Pacifica Riptide

Hail, Holy Pumpkin!

 

This time of year, the coast is colorfully speckled with this fabulous orange squash. Families are often seen picking out pumpkins in big patches by the side of the road. They grace front porches with beautiful color. Although pumpkins make lovely fall decorations, they make even better table fare. I wonder how many people fail to eat their lovely purchases as October comes to a close. After all, pumpkins are delicious baked, steamed, mashed, or in baked goods. They stand up well to spices, sauces, and soups. They can be served sweet, salty, or savory, so there is a flavor for everyone. Not only are pumpkins versatile, they are nutritious, a good source of fiber; vitamins A, B6 C, and E; thiamin; niacin; folate; iron; magnesium; phosphorus; riboflavin, potassium; copper; and manganese. Filled with the antioxidant beta-carotene, pumpkin may even protect the body from such diseases as cancer and heart disease. For calories spent, pumpkin packs in a lot of nutrition. A one-cup serving of mashed pumpkin is only 49 calories and 12 grams of carbohydrate. So why wait until Thanksgiving pie to enjoy a little pumpkin this season?  Enjoy some tonight. Here’s to your health!

Dr. Cynthia Luce, DC

Lucebones Chiropractic

Rockaway Beach, Pacifica

Spiced Baked Pumpkin

Ingredients:

Cleaned pumpkin, sliced to quarter inch thickness

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 Tablespoon organic brown sugar

pinch of sea salt

Freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange the pumpkin single layer on cookie sheet.  Mix the brown sugar and salt into the melted butter. With a brush, brush the tops of the pumpkin with the butter mixture. Sprinkle freshly grated nutmeg over the top. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes until soft. Enjoy hot as a side dish or cold on a salad. 

Styrofoam Ban: Pacifica Pooh-Poohs Polystyrene

On October 26, 2009, Pacifica City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive polystyrene foodware ordinance, which goes into effect January 1, 2010, requiring all Pacifica restaurants to use biodegradable or recyclable containers and utensils for to-go (takeout) food orders. It also requires the city to practice what it preaches in all of its own purchasing, meaning no more Styrofoam cups at City Hall. The ordinance is the result of several years of lobbying and research. In the end, Millbrae's ordinance was used as the model this ordinance was based on. The final vote was 5-0, with several citizens speaking in favor of the ban, and no one speaking against it.

(Ian Butler reporting)

Coastside Farmer's Markets: Pumpkin Time

Greetings Marketeers!

I trust that one and all survived the Cavalcade of the Colossal Cucurbits, Typhoon Tuesday and the astonishing results of the great Pumpkin Weigh Off without incident or regrets.  Congratulations are due once again to Ms Eda Muller on her triumph of gravitas and beauty!  Ms Eda won the local division of the weigh-off  doncha know, and in doing so broke a record for the county and outweighing her loving husband Farmer John's entry by a mere 1%.  All very exciting! But if you ask me, what really put her pumpkin in a league of its own is that hands down, that punkin' was by far the prettiest orange-est, roundest, actual pumpkin-looking dang punkin' I have ever seen make it into the gargantuan category.  A Marvel to view, and while it will make for a lovely display and a fine dwelling for disavowed wives from nursery rhymes, these stunning feats of agricultural acumen taste terrible.  Plus, I was told as a child never to eat anything bigger than my head, and that has always seemed like good advice.

So - what to make of all the different types of pumpkins and pumpkin-like squashes rolling into the Market these days? Muffins, for one thing, pies for another and soups are a perennial favorite.   But to really appreciate the flavor and difference of fall squashes, I like to pick up a strange looking rumpledy looking thing I have never tired before and try it on for flavor, as opposed to size.

In my experimenting I have found that just about every kind of late season squash, when  sauteed up with some leeks and sweet red peppers and piled over pasta with a garnish of toasted pumpkin seeds make for a really tasty, very simple and beautiful fall supper.   Try this combo over Santa Cruz Pasta Co.'s Red Pepper Paparadel and you are on to something, Elmer. It looks like a plate of fall sundown, just astonishing and gorgeous. Plus, very tasty and oh so good for you.

You can shred a butternut squash into a pan of sizzling diced onions and mushrooms scented with fresh sage, put a heavy plate on it, turn it once and brown the other side, then cut it into wedges and top with a dollop of Harley Farms fromage blanc.  Try this with a salad of fresh spinach and arugula, over which you have poured a combination of steamed purple cauliflower and romesco, lightly marinated while warm in a fig vinegar vinaigrette, a toasted slab of 8 grain bread, and it easy to convince even the most recalcitrant of your friends' grown children that there is a reason to spend more time preparing food than you do eating it.  And that cloth napkins are worth the effort.

