Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Your Wind Song stays on my mind...
It was a pretty damm windy day today. So much so that a lot of trees in town were uproooted and fell on cars, hopefully with no one in the cars! On TV, we saw a car that was totally smashed by a huge eucalyptus tree.
I did a search on the web for songs with the word wind for fun. And no, this is NOT a compilation I would make.
Most of these songs are truly heinous like:
She's Like the Wind Patrick Swayze Bert actually heard a hip-hop version of this! Uh, the first time sucked balls, so even remake it and torture us all?
Wind Beneath My Wings Barbara Mechastreisand
Candle in the Wind Elton John - ugh, the Princess Di deathfest song
Of course, there were some good ones thrown in like:
The Summer Wind Frank Sinatra
The Wind Cries Mary Jimi Hendrix
Run Like the Wind Christopher Cross and
Break Like the Wind Spinal Tap
and some songs I've never even heard:
Catch the Wind Donovan (huh?)
Gone with the Wind (from the movie of the same name)
When the Wind Blows David Bowie (also from a movie of the same name, which I've never seen)
Running Like the Wind The Marshall Tucker Band
and songs I'm not too fond of:
Winds of Change The Scorpions
it's the whistling in this song that really irritates me...who cares if it's about the Berlin Wall being torn down?
Blowin' in the Wind Bob Dylan
sorry folks, just not a fan of Bob's nasal voice
Against the Wind Bob Seger
The Colors of the Wind Vanessa Williams (from 'Pocahantas')
Of course, I saved the BEST FOR LAST:
Dust in the Wind Kansas
To quote Bill S. Preston Esquire from one of the greatest movies of all time, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure":
"All we are is dust in the wind dude"
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Just Fabulous Desserts
[Update - Closed and is now Burger Lounge as of 2009]
Today I went out with the Girls (aka my other 3 lunch/dinner educator gal pals). The venue of choice? Just Fabulous is located in the cute neighborhood of Kensington on Adams Avenue....right next to the sign! We had been there last year for dessert around the time of my birthday. I've been twice more for desserts as well, but never for lunch. So this time, we went for the food!
We arrived 10 minutes prior to 1 pm (which is when they begin serving lunch). They serve brunch from 8 - 12 (or was it 1?) noon. This photo was taken at 3 when we left! We were fortunate to find parking right across the street, next to the library.
In case you haven't figured it out, when you click on their website, you will see that it's just the catering home page. However, on the left side bar is a box that says Just Fabulous Kensington. Click on that and you will see their menu (I don't think it's updated).
The restaurant is small and cozy and very bright with a citrus sherbet color scheme complete with fanciful ornaments dangling from the light fixtures.
The coffee/tea bar area:
We were seated at a spacious corner banquette by the front window:
A refreshing cucumber slice in their water:
One of the gals (a high school AP) started off with the clam chowder. This soup cup is also the same one they use for serving their coffee and tea! Huuge!
It was quite fun going out to lunch with these particular friends since we hadn't been out for lunch or dinner since late last year. Our last get together was when I held the parol making workshop at my place in December. Although we tried to do it monthly, all of us had too many things going on with work and our families. So this time, with Spring Break looming ahead of us, it was a perfect and relaxing time for us to catch up on the latest at our sites and with the goings on in our lives.
Today I went out with the Girls (aka my other 3 lunch/dinner educator gal pals). The venue of choice? Just Fabulous is located in the cute neighborhood of Kensington on Adams Avenue....right next to the sign! We had been there last year for dessert around the time of my birthday. I've been twice more for desserts as well, but never for lunch. So this time, we went for the food!
We arrived 10 minutes prior to 1 pm (which is when they begin serving lunch). They serve brunch from 8 - 12 (or was it 1?) noon. This photo was taken at 3 when we left! We were fortunate to find parking right across the street, next to the library.
In case you haven't figured it out, when you click on their website, you will see that it's just the catering home page. However, on the left side bar is a box that says Just Fabulous Kensington. Click on that and you will see their menu (I don't think it's updated).
