Grown-Up Kid at Earthbound Farm in Carmel Valley, California by Ruth Paget

Grown-Up Kid at Earthbound Farm in Carmel Valley, California by Ruth Paget 

When my daughter Florence Paget was a child, my husband Laurent and I liked to take her to the pumpkin patch at Earthbound Farm in Carmel Valley, California, which features farm-to-table organic produce that you can buy or eat in the café. 

We would take pictures of her and buy two pumpkins – one to carve as a jack-o-lantern and one to use for roasted pumpkin seeds and soup. 

At home, I would cut a hole out of the top of one pumpkin and pull out the seeds that are entwined in slimy membranes inside the pumpkin. I separated the seeds from the slime and rinsed them clean. I put the seeds in a bowl and poured in peanut oil and sprinkled salt on them. I turned the seeds to fully coat them in oil and lined a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

I baked the seeds at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes to an hour depending on the color and tuned them once. Florence liked the crunchy seeds with a chewy inside. (I know I can buy these, but the roasted seeds project is a low-cost STEAM activity.) 

For the soup, I cut the pumpkin into eighths and roasted the pieces in the oven till soft. I cut between the flesh and skin and scooped out the flesh. I sautéed onions in a Dutch oven and added vegetable or chicken broth along with the pumpkin flesh and a potato for thickening. 

I let the soup boil for half an hour and then mixed it with an immersion blender till it was smooth. Florence and Laurent do not like pumpkin soup, so I ate it all. I like this savory version that is full of Vitamin A from the pumpkin and Vitamin C from the potato. Vitamin A helps with vision and the immune system and Vitamin C is an antioxidant. (This is another low-cost STEAM activity.) 

Now that Florence is older, she is the one who takes me to Earthbound Farm in October for lunch. I like the organic Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwiches with sweet, juicy, and bright red tomatoes; delicate baby greens; and lean bacon on grilled brown bread with a baby greens salad on the side. 

The vinaigrette at Earthbound Farms keeps people coming back for their spa cure – yellow Anne raspberry vinaigrette, which is full of antioxidants and makes salad taste like dessert - almost. 

I discovered a great drink to go with my lunch: Goat Rock Hard Cider made with rosé and passion fruit from Sonoma Valley. It registers at 6.7% alcohol and costs $6.50. It makes you pucker at first, but goes well with the raspberry vinaigrette. 

We had chocolate chips cookies and soft serve ice cream for dessert. 

The 2024 Pumpkin Patch Outing was fun for Big Kid Mom. 

Note: You can prepare butternut squash in the same way.  I also make savory carrot soup with this method.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Labyrinth Walk with Pastry in Carmel Valley, California by Ruth Paget

Labyrinth Walk with Pastry in Carmel Valley, California by Ruth Paget 

A low-budget cultural outing I used to do with my daughter Florence Paget when she was a child was to visit the free, outdoor labyrinth walk at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula. 

Our first stop on the way to the labyrinth was the Carmel Valley Roasting Company in the Barnyard Shopping Center. They pride themselves on fine coffee roasts and smiled when I requested a creamy and fatty latte. 

They had other beverages I liked that Florence liked as well, which include: 

-Rishi Chai Latte – a spicy black tea infused with what seems to be star anise and cloves. The spices made it seem sweeter than it was. This drink originated in Central Asia. I took some to work with me everyday when I sold Persian carpets in addition to Tibetan art and Russian icons to set the mood as an art dealer of the exotic and wonderful. 

-Ghirardelli hot chocolate – San Francisco’s primo merchandise was one of Florence’s favorites to go with a pastry. 

 -Mexican hot chocolate (probably Ibarra brand or Abuelita) – I knew chocolate originally came from Mexico, so I just had to try this for variety. Mexican chocolate is flavored with vanilla and cinnamon in the modern day, which makes it sweet and exotic and a perfect brew for the art gallery job where I also sold milagro miracle crosses. 

