The Girl had to read Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist” as a freshman English summer assignment. She racked up several more novels over her high school career and frankly, I probably have not read half of them myself even though I have been quite a reader over the years. The Boy received his summer assignments recently and once again, “The Alchemist” is on the list. There’s got to be something to this story if both of my kids have had to read it…
Originally published in Portuguese in 1988, and almost thirty years later, I am looking forward to traveling the pages along with Santiago the shepherd boy as he searches for treasure in his adventures. I love a good adventure!
I just need to get it read quickly because when The Boy finds out, he’s surely going to decide that he needs to begin his summer assignment…
Click for the Amazon link to “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
When I first spent time in Cherry Valley, thirty years ago, it was a one-stoplight town with ranches, orchards and beautiful views. Today, most of the ranch land has been replaced by neighborhoods and only a few cherry orchards are still maintained. Along with more shopping and housing opportunities, growth has brought a PGA golf course, a couple of really nice parks, a new high school, and of course, a few more stop lights. But the lovely views remain.
Celtic Spring Band
Highland Springs Resort, tucked up in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains, has a popular lavender festival. On the drive inland I wondered if we were even going to be able to smell the flowers- the inland hills and valleys are smokey today, as a fire is currently duking it out for supremacy with a lot of area firefighters. It is putting up a good fight, too, and has grown to over 10,000 acres. But, the winds were in our favor and we really enjoyed the festival. By the time we arrived and had scouted out the grounds we were ready to eat- lunch came from the Sausage and Beer tent. The Grand Oak Sausage was a fabulous house-made German bratwurst. Even better was the sauerkraut served along side it. This was worth the price of admission today, holy cow it was delicious- the sautéed onions mixed into the kraut put it over the top. The Highland Springs Resort is on 2400 acres of land in Cherry Valley and The Husband used to run through the property when training for the high school’s cross country team. It all looks very different, he says. Now this is one of the state’s larger lavender farms and next they are expanding into the premium olive market. The entire area is gloriously perfumed with the herbs and lavender, sweet grasses and pine.
Pop open finger limes for “lime caviar!”
Today at the festival there were more lavender products than you could shake a stick lavender wand at- so many crafts on display, described in seminars, or for purchase. Other local crafts were available for purchase as well, like specialty wools, yarn and fibers for spinning (thefiberranch.com), some very lovely pottery, and The Boy’s favorite- specialty fruit stands. If you want soaps, lotions or honey, they have it here. From the food to the music and all of the crafts and scenery in between, I really enjoyed the 11th Annual Lavender Festival (honestly, I’ve never seen more posh porta-potties or shuttle buses). And I’m not leaving here without getting a lavender mojito!
I just discovered that one of the Whole Foods near me has a $5 or less basket full of chunks of Heaven. More specifically, smaller cuts of cheese.
I picked up a Gorgonzola “Dolce,” not knowing that they even exist. Sini Fulvi brand, to be exact. Wow, delicious! Creamy but with the little crystals of a more aged cheese, not too strong… I guess that would be the “dolce” part of the variety. Just enough veining to give it the best taste. Loved it, and Sini Fulvi Gorgonzola Dolce is in my favorites column now.
The second cheese is a French Double Cream, kind of like a brie but without the characteristic brie flavor that The Husband can’t stand. This brand “Fromager d’Affinois Guilloteau,” too, was delish. So very mild, extra creamy with a very light, fresh flavor. It paired really well with my Pinot Grigio on this (almost) summer evening.
Finding new things to try this year has turned out to be a delicious and rewarding idea this evening.
Kearny Mesa has a bounty of international restaurants, especially Asian shops. From Chinese dumpling houses to Japanese ramen restaurants, this seems to be the area to hit. It took us several years, but we finally made it to one of the more talked-about noodle joints: Rakiraki & Tsukemen on Convoy Avenue. One of the biggest reason we have never eaten here is because it is on the same corner as O’Brien’s Pub, and it is hard to pass by this pub even when you want to try a new place… O’Brien’s is just that good.
My bowl of the Super-Delux
The Girl and I hit Rakiraki tonight, and although we were only mildly impressed, we both agreed we would still like to come back for another try at the menu. Tonight we each had ramen. She tried the original with chicken: “ORIGINAL SIGNATURE RAMEN- Custom craft noodles and original chicken broth topped with green onions, bamboo shoot, organic crushed sesame, nori dried seaweed and your choice of aburi chasiu or chicken chasiu.” I had the super-delux, also with chicken: “SUPER DELUXE HAKATA TONKOTSU RAMEN- Custom craft noodles and deluxe tonkotsu broth topped with sizzled garlic chips, five-spice soy sauce pickled egg, bean sprouts, green onions, bamboo shoots, wakame seaweed and organic crushed sesame.”
The Girl is pretty squeamish about fats and oils… the texture just does not appeal to her, and she felt that the layer of oil floating on her soup was just too much for her. She dug the flavor, but couldn’t get past the greasiness. She did, however appreciate the organic chicken- have you noticed that “Organic Chicken” tends to be less fatty? I think it is… Just wondering if I am the only one who noticed. I liked my dinner overall, but was not bowled over by it. The noodles, broth and toppings were just… all right. Good enough to try the restaurant another time, but not containing any wow factor that I hoped for. I’ll try a different dish next time.
For any of you who may be interested in learning more about the Ramen scene in the San Diego area, here is a nice summary put out a couple of years ago by our main newspaper. This Union Tribune San Diego article “Who Serves the Best Ramen in San Diego?” has a good list with a short review of seven different foodie’s favorite spots. Click on for more recommendations!
This has been a screen day for me while all the family has been out and about with their own work, friends, and activities.
I nearly finished a two season, ten show series “The Forsyte Saga,” then had The Girl and Friend show me a bunch of their internet finds… I don’t know which I enjoyed more. Probably the girls’ videos, because I’ve had enough of drama- real or screen, although I did enjoy the period drama.
On a funny side note though, when I checked in on Facebook this morning, what do I see trending but who’s a favorite to be the new James Bond… One guy is none other than that baddie from “The Forsyte Saga.” I’ve just spent nearly 15 hours watching Damien Lewis be a complete rat-bastard with control issues, (how much tragedy can an extended family take? Holy Moly, give them a break). The characters were well written, though, and even the more despicable ones were so well fleshed out that you could almost understand (but not condone) their motives. I’d recommend the series, overall.
Topping my favorite videos shared by The Girl and her friends has to be “Enamorada,” a video by Dvicio… or “five gorgeous men singing in a car,” according to them.
branching out... on a limb 