Bike to Work Day

Today was the annual Bike to Work Day.  Many cities around San Francisco Bay Area participate in this annual event including City of El Cerrito. The City hosted an energizer station from 7 am to 9 am next to El Cerrito Plaza BART station to promote the event and the healthy lifestyle of bicycling as a way of transportation and exercise.  At the energizer station, city employees handed out goodie bags, snacks, drinks and provided bicycle maintenance tips. For the very first time in my life, I participated in this event. Many years ago I rescued a vintage bicycle from the apartment complex dumpster where I lived at the time.  It was covered in tape. I think it was done on purpose to discourage thieves. I removed most of the tape, replaced some parts, and a friend gave it a tune up. It turned out to be a beautiful bike.  I can't even tell which manufacturer made the bike. It has just one label that says "Lifetime Warranty call 1-800-USA-Bike for any question".  The bike is heavy compare to newer bikes. It also has coaster brakes instead of hand brakes.  While I like my unique bike a lot, I don't ride it often.  One of the reasons is that I don't want it to get stolen.

My bicycle complete with a wire basket

A few days ago, I decided that I would participate in the Bike to Work Day this year.  I got the bike out of the garage and hosed it down in the backyard.  I had not been on the bike for many years. I even did a trial ride of 4 blocks to work; however, I had to ride further this morning to get to the energizing station. I didn't see too many bicyclists on my way there at 7:15 a.m.  As I got closer, I saw many people and children with their bikes. It was like a party!   I had some drink samples of chicha morada and passion fruit from El Mono, the local Peruvian restaurant that I love.  I grabbed some snack and a Bike to Work canvas bag filled with goodies.  There was a lot of excitement, and I wished that I could stay longer.  I didn't want to be late to work so I started pedaling again along Ohlone Greenway.  When I got to work, I was 10 minutes early!

Barktoberfest 2016

A group of dog lovers put together a Barktoberfest at Point Isabel every year right around Halloween. The even includes a parade and costume contest for dogs. For the past several years, I always missed it for one reason or another. This year I wasn't sure if I could make it either until the last minute. It had been raining which is unusual for California, where I can't remember when was the last time we weren't having a drought. This year's Barktoberfest was scheduled on Saturday, October 29th. It was still raining that morning. Around 10 a.m. the sun came out and the rain stopped. Around 11 a.m. the sun disappeared and it started drizzling again. I made a circus clown costume for Cracus a few weeks ago. He's been running around in Point Isabel in his costume. People smile at the sight of his craziness.

At 12:30 p.m., it became obvious that the sun was going to stay around. I quickly put on my Pikachu onesie and put Cracus in costume. I forgot the hula hoop I was going to bring with us as we rushed out the door.

We got a big bag of treats just for registering our names for the contest. We were number 9. After everyone had a chance to register, we paraded down the trail. Since I forgot to bring the hoop, all I could do was making Cracus walk on his hind legs and twirl around as we paraded. People were already amused by his "tricks." The judges were making notes and giving scores while we showed off our pups.

After a short parade, we turned back to the area where we first gathered and waited for the announcement of winners. It was nice that they divided the dogs into three groups by size. Cracus is a small dog. They announced the first runner up in small dog category. It was a pup who had a giraffe costume on. When they called for number 9 as the second runner up, I couldn't believe it. There were so many nice costumes. Maybe it was the twirling. We went up to the front, and someone from the audience asked to have Cracus "dance for everyone, so he happily did a few more times.  We received an award certificate with a big bag of prizes and had our photos taken. We couldn't stop smiling!

We will be back next year!

Cracus Revisits His Rescuer

I came across Animal Refugee Shelter website on November 1, 2014, when I was looking for a dog to adopt around my area. I had already stopped by Berkeley Animal Services and didn't find a dog that was a good fit. I found a very cute and playful large labradoodle, who I adored, but I knew that I wasn't going to have enough time to devote to another large dog.

