I just returned from a trip to New Mexico to visit my brother and his family. My sister Mary met me in Santa Fe and we had a fun time touring the painter Georgia O'Keeffe's home in Abiquiu. Later we visited the fascinating Puye Cliff Dwellings that are part of the Santa Clara Pueblo and the Museum of International Folk Art. We ate and liked the Plaza Café, a diner with their way too big breakfasts and dinner at  Café Pasquals both in Santa Fe.

 

My brother lives literally "off the grid." To get to his house it's a 45-minute drive outside tiny Magdalena, part of it on a pothole dirt road that turns into a steep 4WD driveway. His straw bale house sits at 8,500 feet overlooking miles of beautiful high desert and majestic mountain ranges as far as you can see. It was a grand family gathering.

 

Mustards and Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (CBK) received fine "shout-outs" last month. On Vogue.com Sophia Coppola included CBK as one of her favorite spots to eat in the Napa Valley. "We are usually pretty lazy and stay home, but when we do go out I like to go to Cindy's."

 

In the Summer issue of VIA, the AAA magazine Mustards was featured under restaurants that grow your dinner. "...where owner Cindy Pawlcyn encourages guests to stroll its acre of organic gardens. Pair a hearty-entrée of chicken with fresh vegetables in lemon-garlic vinaigrette with a chardonnay from the substantial wine list."

 

This month CBK celebrates the whole pig and the many ways it can be prepared. Jim will be serving BBQ from the southeast region including representations from the Carolina's and Nashville. Oooeee!

 

There are many fine cookbooks on pork. A favorite is by John Barlow, "Everything But the Squeal" about eating the whole hog in Northern Spain. I love the title. Another good summer read on the history of pigs and their uses is "The Whole Hog" by Lyall Watson.

 

Holy Smokes and July Pies is the theme this month at Mustards Pour-Off Pair-Off Friday's. Pies are my favorite summer dessert and we'll be serving dishes with smoked ingredients along with either a blueberry almond cobbler, coconut cream, ginger-peach or key lime pie. Come on in.

 

Last month Jim and I were pleased to do a food demonstration at the St. Helena Farmers' Market. We taught the gathering how to make a stone fruit galette. For those of you not present, it is the July recipe. With stone fruit at its peak, try this recipe that showcases the taste of summer.