Carmel Valley Roast Company smells buttery and sugary – all good scents to go with strong coffee. Florence ate a plain croissant or a chocolate croissant. I opted for a large bear claw filled with marzipan, almond paste. I ate half of the bear claw and gave the other half to Laurent at home. 

With our provisions in hand, Florence and I would go down Carmel Valley Road from the Barnyard Shopping Center to the labyrinth located at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula. 

The labyrinth is a small model of the floor labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France. We would walk through it doing a pilgrimage in Carmel Valley with mountains on either side of us on the valley floor. 

Florence was young, but I did tell her that people still went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. 

I was happy to teach a little church history as Florence munched on a croissant and drank Italian hot chocolate. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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A Progressive's View of French Civilization by Ruth Paget

A Progressive’s Version of French Civilization by Ruth Paget 

When Florence was a student at the Waldorf School in Monterey, I often took her to the outdoor labyrinth at the Community Church of Monterey in Carmel Valley to keep up her French heritage. This labyrinth is a miniature version of the labyrinth laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France during the 12th century. 

Florence had rolled across this labyrinth in a baby stroller when we lived in France, but had not been back to walk it there. Children in France walk church labyrinths. They slow down their lives to not miss a turn. They are too busy concentrating to smile. Sometimes they scold one another for jumping a lane.

Chartres is not the only cathedral with a labyrinth. Amiens in northern France has a black and white labyrinth still in use. The cathedral in Poitiers, France has a wall labyrinth that people point out to children and trace out the path with their fingers after mass. There used to be many more labyrinths in France, but church authorities have removed them over the centuries. 

In Chartres, the labyrinth persists, I believe, because its links to pagan Greek myth were eradicated. The original center of the labyrinth had a leather cover that depicted Theseus, the dead minotaur, and Ariadne’s thread. 

The first time we went to the labyrinth I planned to show Florence why Chartres Cathedral was important to understanding the history of France. Florence was looking forward to a mom adventure. “This circle is like a game. You enter here facing the mountains. Then, you follow the path to the center. When you are in the center, you rest a bit and think, and then come back here,” I said.

Florence looked at the labyrinth and said, “This looks a little hard.” 

“Just concentrate on what you are doing. When you get to the center, I’ll tell you a story,” I said. Florence went off walking. When she reached the center. She stood facing me. 

I began my story. “In Chartres, the center of the labyrinth had a leather cover showing the Greek hero Theseus, the minotaur he killed, and Ariadne’s thread that allowed him to get out of the labyrinth. I’ll tell you another story when you get back.” 

Florence laughed and wound the labyrinth and came out to stand by me, facing the mountains. 

“What’s the second story,” Florence asked. 

“Well, there are two things to remember here. First, killing a minotaur is like solving a big problem. Solving a problem makes you smarter, but it also disrupts a previous pattern. Being smarter helps you solve the consequences of solving the problem, too. The result is that when you exited this labyrinth, the Greeks would have said you are transformed or changed by becoming smarter,” I said.

“And…,” Florence said, waiting for my story thread. “Second, Ariadne’s thread saved Theseus from the consequences of killing the minotaur. The church put Ariadne’s thread there to say that belief in Christ serves the same purpose. The early church used an older religion to explain the new one. ” I said.

I took out a book I had on the stained glass windows of Chartres and showed Florence the eastern rose window with Christ at the last judgment. 

“This window is what you see when you leave the labyrinth at Chartres. The people who do more good than bad go up to heaven with singing angels at the right. The people who do more bad than good go down to the left with monsters who dance in fire. This image usually appears in stone over the doors of churches in France from the Middle Ages,” I said. 

“How big is this window?” Florence asked. 

“I’ll give you an idea,” I said and stood opposite of her with the mountains to my back. I put my right arm up and my left arm down. “The rose window with Christ at the Last Judgment looks the size of those mountains behind when you look up from the labyrinth at Chartres,” I said. 

 “Do you have to be perfect to go to heaven?” Florence asked. 

