Don’t Throw Out Your Sourdough Starter – Dutch Baby Pancakes

Instead of throwing out your sourdough starter when you feed it, try these moist, creamy Dutch baby pancakes. They are great for any meal and dessert!

I enjoy each and every one of my Saucy Sisters meetings but when I learned that we were going to be doing sourdough I was kind of excited. I haven’t done sourdough since I was in my 20s. Hmm, is that a theme? So many things I haven’t done since I was a young woman that I’m starting to reconnect with. Anyway, as I was saying, I was pretty excited about our sourdough meeting. I first started doing sourdough after a trip to San Francisco and bringing home a San Francisco sourdough starter kit. Like most things I do, I jumped into it with both feet, and started making sourdough bread almost weekly. And then I remembered why I quit doing sourdough. In order for your…

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Sutter Creek Chili Cook-off & Car Show

The Saucy Sisters had stiff competition at the 2016 Great Sutter Creek Chili Cook-off and Car Show. Do you think we won again this year?

I love that there are so many local fairs and festivals in Gold Country. My October pick was the Great Sutter Creek Chili Cook-off and Car Show. This annual event is always held on the second Saturday in October so you might want to mark your calendar now for October 8, 2017! This event is so much fun and is family friendly. Main Street is shut down for the day. One end is filled with booths of competitors in the chili and salsa competition. At the other end of the street, you can lay eyes on more than 100 classic cars and hot rods. I’m not much into cars but I did have a few favorites. In between the two, you’ll find some other fun…

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Ferrari Originals – More Than Lampwork

Ferrari Originals specializes in components for jewelry designers, collectors and bead lovers, but also creates one-of-a-kind and custom pieces.

Gold Country Handmade This new series on the blog will feature talented artists and artisans from all over Gold Country. I plan to bring you a diverse sampling of the talent here. I am excited to introduce my friend Pam Ferrari and Ferrari Originals as my first featured artisan. Ferrari Originals Pam Ferrari is the artist behind Ferrari Originals. Pam began making lampwork glass beads in December of 2001 because she couldn’t find beads that she really liked. Since then, she has added fused glass, patina on copper, painting on copper overlaid with resin, and enameling to her repertoire. She specializes in making components for jewelry designers, collectors and bead lovers but she also sells beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces and can make you a custom piece. Lampwork Glass…

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Lumberjack Day in West Point, CA

Lumberjack Day, held the first Saturday in October, is a day-long celebration of the history and traditions of the logging industry in Calaveras County.

You never know what you are going to run into when you are traveling around Gold Country. Yesterday I was on my way to a pet sitting client when I saw a sign I remembered seeing a few times in the past week or so. It was for Lumberjack Day in West Point on October 1st, and it just so happened it was October 1st. I thought to myself that maybe I would stop and check it out on my way home from my client’s house. On my way home, as I was approaching West Point, I was debating in my head if I would stop or not. I had a lot to do at home so maybe I would just pass. Well, the universe…

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The Vixens Play at Bray: Bray Vineyards

Earlier in September, the Vineyard Vixens toasted another year of wine tasting adventures, beginning with Bray Vineyards.

The Vineyard Vixens, the wine tasting group of the Mother Lode Newcomers, goes on hiatus for the summer. Earlier in September, we toasted another year of tasting adventures, beginning with Bray Vineyards. Some members of our group had been before but most had not, including me. We started our day with lunch at Villa Toscano as we often do. The buffet included a pasta dish that we all fell in love with. I asked Executive Chef Tim Benham for the recipe so he came out to our table and explained how he made it. It was so delicious and relatively easy. He didn’t give us any specific amounts of each ingredient so I will be working on replicating that recipe to include on the blog…

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