1 cup rice vinegar

¼ cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 ½ teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of cayenne pepper

6 tomatoes (1 ½ pounds), each cut into six wedges

4 scallions, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced

2 jalapenos, thinly sliced into rings and seeded

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the vinegar, brown sugar and salt to a boil, stirring.  Remove from the heat.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the oil.  Add the garlic, grated ginger, mustard seeds, black pepper, turmeric, ground cumin and cayenne pepper and cook over low hat until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Carefully pour the hot oil into the vinegar mixture.
3. In a large heatproof bowl, combine the tomatoes, scallions and jalapenos.  Stir in the hot pickling liquid and let stand at room temperature for 4 hours or refrigerate for 8 hours, then serve.

Notes:

1. You may want to drain some (but not all) of the liquid from the salad after the pickling is complete.
2. The pickled tomatoes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Enjoy! – John and Myrna

Doug Rogers - Cameron Hughes Wine

The Wine Tasting Club held their monthly wine tasting event at the home of Sharyn and Larry Rossi Saturday night and had a great turnout.  The event was sponsored by Cameron Hughes Wine and Doug Rogers who graciously provided the wines and did a short presentation about their unique business model.  Their focus is buying at the high-end, small available ‘Lots’ of super premium wine, and because not all wine at the high-end is bottled, they rescue those ‘Lots’ do some stylistic blending and get it to you at a great price.  You can check out their great wines and great prices at www.chwine.com .  The evening proved to be another great social event with everyone bringing food.  The highlight was Sharyn’s mashed potatoes served in wine glasses with various toppings that people could select to doctor them up the way they like.  Speaking of doctoring, Dale’s husband Bob, in the spirit of Halloween, came dressed as a doctor with a pair of forceps embedded in his head.  The real scary thing was that he came equipped with rubber gloves.  In addition to the regular crowd we had some new members join us.  Bernard and Sylvia Gibbons who live in the Twin Creeks area in San Ramon.  They are originally from England where they had a little pub for a while and worked with a recruiting company.  They have been in the U.S. now for eighteen years off and on.  We all talked real estate for much of the evening but we were able to discover that Sylvia is an artist who used to sell her paintings at a gallery in Carmel.  The evening concluded with a pumpkin cheesecake dessert provided by Sharyn and a sparkling wine also provided by Cameron Hughes Wine.

Love in the Time of Cholera

The following content was provided by the publisher.

From the Nobel Prize-winning author of One Hundred Years of Solitude comes a masterly evocation of an unrequited passion so strong that it binds three people’s lives together for more than fifty years. In the story of Florentino Ariza, who waits more than half a century to declare his undying love to the beautiful Fermina Daza, whom he lost to Dr. Juvenal Urbino so many years before, Garcia Marquez has created a vividly absorbing fictional world, as lush and dazzling as a dream and as real and immediate as our own deepest longings. Now available for the first time in the Contemporary Classics series.

Yesterday, Aug 29th 2008, 10 hikers braved the warm weather to hike out from Inspiration Point and along Nimitz Way Trail. Hikers were  Barbara C., Trang I., Fran Mc., Shirley A., Marty R., Cindy W.,  Jane B., Emmie L, and Sharon K. 

The skies were sunny and the intermittent shade welcome as we hiked along the trail. We hiked for over 4 miles (off the map so I couldn’t calculate exactly how far we went). We saw wise cows under a tree resting in the shade of a large oak tree, a couple of bunnies scurrying off into the underbrush,  and a few flowers including asters, thistles, and fennel.  We had views of Brionne Reservoir below to our right along with Mt. Diablo and Mt. Tam, and the Golden Gate Bridge provided a backdrop for our group photo. We hiked for a total of 2 hours. .

Our condolences go out to member Cindy Watkins whose grandmother passed away a little over a week ago. Cindy has been in Danville caring for her over the past two years and will be leaving us at the end of Sept to return home in Bosie.  

Happy Trails, Sharon Kovar

HALLOWEEN PARTY ( In the spirit of the evening we will all be in costumes) All are invited - Husbands and Significant others
 
Date:  Friday, October 24th
 
Save this date as it is going to be a fantastic for all.  We are sure to see goblins and ghosts, etc during the evening. More information will be in the October newsletter. If you have a specific game your fond of, let me know as we as we want to get everyone involved in the fun.  Any questions, Please contact Anita Haber at 648-4466.

WEAR A HALLOWEEN COSTUME AND BE ELIGIBLE FOR A PRIZE.

They posed by the edge of the road for a photo before we continued on to the start of our hike. There was still water running under the bridge, making the bridge crossing,  not the creek crossing, the choice. Often by this time of year the creek is low enough to hop over rocks so we concluded that they must be releasing some water.  

Much of the creek was dry though. We spotted a few wild flowers, including the California fuchsia and milkweed. We hiked at a good pace and made it to the gate to the Ohlone Wilderness before turning around in a little less than an hour.

I tried to figure out how far we hiked but the map was confusing but I would say we hiked about 4+ miles in the two hours. The t terrain was a gentle rolling road.

Afterwards we had lunch at Bagel Street Cafe.

See the Slide Show

Boy, were we happy that we had the VIP tour because the lines were really long.  The tour lasted around 45 minutes and it was really informative.  Most of us never realized all the different candies that were manufactured there. 

The tour consists of a “cat walk” around the manufacturing facility with a tour guide and also video presentations throughout the tour.  At each step of the way, the guide informed us of what was going on below us.  From making the candy to packing and distribution, it was all really interesting.

After the tour, we had a little time to shop around the gift shop and of course to buy candy.  We left the factory around 1:00 and headed for a much needed lunch at Captain Blyther’s in Benicia.  We had a very nice leisurely lunch and then home we went. 

Thanks to everyone who participated and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. –  Bernice Pelicas

RSVP: Sally @ 735-0357 (by Sep 29)

Our book will be Ireland by Frank Delaney

This book is fiction, but it includes much of the history of Ireland told in an entertaining way.

We welcome new members so think about attending one of our meetings.

If you have any questions (except to RSVP), please call the Chairperson, Suzanne Ziarnik or email

Oct. - The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

Nov. - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez