Garden Court Cafe & Bakery, Glen Ellen

Breakfast, by far the most important meal of the day-not to undervalue any of the other six meals- I've always found that having the Valley of the Moon Benedict (Named after Sonoma Valley, Valley of the Moon, named by Author Jack London) is a great way to start the day. Freshly baked English muffins, sauteed Portobello mushrooms, deliciously tender and smokey ham, perfectly poached eggs and a nice creamy slightly tart and rich hollandaise. Paired with some of the best potatoes ever (really, they are) and you've got yourself a gorgeous breakfast! At the Garden court cafe & bakery they really put some country soul into their food, they care about the ingredients and they make all their breads, jams and sausages from scratch too. I've never been disappointed with the quality, quantity or price of the food and would recommend it to anyone.
A closing word to the wise...and hungry. You may have to wait a few minutes for a table (5-15), but the wait will be well worth it. While you wait they provide free coffee for the sleepy patron.
Cheers!

The Garden court cafe & bakery
13647 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen, California
http://www.gardencourtcafe.com/

Fat & Happy

This is my first blog. I hope it doesn't get to serious, for I am not usually too serious a fellow. It's been on my mind for a little while and I need to write it...so here we go.

What are some of your favorite memories? If your like me a lot of them are probably spent around the table with family and friends. It could be a holiday, or just a barbecue, but most of the time (unless your a vegetarian) the gathering was set around some type of meat. Who prepared that meat? Was it prepared with love and attention? Maybe you prepared the feast; what spices or herbs did you use? were they grown in your own garden? Lets say its Christmas, and your family is having a beautiful ham that you cooked yourself. Where did that ham come from? I don't mean what market. I mean where did that pig grow? was it cared for with the respect and attention you gave your Christmas dinner? If you know the answer and can say, "Yes, I bought this Gloucester old spot from the McCarthy's farm down the road"; then wonderful! If you can't and you really don't know where the meat came from, or if the pig had open pastures to roam and forage, living off the land on roots, grass, grains, acorns and occasionally fresh vegetables and whey from the loving farmer; Then wouldn't it be better to know? buying from local organic farms, means buying from farms that use the highest quality feeds to insure the best tasting hormone free meat. In caring for the meat you consume, your caring for yourself, your family and the animal, and maybe giving a rare breed a chance to thrive. We all know buying local organic produce is very important, (and good for us too!) lets all take the time to source good quality local free range meat products too. Lets all live Fat & Happy!