An Afghan Feast and the Old Mission Santa Barbara!

Old Mission Santa Barbara

"The Queen of the Missions"

Founded by Friar Fermín de Lasuén 

Feast of St. Barbara, December 4, 1786

The Santa Barbara Mission was the 10th mission, of the twenty-one California Missions, founded by the Spanish Franciscans. 

Saint Francis in the Mission Courtyard

This summer, our friend Nasrin came to visit. None of us had seen her since Pakistan, in 1997. She was an Afghan who had left her country with her 3 children, and was working in Islamabad, where my parents were living at the time. 

Many years ago, only months after I'd met her, the U.N. helped her come to the United States, to North Dakota, where she'd be safe, with her children. (Long, amazing story! I'll let you know when her book comes out!) 

My family stayed in touch with her ... especially my Mom. And, after so many years, Nasrin came for her first visit to California! She came just before the 4th of July. I thought it would be fun to bring her to Ojai for the 4th, with the funny Ojai Independence Day Parade and 4th of July B.B.Q.ing. 

We also thought it would be nice to take her to Santa Barbara, which is a beautiful little town on the Southern California Coast.

Our first stop was the Santa Barbara Mission, with it's lovely old Spanish architecture and beautiful gardens.

Saint Francis in the lovely cemetery grounds.

Inside the church, the statues on the altar date to the 1790s, with St. Barbara in the center.

On either side of the nave are two niches or chapels, in which are inhabited by two figures each. On one side, Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and on the other, Saint Francis of Assisi with Saint Claire. The sculptures were done, in bronze, by Northern California artist, Bruce Wolfe. 

Nasrin loved these sculptures. I don't know when they were brought in. I'd never seen them and it had been years since I'd been to the mission.

Jesus and Mary
by Bruce Wolfe

Mary Magdalene
by Bruce Wolfe

Saint Francis and Saint Claire
by Bruce Wolfe

Saint Claire of Assisi
by Bruce Wolfe

Mission Kitchen

Below, old saint paintings ... somehow I didn't get the info. I was getting really hungry! Sorry!

Antiphonal, circa 1770-1775

In case you missed it, I also recently visited the Mission Santa Inés, and the blog post is HERE.

For more on the Old Mission Santa Barbara, click Here, for their website.

For information on the 3rd Century Martyred Saint Barbara (patron saint of Prisoners, Architects, Artillerymen, and Mathematicians,) click Here.

After our Mission visit, we headed through charming little neighborhoods, down the hill, to State Street, where there are lots of little shops and countless restaurants to choose from.

One of the back walkways ...

I think this, below, is a city government building. As you can see, they stuck with the Spanish architecture, all over town. Santa Barbara was a hit with Nasrin. We bought Powerball tickets and decided if she won, she'd by a house there! I, of course, would buy my villa in Italy. ;)

The next day ... was the feast. Nasrin and I drove down to Ventura to 3 different stores, for ingredients, while my mom shopped for more stuff up in Ojai! 

Here are just a few of the spices that we ground in my dad's coffee grinder.

We started cooking at about 1:30 and finished at about 7:45.

Below, Afghan/India spices, cooking with onions, garlic and tomato paste ...

Below ... fried eggplant that would go into a masterpiece of deliciousness!

Okra, which all kept referring to as "Oprah."

Carrots cooking in oil ... and sugar.

Here is the eggplant dish, with yogurt (with garlic in it.) I can't tell you the name, because I can't remember, and I probably couldn't spell it anyway but  ... oh my good gravy! Best thing ever. Pretty sure we ate something similar, back in '97, when we visited Peshawar, Pakistan. 

If you ever get the chance to have Afghan food ... don't miss the opportunity!

Below, heavenly lamb with more of the same spices, then seared in oil with sugar. (omg!) Sorry to torture you guys!

There was also a spinach dish, another eggplant dish ... a HUGE rice dish with pistachios, raisins, and carrots ... 

And this beef dish below, that was incredible, with chickpeas and peppers. We also had some "plain" rice for my nephew. By the way, she brought a special 5 pound bag of rice, in her carry on, that was from imported from India.

There were 7 of us including Benjamin (who just turned 8 yesterday!) but there was enough food for 20 people. And, by the way, my nephew ate everything! Even the stuff he says he normally doesn't like, and the rice was, he said, "the best I've ever had!"

It was an incredible once in a lifetime feast, and a wonderful visit. The following day, we took Nasrin to the Getty Center, in L.A. I'm not sure how I even moved. I'd had at least two heaping plates full of food! 

Before she left, we also had lunch in my hood, cruised around Hollywood, and looked at some of the big Hancock Park mansions.

Thank you Nasrin, for coming to visit us! And, of course, the cooking lesson! :)

I grew up in Ventura, which is about a half hour from Santa Barbara. Without traffic, that is. 

My friends and I would go see bands play, in High School, and in the years just after. This band, below, is one of the Santa Barbara bands we used to go see. (Plus, a couple of guys I had crushes on played in bands that would play the same nights, so we saw them many times. Fortunately, my "band musician period" was short lived!) 

Anyway, I will never forget, having moved to San Diego, turning on the radio in my little grey hatchback, and hearing this band for the first time on a huge San Diego radio station! It was so exciting, my friend and I were screaming! This is the song they were playing ...