The restaurant is small and cozy and very bright with a citrus sherbet color scheme complete with fanciful ornaments dangling from the light fixtures.
The coffee/tea bar area:
We were seated at a spacious corner banquette by the front window:
A refreshing cucumber slice in their water:
One of the gals (a high school AP) started off with the clam chowder. This soup cup is also the same one they use for serving their coffee and tea! Huuge!
She ordered the Crunchy Coconut Shrimp appetizer which was served on a bed of rice noodles, slivers of onion, cucumber and carrot. The dressing was some sort of tangy vinaigrette while the sauce on the bottom resembled that sweet and spicy chili sauce used for chicken. You know, the thick kind with big flakes of chili pepper.
We all made our selections. This was the above friend's entree, Kobe Beef Bolognese, which had carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes served over linguine with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Our other companion (a Junior High Teacher) ordered the Portabello Mushroom Panini which had roasted red pepper, eggplant, tomatoes, some sort of tapenade (this description is verbatim from the menu and I cannot read the writing in the photo I took),
We all made our selections. This was the above friend's entree, Kobe Beef Bolognese, which had carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes served over linguine with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Our other companion (a Junior High Teacher) ordered the Portabello Mushroom Panini which had roasted red pepper, eggplant, tomatoes, some sort of tapenade (this description is verbatim from the menu and I cannot read the writing in the photo I took),
and a chevre basil pesto. It was served with a spring salad mix and pomme frites (olive oil and fresh herbes).
I ordered 2 items with the intent to share. The first item was a salad, the Pan Seared Boat Scallops(with just 4 scallops to be exact) which were served with spring mix, jicama (spelled incorrectly as 'jicima' on the menu), watercress, rice noodles, and Thai vinaigrette.
Here's a close up of the pan seared scalloped, garnished with slivers of red bell pepper and a sauce (perhaps aoli?):
My second item was the Kobe Beef Burger (cooked medium rare). It had a roasted roma tomato in there as well as grilled onions. The beef patty was so tender and juicy, I ended up eating just the meat and hardly any of the bun. Well, I did eat just the bottom part of the bun that soaked up the juices! This was served with a tiny bit of spring salad and pommes frites and aoli. Sorry the picture is kind of dark.
Our other friend (an Elementary School teacher) ordered the Seared Ahi Club Sandwich. As you can see, the ahi was seared just right and left rare in the middle. A couple of slices of nice and thick applewood smoked bacon rested on top of the ahi, crowned with the herbed goat cheese. There were also baby spinach leaves and roasted peppers in the sandwich which was ciabatta bread. Here it is sans the top part of the sandwich.
One of our companions was brave enough to take photos of the bathroom another had admired it's decor earlier. She marveled at the fact that a urinal was included in the unisex bathroom. We agreed that this was actually a good idea so that men won't screw up the toilet with their stinky pee. When I used the bathroom, someone left the seat up (I assume a man). Uh...there's a urinal in there, why couldn't he have used it?
Our first bathroom user also liked the continuation of the restaurant's theme decor IN the bathroom, so bathroom user #2 took this shot. The tile border was also handmade for this place. Although you cannot see it, it was signed and dated by the artist in 2003.
The cool granite sink:
Desserts were still in order. Several of us had tea and coffee. Here is my friend's French Press filled with vanilla tea. You could see the tiny Dickinson's honey jar.
Okay, this was my dessert. This is like one of the desserts I had last year, but instead of calling this a 'bombe', it was described as a Tropical Chocolate 'Dome' which was a layer of ganache drapped over a dense chocolate filling with a surprise center of passionfruit, mango and banana. Garnished with slabs of dark chocolate on the sides and gold leaf on top, this dessert was also dusted with chocolate shavings and fresh berries. One the side was a chocolate sorbet served in a tuile cookie cup.
The other desserts were this carrot cake filled with rum, walnuts and pinapple (luckily no raisins):
along with a lemon curd tart served with a lemon sorbet:
and the last dessert was the "Sunset Kiss" which were layers of raspberry, mango and white chocolate mousse with raspberry gelee on top.
