Ok. I know that doesn’t look very appetizing. This was what my potato cheddar soup from Silvergreens looked like after driving it home. However, after mixing it up a bit, it looked a bit better and was quite delicious. I also got the Thai Chicken Pasta with GF pasta and grilled chicken.
This was very yummy. I was afraid that the sauce might be a bit heavy, but I found that it was on the lighter side and full of flavor.
We decided to try Casa Blanca tonight on State Street. The outside patio always looks so appealing, so we figured that the inside must be nice as well. They did a great job renovating that space. It felt like it was the perfect atmosphere to go with a big group of friends and have some drinks. The food wasn’t overly impressive though. It kind of reminded us of the now defunct Left at Albuquerque food. We started with nachos. I then had a bowl of the Chicken Tortilla Soup. The food wasn’t bad…just kind of ordinary. Our waitress was great in that she knew about gluten and was able to confirm that they could prepare the soup GF. We will definitely return with friends to take advantage of that outdoor patio and their extensive tequila list!
I had the day off today so we drove into Los Olivos for lunch at the Los Olivos Cafe. I had a Caesar Salad without croutons and with grilled chicken. We also ordered the Roasted Local Vegetables which was supposed to include roasted garlic, fresh mozzarella and tapenade, but for some reason, ours didn’t have the mozzarella. This made us sad. After lunch, we went to Quicksilver Ranch in-between Solvang and Ballard. Miniature horses are quite funny looking. I highly recommend this place if you have kids or if you just want to laugh.
For our Christmas Dinner, we decided to make some pizzas. My husband had ordered pizza crusts from Mariposa Baking Company when he ordered the Chrismukkah goodies. Above is what one defrosted crust looks like. Below is one finished pizza!
The crust was pretty good. We were nervous about it being a little soft in the middle, but we were able to pick up the slices without it falling apart. Perhaps if we had heavier toppings, it might have drooped a bit. I really liked the crust edges. My favorite crust to make pizzas with is still the Whole Foods Bakehouse Brand Pizza Crust. However, the Whole Foods in Santa Barbara doesn’t carry it.
Adama is one of those places that we have been meaning to try. My husband is a vegetarian and I have heard that they are GF Friendly. We always put it off for places that have cheesy items instead though. Tonight, we finally tried it and were pleasantly surprised. When I started asking GF questions, the waitress brought back a gluten-free labeled menu as shown above. We started with the Fritto Misto and the Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Aioli.
You must order the Fritto Misto. It is cauliflower in a lightly curried batter with a sweet chili sauce. Holy moly this was good. We devoured it…. who knew cauliflower could be so darn tasty? The fries were good too.
I had the choice of it being served with rice or quinoa. This dish was pretty flavorful. It was a generous portion and was quite hearty. We will definitely be returning to Adama to try some more dishes (and get some more Fritto Misto)!
Last night my husband and I celebrated Chrismukkah. We celebrate by giving and getting eight gifts all in one night. Since one of the gifts he had ordered for me hadn’t arrived as of a couple days ago, he got back-up gifts which were quite delicious. He ordered gluten-free items from Mariposa Baking Co. It appears that they are based out of Northern California. Above, you are looking at the GF Focaccia. This was so good. We warmed it up a bit before eating it. There was a slight taste of rosemary that gave it a really nice aftertaste. He also got me the Sour Cream Coffeecake. I really liked this but I almost wish there was a bit more of the streusel on top. Finally, in my stocking I found gingerbread cookies!
Also from Mariposa, these were amazing. They come in a pack of 6 so I will be munching away on these for the next few days! To top off the festiveness, we went driving to see our favorite holiday lights at 1209 E. Quinientos Street.
A friend lives here and always manages to put more lights up than the last year. I know that he was on the cover of the News Press a few days ago. Here is an article online that they posted about him and his house from a few years ago.
Tonight we went to Olio Pizzeria because gluten-free pizza sounded fantastic for dinner. Last time we were there, they were able to make any of the pizzas gluten-free (but gluten-free crusts were not mentioned on the menu). This time, however, I found a change to the menu as shown above. It seemed interesting to me, so I asked our waitress about the change but she was under the impression that it had always been like this. Hmm. We ended up starting with the caponatina con burrata which was burrata cheese with sicilian ratatouille.
It was pretty good. The cheese was extra creamy towards the inside of the glob. We then ordered the two gluten-free pizzas, the Parma and the Margherita.
The Parma Pizza was good, but it was pretty hard to eat. I found that the crust was kind of soft towards the middle as well. The Margherita was better than the last time we were here because the cheese was melted thoroughly.
With the news of Ca Dario opening a Pizzeria in the future, I wonder if it will be similar to Olio Pizzeria. Perhaps they will have gluten-free crusts as well now that they carry GF pasta in their restaurant. I do have to say, I missed that truffle pizza that I had last time at Olio Pizzeria…
This morning, one of my favorite celiacs joined me for breakfast at Savoy. She got the spinach and feta scramble without the feta and with egg whites. It was served with greens and some gluten-free toast. I got the GF French Toast.
It was delicious, as always. I finished all of my holiday shopping and everything has been shipped, so it was a relaxing morning. As an added bonus, I got to spend time with her 3-month old who gets cuter every time I see him.
You would think that if I had tacos for lunch, I would try something else for dinner. You thought wrong. We decided to watch the 49ers/Steelers game at Santa Barbara Brew Co. I saw shrimp tacos on the menu and couldn’t resist. The waitress was great in finding out the ingredients in the sauces. When the table ordered the garlic fries, she was quick to tell me that they were fried in the same oil as the onion rings. With three large shrimp tacos, there was no need for anything else anyway!
We were downtown to get some holiday shopping done so we decided to go to Wahoo’s for lunch. After asking a bunch of questions, the person who was helping us brought me out a list of their gluten-free items. I ended up getting the taco platter with a carnitas and a fish taco. The black beans and rice are GF. These were quite good and quite filling.
gluten-free in sb 