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Attend a cooking class at Studio of Good Living in San Francisco and you’ll soon discover a new world full of culinary adventures. More than just a cooking school, the Studio of Good Living shares the art of living well with all its students!
Studio of Good Living offers exceptional cooking classes and events in the Bay Area and Beyond. Want to learn how to cook or brush up on your cooking skills? Take a class with us! Escape to San Francisco for a Taste of San Francisco or indulge yourself with Cook, Shop, Spa. Burned out? Drop into Live Well, Eat Well for yoga lovers. Continue the journey with the Art of Dinner Blog and view our video classes for new ideas to spice up your dinner table. . Need a change of scenery? Join us for a total culinary and lifestyle retreat in beautiful Maine. Discover the possibilities with Chef Phoebe Schilla and the Studio of Good Living. Life is Beautiful by Design.
 One of the questions that I am asked most frequently about what I do is: Where do you shop? The answer is a long list of places all over the San Francisco Bay area. It depends on where I am cooking, convenience, and who has the highest quality ingredients available. I typically go to the Farmer’s market on the weekend for most of my produce shopping. For fish, I highly recommend Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park—I rarely purchase seafood anywhere else. On the other side of the bay I recommend Monterey Fish Market. I shop Whole Foods for items such as flour, sugar etc.
 Most Tuesday mornings you will find me at Bianchini’s Market in Portola Valley. Portola Valley has a remote quality that makes it feel very unique. It is undeveloped and whenever I am there I find it hard to believe that I am just 40 minutes away from an urban city center. You will probably see a doe and her babies meandering by the side of the road. If you are driving only a few miles over the speed limit, or come to a ‘rolling stop’, the local law enforcement will surely stop you. It’s that kind of town. The easiest way to get to Portola Valley (from SF) is to take 280 south to the Alpine Road exit. Bianchini’s is located just off of the freeway, on the main road through town. It is family owned and operated. Bianchini’s opened as a full service grocery store in 1998. It now has a second store in San Carlos that opened last spring. What I like the most about the store is the commitment to quality and their support of local farms.  Of course, they do carry long distance items such as bananas and pineapples but they really make an effort to bring in local produce. I believe that they have some of the best local produce in the area. Chanterelle mushrooms when they are in season, a bounty of tomatoes and stone fruit in the summer, squash and apples in the fall. The meat department is also excellent. They do a fantastic job trimming and tying roasts, and the butchers are extremely knowledgeable. They carry high quality grass fed beef from Marin Sun Farms, items such as waygu brisket, as well as Mary’s air chilled chicken. They have high points for customer service too. The only department that I am not impressed by is the seafood department. However, it is worth a stop if you are driving thru Portola Valley.
One of the questions that I am asked most frequently about what I do is: Where do you shop? The answer is a long list of places all over the San Francisco Bay area. It depends on where I am cooking, convenience, and who has the highest quality ingredients available. I typically go to the Farmer’s market on the weekend for most of my produce shopping. For fish, I highly recommend Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park–>Portola Valley has a remote quality that makes it feel very unique. It is undeveloped and whenever I am there I find it hard to believe that I am just 40 minutes away from an urban city center. You will probably see a doe and her babies meandering by the side of the road. If you are driving only a few miles over the speed limit, or come to a ‘rolling stop’, the local law enforcement will surely stop you. It’s that kind of town. The easiest way to get to Portola Valley (from SF) is to take 280 south to the Alpine Road exit. Bianchini’s is located just off of the freeway, on the main road through town. It is family owned and operated. Bianchini’s opened as a full service grocery store in 1998. It now has a second store in San Carlos that opened last spring. What I like the most about the store is the commitment to quality and their support of local farms. Of course, they do carry long distance items such as bananas and pineapples but they really make an effort to bring in local produce. I believe that they have some of the best local produce in the area. Chanterelle mushrooms when they are in season, a bounty of tomatoes and stone fruit in the summer, squash and apples in the fall. The meat department is also excellent. They do a fantastic job trimming and tying roasts, and the butchers are extremely knowledgeable. They carry high quality grass fed beef from Marin Sun Farms, items such as waygu brisket, as well as Mary’s air chilled chicken. They have high points for customer service too. The only department that I am not impressed by is the seafood department. However, it is worth a stop if you are driving thru Portola Valley.
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I have to tell you it is much easier to get to the Farmer’s Market first thing in the morning when you have a baby. Once the baby is up there is not a chance of going back to bed for hours. Pre-baby, I was solely a mid-morning farmer’s market kind of gal. There is a beauty to getting up early in the morning, but for me that beauty exists during the week. Surely Saturday and Sunday were made to sleep it right? Wrong.
