i had the best weekend. my two sisters and two lifelong girlfriends came to visit from southern california...this has become an annual event...the girls weekend in napa. when i say "lifelong" i mean it literally. the girlfriends are sisters and grew up 2 houses from my childhood home. their parents and mine were best friends...still are...and when we moved into our house one of the girls was a few months old...the other was born a few years later...they seem more like sisters than friends...and when the five of us get together it is magic....lots of laughing, giggling, story telling, memory sharing...coupled with eating, shopping and...it being napa after all...massive quantities of wine consumed.
we had a blast...i love driving around napa...showing off our beautiful terrain...and this past weekend really cooperated...the weather was perfect. it is march...so the mustard is still in bloom...and i made sure there were plenty of opportunities for picture taking... 
if you have visited napa at this time of year, you have seen the amazing sight of mustard blanketing the hillsides...and the vineyards. i thought i would share a bit of history regarding the mustard. i pulled this from the internet...the exact words were listed a number of times under many resources, so not sure where to give credit...but the story is worth telling...
"A bit of history behind the mustard flower that blankets the Napa valley in a rich yellow carpet is worth mentioning. Father Junipero Serra had come from Spain to Mexico in the 1800's to spread his faith. He was told of a beautiful land to the north full of wildlife, grand trees and verdant valleys. Serra decided he must see this land and with the aid of some Native American guides, set out to explore the country to the north. Father Serra had brought with him Spanish Mustard seeds and scattered them all along the path of his travels. The following year they returned south and followed a golden ribbon of bright mustard flowers that had sprung from the northern trek."
how cool is that? of course, i am always thinking about blog story topics...and mustard has been playing a big role in my life lately (what an odd thing to say...only in napa, right?). the napa annual mustard festival is just drawing to a close, there is mustard growing wherever i look, i started making an organic mustard bath for my bath and body collection that immediately became a best seller (caught me a bit off guard) and i am experimenting with making prepared mustard...that warrants a story of its own,recipe and all..but it takes 6-8 weeks to cure and i want to ensure it tastes good before i post...so please give me a couple more weeks...then mustard making recipes...here we come...
in the interim, i thought i would post an easy and delicious recipe for roasted chicken and potatoes...this one features mustard and rosemary...one of my favorite combinations. the ingredients (sans chicken and potatoes) actually started as a salad dressing...and i thought the flavors would be amazing prepared this way. my friends and family love it...so of course i want to share it with all of you. as always, i recommend using the best quality, locally grown organic or sustainably grown if you can, ingredients possible...better for you..and just tastes better....
rosemary mustard chicken with roasted potatoes
2 packs chicken legs (10-12 legs)
2 tbsp honey-dijon mustard
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary, divided in half
1 tsp minced lemon zest
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced and divided in half
4 baking potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 yellow onion, cut into bite sized pieces
grey salt
freshly ground black pepper
preheat oven to 425 degrees. line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. add potatoes, onions, half of the rosemary and half of the garlic to baking sheet. drizzle with olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and stir to combine. (note, i just use my hands for this step..to ensure potatoes are completely covered in oil). place in hot oven.
meanwhile, combine mustard, balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, remaining rosemary, lemon zest, chili flakes and second half of the garlic in a small bowl. rinse chicken legs, pat dry and brush one side with half the mustard mixture. season legs with salt and pepper and place coated side down in large skillet over med heat. cook for 2-3 minutes. brush non-coated side of legs with remaining mustard mixture, turn legs and cook another 2-3 minutes until both sides are golden brown.
remove baking sheet from oven..the potatoes should have been cooking about 20 minutes and have turned light brown..if not, let them cook a bit longer, about 20 minutes total...when ready, stir the potatoes and push them back to about 1/4 of the sheet.
this is what the chicken should look like before roasting in the oven
place the chicken legs on the open part of the sheet and put back in oven. roast 15-20 minutes. chicken is ready when clear juices run when pricked with a knife...and potatoes are dark golden brown...
serve immediately
so here's to sisters...and old friends...may you never take either for granted! (and mustard is pretty good too)
have a good week everyone....
best,
diane
diane padoven
founder/president
napa farmhouse 1885™
"live a green life of style"™
follow me on twitter
please sign up for our mailing list on the sidebar of the blog..thank you!