“The last perfect human was Christ, and he was crucified. You have to do more good than bad. According to Catholicism, we are born with original sin. No one is perfect, but we can strive to do right. The Catholic Church also has a tradition of warrior saints, who protect the faith and country. This is especially true in France where Joan of Arc is said to have saved France,” I said.

“Who was Joan of Arc?” Florence asked. 

 “She was a shepherdess, who became a general. She felt that her civilization was in danger of disappearing and fought to protect it. Many people think all the French do is sit in cafés, drink wine, and talk philosophy all day long. This does not reflect French civilization for almost all of its history. France has been at war most of the time,” I said. 

“Is that bad?” Florence asked. 

“It’s not a question and good and bad really. It’s historic fact. France is beautiful and many people want what the French have worked very hard to create. They have maintained their culture for centuries by fighting to protect it,” I said. 

“That’s a lot of war,” Florence said. 

“It is. Let me walk through the labyrinth with you. Another thing you should know about France is that the kings and aristocrats had the nicest stuff. The farmers, called peasants in France, prayed that soldiers would not march through the fields and take all the crops. The peasants absolutely rejoiced when they could bring in food at harvest,” I said, finishing my French history lesson in Carmel Valley. 

By Ruth Paget Author of Marrying France and Eating Soup with Chopsticks

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Cafe Rustica's European Flair - Part 2 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Café Rustica’s European Flair – Part 2 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Laurent and I came back on another warm summer night for another gastronomic treat at Café Rustica.  I ordered lamb fillets, and Laurent had the capellini pasta with shrimp.

The meaty lamb fillets came three to a serving and surrounded an impressive piece of vegetable architecture:  a perfectly round mound of au gratin potatoes on a bed of sautéed spinach with strands of roasted red pepper draped over the top of the potatoes.

Sautéed tomato squares flowed down the sides of the au gratin potatoes.  The freshly prepared vegetables all retained their individual flavors.

A cabernet-shallot sauce covered the lamb fillets with pine nuts sprinkled around for flavor.  The sauce enhanced all of the flavors in the dish without overpowering any single one.  The savory lamb, like Florence’s rib eye steak on our previous visit, was tender enough to cut with a regular knife.

I ordered the Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia to go with my meal.  The wine smelled and tasted like blackberries and had a strong, lengthy finish.

Laurent love the capellini pasta that came with sautéed shrimp.  The savory marinara sauce paired perfectly with the briny shrimp.  Halves of sweet, cherry tomatoes made up the vegetable contingent in this light, yet filling dish.

Laurent drank a Pichot Vouvray from the Loire Valley in France with his meal.  The mildly sweet taste of this wine went well with the marinara tomato sauce.

The pleasant, hardworking staff at Café Rustica make dining there such an appealing experience.  One of the co-owners told me that they treat all of their employees from dishwashers to hostesses with respect.

“Everyone contributes to the restaurant’s success,” she said.

This philosophy comes from the fact that both owners have been employees in restaurants as well as owners.  They are both chefs in their own right: One trained at the Internant School in Germany while the other trained at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

The owners’ dedication to cooking and their high regard for restaurant professionals have helped them create a restaurant that merits a trip out to Carmel Valley Village from the Monterey Peninsula.

(Congratulations to Rustica for being a 2019 Michelin Restaurant!)

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Cafe Rustica's European Flair - Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Café Rustica’s European Flair – Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Going to some of my favorite restaurants like Café Rustica in Carmel Valley Village when I was a restaurant reviewer for the Monterey County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000 – California) was an easy assignment thanks to their perfect food and wait service.

Even after twenty years, I still love dining on their terrace admiring grapevines at the wine tasting rooms across the street.  This restaurant merited two review trips and offers daily specials in addition to their set menu:

Café Rustica Blends Creative European Cuisine with Superlative Service

Dining at Café Rustica in Carmel Valley makes you feel like you have taken a European vacation.  The restaurant offers tasty fare from Italy, France, and Germany along with luscious Californian salads in a courtyard setting reminiscent of continental European restaurants.