We finally started going to the Alemany Farmer’s market last week. I was surprised to find out that it is the oldest Farmer’s Market in California. It’s been in operation since 1943. Pretty cool, huh? There is a fabulous selection of produce available. For me, it is always overwhelming the first few times that I go to a new farmers market and it takes me forever to shop. First, I have to do a walk through and gauge what’s available, who’s certified organic, who has the cool weird (generally asian) stuff, who looks friendly, who is busy and who is not. Let me tell you—it is a challenge when I go by myself and this time I had the baby strapped to my chest and my husband following a discreet 10 paces behind me. The standouts were the walnut vendor and the date vendor. There were varieties of dates and walnuts that I had never heard of before! So exciting…it makes me want to buy a quarter pound of everything I haven’t tried before and do a comparative tasting. I limited myself to two varieties of dates–Blurry Black and Deglet Noor. I love to snack on dates—so yummy and sweet and good for you! For next week I have my eye on some red walnuts and I am busy researching walnut recipes to justify my purchase of these ‘red’ walnuts that are $9/pound.
Tonight we are having a farmer’s market dinner. I got home from yoga and threw together a quiche with swiss chard, oyster mushrooms and leeks all from the market. Mashed garnet yams on the side. It’s easy, quick and delicious dinner, especially if you have frozen pie crust in the freezer.
Here’s my basic quiche recipe, but mix it up and put in the vegetables that you like and have on hand.
Phoebe’s Farmer’s Market Quiche
Preheat the oven to 375F
(1) 9” pie crust
1 bunch of swiss chard, leaves separated from the stem and washed
3 small leeks, use white and light green parts only
¼ # mushrooms, I used oyster, but you can use whatever you have or skip it completely.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
3 eggs
1 ½ cup milk
½ cup grated cheese. I used gruyere which is traditional for a quiche, but you are welcome to use other varieties such as cheddar, Monterey jack etc.
- Press the pie crust into the pie plate and set aside in the fridge.
- Slice the leeks and chop the swiss chard
- Clean the mushrooms, and melt the butter in a saute pan. Brown the mushrooms in butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Browning the mushrooms adds a really nice layer of flavor.
- Heat the olive oil in a second pan and saute the sliced leeks. Add the swiss chard, stir so that it starts to wilt. Add ½ cup water and cover.
- Once the swiss chard has wilted and it tender, add the mushrooms and set aside.
- Combine the milk, cheese and eggs.
- Place the sautéed filling ingredients in your chilled pie shell.
- Pour the milk mixture over the filling and give it a gentle stir. (more of a poke then a stir—you just want to make sure that everything is evenly distributed.)
- Bake for about 35 minutes, until it is puffed, golden and jiggles ever so slightly in the center.
- Remove from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, slice and enjoy!
I have to tell you it is much easier to get to the Farmer’s Market first thing in the morning when you have a baby. Once the baby is up there is not a chance of going back to bed for hours. Pre-baby, I was solely a mid-morning farmer’s market kind of gal. There is a beauty to getting up early in the morning, but for me that beauty exists during the week. Surely Saturday and Sunday were made to sleep it right? Wrong. We finally started going to the Alemany Farmer’s market last week. I was surprised to find out that it is the oldest Farmer’s Market in California. It’s been in operation since 1943. Pretty cool, huh? There is a fabulous selection of produce available. For me, it is always overwhelming the first few times that I go to a new farmers market and it takes me forever to shop. First, I have to do a walk through and gauge what’s available, who’s certified organic, who has the cool weird (generally asian) stuff, who looks friendly, who is busy and who is not. Let me tell you—it is a challenge when I go by myself and this time I had the baby strapped to my chest and my husband following a discreet 10 paces behind me. The standouts were the walnut vendor and the date vendor. There were varieties of dates and walnuts that I had never heard of before! So exciting…it makes me want to buy a quarter pound of everything I haven’t tried before and do a comparative tasting. I limited myself to two varieties of dates–Blurry Black and Deglet Noor. I love to snack on dates—so yummy and sweet and good for you! For next week I have my eye on some red walnuts and I am busy researching walnut recipes to justify my purchase of these ‘red’ walnuts that are $9/pound.
Tonight we are having a farmer’s market dinner. I got home from yoga and threw together a quiche with swiss chard, oyster mushrooms and leeks all from the market. Mashed garnet yams on the side. It’s easy, quick and delicious dinner, especially if you have frozen pie crust in the freezer.
Here’s my basic quiche recipe, but mix it up and put in the vegetables that you like and have on hand.
