Norwitz Notions

One of my pet peeves is when people tell me that buying produce at a local farm or farmer’s market is too expensive. Because they can go to Lucky’s or Safeway and get “the same thing” for less per pound. Except it’s not the same thing. Most supermarket produce comes from far away. Here in [...]

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It’s October, so it’s prime tomato processing time here in California.  I headed back to Greenstring Farm in Petaluma for 60 lbs of red Romas and a few miscellaneous paste tomatoes thrown in.  Biodynamically (and organically) grown heirlooms of all possible types, for $1/lb. This was my second time canning and I made marinara sauce. [...]

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September means tomatoes here in California.  They’re still green on my plants but Greenstring Farm in Petaluma, has bushels of them.  Biodynamically (and organically) grown heirlooms of all possible types, for $1/lb.  I bought Golden Romas and tomatillos (plus a few extras for fresh eating) and made salsa. I’ve made fresh salsa before.  It’s pretty [...]

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Who doesn’t love a fair?  Even if you don’t have a child to share it with.  I grew up on the Del Mar (San Diego County) Fair, which is one of the biggest county fairs around.  Our local fairs here aren’t as big but they’re fun. There’s one right here in Petaluma, the Sonoma-Marin Fair, [...]

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A couple of years ago, I came up with a glorious recipe for fried fish minus gluten, dairy, or egg.  Everyone I made this for loved it, but boy was it a pain to make.  Not just the breading, but standing over a hot frying fan (or two) for about an hour.  And I’m not [...]

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Reading reviews of Lemongrass Thai Cuisine, I’m shocked by how many people love it.  Did we go to the same place?  Did they change chefs?  Are all the reviewers blown away by anything a step above fast food? Lemongrass Thai Cuisine 109 N McDowell Ave, Petaluma, CA 94954 (707) 789-9777 As we perused the menu, [...]

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Quick, name some fermented foods.  What did you come up with?  Beer? wine? cheese? pickles?  Let’s not forget yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, kombucha, natto, tempeh, vinegar, and bread.  These and more were the focus of the second annual Freestone Fermentation Festival in Sonoma County, California, May 15, 2010. This was my first time at this [...]

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Masa, the corn dough used to make tortillas, tamales, pupusas, and more, is quickly becoming one of my favorite kitchen staples.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to get good quality product.  Even in Mexico, shops with fresh masa for home use are disappearing in favor of the powdered stuff. I began my quest in early 2008.  My [...]

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Inspired by the chunky eggplant salad at a local Turkish restaurant, Real Doner, I decided to create my own.  I make baba ghanoush, a creamy eggplant dish, all the time but have never made it any other way. The hurdle was how to cook the eggplant.  Eggplant goes from hard to creamy fairly quickly.  I [...]

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I’ve made a variety of dessert/snack bars based on the simple ingredients of dates and nuts.  Sometimes I substitute prunes for half the dates to bring the carb count down.  Sometimes I add banana or other fruit.  And I use a bunch of different flavorings. You can make these raw (with a dehydrator) or cooked.  [...]

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A few months ago, a new cafe opened in downtown Petaluma near Walnut Park.  Foodies in the know thrill because the owners are family of the owners of a now-defunct Turkish restaurant in Santa Rosa, Real Gryo, which I never had the pleasure of trying.  Real Doner is a small place with a deli feel.  [...]

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Once a month, our synagogue, Ner Shalom in Cotati, California, holds a family Shabbat dinner.  Sometimes it’s a potluck, other times they order platters from a local restaurant.  A few months ago, I volunteered to do the cooking.  I had two motives here: 1) I love to cook for large groups of people.  Seriously, I [...]

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I recently had the chance to cook a Shabbat dinner (Friday night ritual) for my synagogue.  You can find all the details at Shabbat Dinner for 20.  Because I’m being reimbursed for ingredients, I kept careful track of my expenses. You may wonder about the two titles.  Did I cook for 20 or 30?  Well, [...]

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I was at Whole Foods the other day with crimini mushrooms on my shopping list.  These are the brown mushrooms that look very much like the common white button mushroom.  They tend to cost a bit than white mushrooms but they’re actually cheaper.  How’s that?  The white ones are mostly water, so they cook down [...]

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I’m always on the lookout for high-protein, lowcarb, vegan, and gluten-free recipes that don’t have soy.  None of us react to soy but it makes up a lot of our protein foods and I want more variety.  So I was thrilled when a friend told me about a recipe for nut burgers she found and [...]

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