Simply Delicious is Right!

I ventured to upper State Street to check out Plow to Porch organics - a store focused on local produce and, what I find really neat, meat from local, grass or appropriately fed, humanely treated animals. While there I discovered Simply Pies Pot Pies. Being familiar with their sweet, fruit pies, I was intrigued to see savory pies and quiches. I decided to treat myself and purchased a frozen Beef Pot Pie for $8.99. I made it for lunch that day! I didn't follow the recommended directions of brushing an egg wash (didn't want to use an egg) or cream (didn't have any) on top, but I don't mind slightly undercooked/unbrowned dough....especially when it is so divine.

There it is, straight out of the oven. Mmmmmm....

It is hard to explain in words how the grass-fed beef tasted immersed in fresh organic vegetables and seasoned with the perfect amount of spices. The thyme really stood out to me and the richness achieved in the filling was amazing. Each pea tasted very much like a pea, which I know sounds crazy, but things just don't taste as much like themselves as they used to! A very satisfying pot pie indeed!

Simply pies are, just like the box says, simply delicious.

They have a Blogspot blog too! http://simplypiessb.blogspot.com/
http://www.simplypiessb.com/

Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz...Island

My friend Caroline, her mom, and I went on a mini adventure to Santa Cruz Island last week. Arriving at Island Packers in Ventura at 9:15am we were very excited to get out on the water and hit the island. After a bumpy ride out there, we set foot on land and got ourselves oriented.

 We hiked to Smuggler's Cove where we ate our peanut butter sandwiches and apples.

A cold wind blew as we walked back from the warmer side of the island back to Prisoner's Harbor.

This is officially the largest and oldest looking Eucalyptus I have ever seen!

This was a wonderful, little adventure and a great few hours of peace. We checked out some great camping sites and already can't wait to go back!

What did I do with all those tomatoes, you ask? I made tomato soup, tomato salad, tomato sandwiches, gazpacho, tomato sauce, and plain old diced tomatoes with olive oil and salt. And I still love tomatoes!! Thanks Christine!

Last week I went to a new Santa Barbara restaurant - The Crepe Shoppe. I enjoyed a ham and Gruyere cheese buckwheat crepe. The crepe was quite tasty and I really liked their creative homemade strawberry, basil lemonade.

Seen above is the salumi and cheese platter from Olio Pizzeria. It's pretty much as delicious as it looks. Nothing like freshly sliced prosciutto! Mmmm...

Colorful Santa Barbara

Before leaving on a trip my friend gave me two boxes full of beautiful tomatoes from her communal garden plot. Aren't they glorious? They taste just as good as they look.

Nature is pretty gosh darn amazing. I love this bright green and yellow one.

Jeff bought me a bouquet of lavender when we were wandering through the farmer's market this past weekend. Brownie points were awarded! Thanks for the vase, Mom!

A dear friend and her mom came to town for a very quick visit and we were able to spend a lovely moment together sitting at the beach eating gelato and sorbet from Here's the Scoop in Montecito. I enjoyed a plum sorbet and it was so extremely plummy I could hardly believe it. This is Sylvia's photo below. They enjoyed strawberry and watermelon...pretty in pink!!

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.

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?

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.