The Tour of California professional cycling race will pass through Half Moon Bay in February. This is so exciting. I can’t wait for more details and the chance to volunteer. I have already taken the day off work! Maybe we should print up some t-shirts - even though we are not quite on the official map.

John Hauer
Half Moon Bay

Stage 2: Sausalito to Santa Cruz (Monday, February 16, 2009)
Start Time: 8:30 a.m.
Start Location: Spinnaker Restaurant at 100 Spinnaker Dr. in Sausalito
Finish Location: Intersection of Front St. and Cooper St. in Santa Cruz

Starting on the northern side of the San Francisco Bay, Stage 2 will cover more than 100 miles from Sausalito to Santa Cruz. The stage will begin with a scenic start in Sausalito on the water and will head south over one of the most iconic structures in the country, the Golden Gate Bridge, and then through the streets of San Francisco. The route will then take the riders west down the California coastline on Highway 1, flanked by the picturesque backdrops of the Pacific Ocean on one side and Redwood forests on the other. This coastal stage will include two long, but moderate climbs on Tunitas Creek Road and Bonny Doon Road, which will be followed by lengthy and fast descents. The sprint to the finish in Santa Cruz will provide an exciting conclusion to Stage 2 of the race.

Seasoned Greetings, Marketeers!

I sure do hope that your first go-round of Holiday Cheer was as rousing a success as mine.  Feature this if you will: I got a pack of Fresno teenagers and some former Republicans to knowingly eat a pie made with spelt, sprouted whole wheat and tapioca flour, and to finally admit, that yes, eating foods from a Farmer’s Market is really a pretty good idea. 
How did such a transformation occur, you ask? Well, current political events seem to have broadened the horizons of many of my relatives ( thank the Lord) and dousing the top of the pie with Go-To Chocolate Company’s brown butter caramel sauce may have been the incentive behind a few former familial naysayers.  That and it was chockablock with Pliny’s Coastside Grown Belleflower apples, picked on the same day I bought them from a farm less than a mile from my house. 

You gotta understand:  I come from a family which,  in part, imagines that supporting local farms, buying local products and having a healthy lifestyle to be walking quickly through the mall with a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies. 

So in order to convince the gentlemen in question that there is another way, I made the aforementioned pie and a spinach salad with Santiago’s pomegranates, Patrick’s smoked duck-breast bacon, and Big Paw’s Apricot/Lavender vinegar with some shavings of Spring Hill Jerseys Dry Goat Milk Jack Cheese with black peppercorns that seems to have altered even old Uncle Ed’s opinion about us uppity San Fran-sicko food freaks, knee-jerk cheese-and bark-eating hippies.

It was a great day!

I feel fortified enough to manage Christmas! And I have plans, yes, yes I do.  And they include wonderful several occasions for two or twenty that feature insane combinations of fruits, vegetables and Tunisian spices, but meanwhile, a supper for two that featured Sweet Potato Pappardelle topped with sauteed butternut squash, sage and chanterelles alongside shaved fennel sauteed quickly with red onion and some of Aaron’s almonds crushed over the top was quite a hit recently, and if you have yet to make a marinade out of the rest of a decent but disappointing Zinfandel, the juice of a fresh pomegrante, the peels of a few tangerines and a handful of dried cherries that have plumped up in the brew overnight, why you are in for one Transporting Christmas Goose, Gloria, and I am not kidding.

And by the way, if you have yet to discover the effect that a thick slice of Brioche’s fig studded sourdough, toasted, and graced with a perfect skrim of Spring Hill Jerseys farmstead butter and served with a tiny glass of fresh squeezed tangerine juice can have on person who, until presented with this combination declared themselves "Not a Morning Person" , I highly recommend you investigate this phenomenon prior to finalizing your holiday gift list.

Happy Hollandaise!

Erin Tormey, Founder
Coastside Farmers Markets
May-December
Saturdays from 9 to 1 in Half Moon Bay Wednesdays from 2:30 to 6:30 in Pacifica
650/726-4895

The Half Moon Bay Library will be celebrating a Gaelic Christmas with Mary McLaughlin and her friends on Sunday afternoon December 14th at 3:00pm.  Celtic singers Mary McLaughlin and Janet Herman combine their haunting voices with the breathtaking harp work of Steve Coulter for a memorable concert of authentic Gaelic Christmas music.

I hope that you’ll join us for a community Christmas Posada on December 13, 2008.

Traditionally, the Posadas enact the journey of Joseph and Mary, remembering them as they went door to door in search of lodging and safe haven. Their journey reminds us of countless other pilgrims that sought safety over the generations and those that refused them shelter. This powerful narrative takes different forms in every faith tradition as we are reminded that each of us holds the responsibility to bring light to others, even in the darkest times.

I hope that you will join with Puente and our beloved community as we walk through Pescadero asking for safe harbor for the world’s many pilgrims. The procession will be followed by a potluck, singing, games, and of course, piñatas for the children.

6:00 PM The pilgrimage departs from St. Anthony’s Church (696 North Street, Pescadero) and continues to Pescadero Community Church (363 Stage Road)

A community gathering and potluck at the Pescadero Community Church will follow the procession (note this is a new location) will follow the procession at 350 Butano Cut-Off, Pescadero.  There will be piñatas, music, raffles, Christmas songs, and more.

