Thursday, July 21, 2011

Take a Coffee Break...

Take 5 minutes to watch this little movie I created with my photographs of a Vietnamese coffee set my friends Zach and Laura brought back for me. Take the time to slow down, watch, and listen.
Note: the quality of the movie is better in the small version, not full screen...at least on my computer.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Cat's Meow

On my Lazy Sunday, I treated myself to lunch at Hungry Cat on Anapamu Street and Chapala, in Santa Barbara. Though the spot prawns sounded divine, I decided on the Crab Benedict. Two very crabby crab cakes topped with crisped Kale, house-smoked bacon, poached eggs, and a lovely light Hollandaise. Wow. At first I thought the portion was quite small, but soon realized the richness of this dish. The perfect bite, with all the ingredients, was amazing. Yes, it's almost cheating pairing bacon and runny egg yolk with other things, but those two ingredients must be high quality for the whole thing to work - and Hungry Cat did it. Boy oh boy, if you are needing to satisfy your craving for something completely savory and satisfying, I highly recommend this dish. Plus some of the best iced tea in town to wash it all down and I was a happy camper. Dare I say, it was purrr-fect?

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Summer Weekend in Santa Barbara

Above you see my most delectable breakfast - scrambled eggs from fresh eggs given to me yesterday by a friend and fresh chives from the market, a peach from the market as beautiful as a sunset, grapefruit juice, and jasmine monkey king tea.
On Friday, my friends and I and loads of other locals, enjoyed watching Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in Swingtime light up the big screen at the Courthouse sunken gardens. The full moon rose over the historic landmark as everyone clapped for the dancers on screen, as if they had been dancing for us live on stage. I enjoyed being amongst other people who enjoy these old movies just as much as I do. Everyone oo'ed and aw-ed at the dancing duo, swinging around the screen. Almost magical, really.
My good friend, Elizabeth, was in town this weekend and her mom kindly took us out to lunch at Anderson's. Anderson's, a Danish restaurant, is located on State Street and has lovely outdoor tables, great for people watching. The wait staff is kind and the service a bit slow, but it's no big deal if you are with people you like talking to. I have eaten there twice before, but never really enjoyed the food. I have come to the conclusion that this is another spot where you just have to be careful what you choose to eat. This time I chose correctly - the open faced sandwich with Scottish smoked salmon, dill Havarti, eggs, and a sweet dill sauce. Though the sauce was on the sweet side for me, the entire dish together was quite tasty. I tasted an almond puff pastry kind of thing that the ladies ordered and boy was it addictive, but once again way too sweet.
I've been making more jewelry lately...playing around with different looks and styles.
I made this necklace so that the gears of the inside of this watch face out, but you could also wear it with the face out.
Caroline and I walked around the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens this morning. Holy Cactus fruit! Doesn't really make you want to attempt to pick that fruit!
While shopping for a friend in a baby store, I came across this blue spinning wheel and a flood of memories rushed into my mind. I remembered when I was little and wanting one of these so badly every time I saw one. Today, I had the power to buy one myself! $2 later and there I was standing on State Street grinning like a 5 year old, hypnotized by my wheel spinning in the wind. I think I should have bought more than one...
Another tomato shot just to make you drool a little. This heirloom tomato got all dressed up for Christmas, no? Tomato, fresh chives, kosher salt, and special olive oil from Southern France. Perfection.