More random pix

[Last post of the year along with 5 other new posts]

A few more random pix to end the year...

The day after Chrismas sales brought us to Cost Plus in Grossmont (where there is the mighty triufecta of stores - Target, Pier 1 and Cost Plus). This is what TC spent some of her Christmas gift money with from Cost Plus. Uhhhh....Nice.
These Lychee fruit gels were a hit with the kids at our holiday parties. They were banned for a while because some kid in a third world country choked on them. Or was it in the U.S.? But hey! Now the killer jelly fruit thing are back with a vengeance! Just remember to chew these well kiddos! They're like non alcoholic fruity jello shooters with bits of fruit!

Sand Sculpture at Grossmont Center...I swear, that mall is stuck in a time warp from the 1950's...

OMFG! The most Holiest Grail of them all! Seen at the Otay Ranch Town Center Macy's parking lot, A Pink Pimpmobile, courtesy of Mary Kay Cosmetics - the cars are awarded to top sellers or women who recruit enough sellers to work for them and peddle this stuff. The car was from South Carolina.

Happy Early New Year's!!!

Extraordinary Desserts - Hillcrest

My last food entry of the year...well, actually dessert entry.

N & L were also visiting from NYC...I met up with both at Extraordinary Desserts in Hillcrest earlier this afternoon...L's brother and his wife and kid were also going to meet us there. N ordered the item below for L...
and here it is! Hands down, this was the favorite dessert at the table! It looked and tasted amazing. The fruit compote consisted of bananas and passion fruit. Delicious. I loved how they marbelized the sauces (or maybe that isn't the right term? made a marbelized pattern?). It looked so pretty that we didn't want to ruin it, but that feeling only lasted a few seconds because it was attacked and pretty much devoured by everyone.
This next dessert was N's choice...which also looked spectacular. We ended up eating the bottom cinammon shortbread cookie (well, I only had a bit since I'm not a fan of cinammon). You can kind of see the tiny gold fleck on the strawberry.
This last one was mine. I was too lazy to type in descriptions so I just photographed the placards. I've had this dessert before at the Little Italy location...
I liked the crunchiness of the merengue but I really chose this specifically for the berries. There was also a tiny bunch of currants on top and a bit of gold leaf on the lemon slices. The custard was also pretty good - tart but not too mouth puckering. The only thing about my dessert I didn't like was the sauces. It looked "muddy" and not pretty at all. WTF was up with that?

Here's another look which you can compare it to...

this lovely masterpiece which was originally seen in one of my August posts (see original here)...isn't it gorgeous? Now doesn't that merengue look so much nicer? The way they placed the sauce in quadrants was much more artistic. They could have also marbelized the sauces to great effect instead of that muddy mess I got.

Instead of currants, there were champagne grapes - those were so lovely! Anyhow, I don't think my dessert was that popular. Here is another dessert that was ordered by L's Sister in law, but this was the photo that I took while in line
I have to get one of those mini bundt mold pans (6 to each pan I believe)! Very chocolatey this was...Earlier that day I cleaned up around the house and got so caught up in cleaning that I didn't eat lunch, then my friend wanted to meet at ED after 3 pm. I ended up having dessert for a late lunch.

I'll be making some dinner later for New Year's Eve...just a quiet night with just us three - Angel hair pasta with a simple sauce of garlic and olive oil with clams...

Snuggie Time!

OMFG - our neighbors bought TC this...the Snuggie (kids version)!!!! Like our mockup of the box?
Of course we all had to try this awesome inventions. Here's Thane!
And myself...
Actually the kids version doesn't quite cover our backs. Did you know there's also a plush version of this thing (rather than fleece)? Here is Bert trying out the Snuggie...
This gift was unexpected but hey, my kid really likes it. She looks like she belongs to the Cult of Pepto Bismol.

