Our Favorite Non Profit

Every year we help with the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network Fundraiser, it's a lovely event hosted on the Channel Cat and we've always done the food at cost and the staff donates their time. This year we were able to write a check to the organization. We hope next year to do more, we're all giant animal lovers here & so grateful for all they do! Big thank you to the Pure Joy Staff members who volunteered their Sunday this year; Danny Jack, Hayley Mac Nab and Jerry Wilson.

Comfort food, Pure Joy Catering Executive Chef

(Delicious Photos by Loree Gold, see entire article in upcoming Food & Home issue) 

The term "comfort food" (added to the Webster's Dictionary in 1972) is defined as foods consumed to achieve some level of improved emotional status, whether to relieve negative psychological affect or to increase positive. Comfort foods are also considered very trendy and are pretty darn hard to resist! They warm the hearth & the cockles of most mortal souls. You can tell if food is “comfort food” if your eyes close when you taste it (or sometimes even when you just think about it!). I love serving them in miniature so they don’t feel quite so naughty; they can be utterly adorable and just plain yummy!

Macaroni & Bay Scallops with Gruyere and Cheddar

Serves 6 – 8

Oh yea! Grown up mac & cheese; yes! You can have gooey and sophisticated at the same time and it’s oh so lovely.  

12 oz. macaroni, boiled in salted water till tender, drained & rinsed to stop the cooking

2 oz. butter

1/3 of an onion, diced

“Shy” 1/2 cup flour (take off about 1 Tb.)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 qt. milk, hot

2 pinches nutmeg

1 tsp.dry mustard powder

1 dash Tabasco sauce

1 lb. grated good cheese (gruyere, cheddar, etc.)

For the scallops:

1.5 oz. butter

½ lb. bay scallops

For the Topping blend together:

1.5 oz. melted butter

1.3 cups bread crumbs

¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Melt the butter & over medium heat cook the onions till tender but not browned. Sprinkle in the flour and salt & pepper, whisk till sandy in color. Slowing whisk in the milk, nutmeg, mustard and Tabasco. Lower heat & simmer about 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat & stir in the cook macaroni & grated cheeses, taste and adjust seasoning.

Sauté half of the scallops in butter about 5 minutes till cooked through then stir them into the macaroni and cheese, pour into a casserole & sprinkle with the topping. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Sauté the other half of the scallops in the butter and pile them on top of the golden casserole to serve.

LAUNCHED!!!! SantaBarbaraVenues.com

Oh Yea! Ah huh!! We did it!! OMG it was a load of work but our new sweet baby website is stuffed with oodles of info; 84 fab venues all in all, from Malibu to Santa Ynez and a gallery of inspirations and many more to come!! If you need an event venue this genius site by Citrus Media Group is your one stop shop, see it, check it out, ask your Q's and book it. Let the festivities begin!!!

Great Food, Great Weddings

Farmer's Market is at it's peak right now; just spectacular produce.

We just did another weekend of fabulous weddings! This was their place cards at Godric, how adorable?! They also had a Raw Raw Raw! Oyster and Scallop on the half shell bar at appetizer hour and that was a huge hit, with four delicious sauces; Classic Mignonette, Ginger Mignonette, Sesame Chili Sauce and Sake Lime Sauce, the crown went wild! The bride is a butcher and actually hand cut all of the beef for her guests as well, each cut was grilled there to perfection and the seafood option was Pan Sauteed Halibut with Red Wine Butter Reduction.

Then back into the offices we have completed work on our new web site for venues and will be doing a soft launch today!!! It is just an awesome tool for event planning and we couldn't be more excited. We'll be at the Bridal Fair this weekend at Earl Warren showing it off for the first time.

Then just to put the cherry on our magnificent wedding season we were awarded 5 stars from WeddingMapper and another surprise huge vote for Pure Joy Catering was revealed to us and will be announced publicly in October

Style me Pretty

We are now listed as one of the Best Wedding Vendors in the Style Me Pretty Little Black Book!! A rare honor. Thank you to all of our beautiful, blissful brides for your recommendations we wish you a very Happily Ever After