Santa Barbara: A Love Letter

Dear Santa Barbara,

How did I go almost 32 years without knowing about you? I loved spending four days last weekend with you.

I love your sandy beaches.

I love your palm trees and bike paths. 

I love your low-seventies temperatures in January.

I love your sunsets.

I love your sushi restaurant, Arigato Sushi where I ordered this delicious Pretty in Pink roll. Twice.

I love your very old fig tree.

I love the wineries just to your north.

And I love that you are only a two hour flight from Seattle. Until we meet again, Santa Barbara.

(Thanks KR, for getting us out of town and into the sun for a little while. xoxo.) 

Over Ambitious Homemade Indian Food

Good god, what was I thinking making two Indian dishes from scratch for a surprise dinner for hubs? I was clearly in over my head. Yet, somehow I produced two delicious vegan Indian dishes and the only thing I ruined was the rice.

To understand how intimidating this meal was for me to make, look how many ingredients I needed for just one of the dishes: Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

When B arrived home and I told him what I was making and that maybe I should have just ordered in, he gave me a concerned look that said, yes, ordering in is a much better option because we're both hungry and you look on the verge of a breakdown.

But first, let me tell you about the first item on the menu, Baingan Bharta. When I was traveling in India last year I was so excited to try my favorite dish to order at Indian restaurants back in the US, Baingan Bharta. I searched every menu for my Indian food staple to no avail. What gives? Was it called something different in India? Was it out of season? I asked my Indian coworkers and they laughed at me! "That's home food," they said. "No one would ever order that in a restaurant. Only mothers and home cooks make that." I garnered it was the Indian equivalent to a casserole. One day, my coworker surprised me with a sample. She had her cook make me a special Baingan Bharta. "I told her to not make it too spicy," she said, as I picked up a small bite with my right hand and a piece of homemade chappati. It was like nothing I'd ever had in the US, whole chunks of soft eggplant and tomato that tasted smokey and rich and spicy. I kept my eye out, but even though I was in India for six weeks, I never did see it on a menu.

So last week when Jenna over at Eat, Live, Run, made homemade Baingan Bharta, I was inspired to try it myself. I followed her recipe almost exactly. Somehow mine looks nothing like hers. Probably because she is a trained chef and I'm a stressed out wreck in the kitchen. But anyhow. The only step I skipped was the blender/food processor step at the end. By skipping this step,  my version looked and tasted just like the authentic Indian Baingan Bharta I tasted last year.

Item number two on the menu, Chickpea Cauliflower Curry, was a recipe I half invented and half adapted from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw.

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry
1-2 inch chunk of ginger peeled, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 yellow or white onion, diced
1 granny smith apple, cored diced
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small head of cauliflower, cored and separated into bite-sized florets
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tabelspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
Dash of cayenne pepper
Handful of raisins

Saute ginger, garlic, onion, cilantro, and spices in butter  over medium-low heat until onion is translucent.
Stir in apple, chickpeas, and cauliflower and cook over medium-low heat until cauliflower is fork tender. Add the handful of raisins.

The actual cooking of both of these dishes was not complicated. But the prep work took forever. Chopping, chopping, chopping. And I am not the most swift or skilled slicer in the kitchen. I really need someone to teach me the right way to dice an onion. My approach is more like the Swedish Chef with pieces flying every which way rather than anything efficient.

Three hours later, I had miraculously created two spicy vegan Indian dishes (and a gelatinous basmati glob). Paired with some store bought naan (thankfully I didn't try to make that from scratch!), it was pretty delicious, even if I was exhausted.



Next time, remind me that I can just order in.

Now you tell me (using the new improved comment form below!), what's the most surprising or interesting thing you've ever eaten while traveling?

Taking the Train

One of the things I'm most passionate about is using public transportation. On Monday I took the Amtrak to Portland to visit my best friend and meet her son. It was the first time I'd taken the train on the West Coast since moving back from the East Coast with a new found interest in public transportation. I definitely want to continue supporting public transportation, despite that not being the norm here. Contrary to what you might think, people in the West are much more car dependent despite their otherwise environmental and progressive tendencies. The train was a great way to travel to Portland and it was only $22 one way. Take the train! It's a low stress, environmentally-friendly way to get from here-to-there.

