"People on 'ludes should not drive..."
Jeff Spicoli, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
"Whoa, canine cologne!" Grandpa Fred.
"Oooh…no more yanky my wanky. The Donger need food!!!" Long Duk Dong, 16 CANDLES
"His name is Blane? Oh! That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"
Duckie, PRETTY IN PINK
Hey, but before we get to Mariposa, we drove by one of my favorite book stores. Fk Borders and Barnes and Noble...I think these older mom and pop owned bookstores have more personality. There was a time in the early to mid 90's when Adams Avenue had loads of bookstores. Now there are only a few left.
I made a left on Adams looking for Mariposa's storefront. Ew, my windshield was dirty!
Turns out they were not yet open. It was 12:30 and they opened at 1 pm. So I headed down the street, passed this sign and made a U-turn to head back up to the bookstore.
It was a cold and gray day. Perfect for being in a bookstore. Once TC and I entered the door, one of the bookstore cats walked up to us and promptly jumped onto a pile of books as it regally surveyed its domain. This is the Children's section...
Along with Dr. Seuss's classic, "The Lorax", the shelves were filled with volumes, old and new. I saw a book more than a century old and it was inscribed to a grandchild; the year was 1882! I wasn't sure what character this bookend was.
There are three floors in Adams Avenue Books. The cookbook section was aptly set in the old kitchen area of this place...(sorry, the photo is kind of dark)
Love the vintage hexagonal tile...
More cookbooks...
TC ended up buying the last two volumes in the "Eragon" trilogy by Christopher Paoline: "Eldest" and "Brisingr" (were used hardcovers). She was so excited because she'd been wanting to read these for awhile. The first book is pretty thick and so were these!
This is one of my favorites along with the now defunct Wahrenbrocks which used to be located on 8th and Broadway in downtown San Diego. They closed back in 2009 after a 74 year run! RIP Wahrenbrocks. Back in the mid 90's, one of the clerks must have had a crush on me or something (haha). He gave me a free book (it was the Brady Bunch tell all book by the guy who played Greg Brady) and also a tour of the upper levels which had rare volumes of books, some dating back to the 16th century. Score! There was also some books he showed me that were very rare because the botanical drawings were all drawn by hand. You can bet those books weren't mass produced.
Do any of you guys have a favorite (non-chain) bookstore?
Cool street banners seen last week during our foray into El Cajon. Love it! There were three kinds of scary things...
We took the "scenic" route from the Himalayan restaurant (see that post here) to get to Adams Avenue. A few days ago, there was a huge festival during the weekend so me and my GF's weren't able to check out Mariposa after our dinner at Tapas Picasso...
On our way to Mariposa Ice Cream!
[Update - this place closed a few years ago and is now Filippi's Pizza]
A couple of weeks ago, we checked out this place, Marisa's Mexican Seafood Grill in I.B. It's on Palm Ave and 3rd and has been around for about three years now. Plus, we had a coupon...
Very festive interior with natural light coming in at the middle. We ended up sitting in a booth, but it was too dark to take good photos so we asked to be switched to the middle!
Their menu:
I had my eye on this...
Bert ordered a virgin Pina Colada...
We got served chips and salsa while we waited for our entrees...
Unfortunately, they were out of octopus so I ordered Shrimp instead, Ranchero style (with sauteed onions and red and green peppers). This was served with a small salad, rice, and beans. OMG, was there SHRIMP or not? There was easily more than a dozen on my plate - very good deal, I must say. And it tasted delicious too - We ended up saving a little more than half the shrimp as leftovers for tacos later that night. But man, this was pretty good. My only grip was that the salad came with dressing already so I ended up giving it to TC.
Bert got Scallops in this really delicious creamy sauce that had a tiny kick to it; it was "Vallarta Style". The waitress also gave us a small sample of another type of creamy sauce that was spicier ("San Dieguito Style". I think we will try that next time and hopefully Octopus will be available!
TC got the Breaded Shrimp (butterflied) which came with rice and a side of beans in lieu of french fries. She also had some of my salad.
Although you can't really tell in this photo, there was a lot of nice tile work in the bathroom and the along the entire length of the bar. Our server was super nice and very accomodating.
Trio of hot sauces that were on every table...
We'll be coming back soon for that San Dieguito style Octopus!
One night, TC was bored so we bought some ready made chocolate chip cookie dough. Then we flattened it on a pan and baked it. When it was done, she decorated the "graveyard" with these Halloween shaped marshamallows she bought at Target. They are shapped like ghosts. She alsomade tombstones by flattening and cutting regular white jumbo marshmallows.
She used little sprinkles and colored sugars to make faces and designs on the ghosts and tombstones. The chocolate sprinkles are freshly turned dirt from the grave. Nice and morbid.
The cookie didn't taste too bad, but the marshmallows were a bit too sweet for me.
She had a lot of fun making this and the only thing I had to do was put the pan in the oven and take it out! Oh yeah, she also enjoyed spearing these tiny marshmallows with toothpicks and jabbing them into the cookie dough. Next time we do this, I will have to get other edible and fun decorations.
