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From Our Early Days

When we began visioning Jupiter Foods, we saw a void in our food supply system where many nearby farmers’ products were absent from our stores. We had the ability to drive from farm stand to farm stand in hopes to assemble enough produce for our needs but simply put, we couldn’t buy the stuff that […]

Espelette Pepper-Cornerstone of Basque Cuisine

Espelette Pepper is the cornerstone spice flavor of Basque cooking. The appellation d’origine contrôlée designated the spicy condiment in 2002 Piment d’Espelette. To prepare a dried Espellete place the whole dried pepper in your mortar and pestle and pound the heck out of it. Alternately, place a broken up pepper in your spice grinder. This sweet bright […]

Haiku Contest – Winners!

Our Haiku Contest winner — Ann Ingraham! lightening bugs in jars rainstorm, cracking of thunder my mom’s hands paint thyme Ann Ingraham Runners up: Small child’s hand in mine Lindsay saw the falling leaves “The leaves are leaving!” Kathy Tresch Delicate flower Your love was a raging sea And a summer breeze Conner Tamblin […]

Look Mom, We Made the Local Newspaper

Thank you to Houston Porter of the Argus Courier and Victoria Webb of victoriawebbphoto.com for the wonderful coverage. Popping up recently along the alley leading from the shadow of Petaluma’s downtown clock tower to the Balshaw walking bridge, Jupiter Foods has added a small European-style grocery store to our historic downtown streets. It packs a […]

Produce Availability

We Know Your Farmer. As we begin the process to offer online ordering (platform coming soon) we will rely on an availably list published three times a week and an offer for you to select from that list and email it to us. We can then pull your order together and send you an invoice. […]

Finding Inspiration vol2

Last version of finding inspiration I mentioned I rarely find a recipe in a cookbook or on a website that I follow because I am so inspired by what is available in the produce case I find it difficult to pull together a bunch of “out of season” ingredients. God forbid a raspberry from Ecuador […]

Finding Inspiration for Dinner

When I’m trying to decide my dinner meal plan, I’m often utilizing many different approaches. Rarely I will use a “recipe” where I need to assemble several ingredients and find a bunch of panty items or produce I won’t use for something else. Then there is the grocery store approach, where too many time I […]

If it’s good enough for Wendell…

While visiting Vermont a few years ago, Howard and I were asking the locals about their experience with Maple Syrup. We didn’t really notice a difference in the subtle nuances in flavor from one syrup maker to the next. Certainly, the grade difference resulted in a difference in the produce, but did the soil, the […]

Water Street Bistro Produce Pop-Up

Getting your first taste of Jupiter Foods is almost here. We feel the time is now, to offer you the very best produce from Sonoma County and a few extra special grocery items to make it even more interesting. Beginning October 5, 2020 9:00am several of our favorite farms along with some local producers will […]

Jupiter Foods 2.0

“What’s happening with Jupiter Foods?”, a frequent question I get while walking around Petaluma. “Jupiter Foods is still alive and the heart is beating strong!”, generally my short answer and then elaborate on more of the details. We had the opportunity to terminate the lease and begin the process again. I would like to report […]

Eating Seasonally

I read an article recently about a well-known chef who argued the value of coaxing out flavor from a batch of winter tomatoes. He demonstrated how by slicing, seasoning, and roasting his off-season produce would essentially raise the flavor profile by caramelizing the sugars therefore concentrating the flavor he could produce a finished product rival […]

The Journey of Jupiter Foods

Sitting at Water Street Bistro in early 2014 Howard and I were discussing the lack of quality grocery opportunities in the Petaluma area. We had noticed a small downtown retail space had vacated and was for rent. I conjectured a $40k budget could open such a small space with enough inventory and equipment to make […]

Little Apple Treats, Sebastopol CA

Little Apple Treats was born from a desire to find a way to make use of the apples growing in their certified Organic orchard. Dan and Joanne moved to Sebastopol in 1999 to grow native plant starts alongside their apple orchard. We first met Dan when the store I was working for in Napa was […]

We Know What the Cows Eat

Organic milk comes from organic cows and federal regulations and requirements are strict. Treating cows with hormones, including Bovine Growth Hormone, rBGH, is strictly forbidden under organic law. No herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers, ever. Straus Creamery hasn’t used any since the 1980s, long before they formally converted to organic. Some other guys are advertising […]

Defining Good Groceries

Good groceries are free from artificial flavors or preservatives, they are the cornerstone of creating outstanding recipes. A chef, whom I was intimidated to cook her birthday dinner told me, “You use the freshest, seasonal ingredients so your cooking always tastes amazing.” A compliment I took for more of my shopping than culinary skills. Point […]