I found a few possible dogs on Animal Refugee Shelter and The Milo Foundation websites. I stopped by Animal Refugee Shelter first, and there I found Cracus. It's been almost a year since I adopted Cracus. I found out that his shelter was having a community BBQ today and wanted to bring Cracus for a quick visit.

Cracus appeared to be a little nervous when we got there. Perhaps it was from all the dogs' barking. Cracus barked a lot when I saw him behind bars on November 1st, 2014. He was happy to see Blythe, who runs the shelter. He put his head on her lap. I wish I had taken a few pictures.

I recently had a conversation with a woman in her 20's. She bought a male Akita/husky from a breeder a few years ago and has not get the dog neutered. She told me that she isn't able to board her dog at any dog boarding facility because he's not fixed. I asked her whether she's planning on breeding her dog. She said no. I asked why not get the dog fixed? She said that is cruel, and she will not abuse her dog. That was an interesting point of view because I feel it's a much bigger abuse when unwanted pets are euthanized. I asked her what if he gets out and get a female dog pregnant? She said he is not going to get out. She also insists her dog is very gentle and has no aggression. I couldn't say anything else to make her see that getting our pets fixed is the responsible thing to do.

Just look at all these dogs waiting for homes.

What I Learned at Million Dog March

A few days ago I found out that Million Dog March was going to take place today in San Francisco at McLaren Park. I thought it would be fun to participate, so this morning I got up at 6 a.m. and arrived at the park around 8:30. It was nice to get up early and drive over to San Francisco without its usual traffic.  McLaren Park is the second largest park in San Francisco (Golden Gate Park is the largest), but many people who came for the March today had no idea this place existed including myself! 

Once the March started at 9 A.M., it took quite a while for the crowd to get moving. A few dogs got snippy with each other. Fortunately I never have to worry about Kelsey even when other dogs snap at her sometimes. She would just back off and not let anything bother her. Most of the sponsors for the event had booths setup at the parking lot. Kelsey got a red Yelp bandana that says "The Original Yelper" on it. As usual, many people commented Kelsey for carrying her own stuff.

While marching along the route, we came upon a large oak tree that has a few interesting displays on it including the one shown below. I am not sure whether it's a joke of some sort as you can clearly see the "squirrels" in the clear box are not real preserved squirrels.  The text reads "Sammy & Shirley 1926-1932 died from starvation during the great depression. Preservation performed by taxidermist July 1932". Everyone was amused by the displays on the tree.  

After the March, there was a post-march festival with the event sponsors and other vendors. There was a live band as well. Everyone was checking out everyone's dogs. A young woman was quite taken by Kelsey. She told me that Kelsey looks just like her dog who recent passed away, and she told me her dog was a Hovawart. I told her everyone thought Kelsey was a mixed breed of Rottweiler and something else. She spelled out Hovawart and told me to look it up because that's what Kelsey looks like. I was surprised as I look at pictures of Hovawart, which means "an estate guard dog" and read its characteristics. Kelsey definitely matches most of the descriptions including getting along with non-canine pets in the household. It's an ancient German breed that's rare in the States, so people usually assume it's a mixed breed. I have seen many dogs including working at UC Davis Vet Med Hospital, but I had never heard of or seen a Hovawart before.  

Hovawart or Rottweiler mix?

42nd Annual Stanford Powwow

Hopi Hoop Dance

I went to my first powwow while I was attending UC Davis. Ever since then I have actively looked for powwows around the bay area to attend. I enjoy the costumes, the drumming, the chanting, the dancing, and fry bread a.k.a. Indian taco.

Drum Circle

Stanford Powwow is one of the biggest powwows in the area. It always takes place during Mother's Day weekend starting from Friday evening and lasts until Sunday evening. It's free to attend and everyone is welcome. Most participants of the powwow camp on the campus during the weekend. A few traditional teepees can be seen although they are usually for display only.

