San Diego Serbian Festival 2016 + the St. George Serbian Orthodox Church

Last year TC and I went to the San Diego Serbian Festival on a whim...

I liked the food so much that well, we had to come back...

North Park Produce, Normal Heights

Before heading home after our craptastic coffee from Mission Hills Coffee Company...

we took the long way home and stopped by the NPP in Normal Heights (well south of it), which is on the corner of Wilson and El Cajon Blvd.

UCSD - The Sun God, Stonehenge, the Che Cafe and a free lunch

We were recently on UCSD campus a few days ago...

TC and the troop had a cultural dance performance for UCSD's Oasis Summer Bridge and Triple SSS (Student Support Services) Programs. Bert also wanted to see several former colleagues from Bridge...

Return to E & Drink

Now that Zion is open, the crowds seemed to have abated at Ranch 99. It also helped that we went before the lunch hour and on a weekday...

Otherwise, I wouldn't have even attempted going here!  Right now, Zion is the "shiny new toy" and it's not even busy there yet.

Lunch was on our minds...

San Diego Public Market

With our interest piqued by Darlene's recent post on the newly opened San Diego Public Market,

we decided to pay a quick "look see" visit this past Sunday...

Vine Ripe Market

This weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting two fellow foodbloggers, both named "C": the first is from CAB Cooks and the other is a guest blogger on a very popular blog in San Diego.

Our original plan to was have an early lunch at Alforon on El Cajon, which was supposed to open at 10 am. Well, it wasn't, so to kill time, we headed over to Vine Ripe Market which is adjacent to Chili's off
of Fletcher Parkway.

Bro's GF's Birthday Party Food

A few nights ago we celebrated my bro's GF's bday at their place. After nearly two weeks of eating mini portions, I was wondering if I'd be able to eat what they had. Turns out it was not a problem.

Among the offerings: Cucumber salad (thinly sliced cucumbers with rice vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes). This was one of my faves that night.

My bro's GF also made sauteed spinach and tomatoes. There was also a side of bagoong (fermented salted shrimp paste).

Now these were my favorite - Grilled asparagus and zucchini. I could have eaten just this. Except the problem with asparagus is that is makes your pee smell! C'mon, you know it's true!

I couldn't believe she had the time to make her own birthday food, but she also made kare kare (oxtail stew in a peanut based sauce). You can see the  long beans and eggplant in there. I didn't really have this but it sure smelled delicious.

There was also sauteed shrimp. Yeah! With the heads on too! That's where all the flavor is! We were late to dinner due to us watching the SDSU vs. UConn game,  so my everyone else got to the food before we did.

Ironically, there were no noodle based dishes that night. That is normally a traditional birthday meal item because noodles = long life. My mom thought they'd have it already so she didn't make it and instead brought Chicken kung pao from a local Chinese place. I had some of the vegetables with peanuts and a few pieces of the chicken. It wasn't that great though.

Earlier that evening, my bro grilled some rib eye and tri tip steaks and cut them up. That's also sliced mango lurking in the background. I'm glad they cut this up ahead of time. It was much easier for me to portion out what I wanted.

For the fish lovers, meaning my parents and the birthday celebrant, there was grilled bangus (milkfish)

Fruit salad (melons and kiwi):

And some sort of Filipino dessert. I forgot the name of it but it was pandan flavored cubed jelly, bits of young coconut with condensed milk and coconut milk.

My brother ordered his one of his favorite "go to" cakes for his GF, Cold Stone Creamery Red Velvet cake with strawberry ice cream.

Here was my piece.  Just kidding. I had a thin sliver.

The cake was the first kind of sweet stuff I've had for nearly two weeks. Ever since I started this nutritional program at the gym, I've been hyper aware of portion control and mine is now so much more controlled. Whereas in the past, I would just make do with 2 or 3 meals a day or eat whenever, this plan has me on 5 small meals a day spaced 2-3 hours apart with a certain proportion of my meals going to calories, carbs, and proteins. It supposed to last three months and so far I'm about two weeks in. More on that in another post.

Movies TC wants to see:
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 - Rodrick Rules" (I want to see it too!)
"Rango" - Depp can do no wrong.

Movies I want to see:
"Water for Elephants" (RPattz!)
"Paul" (I LOVE Simon Pegg and Nick Frost!)

