Welcome to Golden Country Cowgirl
Recent Posts
Sutter Creek Chili Cook-off & Car Show
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…
Ferrari Originals – More Than Lampwork
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…
Lumberjack Day in West Point, CA
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…
The Vixens Play at Bray: 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…
Alternate Ways of Baking Pizza
Ever since the Saucy Sisters baked pizza in a wood-fired oven for one of our meetings, I’ve really been craving pizza. I hardly ever have pizza for a couple of reasons. First, it isn’t the most low-calorie food. Second, as a single person, I always have so much left over. I do like leftover pizza but baking pizza fresh is so much better. I don’t have an outdoor oven yet, and probably won’t get one until next spring. It’s been so hot I haven’t wanted to turn on the oven so I experimented with a couple of other ways of baking pizza. The Pizza Dough To make this a really simple process, you could buy already made pizza dough or frozen dough but I like doing…