Books read in 2012

This is not a list taken from the NY Times or Oprah's favorites or whatever. I didn't really read too many books last year and some that I read were an utter waste of my time. I hope not to repeat that mistake again this year

First let's clarify that when I say "books", I also include comic books and graphic novels.

Like these two....

Bridge of the Gods mural

Since we were right next to the park and bridge, we made a quick pit stop at Eastwind...

You can see the mural in the parking lot of the neighboring Charburger restaurant. I especially wanted to see the mural, located on the south pier...

Beef Goulash

The trifecta of recreating the Hungarian dishes from Hanna's is now complete. I've attempted the mushroom soup, then the Chicken Paprikash...

A few days ago, it was all about the Goulash baby...

Eastwind Drive-In

Now from what I've read, any visitor to the Cascade Locks area HAS to visit this place, which you can see by the big ice cream cone sign...

Who cares if it was raining? We wanted burgers AND ice cream and nothing was going to change our minds about it...

Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum

With the Bridge of the Gods behind us, we made our way to the museum...

Trees, trees everywhere! Not a palm tree in sight!

Pringles Limited Edition flavor...

While at Wal-Mart today, we found a flavor of Pringles we'd never seen before...it reminded me of this classic SNL skit...

Well, after seeing that, that flavor could only be...

Vega Caffe & Deli

Enjoying the rain?

This morning was a total rarity because we were actually headed out TO breakfast...

Bridge of the Gods

Located just a few miles away from the Bonneville Dam is the Bridge of the Gods...

named after an ancient geological event and Native American legend, the bridge is the third oldest bridge that spans the Columbia River...

Soup of the Day - Tinolang Manok

From 78F to the low 60's in a matter of a few days...

Thought I'd make an easy meal since my MIL would be joining us for dinner...

Sugar & Scribe Bakery

It was fun discovering new places all within a few steps away from each other...

Up the street from Papa Luna's was this cute little Irish owned bakery, Sugar & Scribe, which is the only bakery in Pacific Beach. It's been there for about two years and I feel like kicking myself for not coming here sooner...

Papa Luna's Empanadas

I'd been seeing the ads in City Beat for awhile now and thought it was high time to finally  go here...

Even though we have Maye's Empanadas in Bonita, this new'ish empanada place had me quite curious. I normally avoid PB like the plague. I fkg hate the parking and traffic here especially on the weekends....

Gelato Bus Stop

There used to be only a couple of places where you could get gelato in San Diego, like Gelato Vero Caffe in Mission Hills (we're talking late 80's here), and a few restaurants in Little Italy. Now, gelato stores are popping up with more frequency which makes me happy. Gelato Bus Stop in Pacific Beach  is my newest favorite gelato place...

...and yes, it really is located next to a bus stop!

OMG, I'm already planning our next visit there!

Chicken Paprikash

Since I've been on a Hungarian food kick, here's a classic cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny playing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (a very difficult song to play!)...

In the full cartoon episode, there was a cougher in the audience and Bug Bunny pulls out a gun and shoots him!!! Wait, I found the clip:

In today's sanitized PC-world, you aren't going to see THAT in the kiddie cartoons anymore!

This was my second dish that I tried to recreate from our lunch at Hanna's a few days ago...

Two years later...OB Tide Pools

At the foot of these streets is the OB Pier...

We wanted to take advantage of the awesome weather that day. TC had been wanting to go back to the tide pools so this was a perfect time to do so...

Return to Hodad's

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! It was time to hit up OB again!

Since it wasn't quite low tide yet for the tide pools, we made our way FIRST to Hodad's a few minutes after they opened...

Recent treats...

In keeping with my 'recent lunches' post, here are some recent treats...

such as this box of Spanish turrones bought back in late November at Pata Negra...

Recent lunches

A few weeks ago during my winter break, everybody in the house got sick...

That meant it was time for soup...

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

One of my resolutions was to experiment with different ingredients and learn new recipes...

