Cayucos - Brown Butter Cookie Company

TC felt better after our the drive became less windy and twisty. Before heading down to Pismo Beach, we wanted to check out Cayucos. a tiny seaside town along the coast near San Luis Obispo County. Marie from Meandering Eats had a nice write up on a local cookie company (link at end of post).

Ironically, we received our June/July Westways (triple AAA magazine) AFTER our trip and lo and behold, a two page article on Cayucos (and one page on Lompoc, but I'll get to that later!)!

Day 6 - Heading down the coast...

Here were my Ninang's dolls that were in our room. You know what I did? I turned them around so they weren't "looking" at us when we were sleeping! Then, the morning we left, I faced them outwards again. That last one has freaky eyes. I imagined it would come alive at night and try to kill us.

These dolls are probably friends with Chucky LeRay and that African Zuni doll from "Trilogy of Terror"!

The Whole Enchilada

After the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, we were all so tired. I'm glad we had a set time to leave (due to the parking metered slot we were lucky to get). So off we went to head down south, back to Pebble Beach. While on the freeway, I noticed this sign...

Morrissey!  Is there a Smiths Boulevard?

Buffalo Breath Costumes

A few friends and I were here recently to check out their costumes for our kids who have an upcoming "Egyptian Day" in December.  Every year, each grade level does something different. It's International Day for 2nd grade, Kumeyaay for 3rd,& "Wild West" for 4th, and "Colonial Day" for 5th.

Let's see what they have to offer...

Eleven is one louder...

Another year just flew by...TC is now 11 years old! My child is a Tween!

Here are some unadorned mango cupcakes with cream cheese frosting crafted by the ever so charming and talented Jenny of Jennywenny Cakes (also of the blog Foray into Food)..

But wait there's more! See what they look like with toppers!

Another Floater...

Hey now...I'm not talkin' about THOSE kind of floaters!

With all this hot weather we've been having, it was time for another of these!

Chocolate beer floats!

Aqui es Texcoco

Sometime last week, the co-workers and I were in this part of town for lunch...

Thank goodness it wasn't a weekend. Otherwise, the line would have been out the door!

Brunch at Extraordinary Desserts

I'm in a posting frenzy right now. OMFG, "True Blood" is on! Must watch it!

Pause...

Earlier today, TORC and I took out D for her belated birthday. MIA was KD who wasn't able to make it.  Good thing it was early and a Sunday! Free street parking!

Although all of us had been here before for desserts, we'd never tried brunch here.

Return to SBF&G

We picked up my auntie and uncle from their hotel and headed over to the South Bay Fish and Grill at the Chula Vista Marina. Also on their way to the venue were my Ninang and Ninong.

My auntie and uncle were so kind to entertain us during our all too brief visit to Hilo back in 2006. We wanted to take both them and my Ninang and Ninong out since they were so generous to us during our visits.

Desserts galore!

As mentioned in a previous post, my Ninang (whom we visited recently this past summer as well as two years ago) was celebrating her 70th birthday as well as her 30th wedding anniversary. The surprise party (which turned out not to be a surprise after someone inadvertently spilled the beans) was organized and hosted by her oldest son, my godbrother.  The party turned out to be quite the reunion.

Folks drove in from afar, as well as a few close friends who came in from Hawaii...

Return to Baja Oyster Bar

Last week, TC and I had to go to IB to pick up some "sublimated" plaques (photos are transferred onto a metal plate; they're really cool looking) that I ordered for my Ninang's upcoming birthday and anniversary celebration. I was going nuts trying to figure out what to get a woman who has everything. I resorted to emailing her son, my godbrother (he's one year older than me) and he suggested something personalized. Anyways, after picking up the plaques, we stopped by the Blue Baja Oyster Bar for a quick dinner.

It's on the corner of Saturn and Coronado, across from Jack in the Crack.

That cool refreshing drink...

We were at my friend's daughter's party recently (she turned one) and I got a kick out of the drinks selection. Besides Capri Suns for the kids, beers, waters, and sodas for everyone else, there was also a liquid refreshment table (heh heh, my term).

The selection was eclectic. Red wine sangria (far left), two types of Philippine drinks (to be discussed in the next few photos), iced tea, and fruit punch.

Rosie Lee's

[Update - Rosie Lee's closed earlier this year]

TC and I tried going here a few months ago not knowing Rosie Lee's was closed on Mondays. This establishment caught my eye because the FoodBlogger bakesale last May featured a gift basket from Rosie Lee's. Plus, they had a way cool mod looking postcard.

Rosie Lee is not the name of the owner but rather is Cockney Rhyming Slang for the phrase "cup of tea"...

Centifonti's

We'd never been to downtown La Mesa before. It was like a slice of Americana walking down that street. There were all kinds of mom 'n pop stores mixed in with restaurants, antique stores, and so on.

The not-British guy at All Things Bright and British recommended Centifonti's for ice cream.

Lisa's Cottage

Just a few steps away from All Things Bright and British is this tiny antique store, Lisa's Cottage...

Some vintage toys (Mickey Mouse and a toy raccoon) caught our eye so we felt compelled to stop in and check it out...

