Last weekend’s Taste of Santa Barbara events were splendid, and now we’re looking forward to Memorial Day weekend. One event that I am personally excited about is the I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival at the Old Mission Santa Barbara. It will be May 28–30 and benefits the Children’s Creative Project. I participated in the festival years ago and loved it. But these days I’m happy to watch others create their masterpieces on the asphalt. And there’s also food and live music on the lawn, during festival hours of 10am–6pm. Although, sometimes the best time to go is the day after, when you can still see the chalk drawings and avoid the crowds.
For more info visit their webpage and follow them on Instagram.
The Roblar Farm Stand Grand Opening
Also on the agenda for fun things to do this weekend: Roblar Winery is having an event to celebrate their farm stand opening.
Saturday, May 28, 11am–2pm
At the corner of Refugio Road and Roblar Ave.—outside Roblar Winery.
Roblar has expanded their sustainable farming efforts to include three-plus acres planted as a “market garden,” producing over 40 seasonal varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs. They’ve also recently welcomed Babydoll sheep, Duroc-Hampshire pigs, 200 chickens and 120,000 bees to the property!
On Saturday May 28th they will be having an outdoor BBQ, music and you’ll get a chance to visit with their adorable baby doll sheep. Their produce will be 25% off, and they will have information about their upcoming CSA offerings.
Visit Roblar Winery for more info.
What to Eat
What to do with all your beautiful produce this weekend? Well, last weekend at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market, you may have picked up our recipe for Avocado Toast. If you missed it, we have the recipe for you here.
There are countless ways to make avocado toast. At its simplest, it’s just avocado and bread. But it’s easily elevated with the addition of nuts, radishes and fresh herbs. You can vary the toppings depending on what you like and what you find seasonally. Here’s a classic recipe to get you started, but feel free to branch out—add fresh lettuce or arugula, sliced baby turnips or crumbled goat cheese. Perhaps top it with a soft-boiled egg. There are so many directions you can go with this. If you don’t have avocados, our friends at Apples to Zucchini Cooking School suggest a fresh pea purée.
Farmers Market Avocado Toast
Makes 2 servings
2 large or 4 small slices of bread
1 ripe avocado
Salt and pepper
A handful of pistachios, chopped
Several small radishes, sliced thinly
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, chervil, basil or cilantro, stems removed
Olive oil
Toast the bread until lightly golden. Peel and cut up the avocado. Distribute the chunks of avocado evenly on the toast and mash lightly with a fork, covering the entire surface of the toast.
Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the chopped pistachios, pressing them in slightly to the mashed avocado. Top with slices of radish and scatter a few chopped leaves of the herb of your choice. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.
Roses
May is the month of roses. And if you have roses in your garden or access to organically grown, non-sprayed roses, you might want to try making rose syrup. It’s simple, doesn’t take much time and you’ll end up with a wonderful ingredient that you can add to lemonade, ice tea, soda water and cocktails.
Rose Syrup
Gather some organically grown, pesticide-free roses, then pick 2 cups of the petals, rinse gently and let drain.
Bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sugar is dissolved.
Add rose petals and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or until the color transfers from the rose petals to the water.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Let sit for an hour or so, then strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer into a glass jar.
Use to flavor any beverage that could use a little floral sweetness.
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Lovely. In addition to Avocado Toast your readers might enjoy Bean Toast. I made some with Rancho Gordo Eye of the Goat beans which was vegan. But being an omnivore I added Baconer bacon to mine.