[This dinner happened earlier last month....so by the time of this post, the restaurant should already be closed]
I read somewhere that Kemo Sabe was closing at the end of the month (September). Their lease had expired and the owners were looking to relocate. Since Bert and I had a Cohn's Restaurant Group gift card as well as a super super old Kemo Sabe gift certificate, we decided to give Kemo Sabe one last go before it went out with a whimper. I remember when this place was new 15 years ago. Fusion was the "in" thing back then. Now, as a decade and a half has passed, our taste buds have changed as well as the culinary landscape.
I had a virgin drink - a blueberry lemonade which I liked. Bert had a drink as well - something with a lot of rum. I forgot to upload the photo, so ergo, it's not pictured.
We got the fried calamari appetizer - the squid rings were sitting atop some greens, Kemo Sabe's ubiquitous frou frou beet and carrot strings.There were two different types of sweet and sour sauced in the fried won ton cups; the difference between the sauces was that one was spicier. It tasted like that Chili Sauce for chicken you can get at Ranch 99.
For old time's sake, Bert go Kemo Sabe's signature dish, the Skirts on Fire. This was skirt steak with a spicy marinade served with black beans and mandarin oranges. I thought this was a huge ass plate. He really liked the meat - I had a bit of it. I'm not a fan of black beans (or most beans for that matter) so I left that untouched.
I had the coconute fried shrimp with udon noodles in a peanut sauce sesame based dressing. It was garnished with a very pubey looking tangle of carrot curls and seemed to have that same sauce that our appetizer had. The shrimp was a good size and I really liked the noodles. The noodles also had stir fried vegetables in it - batons of carrot, as well as green and yellow squash. It was too big of a portion to actually finish, so I took about half of it home.
For TC, this was a rare outing for her to be out and about with her progenitors on a schoolnight. There ain't no kid menu here and thank goodness for that. She ordered the Anasazi Ravioli - stuffed with goatc cheese, served with a side of roasted corn on the cob with mango salsa (that was really tasty and had a kick to it) with roasted corn kernels.She didn't really like the multicolored corn chip garnish. There wer three big round ravioli on her plate and she only finished about 1 1/2 pieces.
So long Kemo Sabe...hope you reopen elsewhere! I hope you also revamp your menu because Southwest/Asian fusion is pretty passe now. I also hope they stop using beets and carrots (they used to do shaved cucumber curls too but seemed to have stopped] as garnish because even though you can ooh and aah over the presentation, if you take all this shit away, the bottom line is this, "Does the food taste good?". In some case, the food was just meh. Despite all that, we still wanted to go here for old time's sake...
Today, the Padres lost to the SF Giants (score 3-0) and thus, the National League West title slipped from their hands.
At least Bert didn't get his ass kicked today while we were out and about in San Francisco (he was wearing his SD Padres cap). Although, he did get a few heckles, one sympathetic "I'm sorry for your loss" along with a few other celebratory comments people threw his way. One woman was chanting, "Playoffs baby" to everyone who passed her way.
Oh yeah, we're still in SF at Thane's place.
Man, my legs are about to liquefy into Spam-licious jelly from all that walking.
Of course, there's more shit to slide your merry little way but we still have nearly one full day tomorrow. What to do...what to eat!
Having fun though! Plus TC saw her first drag queen and two male couples holding hands (they were so cute, but not the drag queen though!).
Currently happening, TC, Bert and Thane playing Rockband. The song, "Alive" by Pearl Jam.
Me, ready to join them!
[update - I did for the Beatles Rockband. Let's put it this way - I couldn't play those notes to save my life! My reflexes are too "slow" even though it was on "easy"! Ha ha!]
Padres win 4 to 2 against the SF Giants!!! (see story here!)
Even more exciting (or dangerous) for us because we are currently in San Francisco a mere few minutes away from AT and T Park.. We just finished watching the game at Thane's place.
Oh well, suckers!!! The Padres must win the game tomorrow in order to make it to the Playoffs!
The commentators were saying that former Journey frontman Steve Perry was in the house as well (Wut?)!!!If the SF Giants won, maybe, just maybe, he'd sing Journey's classic (and now overplayed no thanks to "Glee"), "Don't Stop Believin'"! I guess Steve Perry won't sing today after all! Boo...Hoo.
As Chico Escuela would say, "Beisbol been bery bery good to me!"
I guess Bert will indeed continue to wear his SD Padres cap tomorrow! Hopefully he won't get his ass kicked by angry Giants fans!
Coming down the pipe, more food adventures of CC and TC as well as our SF trip and the last of Bert's Texas food posts...
The other day, I went out to lunch with one of my good friends (she is also a counselor), who shall thereafter be nicknamed, Mi Firme Heina (MFH). It's a little inside Cholo joke with us. According to the Urban Dictionary, "Firme" is slang for "nice, hot, badass, and fine"! "Heina", if you haven't inferred already, means "beautiful woman" or it could also be a term of endearment when referring to your woman/girlfriend.
Check out some "FOR REAL" Firme Heinas here:
Except my friend doesn't look them chicks! She looks a lot better!!! Andale pues!
