Canning Classes and Supplies

Mountain Feed and Farm Supply has the food preservation supply motherlode. (Chip Scheuer)

Anyone with a jones to can, pickle or otherwise preserve the summer harvest should make a pilgrimage to Mountain Feed and Farm Supply (9550 Hwy 9, Ben Lomond; open daily), where an entire building has been dedicated to food preservation supplies. Canning kettles, pressure cookers, tongs, funnels, thermometers and a gorgeous selection of Kerr, Weck and Quattro Stagione jars will make you want to quit your job and move in. If that’s too far to travel, their booth at the Aptos Farmers Market (6500 Soquel Dr., Saturdays 8am-noon) will most likely cover your needs.

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Love Apple Farm

Cynthia Sandberg gives a hen a lift at Love Apple Farms. Photo by Dan Pulcrano.

The kitchen garden was a relatively new concept on the American restaurant scene when chef David Kinch of Manresa and Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farms began their partnership in 2006, but it has since grown in popularity. While a number of chefs have embraced the farm-to-table movement, few have integrated their cooking with a single farm as deeply as Kinch has. And few farmers are as responsive to the needs of a chef as Sandberg and her crew.

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Michelin Stars and Solar Eclipse at Love Apple Farm

Amuse bouches kicked off the Iconic Chefs Dinner in good taste. Photo by Christina Waters.

It started with tiny spoon-sized amuse bouches flavored in every shade of delicious, such as beautiful shreds of aged and fermented veggies, tossed with orange, olive oil and raw mild curd. My favorite appetizer spoon contained a bite of poached Monterey abalone encased in chrysanthemum aspic on a dot of sorrel cream. Three layers of luxurious flavors in every mouthful! And that was just the opening salvo of last week’s Iconic Chefs Dinner up at Love Apple Farms.

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