hang Ah has a branch right here in town (2130 Armory Drive). It looks funny because the building was once an A&W Root Beer restaurant, but the food is good. Sometimes, though, I get a hankering for dim sum in the city (for those of you not in the SF Bay Area, here “the city” means San Francisco), which always feels more authentic. Having some business to attend to in nearby Berkeley yesterday (picking up a new futon we had made), we decided to make a day of it. 

My favorite dim sum place in San Francisco is a humble place called S&T Hong Kong Seafood, at 2578 Noriega St. We’ve been going there for years. Another favorite was Tom Kiang, on Geary St. near 20th Avenue (no longer in operation) along with the place right next door – until the chef changed at the latter and things went abruptly downhill.

However, thinking it would be fun to try something different, I went on line and searched “best San Francisco dim sum,” which brought up sites with recommended restaurants. The consensus was that Yank Sing in the Rincon Center was the best place in the city for good dumplings. When I saw on Yank Sing’s website that they offer $4 dollar parking with validation, I was sold. 

There was a bonus. The Rincon Center includes the historic Rincon Annex Post Office, an Art Deco building built in 1940, now part of a complex with apartments, offices, and shops. It preserves New Deal murals by artist Anton Refregier. The post office closed in the 1980s, but the lobby with the murals is intact, integrated into the Rincon Center development. The old post office lobby is worth a look if you have any interest in New Deal art, Art Deco architecture, or the history of the US Post Office. 

But, back to dim sum. Yank Sing was a disappointment. It was fun to pick dishes off the circulating carts (a feature many dim sum restaurants have abandoned) and I liked the elegant glass teapots. The curry and vegetable dumplings were an unusual variation and the barbecue pork rice noodles were good, but, on the whole, I was expecting more from a restaurant with a Michelin rating that people claim is the best in San Francisco. In addition, most of the offerings were not as hot as I would have liked (the xiao long bao buns were barely warm). 

The meal for two came to $138 plus tip, which I would have happily paid for a memorable experience, but, as I say, the food was mostly unexceptional. It felt quite overpriced. At S&T Seafood on Noriega, the same meal would have been about $65 and the food would have been as good or better. Additionally, S&T is always filled with Chinese families and friends speaking Cantonese, which adds to the charm (at Yank Sing, the only Asians present were working at the restaurant). At Yank Sing, you pay for the location. I won’t be going back, except perhaps to look at the post office lobby again if I happen to be in the neighborhood. 

After lunch, we strolled over to see what was new at the Ferry Building, stopped in briefly at the San Franciso Railway Museum (77 Steuart St), which presents the history of the municipal trolleys the city runs using cars purchased from defunct trolley systems all over the world, and then ran over to the Legion of Honor to see the Manet & Morisot show before heading home by way of the futon shop in Berkeley. All in all, a fun day despite disappointing dim sum.

Food I'm Eating: First fresh figs of the season

It's that time of year. We're just starting to get the first figs of the season. These are a variety called "Brown Turkey." Fresh figs with yogurt and honey from our beehive make the best of all breakfasts – well, maybe except for smoked kippers, buttered toast, and tea....

Food I'm Eating: Olives 2022

Olives are on my mind. This year I was able to procure some good fresh olives from a friend. They've been in brine now for about three weeks (the brine changed out once a week) and will probably require another month or so before I'll start adjusting the final salinity and adding some flavorings. I like to finish them off by adding a little vinegar, a little lemon juice, rosemary, and crushed garlic cloves.

If they turn out this year, they should be tasty. Over the years of occasional olive brining I've had some go bad before they were finished, but this batch seems to be making good progress. 

Food I'm Eating: First garden tomatoes of the season

We're getting our first home-grown tomatoes of the season this week. So far, Better Boy and Black Krim with Green Zebra and unknown varieties we've kept going from seed over the years on deck. 

Food I'm Eating: Zucchini

It's that time of year--when you remember that even one or two zucchini plants would have been enough to supply yourselves and several neighbors with squash for the summer. You planted six seeds. You meant to thin them out after they sprouted, but they looked so green and vigorous when they came up that you couldn't bear to pluck even one and ended up transplanting the extras and now the zucchini come in waves, one after another, like a parade of tropical storms. Picking them young and small helps, but somehow a few always get missed and one morning you find one the size of your arm. One afternoon, under a low leaf, you uncover a zucchini  that's been swelling there silently for weeks and now looks like a green zeppelin....

