Table of contents for June 2016 in Sunset

THERE ARE FEW THINGS I find more fascinating than tracing the origins of a personal passion. Everyone starts somewhere, after all—whether it's a childhood memory of helping your grandmother chop onions by the stove or an "A-ha!" moment that translates into an entrepreneurial adventure. We dream big in the West. And often, those risks are rewarded. Welcome to our June issue, whose pages are filled with personalities who have dared to go with their gut. The peony farmer in Alaska (page 82) who didn't let a few failed agricultural ventures deter her from putting her own stake in the soil. The sisters who grew up on opposite sides of the globe, unaware of each other's existence, and the wine business they launched together (page 9), whose very name celebrates their…

ANN FRIEDMAN Writer and podcaster. YOU'VE SEEN HER WORK: New York magazine, New Republic. annfriedman.com. HILDA RASULA Film and television editor. YOU'VE SEEN HER WORK: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Transparent. hildarasula.com. Where do you go to feel Echo Park's creative vibe? THE ECHO AND ECHOPLEX AF: It's a small venue, upstairs and downstairs, but—HR: The booker is amazing. You'll catch bands on their first or second national tour before they become humongous. AF: And the Rolling Stones played a surprise concert a few years ago! They also do a Monday night residency, where a local band plays Mondays for a month and it's free. And they've had a Saturday night soul dancing thing forever. Many nights, I'm on my way home and think, I'll just stop in and…

BOOK CLUB The flower whisperer These festive marigold garlands make up one of the many moments of genius in florist Ariella Chezar's new book, The Flower Workshop (Ten Speed Press; $25). The book, coauthored with Julie Michaels, gives step-by-step instructions for more than 45 projects that range from simple to spectacular using blooms, branches, and fruit. KNOW-HOW HIGH STAKES Before your pole beans reach Magic Beanstalk proportions, give them support. Here are three creative techniques. Up a cornstalk Give corn a head start of 6 to 8 inches of growth before sowing beans at its base. On a tipi Fashion an easy tipi out of 8-foot-high bamboo stakes tied together with twine at the top. On string Loop twine over string tied to wooden posts. Secure strings on the ground…

FAMILY AND WINE BEST SISTER ACT As life events go, Robin McBride had a game-changer when she was 25, in the form of a letter with big news: She had a sister. One father and two marriages had resulted in her and Andréa (then 16) living on separate continents, completely unaware of each other's existence. Within days they were face to face. "It was kind of scary at first," says Robin (at far left), "but incredibly emotional." What they found was a mutual passion, both having grown up in wine country—Robin in Monterey and Andréa in Marlborough, New Zealand. "Wine became the thing we bonded over as we got to know each other," says Robin. It's a bond the McBride sisters have parlayed into a two-continent partnership, making wines under…

1. "BUFF BEAUTY" ROSE This apricot-colored rose serves as a focal point while adding softness and sentimentality to an otherwise unusual bouquet. 2. ENGLISH LAVENDER The stalks add cooling silver and pale purple tones. And with lavender, "your guests will smell the arrangement from across the room," says Harampolis. 3. BACHELOR'S BUTTON These tall-stemmed edible beauties add a pop of color and announce that summer has arrived. Use them sparingly to keep a bouquet bright but not overbearing. 4. SAGE Sage adds silver color, soft texture, and purple-spired flowers that echo the look of lavender. 5. BORAGE Harampolis considers this fuzzy and abundant self-seeder her secret weapon in bouquets. "Its bushy form is perfect for filling in any holes," says Harampolis. Here, its small flowers match the bachelor's buttons. 6.…

[The following content appeared in the Northern California edition.] IDEA WE LOVE Backyard picnic This Bay Area garden was designed for grazing. The homeowners, who are equally passionate about cooking and gardening, "had this vision of their kids wandering out and picking berries and pulling up veggies for a snack," says landscape architect Vera Gates (arterrasf.com). To bring that vision to life, she helped the couple replace a portion of their lawn with a more productive landscape of galvanized tubs and raised beds full of herbs and vegetables; a large blood-orange tree shades a dining table set on pea gravel. Even more lawn came out for an area of concrete paving stones and silvery dymondia, which are edged by small mounds of blue fescue. PLANT Fill bare spots in borders…

There's a certain type of person who thrives in Alaska. Longing for a life more rugged than the Lower 48 could provide, Rita Jo Shoultz moved from Indiana to Homer, Alaska, in the 1960s, where she happily raised her family of four in a log cabin that had no running water or electricity for years. Decades later, she opened her own plant nursery—never mind that she had no horticultural experience at the time. And now Shoultz is the pioneer at the forefront of Alaska's newest industry: peonies. "When I started, I had absolutely no comprehension of the difficulties of farming in Alaska," says Shoultz, who was one of the first commercial peony growers in the state. "But Alaskans are a cantankerous bunch—we just aren't quitters." The state has never successfully…

