A Pilgrimage to Gayle's

Life is filled with opportunities for inspiration. Lucky are we who have those opportunities near by - well, I guess "near by" is relative. My favorite "near by" is either 1-1/2 or 3 hours, depending on traffic.

This place of inspiration for me is tucked away in the seaside community of Capitola, Ca. We used to live in this lovely place - sun, flowers, seaside, fog and history. We now live in the California Central Valley, which for us has sun, flowers and fog. The seaside and history are absent. So, a trip to Capitola for me, is like a pilgrimage of sorts.

This pilgrimage takes me directly back to Gayle's Bakery and Rosticceria. This is where I find a wealth of inspiration, joy and comfort. How lucky are we to be within driving distance now with our relocation to Ca? (The answer to that is VERY!) The massive glass enclosed counters are brimming with a supply of pastries for all times of day, which rival anything found in Europe. I would have included photos of that here, but on Saturday, the place was so packed, you couldn't have seen the pastries for all the customers. Additionally, their Rosticceria counter is overflowing with sandwiches, roasted chicken, salads & blue plate dinner items. This jewel has been in business for 30 successful years, and over many of those years, I've been one to pay homage to their creations at their cash register. When we moved away from Capitola, I took with me, my cherished copy of their cookbook; "The Village Baker's Wife." It is always on my counter, either in use or reminding me of my favorite bakery of all time.

Our last trip required more travel time than a sweet little cream puff could endure to make it back to our home. So I snatched up a package of biscotti, stalwart that it is, which could handle the hours in a hotel room and hot drive back to the Central Valley. The package has remained unopened until this post, just so I could snap a photo of it for you to see - in just a matter of minutes that package will be carefully opened and only two biscotti will be removed. They will be nibbled on, with a glass of ice tea, as I return to the land of my enslavement, aka: Excell Spreadsheets - the antithesis of "Pilgrimage" in my life.