As brilliant orange leaves replaced sunbathers’ colorful umbrellas, our local farmers markets closed for the season, signaling a temporary end to delicious, fresh-from-the-farm summer produce. It was at this point that I found myself daydreaming about desserts made from juicy peaches, salads comprised of flavor-packed tomatoes, lightly steamed broccoli, the power of leeks, and baked squash with a hint of maple syrup and fresh ground black pepper.
I don’t know the exact date my love affair with food began, but I do know that it’s firmly rooted in my family tree, like the marinara sauce I prepare every week. I learned how to make it from my mother who learned how to make it from her mother.
I began to wonder, ‘Do other people frequently prepare and enjoy the same meals they had as a child? How does food shape life — and, alternatively, how do life experiences shape what we eat? Does the iconic 1950s family dinner still exist?’
To satisfy my curiosity, I embarked on a culinary adventure to explore what people are eating in Truckee/Tahoe. I spoke to a slice of our community including parents with young children, mothers, empty nesters, athletes, academics, and restaurateurs to discover some answers. Everyone I met with had something interesting to say about food. For some, it is a means to an end — health and nutrition. For others, food, meals, and cooking are unwavering passions.
Nutrients matter
For Kevin and Valli Murnane, avid cross-country skiers and busy parents of two, healthy eating is integral to their active lifestyle. Valli is a vegetarian and does most of the cooking. Kevin loves bacon. They both love Valli’s homemade veggie lasagna made up of whatever Valli can get her hands on — peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and ricotta — in addition to her pumpkin muffins, vegan blueberry muffins, and vegan cookies. Desserts are treats, not daily indulgences (though you’ll find a pint or two of Ben & Jerry’s in their freezer).
Valli explains: ‘We enjoy eating but we know what we eat has to be good for us. For the kids, it’s about balance. You have to have stuff in the refrigerator, you have to plan ahead.’ They work extra hard to provide the nutrient-packed meals they value for themselves and their children, six-year-old daughter, Lily, and four-year-old son, Kai. In fact, Valli made baby food from scratch. Today, Kevin and Kai blend berry smoothies with bananas, yogurt, a handful of spinach, and rice protein powder just about every morning.
Ingredients matter
Like the Murnanes, former Olympian Kristin Krone cares deeply about wholesome ingredients, organics, and good food.
However, Krone, owner of Wild Cherries coffee shop in Truckee, confides, ‘I love food. I find that my whole day revolves around food. I love to cook when I have time, not when I am rushed. I enjoy the whole process of having a desire for a certain meal, searching out all of the ingredients, and then preparing while I sip a glass of wine. Pure joy.’
‘Our family eats similar to the 1950s ideal in that we sit down to a hot meal, together, every evening,’ says Krone, mother to a 7- and 9-year-old. ‘Though this may be the only similarity. Roast meat and a ton of starch with white bread, fat-ridden sauces, and Jolly Green Giant vegetables are not our thing.’ Instead, meals include chicken, fish, lean meat with fresh vegetables, and either whole grain rice or quinoa.
The surprise is that Krone’s diet is healthier today than when she skied on the World Cup circuit and competed in the 1990 Winter Games. She explains, ‘When I was racing I was a carbohydrate junkie.’ Carbs took the form of French fries, potato chips, and store-bought cookies. Now Krone rarely eats white flour or sugar, and when she and her family eat pasta, it’s made from spelt flour.
Nourishing body and soul
Dr. Kim Bateman, professor and dean of Sierra College, has taken great strides from the frozen vegetables, boxed mashed potatoes, and meat-rich meals of her youth to fresh, California cuisine. Goodbye Hungry Jack, hello fruit chutneys and fresh salads. Bateman’s college roommate, a vegetarian, profoundly changed her idea of eating. Bateman explains, ‘I discovered fresh vegetables and tofu. I ate my first avocado. I learned to shop at the natural foods stores with other folks who didn’t shave their legs.’
Today Bateman loves to experiment with food. You might find her enjoying ripe pears with a squeeze of lemon and fresh cracked pepper, cherry tomatoes and blackberries with olive oil and basil, grilled chicken and cherries, even chocolate and bacon. Bateman knew she had come a long way when she saw a picture of a corn-dog pizza and thought, ‘I could no sooner put that in my body as pour gasoline on myself.’
Bateman values time eating with her family, including her adult son, Tony, who is skilled on the barbecue, and daughter, Kiersten, a Truckee High School junior who bakes exquisite desserts. ‘I think of meals as being one of the most important times to slow down, enjoy, and appreciate each other,’ says Bateman. They often eat dinner together and Bateman’s mother and her mother’s boyfriend join them every Sunday. Bateman’s romantic flame, Art Diaz, adds delicious tortas and tacos to the mix. Everyone helps clean up.
Bateman, who has a PhD in psychology, explains her connection to food, ‘The more you give your body and your soul what it really needs, the less desire you have for things that don’t serve you. Sorting out that which can sustain you, from that which can’t, is one of the most fundamental psychic tasks. The more you treat yourself as if you have value, the more you feel that you do, and behave accordingly. Food matters.’
Matters of the heart
Town of Truckee Manager Tony Lashbrook fondly remembers meals from when he first courted Jan, his wife of 26 years. For the last four years, since Jan adopted a gluten-free diet, Lashbrook has been preparing nutritious protein shakes with fresh fruit, flax, and almond milk that they share each morning. The Lashbrooks experiment with seasonal produce they receive from a Mountain Bounty CSA (community supported agriculture) share. One of their latest tasty creations, packed with vitamins, beta-carotene, and calcium, are kale leaves seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baked into crunchy kale chips.
Since their daughters left for college, Lashbrook and his wife spend less time at the grocery store but still eat together nearly every night. Like everyone I spoke with, he values mealtime with his family and with loved ones. Lashbrook’s culinary skills are on the barbecue where he grills everything from meat to fish to vegetables and prepares his favorite main ingredients, grilled ahi tuna and mahimahi.
It’s all in the family
Justin Garcia is one of nine siblings with the youngest being just 2 years old in the extended Lanza Family. They all get together as a big family for Sunday dinners when possible and on holidays. He virtually grew up in the kitchen of Tahoe City’s Mexican restaurant Hacienda del Lago (which has since closed) and had most jobs in his family’s restaurants before he became the general manager of Lanza’s in Kings Beach. He says, ‘I love everything I eat here regardless of how often I eat it. The sauces and cheese are delicious.’
Garcia regularly eats in or brings home take-out. His favorites dishes include chicken parmesan and the sampler, a combination of meat-stuffed lumaconi shells and ricotta-filled shells on top of penne with meat sauce made from Grandma Lanza’s recipe. But his ultimate favorite is his wife Jessica’s stuffed pork chops (see moonshineink.com for her recipe). Garcia adds, ‘I’m half Mexican and tacos are a staple. We have salsa and tortillas in the fridge at all times.’ The one kitchen item he’d hate to live without is his Comal, a cast iron tortilla maker.
Eat to live or live to eat?
All in all, we like to eat! Memories of childhood meals — the nutritious, tasty and even unappetizing — play an enormous role in what we choose to eat today. As for the iconic 1950s family dinner, gender roles are not necessarily as strong as they were 60 years ago. Friends, fathers, children, and mothers prepare meals and help with clean-up. Lean meats and fresh vegetables have replaced white bread and large chunks of gravy-smothered meat. What has remained? We cherish spending time with those we love over great food. For some, this happens every night; for most, as often as possible; and for others families still, it’s a weekly priority.
A lot has been written about our connection to food and one another. What’s your story?
