A Gilroy Neighborhood Hero

This is my granddaughter's neighborhood hero and it is about time to make this public. For the past decade, this man is making and giving away free cotton candy every Halloween to every kid who comes by. This is the secret spot on a side street off 6th street in downtown historic Gilroy - the highlight of our trick and treat pilgrimage. Thank you from the bottom of my heart in the name of all your neighbors and their kids - you are a hero.

Hot Dogs For Your Large Giants Fans Crowd!

Hot Dogs for a Crowd of Giants Fans!

You did not get tickets for the World Series Giants game tonight but still want to party? One question on my US citizenship test was, "what food do baseball fans eat during every inning?" Hot dogs of course! (Just kidding).

However, this is how you pass the test to prepare Hot Dogs for a large Giants fans crowd:

You get 60 standing hot dogs in a 6-quart crockpot. Stand hotdogs on end if you're trying to cram in 60. If not, you can just dump them in.

There's no need to add water. This is for two reasons: 1, the hotdogs will release moisture all on their own, and 2, if you have a crockpot full of hot dog water it'll just be kind of gross to dig through the water to pick them out. and 3 (I lied, there are 3 reasons) if the hotdogs hang out in hot water for too long they'll end up splitting on you.

Cover, and cook on low for 4 hours, or on high for about 2 hours--check to make sure the ones in the middle are fully hot before serving. Serve with tongs into regular or pretzel buns, and top with desired fixens' like onions, pickles, cheese, mustard, and ketchup.

Your dogs can stay on the "warm" setting for an awfully long time. If your pot has a hot spot (mine does), the dogs on the edge will get kind of crispy and blackened, which will COMPLETELY fool your 10-year-old into thinking you learned how to barbecue.

Goooooooo Giants!

Mark Your Calendar, Sunday November 2nd!

Time to Plan(t) the Frozen Crop

You heard right. My garden never sleeps. This is Northern California and there are plenty of herbs and vegetables which will grow well in fall and winter, some of them even better than in the summer heat.

A mint jungle is growing around my house, and I just recently learned that this might be the reason we have no ants at all. Not only do we enjoy the aroma of different herbs during the different seasons such as melissa in spring, the drought resistant lavender and rosemary in summer, and mint all year long, we also distille oils from them. Melissa oil is a highly sought after commodity and lavender can be dried and sown into herb sachets - great holiday gift btw.

I plant all my vegetables in high-risers.  Arugula, lettuce, radishes, brussels sprouts and spinach are great cold season crops. To provide for the few frosty days and nights we have here, I put a cold frame over my high-riser and leave the windows open when it is mild and close it shut during the Siberian nights.The frames are easy to built but if you need an even easier protection, just put a loose plastic cover over your high-riser thrown over plastic pipes and held in place with rocks on the edges - not fancy but adequate.

 Garden lovage, see picture below, or as we call it in Germany, Maggi herb, is another good plant for winter months. During summer you have to cut it down or you will end up with a forest of garden lovage overgrowing your place. The aromatic herb gives every stew and soup a great hearty taste, is full of vitamins, and you only need a few leaves per recipe (don't overdose or you will hang on to your toilet seat for 24 hours).

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I feel lucky living in a climate that allows me to garden all year round. The winter crops are a welcome variety to the tomatoes and summer squash, prevents the soil from erosion and replenishes it with nutrients. I look for heirlooms and non GMO seeds. Organic gardening was the reason for me to start one to begin with.

Digging in the dirt also has a spiritual aspect. It keeps me grounded in times of stress, and gives me the necessary exercise to keep my glucose level balanced. Very often, a couple of helpers show up with my granddaughter eager to learn what herbs  grow well together and which one will end up in today's supper- biodynamic gardening , nutrition and biology education hands on.

My Birthday Present From The Universe

Tomorrow, Oct. 8, in the morning before sunrise, take the time and watch the moon. It will be a colorful red moon - a total lunar eclipse - my present from the universe for my 55th birthday. Thank you universe and I will sure watch. Will try to shoot some photos before I commute to work.

Let's Go See The Pumpkin Hill

My little granddaughter Adriana is bugging me already, "let's go to Uesugi Farms to see the pumpkin hill." To be honest, we all love to hang out there, drive the little choo-choo and load up our wheelbarrow with all kinds of different looking pumpkins to decorate our home. Fall isn't fall without a trip to Uesugi on 14485 Monterey Road in San Martin.

Zucchini Fettucine Alfredo-style with Mushrooms

This is a recipe for all my fellow diabetics who need to cut down on pasta. I borrowed the basic zucchini fettucine idea from California Bountiful and was amazed how the zucchini really taste like pasta when prepared like that and make fettucine in this recipe a  good choice.

My recipe is enough for 4 people :
Peel 4 zucchinis into fettucine with the potato peeler including the outer green. Then heat olive oil in a frying pan with some chopped garlic but don't let it burn. Add pepperoncino, some nutmeg, salt, pepper, a tiny bit turmeric, the mushrooms of your choice and the zucchini fettucine. Only fry everything for a few minutes, mix with tongues, don't fry too long or they get mushy. I had about 1/2 a cup heavy cream left over in the fridge, poured it in and sprinkled grated cheese over it. I added fresh chopped basile and oregano before serving. Voila!

We had a roasted pork loin wrapped in bacon with it but you can as well eat the fettucine as healthy vegetarian meal by itself.

This Month in Real Estate - October 2014 Gilroy Edition

The number of home sales in Gilroy are up compared to last month but slightly down compared to last year. The good news for homeowners: The median Gilroy home price is considerably up compared to last year and even to last month we are 6% up.

The ratio between active inventory on the market and homes sold over a certain period of time is called the absorption rate. The higher the rate, the more buyer friendly is the market. Today's absorption rate of the Gilroy residential real estate market lies between 4 and 5 % which indicates a shift from the 100% seller's market with scarce inventory which we have seen in spring 2014 to a more balanced market with less bidding wars but still strong sales numbers. Many first-time homebuyers want to take advantage of the current low interest rates to become homeowners instead of renting.

All in all I would call this a win-win market in October for sellers and buyers. Homeowners are still experiencing an increase in equity and buyers have low interest rates as incentive to purchase.

Call me for a free consultation at 408.706.0671   should you think of buying or selling - no strings attached of course.

 Happy Fall everyone!