Remember when I turned 26, and I wasn't GLUTEN FREE!!!

For those who know me know I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!!!! And I have the best family and friends to spoil me on my special day, or week!

Twenty Six for some reason feels like a big milestone... Maybe because I am no longer in the 18-25 age group and I now am with the group going up to 34! 34 sounds so far away! Anyways... I always love a reason to celebrate and even more fun celebrating me.

So what did we do? We went to the farmers market with the chefs of Wine Cask, Sous Chef Nik and his helper, on their usual Tuesday produce pickup and they showed us the best vendors and share a few secrets and picked out a few of my favorite items for them to cook for us later that night.  Very prepared before we started I thought of all my favorite foods ready for when they asked.  Well they actually had a the 3 courses already planned, but they said they would do something special because it was my birthday.  So I told them I really like Spinach, Bacon, Butternut Squash, and Scallops.  We picked up a butternut squash and fresh spinach with the roots or stems still on them which gave them extra flavor (and I am guessing nutrition too?).  

After walking with the chefs we picked up some good treats and flowers.  Now I know why we don't shop there weekly, we buy everything!

A few hours later, we went to the wine cask to have our meal at the Chef's Counter.  Here are the dishes, including my special birthday dish: a scallop on top of sweet potato and pancetta hash with a spinach sauce. 

Danielle planned a celebration for me and my almost twin Eli at Bridlewood Estate Winery. She is so fancy with her cheese plates. 

Andrew made brownies and they were freaking delicious.  Thanks Ina for your... 

SUPER FUDGEY

COFFEE 

SALTED CARAMEL

BROWNIES

 Helper Scott! 

Cheers to 26, it has treated me well so far... and I am almost 26 1/2 now that I am writing this!

Gluten Free... The way it has to be!

Early February I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease after years of tummy issues, and I am happy to say I feel soooo much better.  My 'issues' were something I just started to think were normal and it was how it would be for the rest of my life... Thank Goodness it isn't, well only if I say good bye to GLUTEN!

So all my experimenting with Paleo was very helpful, but I was always off-roading on the diet.  So my body never had the chance to heal.  On Paleo I wasn't aware of cross-contamination, which means gluten could be getting in without me even knowing.  I have read blog after blog, forum after forum, and slowly becoming more and more comfortable making decisions at the store and out at restaurants.  I have told myself, I may be gluten-free, but I will never give up my love for food.

My Extraordinary Adventure of Taste has taken a turn... I don't expect to for my food to be any less than extraordinary, it will just be gluten free... the way it has to be!

Two weekends ago Andrew and I celebrated 4 years! I know time flies... I was a little worried my new way of eating was going to ruin our celebration, so I did everything I could to make it seem like nothing changed.  We had dinner at our favorite restaurant, Olio Pizzeria. I was a little nervous being so picky and having special orders, but our waitress was so nice and always made sure everything was safe. 

We drank our special bottle of 2010 Pinot Noir from Tyler.

Enjoyed gluten free parma pizza!

And for dessert... butterscotch pudding.

Cheers to 4 years!!! Love you Andrew. 

Viva La Santa Barbara!

Viva La FIESTA!!! 

Fiesta is a HUGE celebration in Santa Barbara the first weekend of August.  Everyone is out to celebrate Old Spanish Days! 

I started my fiesta Thursday granting Damian's wish at the PBR Show. 

Learn more about the Tri-Counties Make-A-Wish Chapter.

Friday I tried to stay out of the chaos, but Saturday to reward some studying I headed out De La Guerra Plaza for some great food and treats!

Chicken Tamales, Tri-Tip Tortas, Chicken Taquitos, and a little sweet treat funnel cake! (Didn't know that was spanish, but who cares.)

Confetti Galore! Gallon bag of confetti for $6, watch out visitors! Sorry, I'm not sorry, it was SO FREAKING FUN! 

Andrew, Bailey, and Phil... Covered in confetti and loaded up with another tray of confetti eggs! 

Picnic at the Mission

So I have always wanted to do a picnic at the mission, it is just gorgeous on these summer nights. 

We all brought some delicious food to share and enjoy with a glass of wine on lawn. 

Bailey's Meatballs

Prosciutto Wrapped Peppers

Peaches & Creme (Paleo)

Umm soooo good!  Here is the recipe.  I did 4 times the recipe.  Make sure you have really coconut milk, not the light stuff, and I added some extra flavor with cinnamon! 

Date Night: Olio Pizzeria

Friday night Andrew and I made reservations at Olio e Limone for dinner for our date night! We are huge fans of the pizzeria, but wanted to try the restaurant. As we entered the restaurant the whole place was very quite, serious, and stuffy. We informed the hostess we were here for our reservations and she said they weren't ready. Andrew and I felt so put of place we looked at each other and both had the same idea, pizzeria? YES!

I headed next door to see how long the wait was and there were two seats at the bar. Perfect. I felt bad canceling our reservations, but there was a nice couple that was happy to take it. Some day we will try it, but not tonight.

We ordered our favorite appetizer, calamari al nero (squid ink calamari), which is the best calamari I have ever had. We also ordered the asparagus con prosciutto topped with gorgonzola, poached egg. I thought it was delicious!

