A Weekend in Sonoma

We did a mini vacation last weekend in Sonoma County California, an area known for its wine, beer, and food. We were not disappointed. I was looking for a trip where I could get to the ocean, do a bike ride, and some hiking – after all, you have to balance all that eating and drinking with some exercise, right?

 

Redwood Tree

 The weather was perfect, warm and sunny (I’d heard September was a great time to visit). We rented bikes in Healdsburg and took a loop through wine country, taking it easy on the wine since we were on bikes. This was definitely the way to see the valley and from now on I will look for a place to rent a bike on any vacation we take. I felt pretty safe on the loop we took but many of the roads in the area are very windy, hilly and without a shoulder – not a place I want to ride.

We drove to the Armstrong Redwoods Park and did a short hike through the tallest trees in the world. Hiking in redwoods is much different than hiking in Colorado because it’s dark! Not so much sun reaches the ground in a redwood forest. We also did a short hike in Annadel Park which was much more open but lots of moss and lichen growing on the trees.

coast line at Jenner

An afternoon was spent at the beach near Jenner relaxing, walking and watching the seals. We drove the classic California Highway 1 to Bagoda Bay and stopped for fish tacos and a wine tasting. This area is a beautiful rocky area but with nice sandy beaches too.

I hadn’t realized that the Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau defines various wine growing areas in the US calling them American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). These AVAs are distinguished by geographic features but also different growing climates and soils that define the types of grapes that grow best in that particular AVA. In Sonoma County there are 16 different AVAs and over 400 wineries. We didn’t try all of them, but of the one’s we tried we were not disappointed.

Sonoma County is also known for its Farm to Table fare (something we are well versed in coming from Boulder County). If you go make sure to seek out a restaurant that specializes in Farm to Table.

We also hit the big Micro Breweries; Lagunitas, Bear Republic, and Russian River for beer tastings. There doesn’t seem to be as many smaller microbreweries in Sonoma as there are in Colorado. In Longmont alone I believe there are 8 microbreweries. But we did find one small one; Cooperage, that had some good beers. 

Lagunitas Brewing Company for lunch

On the drive back to the airport we had unfortunately, just a few moments to spare and stopped at the Seed Bank Store which sells rare seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. Wish we’d had more time to spend there, it was quite an interesting store.  Here is their website.

So there you have it - 5 days of wine, beer, food, beach, hiking, cycling and a few minutes resting at the pool. Oh, and one more interesting thing - we saw fennel growing along side the roads everywhere. Apparently fennel is considered an invasive weed in California! Wow, and I baby mine in the garden! You can read about fennel on BLM land here.http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/hollister/noxious_weeds/nox_weeds_list/sweetfennel.html

Beauty Benefits of Peppers

Beauty Benefits of Peppers

Peppers come in all sizes, shapes and colors and we love them all. This time of year many of them are ripe and you can find a wide variety at farmers markets. Peppers even come in different flavors from sweet to hot. But you’ve been wondering, haven’t you; what are the beauty benefits of peppers?

Nutrients found in Peppers:

Peppers are high in:

Vitamin A, a nutrient that is important in cellular turnover in the skin.

Vitamin C which is important for production of collagen. In fact, one bell pepper provides more than your daily minimum requirement for vitamin C.

Antioxidants such as flavonoids that help repair cellular damage in the skin.

Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine which is important in neurological health. Deficiencies in vitamin B6 are linked to dermatitis and some types of cancer.

Any of these properties not only make peppers a good food to eat for healthy skin but you can also use peppers mashed on the face for a food facial, a good farm to skin treat! To see more about how to use food in a facial see Farmers Market Peach Facial. I wouldn't use a hot pepper for a facial though.

Hot peppers contain capsaicin, and related compounds called capsacinoids.  This is the family of chemicals that cause the heat in a hot pepper. Capsaicin and the related capsacinoids are analgesic, meaning they have pain relieving qualities even though they are also an irritant. The capsacinoids appear to affect the nerves that signal pain. It has been used to relieve the pain of arthritis, psoriasis, diabetic neuropathy, shingles and more. You can find topical ointments that contain capsaicin, or you can make your own compress or poultice from hot peppers. However, do not use on broken skin, near the eyes or near mucus membranes.

To make a pepper poultice or compress for a sore back or joints follow these instructions:

Poultice

Grind one hot pepper (jalapeno or other) in a food processor. Add a teaspoon or so of oil (olive or other) to get a good consistency.

Wet a rag or cloth bandage in the hot pepper mixture and lay on skin or wrap around if it is a joint area. Leave on as long as necessary. You can also wrap this in plastic wrap to keep in place and keep off of furniture.

Compress

A compress is very similar but instead of applying the mashed pepper to the skin you are using more of a tea or extract soaked in the pepper extract. The most common way of doing this with hot pepper is to make a vinegar of cayenne.

Add 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper to 8 oz of cider vinegar. For this you can use dried, powdered cayenne or a fresh hot pepper that has been mashed.

Boil, then simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Soak a rag or bandage in this vinegar and apply to skin. Again, you can cover this with plastic wrap to keep it from seeping out.

Remove if it becomes too hot or uncomfortable to the skin.

For more on the science of how hot peppers help with pain read this from Science Daily.  

 or

Capsaicin to Reduce Pain, Clinical Pain Advisor