Month: November 2015

From “Ew. Beer.” to “Mmm… Decisions, decisions… Nut Brown Ale or Stout?”

I swear I am not repeating my adventures, but we did go back to Alesmith Brewing Company last night with Al and Angie, two of our favorite people on the face of the earth.

These friends from our old parish in Indiana now have both of their kids off to college. If I can make this transition half as well as these two, I will consider my entry into Empty Nestdom wildly successful. Recently, Angie told us that on their visits to San Diego, she wants to try new and different pubs and restaurants- how convenient!

Alesmith was the answer, with the Tony Gwynn Gourmet Food Truck providing the eats.

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photo from the Alesmith website

Angie liked her Stout, and I really liked my Nut Brown Ale, one of the choices I wanted to try on our last visit here during San Diego Beer Week. This is a great brew! Don’t like hops like me? Try this beer- dark, but not sweet, English style bitter, but very low IBU (hops aren’t the only thing you taste… unlike most of San Diego’s famous beers). I have gone from “Ew. Beer.” to “Mmmm, what to have… Porter? Stout? Or an ESB? So many choices!” And none of these choices have to be a West Coast-style, quadruple-hopped, San Diego IPA.

And by the way- the fried wings of the food truck were some of the best wings I’ve ever had. I’m going to be hunting down the schedule for the Tony Gwynn Gourmet food truck, man they were GOOD! The foods all have baseball themed names, which make a lovely nostalgic pairing with Alesmith’s SD Pale Ale .394 (Padre’s fans understand the connection).

 

 

A lovely Nut Brown Ale
Gwynn’s Gourmet Food Truck’s Pulled Pork Fries- yummy, but the Fried Wings were even better!

Girls’ Day Out #2- Frutilandia and more!

In June I went exploring Liberty Station with one of my most favorite friends- two moms on the loose having a lot of fun!

Six months is way too long to wait. Time for another “field trip,” this time with Dee Dee and Suzanne, friends from our church’s Bunco Club. Incidentally, Bunco Club needs to be renamed to “Let’s Have a Blast Chatting about All Our Favorite Things, Then Finally Get Around to Throwing Those Dice” Club (at least on the day it was held at my house, oops). Well, we chit-chatted about so many different favorite products, foods, restaurants and other places that we promised to go on a field trip to a few of these spots the very next week.

IMG_9304Which brings us to today: Fruitilandia, Pancho Villa’s Farmer’s Market, and Penzey’s Spices. Two of our stops I was very familiar with, but Fruitilandia was my new venture for today. This place was really neato-burrito.

According to Dee Dee, Fruitilandia was once a dumpy-looking small shop across the street from it’s current location at 4328 University Avenue in San Diego. Now it is located in a bright spot, still offering smoothies and all kinds of fabulous Mexican drink specialties.

We asked about the different snack options and were all in for sharing a Tostilocos, and tried the Strawberries and Cream (unfreakingbelievably delish), Pico de Gallo Fruit Salad, Fruit Salad with cottage cheese, raisins and honey, and a Licuado.

IMG_9313Holy cow, where has a Licuado been all my life? It is kind of like a Mexican milkshake, only lighter, like a smoothie. And tastier. And more refreshing. Choose which of many fruits you want blended into your drink with the milk- I chose pineapple and mango. Wow. Delish.

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Ermuhgersh! Tostilocos!

The three of us split a snack that we decided was like a Walking Taco… on steroids. We barely made a dent in the Tostilocos- served in one opened small bag of Tostitos was cucumbers, jicama, fried peanuts, tamarind bits, spicy sauce and chicharron strips. I’m pretty sure there were 42 other things in there, we just couldn’t get down to the bottom of the bag.

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Three forks-full of chicharron… not fried.

Imagine how sad I was to find that the chicharrones were not fried… boo hoo hoo! I definitely prefer my chicharrones fried. Pork skin cooked this way is like calamari, only a little more firm. Not bad, but not to my taste.

Fruit Salad Pico de Gallo- something I never had, but always meant to- chunks of fruit with chile. Definitely tasty, now all my So Cal and Mexican friends and family can get off my case. I think I liked the papaya and watermelon best.

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Fruit Salad Pico de Gallo

Fruitilandia could take over the country’s smoothie market. I hope it does.

And I NEED to get out with the women more often!

