Kalifornia with Kids: Santa Barbara Pier

We just spent a wonderful day walking / biking the pier in Stearn's Wharf in Santa Barbara.  We thought it would be a nice idea to rent some bikes:

 We finally made our choice and were off to the pier... It was a lot harder than I thought too.

We took a short break and were lucky to meet a Crab person? getter? catcher? whatever.... His tee shirt had "Got crabs?" emblazoned on it --- of course.  He invited us to see his catch of crabs for the day.
It was impressive to say the least.

Some of the  Facts:
1. All  red rock crabs.
2. He can haul in any thing from 1200 lbs. to 2000 lbs at the height of the season!
3.  Today the haul was 1600 lbs. 
4. These crabs don't seem to be in any danger ecologically. There are lots to be found.
5.  When he sets traps he puts in 100 lbs. frozen bait.
6. A few days later  he uses a hydraulic sort of crane to lift them out of the water.
7. Then he dumps them into plastic bins inside a big vat of ice water to knock them out a bit.
8. Boat full of crabs heads back to the pier to be unloaded and delivered to customers!

Santa Barbara was beautiful and we had such a great time with our friends!!

The beach was beautiful too.

California is a great place to take your kids!

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Making Fresh Orange Juice

I'm in California now so I thought it would be fitting to write a post about fresh orange juice.

Want to know a secret to making beautiful and delicious and fresh Orange Juice?  You don't have to use only "juice" oranges to make it.  Juice oranges by the way, are the ugly oranges at the grocers. They are meant for squeezing.  For a unique flavor and color, I mix in other varieties.

I used:

12 juice oranges - your basic orange orange when sliced open

2  blood red oranges - a rich red meaty looking pulp

2  Cara-Cara orange - new orange, pink on the inside and so juicy. can be eaten on its own like a navel orange.

 I always wash the oranges first - because god knows who has been touching them along the way to the grocer's refrigerated section.  Once all are sliced in half I start the juicing process with my well-used Braun juicer.

There are lots of different oranges out there you can also use:

tangerines  

temple   (These have a funny nob on one end)

valencia 

navel

 I  add the blood oranges when I can find them. It's got a meaty pulp and it has a certain tang to it that takes the edge off the sweetness of the juice oranges.  An added bonus is the beautiful red pulp that makes the mix of orange juice look so good and refreshing.   For more on the different varieties check out this link at my citrus tree.

left: virgin juice   right: blood orange added 

I find it only lasts 2 days maximum. Any longer and it gets a funny taste- still drinkable but never as good as the day you squeeze it.

Now go out and buy yourself some oranges and get juicing people!!

P.S. It's killing me here... Everywhere I go there is some lemon tree just sitting in someone's front yard. The fragrance is crazy good you just have to stop, breathe it in and enjoy the moment.

Martha Stewart's Living always inspires me...

 We are on our way to California for a much awaited trip to Disney Land.  The one caveat-- DWorld was out of the question. Florida would have killed me... Disney overload comes to mind.  California is the perfect compromise.

For the past few weeks I've been wanting to write a post about the Martha Stewart March issue and I finally have the time!  

Copyright © 2013, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Originally published in the March issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

The cover photograph is such a  beautiful arrangement and there are lots more inside.  What makes . all the arrangements inside so perfect is their imperfection in scale and balance.  I would like to be able to put together flowers like that one day!! In the meantime I photographed some beautiful NY-arranged flowers I had in the house. Here is my own version... Flowers on their last legs.  I love the fragility of color and the effort to remain intact....

Also in this issue were some fabulous ideas for beading with precious gems.   I haven't yet had a chance to try my hand at these but here are some of the photos from Living.

a beautiful Martha Stewart Still-life

 

It may seem like you have to live in New York to find supplies but now with the internet it's so easy to find the materials you need.  Another idea was the use of ribbons and brocade trim:

The people at Living always share their resources.  For this story they used mj trim where they sell great ribbon, buttons and trim.

I have a few other resources for ribbon and trim that I love too.  Both are worthy of posts of their own, but for now:

1. Mokuba a Japanese ribbon store
2. Hyman Hendler  Been around forever. They carry not only the basics and novelty but vintage ribbons as well.

Next up- The April issue!!

Photo Credits: Copyright © 2013, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Originally published in the March issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

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