cookiesinheaven

is opening a second location this Saturday (June 16) in Carpinteria...and they have some 2-for-1 specials of their great products every hour and some terrific "goodie bags" to give away.

Stop on by. 

Support a locally owned small business.

Noon - 5:30 p.m.

4193 Carpinteria Ave #9


I'm making a Carpinteria day of it on Saturday. Hopping the Amtrak. Stopping by the grand opening. Wandering around town and "visiting" other stores. Having lunch at Sly's...then hopping the train back to town. 

Labels: Amtrak, Carpinteria, Grand Opening, Grapes, local, Santa Barbara, Small Business, train

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation® Santa Barbara has inspired several local chefs to lend their extensive talents to this premier culinary fundraising event. The goal? Raising money and awareness of childhood hunger in Santa Barbara County and the Nation. The locavore spirit not only resides in the foodie nomenclature, but in fundraising, too. Giving back to community, in more ways than one, is what these chefs are all about.

Jessica Foster, of her eponymous confectionery, has participated in Taste of the Nation Santa Barbara since its inception five years ago. Having been raised in the Central California area, Jessica knows that hand making every truffle, using quality local ingredients, makes all the difference. Asked why she has been involved in Taste of the Nation Santa Barbara, Jessica replied, “I’ve been asked to do alot of fundraisers but I keep coming back to Taste of the Nation because it involves good food and good people passionate about a good cause. And, it’s fun.”

Ron True, of the recently opened Arlington Tavern located at 21 West Victoria Street, began as a young chef at very same location when it was then the SOhO. He attended cooking school in Bourgogne France and ventured into kitchens worldwide, including NYC, Spain and Italy. He also spent time at the renowned San Francisco restaurant, Zuni Cafe, where Roast Chickens and Ceasar Salads have become foodie Meccas. Using the many influences from his experiences he has brought an inspired menu to the Arlington Tavern that he calls “New American Farm Fresh.” Chef True is excited to participate in Taste of the Nation Santa Barbara. “I’ve participated in Taste of the Nation events back in New York and it’s a great way to give back to the community, and I am very happy to be back.”

Mossin Sugich, of Blush Restaurant and Bar, was born in Santa Barbara yet raised in the United States, England and The Middle East. He was inspired by his grandmother and aunt to start cooking at twelve and continued his passion by enrolling in Santa Barbara City College’s Culinary Program. Chef Sugich has worked at many of the top restaurants in Santa Barbara, including Elements, the Four Seasons Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch before becoming the head chef at Blush. He has been participating in Taste of the Nation since 2008. He says that childhood hunger issues “hit home for me because growing up my mother’s family were all very involved with charity, and feeding the needy, but not in the just donating to charity type of charity. In the middle east melting pot, where a lot of different immigrants came to work, there was a lot of poverty. My family used to go buy bags of rice, and portion it out and go to the slums of the city. We would need to distribute it with a truck on-the-go, because we would get mobbed. It also hits home because I have a daughter and son on the way, so needless to say, it saddens me to see children hungry in any part of the world.”

Brian Champlin, of the Succulent Cafe and Trading Company in Solvang, had been working in the Santa Barbara restaurant scene for many years at venues such as Elements and The Wine Cask before following his dream of opening up his restaurant earlier this year. “Cowboy Western comfort food with French cooking techniques” is how Brian’s food has been described, but his fare can be summed up in one word; delicious. Actually, add another word to describe the cafe’s deliciousness; bacon. Brian started a charcuterie and Succulent actually makes and sells their own bacon that lives up to their name. Keeping it local and caring about community is important to Brian, so his involvement to help childhood hunger locally comes as no surprise.  “This is a great event. Food, fun and all for a good cause. And, doing something for the kids helps me sleep at night.”

On May 20, you can meet these chefs, along with many more and you too can give back to our local Santa Barbara community. All funds raised by Taste of the Nation Santa Barbara help support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger and benefits the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.

Taste of the Nation® Santa Barbara is nationally sponsored by American Express, Sysco, Food Network, and is presented locally by The Daily Sound, The Montecito Messenger and 805 Living Magazine.

Additional local sponsors include the Montecito Country Club, Mentor Worldwide LLC, Montecito Bank & Trust, DCH Lexus of Santa Barbara, The Naked Grape and DRY Soda.

