Kaffee Meister @ Local Mercantile & The Barn

Once again, TC was game to drive to the next location.

I'm kind of liking it, in between fearing that she'll hit a car and also feeling a sense of "wow, the teen is driving"...

Revisits to Beef n Bun & Mary's Donuts

It was nice to have a three day weekend...

For Labor Day, we went to visit Bert's mom out in Lakeside but first, a lunch stop...

Thai Time, El Cajon

We are hardly ever in these parts...

of East County that is. TC had an appointment out here but before we went...

Return to Beef 'n Bun Whistle Stop & Trinitea Tea

On Halloween morning...I woke my sorry ass out of bed to have an early morning meet up with Cathy and her Mister...

at Beef 'n Bun in El Cajon.

As you can see, their windows are currently geared towards Halloween...

and will probably soon have Thanksgiving paintings in a few days...

But first, breakfast!

Baskin Robbins, El Cajon

Remember that flag we saw earlier on 2nd and Madison?

Here it is again...

It was but a few minutes away from their celebratory ice cream destination...

Kaffee Meister once again + the return to Valley Foods

Earlier today we made the trek out to East County...

(en route on the 125 toll road)

TC had her first tennis tournament at a local high school.

To kill time and to get some caffeine in our system, we went to our favorite coffee shop in East County...

Dolci Cafe Italiano + assorted sweets from Pistachios

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with my good friend MFH....

We met in her neck of the woods...

Return to Sahara and sweets from Pistachios

Earlier today I met up with MFH in her part of town...

We watched a movie. Yes, THAT one. I'm debating within myself whether to post my verbal diahrrhea on it. Or not.  For the time being. Not.  Suffice it to say, we enjoyed the movie especially the unintentionally hilarious moments. Lunch was enjoyed afterwards across the street from the theater...

Denny's Diner + Pistachios 3x

A few weekends ago, I met with a former co-worker and his wife, along with MFH in their neck of the woods...

This was the view of Spring Valley while stopped in a long line at the Jamacha offramp off the 125...

My friend chose the Denny's Diner in Rancho San Diego...

Return to Ranas & Pistachios

The winter break was really great because not only was I able to go out and enjoy the weather...

but it gave me the chance to try old favorites with some friends...

Beef 'n Bun Whistle Stop

We were recommended to try Beef 'n Bun in El Cajon...

a place that has been here "forever" it seems...

How can you say no to this penguin holding a burger?

Pistachios Sweets

This past weekend took TC, her friend KDD and I into MFH's 'hood near Rancho San Diego...

We were there for an event at the local library and made a quick stop here, at the corner of Jamacha Rd. in the lot with the 7-11....

Return to Ali Baba Family Restaurant - D's Birthday Lunch

It's been a super hot and sweaty August, hasn't it?  The Educator GF's and I celebrated D's birthday three weeks later. As usual, they let me do the planning because I'm a control freak they trust my judgement.

I was debating whether or not we should even drive to the East County where it would be ten degrees hotter than our hometown of Chula Vista.  It was Labor Day weekend and I sorely wanted to avoid the beach areas, tourist hot spots, and places where we'd been before...

Another criteria was that the place had to have air conditioning (that took Asia Cafe off the list). When D gave me carte blanche to pick, I narrowed our choices down to this place...

Kaelins Mi Pueblo

Our next stop after Valley Foods was another ethnic market...

This time it was the "reverse", a Mexican market with a Middle Eastern twist...

Valley Foods

After our satisfying lunch at Sammoon, Cathy took me on a mini tour...

El Cajon has quite a diverse community and their eateries and markets reflect the population and their needs...

Sammoon Bakery & Restaurant

Sometime last week, I ventured out to the east county to have lunch with Cathy...

at an Iraqi place she highly recommended...

Sultan with TORC and MFH

After watching "Cosmopolis" last weekend with TORC and MFH, we headed out to dinner at Sultan...

Neither of my movie mates had Turkish before, nor had they been to this locale...

Dessert at Shakira

Ay, ay, ay, Shakira!

Okay, not this Shakira!

With a pastry store right next to Nahrain, we couldn't help but peek in...

to see what delicacies awaited us...

Anniversary Lunch at Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill

We wanted to have a low-key lunch for our wedding anniversaryNothing fancy but nothing totally crappy either.

After asking a few foodblogger friends for recommendations, we decided on an small Iraqi restaurant in El Cajon that Cathy from Mmm-Yoso recommended (link at the end).

Sultan Kebab and Baklava

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of having lunch with Kirbie and her FH, as well as Dennis.

Although Kirbie and her FH had been here before, Dennis and I hadn't...until today!

Look at that puffy bread!