A cross section of the Sunset Kiss. The texture was velvety smooth and not as soft as I thought it would be. We picked at each other's desserts. I liked this one best of all.
I ordered 2 items with the intent to share. The first item was a salad, the Pan Seared Boat Scallops(with just 4 scallops to be exact) which were served with spring mix, jicama (spelled incorrectly as 'jicima' on the menu), watercress, rice noodles, and Thai vinaigrette.
Here's a close up of the pan seared scalloped, garnished with slivers of red bell pepper and a sauce (perhaps aoli?):
My second item was the Kobe Beef Burger (cooked medium rare). It had a roasted roma tomato in there as well as grilled onions. The beef patty was so tender and juicy, I ended up eating just the meat and hardly any of the bun. Well, I did eat just the bottom part of the bun that soaked up the juices! This was served with a tiny bit of spring salad and pommes frites and aoli. Sorry the picture is kind of dark.
Our other friend (an Elementary School teacher) ordered the Seared Ahi Club Sandwich. As you can see, the ahi was seared just right and left rare in the middle. A couple of slices of nice and thick applewood smoked bacon rested on top of the ahi, crowned with the herbed goat cheese. There were also baby spinach leaves and roasted peppers in the sandwich which was ciabatta bread. Here it is sans the top part of the sandwich. 
One of our companions was brave enough to take photos of the bathroom another had admired it's decor earlier. She marveled at the fact that a urinal was included in the unisex bathroom. We agreed that this was actually a good idea so that men won't screw up the toilet with their stinky pee. When I used the bathroom, someone left the seat up (I assume a man). Uh...there's a urinal in there, why couldn't he have used it?
Our first bathroom user also liked the continuation of the restaurant's theme decor IN the bathroom, so bathroom user #2 took this shot. The tile border was also handmade for this place. Although you cannot see it, it was signed and dated by the artist in 2003.
The cool granite sink:
Desserts were still in order. Several of us had tea and coffee. Here is my friend's French Press filled with vanilla tea. You could see the tiny Dickinson's honey jar.
Okay, this was my dessert. This is like one of the desserts I had last year, but instead of calling this a 'bombe', it was described as a Tropical Chocolate 'Dome' which was a layer of ganache drapped over a dense chocolate filling with a surprise center of passionfruit, mango and banana. Garnished with slabs of dark chocolate on the sides and gold leaf on top, this dessert was also dusted with chocolate shavings and fresh berries. One the side was a chocolate sorbet served in a tuile cookie cup.
The other desserts were this carrot cake filled with rum, walnuts and pinapple (luckily no raisins):
along with a lemon curd tart served with a lemon sorbet:
and the last dessert was the "Sunset Kiss" which were layers of raspberry, mango and white chocolate mousse with raspberry gelee on top.
A cross section of the Sunset Kiss. The texture was velvety smooth and not as soft as I thought it would be. We picked at each other's desserts. I liked this one best of all.
It was quite fun going out to lunch with these particular friends since we hadn't been out for lunch or dinner since late last year. Our last get together was when I held the parol making workshop at my place in December. Although we tried to do it monthly, all of us had too many things going on with work and our families. So this time, with Spring Break looming ahead of us, it was a perfect and relaxing time for us to catch up on the latest at our sites and with the goings on in our lives.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Luna
The Killing Moon (All Night Version) Echo & the BunnymenDestination Moon Dinah Washington
New Moon on Monday Duran Duran
Fly Me to the Moon Louis Prima
How High the Moon Mel Torme
Bark at the Moon Ozzy Osbourne
Moon River Henry Mancini
Dancin' in the Moonlight Thin Lizzy
Moondance Van Morrison
Blue Moon Rockapella
Lazy Moon Groove Armada
Pink Moon Nick Drake
Dancing in the Moonlight King Harvest
Mr. Moonlight The Beatles
Moon Raker Shirley Bassey
Walking on the Moon The Police
The Whole of the Moon The Waterboys
Bad Moon Rising Creedence Clearwater Revival
Fly Me to the Moon Astrud Gilberto
Moonlight Sonata Beethoven
Monday, March 19, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
CPK
Last Sunday, Bert's mom wanted to take us out to lunch after church. Bert and I thought it would be good to try a place none of us had ever been, California Pizza Kitchen. Despite my dislike for corporate restaurants, one of my good friends whom I spoke to at the previous day's b-day party, had just mentioned how much she liked a certain dish there. So, I thought we could try this place based on her recommendation. Plus, the restaurant was in the Otay Ranch shopping center and would give me an excuse to go to the bookstore to buy a giftcard for an upcoming birthday party. Here's the view from the parking lot. 
