Wine Festival

I just bought my tickets to the Santa Barbara County Celebration of Harvest Wine Festival coming up in October. Woo hoo!!!!


I went two years ago and it was a blast. It is held on a ranch out in the Santa Barbara hills. What better way to celebrate autumn than to enjoy some wines and snacks in the sunshine amid the oak trees? About 50 wineries participate, some of which are really amazing. A few of my favorites are Palmina (their Malvasia Bianca is YUM), Alma Rosa (organic), and Sanford. Can't wait!

OK so this is really fingerlakes region in upstate NY...but I didn't have a pic of an SB vineyard

Lots of good food in Santa Barbara, I'm hoping to eat at The Hungry Cat where I had spot prawns last time! Yummy! I buy some of my veggies at the farmers market from a really cool farm in SB called Fairview Gardens. They are a non-profit community education organic farm, a very neat little oasis in suburbia. When I was there last the pomegranate bushes were going off!!! There is also the very beautiful Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, a wonderful place to take a stroll. I love visiting farms and gardens, they feel so peaceful to me, full of life energy - you know what I mean?

There is this great hole in the wall taco place in SB - Lilly's Tacos...the BEST salsa. They have tacos de ojo - yes, that is EYEBALL, and no, I haven't tried it.

Anyone else happen to be going to the wine festival? Let me know! We'll look for you there! :)

Drink and food porn

Went to this really interesting bar the other night and I just had to share their crazy drink recipes with you.  I love to try new things so we ordered a bunch of their funky specialty cocktails to sample the flavors. We ate some amazing too. Some restaurant food and drink porn follows for you...

First here are some of the very interesting drinks we shared.

This one had mescal, chipotles, red jalapenos and lime. It tasted like BBQ. Strange. 

It was my friend's favorite, I thought it tasted too much like a fireplace. Interesting tho.

This one was blueberry, eau de vie, cachaca. It was fruity and sweet.
I'd make it less sweet. That's a giant ice cube.

I have recently gotten into drinks with cucumber and tequila. This was not as good as others I have had.
I had one in NYC with cucumber and jalapeno - so good. And one in LA with cucumber and mint - even better.   

The one on the left one was tasty - it had red pepper, agave and whiskey. And basil. The bartender slapped the basil before he put it in the cup. That made me laugh! or maybe it was the prior cocktails that made it so funny.

In addition to these cocktails we also shared some food. Take a look...

I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of this until we had eaten 75%. Sorry! It was SO good.
Ahi tuna "ceviche" but sashimi style.
It was over cubes of jicama, with salted avocado on the side and baby cilantro.
So so yummy. The fish was super fresh.

Baby lamb chops with olives, capers and peppers. WoW! I could eat 500 of these. I love grilled baby lamb chops.
They made a face out of paprika or something. Cool.

Oh no...now I just made myself hungry and thirsty...

Herbs

Happy 9/9/9! :)

Poll time!

What are your favorite herbs to cook with and eat? What is the one herb you cannot live without?

What herbs do you not like?

Me? I love herbs. (that sounds wrong...)

My favorites are cilantro, thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano, mint.
If I had to pick one....gosh, cilantro? It's so versatile - goes with Latin, Asian, Indian foods. Second fav would probably be thyme. But please tell me that I never have to pick just one.

I do not really like parsley. Or dill.

There are so many others - marjoram, sage, lemongrass, shiso, epazote, curry leaf, lemon verbena, kaffir lime, bay leaves!!! YUM!

What about YOU? Any favorite or hated leafy seasonings?

Next time we will talk about spices! :) Perhaps you have noticed I am using one a lot lately? My new favorite!

Bragging

Check out my awesomest seats at the game! I got so lucky! Last minute I got a free ticket ON the 50 yard line, 4 rows back. Yeah baby! It was FANTASTIC!

So so close!!!

Don't eat these, but aren't they cute?

I don't really know what this is all about...

Final score - yes, that is how we do it, bitches. hehe!

 

Just fyi,  I really wanted a sausage but I did not partake in anything at the game except a $5 bottle of water. It was SO hot out sitting baking in the sun! Whew! Lots more food options than I remember - lots of BBQ, sausages, chicken. Good to know!

I'm in love!

Oh darling readers...I am in LOVE!

I have found my dreamboat at last...let me introduce him to you...

Mr. Cauliflower Rice!!!

He is delectable, delicious, delightful. He is everything I ever wanted in a companion. Versatile, flexible, and oh so yummy!

Sorry to be a freak! but I have discovered the best food ever. I know that many of you have already tried this tasty treat, but for some reason, I never have! Thanks to Elizabeth's great blog Caveman Food, I finally decided to give it a whirl. Her food always looks SO amazing!