After our fab Hungarian lunch at Hanna's a few days ago, I thought I'd try making a version of that soup myself...

Three Times Dope

Of the many dessert choices I presented to my Ninang, she chose the one whose food she was most unfamiliar with...

Well, that meant we would be cruising to this cute neighborhood...

I just noticed the curious image of the ostrich on the banner above. I wonder if there is a meaning to that?  I was excited to go to this place again...

[Update - Please see Kirk's comment to this post. He explains the meaning of the ostrich on the neighborhood banner!]

Return to Hanna's Gourmet

My Ninang (godmother) was in town this past week and we had the pleasure of having lunch with her yesteray. Off we went to pick her up at my godbrother's house in La Mesa...

(heading North on the 125 towards the 54)

This unusual sight greeted us when we got off Lemon Grove Way onto High Street.

Hmmmm, I could say something nastay but I won't...

Anyhow, I wanted to take her out someplace very nice and with good food. Hanna's Gourmet fit the bill perfectly. I loved it when we took KD there for her birthday lunch a few weeks ago.

Another big reason we wanted to go here was because of the featured cuisine of the week...

Second Time Around - Mocha Mochi Cake

I couldn't resist making this recipe again...

This time I changed up one of the main ingredients...

Rosca de Reyes

Although "King's Day"  (or "Dia de Reyes" and was on January 6th) has come and gone,

our deparment were the lucky recipients of a traditional Mexican treat. One of the parents of a student was generous enough to gift us with a very large cake made fresh from Tijuana...

Return to Yogurt Swirl

After our fantabulistic (that is a new word) lunch at the new "Original Sab-e-Lee"...

we headed out towards the Manila Mesa area for some dessert.

Jinxi hadn't been to this place yet and we could not deny her suggestion!

My craving for Paris Baguette's many temptations would have to wait...Plus it was a weekend and none of us wanted to deal with their shiteous parking lot...

On our way to Stevenson, WA

When I hear the word Stevenson, I think of:

Adlai Stevenson:

23rd Vice President of the U.S. (1893-1897), under Grover Cleveland...

Or how about...

The "new" Original Sab-E-Lee's in Rancho PQ

Just yesterday, I had the pleasure of having lunch with some awesome folks...

Our lunch destination was up North (well, for me it was), in Rancho PQ...

Revisit to Raki Raki and Angels & Hearts

Although I saw Superman a few weeks ago at the Xmas party at Thor's, we met recently for lunch AND dessert (see below)...

He'd been wanting to have ramen and didn't mind the suggestion of going to the new'ish RakiRaki...

Korean Kitchen Tofu & Galbi and Nuyo

Bert had the day off and we originally wanted to go to Spanish Landing to check out the building of the San Salvador, which will be a replica of the one used by Portuguese explore, Joao Rodrigues Cabrilho. Instead, we watched the new animated Dreamworks flick, "Rise of the Guardians" (ehhhh). The sun came out later that afternoon and we went for a late lunch...

at the Vons shopping center near Telegraph and the 805...

Tanner Springs Park & views from the 9th Floor

After our lunch at Lovejoy Bakery with my friend, we took a quick mini tour around her neighborhood...

In the background, you can see one of Portland's many distinctive bridges... the Fremont Bridge, which is the "newest" bridge (built in 1973 and spans over the Willamette River). We would cross that bridge later that day to get into Washington state.

Mocha Mochi Cake

Cripes! Look how cold it was this morning!

I woke up bright and early to try a new mochi recipe. Here is the delicious end result, a few hours later.

(ugh, dry skin!)

The process was not without some drama though...

Caffe Calabria again...

While not totally full from our lunch earlier at Lil b's, we still wanted something small and sweet...

such as these tiny little sandwiches...

Around North Park...

Although it was a sunny day, there was a a slight chill in the air.

Us wussy SoCal's freak out when it gets below 60F.  Okay, I mean, just me, ha ha. But really, I felt like piling on a scarf  and donning some mittens to beat the chill...

