2009-06-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

My name is Erica Sommermann, and welcome to Apricosa! I started writing this blog as a way to share my enjoyment of healthy California cooking. Here you'll find experiences, recipes, and tips drawn from my Italian and German heritage, my garden, and good times with friends. I hope what you read here encourages and inspires you in your own kitchen and pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.

I have lived in Santa Barbara, California since 1985. Over the years, my cooking has been influenced by the huge availability of fresh produce both from my garden and from the surrounding Santa Barbara area. Locavores here can enjoy strawberries from Santa Maria, wines from Santa Ynez, and avocados from Carpinteria. But there's so much more! With international influences from Korea, and now more recently, Taiwan, my personal culinary style keeps evolving, ever with a focus on fresh and beautiful food. This is California at its best: an abundance of great ingredients and a diversity of cultures!

I've chosen the name Apricosa as an allusion to an apricot tree that once grew in my family's lovely California garden. This tree symbolizes the value I have for natural, local foods, as each summer we used to make our year's supply of apricot jam from its fruit. The golden blush of the apricot fruit also represents to me the warmth of the summer sun which I enjoy so much....I am, after all, a Sommermann!

About Apricosa