and, if you have not started yet...it is never too late...just go to the first post for the directions to get started...you are always only 80 days away...good news for us...the meyer lemon tree we planted 4 years ago appears to be fruiting year round...it is march and the tree is still full of fruit, with lots of blossoms...so i will be making limoncello all year....it really, really goes fast in my home...
today, it is sunday...the first day of daylight savings (yeah!!), the sun is shining, i spent all day yesterday gardening...pruning, edging, trimming...getting ready for spring (my camellias are in bloom!)....and pancakes are the perfect way to start a lazy, late sunday. i thought i would post my "just pancakes" pancakes recipe...a bit traditional, a bit different...always a hit with family and friends....and ask all of you to share your favorite breakfast (although we frequently eat them for dinner) pancake ideas...
**note on ingredients..since i started my organic dog treat business, i always have organic unbleached flour and organic whole wheat flour, finely ground on hand. i find there really is a difference in the taste when using organic ingredients...so...if you can...go organic!
o.k...there is cake...but you have to make it. the recipe is listed at the end of this post.... today is valentine's day (happy v-day everyone)...but it is also the one year anniversary of this blog. sounds cliche, but i really cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. when i first started blogging i did not have a clear purpose...i just started telling stories about my post-corporate life. as the time passed, the emphasis focused on cooking and eating...using the best possible quality ingredients...and not messing them up with overly complicated recipes...broken record, i know...but my motto "the ingredients really do make the difference" is the theme for this blog...
i told the story of making this for the napa valley wine auction a few years ago...was a hit...and the company i represented "stole" the idea and now packages the ingredients as a gift set...wow, what a complement!!...try this "recipe"...the secret (as always) is the ingredients...fresh organic popcorn, best quality extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, a good evoo for the popping...and really good grey sea salt as the final touch...
fast forward many years to when we purchased our farmhouse. the first year we planted meyer lemon, lime and mandarin orange trees. wow...napa is this magical place where..."if you plant it it will grow"...our trees started producing fruit the first year...and now it is hard to keep up...so let's start with the meyer lemons which are ripe NOW!!...familiar story to regular readers...many of my "go-to" recipes are inspired by fruits, vegetables or herbs from our garden...and meyer lemon recipes are no exception. in fact, next monday and tuesday will be spent making my meyer lemon marmalade...a family/friends favorite...and this year i will be offering it for sale on our website...i have spent the past few weeks putting lemons in everything...cakes, pies, lemonade, candied peel, vinaigrette, sauces...you name it..i have juiced millions (only a slight exaggeration) and frozen for year round use..and yesterday..started this year's batch of one of our favorite traditions...limoncello...cause the memory of that first trip to italy...and the smell, taste, look of the country...stays with me... 
i have been thinking a lot about italy lately..i love visiting that country...have been fortunate to have been there numerous times for business and pleasure...and living in napa is very similar in many ways...the weather, the terrain, the emphasis on fresh, local, sustainably grown food, the wine...many, many things. my husband is 100% italian, his grandparents immigrated here when they were young...i am 1/2 italian...but my family has been here forever so no italian speaking grandparents on my end...in any case, italy is very special to both of us...so for christmas this year, my husband and i did something a bit different for our gifts to each other. we decided a few years ago that we had enough "stuff"...didn't need more...and would give each other gifts of things we could do together...part of the "i am finally retired from corporate life and can be home more often" lifestyle. last year we did a series of concerts at the opera house here in napa...this year we gave each other "conversational italian" classes. our joke is that... going forward...if we have a disagreement...we can only argue in italian...gestures and all. we figure we will be laughing so hard we will forget about the argument...
our first class was thursday...we had a blast...and if you will indulge me...i will practice a tiny bit in some blog posts....i seem to have a large number of regular readers from italy...so please feel free to correct me when necessary.
sitting around the dining table...sharing a terrific meal with family and friends...loads of wine...staying for hours afterwards talking/laughing...i cannot think of anything that makes me happier...this could take place in a formal dining room or just at the kitchen table...doesn't matter, as long as the friends/family are there...
