Kathleen Hill: Flapjack feed, Cowboy Cab and more

4-H flapjack feed Sunday morning in Schellville for breakfast, Vox Populi at Reel for brunch.|

4-H Flapjack Feed Sunday

Don't miss this one – Sunday, May 20. Sausage and pancakes cooked by 4-H parents and served by 4-H members of all ages and interests, from crafts, viticulture, and cooking to animal husbandry. They are all a bunch of clean-cut busy kids from our community, guided for years by generous Becky Larson of Larson Family Winery.

Guests at the Schell-Vista fire station will also enjoy abundant local strawberries, Clover Sonoma again donates butter, milk and even chocolate milk.

A couple of years ago at the 4-H silent auction we bought, as a lot, a treasure chest of plants, two of which are growing beautifully in our front garden.

Past 4-H president Francesca Pharo will bring her bottle-fed 2-year-old sheep for petting, and Schell-Vista firefighters will have fire trucks ready for looking and possibly even climbing. 8 to 11:30 a.m. $8, free for kids under three at the door. More info at 520-6085.

Georgeanne Brennan at Readers' Books

Come to a Provencal garden evening at Readers' Books with Georgeanne Brennan on Wednesday, May 30. We will have a great conversation with Brennan about her newest book, 'Windows on Provence: Musings on the Food, Wine, and Culture of the South of France,' which will take us all to the Provence we fantasize about without leaving Sonoma. You will feel like you are in the lavender and poppy fields of southern France and on the sandy beaches of the Cote d'Azur. She tells it all, having owned a home and spent years there since the 1970s.

Bring a snack from any of Brennan's books or any other cookbooks that inspire you. Not required.

As usual, Readers' Books offers 15 percent discount on all of our Last Wednesday Food Group books. Free. 7 p.m. 120 E. Napa St., Sonoma. 939-1779.

Cowboy Cab rides back into town

Marcia and Doug Mo started Cowboy Cab seven years ago when Doug shared his fabulous wine collector's cellar loaded with special bottles of cabernet sauvignon. Part of the fun of those early parties was going down the staircase past his Willie Mays Giants uniform and tripping outside to the pizza oven the Mo's installed before they built their house.

The Teen Services event has grown over the years from the Mos' home to several behind the historic Barracks, and to this second year on the lawn behind the Barn at Tyge William Cellars at Cornerstone.

On Sunday, June 10, Teen Services and Lovin' Oven will prepare and serve appetizers and dessert. Ramekins will make the dinner of little gem and hearts of romaine Caesar salad, farfalle pasta salad with Fifth Street Farms vegetables, truffled potato chips, jalapeno cornbread with whipped honey butter, baked beans, and entrées of brined and roasted pork and barbecued chicken. $125. 4 to 8 p.m. 23570 Arnold Drive, Sonoma. Tickets at teenservicessonoma.org or 939-1452.

Nibs & Sips

The Reel Fish Shop & Grill has added a performance of the popular Vox Populi singing the Beatles and Paul Simon classics along with a brunch for Sunday, May 20.

The buffet brunch includes a vegetarian frittata, chicken apple sausage, bacon, garlic roasted breakfast potatoes, sourdough toast, and fresh fruit. Three seatings at 11:30, 12 noon, and 12:30. $15. Brunch costs $15, concert tickets $18. Performance tickets at door or at Tiddle E. Winks, or Eventbrite.com. Brunch reservations at 343-0044. 401 Grove St., Sonoma.

Mi Ranchito, the newest incarnation where Plaza Tequila and Sonoma Grove used to be, now has a full liquor license and can make margaritas with real tequila. They also have a restaurant in Rohnert Park.

The Epicurean Connection will be offering monthly cheese classes on the first Friday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. The June 1 class will feature how to make sour cream, yogurt and buttermilk. The class will also include a tasting of local dairy products. Register at 938-7917. At Cook Vineyard Management, 19626 Eighth St. E., Sonoma.

Good news from La Casa

Many of us think the food and service at La Casa has improved substantially under its newish ownership. Fans of the old La Casa cole slaw and salad dressing should race in to try the 'new' salad dressing, which is really the old salad dressing. The Sherpas, who own La Casa, found the original recipe and are making it that way now.

We went to La Casa for lunch on Mother's Day at our daughter's request – for old time's sake. She was craving their beef enchiladas and her husband had been thinking about chilis rellenos all the way here from the East Bay. He actually ate two of them.

Everyone was very happy with what they were served, in my case a Dungeness crab enchilada with salad. 121 E. Spain St., Sonoma. 996-3406.

The day progressed to playing in the Sonoma Plaza with hundreds of other families, Irish step dancing on the Grinstead Amphitheatre stage, sword arts, ice cream at the Chocolate Cow, guitar and piano music at home, and stacking and moving wood with son-in-law. After they left for home, Mother's Day was completed with four bags of soil amendments from Sonoma Mission Gardens and planting 15 tomato plants.

Cannabis advocacy group

After the shocking loss of some of their biodynamic cannabis crops, a group of leading Sonoma vineyardists, restaurateurs, and farmers formed a steering committee to grow an advocacy group to make Sonoma cannabis tops on the market.

They quickly put together the Sonoma Valley Cannabis Enthusiasts on March 21. The steering committee includes hugely respected vineyardists Sam and Phil Coturri; biodynamic leader and Glentucky Family Farm founder Mike Benziger; Sonoma Valley florist and farmer Natasha Drengson; Erich Pearson, founder of SPARC; growers Sean Kelley and Joey Ereñeta of Terra Luna Farms; Glen Ellen Star restaurateur Erinn Benziger Weisswasser; and Sonoma PR man and farmer Michael Coats.

According to Coats, 'The goal is to have Sonoma Valley cannabis be among the most distinctive and unique flower from Northern California with an established terroir and a reputation for improving the environment. Protecting small growers, influencing cannabis policy, and supporting local charities are part of the mission.'

A general meeting of all enthusiasts is set for June 14, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on the back patio of Sonoma Grille in Sonoma. Plans call for the group, which organizers see as similar to a vintners and growers organization, to promote the high quality cannabis coming from Sonoma Valley and adjacent locations such as Moon Mountain and Sonoma Mountain. The SVCE will create the conditions in which Sonoma Valley cannabis is recognized for best practices and cleanliness from artificial chemicals and additives, and provide support services for cannabis business in the Valley, according to their press release.

SVCE aims to partner with local food, wine, and entertainment businesses to promote the cannabis industry in Sonoma Valley. Contact 935 6203 or michael@coatspr.com.

Hershey-Krave Jerky?

Meanwhile, many people wonder when Hershey is going to open its Krave Jerky tasting room on West Napa Street downstairs from the Sonoma Index-Tribune. Will we see Hershey Jerky?

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