Kitty Morse Moroccan Cuisine

Preserved Lemons:

 My favorite condiment is making waves in classy kitchens: From Top Chef to Food TV stars, and fans on Facebook, preserved lemons are in.  Drop by my new Facebook page, Kitty Morse Moroccan Cuisine, and start a discussion! I would love to hear how YOU use preserved lemons.

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kitty-Morse-Moroccan-Cuisine/115440281841373?ref=sgm

[Read more →]

         Incroyable! Our Southern California summer has turned out to be a strange one. Only yesterday did I sample the first vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes my friend Andrea grows on her organic farm/B and B (www.BlueHeronfarmBandB.com.) There was never quite enough sun for them to ripen earlier.

         But I digress.

         My last post told about a wonderful road trip to Ashland OR. A word of caution to anyone in CA: We initially decided to rent a car, and did so through Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I made the reservation over the phone, and everything went well until we presented ourselves at the company’s front desk to pick up our vehicle.

         We were bantering back and forth with the agent, when he asked:

         “What’s your destination?”

         We answered innocently that we were heading to Ashland for 2 days, and would make our way down the California coast soon after.

         “Then I need to add a fee of $10 a day if you cross the state line into Oregon,” was his reply.

         My husband and I were shocked since I had read nothing of this on their website, nor had I heard anything to that effect from the agent who confirmed my reservation over the phone. Renting the car would have added about $100 to the price of the rental, something we were NOT prepared to do, feeling like victims of a bait and switch. Off we went to Oregon in our own car. Later, a call to Enterprise headquarters confirmed this was company policy (though you can take a rental from California into Arizona and Nevada). Go figure.

         One of the purposes of our trip was to drop off copies of A Biblical Feast in independent bookstores along the way. Though this was certainly labor intensive, it was wonderful to meet store owners and managers acting as determined Davids against the Goliaths of the publishing world–from Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara .

To Avid Reader (www. avidreaderbooks.com) in Sacramento, to Lyons Books (www.lyonsbooks.com) in Chico, Book inc. (www.booksinc.net) in and around San Francisco, Terra Firma (www.terrafirmahome.com) in Jacksonville (OR), Book Passage (www.bookpassage.com) in Corte Madera, and Not of This World (www.notofthisworldbookstore.com) in Santa Rosa. You can peruse the complete list of stores and California Missions like Santa Ines, on my Biblical Feast page. 

Thank you one and all for taking me in and placing my “independent” book on your shelves.

         Foodgal.com’s Carolyn Jung (whose address is on my blogroll) has just been profiled in a book titled Cooking for Geeks. She included my recipe for preserved lemons, and wrote about it on her blog. Her article on attending one of my classes and learning how to make preserved lemons is on my preserved lemon page. You’ll love her sense of humor!

         Linked In introduced me to Deena Montillo, of Montillo Italian Foods (www.vinocotto.us). I was particularly interested in her product, Vino Cotto (“cooked wine”), which is similar to the biblical ingredient I call “grape syrup” in A Biblical Feast (I also give the recipe.) The Montillos make theirs following a family recipe from Calabria, Italy. My husband loved vino cotto mixed in with his oatmeal!

         Another chocoholic friend maintains the blog: http://DivineFudge.blogspot.comhttp://divinefudge.blogspot.com/

 Look at what I found at the Vista Farmer’s Market! Can you guess what they are?

          Have a flavorful end of summer! Keep in touch!

[Read more →]

August 2010:

I’d love to meet you!

Drop by Le Creuset’s company store in Camarillo (CA) on Saturday, August 28th. I’ll be holding a cooking demonstration and book signing. And I will show you how to make REAL Moroccan preserved lemons.

Saturday, August 28

2-4PM

540 E Ventura Blvd., Suite 1356

Camarillo, CA 93010 (on the way to Ventura and Santa Barbara)

Phone: (805) 482-2403

July 2010:

 Saturday, July 31, 2010 11AM to 1PM at Earth Song Books and Gifts, a lovely store in the heart of old Del Mar (CA). I will sign copies of A Biblical Feast and Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from my Moroccan Kitchen. Drop in for a chat and a taste! Earth Song 1440 Camino del Mar Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 755-4254 EARTHSONGBOOKS@YAHOO.COM

[Read more →]

In June, a wedding in Ashland (OR) gave us the opportunity to drive to Oregon, and stop at California missions and practically every independent book store along the way to drop off copies of A Biblical Feast. (See the list here: )

I LOVE car trips. It’s so easy to forget, on a day-to-day basis, what awe-inspiring vistas this state has to offer. There are 21 California missions between San Diego and Sonoma. These national treasures are a sight to behold, resplendent as when it was built, and lovingly maintained. Four in particular remain etched in memory: Santa Barbara’s set like a queen atop her hilltop “throne”, and hosting hundreds, if not thousands of enthusiastic visitors from round the globe every day; Mission Santa Ines, more subdued, but just as striking, on the outskirts of Sweden-inspired Solvang. Linger a while in the gift store, and Marushka, the friendly manager, will answer any question regarding the artifacts inside the mission’s lovely museum; and imposing Mission San Luis Obispo partially hidden behind a leafy quadrangle of trees. My favorite, I have to admit, was secluded Mission San Antonio de Padua in Jolon, built in 1771, now on the western edge of Fort Hunter Liggett Military reservation about 20 miles off Highway 101. Aptly named “The Mission that Time Forgot” Santa Ines is still very much an active mission, with its restored buildings, a cloister, and church built in 1771 in the shadow of the Santa Lucia Mountains.

We drove along many of the roads I had traveled when researching The California Farm Cookbook (to be continued),

[Read more →]

All the food and farm happenings in San Diego County make up the bulk of the reading in this lovely magazine, which has acquired a new lease on life thanks to publishers Riley Davenport and John Vawter.

A Biblical Feast is prominently featured in the Spring issue, at www.ediblesandiego.com.

Enjoy,

Kitty

[Read more →]