The trick really is to pick them small. That's when they are at their tastiest and picking them small, you don't end up with so much fruit that you become sick of seeing it. 

Another important tool for summer zucchini disposal is good recipes. I first encountered this simple dish at the  Moose Café (now defunct) in Mendocino. It's now a regular in my household. 

Try slicing raw Zucchini very, very thin and sprinkling the slices with grated Gorgonzola, crushed walnuts, and black pepper before drizzling them with a high-quality olive oil. Makes a quick, easy, delicious summer salad. And it uses up zucchini--at least a little bit of zucchini. 

Food I'm Eating: Fast, Easy, Adaptable Six-ingredient Pasta

If you're tired of your own cooking and looking for something super easy to make for lunch or dinner, here's a recipe I like because it's tasty, easy, and fast--you can prepare it in the time it takes the pasta to boil. Only six ingredients are required, but you can make additions and substitutions.

Ingredients: 

1. Black olives (fresh, pitted--not those horrid little black tires they put on pizza at the big pizza chains)

2. Capers 

3. Anchovies (the kind in the jar, not a can (although those work in a pinch): I like the Agostina Recca brand)

4. Fresh garlic 

5. Chili flakes (I like chipotle flakes) 

6. Fresh parmesan cheese (shaved, not the powdered Kraft stuff) 

7. (Optional): Baby spinach, snow peas, other greens

Directions: 

Boil water for pasta. While waiting for the water, chop the olives, capers, anchovies, and garlic finely but not too finely. Set aside.

When water is boiling, add the pasta. If you normally salt your pasta water, in this case don't: the olives, capers, cheese, and anchovies provide plenty of saltiness.

In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil and butter. When the butter is melted, add the olives, anchovies, capers, and chili flakes. Stir. Reserve the garlic and parmesan cheese. Turn down the heat.

About four minutes before the pasta will be ready, make a space in the skillet for the garlic, turn up the heat again (medium-high) and add the garlic and more butter so that the garlic sautés in the butter. Make sure the garlic doesn't burn. Turn down heat if necessary after the garlic takes a little color, which should be just before the pasta is ready. If you add greens, put these in along with the garlic so that they're just cooked as the pasta finishes.

When pasta is ready, drain and add to the pan with the other ingredients. Turn off the heat and mix well. Last, add the Parmesan cheese. The residual heat will melt it. Serve immediately!

I like to make this with baby spinach, which adds some nice color. If you're a vegetarian, you can omit the anchovies. If you don't like spicy foods, omit the chili flakes. If you like things spicier, this works well with fresh minced jalapeño or Fresno peppers (or hotter varieties, if you like). The photo here shows it with snow pea pods instead of spinach. Dinner last night. :)

Food I'm Eating: Brining Olives (November 2019)

Olives! For the first time in several years I've been able to get my hands on some healthy, ripe olives for brining. It's a pretty easy process, although a bit tedious at the outset because you have to break the skin of each and every berry. That means scoring each olive with a knife blade before soaking them in brine. I use 1/4 cup of kosher salt to a quart of water and change the brine every two to three days. It takes about six weeks for the bitterness of the just-picked olives to disappear. Towards the end, I add vinegar, garlic, and rosemary to the brine to finish them off. These should be ready for Christmas. I started them on November 10.

Food I'm Eating: Curing Green Olives (January 2017)

I've cured ripe black olives in the past, olives from the tree in our yard and from a neighbor's tree, but never tried to cure green olives before. Usually olives are starting to ripen here as early as October, depending on variety, and nearly all are fully ripe by December. I had access this year to a number of trees at a winery tasting room where I work part-time. One of the trees has green fruit even now. I don't know what variety it is, but I decided to try green olives.

Recipes for curing black olives with brine always start with salt water from day one. Most green olive recipes, however, recommend soaking the olives in fresh water to start and then finishing them in brine. Recommended water soaks seem to range from four days to a month, with many recipes recommending 10 days. I'll probably seek a middle path and try waiting about two weeks before switching to brine. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, large ripe olives from another tree at the tasting room were already looking good in early November. Those olives are now finishing in brine with a touch of vinegar, lemon juice, rosemary and several crushed cloves of garlic. They are just about ready (below).