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Out and about, trouble times three, ha.

 

 

Is It Curtains for My Parents’ GROOVY Wallpaper???

My parents have been doing a lot of remodeling, so I thought I’d feature one of their projects tonight. Because really- look at this awesome wallpaper. I said they should keep it, but instead of listening to me, I got told what I could do with my opinion…

Mom models the best of two centuries with an iPhone in hand, in front of the vintage 1970’s wallpaper.
Mom models the best of two centuries with an iPhone in hand, in front of the vintage 1970’s wallpaper.

I lobbied hard for this wallpaper to be saved because just THINK HOW DELIGHTED SOMEONE will be to purchase a home with vintage 1978 foil wallpaper when they finally sell this home eventually! Notice Mom modeling the best of two centuries-  iPhone in hand, vintage 1970’s wallpaper behind her.

This stuff is too groovy to retire, don’t get rid of it! People love vintage accessories in vintage homes!

*****Six Months Later*****

And here’s the finished room… notice how some of the wallpaper is still in the hallway:

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TA DAH!!!!! Looking good, ‘rents!

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Powder Room? More like Power Room!
But don’t worry, there’s still the bathroom! I’m sure it’s days are numbered, though…

Favorite WordPress Blogs

 

I found a blogger who is new to me, but has been around here on WordPress for a while- Brad Young Art…A few of his posts that I liked in particular: 8/23/15 Space Needle, 7/26/15 Blondes and Tennessee, 4/19/15 Chicago Skyline, and 4/5/15 I Thirst.

I particularly enjoyed the different cities featured in his designs- many are only blocks from where I lived (our apartment up the street from Seattle’s Space Needle), or at least the same general yet beloved area (the Midwest rocked my world). Go check out his great art and sweet commentary!

It’s worth mentioning that the only way I came across Brad Young Art (and many other great blogs) is because he simply clicked that “LIKE” button on one of my posts, so I went and looked at his work… go discover some new blogs and encourage the love of great subjects today, everyone. And don’t forget to give that positive feedback.

While I’m at it- I’d really like to give a shout out to a few other fabulous writers I have come across over the course of this year while playing around on WordPress:

Cool San Diego Sights!– great pics and fun insights into what’s happening in the San Diego area

Cycling in the South Bay– about as introspective and funny as a cyclist can get, with life choices, hobbies, and family offered up on the Altar of the Blogosphere

Story Shucker– short, well crafted stories from a talented writer. I’m always looking for his works to show up in my favorites feed.

Finding Jeffrey– a family friend who can produce more thoughtful and humorous writings in two minutes with only an elbow on the space bar than an infinite number of me on an infinite number of keyboards could ever hope to pound out. Get cranking on that book, Jeff, we’re waiting.

Cooking with a Wallflower– I had to narrow down from a couple dozen food bloggers I’m following on WordPress, and Andrea’s blog has a fabulous compilation of really good recipes, wonderful photography, and culinary world finds that she came across on the Big Ol’ Web.

Thyme for Lunch in Miramar -&- Duck Foot Brewery

IMG_9268How lucky can you get? The people on Kenamar Drive- a little side street packed with industrial worksites- get not only Duck Foot Brewing, but a fabulous lunch spot, too. Thyme for Lunch has a menu board featuring breakfast and lunch offerings that can keep me coming back for months, I think, everything looked delicious. With design warehouses, a heating and cooling business and solar company nearby, the brewery and café must be cleaning up.

 

IMG_9269We picked up a Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Panini with Fig Jam, and California Burritos bursting with both French Fries (a must in your CA burrito) and really good quality Carne Asada.

I tried a different beer on this visit- the Choco Porter with Coffee… yum. Like most porters I’ve had, this was also lighter than the stouts but full and rich. Yum. We also brought home a growler of the Double White IPA for Thanksgiving… you’re welcome, family who will be drinking this with us next week!

I’m glad The Husband spotted Thyme for Lunch last week while we came to Duck Foot, and we both had time to meet up in Miramar to bring our lunches into the brewery. That is one of the great things we learned During San Diego Beer Week 2015- if the brewery doesn’t serve food, there is either a food truck for the crowd, or you can bring food into the establishments. So we did! And it was a great lunch, complete with Vanessa from his work, too. Hi, Vanessa! Great seeing you today!