Sab e Lee 2 with Thane and Lotus

Thane was in town for the holidays so we all met up for lunch at the new Sab e Lee in Santee. In tow with me, Bert and TC was also Lotus and her daughter S. Here's a more recent post by the ever so thorough Dennis of the blog A Radiused Corner - My Internet Bento Box .The first dish was the Miang Kum, an appetizer I'm sure you won't find anywhere else. These are leaf wraps (spinach) with a variety of fillings. Clockwise from 1 o'clock are: peanuts, slivered limes with peel and all, dried shrimp, superfresh diced galangal, diced red onion, chopped chilis and two saucers that contained dried coconut and a sweet tamarind/palm sugar based sauce. The tastes and textures all fit together perfectly, believe it or not. When I saw this on Kirk's post (see it here), I had to try it. I really liked the freshness of the galangal. Crunchy things also make my mouth happy, so yay for the peanuts and the crunchy coconut!
This photo was taken without flash and looks kind of bluish for some reasons. This was the Kra Thong Tong (now why is The Thong Song on my mind?) - which are delicate rice cups filled with a curried chicken mixture. Yummy! Very pretty to look at. If I could have my way, I'd eat the whole plate but of course, doing so would make me look like a total piggish douche.

Thane ordered the Drunken Noodles with Shrimp after I convinced (okay, shamed) him into NOT getting Pad Thai.

And yes...the infamous #14 - Thai Issan Sausage (pork goodness with rice and curry), best eaten with sticky rice which we ordered (along with two plates of garlic rice....):

Another shot of the Shrimpy drunken noodles....this time with flash.

We also ordered the Pine Cone Halibut - The fish was a scored and fried fillet fried to perfection. It was coated with a beautiful and light Panko crust....I think this was my second favorite dish of the day, next to the sausage. The sauces were a sourish lime fish sauce and the other was more sweet (tamarind based I'm thinking...). The vegetable garnishes seemed like an afterthought and most lay uneaten. The fish was so moist - we picked that thing to death.Here is a porntastic close up of that fish...

Lotus picked this dish - the name of which escapes me but it had pork in it, to round out our meal.

Here's a shot of our garlic fried rice (we had two orders of this). For $3, I could eat just this and the Thai sausage. The rice was delicious and was sprinkled with bits of fried garlic throughout. My version is a bit different since I prefer my rice to have a bit of crispiness to it. If you go here, try this out!

Koby asked if we wanted dessert and we initially said no since we were feeling full, but as you can see, we ordered desserts (plural) after all. This is the Ruammit ice cream - Coconut ice cream with bits of jackfruit. He garnished it with mint, grapes, kiwis and orange slices...The ice cream was a light greenish tint because it was flavored with pandan (or in Thai, Bai Toey).This was the fried bananas. We didn't expect to see a giant mountain of this! The bananas were battered and fried with bits of sweet shredded coconut and topped with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. Very decadent. Even four adults and 2 children couldn't finish this off.

I love this place! I think I want to come back for that fish!

Sab E Lee 2 with Michael & DD

And if I couldn't get enough of this place, here's another SEL 2 post. This time I went with the very cool and wickedly funny Michael from the blog Foodopolis and a new San Diego food blogger (whom I shall refer to as DD) of the food blog The Misadventures of a Diligent Diletante. Michael joined us right after we ordered our appetizers. Here's the Miang Kum...leaf wraps with seeming disparate fillings which really provide a unique taste sensation. Think of the Remy the rat from "Ratatouille" when he's telling his brother to close his eyes and eat the piece of cheese with the grape...That's what this is like.
Michael ordered the Ahi Spring Rolls which we liked...but not as much as the upcoming fish dish...

Of course, I had to have #14 on the Thai Issan Specials, the Thai Pork Sausage with rice and curry. This is my absolute favorite. I normally like to eat it with sticky rice, but Koby was out of it that night. You're probably bored of seeing this sausage in every Sab e Lee post.

Michael's original choice, the Squid Salad was a no go because the chef had no squid that evening...so he ordered the Khoi Soi instead. Here's Kirk's post on this dish (it's at the end of the post). This was probably the most adventurous thing I tried that night. It's spicy raw beef with lime juice (which helps to "cook" it), rice powder and chilies. I wasn't too big on the texture, but it had a definite kick to it. I ended up taking it home so Bert could try it. A few days later, we finally ate it, but this time, I ended up cooking it in a pan. The spicy smell permeated the air and you could smell the chilies with just one whiff. Even TC was brave enough to try it. This is what we had for breakfast today!!!