I personally feel that as an American, I should be familiar with indigenous peoples' traditions and culture to an extend just like I should be familiar with Mexican culture as a California. I am fortunate that the Bay Area has many culture events all year round.

This year I brought Kelsey with me. There were many other dogs at the powwow and some greeted Kelsey. Kelsey was particularly interested in the parrot. You never know what you'd encounter at a powwow. There was a wolf conservation booth that brought 2 wolves with them to educate the public. I was particularly excited to see the wolves.

Sunday Streets San Francisco

Kelsey inside of Embarcadero BART Station

Daylight saving time started this morning, so we lost an hour.  I could be working in the garden, but the weather was nice so I decided to take another day trip instead. Today was also the first Sunday of San Francisco Sunday Streets 2013. According to its website, "Sunday Streets are events that encourage recreation, community activities and fun in San Francisco. Sunday Streets closes stretches of city streets to automobile traffic, and opens them to people for several hours on a various Sundays throughout the year, so participants can enjoy a large, temporary, public space where they can bike, walk, run, dance, do yoga, or do any other physical activity. Non-profit and health organizations offer free activities and share information about their services during the event."

Roller Skater girls on Embarcadero Ave.

I have heard of these events in past years but have never checked it out.  Since I woke up early this morning, I decided to put Kelsey's backpacks, a.k.a. service dog costume, on her again and take her for a BART ride.  After taking Kelsey on the ferry last October, I was sure Kelsey would do just fine on BART. Kelsey entered and exited BART gates with me, got on and off the escalators and elevators with little confusion.  I could see that she just watched my feet and followed.

Embarcadeo was quite nice without the usual weekend traffic. We took a long walk down the pier. Normally I would go shopping in the Ferry Building, but I didn't want to push my luck and drag Kelsey in there, too.

On Sunday, January 6, 2013, San Francisco began charging for Sunday parking. Ever since that took place, I have stopped driving to the city on Sundays. Some people have been upset with getting parking tickets on Sunday. I hope with Sunday Streets, people can just leave their cars at home for at least a day.

San Francisco Green Festival 2012

It has been more than 10 years since I attended last Green Festival. I wasn't planning on going when I saw the admission being more than $10. A few days ago, I got an email from Goldstar offering free admission to Green Festival. It was just my luck that I checked my email the minute I received the free offer, so I grabbed a weekend pass for $4.75 of "service charge." I have been a member of Goldstar for many years, and I receive discount and free offers around the Bay Area on a weekly basis. For free offers, they are limited quantities and Goldstar charges a "service fee." That was why I had to pay $4.75 for my free pass.

I was amazed at the huge turnout of participants. I don't remember this being such a huge event last time I attended it. People lined up outside all the way around the corner before 11 a.m.  Once inside, there were countless food samplings and product samples free for the taking. I got many dog food and treat samples including 4 packs of different dog food varieties from Spring Naturals.  I also got a pack of vegetarian dog food. I am curious to find out whether Kelsey will like that.

At 4 p.m., I sat down in front of Main Stage to listen to California's non-GMO leaders talking about "Beyond Proposition 37: What's Next for GMO Labeling."  Last Tuesday was election day, and to my surprise, proposition 37 didn't pass. I couldn't fathom how it didn't pass. Today I found out that heavy advertising campaign opposing 37 was on TV and radio just a couple weeks before the election day. Apparently, every commercial break during World Series was "No on Prop 37." I would have never known since I don't watch TV nor listen to the radio. It's just shocking to me that majority of Americans would rather not know what they are eating. On second thought, there are still plenty of people eating McDonald's hamburgers everyday, so I guess majority of Americans just want cheap food. 

Ford was one of the event sponsors, and many of their electric and hybrid cars were on site for test drive.  They were even giving away SustainU (100% recycled apparel made in the USA) T-shirts just for test driving the cars. I rode in Ford's 100% electric car and was quite impressed. I wonder whether electric pickup trucks will become available soon.

Around 5 p.m. I headed home with bags of samples. Perhaps next year I'll sign up as a volunteer for Green Festival.