Phoebe’s Farmer’s Market Quiche
Preheat the oven to 375F
(1) 9” pie crust
1 bunch of swiss chard, leaves separated from the stem and washed
3 small leeks, use white and light green parts only
¼ # mushrooms, I used oyster, but you can use whatever you have or skip it completely.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
3 eggs
1 ½ cup milk
½ cup grated cheese. I used gruyere which is traditional for a quiche, but you are welcome to use other varieties such as cheddar, Monterey jack etc.
- Press the pie crust into the pie plate and set aside in the fridge.
- Slice the leeks and chop the swiss chard
- Clean the mushrooms, and melt the butter in a saute pan. Brown the mushrooms in butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Browning the mushrooms adds a really nice layer of flavor.
- Heat the olive oil in a second pan and saute the sliced leeks. Add the swiss chard, stir so that it starts to wilt. Add ½ cup water and cover.
- Once the swiss chard has wilted and it tender, add the mushrooms and set aside.
- Combine the milk, cheese and eggs.
- Place the sautéed filling ingredients in your chilled pie shell.
- Pour the milk mixture over the filling and give it a gentle stir. (more of a poke then a stir—you just want to make sure that everything is evenly distributed.)
- Bake for about 35 minutes, until it is puffed, golden and jiggles ever so slightly in the center.
- Remove from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, slice and enjoy!
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“Climate change isn’t something that’s going to hit in the future. It’s already changing the weather patterns and water supply in California; a dwindling snowpack, bigger flood flows, rising sea levels, longer and harsher droughts.” CA Dept of Water Resources
Water is a limited resource and California is experiencing its third year of drought in a row. The time to do something about it is now. We need to use our water supply more efficiently and with a greater sense of responsibility. Here are some simple ways to conserve water in your home.
- Turn off the faucet when you brush!
- When you wash your hands, turn off the faucet while you soap up.
- Stop drips and leaky faucets when they occur.
- Install a low flow showerhead.
- Only run the dishwasher or washing machine when they are full.
- Catch ‘grey water’ by placing a bucket in the shower with you. You can use this water to flush toilets or water the lawn.
- Don’t hand wash dishes under a running faucet. Instead have a sink full of soapy water and a sink or bucket full of rinse water.
- Use the rinse water from your hand washed dishes to flush toilets or water the garden.
- Keep drinking water in the fridge instead of letting the cold tap run.
- When cooking, steam veggies instead of blanching them.
- Save the used pasta water or vegetable steaming water from cooking to use in the garden.
- If installing a high efficiency toilet in your home or apartment is not an option, place a sack of marbles or rocks in the tank to displace and use less water.
- Compost! You have to in San Francisco. Encourage minimal use of the garbage disposal.
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One of the questions that I am asked most frequently about what I do is: Where do you shop? The answer is a long list of places all over the San Francisco Bay area. It depends on where I am cooking, convenience, and who has the highest quality ingredients available. I typically go to the Farmer’s market on the weekend for most of my produce shopping. For fish, I highly recommend Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park—I rarely purchase seafood anywhere else. On the other side of the bay I recommend Monterey Fish Market. I shop Whole Foods for items such as flour, sugar etc.
Most Tuesday mornings you will find me at Bianchini’s Market in Portola Valley. Portola Valley has a remote quality that makes it feel very unique. It is undeveloped and whenever I am there I find it hard to believe that I am just 40 minutes away from an urban city center. You will probably see a doe and her babies meandering by the side of the road. If you are driving only a few miles over the speed limit, or come to a ‘rolling stop’, the local law enforcement will surely stop you. It’s that kind of town. The easiest way to get to Portola Valley (from SF) is to take 280 south to the Alpine Road exit. Bianchini’s is located just off of the freeway, on the main road through town. It is family owned and operated. Bianchini’s opened as a full service grocery store in 1998. It now has a second store in San Carlos that opened last spring. What I like the most about the store is the commitment to quality and their support of local farms. 
Of course, they do carry long distance items such as bananas and pineapples but they really make an effort to bring in local produce. I believe that they have some of the best local produce in the area. Chanterelle mushrooms when they are in season, a bounty of tomatoes and stone fruit in the summer, squash and apples in the fall. The meat department is also excellent. They do a fantastic job trimming and tying roasts, and the butchers are extremely knowledgeable. They carry high quality grass fed beef from Marin Sun Farms, items such as waygu brisket, as well as Mary’s air chilled chicken. They have high points for customer service too. The only department that I am not impressed by is the seafood department. However, it is worth a stop if you are driving thru Portola Valley.
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