Lil b's Urban Eatery

Sometime last summer, I snapped a drive-by shot of the  Brian's Eatery. We actually wanted to have lunch there but we noticed the sign, "Closed for remodel". Huh?

Later that fall, I heard from a friend in the know that the place had closed but would soon re-open under a different name...

Little did I know the old Brian's would end up taking over the old Johnny's R. spot on El Cajon Blvd (near the water tower)...

This was the place with the rotating sign! We were bummed because we never had a chance to try Johnny's R. We were always curious because of the spinning sign and the unusual look of the restaurant, which reminded me of some type of weird tree house. In it's past life, it was once the House of Pies.

It turns out that the Johnny's R closed in June of 2012. It's namesake and owner, Johnny Raizian died the year before and the restaurant kind of went of downhill from there.

Pancit Palabok

Since I'm on a recipe kick, here's the latest dish I've made...

You'd have to be a total kitchen 'tard to mess this up. If you can boil water, then you can make this!

Blueberry Mochi Cake again...

Aah, nice crisp edges...

and even one corner thrown in!

This blueberry mochi cake is my latest obession...

Cilantro Pesto Pasta

I couldn't stop thinking about KD's cilantro pesto pasta from her birthday lunch at Hanna's Gourmet...

It couldn't be that difficult, plus cilantro was 4 for $1.00 at Seafood City so...

La Kalaka Flaca

[Update - The restaurant closed as of mid-2013]

Recently TC and I visited a relatively new taco shop with a Day of the Dead theme...

It was located in the tiny strip mall on the southwest corner of 3rd and Oxford...

Raki Raki Ramen

So, this was the last stop on KD's birthday foodcrawl...

D's craving for noodles and the lure of the neighboring ramen joint next to our dessert fix at Angels & Hearts won out...

It was literally steps away and in the same building so...

"How It Should Have Ended" - TSBD-Part 2

This is TOTALLY how the movie should have ended!


Errrmahgaaaaad!

Lovejoy Bakery

Whenever I hear the words "Lovejoy", I think of the Reverend Timothy Lovejoy from "The Simpsons".

"And now please rise for our opening hymn, uhh, "In the Garden of Eden" by I. Ron Butterfly"

*actual quote from the episode "Bart Sells His Soul"

Simpsons creator and Portland native, Matt Groening named this character after Lovejoy Street, which was named after one of the founders of Portland.

(photo courtesy of jayselley's flickr; I don't know him but used his image from a search on "Lovejoy")

Of course, I had to look up what this dude looked like...

Oregon Day 9 - The Pearl District

Our Portland vacation was coming to a close...

That day we had plans to meet up with a former colleague...

Angels & Hearts Harajuku Creperie

Well, our original plan to go to H-Mart was changed so we could go to the parking lot from HELL...

Yes, this one...

Return to Soltan Banoo

Dessert ended up being a two part affair. After perusing her choices,

KD wanted to give Persian desserts a try, so off we went...

Hanna's Gourmet

Today turned out to be an accidental birthday foodcrawl...

this time for the lovely KD, who comprises 1/4 of our group of the Educator GF's...

Neveria Tocumbo - Chula Vista

Located just up the street at the lonely and mostly vacated Oxford Center strip mall

was the reboot of what used to be the old Baskin Robbins Ice Cream place...

Utage

[Update - Closed as of Spring 2015. Replaced by a birria restaurant]

Yesterday TC and I were out doing errands and I thought it would be nice to pick up some mochi cakes at Hogetsu for KD's upcoming birthday foodcrawl...

Unfortunately, Hogetsu was closed but we thought we'd make the most of our locale by having lunch at a nearby restaurant...

Return to Santos Farms Market, Pangea & Nijiya

One of the newer shops that will be opening up on University...

I think Bert would like this place since they specialize in what I assume will be craft beer!

We took a quick walk up 30th and made our first right...