's an iPhone photo of the interior of the Portland train station. It's such a neat old building!

6 Days and 5 Lobster Rolls

Last week, my husband and I flew up to Maine for a six day vacation in Camden and Bar Harbor. My parents came in from Washington State to join us on the adventure and we had a great time visiting, hiking, biking, and exploring coastal Maine. Most of all we had a great time eating! Our goal was to eat at least one lobster roll a day. (And I would have accomplished this if it weren't for the slow line at Red's Eats and the night I had ice cream for dinner instead.) Here is a retrospective of our mission of devouring mouth-watering rolls.

Roll #1: The Porthole Portland, Maine
Roll: B-. Not actually a roll, but a Lobsta Sandwich. The toasted brioche was too flimsy and greasy to support the generous portion of lobster. And the addition of mayonnaise to the lobster detracted from the delicate flavor.
Accompaniments: Fries, A+
Other Notes: Despite the prominent exterior sign. This establishment sells Pepsi products only.



Roll #2: Maine Lobster Festival Rockland, Maine
Roll: B+. I felt the preparation of this roll was hasty due to the high volume of the festival. But it was pure lobster and butter on an untoasted bun with no lettuce, and you can't go too wrong with that.
Accompaniments: N/A
Other Notes: Festival atmosphere and people watching was a fun bonus.



Roll #3: Maine Lobster Festival Rockland, Maine
Roll: N/A. This is actually a lobster taco, so I can't rate it on the same scale as the rolls, but it was pretty good. Complaints: the iceberg lettuce was overpowering to the texture of the lobster and could have been better shredded and the spicy salsa also overwhelmed the lobster slightly.
Accompaniments: N/A
Other Notes: Look how adorable the lobster shack is! Also, if you look close you can see my cute lobster flip flops my mom got me from LL Bean.




Roll #4: Thurston's Lobster Pound Bernard, Maine on Mt Desert Island
Roll: A+. Copious lobster, dressed in butter only, fresh, toasted bun, perfect amount of green leaf lettuce.
Accompaniments: Coleslaw, meh. Now that I've had my mother-in-law's coleslaw, all others pale in comparison. Though this was decent. Chips and cold beer, win!
Other Notes: Set on a pier in a working harbor with a screened in porch to veil diners from voracious mosquitoes, the atmosphere of this place only adds to the deliciousness. There is an open tank of lobsters right at the order counter, and while we were waiting a young child squealed "Nooo, don't kill the lobsters!" eliciting a chuckle from the crowd. He was clearly in the wrong place. Or planted there by PETA. We were undeterred.



Roll #5: Portland Lobster Company Portland, Maine
Roll: A. Copious lobster, dressed in butter only, fresh, mixed greens.
Accompaniments: Fries, B+. Nice and hot.
Other Notes: Great place to get our farewell lobster roll before leaving Maine and end on a high note.



Red's Eats Wiscasset, Maine
Disqualified. We stood in this line for almost an hour before giving up because we didn't want to get to our cabin in Camden too late. We left hungry and disappointed. We tried again on the way out of town, but the line was even longer. This may have been Maine's best lobster roll, but we will never know. Darn you elusive Red's lobster roll!

At the corner of Summer and Winter Streets

We spent three great days last weekend hiking, driving, tasting cider, and scarfing ice cream in Northern Vermont for some peak season leaf peeping. We saw leaves, cows, and covered bridges and even saw a famous Vermonter—Jerry from Ben and Jerry's. Yes THE Jerry.

It's always a sign of a good place when I threaten to intentionally miss my flight and not return to DC—although these days it doesn't take much to make me threaten that. We were fortunate enough to get the last room at the Inn—the Green Mountain Inn. It was charming and everyone was so nice.

I ♥ Vermont.