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1 week ago | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
Today I continue an informal tradition I seem to have established in recent years: celebrating Earth Day with a recipe that uses dark leafy greens, which are nutritious and overall good for our bodies. In 2022, I argued in favor of consuming radish greens, overlooked in favor of the colorful, spicy roots and often discarded ("Eat Your (Radish) Greens," April 14, 2022).
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
Have you ever had a day when everything you touch ends up broken, materially or metaphorically? Your favorite mug slips from your grasp and shatters on the floor. You open the dishwasher at the end of its cycle and find a moving piece detached. Someone misunderstands a word you say and a pleasant conversation turns tense. At some point, you feel surrounded by rubble and want to break the negative spell. When that happens to me, I go for a walk.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
As we open the calendar to the January page, we may wish to pay more attention to the food we eat and how we nourish our bodies. Then, as the month goes on, our daily to-do lists get longer and such wishes are pushed aside. When life gets complicated, sometimes summoning the energy to plan and make dinner feels like an insurmountable task. That's a red flag: Self-care should never become less than a top priority.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
As days get shorter, I get more eager to spend time outdoors. In September, I hiked in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park on the James Irvine Trail to Fern Canyon and back via Gold Bluffs Road and the Miners' Ridge Trail. It is almost a loop, as Miners' Ridge merges into James Irvine less than a mile from the Prairie Creek visitor center. (As such, the hike can be done in the reverse direction, something I plan to try.) At 7 a.m., I took the Newton B.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
Like every year, I planted a few zucchini starters at the beginning of summer. Like every year, I mismanaged the plants and harvested nothing. An exuberant growth of leaf lettuce and arugula provided consolation — and large salads. Fortunately, zucchini and summer squash have been plentiful at farmers markets and farm stands around the county, so I have abundant raw material for a yearly tradition of mine: creating a new zucchini recipe.
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Aug 22, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
I hope you are relishing tomatoes in all their glorious varieties, from sun-sweetened cherry tomatoes to larger, juicy heirloom ones. Every year, I imagine the arrival of tomato season as a northward migration. I ate the first tomatoes in mid-April during a visit to Los Osos, in San Luis Obispo County. There is a lovely farmers market there on Monday afternoon that I recommend visiting, should you find yourself in the area.
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Aug 8, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
On a Sunday in early June, my friend Lissa and I planned to hike the Headwaters Forest Reserve's Elk River Trail, about 10.5 miles. At the time, I didn't realize our timing was perfect, as this year marks the 7,472-acre reserve's 25th anniversary. It was established in 1999, after a decade-long effort to protect the world's last intact old growth redwood forest ecosystem, then in private hands, led to its purchase by the federal government and the State of California.
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Jul 18, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
The first time I drove along Hiller Road looking for the Sea Goat Farmstand (1450 Hiller Road), finally parking near its sign, what I saw reminded me of a fireworks booth, one of the plywood structures that seem to materialize overnight in the days leading up to the Fourth of July. Upon approaching it, I saw fresh produce neatly arranged in the space. At the beginning, the farmstand was open only on Saturday.
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May 16, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
While I don't mind hiking in a drizzle, particularly in the redwoods, where rainfall is broken by the canopy ("Forest Bathing in the Redwoods," Get Out, June 15, 2023), the intense rain of recent months kept me away from favorite trails. Finally, on Easter Sunday, after a few days without a storm, I felt it was time to hike in Redwood National Park, look for blooming trilliums and visit Trillium Falls.
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Apr 18, 2024 | 
northcoastjournal.com | Simona Carini
Thanks to months rich in rainfall, everywhere I look is green: our yard, pastures, parks. My plate is also green, partly because I eat a large green salad every day ("Take Time for Salad," March 23, 2023), partly because I cannot resist the bunches of glorious leafy greens available at the farmers market. Neat bundles of heavenly smelling fresh herbs are another item I gladly purchase. They are a treat for the eyes, the nose and the palate.
