Hi friends,

Spring is finally upon us, and we welcome it with all its beauty. It's such an exciting time of year. We are in full bloom! The small farms are harvesting fresh, green, pretty and crisp seasonal produce and making its way back to our tables just in time for our Easter and Passover traditions.

I was reminiscing about my Easter as a kid. I had the egg hunts, Cadbury chocolate eggs, and Easter mass. But my fondest memories—and something I'm beyond grateful for—was being able to visit my family in Mexico City. We would hang with the cousins and visit the Feria de Texcoco, an hour outside of CDMX. The fair had all the typical attractions: carnival games, live entertainment, an array of home-cooked style food, and the town's specialty—traditional lamb barbacoa! I recall my dad talking this up. I must have been about 13 or 14 and was really hyped to try this. The lamb is cooked in a wood fire pit, wrapped in maguey leaves and then served with fresh corn tortillas (blue corn please), cilantro, cebolla, fresh roasted salsa and the lamb broth with garbanzos. It's a beautiful and artistic process to witness the pitmasters at their craft. Check out how this 50 year old establishment, El Pica, cooks 500 lbs. of it over the course of 3 days, and I guarantee that by the end you will be seeking spots to try this out. Local favorites, Aqui es Texcoco down in Chula Vista or El Borrego in City Heights serve this dish. Make sure you get some of that broth!

This year I got to host Easter and guess what I made? Lamb barbacoa! The home version, of course. I didn’t dig a pit in the ground—not this year at least. I used Rick Bayless' approachable and finger-licking recipe. I served it up with some fresh pressed tortillas, house made salsas, Modelo's with limes for the fam and Mexican coke for the kiddos. It's been 30 years since my first lamb barbacoa and I can vividly remember the smell, the bite and pull of the meat, and for the first time realizing how traditions are born or passed on. This was the beginning of my passion for real food and the memories it creates when we come together. You gotta love traditions!

NEWS & SEASONAL TRENDS

Eggs have been a hot topic lately, so let's see what's been crackin'!

When buying eggs these days we're confronted with many options. What do all those labels really mean?! Let’s break it down.

• CERTIFIED HUMANE RAISED & HANDLED: A third party label is the one that ensures the hens are getting the best life! They get at least six hours of outdoor access and a minimum of two square feet of outdoor space per bird. They also get cage-free living and ample space to spread their wings and be free as a bird.

• PASTURE-RAISED: Hens must have access to the outdoors and spend a significant portion of their day on pasture, where they can forage for food and exhibit natural behaviors.

• FREE-RANGE: Hens must have access to the outdoors, but the duration, quality, and size of outdoor space are not specifically defined. They may also be kept in indoor environments, and the term "free-range" applies to their access to the outdoors rather than their living conditions.

• CAGE-FREE: Hens are not kept in cages, and they must have the opportunity to move freely within the henhouse and have unlimited access to food and water, however the USDA does not have specific space requirements.

• CONVENTIONAL EGGS: Best to avoid. Hens are typically raised in crowded indoor environments in cages, with no access to the outdoors. No regulations beyond general food safety.

Other terms you may see, but may not indicate humane treatment:

• NON-GMO: The hens are not being fed anything genetically modified. Requires an additional certification approved by USDA.

• VEGETARIAN-FED: Hens are not fed any animal by-products. If pasture-raised, they do eat grubs, worms, and bugs.

• ORGANIC: Hens are fed certified organic feed that is free from synthetic pesticides, GMOs, and antibiotics. They must have access to the outdoors, and their living conditions must meet specific organic standards.

In terms of the prices and availability, it all started at the beginning of 2023, and one could simply blame it on inflation, but it goes back to the bird flu we saw last year which in turn affected the turkey shortage last Thanksgiving. The flu reduced the overall supply of laying hens by 5% percent, year over year and it claimed the lives of more than 53 million birds. Trying to recover from low inventory, along with very high input costs in terms of producing eggs related to grains has led to a price increase of 70.1%, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thankfully the farms are recovering, the flu has subsided, and the current price has dropped by 50%, eggs are leveling out. That's good news all around and just in time for our green shakshuka we served up at a recent brunch. I love the simplicity of this Tunisian dish; bright orange yolked eggs from Mike & Son Ranch in Ontario, bathing in a tomatillo, green pepper, kale, lime and cilantro sauce, being dipped with our house made bread, yum!

THIS SEASON’S OFFERINGS

I am happy to see that Girl N Dug from San Marcos brought in these amazing "898" squashes similar to butternut squash but smaller, typically 4-5" tall when fully mature. They have a "meaty" savory flavor with a sweet potato like finish. How did they come to be? Well Dan Barber from Blue Hill Farms infamy, challenged a breeder to create a smaller more flavorful butternut squash. The 898 is derived from its trial number. And, if you've wondered where we get the pretty little flower garnishes, such as the iceplants, garlic blossoms, amaranth and borage, those are from Girl N Dug.

Now let's talk about mushrooms and two interesting varieties that hail from the Pacific Northwest although originally from China and Japan, the Brown Beech aka Hon Himeji and the Hedgehog. The Brown Beech grow in the wild next to dying beech trees and are savory, nutty, sweet and great on smoked meats. The Hedgehog, apparently is one of the safer chanterelles, and it gets its name from their vertically hanging teeth on the underside of their caps that well, looks like the spiny coat of the hedgehog.

FARM WORTH READING ABOUT

JR Organics is a 4th generation certified organic farm from Escondido that is a truly family run operation, starting with JR (Jose Rodriguez), aka “Farmer Joe” to his siblings, their children, cousins and extended members of the clan. Everyone in the family plays a role in continuing the legacy. They are passionate about growing the most delicious organic produce in southern CA. You can find them at local farmers markets (SD, OC and Temecula), sign up for their CSA farm box or try their produce at restaurants that source local ingredients. JR's dad, Grampa Joe, grew up on a farm in Buena Park with his parents and then moved to Escondido in 1960 where they built the farm from the ground up. At first, they were growing conventional tomatoes, squash, flowers and herbs. Grampa Joe worked with his dad to modernize farming with the use of tractors and sprayers. JR had the idea and set the framework to transition to organic farming. His strong conviction for growing produce full of flavor and sharing how REAL it should taste like led to their major milestone in 1986 when they became a certified organic farm. Now, they grow over 100 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Many of us have been long-time supporters of JR Organics at the Hillcrest Farmers Market where you might find Farmer Joe cutting into a melon sample or popping some fresh picked snap peas. Here in the kitchen, we've been using JR Organics chiogga beets and purslane for our Rabbit Pastilla dish off our spring plated menu. The bright pink beet swoosh on the plates lies perfectly next to the salty purslane surrounding the savory pastilla. We enjoy many of their year-round offerings but here's a short list of our go-to ingredients: their Romaine lettuce is probably the best in SD, their purple ninja and French radishes are vibrant and just the right amount of bite to them, colorful rainbow carrots, juicy root turnips, gold bar summer squash, dinosaur kale, heirloom tomatoes and their summer melons are perfect for that backyard bbq. If you want to support JR Organics, join their CSA and be delighted and inspired with their weekly produce delivery.

Spring is a time for reset—a wonderful moment to check in with ourselves and do a little internal spring cleaning, per se. New beginnings are abundant and now is the time to dive into new relationships, ideas, passions, or hobbies, rekindle past friendships, or reflect, embrace and shed what no longer serve us. I challenge you all to spring into this next path of your journey.

Happy Springing!