A Weekend in Santa Barbara

Sometimes, you just have to thank your extended family for living in some pretty amazing places. I may have mentioned in previous posts that Stuart's family lives in beautiful Santa Barbara, California. Known by some as the "American Riviera," this gorgeous area is full of wineries, great food, pristine beaches, warm temperatures, and even celebrities. I never get tired of quick weekend getaways here, and sometimes have to pinch myself thinking about how we get to spend time visiting family in such a beautiful place...for FREE. No $200 per night hotel stay required!

Needless to say, we just got back from yet another great weekend and I realized to my chagrin that I have never specifically posted about Santa Barbara "weekend getaway" highlights or recommendations. So, here are some photos from our recent stays in Santa Barbara along with a short list of a few of my favorite things. I'm sure there are many great spots that I've missed, forgotten, or just haven't been to yet. If you are familiar with Santa Barbara, is there anything you would add to this list? If so please let me know in the comments below - I can't wait to explore!

Food:
Panino sandwich shop (multiple locations - get any sandwich on focaccia bread)
Jeannine's Restaurant and Bakery (multiple locations - get the Chai tea and some cake!)
Crushcakes (multiple locations - great sandwiches, salads, and cupcakes)
C'est Cheese (wonderful downtown spot for breakfast, lunch, or gourmet cheese shopping)
Padaro Beach Grill (casual family friendly spot overlooking the ocean)
The Lucky Penny (excellent for a light lunch in between wine tasting in the Funk Zone) 
The Lark (fantastic place for a more upscale dinner, in the Funk Zone)
Montecito Cafe (a nicer dining spot in upscale Montecito)
Louie's California Bistro (located at the Upham Hotel in downtown)
Opal (great yet affordable downtown spot, with dinner entrees starting around $15)
Santa Barbara FisHouse (a nice seafood spot close to the beach)
Robitaille's Candies (a little old-fashioned candy shop in the cute nearby town of Carpinteria)

Activities: 
State Street (the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, great for shopping and strolling)
Santa Barbara Courthouse Tower (climb to the top for spectacular views)
Santa Barbara Farmers' Market (Saturdays from 8:30-1:00pm)
Santa Barbara Mission & Rose Garden
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co
The Funk Zone (popular new wine tasting area south of downtown)
Corks n Crowns Wine& Beer Tasting (Funk Zone; Sunday offers sparkling wine/cupcake pairings)
Carpinteria State Beach (the "safest" beach in California, with wonderful views and sand)

 

Soup and sandwich for lunch at C'est Cheese

 

Sparkling wine & cupcake tasting at Corks n Crowns

Walking the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

  Dinner at Montecito Cafe

 View from the top of the Santa Barbara Courthouse tower

Cheesing it up for the camera!

Homemade Challah

Once in a while I am astounded by how well a recipe turns out. Last week, I wrote a bit about my attempt to try and conquer more recipes that are new to me, such as these Biscotti cookies. I recently took on a similar challenge when I decided to make homemade Challah for the first time last Friday, using this recipe as a guide. For those of you who don't know, Challah is a traditional Jewish bread that is typically eaten on Fridays and/or holidays. However, it has an amazing almost cake-like texture that makes it a lovely bread for everyday sandwiches or toast - you can find Challah at almost any bakery.

While I've baked regular bread before, I imagined Challah would have lots of tricky extra steps. I also imaged it would be very difficult to "braid" the dough in order to give it the traditional beautiful shape that it's known for. Nope. Easy peasy. While you can definitely get all fancy and watch You Tube videos on how to braid Challah, I just braided it like a regular old hair braid in three simple strands. It turned out so good that I could not stop metaphorically patting myself on the back. And force-feeding it to my visiting friends. And baking it into some bomb French toast that I will post more about very soon.

Here you go. You're welcome.

Ingredients:
4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
1 cup hot water (from the tap is fine) 
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup safflower oil or other neutral oil (canola, grapeseed, etc.)
2 eggs
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water

Directions:

1. Whisk one cup of the flour with the yeast and stir in the hot water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or a dishtowel and let rise about 45 minutes or until puffy and bubbly.
2. Directly into the bowl, add the salt, honey, oil and eggs. Stir until well mixed, then add the remaining three cups of flour. Stir until dough forms a sticky mass. Add a bit more flour, then turn dough onto lightly floured work surface and knead for just a few minutes, until dough becomes smooth.
3. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with dish towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours or longer. (Note: you can make the dough to this point and put it in the refrigerator overnight if you’re short on time).
4. Punch down dough and divide into three equal parts. Grease a baking sheet and, directly on the baking sheet, roll each piece of dough into a long rope that is about as long as the baking sheet. Braid the strands together just like you would braid hair. Brush with the egg wash.
5. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Let the loaf rise on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes while the oven preheats. Place a second baking sheet underneath the first if you have one handy — this double layer of baking sheets will help insulate the bottom of the loaf and keep it from burning.
6. Brush the loaf one more time with egg wash. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before slicing.

Biscotti with Almonds and Chocolate

Is there a specific food you enjoy eating but have never actually considered making in your home kitchen? Oh wait, there are probably wayyy too many foods that would fit that list to make this a fair question! For me, the extremely long list of "things I know I can make at home but have never tried" include items like homemade chicken stock, ricotta cheese, and granola bars, among many many other uncountable things.