Volunteering at Fallfest

The Ferry Building is just across the street

For second year in a row I volunteered for Meals for Wheels of San Francisco at one of its annual fundraising events, Fallfest. Over the years I have volunteered for countless non-profit organizations and for various social causes. If you love food, Fallfest has to be the best volunteer event in the area. It is "a celebration of the Bay Area’s best in food and wine. Leading restaurateurs, winemakers, mixologists, and epicurean artisans join together for an inspiring day of premier wine and food tasting, chef demonstrations, cocktail competitions, and panel discussions. It all takes place outdoors at Justin Herman Plaza, which is transformed for the day into a European-style marketplace, taking full advantage of the season’s gorgeous weather and the waterfront’s beautiful views."

My shift at the Silent Auction tent started at 2:30 until 5 p.m. I arrived at the event around 1p.m. to enjoy the food sampling as a guest. Not all volunteer organizers are as generous as Fallfest. I have volunteered for other culinary events that absolutely wouldn't allow volunteers to taste any food at the events even as the events were closing down.  In addition to tasting countless amazing samplers, I also won an one-hour docent led tour at the Marin Mammal Center by playing their Spinning the Wheel!

At the Silent Auction tent, I immediately recognized a few patrons from last year. Once again, they were generously bidding on various items that benefited Meals for Wheels. The auction ended at 3 p.m.  We quickly gathered all the auction items and lists to compile the list of bidding winners. We had 30 minutes to put all the winners' names on the charts for them to claim their items and pay. I was assigned to guard and pull out the winning gift certificates as the winners came forward. It was fun to interact with some of San Francisco's nicest people. I shall be back next fall!

Sunday in Golden Gate Park

Gold Gate Park Map

This morning I woke right before 8 am. I got up, packed up, and headed over to Golden Gate Park with Kelsey in the back seat. Do you know there is free parking in Golden Gate Park? It's limited to 4 hours during Monday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, it is unlimited, but you must get there early. I got to the park at 9 am, and there was plenty of parking. As I was parking, I could see one car after another pulling up and parked behind me. I was pretty sure by 9:30 it would be hard to find parking.

Banjo Stage of Bluegrass (photo taken 2011)

I can see why people love the city. Every weekend and every day there is so much going on. One can never and should never be bored in this area. Many of the weekend activities are free, and if you don't mind taking a little time to plan and pack your own food and drink, you don't need to spend any money at these events. This weekend was the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. It always runs for 3 days starting from Friday to Sunday. People come from all over the Bay Area to enjoy this free music festival.  It is also SF Fleet Week. I am not sure whether that's free, but I am sure if you know where to go, you can see the air show for free by looking up the sky.

The Golden Gate Park Band

Today there were 6 stages on one side of the park for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. On the other side, just across from De Young Museum, The Golden Gate Park Band was having their last free performance of the season. After I checked out several stages of Bluegrass Festival, I sat on one of the green benches in the shade to enjoy a different kind of music. Kelsey seemed to be pooped after hours of walking, loud music, and being surrounded by people.  She just laid down to take a nap.

Freestone Fermentation Festival

A week ago I attended Freestone Fermentation Festival. At the festival, I sampled different kinds of kimchi, cheeses, miso, pickles, sauerkraut, natto and kombucha. Kombucha was extremely popular at this year's festival because of its first People’s Kombucha Awards.

I put my hand in a cedar enzyme bath. It was the first time I heard such a spa treatment. It felt nice because it's warm, and I am sure it's relaxing to be buried in it. It's probably similar to being buried in hot sand on a beach, but I am not sure about other health benefits it offers.

