A trip to Santa Barbara would never be complete for me without a trip to the magnificent Bacara Resort and Spa. The ride around the property on the open air golf cart alone is worth the trip. The cart rambles about the curved little roads and you can see the quaint rooms as you pass. Sometimes when the doors are open you can see all the white linens on the beds and the white whimsical curtains flowing with the breeze from the friendly ocean. It’s so inviting and someday I hope to spend the night or even a weekend.  You see the beautiful ocean almost immediately as you round the first curve. We always stop at The Bistro Restaurant for lunch and eat outside to take in all the beauty there is to see and feel there. Maybe the mist from the ocean helps keep the bushes and Palm trees so lush. After lunch we return to main room which is so massive that even with the large heavy furniture you feel like a child in Alice In Wonderland. Everything is so big, the vases that hold the flowers and the large wooden bowls filled with perfect Granny Smith apples. We are encouraged to take an apple and we do!

Here are a couple of recipes I fixed with those scrumptious apples! This allows the wonderful experience of the day to continue for several more days as we eat and enjoy the things we’ve made from these apples.