Food I'm Eating: Warm Olive and Marcona Almond Salad with Mozzarella

The version shared with me says "Best eaten informally standing in the kitchen before dinner is served, or sitting around a coffee table. It is particularly good with chilled Champagne or rich, dry sherry, like Oloroso or Palo Cortado. It's most successfully enjoyed served without plates or silverware in a big flat serving platter, right from the pan." It also admonishes "No silverware!" The idea was to use the bread (see below) to pick up the food with and to encourage conversation at the start of a party, but many at the gathering I attended found it easier to use a utensil--namely a fork. I will share the proper attribution for this recipe as soon as I can track it down. I record the recipe here because, if I don't, I'll lose it.

Ingredients:

1 cup canola oil
½ cup peeled garlic cloves
1 garlic bulb, cut in half
1 fresh serrano chile cut in half lengthwise
2 pints assorted PITTED olives--a variety of colors and flavors recommended
1½ cups Marcona almonds or whole blanched skinless almonds
2 small jars marinated artichoke hearts with their oil
1 tbsp. good red wine vinegar
8 oz small-size fresh mozzarella cheese, drained, at room temperature, Or larger mozzarella cut into smaller pieces.
4 oz. Manchego cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
4 oz. Gruyere, or any other similarly textured cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 basket cherry tomatoes
1 head Belgian endive, leaves separated, then cut in half
Black pepper
1  cup whole parsley leaves
1 cup basil leaves, torn
Zest of one lemon

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, sauté the peeled garlic cloves in the canola oil until golden brown, stirring often--about 5 minutes. Remove the cloves and transfer them to a paper towel. Reserve the garlic oil.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add three Tbsp. of the garlic oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Place the garlic cut sides of the garlic bulb down into the pan and sear for three to four minutes, add the chile halves and continue to sauté until the chiles are brown, being careful not to burn them.

Add the olives and almonds and continue to sauté until hot all the way through--three to four minutes more--tossing often.

Add the cherry tomatoes, the artichoke hearts and all of their oil and cook for another minute or two, stirring or tossing continuously until the tomatoes are warmed through and beginning to swell. Add the vinegar and lemon zest and stir well.

Add the hard cheeses and continue to toss until they begin to melt.

Remove from the heat and add the mozzarella balls all at once. Stirring or tossing well. Stir in the parsley, basil, and endive leaves and season with pepper.

Turn out the salad into a large serving platter and serve immediately with rustic bread, cut into thick chunks. Serves 8-10.

Food I'm Eating: First Homemade Pesto of the Year (July 12, 2014)

Two events mark the true start of summer: Picking the first homegrown tomato from the vine and making the year's first batch of homemade pesto. Cherry tomatoes are already ripening here. Full-sized tomatoes will require another couple of weeks it looks like, but I've just finished making the first pesto of the season. Fresh basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, raw garlic, and salt. Nothing else. Basil gets my vote for most useful of all the herbs. It can garnish tomatoes and it makes pesto. Even a small garden can grow enough to provide pesto all summer long and then, frozen, for most of the winter as well. Presented here in a cup made by local (Sebastopol) potter John Chambers.

Food I'm Eating: Wine from the Cinque Terre at Cucina Paradiso, in Petaluma

Locals have been flocking to Cucina Paradiso in Petaluma for about five years now, it seems. I don't know how I missed hearing about this restaurant until just a few days ago, but I'm glad I recently had a chance to get acquainted with the place.

I visited on a Saturday night. It was packed, but the service was up to the task of handling a full house, and the food came promptly but not so quickly that things felt rushed--just the way I like it. Solid Italian fare, an interesting wine list, and surprisingly reasonable prices for food of this quality make the place hard to resist; a meal for four with appetizers, main dishes, desserts and a $45 bottle of wine was just over $200--including tax and tip. While not cheap, high-end local restaurants in the area far too often ask considerably more than that for food much less good. I had ravioli filled with roast duck under a sauce of sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, and basil (below). The restaurant uses organic vegetables exclusively. At dessert, the tiramisu was excellent.

