The boutique lasted most of the day and was well attended by vendors and customers. I have to confess that I wouldn't have recognized an Angels player even if one had shown up. (It could happen...football great Rosie Greer was a quilter, or so my husband, Brian, tells me). (Update here is that Bri was mistaken...Rosie Greer did needlepoint.) However, I know that my baseball fanatic husband would have spotted any baseball players in attendance and, based on the fact that he showed about as much activity as a dog sleeping by the fireplace on a cold night, I think I'm safe to say that no players dropped by. I do think, though, that the Angels could benefit from some of the healthy snacks and treats in my book! If one of them got a copy of my book--we could swap autographs! Bri says a signed ball for a signed cookbook sounds like a good trade to him.
I spent several hours signing my new gluten-free, dairy-free & refined sugar-free cookbook, Delightfully Free and talking to people about the alternative healthy ingredients I use in my recipes to make them surprisingly healthy, even though they look and taste like decadent off-limit splurges! I brought samples of my Black Bean Brownies and tried to surprise as many as I could by waiting until after they tasted the brownie to let them know that the main ingredient was an entire can of black beans. Most people thought that my brownies tasted even better than the ones with all the white sugar and white flour. "You're kidding me! You put black beans in here!?... I can't believe that there's no refined sugar in this recipe!" and "These are delicious!!" were frequent comments.
The basket was full of brownies when we arrived, but it was empty by the time we left.
Next weekend I will be back in Santa Barbara at my new favorite spot...Savoy Cafe & Deli. It's located at 24 Figueroa Street, just west of State Street. Savoy features delicious organic fare, including some gluten free and some dairy free/vegan dishes and a great atmosphere. I'll tell you more in my next post.
~Tracy
About Delightfully Free: Delightfully Free is a gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free cookbook of 141 recipes. It includes delicious resources for autism, celiac disease, diabetes, lactose intolerance, obesity and just plain healthy living. It contains 114 color photographs, 114 vegetarian or vegetarian compatible recipes, and 103 vegan or vegan compatible recipes.