Movies Bert wants to see:
"Thor" (I still think Skarsgard should have been Thor instead of Chris Hemsworth)
"Captain America - The First Avenger"
"Sucker Punch"

Spring break in two weeks...Can't wait!

Balut

As promised, the balut post.

This gentleman was manning the Balut Booth  at the Miramar book launch. Ooh, I like the sound of that, "Balut Booth". These eggs hail from the Ramona Duck Farm in Ramona, CA (turns out there's a Westminster location as well). He was a very nice guy and was happy to explain the different types of eggs there.

If you don't already know, balut is considered a "delicacy" in the Philippines. Other Asian countries  such as China and Vietnam also eat variations of balut. The Vietnamese version is called "Hot Vit Lon" (see Wandering Chopstick's post on how to eat Hot Vin Lon here) which are duck eggs matured up to three weeks.

He had fresh tiny quail eggs as well as duck eggs...

The quail egg prices are about the same as you would get at an Asian store, $1.50 per dozen. I bought two packages that day. They were easy to prepare at home. You don't have to boil them all that long. But. they are also a damn bitch to peel. I was told to peel them in a bowl of water and it would be easier to shell. TC enjoyed eating these later that night.

The dyed pink eggs were pickled. I've never tried them before and since I'm not a fan of pickled things, did not buy one.

There was a cooler with the goods. Balut is the cooked fertilized duck egg. Duck eggs that are not properly developed after nine to twelve days are sold as penoy, which is like a regular boiled egg without the embryo.

The gentleman, who was amused by my curiosity, opened up the cooler so I could take photos of the contents. These eggs were nice and toasty hot! Yes, he let me touch them!

Now you might be wondering if I actually ate a balut that day.  No, I did not. Instead, my friend and his wife bought several balut for snacks...Here's one of them. See the vein?

You can see the eye...and the cooked yellow part too.

This balut was his wife's...

They cracked open the shells, then sucked out the juice before breaking apart more of the shell to eat the duck.

He told me that there were some crunchy parts but most of it was pretty soft - feathers, beak, eyes and all...

Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try it. I think I'd have to douse this with some sort of sauce to cover what it looks like or something.

The idea of eating this doesn't bother me that much. It's just an egg, but uh, developed into an "almost duck". I grew up eating fish with their heads on and decapitated lechon for special occasions, so I'm used to having my food "look at me". I think I'd rather eat balut than a giant worm or spider or haggis or some other thing they make people eat on Fear Factor.

I just thought I'd share these lovely photos with you. They've been on the back burner for awhile.

Have any readers ever heard of this or tried it and if so, what was your take on this "delicacy"?

Coming Soon...

I noticed this last week when I was in the area...

Bert says the owners of Tastea Grill are the owners of Bamboo Garden. Thisis a new sit down Asian place in the Heritage business district on East Palomar in Otay Ranch. Tastea Grill is more casual, serving plate lunches, sushi rolls and smoothie/boba/tea type drinks. The owner and chef is really nice. I believe he is Korean. His wife and daughter I(who speaks fluent Spanish) also work the counter, but Bert saw the daughter at the new place. We will have to check out Bamboo Garden soon. Nice to have a new place near us.

Seafood City on Orange and Melrose now open!

Hey now...Out with the old (this shot taken on Super Bowl Sunday):

And in with the new!

The Melrose and Orange Ave location of Seafood City opened last Wednesday, February 16th.  Bert and I checked it out today before heading out for lunch...

I didn't take any pix inside because I didn't want to get in trouble. Inside, there is a food court - Goldilocks, Red Ribbon, Jollibee and Chow King (the only place open so far) as well as Filipino Desserts Plus. Holy shit, it's ALL THERE! No need to drive up to National City! The fresh meats and seafood are on the right as you enter. Fresh produce is on the left. In the middle, all the canned and packaged items.

Because we were on our way to lunch, we didn't buy any fresh items so they wouldn't spoil in the car. However, we did buy some kepeng (sugared crackers), pan de leche (milk bread) and bean thread noodles (buy 2, get one free; .79 each!)...

Trust me, there was a shitload of stuff I wanted to get but it will have to be another time. The wide range of seafood, fresh and frozen was amazing. The meat department was busy that morning. They had two or three shelves devoted for PORK RINDS. They also had takeout fried bulaklak (fried intestines!) and CRISPY PATA and LECHON KAWALI!

