9' x 12': Chapter 8 - Two Baking Brits

Friendship can sometimes begin in the oddest of ways. Ours began in a parking lot. There was, to be fair, a farmers market going on in the parking lot at the time. Going to the Santa Barbara farmer’s market is almost a sacred ritual for me, my weekly (or bi-weekly) fruit and vegetable fix, a visual barometer of the seasons played out across the farmer’s tables. Visiting the market inspires me and stimulates my culinary creativity. I am a creature of habit and usually visit the market at the same time every week, meeting other familiar early risers. There is a camaraderie amongst the vendors and shoppers alike and I look forward to chatting with the farmers, seeing what new items they have brought with them, delighting in the first cherries in the spring, seeing tables groaning with snap peas, chanterelles, or discovering luscious fat juicy heirloom tomatoes in the summer. My enthusiasm for certain items often spills over into impromptu conversations with other marketgoers and if you are a transplant from another country, as I am, you also become carefully attuned to the language and dialects spoken around you, your language antennae picking your hometown patois amidst the hustle and bustle of the market day. 

Early morning at The Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market. I delight in this weekly ritual.

This is how I became aware of Sandra. We both shared the same Saturday market routine. She also has a distinctive voice. I heard her chatting with one of my favorite farmers and realized that we came from the same neck of the woods. Over time we would nod ‘good morning’ to one another, acknowledging that we were seeing a familiar face. This went on for months. As much as we chatted away with the farmers, having an actual conversation, beyond 'What did you find today?' or 'Where did you get that asparagus?' with a stranger took much longer to undertake. We would overhear each other’s conversations, occasionally commenting on our market finds, but it would take many, many moons before we decided to have a cup of coffee, then lunch, and finally dinner together, an arc of conversation that lasted more than two years as our friendship developed.