For more information, call Belinda Arriaga or Maria Molina at 650.879.1691

Wishing you and yours a safe journey,

Kerry Lobel

Puente de la Costa Sur
620 North Street/PO Box 554
Pescadero, CA 94060
650.879.1691
www.mypuente.org

Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office will be keeping the Coastside office hours this Friday, December 12 from 10am until Noon at the Sheriff’s Substation in Moss Beach.

Surfrider San Mateo County Chapter - Public Meeting, Thursday, Dec 11,  at 7pm in the Pedro Point Firehouse, Pacifica.

Big wave surfer and local legend Dr. Mark Renneker will speak on, "Change at Ocean Beach" The winner will be announced in our Surfrider San Mateo County Chapter Logo Contest. We hope to see you there!

Tiz the season to be jolly!  So, what’s holding up the holiday spirit? It could be because the jobless rate is the highest in 35 years.

It might be due to the fact that after convincing Americans that they have to invest in their own retirement, our financial geniuses on Wall Street and in the credit industry have created a worldwide crisis, causing most of us to lose half of that retirement savings.  It might be that non-profits and public schools are in crisis:  donations are down by 2/3, public funding is all but gone, and many of them invested bond and other monies in institutions that are gone forever, leaving them with a public debt of millions of dollars each.

It could be because experts are predicting the most dismal retail holiday sales in decades.

The crisis in the retail market has hit Main Street much harder than it has hit big box vendors.  Small business owners have little cushion, funding their small shops on their own savings.  Because small businesses don’t have the buying power, their margins are thinner than big box stores when they compete on price. In the retail clothing industry alone, comprising 190,000 businesses nationwide, there are 30 times more small businesses (under $1M in sales) than there are businesses of greater size.

According to the Fed, a recession is already under way in the United States. The GDP tanked another 0.5% in the third quarter of ‘08, and the Fed predicts this trend will continue (or increase) during at least the first 6 months of 2009.

This hits small retailers right where it hurts, and puts at risk all of our futures.  According to the Small Business Administration, businesses with less than 500 employees account for almost half of private-sector employment. Small businesses employ our youth and our part time workers.  A recent National Federation of Independent Business survey showed 15% of small business owners anticipate layoffs in 2009, which will put even more strain on an already weak U.S. labor market.

I always try to find that half-full cup.  A warm Christmas can be had without many presents, but with conversation, Scrabble and card games.  A bowl of savory soup is just as good as a prime rib, given the right weather and company.  Holiday parties can, and should, be potluck. And shopping locally, from the retailers in my neighborhood, helps too.

When you support a locally owned business, you give back to the community in which you live, learn and play. Three times as much money stays in your community when you shop in a local business rather than a chain.

Your local business owners give freely to the community, sponsoring teams, giving to non-profits, and hosting downtown events.

When you shop locally, you don’t pay shipping costs, you get to talk to a friendly person who lives near you, and the money you spend stays in your neighborhood. Just as you invest to care for your home, spending locally helps you care for your community.

My half full cup is our own capability to save small businesses, jobs and our local economic vitality.  I believe that we can do it, working together.  Let’s start a movement!

Terri Schoenrock Reece

Did you know…..they can grow new body parts, walk on 10,000 feet, pry open a mussel using a seawater hydraulic system, and turn their stomach inside out to dissolve their lunch outside of their body? Are they aliens? Nope, just an amazing sea star!

The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach is a unique intertidal environment. As the tide retreats, a world of wonderful creatures and plants is exposed. There are many species of fascinating animals: sun stars, bat stars, leather stars, turban snails, unicorn snails, green striped crabs, and other interesting animals like the Hopkin’s Rose nudibranch, sea pork tunicates and mossy chitons. The Reserve is also a haul out area and rookery for a large population of harbor seals.

Are you curious? Why are they called leather stars, unicorn snails, mossy chitons, and sea pork?

Our Naturalist Training is an incredible opportunity to learn about the ecology, habitats, and adaptations of life in the tide pools.

The goals of the Friends of Fitzgerald are "the protection and preservation of the Marine Reserve as a unique intertidal environment and the promotion of educational activities for school children, residents, visitors and researchers, to see and touch many elements of wildlife ecosystems."

Our Naturalists help to promote our goals by sharing their new found knowledge and passion for the intertidal by talking to Reserve visitors on the weekends, during school field trips/tours, in the visitor center and through outreach opportunities at fairs and other environmental gatherings. It is a rewarding experience to share the wonders of the ocean with people eager to know more.

The class will be offered 10 am – 3 pm on Saturdays January 24 – March 7 (no class Feb14). Six mentoring hours with other current Volunteer Naturalists and assisting with two tours at the Reserve are required to successfully complete the course. Upon completion of the course we ask Naturalists to do 2 -3 tours per month. Materials fee: $65.

To learn more about our program please call Mary DeLong at (650) 728-5917, email [email protected] . Visit our website at www.fitzgeraldreserve.org. Feel free to pass on this information to your friends who may be interested.