We each ordered a pizza, which is perfect because it adds variety and always guarantees leftovers. Andrew ordered the boscaiola, sausage and mushroom pizza. I had the diavola which is fresh mozzarella and spicy salami. I miss spicy salami from Italy, and this is as authentic as we will find it here in California. The owner has it shipped from Italy. And we love our Italian meats! Here we are in a meat shop in Florence, Italy back in October.

p.s. The wine we had we brought in.  It was the Syrah from Bridlewood when we escaped the fog! It paired perfectly with our Italian dinner. 

Now I was pretty disappointed with the dessert. Let me tell you, this dessert is one of my FAVORITES! I order it every time we are there. The pesche allo zenzero is a dish of peaches flambéd in caramel sauce with ice cold ice cream. Now usually they use fresh peaches, and they get crispy burnt caramel pieces on the peaches that just make this dessert perfect! As soon as our dessert arrived I noticed the peaches weren't the normal half peaches, they were small quarters. Then I took my first bite, and the flavor was there, it really can't be bad, but it was missing my favorite crispy burnt caramel and the peaches were slimy. I swear they were canned. Really! Maybe this is a lesson for me, don't order this dessert unless it is peach season. Good thing it is only a month away!

Courtyard Brunch

This breakfast/lunch place is hidden in the Victoria Courtyard, but don't discount it for its not so prime location. It is a good thing, because it has about 10 tables inside and only 6 by the fountain in the courtyard.  It is absolutely adorable, and I was so excited to try it.

We started off with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and an Arnold Palmer, which were very refreshing.  While we were waiting for our dishes, we were served a amuse bouch, LOVE the idea, but wasn't a huge fan of the chipotle fried chicken skin.  It was really spicy and had little flavor.

I ordered the chilaquiles (a favorite breakfast meal of mine) with over medium eggs with homemade chorizo.  Under the eggs sat perfectly grilled onions, chiles, and the chorizo. The flavors were delicious, slightly lacking quantity of toppings compared to the number of chips served.  I just wanted more of the flavor, less of the chips, not a bad thing.  Andrew ordered Gallons de Madre, an open faced breakfast sandwich with ham, bechamel, brioche, and poached eggs.  

We really wanted to try the maple bacon biscuit, but we did not make it before they were sold out.  (Arrive before 2pm). So we ordered the fresh baked cinnamon roll.  We were way too full to eat the cinnamon roll, so we took it home for a late afternoon dessert.  It was good, but had nothing on my grandma's.

Overall it was a great afternoon spot.  Like most of the Yelpers said, the service wasn't great, but I can deal with that as long as the food is good.  Hopefully, the word will spread and waiters will put a smile on, a smile will never hurt.

Oh Hello, Alumni Weekend!

So most of my readers are probably very familiar with Isla Vista, CA, but for those who aren't I will tell you. Isla Vista is a one square mile town next to the University of California, Santa Barbara campus normally filled with bikinis, board shorts, bikes, and a whole lot of booze, and frankly I feel very old going back ever since I graduated. There is one weekend a year when I know I won't feel old and am not the oldest person in town, UCSB Alumni Weekend.

This year was going to be low key for me I have been suffering from a cold, but I was not going to miss out on my college favorite treats!

College was the good ole days, where nothing could get us down and we were carefree. The benefit of this was we would try just about anything and we discovered some of the best of Isla Vista.

Reliving our college days we stopped by both my old house and Andrew's house. I found my balcony missing about 8 feet of it taken away as the cliff below started to erode, don't worry the view is still just as beautiful as ever. Andrew's old house was swarmed by a bunch of people wearing the same shirt and definitely not carrying on the legacy of that epic house.

Giovanni's Pizza

Next, on to beer and food! No place other than Gio's is the right place for both. Gio's is known for their thin crust pizza by the slice and RANCH! Seriously the BEST RANCH!  And if you are looking for entertainment or a competition, you are sure to find it here.  Out on the benches on the porch were teams lined up, cheering their beer cups to match up opponents, the Flip Cup race begins.  As the teams drink and flip, it comes down to the last members of each team, who can flip it faster, but at the end the whole table breaks out in chant,

"Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Gaucho, Gaucho, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Gaucho, Gaucho..."  

Ahh yes, welcome back, this is what I like to hear as I enjoy my Margarita with Pepperoni Slice and side of RANCH.  Andrew and Austin, did you learn a lesson this weekend? Don't steal my ranch.

Sam's To-Go

The local sandwich shop, which is known more for its pitchers than its sandwiches.  The prime location in the center of Pardall attracts Alumni who are interested in cheap beer and people watching, but today I think they are the people to watch.

Dublin's

Next stop Dublin's for cocktails... 

IV Drip

One of the most simplest/tastiest/best desserts in IV. I had peanut butter ice cream with peanut butter cups in between a chocolate cookie with recess and peanut butter cookie.  Honestly the best combination! I think this contributed to 90% of my freshman fifteen. You couldn't pass it up when it was only 75 cents! Now it is $2.50, but still worth every penny.    

Freebirds

Oh yes, the home of the quesa-nacho-rito!  You ask what that is, think quesadilla, nachos, and burrito, yes all in one tortilla.  Honestly, I am horrible at making my own burrito, my health angel comes over me as I walk down the isle, so I asked Andrew to make one for us to share.  First cheese is melted like a quesadilla, then it is opened up for the burrito toppings: refried beans, chicken, steak, rice, medium salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. Finally before it is rolled up, crushed chips are crumbled in the middle for an extra crunch.  Wow!!! This burrito is serious stuff, seriously AMAZING! 

WARNING: Those other Freeb!rds that are popping up around towns are nothing like the real thing.