A new cookbook for kids that's about real food

I've always been put off by children's cookbooks that are filled with so-called recipes for sweet and sillly foods (like peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipes-who needs that?). Kids need real info on real food, just as adults do. So when I saw You've Got Recipes by my friends Jerry Anne Di Vecchio & Francoise Dudal Kirkman, I knew I'd found the ideal cookbook for my two little great nieces, Robyn and Iris.

You see, Jerry & Francoise know a thing or two about food. Jerry was the Food Editor of Sunset Magazine (she wrote for the magazine for some 40 years). Francoise, a Paris-trained artist, was a designer at Sunset Magazine and a fabulous cook herself. Together, they've produced a delightfully illustrated 94-page story book that weaves a tale of a San Francisco-based raccoon in email contact with a Paris-based mouse, who each share stories and recipes. It's a fun format that mixes in solid cooking tips and how-to for young 'foodies' with easy recipes. The book lets the kids be entertained by a sweet story while they learn how to wield a potato masher.

What I like best, though, is that the recipes are for tasty foods the whole family will enjoy, from cheese puffs and zucchini soup to lamb stew. More importantly, the youngsters can pick up good eating habits as they master some solid recipes that will come in handy their whole life long. That's a heck of an accomplishment for a kid's cookbook.

Details: Available from the authors at http://youvegotrecipes.blogspot.com for $34.60 (includes CA tax and shipping) or at Amazon.com or Trafford Publishing . Coming soon: Notecards featuring the cute characters featured in the book; see the author's blog.

Thanks for your help, readers!

This is a pre-Thanksgiving note of thanks, to you. Longtime readers of my blog might recall that I had posted a story a little while back about a site that was using my blog stories (all of them) without my permission, a site called My Stay in LA. I grouched about it and got some very helpful tips from many of you in the form of comments.

Well, I'm happy to report that I was able to contact the originator of the blog (thank you, Fred Sandsmark, for tracking down that email). I sent him a polite note and he responded quickly, saying that all my posts would be taken off his site this afternoon. My hat is off to him, and (more importantly) to all of you who sent me helpful suggestions.

In fact, you were so helpful, perhaps I should also ask you what to do about my sore knee...oh, never mind. Anyway, thanks!

Near Santa Barbara, California's new wine country

I know why it's called Happy Canyon. It's because this little corner of Santa Barbara wine country, in the east end of the Santa Ynez Valley, has just become California's newest AVA (American Viticultural Area). On the Los Padres side of Highway 154, this broad, sunny cleft is home to horse ranches and hillside vineyards.

To become an AVA, a wine region has to be significantly different from other winegrape growing areas, and Happy Canyon qualifies: hotter temps, less fog, and a mineral terroir (serpentine soil lace with high magnesium content) make it distinctive. It's also pretty small, with just six major vineyards and two active wineries (a third is due next year), but note: none offer public tasting.

Still, you can make your own tasting tour of their wines (mostly Bordeaux-styles), by visiting winetasting rooms like those listed below. Or visit the better known area Santa Barbara wine regions. And don't miss Santa Barbara's downtown Urban Wine Trail, with stops at eleven wine hotspots. Happy now?

Details: Taste Happy Canyon wines in Santa Barbara at the soon-to-open The Alliance tasting room at the Wine Cask Wine Shop and the Star Lane/Dierberg tasting room in rural Lompoc. Happy Canyon labels to look for: 3CV Wines, Barrack, Chukker, Cimarone, Edge, Piocho, Star Lane and Vogelzang. Want to make a weekend wine touring in the area? Check out the lodging deals, dining, and shopping info at the Santa Barbara Visitors Bureau website.

Fremont hike 'n dine

Lake Elizabeth beckons. The placid, 83-acre lake in Fremont's Central Park has 4 playground areas, a lagoon nature area, basketball courts, ballfields, picnic tables and a wide, paved path running along its edge. In summer, the boathouse is busy with rentals and lessons as is the new waterslide park. But on any day, in any season, the path is the big draw: you'll find moms pushing strollers, joggers, cyclists, and power walkers puffing along the walkway.

My pals and I pick a sunny fall day and hit the trail (we carpool, making it a really 'green' day). This morning, the wind is gentle, and puffy clouds dot the sky. Along the 2-mile-long waterside path, we pass beneath giant pepper trees heavy with red berries. The birdwatching isn't bad, either: we spot ruddy ducks, Western grebes, mallards, egrets, and great blue herons.

The walk is not terribly strenuous, but just enough to work up an appetite, so we head for the heart of Fremont's "Little Kabul", to lunch at one of the better known Afghan cafes: Salang Pass Restaurant . It is outstanding. I have the chopan kabab (lamb skewer) and it is tasty and plentiful. Linda has the wonderful Quabili Pallow-a baked brown basmati rice dish with lamb shank, aromatic with spices, raisins and carrots. Francoise and Sara order the Aushuk and Mantoo, each a kind of Afghani ravioli filled with variously lamb or leeks. For dessert, we get four spoons and dive into a Firni, an Afghani pudding with hints of rosewater, cardamom, almonds and pistachios.
My overall review: Yummy and very affordable. I'd go back in a minute. One caveat: it's a little hard to find, but parking is plentiful (in the back).

Details: Salang Pass Restaurant (510/ 795-9200; 37462 Fremont Blvd.). Fremont's Central Park is at 40000 Paseo Padre Pkwy., Fremont, CA; 510/ 790-5541.

Sumo seals at Ano Nuevo State Park

Brace yourself: the big guys are about to return to Ano Nuevo State Park. The sumo wrestlers of the pinniped world, elephant seal males weigh up to 5,000 pounds and during mating season, they really know how to put on a show. Except when they don't feel like it. When they ARE feeling, er, in the mood for love, they do what some tacky guys do. They throw their weight around, do chest bumps with each other, and get into nasty, biting, snorting, snot-slinging fights. That's their idea of fun.

The much smaller elephant seals girls just lie there, eyes closed (thinking of England, perhaps), and hoping not to get squished on their romantic 'date'.

When the elephant seals don't feel like 'it', they just lie on the beach like large, brown turds (hey, you get downwind of them after they've been lying there for a while and see what springs to mind). So after you've signed up weeks in advance, paid your money, and hiked out a couple miles over the dunes to witness wildlife in action, you pretty much hope you see some action.

And, bulls being bulls, you stand a good chance of seeing a lot. But you know what? Even if you don't see a fight, you'll witness one of wildlife's most amazing spectacles. You'll see thousands of animals in a beautiful coastal setting, birthing pups, lunbering along inch-worm style, and living out their lives. Plus you get a nice, informative walk out of it. The guided 3-mile walks (moderately strenuous) go over rolling sand dunes and sloping terrain and last about 2 ½ hours and are held rain or shine. Don't miss one of California's true miracles: it only happens one season a year.

Details: During the winter breeding season – December 15 through March 31 –you can only access the breeding area while on a guided walk (hey, it's for everyone’s protection). On October 20, individuals, families, and other groups can start making their reservations for the Public Seal Walk, for any dates up to 56 days in advance and as late as one day prior to their walk. Cost: $7; Children 3 and under free. Parking $10. Details: 650/ 879-2025 or 650/ 879-0227. To BOOK, click here or call ReserveAmerica 800/ 444-4445.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of California State Parks, 2009