All Things Bright and British

Well, chip chip cheery-o!  (Okay, now that was lame and possibly insulting to any British folks out there).

Here we are at All Things Bright and British in downtown La Mesa.

Even though we've never been to England or the U.K. for that matter, I'm so fascinated by all things British...

Return to Coop's

Ready for another diarrhea-like onslaught of posts?

You know you are...

It had to happen sometime...the 2nd of what hopefully will be many visits to Coop's.

Last time I checked my stats, my post on Coop's West Texas BBQ was my most popular post.

Tea Garden and return to Pangea

TC and I wanted to go to Pangea again (this time with Bert) but before doing so, we checked out the place right next to it, Tea Garden...

This turned out to be a bad decision...

Odds 'n endz

Just clearing out my memory card now...

Some Filipino snacks from Seafood City.

I call the Boy Bawang cornick (it's like corn nuts but smaller) Filipino breath freshener. The garlic flavor which I realized is not pictured here...D'oh!

Return to Urbn

The next day we went out for a late lunch. The place? Back to Urbn in North Park.

Bert hadn't tried their pizza before so of course this was also another good excuse to go up to the North Park area.

Eddie's and Tasty Kakes

Ooh, I'm actually posting mid week. Well, this will be a fast one.  Dinner last Friday was at Eddie's Place in North Park.

Bert really wanted a Philly cheesteak sandwich...

The Penny Ice Creamery

Could it be?

Yes, another boujie ice cream place!

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

This'll be a quick post...

My godparents thought it would be nice to take us to the seaside amusement park in Santa Cruz. Bert's been here before (college road trip with Thane)...

We were so damn lucky to find a metered spot near the far end of the boardwalk...

Henry Cowell Redwoods

Our next stop after doing a speed tour of the Mission Carmel was the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park near the small town of Felton (as in Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy). My godparents thought it would be nice to check this out before the weather got hellaciously hot. It was supposed to be up in the high 80's that day.

It was kind of neato keen for us since we'd never been to a redwoods park before...you know, we're so tree deprived here in SoCal!

Que Huong again...

A few weekends ago we had lunch with our neighbors and their two daughters (TC's good friends as well).  I'd taken my neighbor (the wife) to Pho Hiep Grill in Eastlake a week before and wanted to introduce her to other types of Vietnamese food. She told me she was overwhelmed her first time eating Vietnamese food due to the place's extensive menu and her lack of familiarity with the ingredients. I wanted to have her try other foods that weren't Pho or Bun or stuff with rice, hence our recent trip to Que Huong in City Heights...

First up was the Banana Blossom Salad with duck (which has a lot of bones)...

Return to Villa Capri

I'm on a roll aren't I? Weekends are my only free time. Come this week, my posting will come to a standstill...

Sometime earlier this summer we went out to dinner at Villa Capri, a local Italian restaurant located at the Albertson's strip mal on the corner of East H and San Miguel Road.

I'd been here before for lunch but never for dinner...

IB, Beach Club Grille and Oasis

Sometime earlier this summer, I took TC and the neighbor girls to Imperial Beach...

Like a vampire, I was covered up (with towel) with slathered on sunblock and under a big beach umbrella while the girls made sand castles and ran around in the shallow waters...

Return to Mariscos el Prieto...

Sometime earlier this summer...

It's kind of hard to see but the prices have risen since the Spring. Fish tacos are now $1.25 and Shrimp tacos are $2.50! See my first post here...

Mighty Men and Monster Maker

Bert dug this up from his parents' garage several years ago and occasionally, we take it out from time to time for some good old artistic fun. Old School style. This "Mighty Men and Monster Maker" was made by Tomy in 1978.

He doesn't quite remember where his parents bought this but thinks it was most likely the Navy Exchange. Any readers out there who grew up with this toy?

Salju Dessert

Man, we were going back and forth around town that day. We had one more stop, dessert at this new Indonesian place which is located right around the corner from The Hat known for their pastrami sandwiches.

WC had already been here three times. Well, this was our first!

Salju means "snow" in Indonesian and they serve flavored shaved ice with toppings...Still there?

Almansor Park

We made a quick trip to Target to get a few items before heading over to Almansor Park.

WC mentioned that they had a lot of grassy fields, a playground, and a duck pond.

Fosselman's

Seems like we go to an ice cream place every where we travel. Ici in Berkley, Fenton's in Oakland, Polly Ann's in San Franciso and so on. Alhambra was no exception. There was no way we could visit this city and NOT go to Fosselman's, a neighborhood favorite which has been here for decades.

I was curious about their flavors...

Young Dong Tofu

We were able to meet up with Wandering Chopsticks at the Harry Potter Tribute Art Exhibit at Gallery Nucleus. Prior to our trip, she made several suggestions as to where we would go for lunch. Would it be Muslim Chinese? Vietnamese? Middle Eastern/Egyptian? We finally settled on a Korean tofu house, Young Dong Tofu in San Gabriel, just a few miles down the road from the gallery.

WC had never been here before so it was also an opportunity for both of us to "photo document" our experience...