Pushing 50 and it's time to try a few (maybe... 365?) new things.
This blog is not about reinventing oneself or one's life, but about how much fun one can have while going out on a limb and branching out.
Kicking anxiety's butt one day at a time, yeah!
“Korean Brand Pork and Potato Stew”Yea! Instructions in English, too…
A few months ago we picked up a frozen stew that was recommended to us by a friend of The Girl. After he promised that it would not be rocket-hot spicy, I was game.
I figured it would be good if served with some rice, so, while the rice cooked in my steamer (a laughably small steamer, according to our resident rice expert International Guy), all I had to do was heat up the stew in a micro-safe dish.
Smells pretty good…
Between The Husband, International Guy and me, we all decided that it isn’t too bad. It’s not too great, either. I think it would be good choice if you had a cold- just enough spicy heat to help clear your head. The potatoes didn’t fare too well with the defrosting, as potatoes are wont to do. But, the broth had a decent flavor. The pork smelled great, but was stringy and dry. And it was more of a soup than a stew- no need to serve over a rice or noodle.
Li’l Turtle Dude says “Go ahead, try something new today!”
Overall, I’m game enough to try one of the other flavors by this brand… but then again, I’m making myself get around to trying new things for the fun of it. I can say that I highly recommend trying new things for no reason in particular.
Sat down to watch the morning news and scroll through the Facebook feed on my phone only to glance up and discover that my thoroughly indoor cat, Hell Kitty, knows how to open the screen door:
According to her, “Couch Time is Our Time.” If I wasn’t going to pay attention to her she was going to take care of her own entertainment, I guess! She has now spent the rest of the news broadcast on my lap and occasionally right up in my face.
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Waffles are here for the season!
Pumpkin waffles crisp and warm from my toaster oven… waiting for my maple syrup and candied nuts (inspired by the box top).
No pie spices, so you can sprinkle on your own. But they do pack a big pumpkin-y flavor.
I like these waffles, and would definitely buy this product again.
The Boy came downstairs, however, and politely turned down these waffles and asked if he could instead destroy my kitchen make waffles from scratch. The Delicious Level of his creations are directly proportional to the Remaining Mess in the kitchen.
Vista may host the oldest and longest running Farmers Market in the San Diego area, but La Jolla has one of the best- the La Jolla Open Aire Farmers Market. A couple dozen international food stalls serve breakfast and brunch foods for you to snack on while you shop at a wide variety of produce stands- organic and conventional. Need to pick up some specialty oils, vinegars, or specialty food treat for a gift (or a treat for yourself)? La Jolla’s Farmers Market has you covered. To top off the variety of vendors the market includes upwards of forty or more stalls selling hand made clothing, trinkets, art, and the odd collection of curios for sale.
One guy dives shipwrecks, for instance, and has a small table of items he has brought up from the ocean floor. He’s dived all around the world and has brought up literally millions of dollars worth of gold and artifacts. Go visit him and ask questions- he’ll tell you about the most expensive individual find, oldest, surprising, and the dive that made him the independent hobbyist that he can be today. It was quite fascinating to hear his stories.
Smit Farms sells at several markets I visited this week, and I bought their cherry apple cider at Mira Mesa’s market, their onion and garlic pistachios at the Ocean Beach market, but The Husband was the one to cave in to their produce this time. The apple samples pushed him over the edge- we are now the proud owners of two pounds of honey crisps and one pound of those delicious grapes.
Anyone selling cage free eggs had great prices here- as a matter of fact, they were some of the best prices that I can recall from all the local markets. Some of the egg vendors really appreciate it if you can bring back the cartons and reuse them, how’s that for reusing and recycling?
This is a wonderful, lively, varied, great place to shop. We know people that spend the entire morning and afternoon here in La Jolla- they attend their church’s early service, eat a nice breakfast at Harry’s Coffee Shop, then hit the Farmer’s Market. I think they have a great thing going, for sure.
Did you know that Kashi foods started in La Jolla?Beautiful bracelets and colorful gifts for sale. Fabulous prices, too- those bracelets are $1 each! From Ariela’s Unique GiftsI didn’t know “chayote” were a soup squash…Never tried a guava… holy cow, they were delicious!
More than one person buying from Belinda’s Cocina swore to us that they eat here every weekend because it is The Best Mexican Food in The Entire Area. Our chile relleno and chorizo burritos were fabulous.
The chorizo burrito (right) didn’t stand a chance against The Hungry Husband. It was indeed DELICIOUS! So was my chile relleno burrito (left).
Vista, north of and just outside of the city of San Diego, claims to have the oldest, longest running Farmers Market in the county.
I found it to have all of the great stalls and vendors of the Wednesday night’s Ocean Beach Farmers Market… with none of the funny cigarettes… ha.
Click for the Spuds.com link!!
What better way to kick off a weekend visit to outdoor markets than eating A Stuffed Hash Brown, or as I will now call it, Serious Competition For All Breakfast Burritos! My breakfast was the “Egg Head,” and I don’t know how they got that much bacon in there, but mmmmmm is all I can say. The Husband was equally pleased with his “Speedy” full of carne asada, pico de gallo, cheese and avocado. You can go to SpudzPotato.com and see where they will be next.
Other specialty vendors include The Brothery selling bone broth- very tasty I thought. Bone broth has become one of the latest health crazes, which kinds of amuses me since most of our grandmothers have been making it since time began. God have mercy on me if my father ever caught me throwing out the carcass of my Thanksgiving turkey instead of turning it into soup! If you don’t make your own broth (after you’ve carved up a baked or rotisserie chicken put the remaining skin, bones, and bits into a large pot; cover with 6-8 quarts of water; simmer for 3, 4, or more hours; strain and refrigerate the broth to use for soups or to sip when you have a sore throat or cough), The Brothery (at TheFlavorChef.com) is available in several local health foods stores and the Vista Farmers Market.
This location is large enough to support two different bands on opposite ends of the market without stomping on each other’s musical footprint or the listening crowd’s earspace.
Beautiful piles of fruits and vegetables poured out of baskets and across tables from the farmers’ stalls. My brain sluggish recall is that the prices seem on a par with most local grocery stores for organics grown locally. This leads me to believe that if Whole Foods is selling organic locally grown red seedless grapes for $3.99/lb, same as the farmers market, then the farmers are cutting out the middleman at these markets and keeping more of the profit for themselves. And as I understand it, they work on thin profit margins.
branching out... on a limb 