Happily, this past week I knocked one new item off the list: biscotti. I've always loved biscotti, but somehow never considered making it until I ran across this recipe from a blog I am currently obsessed with called Alexandra's Kitchen. Suddenly, this fancy dessert that I never even truly thought of as a run-of-the-mill cookie seemed much more approachable. In fact, the difficulty level is on par with your basic chocolate chip cookies, except for the fact that you shape the dough into logs, which you then slice into bars halfway through baking. They're also less sweet than your average cookie, which make them perfectly acceptable to dunk into your morning cup of coffee or tea (That's acceptable, right?).

*Note: I customized the original recipe to include chocolate chunks in addition to the sliced almonds. Feel free to customize your own by swapping in pistachios or another item of your choice.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup chopped dark chocolate (optional)

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1¼ cups sugar

¼ cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract (if you don’t have/want this just use more vanilla extract)

Directions:
1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the sliced almonds and chopped chocolate, if using.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugars until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and blend again.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and blend on low-speed until just combined.
4. Remove the dough from the mixer and divide into two equal portions. Take one portion of dough and place onto the upper half of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Form the dough into a long rectangle about an inch high. Repeat with remaining half of dough, using the lower half of the same baking sheet. If you have the time, chill the prepared dough in the fridge for one hour and up to 3 days. 
5. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the logs are evenly golden brown. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully transfer logs to a cutting board. Cut the logs crosswise on a slight bias with a sharp knife. Lay the cut slices on their sides on the baking sheet. Return pan to the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

 Carefully shape the dough into two rough logs. My dough was an odd combination of sticky & dry textures but I shaped it as best I could - no need to look perfect at this stage

 You will end up with what looks like two giant rectangular chocolate chip cookies. Time to slice those babies into bars, as seen below.

 

  Pack the cooled biscotti into a cookie tin for safekeeping. You can even put half the bars in the freezer inside a tightly sealed ziplock bag - this is my go-to method for all cookies in order to control the amount of cookies I eat!

Curried Sweet Potato-Apple Soup

I have a confession. I really really wanted to post about cookies or cake today. Think along the lines of crunchy dark chocolate biscotti or creamy homemade Boston cream pie. But. It is the new year, and in honor of many likely reader resolutions to try and stay healthy this year, I thought I should abstain for all our sakes. Until next week, at least! 

My next confession, which you can probably tell by looking at my recipes page, is that I love a good pot of soup. Cue the music for my most recent soup discovery, courtesy of my parents who attend a monthly cooking club dinner. Yes, I am jealous of them and you should be too - the menus they make are absolutely amazing! 

 

This Curried Sweet Potato-Apple Soup is a wonderful fall or winter soup with complex flavors that somehow work well together. The sweet potato is creamy, the apple lends sweetness, and it is all taken up a notch by the addition of the spicy curry powder, which you can dial up or down as your tastes dictate. Add a few fun toppings (optional) and you have a healthy, warm winter meal ready to go! 

Ingredients:


3 medium sweet potatoes


3 tablespoons unsalted butter


1 small onion, chopped


2 cloves garlic, smashed


1 2 -inch piece ginger, peeled and grated


1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh if you have it)


1 1/2 teaspoons Madras curry powder


Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper


2 cups low-sodium chicken broth


1 1/4 cups chunky applesauce


1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil


1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar


1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel and dice 2 1/2 sweet potatoes. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger, nutmeg, 1 1/4 teaspoons curry powder, and salt and pepper to taste and cook until toasted, 1 more minute.

2. Add the diced sweet potatoes, chicken broth and 2 cups water to the pot, cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and stir in the applesauce. Simmer, covered, until the sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Puree the soup with a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper; keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the remaining 1/2 sweet potato and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes.
 
4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon curry powder and cook, stirring, until browned; remove from the heat and add the vinegar. Top bowls of soup with the curry butter, cilantro and sweet-potato chips.

Turks and Caicos Holiday

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and rang in 2015 with a bang. As always, I manage to be shocked and disbelieving that the past year went by so quickly. However, when I stop and think back and all the things I've done and the places I've been in 2014, it seems like a pretty lengthy and fun-filled year!

That said, I am already looking forward to 2015 and the new adventures it has in store. As with years past, I have not made any official new year's resolutions. But that's not to say that I don't have some more loose and unofficial goals for the year ahead. Some of these include: join a book club, find an opportunity to volunteer, eat fewer processed foods, wear more sunscreen, travel to New York City and maybe even Europe, and to accept my next big life transition - when Stuart graduates from his master's program - with grace and enthusiasm. We have no idea what we will be doing or where we will be living six months from now, but I guess that is part of life's wild ride!

 

Did I mention that we just got back from an epic family vacation in the Turk & Caicos, Caribbean?? It has been quite some time since my family has been able to wrangle everyone for a true family trip, and this one was beyond amazing.

We flew to Providenciales, where we stayed for 2 nights soaking in the beautiful light blue water and soft powdery sand. Then we took a 30 minute ferry to the North Caicos, where we rented a big car and drove 45 minutes to Middle Caicos, a large and very remote island with only one hotel and two restaurants to its name. We stayed at - you guessed it - the only resort on the island called Blue Horizon, which is made up of individual houses and bungalows. Our rental house had the best ocean views I've ever encountered. We swam, snorkeled, caught lobster, cooked our own meals, played card games, and had the best time. If only it was closer, I think we'd all go back in a heartbeat!

 

 View of our beach from Middle Caicos resort

 Stuart soaking in the sun in Providenciales

 Walking on the beach in Mudjin Harbor, Middle Caicos

 Collecting conch shells on the beach in Bambara, Middle Caicos

 

 Kayaking amid the mangroves in Middle Caicos

 

 See you again someday, Turks & Caicos!!