We are happy to report that it started raining this morning as we headed out the Santa Barbara Farmers Market.The Healing Grounds had plenty of organic tomato varietals ready for planting in your vegetable garden.  "The Healing Grounds is part of the Transitions Mental Health Program.  Its purpose is to provide work training and income for adults with mental illness in partnership with the Santa Barbara Mental Health Services." This is a quote from their site.This interesting looking fruit is a Cherimoya. It is very sweet and tastes like a blend of tropical fruits, including apple,and pear.  Mark Twain refered to it as "the must delicious fruit known to man!"  Wishing you an abundance of Saturday Smiles!   Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-  ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is th... 03/05/2016

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day.  The Santa Barbara Farmers market was full of vibrant colors.  This mound of carrots greeted us as we walked in.Here is what "beet red" looks like!And the first Sunflowers of the season are showing up! Wishing you an abundance of Saturday Smiles, Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel- ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace. 02/27/2016

 Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace. 01/15/2016

One of our favorite places to go to for tea or happy hour is the Santa Barbara Biltmore.  Each year their Christmas display is lovely and well worth a visit.  We loved this wreath welcoming us in!The Christmas tree is also a beautiful sight almost reaching the tall beamed ceiling.  Notice the big switch!They also decorated the chandeliers, it added a special touch to the holiday atmosphere. We really enjoyed the festive spirit created by all this lovely decor.   Wishing all our friends a Very Merry Christmas Eve!  Regardless of your religious beliefs, we all want peace and goodwill to all of mankind, with no exclusions! Cheers,  Ron & Alexandra Seigel. 12/23/2015

The temperature was at 41 degrees at 6 AM.  We are at 55 degrees at this moment and a high predicted at 63...Many of the farmers stayed home today, as did those who have plenty of leftovers. We still have heirloom tomatoes at the end of November!Parsnips made their appearance this morning. I love the pale green of their stems.  They are a great vegetable for soups and for pickling.   Wishing you lots of Saturday Smiles, Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing the... 11/28/2015

Santa Barbara Ridgeback Shrimp is in season once again, and we instantly joined the queue to buy some for tonight's dinner, ($6 a pound).  You toss them in boiling water for less than 3 minutes.  We will be dipping them in melted cultured salted French butter from Brittany.  Peppers with a kick were also another highlight at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market this morning.  These golden Manzardo peppers pictured above are very mild, and they are beautiful!And of course, there are these really the hot ones, the habaneros, are just lovely too.    Wishing you all lots of Saturday Smiles, Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate abo... 11/14/2015

 On an another gorgeous cool and sunny morning, we took off for the Santa Barbara Market.  Persimmons are known as the "food of the gods."  From our standpoint having been tricked into tasting an unripe persimmon once, we appreciate them for their color, and not so much their taste.  The ones  pictured above can be eaten when ripe, and do not make your mouth feel like it has been turned inside out!  When cut horizontally, they have a beautiful star shape. This is the lethal one, you have to wait till it gets to a mushy state before you even dare to eat it.  It is called the Hachiya Persimmon. With this post, we pass the 2 Million mark on Active Rain.  It has been a delightful journey, and we appreciate the conversations, the posts we have read, and the people on this platform.  This is ... 11/07/2015

Hey ActiveRain Peeps, someone needs our help....... For those of you that may not know, Kokku.org is a charitable foundation that I founded earlier this year.  You can read all about Kokku at www.kokku.orgKokku.org has a new recipient this month who needs our help. Bonnie Gordon is 69 years old and works as a part time caregiver for clients with Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy and those with mental challenges. She lives in the Santa Barbara area and works five days a week and cleans houses on a sixth day. She has Signet Cell carcinoma in her bladder. The bladder has to be removed as soon as possible. She has a very small savings that will be depleted quickly. Her surgery will require her to be hospitalized for one week with a recovery period expected to be three months. Her doctor has told her... 11/05/2015

This beautiful fennel (finocchio) caught our attention!Here is Kim, Quincy's best friend when we are out of town.  She also  also for BD. Trine, whose niche is growing all kinds of herbs and other interesting vegetables.  The cauliflower was really purple today!And look at this pomelo, what a beauty!These small sweet peppers have thin skins and they are great roasted! Wishing you lots of Saturday Smiles, Happy Halloween! Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing th... 10/31/2015

 One of the loveliest places to have lunch or enjoy Happy Hour in Santa Barbara is at the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel.  Just getting there after you park in the self park area is a joy as you walk through gardens with specimen trees and bushes.And then you enter the restaurant with a view of the Pacific and the Channel Islands (America's Galapagos) beyond as part of the scenery.  It is also the perfect place to watch the sun set. Wishing you a great weekend and a happy Halloween! Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, lu... 10/30/2015

