Spotlight | Miracle Plum

Miracle Plum is the dream job and full time hangout of Santa Rosa natives Sallie Miller and Gwen Gunheim. They offer delicious pantry items, responsibly grown staples from local farms, beautiful kitchen wares, cookbooks, food centric magazines (hi Cherry Bombe), grab-and-go lunches, natural wines and craft beer.

The space is so dreamy, like a retrofitted barn, with white washed walls and all the sundries you could ever want, creatively strewn about in a cozy way that feels akin to home. Basically I want to move in...

Sallie and Gwen started hosting a book club/potluck a bit ago and when I heard the next book was Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, I RSVP’d immediately. I decided on her Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli and took it to the umami heavens with a few anchovies. While I was preparing it, I realized that this was first time I was following a recipe to the letter in four years; it was comforting to just be led along, knowing I would achieve amazing results. There were a lot of instructions in what on the face of it is a pretty basic recipe. Each and every one was completely worth it. And I love the way that Samin has a poetic way of writing recipes, like when boiling the pasta water, “salt until it tastes like the summer sea.” These simple instructions encourage you to be intimately involved in the process thus bringing your senses to life.

I was excited to experience the bounteous spread that awaited us, but was also looking forward to seeing Megan, a new friend I’d made while volunteering with La Cocina. I’d roped her into attending since she is a huge Samin fan and an accomplished cooking instructor; we had a grand time gabbing over the buffet of our dreams.

It was such an enchanting evening and inevitably, my eyes were so much bigger than my stomach! Faves included focaccia, chicken pot pie, fennel and radish salad, and almond cardamom oil cake...I can’t deny I also really enjoyed my Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli. The crowd was friendly and convivial and Sallie and Gwen were consummate hosts; all in all it was it was a lovely night...strangers sharing their handiwork and bonding over thoughtfully made food gave way to a warm and wonderful time.