The front view:
The cool light fixtures in the foyer:
We were seated in one of the corner banquettes:
Bert ordered a frozen strawberry lemonade (or was it raspberry?). It was no big thing. It was an overpriced slushy.
Bert, his brother, and I ordered a couple of pizzas plus a salad to share among us. One of the pizzas was billed as 'new', the Mango Tandoori Chicken Pizza, which sounded intriguing. I personally was put off by the bright orange sauce (and fruit) drizzled atop the pizza:
The Thai Crunch Salad (with avocado) was a bit of a soggy mess. The fried noodles were gross and they put too much peanut dressing, which drowned out everything. However, I did like the shelled edamame and the peanuts (which added some much needed crunch), but overall, this salad was too "wet" for me. Oh yeah, there were a few pieces of tastless flattened chicken in there as well.
This pizza is the original BBQ chicken pizza (seen on the previous pizza link above):
Bert's mom had a rosemary chicken sandwich on an onion roll while TC had a mini cheese pizza. The ambiance was okay and our waiter was a bit too attentive (perhaps smarmy is too strong of a word). He also said he would bring us some bread but never did. No matter, since we had enough to eat. It's nice that the South Bay has more dining options, but I would prefer to eat at smaller mom & pop type operations rather than slick corporate entities that serve soulless food to the masses.
The front view:
The cool light fixtures in the foyer:
We were seated in one of the corner banquettes:
Bert ordered a frozen strawberry lemonade (or was it raspberry?). It was no big thing. It was an overpriced slushy.
Bert, his brother, and I ordered a couple of pizzas plus a salad to share among us. One of the pizzas was billed as 'new', the Mango Tandoori Chicken Pizza, which sounded intriguing. I personally was put off by the bright orange sauce (and fruit) drizzled atop the pizza:
The Thai Crunch Salad (with avocado) was a bit of a soggy mess. The fried noodles were gross and they put too much peanut dressing, which drowned out everything. However, I did like the shelled edamame and the peanuts (which added some much needed crunch), but overall, this salad was too "wet" for me. Oh yeah, there were a few pieces of tastless flattened chicken in there as well.
This pizza is the original BBQ chicken pizza (seen on the previous pizza link above):
Bert's mom had a rosemary chicken sandwich on an onion roll while TC had a mini cheese pizza. The ambiance was okay and our waiter was a bit too attentive (perhaps smarmy is too strong of a word). He also said he would bring us some bread but never did. No matter, since we had enough to eat. It's nice that the South Bay has more dining options, but I would prefer to eat at smaller mom & pop type operations rather than slick corporate entities that serve soulless food to the masses.Hamburgers at Lotus & Thor's
After such a great lunch at the birthday party, we went home to change and clean up a bit. Then, we headed off to Thor and Lotus's abode for some burgers. You can read about it at her post here :
We brought a couple of bags of kettle chips. These were the roasted red pepper with goat cheese. The other bag was yogurt and green onion.
Lotus's fantastic potato salad with fresh dill:
Her condiments were red onion, arugula and tomato slices. I didn't take a picture of the bleu cheese topping. I had my burger without it.
In the backyard, TC showed me the lizard that Lotus's dog killed the other day. Well, one half of the lizard.
