Happy Girl Inspiring a New Generation of Putting Food By

Happy Girl Kitchen, “Certified Organic Food that Feeds Your Soul,” is a participant in the HER Helmet Thursdays project. That means their  lunches, lattes, and other food and beverages consumed in-house (or at their tables out front) are discounted all day on Thursdays for anyone who bikes there. Click here for Happy Girl’s HER Helmet Thursdays listing.

But there’s more to know about Happy Girl, as you’ll learn below.

Photo provided courtesy of Happy Girl Kitchen.

Making happy memories–and next months’ food

When my friends Sandi and Steve were here from Spokane last month, we were pedaling back from Pacific Grove via the bike/multi-use coastal trail when I mentioned Happy Girl Kitchen. I’d pedaled there a few times to have a Happy Girl experience, and my friend Terrill had recently treated me to a jar of their certified-organic strawberry marmalade. I knew Sandi would want to take a detour up to the old Granary Market address—173 Central, PG—where Happy Girl had opened their store, production kitchen, and cafe last fall.

Sandi is a registered dietician, and she and her family have a penchant for healthy, yummy food. Sandi has also been canning up a storm since she was a teenager. I know, I helped her when visiting her home in Tonasket, Washington.

As a child in Central Illinois, my siblings and I helped my mom can every summer. From garden to table, there were a multitude of tasks to share in. Come harvest time, our home kitchen became an impressive food-processing production line, with lots of responsible assignments for us kids. Waiting for the ping of the jar lids was exciting. Mom would lift them out of the hot-water of the canner, we’d dry them off, then admire the sparkling jars of colorful garden fare before trotting them down the basement steps to line up neatly in the cool pantry.

Months later, what mostly remained in that basement pantry was the end-of-the-garden relish. Not that the relish wasn’t tasty—it was, at least Dad especially loved it. The canned peaches, chunky applesauce, and many other goodies were what we kids went for first!

Looking at my old food preserving pubs brings back happy memories.

Happy Girl helps people create new memories of fun food-prep times with loved ones.

Grow it or buy it, and preserve it

Yesterday I brought home luscious organically grown strawberries from the farmers market, and it’s exciting to see new produce coming on as spring gets into full swing.

Whether you buy or grow your own, consider putting up food the Happy Girl way; they’ll even teach you how. See the Tanja Roos story, “Jarring Experience” from the Monterey County Weekly. Happy Girl provides workshops, canning equipment, bulk produce—basically everything you need to preserve food at home.

Learn more about Happy Girl in the Weekly‘s story about their opening:  Pat Tanumihardja, “Tickled by Pickles.”

Happy Girl is a State of California-licensed cannery. All products are canned in-house using local and organic produce.

Especially for the non-canning crowd

Don’t want to can, just want to hang out and feel the vibe? Happy Girl has an espresso bar and serves tasty snacks and meals. Enjoy it seven days a week, and on Thursdays, you get that Happy Girl’s HER Helmet Thursdays discount if you bike there, walk in with your bike helmet as evidence, and mention HER Helmet Thursdays.

Happy Girl has a Monterey County home with a very special feel for longtime peninsula residents: it’s at the old Granary Market location. This address, 173 Central Avenue (at Dewey), is where the street changes Lighthouse Avenue to Central Avenue, and from business district to residential, as you head from New Monterey to Pacific Grove.

Bike-there tips

Happy Girl is parallel to the bike/multi-use trail and isn’t far from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. From the Aquarium, head toward Pacific Grove just past the American Tin Cannery complex. The first street after that is Dewey. Hop off the bike path and bike up Dewey. Happy Girl is on the corner of Dewey and Central.

Questions?

Visit the Happy Girl website, or give them a call 831-373-4475.

 

This post was previously published April 20, 2011, with a few subsequent updates.