guinda

GUINDA (A Century in Just 14 Stages)

1) 1846: Rancho Canada de Capay was granted to the three Berryessa brothers;

2) 1887: Rumsey Ditch Association formed by local farmers to bring water eight miles from above Rumsey to near Guinda;

3) 1888: Railroad track laid up to Rumsey from Esparto via Guinda by the speculative Capay Valley Land Company;

4) 1891: Construction of the multi-story Guinda Store, still in similar use today;

5) 1893: Construction of the multi-story Guinda Hotel (razed in the 1990's);

6) 1909: Construction of the community hall, still in use, now the Western Yolo Grange Hall;

7) 1910's: Blacksmith shops and a Catholic church (the letter razed about1930);

8) 1915: The valley's first Almond Festival took place with the crowning of an Almond Queen at the Methodist Church;

9) 1916: New wooden bridge, later washed out and replaced with a steel bridge about 1959 on Road 57;

10) 1918: New elementary school, a common indication of better economic health and thus additional families;

11) 1919: Another general store opened, a rather sure sign of current prosperity;

12) 1920's: Numerous growers switch from unprofitable fruit orchards to almonds, selling to the Capay Valley Almond Growers Exchange;

13) 1941: Rail service ceases north of Esparto, thus limiting Guinda somewhat;

101 years ago--1905 (Quoted in The Daily Democrat, Nov. 7, 2005) Guinda Gleanings ---> Guinda apples seem to be making a great hit in Woodland. ---> It is said that Ed Dutton wants a large number of cats. It pays to advertise. ---> Ben Van Dyke and Carl Kindelt are digging up a lot of apricot trees for George Berry. --->George Bonifact is hauling gravel from the creek to his home place with a view of making sidewalks. ---> Tom Myers reports that a big buck ranging in his neighborhood makes more trouble than the bear for his goats. ---> A short time ago Ed Kindelt was out bear hunting. He found some fine specimens of rock which contain so much gold that he feels confident that he has struck it rich.

Guinda is the Spanish name for Choke Cherry Tree. The Capay Valley Land Company founded Guinda as part of the railroad in 1888.


---> February 24th, 2008 <---
Bazaar & Booths 10:00am - 4:00pm at the newly renovated Western Yolo Grange Hall located on Forest Avenue. Turn West at the Corner Store off Hwy 16. Plenty of parking along the street. FOOD & FUN FOR FAMILIES	Inside: Antiques, quilts and crafts will be offered for sale. The Grange Women's Association will be selling homemade almond rocha, baked goods and other goodies. Beginning at 10:00am, Western Yolo Grange will serve a tri-tip barbeque. Free entertainment by volunteers?.	Outside: The local 4-H will be sponsoring a petting Zoo. There will be continuous demonstrations in blacksmithing, horseshoe crafts and antique engines sponsored by the Western Yolo Grange #423.

Recipe: GRANNY WYATT’S ALMOND ROCHA

Ingredients:

1 cup broken almonds

1 cup white granulated sugar

¼ cup butter

¼ cup oleomargarine

2 cups almond meal (finely ground almonds)

Procedure:

Use a cast iron frying pan or an automatic deepfryer of 1500 watt capacity. Frying pan should only be used on an 8” burner with well-distributed heat, otherwise the deepfryer is recommended.

Melt butter and oleo at low temperature (below 250 degrees) and add sugar. When butter and sugar are well blended, add broken almonds and increase heat to 325 degrees within about seven minutes. The sugar mixture will first take on a creamy color and will not cling to the nuts and oil may separate from the mixture. As the heat is increased the mixture will turn slightly tan. The heat is further increased to 350 degrees and held at that temperature for a few minutes, stirring constantly. More tan color will appear; the almonds will begin to crack with an audible popping sound and will turn very slightly tan. The mixture will become more fluid, will cling to the nuts and there will be a slight burned smell with some smoking. It is now time to remove from the heat. Total time is ten minutes since adding the broken almonds.

Before starting this recipe, spread the almond meal on a large sheet cake pan (or cookie pan) to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Upon removing above mixture from the heat, allow to cool slightly to avoid scorching (10 seconds) then pour mixture onto the prepared pan. Additional almond meal should be added to the top of the mixture and the candy pressed down to a thickness of about 3/8 inch or less. Allow to cool, and then break to desired size for serving. Surplus almond meal which does not cling to the candy may be reused. When cool, the candy should be brittle and should shatter when struck. If it is sugary and not brittle it was not cooked long enough or hot enough. If it is too dark and has too much burnt flavor it was too hot or cooked too long. GOOD LUCK. AND THE RESULTS ARE WORTH IT.