i have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about dining tables...mainly because we just completed a bit of construction in our own dining room...nothing big...we just hung a light fixture...but when you live in a vintage farmhouse even small projects can get complicated. the "remodel" is not interesting...updating wiring, moving the electrical box to center the light over the table...patching, painting...etc...the story involves the fixture itself...it was the ceiling fixture which hung over my grandparents dining room table...so it has many special memories for me...i told you guys in one of my first posts about the love i had for my grandparent's circa 1920's home located in southern california 
my parents, aunts and uncles all have fairly modern houses and they were not interested in using the fixtures in their own homes...so my sisters and i became the very fortunate recipients. i got 5 of the sconces, my sister kathi 4 and my sister susan, 3 plus the chandelier. when we bought our farmhouse, one of the first things we did was install the sconces...they are perfect here, plus...what memories of my family...we hosted a family reunion a couple of years ago...it was touching to see how much the sconces meant to my mom and her siblings.... fast forward to today...my sister's current home is not design right for the chandelier, so it had been packed away in my parents garage for ten years. last summer, susan and i made a deal.. .i would "borrow" the fixture until she was ready for it...and the construction work needed in order to hang it has just been completed...
i so love the fact that the sconces and light fixture have become part of my home..they look like they have always been here...and i have been flooded with cherished family memories...so to celebrate and inaugurate the chandelier, i made pasta last weekend (of course!). when i was growing up, italian sausage and peppers was a favorite treat. frequently, when my sisters and i spent the weekend at my grandparent's home, my grandmother would take us to an italian deli called claros after church on sundays... we usually ordered hot italian sausage and peppers sandwiches for lunch...and i have an aunt (last name donatelli) who makes grilled sausage, onions and peppers as an appetizer for most family parties...i thought creating a pasta dish out of these ingredients would be a good idea...and the perfect way to create our newest dining table memory. so i invited some friends to sunday dinner...in the dining room...
as always, the success of dish depends on using the best quality ingredients you can find. "the ingredients really do make the difference". i found organic italian sausage and...because half the group were vegetarians..i also found vegan sausage that was delicious..and made half with the real sausage, half with the vegi one...both were really good... and the pasta with a green salad, good bread, parmesan cheese and red wine led to the dining table experience i described at the beginning of this post...talking, laughing, relaxing, enjoying and appreciating all that we have...so let's celebrate dining tables...one of my favorite places to be...
what are your favorite dining table memories? please share in the comments section of this post..and happy last week of january everyone....
couple of notes...i use our persimmon jam because i love the slightly sweet, mild flavor it gives the chicken. you can easily substitute apricot or peach jam for the persimmon. i have also made this with our meyer lemon marmalade...without the mustard. use what you like...just pick a jam which lists the fruit as the first ingredient...not sugar...better tasting...better for you... 
i have been writing this blog for almost a year now (where has the time gone?) and one of my favorite benefits is receiving all of the amazing emails from readers with comments, questions and/or information.... (for example...thank you to jenifer and leslie for your very kind emails today).... i often get questions about making homemade salad dressing because i have included numerous recipes for salads in past posts. many of my friends have told me they think it is "too hard" or "too complicated" to make their own vinaigrette..so i decided to give this topic its own story to encourage everyone to start creating their own dressing recipes...but here's the thing...the "technique" for making dressings and vinaigrette is so incredibly easy that it only requires 4 steps...so...here are my instructions.....
it really is that easy...buy a mason jar at the market...even better and "greener"...reuse a jam/jelly or any other screw top jar. plan to make small quantities...just enough to use that night...or keep in the fridge a couple of days...no longer, you want it to be as fresh as possible...keep the best-quality-you-can find/afford extra virgin olive oils, vinegars, mustard and seasonings in your pantry...and experiment with your oil to vinegar ratios. there really is no "wrong" way...it is just a matter of personal preference. for example, most recipes call for 3-4 times oil to vinegar. i adore vinegar so my recipes are more 2-1..(for evoo and balsamic vinegar vinaigrette i use 50-50!) but that is me. the simplest recipe and the one i use the most is simply equal parts evoo and balsamic vinegar, with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. if i have a bit more time i use the following recipe..and i have a huge collection of vinegars so i sometime switch out the balsamic with red wine, champagne, sherry, rice or apple cider vinegar. i will continue to post different salad and dressing recipes in future blog stories..but..to get you started..here are a couple of super easy options.