MFH and her husband the Lawyer (the one who, by chance, picked up me and TORC in Little Italy a few years ago, driving us to Pappalecco; see that post here), recently returned from a trip to Mexico. During their short stay in Michoacan and neighboring small towns, MFH picked up a little souvenir for me. The following pix were taken at her house before we left for lunch at Aladdin in Hillcrest. Set against the backdrop of her husband's bar and Tequila collection...
*Note - My comments below are in "yellow"
This is a "Catrina", which have their origins in the Day of the Dead but were created more recently in 1982 by Mexican artisan Juan Torres.
According to MFH, "We actually met him and he has always been facinated with death..." "The catrinas are a human frame stripped of its pulse and dressed for a dinner party, for example.
Nothing can stop the festival of life, not even the specter of permanent decay (info from an article)". "We bought our catrinas in a small colonial town called Capula, which is near Patzcuaro (a larger town) in Michoacan near Morelia.The dialect of many of the towns is from the Purepecha Indians."
Hey, where did that Barrel Man come from? Oh, why yes, that was from ME!!! It's the "Deluxe" version too because the arms rise up from the sides! Nice. I love that they have their Barrelman on their bar! A place of honor, I tell you! "So, your catrina is a Soldadera, a female who supported the troops as well as fought in battle during the Mexican Revolution."
I thought my Catrina would look really cool against this recent issue of the SD Reader. This catrina was MFH's - a piece of the front broke off so she temporarily taped it. The "trenzas" or braids" also broke off and will be glued back on later. The other side... A few more bottles of tequila complete with sombrero! I don't know what kind of tequila this is, but I liked the worm container! One last look at my Catrina. Pretty awesome gift from a very awesome friend. Thanks Mi Firme Heina!!!
The day after TC and I went to another place...one that I'd read about from Kirk's blog a few years ago. The Himalayan place is right off Baltimore and El Cajon in this strip mall (see sign below):
OMFG - It's right next to Susie's Deals! I didn't think we had any more of these stores in San Diego! I remember seeing one of these when Bert and I were in Eagle Rock earlier this year. There used to be a Susie's Deals in the Southland Plaza Shopping Center off of Palm and I-5 (it's next to Boll Weevil). I would buy my clothes there for so cheap! Esprit jeans! Scrunchies! Triple tiered ruffled mini skirts!
Specials sign outside:
We sat at a booth off to the side. There was a larger lunch party towards the front middle. The waiter was a very serious looking young man dressed in traditional garb.
Pick any two items for the lunch special, eh.
TC thought the lentil soup tasted like "melted fried chicken". Not a very appetizing description to me, but I thought I'd mention it. For the record, it doesn't taste like that but just like your regular lentil soup. You could taste the spices in there too.
Since I was feeling like some sort of high roller with our coupon and all, I ordered the Samosas appetizer ($3.95 for two). These tasted baked, not fried. Okay, that's healthier I guess. The sauce in the middle was tamarind which I liked but my daughter didn't. That's her in the background.
Can you see her cool "Velveteria" Unicorn Combover shirt? It's hard to see in this photo, but the slanted sides of the "V" in Velveteria are silhouettes of nekkid ladies. Nice! You can bet she won't be wearing THAT shirt to school! Uptight prudes. Getting back to my story, The Velveteria Museum of Velvet Paintings in Portland, Oregon was one of the best fucking places we'd ever visited EVER. High praise, but well deserved high praise! Earlier this year, the owners decided to pack up and move back down to California. They are now in the Ventura area and hopefully will resurrect their awesome collection of black velvet masterpiecess to the public once more.
Check out their website here here and our post on Velveteria from April 2009.
One of ours samosas surgically spliced open, like Mel Gibson in Braveheart or a victim from Sonny Chiba's detesticulation (I just made up a new word) scene in the classic Kung Fu-sploitation flick "Street Fighter" (the first to get an X rating due to the violent castration scene). I'm sure this looks more appetizing than an crushed man-ball though. Still hungry?
This naan had a nice flakiness but wasn't brittle - it tore nicely and worked well with spooning our sauces on top.
Surprisingly TC chose C and F. "C" was Chicken Curry (in the bowl) and "F" was Chicken Chilli. It wasn't hot either but I was glad to see her get something out of the ordinary.
This was mine - with choices A and B. "A" was Sag Aloo, spinach with pototoes and "B" was vegetable coconut curry. Both were really good but I was purposely saving room for dessert and also hoping to bring some home to Bert. For the portion and the price, $6.95(and considering we used a buy one get one free coupon), this was pretty fair.
But, despite my efforts to save food for leftovers, I didn't realize that when the waiter asked, "Are you done?", he would toss our food. Most waiters ask if you want to take anything to go and he didn't, so I should have remembered that. I just assumed he would see there was a lot still on the plate and automatically box it up for us. NOT!!!
So....NOTE TO SELF, when the dude takes away your food and if you want to take ANY of it home, you must REMIND him! Otherwise, he'll throw that shit away like he did with ours. Frak!
Who else went to Himalayan Cuisine?