My family likes the warm valley weather as well as the friendly ambience at Café Rustica.  On a recent visit for lunch, we conjured up Italian vacations by ordering limonata – a sour lemon soda from Italy with our meal.

For starters, I ordered escargots bourguignons (snails), a specialty of Burgundy France.  Butter, garlic, and parsley are the most obvious ingredients in the sauce, but the co-owner told me that her spouse uses a secret recipe for this sauce that utilizes no less than fifteen ingredients.  I used the slices of toast that came with the snails to soak up this delicious, mystery confection.

Laurent and I ordered 11-inch pizzas inspired by European dishes.  Laurent’s Lorraine pizza takes its name from Quiche Lorraine and is made up of maple-smoked bacon, caramelized onions, and melted gruyère cheese.  For me, these are the best ingredients in a quiche, so I really liked Laurent’s choice. (So did he.)

Caramelized onions were one of the ingredients on my flammekeuche pizza, a dish from Alsace (France), which shares a border with Germany.  I love the onions with cubes of prosciutto that sat atop a layer of crème fraîche.  I thought these ingredients would taste especially good with a slightly sweet white wine like Vouvry, which Laurent ordered on a subsequent visit.

Florence meanwhile was getting an eyeful and a bellyful of a large rib eye steak.  This steak came with a generous helping of herbed butter and French fries.  The meat was tender enough to be cut with a butter knife.

For dessert, Florence ate two scoops of Ciao Bello gelato from San Francisco.  Vanilla bean flecks colored the gelato and added flavor bursts to this creamy dessert.  Laurent and I had Lavazza coffees as dessert.

End of Part 1.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Mini Malbec Wine Tasting by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Mini Malbec Wine Tasting by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

-Clos d’Argentine from Argentina, 2014 Reserve, 91 Wine Spectator (available at Grocery Outlet in Salinas, California for under $10 as of today). 

-A Cowgirl Winery Malbec from Carmel Valley, California (available from the Carmel Valley wine room)

-A Hahn Winery Malbec from River Road (Monterey County), California

-Cahors – a French Malbec wine with additions of Merlot and Tannat.  From Southwestern France below Bordeaux.

-a Bordeaux Médoc – Malbec is one of the blending wines in Bordeaux Médoc wines.  Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant grape, though.

-California Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a single varietal.

(Both Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon can be sourced from Grocery Outlet.  Lopez and Bevmo in Carmel might be able to arrange for Cahors.)

The main question for the tasting is:  How does Malbec influence the taste of Bordeaux Médocs as opposed to single varietal California Cabernet Sauvignon?

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Clos d'Argentine, 2014 Reserve, 91 Wine Spectator

Bug Safari Activity for Kids by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Bug Safari Activity for Kids by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

When I read that 7 citiies in the UK are participating in the #CityNatureChallenge on Twitter, I immediately thought of the “Bug Safari” program I did with the Monterey Peninsual Regional Parks District when I was the Youth Services Librarian for Monterey County California.

This is a school age – 12 and under – program that includes a nature walk with song, stories, and art projects afterwards.  The Parks District handled the nature walk, and I did the cultural part of the program.

Three libraries with nearby parks participated in the program:

-Marina – Locke Paddon Park

-Seaside – Laguna Grande Park

-Carmel Valley – Carmel Valley Park

After the walk with pointing out all cobwebs and flying creatures, we began the library park of the walk by singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider a few times till we got the gestures right.  The gestures help memorize the song.

Picture Books

Then, I read the following insect-related picture books:

-A picture book version of The Itsy Bitsy Spider as children made the hand gestures and recited

-Anansi the Spider books – African folktales about a smart spider

-The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

-The Ant and the Grasshopper fable from Aesop’s fables written by an ancient Roman storyteller

-A nonfiction photo book about chrysalis to butterfly formation

Art Projects

-3D Spider

Construction paper body with wobbly eyes pasted on and legs made of strips of construction paper folded back and forth and released as springs.  Use black construction paper and a white crayon to make a cobweb.