Tickets for Taste of the Nation® Santa Barbara are $65 for General Admission and $95 for VIP and can be purchased by visiting http://ce.strength.org/events/taste-nation-santa-barbara

Labels: Chefs, Chocolate, local, Santa Barbara, Taste of the Nation

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Labels: Edible Communities, local, Santa Barbara

Tantalize your Intellect and Tastebuds

While Donating to

Women Economic Ventures!

WEV needs your help! Funding shortfalls threaten their ability to continue to provide program services at their current level. WEV provides opportunities for entrepreneurs in every phase of the business life cycle: start-up, launch, grow, and sustain. Their programs and services offered fall under the areas of training, access to capital and business services. All services are open to men and women entrepreneurs interested in starting or growing their business.

Lime Green Monkey invites you to a wonderful evening of fun and fund raising at Oreana Winery to benefit WEV -

Oreana Winery in Santa Barbara will transform into a salon the evening of Wednesday November 10^th, 2010. Not “salon” as in a hair cut or makeover. Rather, expect a salon in the 16^th century French version of the word: a cultural gathering of citizens coming together to expand their knowledge through conversation and entertainment.

“When I was enlisted to join the alumni fundraising campaign for Women’s Economic Ventures, I wanted to create an event I would like to attend—something cultural, inspiring and interactive, with an organic feel, but at a price that doesn’t break the bank,” said Kristin Anderson, a WEV graduate and owner of Lime Green Monkey, an eco-business that vends organic cotton handkerchiefs and cloth napkins.

The Home Grown Cultural Salon, only $30 in advance and $35 at the door, will feature performances by singer songwriter Earl Arnold, a local Indy favorite known for his band “Earl” and Antara Hunter, who has been part of the SB music scene since 1997, including a 10-year stint in the dynamic duo Antara & Delilah.

In addition, salon attendees will enjoy a reading by Patrick McHugh who teaches writing at UCSB, and a reading by Jenna McCarthy—author of the Parent Trip—who will be reading from her latest book Til Death Do Us Part is a Really Long Time, due out Summer 2011.

Organic appetizers made from local organic produce donated by Fairview Gardens will be prepared by "The Surfin' Chef" Erik Stenberg with Out of the Box Collective www.outoftheboxcollective.com , and cookies will be made by “Cookies in Heaven” expert Jillian Johnson from organic ingredients donated by Whole Foods, Santa Barbara. And, of course, your ticket includes a glass of wine from Oreana Winery, with more available at the no host wine bar. Non-alcoholic beverages donated by Trader Joe’s will also be available.

Don’t forget your checkbooks! A silent auction table will feature a broad range of high quality items donated by local businesses: music speakers from Utopia, www.installutopia.com, a photographic nature print by Dan Holmes of www.danholmesphoto.com, an Ayurvedic Facial from Maria Carbonell of www.samaayurveda.com, Santa Barbara Women's Self Defense will be donating 2 hours of Private Self Defense Instruction with Teri Coffee McDuffie worth a value of $400 www.sbslfdfnz.com, a $25.00 gift certificate from Crush Cakes www.crushcakes.com, a 3-pack of Snottykins organic cotton hankies from www.limegreenmonkey.com and more.

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All profits will be donated to Women’s Economic Ventures, a non-profit which provides opportunities for entrepreneurs in every phase of the business life cycle, from start-up and launch, to sustaining and growing your business through training courses, loans and more. As WEV is experiencing a budget shortfall, many graduates are stepping up to the plate in an alumni fundraising campaign that runs through December 31^st, 2010. For additional fundraisers, see www.wevonline.org

Event Details:

What: Home Grown Cultural Salon / Women’s Economic Ventures Fundraiser

Where: Oreana Winery, 205 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA

When: Wednesday 11/10/10, 7pm -9pm

Cost: $30 in advance, $35 at the door

Tickets: http://wevonline.givezooks.com/events/home-grown-cultural-salon

More Info: Kristin@limegreenmonkey.com or 805.886.9147

Labels: fundraising, local, Organic, Santa Barbara, WEV, women, Women's Economic Ventures

Labels: Flickr, local, meal, Noozhawk, Restaurant, Santa Barbara

"....The thing that made California so great was our world-class education system, an education system that was the envy of the world. I was fortunate enough to grow up having good public schools and great teachers. I also had great teachers at SBCC, who helped me secure a scholarship to UC Berkeley and I went on to earn a graduate degree from UCSB. Growing up in poverty, I would not have been able to become the person I am now, or enjoyed the many opportunities in my life, if it weren’t for the public school system.

