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Entries Tagged as 'Places to Go'

Cheap Produce or Good Produce?

February 3rd, 2012 · 2 Comments

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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Categories: Budgeting · Farms · Food · Food Markets · Places to Go
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Sonoma County & Other Local Fairs 2010

August 1st, 2010 · 1 Comment

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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Categories: Fairs · Family Life · Food · Food Contests · Places to Go · Poetry · Writings
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Vegan Pumpkin Pie

December 1st, 2008 · 2 Comments

Shhh…don’t tell anyone it’s vegan: they’ll never guess.  The first time we made this was Thanksgiving 2007 and it (along with all the cashew cream) was devoured. Someone else’s pumpkin pie (homemade with traditional ingredients) still had half left.  In 2008, this Thanksgiving treat was one of 3 pumpkin pies (all gluten-free as it happens) […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Places to Go · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Snacks · Thanksgiving
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Homemade Cranberry Sauce (without oranges)

December 1st, 2008 · 3 Comments

So what’s wrong with cranberry sauce made with oranges, you ask? Nothing. It’s delicious. But the slightest trace of oranges makes my daughter sick for hours. So I developed a version with lemons instead. I think it works better than oranges for cutting fatty foods and providing a clean crisp taste. You will need to […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Places to Go · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Spreads & Dips · Thanksgiving
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Cashew Cream

November 30th, 2008 · 7 Comments

This is a simple recipe but difficult to get just right. You need a good blender and some finesse. I made the cashew cream to go with a vegan pumpkin pie I took to a Thanksgiving Potluck in 2007 and again in 2008, though it’s delicious on anything sweet. Recipe: 2 cups raw cashew pieces […]

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Categories: Desserts · Food · Places to Go · Recipes · Religion & Holidays · Snacks · Thanksgiving
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Peterson’s Pumpkin & Honey Farm (Petaluma, CA)

October 27th, 2008 · 4 Comments

After all our travel posts, I thought it was time to share some places close to home.  Really close to home in this case. Peterson’s Farm 636 Gossage Ave, Petaluma, CA 94952 ettamarie@petersonsfarm.com http://www.petersonsfarm.com/ Yes, we are lucky enough to live across the street from a small, working, chemical-free farm.  In a mere 6 acres, […]

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Categories: Farms · Food · Food Markets · Picnics · Places to Go
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Portland, Oregon

October 12th, 2008 · No Comments

We only had one day to spend in Portland, Oregon and it was a scorcher.  We decided to do our neighborhood roaming in the morning and then find indoor spots for most of the day.  We then met friends for dinner. A) Alberta Street in the NE section. We drove up and down Alberta & […]

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Categories: Places to Go · Route Planning · Travel
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Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (Portland, OR)

October 6th, 2008 · 1 Comment

When we were trying to figure out what to do on our one day in Portland during a heat wave, we met some moms in Salem who said we should go to OMSI.  To where?  To the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  An entity big enough in Portland to warrant its own set of […]

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Categories: Museums · Places to Go
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Multnomah County Central Library (Portland, OR)

September 28th, 2008 · 2 Comments

I’ve lived in cities with large central libraries before (like Boston) but the locations I’ve lived recently tend to have smaller ones (with access to more books via inter-library loan).  Portland has one of those old-fashioned but refreshing monuments to reading.  A library where you actually want to spend time, not just kill it. Multnomah […]

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Categories: Libraries · Places to Go
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Mt Shasta Area/Panther Meadows (California)

September 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Our first day of travel from Petaluma, CA to Vancouver, BC was our worst.  We took I-5 and, despite keeping the A/C on recirculate and me being on oxygen, I got pretty sick from the pesticide exposures driving past all the agriculture.  Miriam was in even worse shape.  Screaming, tantrums, and two episodes of extreme […]

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Categories: Campgrounds · Parks · Picnics · Places to Go · Travel
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Champoeg State Park (Oregon)

September 24th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Unlike our misadventure of the night before, our two night stay at Champoeg State Park, just south of Portland and north of Salem, was peaceful, quiet, and medically uneventful.  We arrived with concerns.  Since it was a weekend, and we were only booking a few days in advance, there were just two campsites left.  I […]

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Categories: Campgrounds · Museums · Parks · Picnics · Places to Go · Travel
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Indian Mary Park (Merlin, Oregon)

September 23rd, 2008 · 5 Comments

The first overnight stop on our road trip from Petaluma, California to Vancouver, Canada, was in Southern Oregon at the Indian Mary Campground in Merlin. By Google Maps, it’s 410 miles and a 6:30 hour drive. With extensive stops, it was more like 9 or 10 hours. Indian Mary Park Uninc Josephine County, Oregon 7100 […]

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Categories: Campgrounds · Family Life · Health · Parks · Picnics · Places to Go · Playgrounds · Travel
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Riverfront Park (Salem, Oregon)

September 13th, 2008 · 1 Comment

This huge and beautiful park is worth the couple mile detour for anyone travelling along I-5 in Oregon.  Our first stop was the picnic area.  They have a large covered section of tables, which was taken when we were there so we ate at a table in the sun (during a heat wave unfortunately). The […]

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Categories: Carousels · Parks · Picnics · Places to Go · Playgrounds
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A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village (Salem, Oregon)

September 12th, 2008 · 2 Comments

While driving north on I-5 through Oregon, I paged through an Oregon tourist guide looking for a good place to stop for lunch.  We decided on Salem, with the fabulous Riverfront Park next to a children’s museum. A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village http://www.acgilbert.org/ 116 Marion St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301 503-371-3631 or 1-800-208-9514 Admission is $5.50 […]

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Categories: Indoor Playspaces · Museums · Places to Go · Playgrounds
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Natural Products Expo West – March 2008

April 17th, 2008 · 5 Comments

I go to Expo West for my soap business, Tikvah Organics but, for the past several years, Michael and Miriam have joined me and we turn it into a vacation. Miriam charms exhibitors by asking for seconds of foods like pickled herring, I make business contacts and get to stuff myself silly with the latest […]

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Categories: Event Venues · Places to Go
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