-Butterfly Painting

Fold white typing paper in half and fill in one side with paint to look like half a butterfly.  Fold the other side down and press.  Open paper up to find a symmetrical butterfly.

Can make a bumblebee this way with yellow and black alone.

-Use drawing books to draw the following insects:

-ladybugs

-butterflies

-mosquitos

-bees

-dragonflies

-spiders

The easiest drawing books for children to begin drawing insects break the bug down into geometric shapes and then color them in with pencils.

I used insect drawing books from the collection of the Monterey County Free Libraries, which included books such as the following:

-How to Draw Insects by Barbara Soloff Levy

-Ralph Masiello’s Bug Drawing Book by Ralph Masiello

-How to Draw: Insects by Dandi Palma

-Learn to Draw Insects: Step-by-Step Instructions for 26 Creepy Crawlies by Dina Fisher

-How to Draw Amazing Animals and Incredible Insects: Packed with Over 100 Fascination Animals by Fiona Gowne

To finish up, we would discuss which art projects were the most interesting to draw and why and which books they liked the best and why.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Carmel Valley Pool Life by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Carmel Valley Pool Life by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

When I first moved to Monterey County California more than twenty years ago, I worked part-time and would take my daughter Florence out to the Carmel Valley pool during summer vacations.

I always bought a summer pass and took some writing to do while Florence played and swam.  I thought the summer pass was a great investment, because we went there everyday Monday through Friday.  The pool also had a concession stand where you could buy an inexpensive lunch.

The Monterey Peninsula is chillier than you would expect and does not have pool weather.  Surfers wear wetsuits in the cold Pacific waters here.  The temperature range is between the high 60s and low 70s.

However, once you go inland toward the mountains, the temperatures rise to the mid 80s and 90s in Carmel Valley – wine grape growing territory.   Carmel Valley Village is obviously great swimming pool territory.

At the pool, I pulled up two lounge chairs for Florence and me and put an adjustable umbrella between the chairs to angle shade my way when the sun changed position.

After two or three hours of water play, Florence would come play move star and lay back on her lounge chair.  She would push her wet hair back and put on black sunglasses.  She repeated what I always said, “Those mountains with the blue sky behind them are beautiful.”

The pool is next to a large park with green grass and a white gazebo with lacy woodwork.  When there was a breeze, the wind smelled like freshly cut grass.  There are several picnic tables in the park for families doing larger lunches.

Once Florence was comfortable, I would ask her if she wanted a hot dog or hamburger that day.  With the order placed, I would usually bring back all-beef hot dogs with “the works” on them, diet sodas, and ice cream sandwiches.

After lunch, we would clean up and head back to town happy and fed with plans to return.

On one of our trips to the Carmel Valley pool, one of the other sunbathers there introduced herself to me.

She was an author, who had just obtained her first publishing contract.

I congratulated her and said, “I have a bunch of writing prompt responses here that I am trying to arrange and put together into a book.”

“Would you like me to look at some of it?” she asked.

“I’d love it,” I said and added, “I know most people pay for this type of consulting, but all I can afford now is lunch.  Can I offer you a hot dog meal?”

“Sure,” she said and added, “I’d love it.”

Florence came out of the pool and talked with the Carmel Valley Welcome Committee author as I went to get us all lunch.

The author had some good advice for my writing responses that I wanted to turn into a book.

“Maybe short stores that resemble movie scenes would be a way to start before formally outlining memoirs, which still use narrative storytelling,” she said.

I wrote that down and made a smile next to the note.  I was starting to like Monterey County very much.

I thanked her and said that I would be taking classes with David Gitin at Monterey Peninsula College and wanted to have some work together before classes started.

“That’s an efficient way to work,” she said and thanked me for lunch.

The author disappeared into a writing cave to write many more books, but I saw her at the grocery store sometimes when I went to Trader Joe’s in Pacific Grove as she busied herself with mundane chores that might become movie scenes.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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