Toad the Wet Sprocket, 1991

Keep all special thoughts and memories

for lifetimes to come.

Share these keepsakes with others

to inspire hope 

and build from the past,

which can bridge

to the future.

~Mattie Stepanek

Lincoln Exhibition at The Reagan Presidential Library

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth

on this continent a new nation,

conceived in liberty 

and dedicated to the proposition 

that all men are bread equal.

~Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

Pocket Watch of Abraham Lincoln

Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln

June 1, 2013 - September 30, 2013

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Simi Valley, California

from the website: 

"Twenty-five renowned Lincoln collectors and DreamWorks Studios join the Reagan Library for a major Abraham Lincoln Exhibit. objects on display include President Lincoln's famous stovepipe hat, a bloodied pillow from the night he died, a Lincoln-signed Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment, and sets from DreamWorks' "Lincoln" Movie."

Stovepipe hat of Abraham Lincoln. He used to store things in his hat, while he was wearing it! Amazing to imagine this was on his head ...

Lincoln is my nephew's favorite president, so this summer my parents and I decided to take him to the Lincoln Exhibition, at the Reagan Presidential Library. It was amazing to see many of his personal items and writings, in person. I'm so happy we made it!

Leather case, belonging to Mary Todd Lincoln 

Sets and costumes from the film Lincoln, by Stephen Spielberg 

... I know that the Lord is always on the side of right.

But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I

and this nation be on the Lord's side.

~ Abraham Lincoln, 

Set of Lincoln's office, from the film, Lincoln.

I walk slowly, 

but I never walk backward.

~Abraham Lincoln

One of many handwritten letters and speeches by Lincoln, in the exhibition ...

The better part of one's life consists of friendships ...

~Abraham Lincoln 

letter to Joseph Gillespie, 1849

Lincoln Presidential China - Lincoln chose the eagle, Mary chose the purple border, her favorite color.

Sleeping bonnet of Mary Todd Lincoln

Gutta-percha cases. It was common practice in the 19th century to carry one of these little cases with a photo and lock of hair. Above, Abraham Lincoln, and below, his son Willie who died in the white House in 1862, at the age of eleven.

Mary's gloves ...

My dad showing Benjamin, my nephew, remnants of the Civil War.

Below, medical tools of the time ... pretty horrific.

I pray that our Heavenly Father 

may assuage the anguish of your bereavement,

and leave you only the cherished memory 

of the loved and lost,

and the solemn pride that must be yours

to have laid so costly a sacrifice 

upon the altar of freedom.

~Abraham Lincoln

Letter to Lydia Bixby November 21, 1864

Uniforms of the civil war.

Below, the quill pen with which President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery

I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

~Abraham Lincoln

Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment

March 17, 1865

One of several pieces of election paraphernalia, this campaign banner was from Logan County, Illinois, 1860.

Our reliance is in the love of liberty

which God has planted in our bosoms.

Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit

which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men,

in all lands,

everywhere.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Speech at Chicago, 1858

Grand Reception of the Notabilities of the Nation, 

at the White House 1865 

Hand colored engraving

(On the evening of the 2nd inauguration)

-Lincoln shook hands with an estimated 5 to 6 thousand people.

A fragment of the coat he was wearing, during the assassination, at Ford's Theater.

Mock up of the bedroom, where he was taken, after being shot. The pillow is the actual pillow on which he died, at the Peterson Boarding house, near Ford's Theater.

Steel engraving of Ulysses S. Grant, 1868

William E. Marshall

My nephew loved it, when we told him that U.S. Grant is actually his relative! ... A distant cousin or uncle. I'm not sure, my sister is the genealogy expert.

Anyway, these were such gorgeous engravings! Difficult to photograph, because of an incredible amount of glare. You can see that I took the photos, from an angle, but they lovely and detailed, with so much dignity and humanity. I love them.

Steel engraving of Abraham Lincoln, 1868

William E. Marshall

Peace does not appear so distant as it did.

I hope it will come soon,

and come to stay;

and so come as to be worth the keeping 

in all future time.

~Abraham Lincoln

Letter to James Conkling, August 1863

This 37 Star United States flag, was laid upon the casket of President Lincoln, in Philadelphia, PA., Independence Hall, April 21, 1865.

The library is in Simi Valley, up on a hill. Great views but quite windy! Below, is where we sat and had lunch.

Views from the Presidential Library

A piece of the Berlin Wall

And, of course, my nephew had to see it again ... Air Force One!

This plane flew 7 presidents, including Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush. 

It's funny to see how un-techie it is. We forget how much has changed! Like the huge telephones and clunky VCRs and other equipment. Let's just say ... it's not exactly swanky or sleek inside. 

They don't let you take pictures inside the plane.

Air Force One Pavilion 

Boys love planes. Here's Ben. :)

The exhibition runs through September 30, 2013.

 Click here for more information.

Ken Burns, The Civil War: The Gettysburg Address

I leave you,

hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms 

until there shall no longer be a doubt

that all men are created free

and

equal.

~Abraham Lincoln

Blessings and light!

(I'm almost caught up on summer posting - back to Italy soon!)