Fun finds of the day were these brooches for $3 which will dress up a picture frame…

And these spoons for $1 which will make darling stamped herb garden tags…

After perusing every aisle and chatting about my mom or my friend’s grandma having that “exact” (now-collectable) dish or watch, my husband and friend urged us over to the Farmer’s Market and gourmet food trucks where coconut milk infused Sloppy Joe’s and blue crab burritos are standard fare. We tasted and concurred that TJ’s Wood-fired ”margarita” pizza indeed deserves its place in the Top 50 dishes in OC and vowed to make tasting the other 49 dishes a New Year’s resolution.

Our favorite finds of the day were the lovingly homemade jams from Edible Creations www.myediblecreations.com. The Strawberry-Rhubarb has tangy sweet chunks of fresh fruit and the Cranberry Jalapeno will make a kickin’ mayo replacement on turkey sandwiches and would be great over brie or cream cheese with water crackers. The funniest discussion was why there was only one fruit vendor there the morning after New Year’s Eve.

Wishing you simple pleasures, new discoveries, contentment and good health in the New Year!

Best wishes, Bonnie

Valencia Oranges – Great for cutting, juicing, or in a salad with avocado,mint & cumin vinagrette

Cara Cara Pink & Blood Oranges – The first is the hottest farmers’ market item & the latter is so Italian!

Bearrs Lime - Bartenders’ special, great in pies, ceviche, salsa, squeezed over mangos with chili & salsa

Meyer Lemon AND Eureka lemon – One sweet, one tangy.  I haven’t bought bottled salad dressing in years. The trick to amazing dressing is balancing the salt with the acid. Zov (and my sister-in-law the salad “queen”) taught me this trick. Taragon vinegar is a great back-up if your tree is picked clean.

Other prolific citrus trees in my backyard are: Oro Blanco grapefruit (the sweetest variety ever), seedless tangarines and tangelos; and I love the mandarinquat because it is unusual, the skin is edible and it makes great table decor all year round.

Fuji apples grow beautifully here in Tustin. I bought mine espalliered & created a fence.

Avocado (Haas & Bacon) - Ours produce as much as we want after only two – three years

Persimmon (Fuyu) – Eat it like an apple or slice it in a salad with mint, lemon & pomegranite seeds. They are ripe in October/November when not much else is and their mini pumpkin shape makes darling Thanksgiving decor.

Fig (Black mission is my fav) – Amazing fresh or grilled with proscuitto or in salads. High in iron, too!

Sapote (White) – Tastes like a blend of banana & pineapple. Just when I thought I’d never meet a fruit I didn’t I planted a black sapote. It’s supposed to taste like chocolate pudding…NOT!

Donut or Saturn peach – Super prolific and sweet

I am still trying my hand at plums & pluouts. And though the “Blenheim” apricot is super sweet, the fruit is a little small for my taste. I would love to hear if there are varieties you have had luck with.

So, for the New Year – will you join me in my quest to put the ORANGE back in Orange County? I promise you and your friends and family will enjoy the “fruits” of your labor!

Best wishes for a fruitful New Year:)

Bonnie

Summer 2011 Brings you OLIVER! August 16-20

Family-friendly fare is not easy to find these days, but the Tustin Area Council for Fine Arts (TACFA), in association with Theatrical Productions, Inc. provides quality family entertainment at family-friendly prices.

This year’s production, Oliver!, will be staged in Old Town Tustin’s Peppertree Park August 16-20, 2011. Non-profit community groups and two local restaurants will have food and drink for sale on the premises, so you can purchase dinner and snacks at the park or bring your own picnic. Purchase a reserved table, or bring your own blanket or folding chairs to watch this enchanting musical with an old-fashioned theme.

Pre-sale tickets are $14 and can be purchased at Soul at Home on 17th or Chemers’ Gallery in Enderle Center. (Children & Students are $12.) Tickets at the event are $17 and tickets go on sale at 5:30 at Peppertree Park on 1st street in Old Town Tustin.

