Quick trip to Santa Barbara

I took a spontaneous mini trip over the past 48 hours down to Santa Barbara and back up. It's a beautiful city that I would love to visit again, maybe with a little bit more time and planning out.
Here's a little bit about the trip

Getting there
I mostly followed my waze directions to get down to Santa Barbara. I took the 101 instead of the 5 which avoided some of the monotony of I-5 (so boring! so many (dry) farms!). The 101 is also a little monotonous, but I saw the Cuesta forest fire on my way down which was a little scary, it was really close to the highway, like I could see flames right next to my car... and driving by Pismo beach was really pretty. If I were going for a more scenic route I would have taken the Pacific Coast Highway which is beautiful, if not a little scary due to all the curves!

Staying
We stayed at the Wayfarer, which way exceeded expectations. I was visiting with my best friend's sister and her mom so there were three of us. They got there before me and were cracking up as we walked to the room. When the two of them arrived, they were a bit confused because the room was tight and there only appeared to be one bed:

They checked back in at the front desk, confused, asking how we would fit three people, to which the person at the desk responded that there's a murphy bed in the room... again they were confused as to where the murphy bed would be. The guy said he would send over maintenance who came and opened up the murphy bed:

Heh! They used their "air space." Too funny.

The Wayfarer was really clean, had a kitchen you could use that had pots pans and kitchen basics like olive oil and spices. We didn't utilize it but I could see it being really nice if you stayed for a longer visit. The pool was on the smaller side but relaxing after laying by the beach. And our room came with a small veranda with two chairs giving a nice space to lay out if the pool was too crowded. 

I would definitely stay again.

Things To Do

With very limited time to spend in Santa Barbara, we had to choose our activities wisely. We decided to visit two very standard stops... the beach and the courthouse, both beautiful in different ways. We started at the courthouse which was stunning. There's so much history in those walls, I loved that you could just wander around at your own pace.

The beach was also beautiful. We went by the pier by the Wayfarer just to lay around. You could have rented kayaks or paddle boards but we decided to just laze around in the afternoon. The beach wasn't crowded at all despite it being sunny and warm which I really appreciated. Later, after freshening up at the hotel we walked along the coast to watch the sunset. We walked down the cliffs along a path called "one thousand steps" (exaggerated.) and we were able to walk around a bend to see the sun. It was a perfect walk to take right before dinner.

Good Eats
I want to highlight one of the places we went to eat, Tupelo Junction Cafe. After quickly looking up some yelp reviews while downtown and starving for lunch, we happily stumbled into this cafe. They have a southern flare to their food: fried green tomatoes, hushpuppies. Everything we had was delicious, though guilt inducing. I would absolutely head back there for seconds and thirds if I could.

Can't wait for my next trip back to this beautiful place.

photos of The Wayfarer from their website.

Food Reviews: The Advocate

Our new apartment is in the lovely town of Elmwood in Berkeley. While I love the Berkeley food scene, any new additions are always welcome. I find that Peter and I get stuck in a rut when it comes to eating out going to our same five favorites and not branching out often. We were delighted to hear that one of our favorite restaurants, Comal, opened a sister restaurant right in our neighborhood just two weeks ago, called The Advocate.

We decided to try it out tonight (since it is just about a million degrees and the thought of turning on an oven makes me break out into a sweat) and here's what I thought...

We walked over there at about 5:20 to get there by the time it opened. Both Comal and the Advocate have a no reservations policy which, as we've seen at Comal, can mean that tables fill up fast. When we turned the corner there was a line already out the door to get in! But we were lucky enough to sit down right away. They had plenty of space.

I started out with their ricotta toast which was delicious. It was slightly sweet, topped with flowers and olive oil. It was the one thing I was able to get a picture of before it was eaten up!

Peter started off with their carrot soup and reported that it was really tasty. I told him he was crazy for eating such a hot dish when we were finally sitting in some air conditioning.

We both ended up getting the spit-roasted chicken. They have a similar dish at Comal where you order a whole chicken to share. I thought it was really tasty. The chicken was perfectly roasted and juicy on the inside. The only thing I hope they improve on is the underlings - they had pureed turnips (I think), mushrooms and pearl onions. I would have loved something either a little heartier or some green vegetables, but I'm sure those will change with the seasons.

Overall it was great! They have a beautiful space inside, I loved all of their hanging lamps. Can't wait to try some drinks next time! The swizzle is top on my list!

homemade, challah!

I went on quite the adventure today after discovering this blog.

It inspired me to 1. explore my local goodwill and see what kinds of vintage cookware it was hiding, and 2. make some challah bread and put my bread hood to use with my kitchen aid!

Wanting this to be an adventure, and not just a trip to goodwill, I decided to walk, about two hours round trip to get some fresh air. Good thing I did, because I found a goodie on the way there!

I found this one on the side of the road! It's vintage Descoware - a company that used to make enamelware before Le Creuset purchased it in the 60s. It has a dime-sized chip in the enamel so it may not be useable, but it sure is pretty.

Goodwill find: vintage pyrex. It just so happened to match the pan that I picked up 30 minutes before. It's really pretty and came in really handy for bread baking!

After finding that bowl at the Goodwill in Emeryville, I tried my luck at the one in downtown Berkeley, but unfortunately they did not have nearly as much stuff. If I had driven to the store in Emeryville, I probably would have come home with a lot more stuff. I will be keeping my eye out for more of these bowls though.

Later, I decided to make some homemade challah bread. I got the recipe from the kitchn, written by Emma Christensen. Their photos are really helpful in figuring out what everything should look like at every stage. 

Putting the dough hook to use on the kitchen aid! It made kneading so easy. My mom was an expert bread maker, and I have very real memories of her kneading bread in the kitchen, punching it down, etc. This whole process reminded me of her. 

Bread braiding! Pretty good for my first try, if I do say so myself. Again, this was another process that reminded me of my mom. I was always fascinated bread braiding. She would do it so quickly and with such ease. Next up I'll have to try a stuffed bread recipe - she would always make one around Christmas to have on Christmas morning... That's where most of these memories come from. Every year, she and my Aunt would make loaf after loaf to give away to friends.

finished product. A little blobby, but a success nonetheless!