Mycological Society of San Francisco had a booth at the event to promote the organization. Master Ken and many of his students from Merritt College were there tending the booth. Master Ken was also a speaker at the event. His "FermentoMondoRama: Get Down and Dirty with Fermentation" was a demonstration that involved heavy audience participation. Within minutes after he introduced himself and his assists, people have volunteered to go up to the front to make bread, sauerkraut, and mead with prickly pears. I just recently got a Toshiba Camileo H30 camcorder, so I was busy recording the event. Below is a short clip of Mater Ken explaining how to capture local yeast:

Scion Exchange

My friend, Joseph, sent me a note via Facebook asking me whether I would be going to Scion Exchange on Saturday. What? What is Scion Exchange? I Googled for it and found its website immediately - Scion Exchange is an event organized by The California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG). It is a non-profit organization headquartered at California State University, Fullerton, with chapters throughout the State of California (and elsewhere) and with members throughout the world. The members of the CRFG are professionals and amateurs all dedicated to the propagation of unusual fruits and vegetables, the acquisition and spread of knowledge about these plants and the enjoyment in doing so.

WHEN:       12 noon to 3:00 PM, Saturday, January 22, 2011
WHERE:     First Baptist Church, 4555 Hilltop Drive, El Sobrante, CA

EXCHANGE DETAILS: 
You can find the best varieties of fruit to grow!
•Hundreds of varieties of scions (fruit wood) to graft onto your own trees, including:  apples, pears, quince, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, and more. . . 
•Cuttings to root: grapes, figs, pomegranate, kiwi fruit, mulberries, and more. . . •Rootstocks and grafting supplies   
•Grafting class and demo 12:30 and 1:30      
•Custom and assisted grafting of your selected variety onto a rootstock 
•Local Fruit Friendly organizations      
•Raffle       
•Questions answered, secrets revealed. . . 
•$4 donation to enter

This sounded very interesting, and Hilltop is pretty close to El Cerrito. I arrived at the event around 12:30, and the parking lot and surrounding streets were filled with cars. People were flocking to the exchange!

Grafting onto a rootstock

In the courtyard, there was a fruit vendor selling various citrus fruits and yam. They all looked home grown. I tried a couple pieces of oranges, and they were quite good. Next to the entrance of the event, a crowd gathered to have their twigs grafted onto a rootstock. I turned around, and there was my friend, Bethallyn, from Master Ken's class last year! She has an urban farm complete with chickens in Walnut Creek that I must go visit sometime. I need to schedule a time with her to go over there.

 

When I entered the room where the exchange was held, I was amazed by how enthusiastic people were over all the twigs! I have never seen anything like it. I know they are not just twigs. They are twigs with the potential to turn into trees and grow awesome sweet fruits for years and years to come and possibly graft onto other trees and continue to grow for eternity. This is what fascinates me about plants - their ability to keep on regenerating, something animals are not very good at.

 

There was a display of "exotic fruits." I recognized many of them being tropical fruits, since I am originally from the sub-tropics. What really caught my eyes was the passion fruit. I had some fresh passion fruit at my friend's homestead farm in Oakland. They were good but small in compare to what I remember as a kid in the tropics. The one on display in the photo above is the "normal" size that I remember. Can you find it?

There were many volunteers talking to people on how to graft. Master Ken was there, too! Many of Master Ken's students were there picking twigs as well.

Master Ken has covered the topic of how to graft in his classes, but I have never actually done it. Now I have the perfect opportunity to do it. I picked some apple, peach, cherry, plum, and mulberry twigs to take home. I don't have a plum tree, so I am going to try grafting the plum twigs onto my peach tree. I have a non-producing cherry tree. By grafting the scions, it might grow cherries in the future. One of the volunteers convinced me to take some Morus alba mulberry scions because they are very easy to root according to her.

I took some of Eileen's scions because the photos and description she included caught my eyes. Her tree is in El Cerrito practically just down the street from Sand Village Farm. I don't know if I'll be successful in preserving her beloved plum tree on my peach tree, but I have her number and I'd like to help her eat some of those 5000 plums!