It was cooler this morning, our temperature was 57, when we headed to the Santa Barbara Farmers Market.  Many of the regular farmers were missing, they must have decided to sleep in this morning. We bought snow pea tendrils pictured above.  They are delicious sauteed with garlic and oil, and they taste like snow peas just in leaf form. Wishing you lots of Saturday SmilesWritten by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in ... 10/24/2015

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, one of your mantras to repeat is “luxury is in the details.”  Details are the quality cues that make the difference in how people perceive you.  It is what makes you unforgettable, and easy to refer.  Here is an example: When Kanaloa, our fishmonger, decided to move to downtown Santa Barbara, they planned to also open a café within the store with an outdoor seating area.  This was a natural for them, as one of their employees is a chef.  Yesterday, we had lunch there.  We both ordered an assortment of fish tacos (the tortillas are hand made on site).  After the first bite we were both delighted by the freshness, spicing, delicate crispiness and taste of these tacos. As we enjoyed our tacos, we noticed so many details that made the meal eve... 10/22/2015

October in Santa Barbara is also known as "Eat Local Month!"  It is easy to do when you have artisan cheeses.  We have goat cheese makers, as well as these folks who have a Gouda that we buy.We also have beef, pork and chicken vendors.  Everything is raised with great care and fed organically.  This is the first time we have seen macadamia nuts grown here in Santa Barbara County.  We thought they are beautiful in their original state.Autumn signals the beginning of the beginning of the citrus season, just in time for natural doses of Vitamin C.  No colds allowed in our domain.  We do eat local, all year round, not just in October! Wishing you lots of Saturday Smiles,Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury r... 10/17/2015

When we arrived at the market this morning at opening time (8:30), it was 80 degrees.   Avocado Honey is here again.  The honey has a similar flavor to molasses and is not as sweet as regular honey.   It is great for vinaigrettes, of for glazes on poultry, meats and fish.  It also used in cosmetics for facial masks.Japanese cumcumbers are pictured above.  We saw a Japanese couple confer on which ones to pick, and they were excited by the bounty of our Asian organic vegetables stall.Of course we had beautiful pumpkins everywhere.And, these spotted beauties.  We loved their colors and shape!And for hit of hot red, these lipstick peppers were vibrant.  They are sweet and great to have in salads, stir fry or ratatouille. Wishing everyone lots of Saturday Smiles,Written by Ron & Alexandra Se... 10/10/2015

 These heirloom beauties said, "Buy Me" and we did.Wishing lots of Saturday Smiles,Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace. 10/03/2015

The Santa Barbara AIA's annual ArchitecTours is a celebration of local architecture. This event draws attention to the extraordinary architectural legacy in Santa Barbara and the value of well-designed architecture to its surrounding community. Equally, ArchitecTours highlights the expertise that AIA architects possess including a thorough understanding and expertise in urban design, sustainability, accessibility, structural improvements, building materials, and historic renovation.The theme of this year's ArchitecTours is 'Architecture with a story'. Each of the nine projects features an intriguing personal or construction story that profile many of the design obstacles encountered during the building process.The tour will be held on Saturday October 3rd, 2015  from 10am-4pm and will c... 09/30/2015

In anticipation of a warm and humid day, it seemed like everyone was out early to shop at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market.  We were delighted to see tomatillos (pictured above), as it is a great addition to guacamole!Pomegranates are ripe and ready.  They are beautiful and tasty, and we love them in salads.  Wishing you lots of Saturday Smiles,Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace. 09/26/2015

 Happy Wednesday!Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace. 09/23/2015

We woke up to a gorgeous sunny day.  The market was busy with locals and chefs.  We saw John Downey, chef owner, who has an intimate small restaurant Downey's in Santa Barbara, where we celebrated last Friday with our friends.  He is one of the best chefs in town.  Ron went over to him and told him how much we enjoyed the meal, particularly his two way (magret and confit) preparation of duck.  We love these striped eggplants.  They cook fast and they have a sweet taste to them, and they are beautiful!The contrast of the dark green pasilla peppers (great for chile rellenos) on the left, the bright red in the middle with the lighter green peppers is an example of jaw dropping contrast.  Wishing you lots of Saturday Smiles,Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, Interna... 09/19/2015

The Museum of Contemporary Art, MCA, of Santa Barbara is offering a “Dream Home Raffle” with a 1 in 20 odds of winning over 2,500 prizes. You could win this “Dream Home” or choose $3,000,000 in cash.Over the last ten years the raffle has raised million of dollars for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santa Barbara. MCASB advances creativity and inspires critical thinking through meaningful engagement with the art of our time. Due to the funds raised via the raffle, MCASB has been able to extend its mission to young people and adults throughout the Central Coast as well as provide a venue for artists from around the country.For more information visit the MCASB’s website for this raffle:    www/SBHomeRaffle.com  09/14/2015