By Kathryn Reed

How many times has mom made breakfast for you? Maybe she is still doing it. Sunday is Mother’s Day – breakfast in bed or even in the kitchen would be a nice way to start the day for her.

The egg dish below was inspired by the cookbook “Best of the Best from Arizona.” I followed the directions in the book and didn’t like the end result so I refined it, made it again and came up with something worth sharing.

Sometimes I wonder how recipes get published. Do the editors try them? I have given the cookbook away, so if you picked it up at the recent El Dorado County library book sale, be warned that I wasn’t completely impressed with the cookbook.

The original recipe calls for corn tortillas. I thought they overpowered the other flavors. I’m also partial to flour and use those in everything – so it could be my taste buds.

I like salsa with many egg dishes. This one originally didn’t call for it, but I would put it as a condiment on the table to let mom or whomever else decide for themselves.

Any cheese could be used.

Definitely grease the pan; I forgot one time. Set the timer for 45 minutes and stick a fork in it to see if any egg comes off. Cook longer at five-minute segments until the egg doesn’t stick to the fork.

To make a full meal, include some fruit on the side – not a whole apple or banana – more like a fruit salad. For meat eaters out there, diced ham, crumbled sausage or small pieces of bacon could easily be added to the egg dish.

Southwestern Egg Bake

8 corn tortillas or 4 medium size flour tortillas

¾ pound grated Co-Jack cheese or combination of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses

8 ounces diced green chiles (a can is just fine)

Sliced black olives

8 eggs

1 cup milk

¾ teaspoon chili powder

¾ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

Crushed corn chips

Sour cream, cilantro, salsa (optional)

Break tortillas into greased 9 x 13 pan. Mix together grated cheese, chiles, olives, eggs, milk and seasonings. Poor over tortillas and top with crushed corn chips. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Top with sour cream and cilantro, if desired. Makes 8-10 servings.

By Kathryn Reed

Even though California cuisine has a definitive flavor, the broader definition in my mind incorporates the various ethnicities that make up this state. Not necessarily at the same time, though.

Asian, Italian and Mexican food – they are California cuisine in my mind.

With Cinco de Mayo more of a U.S. celebration than one in Mexico, I thought a recipe for today would be appropriate.

It’s the authentic stuff I’m talking about – not something you get at Taco Bell.

A couple years ago I took the Mexican food class taught by Steve Fernald at Lake Tahoe Community College. Some of the items are rather time consuming – like mole, the national sauce of Mexico. I have no intention of ever making it again, but that’s the fun thing about taking any class – learning and doing things outside your ordinary life.

The variety of ingredients and complexity of some dishes was great to learn.

As with all the food classes I’ve taken at LTCC, I left full and had lunch for the next day.

The following is a salad one group in the class made. It was one of my favorite dishes during the four-week class.

The nopaoles can be found at local Mexican markets. Cooked green beans (chayote) can be substituted for the nopaoles.

Ensalada de Nopalitos (Salad of Cactus Pieces)

3 C cooked nopaoles, cut into squares

3 T finely chopped white onion

½ C loosely packed, finely chopped cilantro

½ tsp dried oregano, Mexican if possible

2 T fresh lime juice or vinegar

The topping

3 small tomatoes, unskinned, sliced

1/3 C finely chopped cilantro

1/3 C crumbled queso fresco or anejo

1/3 C purple onion rings

3 canned chiles jalapenos en escabeche, cut into quarters lengthwise

1 avocado, peeled and sliced (optional)

inner leaves of romaine lettuce for the sides of the service platter

Mix the nopalitos with the next four ingredients and set aside to season for 30 minutes. Stir well and adjust seasoning. Spread the nopalitos over platter about 1½ inches deep. Decorate with the tomato slices and top with cilantro, cheese, onion rings, chile strips, and slices of avocado. Overlap the romaine leave around the edge of the platter and serve at room temperature.

By Jordan MacKay, New York Times

Guests who are lucky enough to claim any of the 47 seats at Frances, Melissa Perello’s hot new restaurant in the Castro, are offered not only the wine list but also the choice of house wine, red or white.

The house wine is presented in a tall glass carafe, more vase than pitcher. The instruction from the waiter is simple: “Pour your own, and we charge you at the end only for what you drink, a buck an ounce.”

Though novel, the serve-yourself strategy has been used elsewhere. What’s compelling at Frances is the beverage director Paul Einbund’s spin on house wine — he himself blends the wines, which are brought in bulk straight from the winery to the restaurant in kegs and served on tap.

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Although the inaugural Lake Tahoe Restaurant week is more than four months away, restaurants are climbing on board to be part of the Sept. 5-12 event.

The event, which encompass the entire basin and Truckee, has launched its website to keep people informed.

On the website, food aficionados will find a list of participating restaurants, including a click-through to the dining establishment’s site, along with their physical location and contact information for reservations. Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week menus will be posted July 1, as participating chefs are developing entrees that take advantage of the best ingredients from the summer harvest.