DD chose an eggplant dish with pork. The eggplant was delicious, firm and not mushy at all. This turned out to be her favorite dish of this night.

I also ordered the Three Flavor Fish (since I liked the Pine Cone Fish so much a few days ago). The sauce was excellent but a bit sweet. I believe it had some tamarind in it as well as palm sugar. The fish was fried perfectly and the presentation was flawless, although in this photo, half of the fish was already eaten! I just turned the untouched half to the camera.

It was great meeting up with Michael and DD, and for both Michael and I, our first meeting with DD as well. Hopefully we will have another dinner outing with more SD food bloggers. I realized that it was a Monday night Football night and a few had other plans or were working late. There's always next time! More people equals great company! And more people means more food!!!

Chick Fil A

A few weeks ago, we all went to the Eastlake Chick Fil A to use up a 2 for 1 coupon. This place is near the Walmart and Home Depot off of Olympic Parkway. This whole area opened up back in mid or late 2006. More on Chick Fil A here and here. Chick Fil A is based out of Georgia and specializes in Chicken entrees. Their campaign showcases cows holding up signs that say, "Eat More Chikn".
Chick Fil A is also the 2nd largest chicken-based food chain in the U.S. with KFC being number one. Here is the view from our table. You can see the condiments and utenstils station in the middle. To the right is the ordering counter.

Here's the wing where we sat...which is also near the bathrooms. Handy.

One of the coupons was "get a kids meal free with the purchase of a chicken sandwich". This is TC's kids meal which came iwth waffle cut fries. Having fries is a treat since we hardly eat fast foodish type food. This was my Chicken Sandwich which came plain. You have to put the condiments yourself, which include mustard, ketchup, and mayo. The little box held her white meat nuggets.

TC's chicken nuggets meal.

My chicken sandwich with crap on it.

The other coupon was "Buy one chicken sandwich and get one free", so Bert used that. No photo since it was the same as mine. We ended up eating 1 1/4 each. TC ended up eating some of our extra sandwich.

For you parents who may be reading this, one Tuesday nights, kids eat free with the purchase of an adult entree and it is also crafts night. I did that about 2 or 3 times with another friend and her kids when TC was 4. However, I hated being around other small children (and still do), most of whom were incredibly unruly. Some of the parents treated crafts night as a free for all for their bratty little Damiens to terrorize others and run amok in the restaurant and adjoining play area. It was too stressful for me so I figured I could do without being around the Bad Seeds and keep my sanity!

ABC Music Humpday Videos - "I" is for Icicle Works

This song takes me back to 1984...

Okay, I'm totally dating myself, but this was one of my favorite songs ever in the entire universe! This gem "Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)"was by Icicle Works, a little known band that came out of England in the early 80's along with one of my other favorite bands, Echo & the Bunnymen. I said it before and I'll say it again, ENGLAND HAS THE BEST BANDS EVER!!!! Name the genre - New wave, Heavy Metal, Rock, Neo-Psychedelia!They had it all! I love British bands! They seemed much more intelligent than American bands and of course, having very cool accents was also a plus.

I loved the jangly guitar sound and the tribal drum beats of this song. Unfortunately this was their one hit in the U.S. and they were more popular in Britain than over here. The radio station 91X (91.1) had just switched over to the "New Wave" format in 1983 and this song, along with the Smiths "What Difference Does it Make?" and Depeche Mode's "People are People"were on heavy rotation!

According to the song's entry in Wikipedia:

"In the U.S., Arista Records refused to release the record unless some changes were made. First, the track was remixed slightly in order to remove a brief spoken-word intro that was heard over the opening bars of music. (The woman performing this intro was identified only as "Mariella" on the original Situation Two single sleeve.) Then the song title was reversed, becoming "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)". This change was made so that the record's primary title would match the words sung repeatedly in the chorus, making it easier for radio listeners to track down the record in the stores."

