Accompanied by ‘red carpet’ photos, I received a note from my friend in the city, imparting a tale of cocktail parties and little black dresses. But all of the glitter of the city lights just can’t shine as bright as October sunshine on a pumpkin patch. And, no matter how elegant the metropolitan soiree .. I’ll place bets that the food is better at a farm party!

While I admit that I do sometimes sigh at the thought of having somewhere to wear a little black dress, and the glamour of a night on the town … and, even while her closet is full of little black dresses, and my closet is filled with Carhartts … I can happily say that I attended a ‘talk of the town’ affair at the benefit Hoedown for the Nevada City Farmers Market on Saturday evening, without even going home to change out of my dirty work jeans!

It was a ‘who’s who’ type of evening, with the crème of the social crème in attendance ….. at least if you’re social circle is firmly rooted in local agriculture, your palate is trained to local food, and your wallet opens to donate to the most sustaining causes – farmers.  I’m sure the society page will be covering the event!

Seriously, … there was nearly unlimited homemade soup!  No black tie event is going to match that claim.

With all of the flitting about .. and eating .. this social butterfly’s social calendar was overflowing, and overlapping.  I wasn’t able to show for the support of another delicious benefit.  The Living Wild Project hosted an evening of native appetizers and art to benefit the Yuba Watershed Institute and Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe.

Thanks to Wendy van Wagner, one of the adventurous local chefs who helped to create the very local menu … I heard a first hand account of appetizers prepared from Acorn flour, Mugwort beer and Manzanita cider!

And finally, this brings me to the pumpkins … after such an extravagant ‘night on the town’, I spent Sunday lazily visiting not one, but two pumpkin patches. Not in search of the great pumpkin … but on a quest for Sugar Pie pumpkins and homemade apple cider.

I found both … first the Sugar Pie … perfect!, plus Delicata squash and a whole bunch of peppers of all different colors and temperatures … at the Loma Rica Organic Farmstand. These came with recipe ideas and cooking instructions! Thanks to the friendly farmstand staffer (and fellow squash-lover)!

Then my annual visit to the Bierwagen Pumpkin Patch for cider, more German butter potatoes (mmmm), a healthy helping of ‘catching up on news’ with Deb and Chris, and enough apples for a pie!

And …… super bonus.  Instead of a little black dress, I can now proudly flit about the kitchen .. if not the dancefloor … in a new ‘1940’s style Retro Apron’ !!!  These are seriously all the rage … and I found the bounty at Bierwagen’s!  (Only one Pumpkin Patch weekend left, folks … )  I’m definitely a fan.  Joyce B. is the retro-seamstress-extraordinaire, and …. ooh yeah, I’ve got her number!  I’ll share it if you’re nice to me.

Which leads me all the way back around to my title for this week’s story: “If you’re cooking …. You’re looking good already!” I borrowed this perfect line from a comment to this article about Retro Aprons … that will substantiate my claim about their impending fashion return:

“Vintage-inspired aprons should come with a warning label: This garment increases the risk of cooking, baking and other exploits of domestic prowess.”

Stay tuned … I’ll let you know if the apron works.

Related posts:

1. Pumpkin patches and October’s bright blue weather
2. Cooking Classes
3. Experimental Cooking Theory, Hypothesis and Menu