Every child, regardless of where they grow up, deserves access to the same educational opportunities that helped me succeed. For our state and children to remain competitive in the 21st-century economy, we are going to need the best schools and best teachers. We will meet that challenge not only by securing necessary education funding, but also by ensuring that teachers are not hamstrung and can have the opportunity to provide students with an enriched educational experience so they are prepared to compete in an increasingly competitive economy." - Das

Labels: Das Williams, Education, elections, local, Santa Barbara

Midwestern coffee company Espresso Royale has purchased popular downtown Santa Barbara coffee shops Coffee Cat and Northstar Coffee Company, and plans on soon opening another cafe in Goleta.

Labels: Coffee, Flickr, For Sale, local

People visit retreats for many reasons, seeking guidance, rest or refuge from a hectic life. Whatever it is they are hungering for, all of the guests at the Immaculate Heart Center for Spiritual Renewal in Montecito at least go away well-fed, thanks to the highly lauded meals of Teresa Fanucchi.

Her recipes, and the dramatic history of the group that employs her, the Los Angeles-based Immaculate Heart Community, inspired "A Place at the Table," a cookbook published last year by Elevated Lab Press. This spiral-bound gem offers seasonal meal plans and some 90 recipes, many based on vegetables, fruit and herbs from the gardens and orchards on the property.

...Since her days as a holistic culinary student at Bauman College in Northern California, Fanucchi has been interested in what she calls the spirituality of cooking. She is mindful of the labor and energy involved in growing ingredients before they reach her hands: "I try to bring an awareness and a respect for that in my cooking."

....The daughter of a pistachio farmer, Fanucchi, 41, grew up in Bakersfield, and meals often came from the family gardens. You could say she has returned to her roots, with produce growing just steps away from her current work kitchen.

"It's really lovely. When it's that close and that fresh, there's such a beauty in the simplicity of the food," she says.

A case in point is her watermelon salad, where three ingredients — olive oil, lime juice and fresh mint — enliven the fruit in a surprising way. - Latte Times

You can purchase "A Place at the Table" for $35 at www.immaculateheartcenter.org/

Labels: Chef, Cookbooks, local, Montecito, Spirituality

Labels: Edible Communities, Food, local, locavore, Santa Barbara, YouTube

Labels: business, delivery, local, Organic, produce

Labels: Community, local

Click here to Vote for “Best Of Santa Barbara” in the following categories:

• Farm/Farmer
• Chef/Restaurant
• Food Artisan
• Beverage Artisan
• Non-profit Organization

Labels: Chef, Edible Communities, farmers, local, locavore, magazines, Santa Barbara, voting

Labels: local, meal, Restaurant, Santa Barbara

1st Thursday reception for one of Edible Santa Barbara's photographers, Fran Collin.

Great cooking begins with great cookbooks. During the month of October come see our collection of local cookbook authors on display in the store. Contact the store for specific author events and signings.

Chef John Downey will create a four-course tasting menu to showcase the vary finest produce from Santa Barbara's renowned Farmer's Market paired with regional meats and seafood. - $50/person

Celebrating Fall Harvest and Olio e Limone's 10th Anniversary all month with a nightly Festa della Vendemmia (Fall Harvest Festival), a sumptuous six-course menu available with Santa Barbara County wine pairing. - $60/person

They will celebrate the annual grape harvest in full swing on the day of the Beaver Moon, the first full moon of October. Free admission, 3 live bands including Spencer the Gardner, new wine releases, gourmet foods and hokey activities all in a laid-back environment. Wines are available for purchase by the glass or in sample flights. Watch winemaking in progress and they will create our rose and crush whatever grapes are around that day.

Experience authentic, local food & wine, Santa Barbara style each Tuesday evening in October. Your culinary adventure begins with a Chef’s Reception on the Perch atop the Canary Hotel with hors d’oeuvres and a taste of local wines. Then, guests stroll thru downtown Santa Barbara to one of four top local restaurants for a four-course wine dinner. Meet the Chef and a local winemaker at each restaurant as they discuss the fantastic foods and wines of the American Riviera.

Labels: Food, local, Santa Barbara

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Labels: Co-op, Food, grocery stores, Isla Vista, local, sale

On March 30th, 2009 the FDA released a nationwide recall on pistachios.

The pistachio processor used by Santa Barbara Pistachio Company "is NOT INVOLVED with this recall". Please see attachment.

Labels: Farmer's Markets, local, pistachios, Santa Barbara

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