To contrast...

Maybe it's that I didn't know where to eat in Cancun, maybe it's just that I'm spoiled rotten with great food here, or maybe a bit of both, but the last several days have me pretty well convinced that if I want to eat really, really well, I probably shouldn't go farther than ~200 miles from home. I'm making up for last weekend's lackluster food, and doing a darn good job of it. We got off to a good start during the week with a birthday dinner for yours truly (with Katie and the Suitor) at the Village Pub in Woodside. There was cranberry bean ravioli with lemon verbena foam, there was bacon-wrapped pork loin with sauteed broccolini and grilled peaches, and there was chocolate souffle with Grand Marnier creme anglaise. Delicious, all of it. Katie shared the ravioli and had a lobster-corn bisque; the Suitor had the pub burger, which I understand is excellent.

The next night I had a fresh new box of CSA goodies at my disposal, so I pulled out some chard and green beans for a toasted quinoa dish full of garlic and veggies (a variation on the last recipe in this article). Driving down to Big Sur yesterday I munched on CSA apples and pears, and last night we visited the Big Sur Bakery for dinner. I'm not usually a fan of mussels, but I must say, the Prince Edward Island steamed mussels that Katie and Mama S. had as a first course last night were fantastic. I had two tender sauteed scallops atop a lemony celery root puree with lemon-basil oil and radish microgreens as a first course; for second courses Katie and I both had a risotto with asparagus and mushrooms, and Mama S. had the scallops. And then dessert. For Katie: a butterscotch custard with maple sugar cookies and whipped cream. For me: a peach and almond tart with lemon verbena ice cream (really just cream, as their freezer had broken down--oops).

This morning for breakfast the fabulous eating continued with freshly ground, home-grown cornmeal-buttermilk-banana pancakes, home-grown pear compote, and Tuscan cantaloupe. We'll be reconvening shortly for home-grown gazpacho and home-grown guacamole. Basically we're living off of the garden, and it's amazing. Stay tuned!