Be warned: if you make dinner plans with me and our get-together falls through, I’m still going to go out for that dinner. Especially if tacos are involved.
The smartest (and nicest) people work at El RanchitoYum.
Tonight I learned a new word in Spanish- “antojitos” are “little cravings,” and the word is generally associated with street food snacks. I like how Wiki jives with the exact same thing that the cashier told me. El Ranchito hires the best people as food guides, I tell you.
Antojitos are on their menu, and it comes as two little enchiladas and four small tacos- two each of potatoes and beans, a lot of shredded cabbage, salsa and cream on top to stuff in your tacos. I honestly think that El Ranchito is hands down the best Mexican food in the county!
At noon on Wednesday and The Husband and I were near the same neighborhood at the same time so we met at a new-ish spot for lunch. Handy, since I hadn’t decided what new adventure to have for the day. He’s rather accommodating if food is involved.
I really do have a list of things to try or do. I started compiling ideas last summer, probably grumpy after cancelling my plans to do one thing or another… boo hoo, poor me. My pity party got the crabbiness out of my system, and soon grew into the largest note on my phone logging all kinds of various things I have been meaning to do or try, but never seemed to get around to actually doing. I also decided to do what every other person between the age of 10 and 90 seems to have done with any half-baked idea…
Know anything about boba tea? All I knew was we see shops selling it everywhere, with the necessary wide straw to suck up the large tapioca pearls that make this such a unique drink. The Husband reported trying it once and that he didn’t like it. I did.
Keep in mind that I like tapioca. Why do people hate on tapioca? Boba tea is kind of like a sweet, iced latte, but with a strong tea instead. I can see why kids like this drink- it is highly interactive what with playing with the super wide straw to suck up the huge tapioca pearls. Interesting note- The Husband admitted that this was much better than the last boba tea he tried, he drank half of it.
Why did he drink half of my milky tea? Because, Sab-E-Lee serves its food HOT! When ordering, you specify the heat level, 1-10. His Drunken Noodles were requested at level #3. This half-Mexican loved his lunch, but admitted that next visit he will drop to a #2. The couple at the next table and the server all confirmed that Sab-E-Lee is one of the hotter places to get your chili pepper fix in San Diego.
Pad-Dee-Ewe, no heat, thankyouverymuch!
Sab-E-Lee was packed at noon, and for a good reason. I ordered Pad-See-Ewe with shrimp (#0!), and I loved it. Big, fat, rice noodles, stir fried with egg, Chinese broccoli, other vegetables and a delicious sauce. Mine was so good, I didn’t even try any of The Husband’s food. He reports that the Drunken Noodles were fabulous.
While buying apples for tomorrow’s taste testing with the techies (teen techies, technically… I’ll stop the alliteration now), I found Purple Artichokes. I would have just walked past, but I’m on the lookout for the novel, new or unknown so, into the cart they went! With tech week going on and no kids to cook for, I’m much more willing to try something new with no teens saying “Ew, what’s that?!?”
Purple Artichokes, ready to prep.Trimmed, top and bottom.
I grew up eating artichokes and wondered if these tasted different. After a wash and trim, they were ready for a 30-40 minute steam. I didn’t trim the thorny top from each leaf… ain’t nobody got time for that. I highly recommend sticking around the kitchen to ensure your pot doesn’t boil dry (read: don’t go start writing your blog post for the night) . We can testify that your home and the outermost leaves will smell something reminiscent of an ashtray… yep. Once past the first three or four leaves, though, it was all a happy, butter-drenched extravaganza. Let’s admit it, artichokes taste great but are really just an excuse to eat more butter.
Purple Artichoke, Butter, Shrimp, Butter, and Butter
The Purple Artichokes were just as delicious as a regular Globe Artichoke. No notable difference in flavor or texture.
I remember EONS ago when I was in college but still living at home. This was when I started to cook- really cook, not just bake cookies. A produce company Frieda’s provided new, exotic fruits and vegetables to our local grocery stores that I had never noticed before. Frieda’s reminds me how I couldn’t wait to start shopping and cooking for myself. I still love finding bargains and cooking for our family. Frieda’s Inc. is still around and will you look at one of their feature photos from their site? It is the same purple artichoke that is on our menu tonight:
P…and that is no more apparent than in our kitchens, right? How many of you are not Irish, but have a corned beef in the slow cooker? My mom’s father was half Irish, so in his honor, we are having Irish Soda Bread with our Corned Beef and Cabbage.
French bread, cracked wheat sandwich bread, English muffins… Pretzels, pita bread, sourdough (that was a disaster), quick breads of all kinds. If it is a bread, I have probably made it. The Cinnamon Roll count is somewhere in the hundreds of dozens, now, I can make that recipe in my sleep, but Ive never made Irish Soda Bread.
For this Soda Bread, I followed their recipe, sans caraway seeds since I HATE them. Always have, always will. Blech.
Look how pretty this loaf of bread is! I’ve turned out nice looking baked goods… but not today. I think I actually left out a whole cup of flour- my dough really spread out. It kind of turned out like a giant scone, which could be delicious, nonetheless.
I should turn in my Official Baker’s Card, if I had one.
Here’s the ingredients-
Flour, sugar, leaveners, salt, egg, butter, buttermilk, raisins, and a combo of crème fraîche, yogurt, and sour cream went into this mix.
The yogurt is from this incredible dairy where we used to shop. Traders Point Creamery is a grass fed, organic farm located right outside of Indianapolis.
Have a Whole Foods Market near you? Whine to the dairy buyer that you, too, would like your store to carry this yogurt that is so good, even people who don’t like yogurt will eat Traders Point. Like The Husband.
They also host a year round farmers market, and have one of the best farm-to-table restaurants. I miss this place something fierce.
End commercial.
U-G-L-Y you ain’t got no alibi, you ugly. One ugly loaf!
This is one ugly loaf. It looks nothing like the photo from The Chew! But the taste and texture suggest that I did NOT forget that third cup of flour.
The Salt Ewok approves. (can you see him in the back?) It really DOES taste like a giant scone! Very good, actually.
Whew. I get to keep my Official Baker’s Card. Looking forward to making this again, it was great!
“This is a Round Tuit. Guard it with your life, Tuits are hard to come by. Now that you have one, you can accomplish all those things you put aside until you got a Round Tuit.”Grandad’s Round Tuit. Not only did he still have it, but he also knew where it was and texted a photo of it to me as soon as I asked. The guy has his stuff together… or we both just got lucky.
When I was a kid, my dad came home with a little wooden coin. He told me that it was a “Round Tuit.” It might have been something his father or grandfather had given him as a joke. I also remember clever story printed on one side. With a little searching, I found several sites showing the same clever coin, pictured left. When asked if he still had his, Dad found his original, pictured right.
I have been meaning (everyone say it with me, now) to get around tobringing muffins to the fire station ever since we had some nasty fires last May. Those fires came too close for comfort. Like, really close- see the photo on the bottom right? They closed The Girl’s school the next day, and many others in the area.
Pardon the profanity, but this is funny, yo.View from The Girl’s school May 2014
So, today I finally brought some goodies to the local fire station and thanked them profusely for their work. Took me long enough! This is a great example of better late than never.
branching out... on a limb 