These were a couple of sinigang mixes I've never tried before, Tamarind with sili (green chilis) and gabi (taro root), plus spicy shrimp crackers for Bert and dried shiitake mushrooms for when I want to make chicken long rice.

It's a tiny bit closer than the older location which was on Third and Palomar. Now it's Orange and Melrose off the 805. I am most definitely shopping here for all of my Filipino food needs!

Happy New Year's! Random pix...

Happy New Year's to everyone...of course this is a few days after the New Year, heh heh.

Here are some pix that I either haven't posted before or if I have, I must really like them!

Gojira on the Mile of Cars...

I didn't know they still made these things...Monchichi, Monchichi!

When I met Darlene (of the blog My Burning Kitchen) last fall at M-Theory, she gave me this little food gift, Macademia Nutz with Spam! The "z" is my contribution, thank you thank you. Spam nutz modeled by my Superhero shirt clad husband (aka Bert). He is excited about the new Thor movie. I'm not because Thor is NOT Alexander Skarsgard.

This is a British food item I saw on the shelves of Fresh and Easy last Spring. What's wrong with SPOTTED DICK? Doesn't everybody want to try a dessert named after a heinous venereal disease?  Correction - Spotted dick is a pudding with currants and Golden Treacle has honey in it. [Edit 1/30/11: I made the correction after JW pointed out the difference between Spotted Dick and Golden Treacle. Thanks JW!]

A super sweet soda that I bought at Mercardo Internacational 2000. Even though it's apple flavor, the color is pink, not pee colored (like the other apple sodas out there). I first tasted this soda at El Colombiana in Queens with L. and really liked it, despite the sugar coma.

My bday cake made by the super talented Jenny of the blog Foray into Food. The cake designed is inspired by my Tokidoki L'Amore bag (Spring 2007 design).

Utility box on the corner of 6th and Robinson in Hillcrest.

I love these Rainbow cupcakes that a friend made for a recent Xmas party. She used Airheads Extremes sour candy belts for the rainbows!

Dennis of a Radiused Corner, if you're reading this, this photo is for YOU. Behold, a palm tree/cell phone tower behind Marshall's and Unleashed in Terra Nova Plaza off the 805 and East H Street exit.

More fun posts to come this year! You know, the usual...food, recipes, music, pop culture and so on!

Posts I still need to complete:
Canada posts (Manitoulin Island and Toronto)
San Francisco and Berkeley posts

Movies to watch:
Rango (Johnny Depp as a chameleon!)
Water for Elephants (yes, RPattz in 1930's period costume)
Bel Ami (RPattz in period costume yet again! This time, turn of the century!)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (need to read the books first)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (I think this will be the best one yet!)
and yes, The Hangover 2 (sometimes you just want to turn off your brain and roll with it!)

For Bert (anything comic book related):
Thor
The Green Hornet
The Green Lantern
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers

Ethnic Food Fair, Balboa Park - Part 2: The Food!

Okay...here it is, what you've been dreaming about and salivating over...the FOOD!!!

This is the Sausage sandwich from Hungary ($5) for Bert. That was a LOT of sauerkraut there. We liked this but I liked the Argentinian one better (coming up).

I got the dolmas ($2) from House of Turkey and right next door, I got the spinach and feta cheese burek and rolled pistachio baklava from Baklava King ($2 & $1 respectively). The burek was great, especially the flaky crust but I could have definitely eaten a much bigger piece. The rice stuffed dolmas were for TC, which she enjoyed but I didn't really. I'm not a fan of the taste of grape leaves. But still, I was happy that she wanted to try it.

Bert went on a run for food as well. This was a strawberry crepe from the House of Finland ($2)...Delicious. TC pretty much had this to herself. I was saving my appetite...

On his foray into the madness known as the Ethnic Food Fair, Bert followed the aromatic smoke of the sizzling choripan from House of Argentina. This was the Choripan ($5 - chorizo in 'pan', or bread), while smallish, had a great kick to it, thanks to the flavorful chimichurri on top of it. The bread roll was nice and crusty but not cut the roof of your mouth til it bleeds like a MOFO crusty.

Ah yes, spicy goodness...

These are a first for us, the Zalabia ($2) from Palestine. These were basically fried pieces of light dough with a orange blossom and honey syrup. Very different and very tasty.There were five pieces but I ate one before I took the photo.