What most impressed me, however, was seeing a bottle of Cinque Terre wine on the extensive (but not bloated) wine list featuring many good Italian and local wines. The Cinque Terre wines are delicious and extremely rare. The entirety of the Cinque Terre zone is only about 200 acres. Most of the small output is consumed locally. Cinque Terre is hard to find even in Italy outside the immediate area of production. Exceedingly dry but flavorful (reminiscent of a good Riesling from Alsace) these wines are the perfect accompaniment to Italian cooking--northern Italian cooking in particular. This one (pictured above), was from the cooperative that makes most wines labeled "Cinque Terre." It was less interesting than some of the (even rarer) wines bottled by individual Cinque Terre producers I've had, but a pleasure nevertheless; deceptively simple at first--like so many Italian whites--but with a delicate balance of fruit and acidity on the mid-palate and a lingering finish. I look forward to my next visit to Cucina Paradiso (114 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma, CA 94952, (707) 782-1130).

Here's a blog post I uploaded from Italy a couple of years ago while visiting the Cinque Terre.

Food I'm Eating: Sushi Burritos (August 6, 2013)

Sushi Burritos? Japanese rolls meet Mexican rolls? Yes, that's about it. At Santa Rosa's farmers' market last Saturday I came across the food cart of one Takeshi Uchida, the man behind the idea. A sign advertised his mobile establishment as "The World's First Sushi Burrito Food Cart."

Essentially, Mr. Uchida creates giant versions of the seaweed rolls known in Japanese as futo-maki (literally, "fat rolls") filled with cooked stuffings--like a burrito. Three kinds are available--Tori Nanban (sweet and spicy Japanese-style fried chicken with a creamy wasabi sauce, beans, and shaved cabbage and carrots); Tara (simmered cod with wasabi tartar sauce, beans, corn, and shaved cabbage and carrots); and Vegetarian, with seaweed salad, tomatoes, shaved cabbage, romaine lettuce, Jalapeños, and cucumber. The drinks offered made me momentarily nostalgic for Japan--bottled cold green tea, ramune (a citrus-based soda), and canned iced coffee. While the idea of a sushi burrito seems a bit odd at first, a taste test quickly established that it's an idea that works. The Sushi Burrito cart is parked at various Sonoma County locations on different days. Go to http://www.shoubujapanese.com to get the latest on where to find Mr. Uchida and his unique creation, or go to the Sushi Shoubu Facebook page.

Food I'm Eating: El Molino Central--a Mexican gem (July 10, 2013)

On a fairly random drive to Sonoma the other day, I found myself hungry just as I was passing El Molino Central, on Highway 12, heading south and east toward Sonoma from Santa Rosa (11 Central Avenue, Sonoma, 95476, (707) 939-1010).

I'm sure the place has been there for years, but I've never been inspired to stop before. What was different this time? I don't know. Perhaps it was the 4th of July bunting, the recently repainted building, or the outdoor patio area with new umbrellas. Mostly, however, I think it was the large number of people in the outdoor dining area. I figured there had to be a reason. I happened to see a convenient parking spot, so I pulled over for lunch. I'm glad I did.

The long line at the counter and the appetizing descriptions of the food on the menu board were both good signs. This place appears to serve truly authentic Mexican fare with an emphasis on fresh ingredients. I had a delicious pair of Swiss chard enchiladas. The man next to me on the patio let me taste the mole sauce on his tamales--complex and with rich chocolate flavor, but not too sweet--and spicy enough to make you sit up and notice. Next time, I look forward to trying the beer-battered fish tacos or the chile relleno de elote con crema (poblano chiles stuffed with corn cream and cheese, with cherry tomato salsa, refried beans and tortillas), or the salmon ceviche with avocado. The tortillas at El Molino Central are made from organic Nebraska-grown corn, stone ground daily on the premises. According to the restaurant's website, the public is welcome to come watch the grinding "any morning around 11:00AM." A real find. I'll be back.

Food I'm Eating: Sparkling Olives, Anyone? (March 30, 2013)

About a week ago I bottled up the first of two batches of olives I've been making. These are a small variety from a tree that grows in our garden. The second batch is still in the brine stage. They are larger olives from a neighbor's tree that take longer to lose their bitterness. I was looking at the bottled olives yesterday and noticed that the metal lids of the mason jars I used looked somewhat puffy. Suspicious, I opened one and found a fairly vigorous fermentation going on.