TC's mini burger (she had 2!). Lotus cut the bun to fit with this cool (biscuit or cookie) cutter. TC loved it!
Dessert was a lovely glazed lemon pound cake garnished with berries.
The cake was quite moist and I really liked the glaze. Kind of reminded me of donut glaze (and that is not an insult Lotus). After several days, the cake tasted even better, although the glaze had already melted from the heat. We're still trying to finish that loaf!
We brought a couple of bags of kettle chips. These were the roasted red pepper with goat cheese. The other bag was yogurt and green onion.
Lotus's fantastic potato salad with fresh dill:
Her condiments were red onion, arugula and tomato slices. I didn't take a picture of the bleu cheese topping. I had my burger without it.
In the backyard, TC showed me the lizard that Lotus's dog killed the other day. Well, one half of the lizard.
TC's mini burger (she had 2!). Lotus cut the bun to fit with this cool (biscuit or cookie) cutter. TC loved it!
Dessert was a lovely glazed lemon pound cake garnished with berries.
The cake was quite moist and I really liked the glaze. Kind of reminded me of donut glaze (and that is not an insult Lotus). After several days, the cake tasted even better, although the glaze had already melted from the heat. We're still trying to finish that loaf!Soul Food + Filipino Food
St. Patrick's Day was pretty damn busy. After TC's CCD class, we went to my friend's son's bday party. A veritable feast that was!
Alaskan King crab legs:
Mini lumpia + pan de sal (for the non rice eaters)
Garlic shrimp (which I didn't try but I'm sure they were good!) & homemade chicken adobo (looks like the kind I make - wings only!)
Pancit bihon:
These meats were catered from Croom's in Chula Vista. Clockwise from top left: spicy links, bbq chicken, bbq beef ribs and bbq tri-tip.
Mac 'n cheese & baked beans:
Homemade collard greens with ham (made by my friend's husband; he used his family recipe from Alabama):
This was Bert's first plate. Oh yes, the corn bread was also from Croom's.
This is one of the gigantic crab legs held by TC. I cut myself trying to crack a piece open! I didn't want to use my teeth. Bert ended up using his pocket knife. Those things are meaty! One was more than enough for all of us. You could seriously hurt someone with one of these!
Here's my plate (sans the shrimp I should have tried):
There was also a special appearance by Spongebob himself:
This table had a bit of everything. The top row had some sort of puff pastry with cream cheese inside (mmm) & meat empanadas. The bottom row was candied yams & Filipino style macaroni salad. You could also see part of the birthday cake which was chocolate with banana filling.
This wasn't the end of St. Patrick's Day. Luckily, I paced myself and did not eat too much because we were set to go over to Thor (formerly known as "Shogun") and Lotus's place for homemade burgers...
Alaskan King crab legs:
Mini lumpia + pan de sal (for the non rice eaters)Garlic shrimp (which I didn't try but I'm sure they were good!) & homemade chicken adobo (looks like the kind I make - wings only!)
Pancit bihon:
These meats were catered from Croom's in Chula Vista. Clockwise from top left: spicy links, bbq chicken, bbq beef ribs and bbq tri-tip.
Mac 'n cheese & baked beans:
Homemade collard greens with ham (made by my friend's husband; he used his family recipe from Alabama):
This was Bert's first plate. Oh yes, the corn bread was also from Croom's.
This is one of the gigantic crab legs held by TC. I cut myself trying to crack a piece open! I didn't want to use my teeth. Bert ended up using his pocket knife. Those things are meaty! One was more than enough for all of us. You could seriously hurt someone with one of these!Here's my plate (sans the shrimp I should have tried):
This table had a bit of everything. The top row had some sort of puff pastry with cream cheese inside (mmm) & meat empanadas. The bottom row was candied yams & Filipino style macaroni salad. You could also see part of the birthday cake which was chocolate with banana filling.
This wasn't the end of St. Patrick's Day. Luckily, I paced myself and did not eat too much because we were set to go over to Thor (formerly known as "Shogun") and Lotus's place for homemade burgers...
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