Also from House of Palestine, was this triangular pistachio baklava absolutely drenched with honey and topped with crushed pistachios. I loved the flaky and buttery layers. I'd eat the whole pan if I could.

During my 2nd or 3rd food run, I went to our favorite booth of all, House of Puerto Rico. I got the Arroz con Habichuelas ($3 - rice and beans) for TC and two Pastelillos ($3) for us three to share. The pastelillos (empanadas) has been our favorite item for many years now. I need to learn how to make this PRONTO. These were fried to perfection, filled with lightly spiced meat, peas and potatoes, biting into the heavenly crust was like experiencing a total mouthgasm. Yes, it's that good. I will make it a point to learn how to make this (seems easy enough) Puerto Rican food gem this summer. Even though I hate deep frying things, I will deep fry THIS!

Just look at that crust! Caress it! Fondle it! Bite it and ravish it!

These are tostones ($2) from House of Columbia. Bert chose these. These don't taste the same as the Cuban version. These are smashed and deep fried plantains which they sprinkled with salt. It was kind of too thick and hard in some parts. It could have used some garlic sauce.

Now this item here, the Empanada from the House of Columbia was a total fkg RIP OFF. Now we know the higher prices are due to the event being a fundraiser for the International Cottages, but come on, look how small that is! It's only two or three bites worth of food. The dough was corn (masa) folded and wrapped around a spicy meat filling. Kind of reminds me of Guamanian style empanadas. I personally don't like corn dough so this was not a fave of mine. Damn, where was that bigass fried bread thing from last year???

Bert was disappointed in this...

Later that morning, I wandered around some more. I picked up a Mango Lassi ($2) from House of India for TC. I don't like lassis because I don't like how yogurt tastes. The thought of drinking yogurt makes me want to throw up in my mouth. Also, out of sheer curiosity, I bought the 2nd RIP OFF of the day, the  Blueberry Soup from Finland ($3!). Bloody hell, it was $3 for a small cup of glorified blueberry juice thickened with potato starch. Fruit soups are common in the Scandinavian countries. It was actually quite good but I was expecting more than a small cupful.

There were many booths selling pastry samplers for either $2.50 ot $3.00 a plate. This was $2.50 and came from the Czech and Slovak Republic (take that House of Hungary with your $3 plates!). There is a poppyseed striped pastry, then a walnut crescent, following by a (too doughy) apricot thing, and lastly an apple pastry. I remember one year I got one of these plates and there was prunes in one of them. Made me regular.

Bert got TC a Churro ($1) from the lonely House of Mexico. I kind of felt bad because no one was in their lines. The booths flanking Mexico had really long lines. I guess people didn't want to fork over $$$ for food they can get anywhere? That's why I skipped Philippines, China and the U.S. (hot dogs and apple pie, seriously). Bag is by Tokidoki; print is Concerto Punk (Winter 2008) and style is Graziosa, a mini messenger bag. This print is one of my faves.

This was also a new fave of ours...When looking around earlier, we saw that House of Peru had an item called Picarones - the guy at the booth told me it was deep fried yams in spiced syrup. This is a popular snack in Peru.  I was thinking it would be more like yam chunks, but this was dough infused with yams, then deep fried. These were like biting into airy pillows. Very delicious. The syrup also had an interesting flavor to it. I want to say maybe there was caraway seed or anise in it. [update - I just reread my 2009 post on this event and apparently, we ate these! Bert bought them but didn't know the name but just told me it was a Peruvian donut! So this was our SECOND time eating this I guess!]

Cross section...

And there you have it, our gastronomic adventure from the 2010 Ethnic Food Fair. We spent about a good 3 hours there laying back on the grass and taking turns looking around, getting food, and watching the entertainment. On our way out, we passed by the House of Hospitality which used to house the Cafe del Rey Moro, now known as the Prado Restaurant.

As we rounded the traffic circle, we passed by the San Diego Museum of Art and headed back over the Prado Bridge to get back to the freeway...

I love this time of year when the lilac blossoms of the jacaranda trees are in full bloom. Very beautiful. This is near the corner of the Prado and 6th on the outer edge of Balboa Park...

Until next year! And I will try those LANGOS from Hungary!
Check out previous posts from the past 4 years here (the only one missing was 2008 but we didn't go because I was sick that year)

2009
2007
and back when I didn't put pix in my blog...
2006