This Week:

The remarkable women from the Coastside Chapter of the AAUW have made a batch of really yummy pumpkin bread to follow up your meal, and you can get some this week only in Half Moon Bay.  The Fly on the Wall Art Studio makes its Beastie-ly debut this week, and the folks form the High School Water Polo Team have a pretty neat thing going on too!  They are raffling off a Tour of the Tunnel for 4 lucky folks, and you can pick up your tickets at the Half Moon Bay Market on Saturday, and in Pacifica on Wednesday. I have mine!

Thanks once again to Sam's Chowder House and our pals at Huck Finn for helping to make it all possible, and to the Friends of the Farmer's Market for supporting our local musicians Raymond and Helen this Saturday, and Pacifica's own Don Rowell Trio on Wednesday.

See you at the Market!

Erin Tormey

Coastside Farmers Markets

Walk on the Wild Side: PCT 26 Nature Videos

Pacifica Currents on our community television station PCT 26 creates various videos of San Mateo County coastal wildflowers and other natural sights and sounds. In one of the videos, Toni Corelli, Avis Boutell, and Nancy Frost describe native plants they have surveyed on Pacifica State Beach at Linda Mar, Pedro Point Headlands, and Rockaway Headlands. Eric Mayrand films the shows. Click the link above to see all of our community TV station's fine work, courtesy of Marty Anaya and his band of merry elves. Also, here is a link to the YouTube video of the TV show. When you click the link, if it says "video not available," just click the other three tours to the right: YOUTUBE

Possible Problems in Coastside Scavenger Sale; City Council Revisits the Issue, Votes to Continue Due Diligence on Transfer

BY LIONEL EMDE, RIPTIDE CORRESPONDENT
 
The sale of Coastside Scavenger (CS) appears to be going forward. City staff has requested City Council to authorize the city manager to enter into negotiations for assignment of the solid waste franchise agreement from CS to Recology. City Manager Steve Rhodes also has requested authorization to employ HFH as the consulting firm for support in the change of waste haulers. The city also has requested authority to negotiate a "reimbursement agreement with Recology for costs associated with [the] assignment process."

But the sale has a condition that apparently has not been met: "The city cannot consider the assignment if Coastside (Scavenger) is in default. Coastside has been delinquent in its payment of franchise fees, and has been notified that the company is in default. All franchise fees must be current." The amount in default is not mentioned in the staff report.

City Council took up this matter at its October 26 meeting and voted to continue the due-diligence process leading to eventual takeover of the troubled garbage company.

READ JULIA SCOTT'S LATEST STORY ON COASTSIDE SCAVENGER

For the Birds: If You Plant It, They Will Come

GARDENING FOR BIRDS

Dangerous Precedent? Gov & Solons Dis CEQA

On October 22, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation giving Majestic Realty a full exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), allowing them to push ahead with construction of a 75,000-seat stadium in the City of Industry (Los Angeles County). AB X3 81, authored by Assemblymember Isadore Hall, allows Majestic and Industry to sidestep the current lawsuit filed against the project and proceed without adequately addressing environmental impacts. The bill, introduced in the last hours of the 2009 legislative session, quickly passed through the Assembly. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg initially held the measure in an effort to resolve legal challenges outside the legislature. When that failed, the Senate capitulated and passed the bill. With this measure, the governor and both houses of the legislature have suggested—for the first time—that they will interfere with active court cases, and deny citizens groups their due-process rights, if developers have enough money to hire lobbyists. Though this legislation sets a dangerous example, it must not become a precedent. Developers must not be allowed to purchase CEQA exemptions and sidestep laws that exist to protect every Californian. (Jake Sigg, Nature News)

Fox Pacifica Tie-Dye Pix: Stop, You're Killing Me!

HATE BLOG PICTURES RIPTIDE READERS AS SCARY HIPPIES AND WORSE

Greetings from Riptide Readers http://fixpacifica.blogspot.com/2009/10/riptide-readers.html

LINKS TO FOTOS FOX PACIFICA POSTED, UNPOSTED, REPOSTED, AND...

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100+ Coastside Environmentalists Spell Out 350 on Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica

On Saturday, October 24, in solidarity with people from 181 countries, more than 100 Pacifica and other coastside environmentalists got together to spell out the number 350 on Linda Mar Beach. The event, part of the largest environmental action in history, was an effort to educate the public on the need to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million (PPM). Learn more at 350.org  (Photo by Ian Butler)

The Case of the Guilty Graffiti Grammarian

Ted Cuzzillo photo @ Albany Bulb