restaurants – Page 6 – branching out… on a limb

Whine Free Wildflower Photography!

Very grumpy children. She is totally faking that smile and was as miserable as he was that day. — Very grumpy children, 2011. She is totally faking that smile and was as miserable as he was to go hiking that day.

Today The Husband and I did something we have never done. We went on a long drive to go hiking in the Anza Borrego State Park lands in the desert… without the teenagers. They asked to stay home, finish homework, and generally relax. We had a grand time eating pie, seeing wildflowers, stopping on a whim for tacos, all without anyone complaining about being too hot, too cold, bored, hungry or ready to go home.

The Amma (my mom) after being tricked into hiking up the Borrego Palm Canyon trail — The Amma (my mom) after hiking Borrego Palm Canyon trail

All four of us have had a ball tromping through state parks, but rarely are all four people happy at one time. You want to see that old phrase “madder than a wet hen” in action? Add my mom to the mix. I have tricked her into hiking on short trails and have been surprised she was speaking to me by the end.

*Click on any of the photos for larger versions, the flowers are really pretty*

More pie pics. Because, pie. That’s why.

For this day trip, we stopped in Santa Ysabel for apple pie à la mode at the Julian Pie Company. We carpool school trips to this area and I always try to bring my car load of middle schoolers to this shop for a snack. If you have the chance to visit, don’t miss it! Seriously, pie is my favorite dessert, and I prefer my own pie usually. This is the only pie I buy. I think they only hire the nicest people. Must be part of their hiring tactics.

I call this photo "Cholla Blooms, One Week Too Early" — I call this photo “Cholla Blooms, One Week Too Early”

Wildflowers of Anza Borrego Desert State Park

Next on the agenda- hunt down some wildflowers. We’ve had enough rain to ensure a good year for desert flowers in all their beauty. Looks like it’s Yellow Flower Season to me. And can you see the citrus groves in the distance in the photo on the right? The groves were in full bloom and words cannot begin to describe their perfume that filled the air.

What's left of lunch from El Borrego. — What’s left of lunch from El Borrego.

We finished the day with a snack from El Borrego. This little taco shop had a great menu, but we went for the basics- tacos and a carnitas burrito. The Husband declared that he will be stopping at El Borrego every future trip to the desert. You’ll have to use your imagination to decide if the lunches looked as good as they tasted… they did, and I for got to snap a pic. I love a good, hard fried shredded beef taco, and they know how to make them here.

While I missed my kids, I’m glad they had a quiet day at home instead of being dragged out to the desert on a 92 degree day (but it’s a DRY heat!). If you are looking for a nice day trip, I love the Anza Borrego desert this time of year. Don’t forget the State Park Visitor’s Center, the day hikes, buy a bag of oranges and enjoy the fresh air if you come out.

More flowers, that's why we came... — More flowers, that’s why we came…

Ocotillo in bloom, Anza Borrego Desert State Park — Ocotillo in bloom, Anza Borrego Desert

Food Tourism in San Diego- Big Kitchen Café

San Diego’s South Park neighborhood has unique shops, home after home of the quintessential California bungalow, and a boatload of eateries. One of the neighborhood and San Diego’s favorites restaurants includes Big Kitchen Café where you can stop in and enjoy some great grub. While you eat you can try, and fail, to take in all the memorabilia posted everywhere- from the Whoopie Goldberg signed wall (where she used to wash dishes) to the Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead photos, and hundreds of personal photos. You will never take it all in.

Roasted Garlic, Onion and Potato Frittata. T'was yummy. — My Frittata. T’was yummy, with lots of roasted garlic.

We had a couple of good breakfasts. The Husband had good bacon with his biscuits and gravy and I really liked my roasted garlic, onion and potato frittata. The home fries were cripsy potato chunks with a generous amount of chopped herbs. Dee-lish. And halleluia, the coffee was fab, too.

I’m really glad a friend recommended this spot when we were looking for somewhere to eat breakfast while we waited for The Boy to finish an activity. Thanks a bunch to Deb E. for the suggestion!! We even found a great gift for The Girl at a shop next door…

See? I wasn't kidding! — See? I wasn’t kidding! Click the pic for the Amazon link if your family has as goofy a sense of humor as ours.

When you see a book titled “Farts Around The World,” and it comes with a sound machine, you just DON’T pass this stuff up (I think I will let her brother buy it off of me and give it to her for her birthday- it makes the PERFECT sibling gift, n’est-ce pas?). I can post this here, she never reads this blog, lol.

(I swiped the featured photo- the one at the very top- right off of the Big Kitchen’s Facebook page, don’t know who took it, but I definitely didn’t want to take credit for someone else’s stuff…)

Vegan Restaurant or Donut Shop… Tough Decisions

Today’s foray into new food was setting up to be one of extremes- it was looking like either vegan fast food or a donut shop. The restaurant wasn’t where I thought it was. Oops. However, the donut shop on the walk up the hill to find it was looking mighty good! But, I turned the corner and there it was, right where The Girl pointed it out to me a couple of years ago. Her friend works at “The Loving Hut,” the largest family of vegan restaurants worldwide, and a meatless Lent makes this the perfect time to finally try this restaurant.

You know It’s a good joint when there are two Buddhist monks sitting in a booth near you, and the satellite choice is tuned to jazz combo music. Yea!

