Good Eats: "Chipping In" In Santa Barbara

On my way up the coast to Santa Barbara I saw something I'd never seen before: people harvesting produce, probably migrant workers. As I see it, that's all part of understanding more completely where our food comes from. Unless you somehow grow all your own food. Someone else is picking your raspberries, kale and bell peppers. What it mean that day for me was that I was in produce country and there was plenty of it to be bought at roadside stands. I stopped off at one to pick up a gift for my hosts. I got seven small but flavorful avocados for $1 and a pint of strawberries for $3.

I was happy to see that my gifts were 1) brought to good use and 2) that I could be there to enjoy them. The avocados made a tasty guacamole that we ate as a afternoon snack. The strawberries were used at dinner, to make a chutney that perfectly complemented a juicy roast pork tenderloin that Eric's dad had made with a peppery dry rub (paprika and cayenne being the two main ingredients). Along with buttery mashed potatoes and asparagus spears grilled and drizzled with olive oil and nutmeg, we had a perfect menu. We finished all that off with cake topped with toasted macadamia nuts, which Eric's family had brought back from Hawaii, a place they visit frequently.

Complementing our entire day, not to mention dinner, were two beers from the Firestone Brewery in Santa Barbara. Sharing the namesake of Firestone Tires, though I had never heard of nor had any of their beers, Firestone apparently has widespread recognition as a top tier microbrewery. After a few sips of the California Pale Ale, it's easy to see why. Their Pale Ale was the better of the two we had, the other being the Double Barrel Ale, which was good, but not outstanding. The CPA is among the best American Pale Ales I've ever had, along with Lake Louie's Arena Premium and O'Dell's Five Barrel Pale Ale. Smooth, citrusy and just the right amount of hops, it's a great companion to a sun soaked day in Southern California.