I ate this side dish with other scrumptious foods. I made these really fantastic spicy pork patties with tons of Pimenton de la Vera, garlic and thyme, sauteed some onions with turmeric, a little salad and my new love...HEAVENLY! Who gets this excited over cauliflower? But it tastes like rice! Only better!

My new passion has one drawback. It's kind of a pain to grate by hand. I'm afraid I will grate off my fingers in my zeal. Should I purchase a food processor with a grating attachment just so I can enjoy this delight on a regular basis?

Fig breakfast

Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.
-Walt Whitman
(I was reading this last night)

Here's a pic of my tasty filling breakfast: figs with a splash of balsamic vinegar, and scrambled eggs with green zebra tomatoes and bacon. YUM YUM! (fyi...this is a salad size plate and after this I won't need any lunch)

Do you like fresh figs? I do! Things that have a very short season of deliciousness grab my attention. You only get them for a little while, better enjoy them!

This variety of figs is my favorite! I think they are called Kadota - they are green on the outside and pink on the inside - could they be prettier? Not super sweet, just perfect. They are only around at the farmer's market for a few short weeks, and you have to eat them within a few days of harvest. I think they are great on a salad and go very well with balsamic vinegar and bacon...

Have a great day!!!

Football season!

I'm very excited that college football season is starting! YAY! I'm going to the season opener game on Saturday! Can you guess my team? hehe!

These games are all day events with the tailgating before and after. My friends throw the most amazing elaborate catered tailgates, complete with bartenders, so usually I will eat something there. If not, I will try and eat something substantial at home beforehand to keep me from devouring the stadium nachos.

What do you eat when you are at an event like that all day? Do you avoid the beer or endulge?  I really enjoy a good sausage!


I'm so excited to scream, yell, jump up and down, and shake my pom poms! haha! What are you all doing this long weekend? Have fun whatever it is!

Enoki mushrooms

Hey there everyone!

Made a simple dinner last night but I found a new favorite food - enoki mushrooms! Have you tried them? I bet you have. I know I have eaten them in soups at Japanese restaurants. But here is a little something I found out last night - when sauteed, enoki mushrooms seem a lot like noodles. YUM! Because I love pasta, and of course you know I don't get to eat it regularly!


I marinated some shrimp in a mixture of jalapeno lemon olive oil (my mom got it for me), serranos, garlic, thyme, and a little preserved lemon. I like shrimp a lot because they are great for the single diner. You take 'em out of the freezer and they defrost in cold water in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, I sauteed up some  yellow squash with garlic and thyme. When they were almost done I threw in the enoki mushrooms and added some salt.

Quickly cooked the shrimp in the same pan, and that was it! Simple! When I took a bite of the mushroom/squash combo it reminded me of noodles, and I was thrilled. I really love pasta, there's just something about that chewy bite that is so satisfying. Enoki mushrooms have that noodle look and a chewy texture too. YUM!

Looks like a lot of food - it was. Mostly veggies but I couldn't finish it. No worries! Leftovers!

Have a great Thursday everyone!!! It's almost Friday and a long weekend! Doing anything fun?

Spicy chicken skewers

Dinner last night was so yummy!!!

First, I marinated a cut up chicken breast (a HUGE breast! can people really eat one by themselves?) in a mixture of a little coconut milk and a lot of green curry paste. Put it back in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, I used my mandoline to slice some green and yellow squash and quickly blanched them with some bean sprouts. When I say quick, like 30 seconds. Put them in the fridge to cool while I made a little dressing: teaspoon of sambal olek powder, juice from 1/2 lime, drop of fish sauce. I took the blanched veggies out of the fridge and added some grated carrot and chopped cilantro, along with a little toasted macadamia nuts and coconut flakes.

I put the chicken on skewers (oiling them first!) and threw them under the broiler for 15 minutes, turning once.

The chicken came out AMAZING! SO spicy!!!!!!!!!!!!! And juicy and tender too. The Mae Ploy brand of green curry paste is so delicious. If you can find it, try it. YUM!

Leftovers too! Yay!

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Salmon patties

I decided to make some salmon patties for dinner as I had a can of salmon on hand.

Ingredients:
Small can wild salmon
1 egg
coconut flakes
cumin
2 tblsp diced chiles in vinegar

Super easy! I just mixed all the ingredients together, let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so, then fried up little patties in coconut oil.

To go along with the patties, I wanted a salsa of some sort. I thought a mango salsa would be awesome, and I had half a peach so hey- mango...peach...same thing right? Well, the peach was a white peach and super sweet so it wasn't the best. But it was still good! I made a peach and avocado salsa and put it atop the salmon with a salad alongside. The serrano I added to the salsa was SUPER hot. It's funny how sometimes you buy a bunch of peppers and one is crazy spicy and the others are milder.

Have a great day!!!