Tustin Tiller Days is upon us again…Did you know this community event has been going on since 1957? The carnival takes place at Columbus Tustin Park on Irvine and Prospect and runs all weekend. Great food, community booths, live bands, old-fashioned games and fun rides all start tomorrow at 4:00 PM and run all weekend. Event hours are Friday 4:00 – 11:00 PM, Saturday 11:00 – 11:00 and Sunday 11:00 – 8:00 (The carnival runs until 10:00PM.) The parade is on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM and starts on Main east of C Street. This event is something not to be missed in my opinion if you are a resident of Tustin. It’s just a great celebration of community.

So…it only appears to have been awhile since I posted because some HACKER from Turkey (the Turkey) attacked my site and I didn’t back up my more recent posts.  Maybe he was jealous of that we are living Under the Tustin Sun and he’s not.  Ha!

OK – quick update on what the heck is going on with real estate values in 92705. Short story? Low inventory and  moderate demand has keep our values stronger than many of the outlying areas. Beware of looking at stats County-wide. Real estate is extremely area specific so if Garden Grove’s prices have dropped a specific percentage that is not relevant. While our values have come down, we have had a TON of sales in 2010 and the North Tustin real estate market remains strong primarily because of our daily dose of sunshine, proximity to open spaces & beaches, large lot sizes and our schools. Many of our community members commute to LA for these reasons.

Remember: “Market value” is ultimatley determined by the Willing Buyer – Willing Seller principle or when a Buyer is willing to pay a price that the Seller is willing to accept, that price is what the property is worth. 

I’m off to the Farmer’s Market to buy some organic, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Yum! The markets are every Tuesday in Tustin Ranch at Jamboree & Irvine from 10 – 1:00 and Wednesday in Old Town Tustin on El Camino Real near Main from 10 -2:00.

I was pleasantly surprised today when I went to meet an appraiser on a home I had sold. To establish value I need to bring him/her recent sales. There were over 20 sales since January asking for $850,000 – $1,100,000 in North Tustin. Yes, prices are down but our area continues to be an extremely desirable place to live. Why? I believe it is the schools, larger lot sized and overall community “feel”. We love our kids, aren’t about impressing anyone and love the outdoors. The school fields are full of parents seemingly all weekend, every weekend and it is such a joy to see!
As far as North Tustin real estate values – the current average price per square foot ranges from roughly $300 – $400. If the price exceeds that is is all about LOCATION, condition of the home and lot size.

Anyway, enough of real estate matters. We have Tustin Tiller Days coming up next weekend so mark your calendars. It runs from Friday through Sunday, October 2nd – 4th and is on the Columbus Tustin Middle School field on the corner of Irvine and Prospect. There are rides, booths, bands and lots of food! Come support your Tustin community, see friends…and don’t miss our wonderful, old-fashioned parade on Saturday morning!

Today’s Tustin Chili Cook-off is the largest in the Western United States!

And I missed it…however, my daughter made it. We are all chili lovers. One year I had a booth and we made gallons and gallons of chili which was all gone by 11:00. I didn’t compete for two reasons: to be a true chili competitor you have to make the chili on site and the actual chili ingredients have to be chopped up very, very fine or you are disqualified. It makes sense – they are trying to judge on best chili “flavor” but didn’t work for me. I get rave reviews on my chili and had oodles of visitors come back for seconds with comments about how my chili was the best of the event. No doubt it was because I put large chucks of Claro’s (Tustin’s awesome Italian market on Bryan) spicy sausage in it and whole olives. But I am not one to take credit for a recipe that isn’t mine so if you want to make the greatest chili ever – it’s in The Silver Palate cookbook – but spice it up by using Italian sausage in place of bulk sausage.

Back to Tustin’s Chili cook-off. There are chili tastings for a dollar each, rides, food and all sorts of booths representing many of the Tustin community organizations. It’s a joy to see the local kids play in a band, dance and do gymnastics and fun to see friends and family out enjoying the sunshine. It’s only one day every year – usually the first Sunday in June. So don’t miss it (like I did.)

Another wonderful – and free – community event is Tustin’s Summer Concert Series. Bring your blankets, food and libations (or by some there) and gather with friends in Peppertree Park on 1st and B Street on Wednesday nights throughout the summer. The bands are really enjoyable (the Celtic bands are my personal faves) and it’s fun to see and spend time with friends and watch the little kids dance in front of the stage.

In the same spot TACFA puts on an outdoor musical every year in August and the local kids perform with professional artists. Tickets are reasonably priced and the money raised goes back to TACFA who gives scholarships to local artists.