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the event on the site. A special blog was created to profile the Lake Tahoe chefs behind the food and their philosophy in delivering the best in mountain cuisine.

For more information about the event, click here.

Taste of Tahoe is a little like the 12 weeks of eating your way through the South Shore.

Taste of Tahoe features one restaurant each week for the weeks leading up to South Lake Tahoe Relay for Life on Aug. 7. The focus is to raise money for the fight against cancer while having great food, drinks, entertainment and fun with friends, family, co‐workers and neighbors at local restaurants. Each restaurant sponsor is making a donation to the American Cancer Society for the week it’s featured.

Edgewood Brooks Bar in Stateline is hosting the initial week — May 9-15. Ten percent of sales during the week go to South Lake Tahoe Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society.

Nearly 30 local businesses are also sponsoring Taste of Tahoe to strengthen the community’s contribution to Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. Additional details and a schedule of restaurants can be found online.

The South Shore Relay for Life is Aug. 7‐8 at Kahle Park in Stateline.

Taste of Tahoe Restaurants

 Blue Angel Cafe

 Bistro Danielle

 Brooks Bar & Deck at Edgewood Tahoe

 Cilantro Mexican Cantina

 Chevys Fresh Mex

 Fox and Hound

 Mott Canyon

 Murphys Irish Pub and Rockwater Restaurant

 Sushi Pier

 Harrah’s Lake Tahoe

 Harveys Lake Tahoe

 Thai One On

In its ongoing endeavor to provide good juju and great java, Truckee’s Elijah Bleu’s House of Coffee and Good Eats recently joined the Green Café Network, a movement that promotes environmental and social responsibility.

According to café owner, John Evans, the nonprofit organization’s mission aligns perfectly with that of Elijah Bleu’s.

John and Dawn Evans

“For instance, we serve Blue Bottle coffee exclusively,” notes Evans. “San Francisco ’s Blue Bottle Coffee is made using only the finest organic, pesticide-free, shade-grown beans.”

The Southern influenced café also offers fresh, healthy food made from quality local and organic ingredients whenever possible.

“We’re committed to serving food that is for locals, by locals, from our purveyors and distributors down to our farmers and coffee growers,” explains Evans, who owns the café with his wife, Dawn.

The Green Café Network is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to greening the coffeehouse industry and harnessing café culture for community and individual environmental education.

Launched in the Bay Area, the Green Café Network takes a two-tiered approach. First, the organization works with independently owned coffeehouses to actively reduce their ecological impacts and become certified green businesses. Secondly, the group assists in educating the coffeehouse staff and community members to implement environmental responsibility to their personal lives. Currently, there are 17 member cafes in the Bay Area.

Elijah Bleu’s is located at 10115 Donner Pass Road in Truckee in the historic Loading Dock building. The colorful café is open for breakfast and lunch and features a full selection of handcrafted coffee and espresso drinks.

For more information, click here; email info@elijahbleus.com or call (530) 582.1040.

For more information about the Green Café Network, click here.

By Kathryn Reed

Birthdays mean eating what you want and either having someone else make it or take you out for it. At least that’s how I was brought up. And it’s a tradition that I have carried on into my adult life.

Every April I’m pretty sure I know what Sue will want for her birthday. Every now and then she surprises me, but usually it is manicotti that she requests.

I must admit it wasn’t until we were onto leftovers that I asked her what it is about manicotti that she likes.

“I like the flimsy soft noodles and gooey warm cheese,” Sue said.

Plus, her favorite food group is Italian.

I like that it’s something different than regular spaghetti or a lasagna. And when you are the cook, you can tell the recipient a lot of work went into making it. That’s the other thing I like about this particular recipe – it’s not hard to make. The most time consuming component is stuffing the manicotti shells.

It tends to be one of those recipes that tastes better when the outside temperature is cold – so it works about nine months of the year in Lake Tahoe.

The recipe I use is from “Shared Secrets” that was put out by the Butte-Glenn Medical Society Auxiliary. My sister, Jann, used to be a member. Betty Wang submitted the manicotti recipe for the cookbook, which was a fundraiser for the auxiliary.

One thing I like to do to make this and so many recipes come together faster is let someone else do a bit of the legwork. I don’t have a problem buying grated cheese, or sliced mushrooms or chopped olives. It saves me time.

The recipe, I just realized as I’m typing it, calls for canned mushrooms. I’ve never used canned mushrooms for anything. I throw fresh sliced ones on top.

I think with how cheesy this is, it is better to serve the Parmesan on the side.

Manicotti

1 (10 oz.) pkg. chopped frozen spinach, thawed

½ lb. Ricotta cheese

1½ C grated Monterey Jack cheese

1½ tsp Italian seasonings

1/8 tsp nutmeg

½ C chopped olives

16 manicotti shells

3½ C mushroom spaghetti sauce

1 (4 oz.) can slice mushrooms

½ C grated Parmesan cheese

Squeeze spinach until dry. Combine spinach, Ricotta and Jack cheeses, Italian seasoning, nutmeg and olives. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water for 10-12 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Stuff each shell with cheese mixture until full – don’t worry if shell splits, just put the open seam on the bottom of the pan. Pour half of the spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Place the filled pasta shells in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the shells. Garnish with mushroom slices.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until sauce bubbles.