I like the longer version of the song better (the British import version). I remember Astroboi had a t-shirt with the lyrics on it - he got it at the Spring Valley swap meet. This was when wearing pins/buttons with bands names on your jacket was "in". I totally wanted that shirt. I think he had the 12" single too. I could be wrong, but in any case, I loved loved loved this song (and still do).

There aren't a lot of other bands that start with "I" that I really like. There's Ice House (remember the song, "No Promises"), not really into Ice Cube, Iron Butterfly, Incubus or Indigo Girls either.

Wait!

Oh fuck, I could have also chosen INXS!!! Gaaaaaargh!!!

Portland: Day 5 - Deschutes Brewery

[Note - Marathon Posting session! Scroll down for the newest 4 entries]

***This is also the very last Portland post. Finally!

After a really long ass day in which we went to a shit load of places such as: the Grotto, the View Point Inn, lunching at Burgerville, checking out the Kidd's Toy Museum (with racist toys) and fun and games at Wunderland as well as trying out a vegetarian joint...(whew), we figured we would get some early night beer and appetizers at: Deschutes - this place was a recommendation from KD's brother (our dinner partner from Pok Pok).

Deschutes was a few blocks from our hotel so we walked it. It was a bar/brewery. I think TC was one of the few kids there. We saw a few babies in strollers too. As for the atmosphere, it was your basic pub kind of place. I thought it was "meh"; not so great. It was like being stuck in a corporate restaurant hell. But, hey, Bert wanted to try their beer sampler and it was the closest brewpub to our hotel.

See their menu up close and personal here!
Here's a dark and craplicious view of the interior...
Since I was still kind of full from that vegetarian sandwich, TC and I shared this item (descriptions taken straight from their menu):

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST HALIBUT FISH & CHIPS
Ale-Battered and Breaded with Panko Bread Crumbs, Golden Fried and served with House-Cut Fries, Fresh Brewery Cole Slaw and Tartar Sauce. $15

I thought it was all right - it didn't stand out. I mean, c'mon, it was fish and chips. I wasn't too hungry so the meal was mainly for TC's benefit...
We also shared the CAESAR SALAD
Fresh Romaine Lettuce tossed with our House-Made Caesar Dressing. Garnished with Grana Padano Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomato Flakes and House-Baked Croutons.
ENTREE $10 STARTER $6

We got the starter size, as you can see. I thought the portion a bit too stingy to be $6 worth.

Bert's 6 flight beer sampler. Dont' ask my to name all the different kinds of beer there were. I didn't write them down but I know this, all the beers were brewed at Deschutes and ranged from the lightest to the darkest of their offerings. Wait, Bert just told me he wrote them down but forgot where he put the list. So if he ever finds it one day, then I will post it here.

The Sampler Tray of Six 4 oz. tasters $6.50.

Bert enjoyed the fourth beer the best. It was in the "middle" in terms of color (pictured at the far left below):

I don't remember if I had any sips of his beer. Oooh, almost done!

Our time fly by so quickly in Portland. Although some of these places were on our "must see" list or were nearby our hotel, we did not get a chance to see or visit the Classical Chinese Garden, the World's Smallest Park (a 2 x 2' patch of grass near the waterfront), Pearl Bakery (one of my colleagues recommended this), Jackpot Records (a record store - vinyl lives!), Moshi Moshi (a Japanese pop culture store and art gallery near our hotel, which unfortunately is closing because of the bad economy), Reed College (hey, I'm a high school counselor - I can't help but check out the local educational institutions no matter which city we visit), Mount Hood- we weren't prepared to drive in snow and it was three hours away... or Oregon State University (well, that's in Corvallis though).

We didn't have a chance to drive to the Coast which has the Tillamook Cheese Factory as well as the beach at Ecola State Park (as seen in such films as, "The Goonies" and "Point Break" (where Swayze as surfer Bodhi rides a 50-foot wave to his death while my former crush Keanu "Johnny Utah" Reeves watches), as well as "Twilight" beach scene (where future werewolf Jacob Black " breaks the treaty" with Bella)...Too much Twilight on the brain! and bummer of bummers, the 24-Hour Church of Elvis ! Next time we'll make sure to see what we missed, plus make a trip to the coast. Gotta pack and get ready to leave way early in the morning, like 4 am early!