Carbonated olives? A bit strange, but the bubbles dissipated overnight (I left the jars open). The olives do have a slight prickle, however. Not unpleasant and the flavor otherwise is great, but I wonder what happened? I did NOT refrigerate the jars after closing them. Perhaps I should have. Perhaps the brine they are packed in was too weak? I decided to add a teaspoon of wine vinegar and a teaspoon of salt to each of the jars and I put them in the refrigerator this time. I hope the fermentation stops. I need an olive guru to tell me what's going on....

In the meantime, I keep eating them.

Food I'm Eating: Olives 2013--First Batch Finished (March 22, 2013)

I bottled our first batch of 2013 olives the day before yesterday. These are made from our own tree--smaller than those from our neighbor's tree. The larger olives are still a little bitter, so I changed the brine they're in and will give them another week or so. I brined these smaller ones on February 10, so they took about five weeks to make, which seems typical for the smaller variety. I bottled up about six pints. The lemons, wine vinegar, garlic, and herbs I added this year give them quite a nice flavor.

Food I'm Eating: What Was that Cheese?

No pun intended, but I'm feeling a little sheepish. I've teased many friends and acquaintances over the years when they come to me asking about wine, which, knowing my interest in wine, they fairly often do. I tease them during conversations that typically go like this:

Friend: "I had this wonderful wine the other day..."
Me: "What was it?"
Friend: "I don't know, but it was REALLY good."
Me: "Where was it from?"
Friend: "I forgot."
Me: "Why didn't you look at the label and write down what it was, so you'd remember, or keep the label, or take a photo of it?"
Friend: "Well, you know, we were all having a good time and talking, and by the time we'd paid the bill, the waiter had already taken the bottle away." or "Yeah, I didn't think to do that. That was last week. I think the trash has already been collected...."

I never have this problem with wine. First, I know an awful lot more about wine than I do about cheese. There aren't that many wines I've never heard of or for which I have no points of reference. Second, I'm not shy about securing evidence when necessary. I never hesitate to take the empty bottle home from a restaurant or to set it aside at home or to remove the label from the bottle, for future reference. If an unfamiliar wine is different and compelling, I usually write something about it--on this blog, in many cases--which preserves the information. When it comes to cheese, however, I'm much less careful, too often to my later regret. I've encountered countless delicious cheeses that are lost to me forever for want of information about what I was eating. Recently, I've tried to do better. Sometimes, however, the cards just seem stacked against me.

A few days ago I sampled a number of tasty-looking cheeses at the cheese counter of The Pasta Shop at the Rockridge Market Hall, in Berkeley (510) 250-6005, and bought a few that I liked. The problem with cheese is that the label on the cut pieces you buy at a good cheese shop are almost invariably slapped on to the package at the folds, to hold the wrapping closed. As a result, the label usually has to be ripped to pieces to open the cheese. In this instance, I particularly enjoyed a smoky, pungent blue cheese I bought, that, judging from its color, is a goat cheese. Thinking myself very smart this time, I retrieved the paper it had been wrapped in as soon as it dawned on me that I especially liked this one. I was determined to remember the name of the cheese, but I picked the paper out of the trash only to find that the tasty little brick had been labeled "Cheese!"

Not very helpful, to say the least. With an exclamation point, no less. I was being mocked.

I want to believe this was just a freak error on the part of the helpful young woman that wrapped the cheese for me, but I'm feeling vaguely persecuted. The other two cheeses (a Cabot "Cheddar" from Vermont and a French cheese called Brebirousse d'Argental) were properly labeled. I grant you that. Still, I feel laughed at....

Food I'm Eating: Blackberry Season (September 12, 2012)

Went blackberry picking today at Place to Play Park, in Santa Rosa. I had been there a couple of days ago looking for birds and noticed many unpicked berries along one side of the park. Went back today with a ladder and plenty of containers. Now, what to make of them?

Food I'm Eating: Fresh Pesto (April 27, 2012)

Nothing beats fresh pesto. Just basil, garlic, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese, ground coarsely with olive oil--add more olive oil and salt to taste at the table. It'll be even better in a month or two, when I can make it from fresh basil grown in the garden. Great with a flavorful but delicate Italian white wine like Gavi or Soave, or Roero Arneis, a good Verdicchio, or so many others....