Eileen's quest to save her plum tree

Kitchen Table Talks: Magnificent Mushrooms

Master Ken and David Law of Gourmet Mushrooms

On Tuesday morning, I got an email about a mushroom discussion panel hosted by Kitchen Table Talks at 7 p.m. in the Mission District of San Francisco. Master Ken and 3 other mushroom experts would be giving an overview of the science, history and lore, dispel myths, and offer hands-on practical information.

I immediately tried to RSVP to the event but it had already been fully booked, so I emailed Master Ken to let him know that I could record the talk for him. I was determined to get in the event and tell them that I was Master Ken's videographer if I had to.

I arrived at the door about 10 minutes before 7, and my name was actually on the guest list. Yes! I quickly went into the venue and occupied the last empty chair in the front row. The event was held in the basement of Viracocha. The lighting in there was very dim - great for clubbing and concert or Kitchen Table Talks but not for clear video recording or show off any details of the mushrooms.

In addition to Master Ken, Co-founder of Gourmet Mushrooms, David Law, Co-owner of Far West Fungi, Toby Garrone, and Executive Chef of Millennium Restaurant, Eric Tucker, were on the discussion panel. All of them have extensive knowledge in mushroom cultivation and preparation.

The 2-hour talk covered a wide range of topics about mushrooms. One of the highlights was the trivia question for the prize of an assorted mushroom basket. Master Ken picked out a wild mushroom from one of his boxes and asked whether anyone could identify it. The only child in the room, who also sat in the front row, went up to the front to take a closer look and correctly identified it. He is 8 years old! Everyone was surprised and amazed. You can see that portion in Part 6 at 5:10 of the YouTube video. He made me wish that I had a child so I could expose him to the wonder of fungi kingdom. That thought lasted for about 3 seconds then I snapped out of it.

For the last 3 days, I worked on the video clips feverishly. I don't work with video clips very often, and I discovered one misspelled word in each of my first 2 finished full length videos after they were all compressed and burned to CDs. I had to redo the process several times and kept proof reading the opening and ending credits to make sure that I didn't skip or misspell any word. I didn't cut any footage off since Master Ken asked me to record everything if possible.

Now I officially have a YouTube Channel. You can watch and/or listen to the entire talk at Magnificent Mushrooms playlist. The video quality isn't all that great but the audio is quite clear since I got the front row seating.

41st Annual Fungus Fair at Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley

This weekend was the 41st Annual Fungus Fair at Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley. This is the largest annual public event of Mycological Society of San Francisco. Initially I signed up to do set up on Friday evening; unfortunately, my bronchitis had worsened after the Hearst Castle Road trip. I ended up arriving the fair at 3 PM today. Although it was 2 hours away from closing, people were still coming in. It's becoming more and more exciting each year at the fair as I got to know more people from the society and urban farming community.

Lisa has spent the entire weekend at her kombucha table in the cultivation area of the fair. People of all ages were fascinated by kombucha and her drinks. She has sold out all of her bottled kombucha at the fair!  The younger girl in the photo above was so excited about the Mother in jar. She called out her sister to check it out with her. They were so adorable as Lisa explained to them what kombucha mother is.

David (left) chats with Master Ken

David, the lab instructor for Master Ken's classes, is an artist of painting and felting. I watched him working with his felting needles for the first time. He makes some adorable fuzzy woolly figurines including, of course, little mushrooms. I asked whether I would be able to use Dusty's hair for felting. He thought that was a good idea, and I should collect some Dusty's "wool". Dusty sheds every year, and his fuzzy super soft hair balls roll all over the sun room. I always feel bad that I couldn't put it into some kind of use.

Far West Fungi was at the fair as always, and Kyle Garrone was in charge of the their table this year explaining to people about different mushrooms and their mushroom kits available for sale. There is an excellent article in this month's issue of California Country magazine about Far West Fungi, including a video showing how their mushrooms are cultivated indoors.

There are different types of mushroom growing kits for different types of mushrooms. West fungi sells kits of mushrooms that grow on trees such as oyster and shiitake. Another vendor was selling mushrooms that grow in compost/dirt, such as button mushrooms and portobello. I have purchased both types many years ago when I first visited fungus fair which initiated my interest in learning more about mushroom cultivation.