I ordered way too much for lunch so I could share with whoever shows an interest, IF I decide to share…

Fresh Summer Rolls– lots of basil, carrots and jicama for crunchiness and protein of soy ham and tofu. Very good.

Ginger Tofu from The Loving Hut — Ginger Tofu

Ginger Tofu– whoops… remembered that I don’t care for ginger. Fortunately, it wasn’t overloaded with ginger. It was just plain good, a gingery-teriyaki-ish sauce on tofu cubes that might have been fried. They were good, however they were prepared.

Healthy Fried Rice– it’s darn near impossible to make a good fried rice with brown rice, even The Boy would like this. I don’t like meat in my fried rice but love the scrambled bits of egg. I didn’t miss my egg as the fried bits of chopped tofu were really delicious.

more of the menu options at The Loving Hut- non-GMO, organic tofu used... — more of the menu options at The Loving Hut- non-GMO, organic tofu used…

The guys working were really helpful with suggestions for what to order next time (oh yes, there WILL be a next time). Lucky Lemongrass soy fillet with veggies, the wonton soup, Crispy Chow Mein noodle bowl filled with sautéed veggies and soy, Drunken Noodle stir fry, and a couple of taco options all came highly recommended.

And jazz music. Did I mention that? Piano bar jazz on their background music playlist.

The Loving Hut is neither fast food, nor junky, and all around delicious- I will be coming back here soon.

Jazz Bar Again… Only Took about 30 Years

About 30 years ago my family went on a Caribbean cruise to celebrate my brother’s recuperation from being utterly creamed by a drunk driver. I’m not too sure of the details, but essentially, my brother’s insurance settlement paid for a lot of that trip. I never asked about the details, I was just glad that at 17 I didn’t lose my brother and one year later he was off crutches and healing. PSA- Don’t drink and drive, people.

There was a jazz bar on that cruise ship. Did you know that 18 is the legal drinking age at sea? And what did I do when I saw the opportunity to sit in with the Big People, enjoy their adult beverages, and appreciate good music? I ordered myself a gin and tonic- (something I thought my martini-loving gramma would have suggested) and went to that bar almost every evening, that’s what I did! Note- one gin and tonic each night… I obviously had issues with excessive drinking, driving or not.

We had a great trip, but what I remember most was how anxious I was to get back home… ten days earlier I had met the most fabulous guy. He was so handsome, funny, smart, attentive and most surprising of all, interested in ME! Jackpot!

Twenty-nine years, five months and a couple dozen days later, he’s taking me to dinner where we can listen to jazz. The music of Gilbert and Lorraine Castellanos is featured at Croce’s Park West in San Diego tonight. I can’t recommend this venue enough- Croce’s Park West on Banker’s Hill is one of the nicest, most comfortable places we’ve spent time at in a long time. The food- excellent, the atmosphere- tops. And the music? Perfect. I think Jim would be proud, Ingrid.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cocktails at Croce's — Cocktails at Croce’s

IMG_5513_2 — Gilbert and Lorraine Castellanos click to link to Lorraine’s site- besosdecoco.com

Live jazz... doesn't get any better! — Live jazz… doesn’t get any better! Click photo to link to Gilbert Castellanos’s site- gilbertcastellanosjazz.com

Croce's Park West, Banker's Hill in San Diego — Photo links to croces.com Loved it!

Croce’s Portal | Portal to all things Croce’s | Jim Croce, Ingrid Croce, A.J. Croce and Croces Park West.

Recreating the Best Garlic Cheese Bread Ever!

Oh, MAN! I am so excited that I figured out this recipe!!
(See? Food and recipes and out come the exclamation points.)

One of the restaurant jobs I had in college was working at a pizza parlor with The World’s Best Garlic Cheese Bread. Everyone should work in the food industry at some point in their life, I swear, you learn how to serve others and work your butt off for patrons who rarely notice your effort, unless you make an error. Over tip your servers, people, especially lunch and breakfast.

End of P.S.A.

Back to the garlic bread and the New Thing O’ The Day-

I used to help opening the restaurant and prep all the ingredients and food for the day, and one of the menu items was the chain’s garlic cheese bread. I forgot all about how easy this recipe is, and over the years would order something like it from pizza joints across the country as we moved about. All along I was looking for something as good as the bread that I used to help make every day. I finally remembered all of the simple ingredients to make my favorite spaghetti side!

This is all there is to it, adjust your quantities as needed, the recipe is as delicious as it is easy-

In a microwave safe bowl, place equal quantities of the following ingredients: butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and shredded cheddar. For every two tablespoons of each ingredient, add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic. If you want to serve four slices of bread to serve four, the recipe would look like this:

2T. butter
2T. sour cream
2T. cream cheese
2T. shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

Let all the ingredients come to room temperature, or microwave for 5-10 seconds a couple times, stirring well and until everything is mixed together with the consistency of soft butter. The cheese won’t be melted entirely, but that is just fine.

Spread the cheesy mixture onto thick sub sandwich style rolls, split in half. Sandwich bread will be way too thin, as would any other sliced bread. Skip them all and go for the thick hoagie, sub, or Mexican bolillo rolls.

Just see the photos, yeah?

Heat wrapped in foil in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cheesy spread has melted and the bread is a bit crispy. I opened the foil for five more minutes and cranked the temp up to 400 to get the right crispy bread but soft cheesy top.
It. Was. GREAT!!!

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