Food I'm Eating: The Farmhouse Inn, Santa Rosa (November 26, 2011)

My son went to a friend's house today and ended up getting invited to stay the night. It seemed like a sudden opportunity for a rare night out for good food and wine with my wife. I called Terrapin Creek Café, in Bodega Bay, a restaurant I've enjoyed several times in the past, but no reservations were available--probably the result of its recent gaining of a Michelin star. I decided to try the Farmhouse Inn, another Michelin-starred restaurant in the area (technically, in Forestville), and was offered a table that someone had just cancelled. I've been to the Farmhouse Inn only once before--about eight years ago--and it was wonderful. I had high expectations. I decided to take along an old bottle of Burgundy from my cellar, a 1986 Vosne Romanée 1er Cru "Les Suchots" from Moillard.

I have to say I was disappointed. The meal generally was good. The service was good. But the food really should have been great--it should have been the sort of meal that keeps you saying "Wow!" to yourself as you eat. Isn't that what Michelin stars (and the prices that go with them) are all about? As it turned out, fairly ordinary appetizers and main courses--neither served quite as warm as I would have liked--were book-ended by what turned out to be the highlights of the meal--the amuse-gueule and the desserts. The former was a tiny cup of frothed "soup" made from jerusalem artichokes that had a wonderful earthiness enhanced by smoky bacon flavors. It was served with mushroom paste-garnished crostini. The desserts were wonderful, particularly a pumpkin cheesecake that somehow managed to taste like cheesecake and a good pumpkin pie at the same time. The coffee was excellent.

The wine, although 25 years old, was fresh and delicious--classic Burgundy. Wonderfully fragrant, it suggested violets, cumin, and celery seed, and it was nicely balanced on the palate between fruity sweetness and smooth, mature tannins. I will say that the wine server did an admirable job decanting the wine, which must have been challenging because the drive to the restaurant stirred up a deposit in the bottom of the bottle that had formed over decades. I bought the wine in Tokyo, probably around 1990.

We had the Grilled Mediterranean Octopus and House-smoked Duck Breast Salad for appetizers, the Roasted Breast of Guinea Hen and Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit for main dishes. The Octopus was tender and nicely seasoned, and I enjoyed the accents provided by tiny chunks of chorizo and the olive tapenade spread under the meat, but the duck salad was very disappointing. The duck slices were tiny and not very flavorful. The salad was mostly a pile of the same sort of greens I can pick any day from my own garden (frisée, arugula, and mizuna). The greens were fresh and in no way bad--but as a whole, the salad struck me as uninspired and uninspiring and somewhat skimpy (and I stress that I'm not a big eater).

The rabbit is called Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit because it's a trio of rabbit dishes in one--rabbit loin wrapped in bacon; a roasted, Frenched rib rack (looking like a miniature rack of lamb); and rabbit leg confit in a mustard sauce. The loin seemed the most successful of the three--the meat was tender and infused with bacon flavors--but the tiny ribs, although fun, were not very flavorful. The leg confit was mostly interesting for the whole-grain mustard sauce that was on it. The meat, however, seemed lacking in character. It had a washed-out flavor that reminded me of the disappointment of oysters shucked and washed so carefully that all the scent and flavor of the ocean is gone from them. The meat tasted somehow sanitized (although I don't mean to suggest anything unwholesome). The food was simply not as good as it seems it should have been given the prices and the reputation of The Farmhouse Inn. Game should be gamey. This was not. I felt much the same way about the guinea hen. Good enough, but not exciting.

Finally, I have to say that $35 for corkage is well over the line between reasonable and excessive.

Food I'm Eating: The Olive Project--Herbed Olives

It's been a couple of months since I tried brining olives at home for the first time. It went well and was easy enough that I was inspired to lay down more olives today--about 2,000 more. Our tree is still heavy with fruit even after today's harvest, and the original supply of finished olives is already dwindling.

The fruit is noticeably bigger now. I guess the olives are that much riper than they were back in January. In the meantime, I've been experimenting with different ways to eat the olives I've already made. Tonight I added olive oil, rosemary, raw garlic, and Meyer lemon zest to a bowl of finished olives, and they are very tasty indeed.

My original post on the subject of making olives at home is here: The Olive Project. Also see The Olive Project Continued.