Master Ken answering mushroom questions at the display table

Every year on the Friday before the fungus fair, many MSSF members go out to collect wild mushrooms in various locations for Fungus Fair display. All the collected mushrooms are labeled and put to display on tables with mushroom experts standing by to answer questions. Fair goers can also bring in their own wild mushrooms to have them identified. In a separate display, the wild mushrooms are arranged to mimic what they would looks like in their natural setting with pine tree or oak logs.

Around 4 P.M., the rain started to pour down. It looked like a heavy rain storm, and that's great for my mushroom blocks on Sand Village Farm. All the volunteers and vendors started to pack up lecture materials, displays, and merchandise. The Fair received some media coverage and raised some money for the Society to have more future events. If you didn't make it to the Fair this year, hopefully we will see you there next year.

Thanksgiving Festival at California Culinary Academy

After roaming in the woods for 3 days with little sleep and hyperactivity, I came down with bronchitis. For the last 3 days, I drowned myself in organic tomato soup, pork ramen soup, and hot lemon honey tea. I also slept whenever I could with the help of Benadryl. Last night when I woke up from another nap and saw the invitation to attend Thanksgiving Festival at California Culinary Academy, I figured I was ready to go out again. I once considered enrolling in California Culinary Academy for its one year pâtisserie and baking program. I attended one of their open houses a few years ago when they were located off Civic Center BART station. Before heading out this morning, I thought that I'd double check the direction from the BART Station. I was surprised to find that the Academy has moved! It is now located at 350 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco. I decided to drive there since it is not exactly close to a BART station. It turned out that there is plenty of free all day street parking on Saturday and Sunday.

The event started out with a tour. The new facility is very modernized compare to the previous location, which was in a historical building in downtown area. After the tour, we got seated in a room for a Thanksgiving dinner cooking demonstration. As we entered the room, I got a cup of hot lemon apple cider which was perfect for my recovery from bronchitis. I wanted the recipe for that more than anything else. Chef Steve Moore demonstrated a main dish and two side dishes - Turkey Roulade with Sausage & Apple Stuffing, Sweet Potato Gratin, and Fresh Cranberry and Orange Relish.

I am not particularly into turkey, so I was more interested in the way that sweet potato gratin was made. This particular recipe uses curry powder, sour cream, and shredded extra-sharp white cheddar. I was curious what it would taste like compare to the traditional super sweet gooey Thanksgiving sweet potatoes with marshmallows. At the end of demonstration, we all got a small sample plate. You know that I ate everything. I was starving for some solid food after 3 days of soup. The sweet potato gratin worked for me. The curry powder and ground cumin gave it an Indian flair. The white cheddar gave it a semi-savory taste. It was a good balance of both sweet and savory. This is a dish that I will make because the sweet potato is ranked number one in nutrition of all vegetables by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and the recipe is not as labor intensive as the turkey dish.

Sweet Potato Gratin

Ingredients:

4 pounds of red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 3 1/4 pounds)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream, divided
3 cups shredded extra-sharp white cheddar (about 12 oz.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook sweet potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 20 minutes (do not overcook). Drain well and cool. Peel sweet potatoes; cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

2. Mix curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in small bowl to blend. Completely line bottom of 9-inch-diameter spring form pan with sweet potato slices, filling in any spaces with cut-up sweet potato slices. Press down slightly. Spread 1/2 cup sour cream over sweet potatoes. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon spice mixture over sour cream. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat twice with remaining sweet potatoes, sour cream, spice mixture, and cheese. Place pan on rimmed baking sheet; bake until cheese is melted and sweet potatoes are heated through. about 40 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill. If desired, reheat in 400 degrees F. oven until hot. about 15 minutes.

3. Remove pan sides from gratin; cut into wedges. Serve gratin warm or at room temperature.