Sprinkle on Parmesan.

Throughout April, Parducci Wine Cellars will donate $1 from the sale of each bottle of Parducci wine to American Forests tree planting project.

PWC is committed to a minimum planting of 5,000 trees in selected national forests devastated by wildland fires. The winery’s customers will decide where the trees are planted.

By logging on to the PWC website, consumers may vote for their favorite reforestation initiative. Accordingly, donations will be awarded to the following American Forests tree planting projects:

* San Bernardino National Forest, California

* Lake Tahoe Basin, California

* Burn Canyon Fire Restoration, Colorado (Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison)

* Hal Scott Longleaf Pine Planting, Florida

* Cache River Wetland Reforestation, Illinois

* The Glades Red Spruce Forestation, Maryland

Parducci Wine Cellars twice (2007, 2009) received the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, California’s highest environmental honor. The company, owned by Tom and Tim Thornhill and Paul Dolan, operates with high standards and broad eco-practices: carbon neutrality, use of 100 percent green power, certified sustainable farming practices, support of local family farms and the Mendocino community, water reduction, reuse and recycling programs and earth-friendly packaging.

By Kathryn Reed

PLACERVILLE — It’s not exactly like the bar Cheers where everyone knows your name, but it’s close because more people are apt to know you by the time you leave.

Passport Weekend in El Dorado County is like one big party – except it’s at 26 locations.

Some might say visiting 26 wineries in two days isn’t possible. Cara Alfonso of Sacramento hit all the wineries last year during Passport Weekend. By Sunday afternoon she was at 13 while she sipped some red at Boeger Winery. She and her friends were at No. 4 on Sunday, having hit nine on Saturday. The little one she was carrying in front of her might have been slowing her down.

With all those barrels, Boeger isn't about to run out of wine to taste. Photos/Kathryn Reed

“It’s a fun community event,” Alfonso said. This was her fourth Passport. “You meet people from all over.”

She brought along Marilyn Hovland of Fresno as a newbie to the event. The food pairings are what stood out for Hovland. It wasn’t just food to eat, but learning what foods go well with particular wines.

At Boeger Winery there was not a consensus by the crowd as to what would taste best with the mac-n-cheese provided by chef Beth Sogaard. The line for the decadent comfort food on this blustery Sunday was almost as long as the line for wine upstairs among all the barrels.

It was Auriga Wine Cellar’s beef stew that had Sue Wood of South Lake Tahoe admitting she found one better than her mom’s. She said it was scrumptious with the Syrah.

“What we are striving for here is the melding of food and wine,” Richard Stading, owner and winemaker at Auriga, said.

Stading said his winery is all about education – especially about how food and wine complement each other. They have recipes on their website and suggest wines for the food.

This is Auriga’s first Passport. Party tents were taken down when at 10am a 40mph gust of wind nearly took everything down. However, it just meant the party moved inside.

The weather (so far) is forecast to be more spring like for the second weekend of Passport. Tickets are still available.

Meeting the winemaker or owner is common at Passport. Most tasting rooms are staffed with people who know the wines and aren’t just reading from cheat sheets.

Raymond McKay signs a bottle at Chateau Rodin.

Raymond McKay at Chateau Rodin will sign personal messages on bottles people buy. In 2003 and 2006 Chateau Rodin was voted best winery at the annual Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe wine tasting.

Joe and Lena Martini of Reno have been coming to Passport for the last decade. It’s a birthday gift to Lena from her parents each year.

“I wouldn’t miss it. Everyone is friendly, the food is fabulous and there are great prices on wine,” Lena Martini said.

The 16 people in their group had hit five wineries each of the two days. Joe Martini called it a slow weekend for them because in the past they’ve visited 10-14 wineries in a day.

Reds Regan of South Lake Tahoe is painting at Lava Cap both weekends.

Instead of merely having art for sale, Lava Cap Winery had the artist creating original work. Reds Regan of South Lake Tahoe will paint an original canvas both weekends.

“Passport Weekend was launched by El Dorado’s wineries 19 years ago to encourage people to explore our beautiful wine country in the springtime. Since then, Passport has grown to include two popular weekends that attract multiple generations of families from across the U.S.,” said Beth Jones, owner of Lava Cap Winery and president of the El Dorado Winery Association.

For more information about Passport Weekend, click here.

Publisher’s note: Aramark operates the two South Shore paddle-wheelers and runs Zephyr Cove Resort.

By Michael Martinez, Reno Gazette-Journal

Washoe County School District staff wants to hire a new company to manage food services, ending a near decade relationship with multinational company Sodexo.

Aramark, which provides food service and management for about 500 school districts nationwide, was recommended by a committee of a parent, teacher, nutritionist, administrator and the finance office, said Gary Kraemer, the district’s chief financial officer.

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