Ages ago, I said I’d be blogging about our Sonoma vacation in real time. Eight days later, there’s that same tired post about an orecchiette salad so easy, it might even be considered a cop-out. It’s enough to leave regular visitors wondering if the East Village Kitchen hadn’t gone a little AWOL.






When I posted my commitment, we had just arrived at our adorable little tree house for two up on a hill in the redwoods, and I still had the stench of the city clinging to my clothes. I was in a New York state of mind when I wrote those words, and at that moment I sincerely was relishing the opportunity to shed life’s stresses and focus on writing about our cooking adventures in Sonoma County.

But man, oh man, is that air fresh. And are those Sonoma County zins ever big and juicy. We couldn’t bring ourselves to stay put for a moment when there were gorgeous flawlessly warm, sunny days to be enjoyed out and about. By the time it came to write a post, sitting in front of the computer felt like a total and complete drag.





I’m sure you can relate, right?





Instead, we settled into a steady routine of early rising, hitting the road (or trail, or what-have-you), taking in amazing views of the forests, the coastline, the river, and the romantic country roads with idyllic, panoramas of rolling hills and rows upon rows of grapevines, ready for harvest.





In the afternoons we could be found in the tasting rooms, sampling breathtaking, toe-curling wines that redefined what we once thought we knew about zinfandel and pinot noir. We brought these wines home with us to eat with food prepared simply, without recipes or forethought, with whatever was fresh at the farmers markets.





After dinner each night, we curled up next to the outdoor fire pit, finished our bottle, and talked until it was time for bed. It was divine.





Now I’m back in New York, and I’m still downloading pictures off off of our cameras. This first set of pictures, mainly of the food we cooked, were all taken at the cabin. In part two, I’ll be sharing more of the nature and landscape pictures once I’ve culled out the best of the bunch, since I don’t want to be that person who insists on taking you through literally hundreds of shots from their vacation, one by one.





So for now, enjoy the eye-feasting on some of the food and a few novelties from the adorable cabin. I’ll be back in a few days (double-secret pinky swear), with some really amazing things to see. Oh, and recipes for the foods you see above!

Coming soon:

Sungold Tomato and Lemon Cucumber Salsa

Outstanding California Guacamole

Roasted Fennel Bruschetta

Grilled Pork Tacos