Nature! Preserved

I hail from the type of lineage that would rather countdown the end of summer by swilling cocktails at the pool than diligently toil in the kitchen to cook up and jar the last of the season's bounty. Needless to say, my interest in the whole matter remains a complete mystery to my family, who have bet me a bottle of wine (naturally) that I would never utilize the flat of Mason jars I purchased when the tomatoes got all jungly and had visions of canning homemade pasta sauce dancing in my head. They remain unused.

Since I'm clearly working up to making my own preserves, I was delighted to stumble across the next best thing when I went to pick up my weekly farm share at Shepherd's Farm in Carpinteria - Bona Dea Strawberry Preserves. Infused with balsamic vinegar to cut the sweetness, this delicious jam (jelly? note: look up the difference) has infused a whole new life into peanut butter sandwiches, which I haven't eaten at such a frequency since my Jem and the Holograms days.

Bona Dea Strawberry Preserves
805.658.8900

Musical Stylings

Slow Train Soul - "Mississippi Freestylin"

Indian Summer

Around here, early summer means "the June Gloom" -- an endless number of days where a hazy marine layer hangs over Santa Barbara like an elephant in the room. Typically, this wet blanket of a visitor sulks away in July or August, but oh no, not this year. Our beach weather has arrived in late September. With highs in the low 80s I haven't felt this hot since the last time I went to church. So I scooped up Ben and lugubrious Dante [at left] to join me and Thisbe [at right] for a little beach time at La Conchita. Since it's been a few short weeks since she completed her puppy vaccinations, she's only gone to the beach a handful of times, but already showing early signs of developing into a coastal canine.