CHICKEN SCALOPPINE with MUSHROOMS SERVES 4 / 30 MINUTES Pounded thin, chicken thighs cook fast and stay moist. The lemony sauce is great with a side of asparagus. 4 tbsp. salted butter, divided 2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms 1 tsp. lemon zest 3 tbsp. lemon juice ⅓ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 1½ lbs. boned, skinned chicken thighs About ½ tsp. each sea salt and pepper ⅓ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided ¼ cup unoaked Chardonnay or other dry white wine 1. In a large nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat, melt 1 tbsp. butter. Add mushrooms, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cover and simmer 5 minutes to allow juices to accumulate. 2. Uncover and cook over high heat, stirring often, until juice evaporates and mushrooms brown, about 5 minutes. Add…

IT WAS A FRIEND who first told me that fire lookout towers still existed, rising like sentinels from remote peaks in the American West. Better yet, he told me that I could stay in them. So a few years back, I recruited a few friends and we packed up a car, navigated unpaved mountain roads, and headed toward the sky. We underestimated the time it would take and arrived after dark. So it wasn't until morning that I could see the world I had entered. Peering out the glass, I felt like Alice discovering Wonderland. Valleys plunged away on every side and beyond them mountains rose above mountains. I became hooked. Once you spend time in fire towers, it's easy to understand why dreamers and eccentrics like Jack Kerouac, Edward…

[The following content appeared in the Northern California edition.] A retro boardwalk with funnel cakes and fried Twinkies makes the Santa Cruz shoreline rank high on Lack's can't-miss list. FOR A VIEW "The Sky Glider is the best seat in the house. It's a gondola-style ride that skirts almost the entire Boardwalk. I like being up there. You can see the cavemen and women hitching a ride to their job on the Cave Train." FOR TGIF Friday concerts kick off in the summer and are free. "It's like turning on classic radio." FOR CHEAP THRILLS Retro Nights are Mondays and Tuesdays. It's $1 after 5 p.m. for rides and some snacks. FOR A FLASHBACK "The Looff Carousel has one of the nation's only working ring-toss machines." It's a national historic…

LEMONGRASS THAI BASIL SPEARMINT CILANTRO SHISO PLANT A CLUSTER OF HERBS IN NEUTRAL COLOR CONTAINERS TO LET THE GREEN POP. OF COURSE, it wouldn't be summer without a bushel of sweet basil growing in your garden. But the cluster of vibrant-flavored herbs shown here are just as perfect for the season. Some, like mint and cilantro, are familiar, while others—shiso, lemongrass, and Thai basil—are more exotic, but they all can be used to add bold Asian flavor to a variety of dishes (like our easy appetizer, page 50). And thanks to their variety of heights, textures, and shades of green, they make for a winning combination in the garden too. The HERBS Grow these plants in containers with drain-age holes and fresh potting soil, place in full sun, and water…

LUDO LEFEBVRE Steak Frites Trained in some of the finest restaurants in France, L.A. chef Ludo Lefebvre became a sensation when he launched the multi-city LudoBites, one of the first pop-up restaurants in the country. He now owns Trois Mec and Petit Trois, both in Hollywood. On TV, he's starred in Iron Chef America, The Taste, and Ludo Bites America; this fall, he'll appear in season five of The Mind of a Chef. WHEN I HAVE PEOPLE OVER, I don't overdo it. I want to spend time with my guests, so I cook simple food. Steak frites is a classic French dish that I grew up with. My mom would make it on Saturdays for lunch, sometimes for guests too, and she would go to the butcher for rumsteak, from…

SPICED PLUOT JAM MAKES 4 OR 5 HALF-PINTS / 1¾ HOURS, PLUS 1½ HOURS TO STAND Subtle seasonings and a full, plummy flavor make this jam one of our all-time Test Kitchen favorites. You'll need cheesecloth as well as half-pint canning jars. This recipe can be either refrigerated for a month or canned and kept for up to a year (for more on canning, go to sunset.com/canning). 5½ cups coarsely chopped pluots, such as Flavor Supreme or Flavor King; or plums, such as Santa Rosa (from 3 lbs., two-thirds soft-ripe, the rest firm-ripe) 3¼ cups sugar 2 tbsp. lemon juice 6 peppercorns 1 bay leaf 2 strips orange zest (each 1 by 1½ in.; use a vegetable peeler) ¼ vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise ½ tsp. unsalted butter 1. In…

I CAN THINK of only one variety that, if tucked into a blind tasting, would be instantly recognizable by any wine dabbler who had tasted it even just once before: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. That's been true from its early days, 25 to 30 years ago, when the bright, flashy white took our beverage scene by storm with exuberant flavors of grapefruit, gooseberry, passion fruit, fresh-cut grass, bell pepper (stay with me here), jalapeño, and canned green beans … Enough Americans, apparently, embraced even the beans, because we began drinking rivers of the wine—and identifying the entire country of New Zealand with it. America's thirst for Kiwi wine is stronger than ever (in fact, imports were up double digits in 2015). Prompted by that surge, I tasted more than a…