Calling Judy Garland...

At TC's dance group's Christmas party a few weeks ago, one of the mom's brought this:

OMFG, so cute aren't they!

She just made regular chocolate cupcakes, tinted some white frosting blue for the "sky" top and piped in white frosting for the "clouds" and used this candy (see below) for the "rainbow"!!!!

The kids really liked these at the party. So creative! This same mom also made her own Halloween outfits for her kids by sewing stuffed felt triangles for dinosaur "spikes" on an oversized zip up hoodie. On the hood, she sewed big felt "eye balls" and around the edges, the "teeth". So cool!

 I'd like to make this sometime, maybe with the neighbor girls. We can't finish off 2 dozen cupcakes by ourselves. I don't know about you, but I don't really eat what I bake. I love baking and giving out my treats but after this past week, I am seriously all baked out. I don't even want to touch that fkg oven again. Well, except to make these cupcakes! I'll be posting my baking chronicles later this week. 

El Michoacano

For us San Diegans, this past week has been quite dreary and wet. It's rained nearly every day for a week straight! Despite the bad weather, TC and I still did our errands and Christmas gift deliveries this week. After 3 hours of visits with an average of 30-40 minutes a visit (we couldn't just drop off the gifts and take off since we were invited in to chat), we finally ended up eating lunch at 12:45.

El Michoacano is a fairly new taco shop in East Chula Vista. It's off of Birch Road in the Albertson's shopping center, near In-n-Out URGE Burger and Achiote (ugh).

No frills here like in El Poblano, except the service was much nicer at El Poblano. The artwork was also too small and placed too high in here (for the scale of the room). Again, ambiance not as important as the food right?  There's only two tables by the windows and three in the middle of the place. We waited until a group of men left to take their spot by the window. I hate eating in the middle of places. Feels like I'm in a zoo. I like being on the periphery and not facing outwards either. Anti social I am.

About the service, the woman at the counter was on the phone the whole time. It didn't feel like she was giving me her full attention. Then, when I asked her for a key to the bathroom for TC to use, she gave off a vibe that it was a hassle to her. Then when TC freaked out because the long hallway was dark and the lights didn't work in the bathroom, I approached the woman again. She didn't seem very helpful and pointed to some light switches behind her and said, well the lights are on, it should be working. Except they weren't, I insisted. She gave me a withering look and her solution was to give me the key to the Men's bathroom. So, I took it and the lights actually did work but the bathroom itself was really grody. Loose pieces of TP on the floor and maybe one toilet seat cover left! Well, at least there weren't any shit stains on the toilet or floor. But still, poor TC! She must have been desperate!

The rainy view from the window. Across the way is Tutti Frutti Yogurt, which we really like especially when we have 2 for 1 coupons. We first went back in August but have returned several times since then since they have a wide selection of flavors (more than Nuyo). !

TC likes enchiladas so she go the 2 enchilada (chicken) combo with rice and beans. There was a chicken bone in one of her enchiladas (the bottom part of the drumstick)! Hmmmph. She seemed to like her meal but it was a bit too much for her to finish in one sitting.

I got the fish burrito which they already cut in half for me.

I liked it but it wasn't anything too special. I liked the crisp lettuce and creamy guac inside though! I wanted to check their salsa bar but for some wierd reason (laziness maybe? apathy?) they didn't have any small plastic containers out. Plus I didn't feel like approaching the woman at the counter again. That rang the warning bells loud and clear for me. Unfriendly service. Lights not working. Dirty bathroom. Lack of supplies. Not going here again.

This song is perfect for this past week from one of my favorite bands:

Love them fuzzy guitars!

El Poblano

El Poblano finally opened about a month ago. This is in east Chula Vista, near Costco and right across from KMart and North Park Produce.

Hopefully this would be good...

The menu is pretty simple. There were two cooks working the counter that day. You place your order and wait for it. You pay before you leave.

It's no frills in here...you're not here for the atmosphere. You're here for the tacos!

This is the same as the menu board posted at the counter, except you can also have them make burritos with either asada, birria or adobado. You can also have the birria as a soup. How did I know? I saw the people ahead of me in line get those...hmmmm, will file that away for future visits.

We ordered two of each. These were the asada tacos. I know it's hard to see under all that guacamole. Bert and TC had these. I had a bite and wasn't so thrilled. The meat tasted too dry, even with the guac.

Now these were much better! I had one of these and TC and Bert shared the other one. The Shredded beef (birria) was much more flavorful and soft...

This last pair was the adobado one - pork.  I had one and Bert and TC the other. We liked it so much we got 3 more...

And here's one of them!!!It was fun watching the guy slice off the pork meat from the spit. Nice and juicy! I liked these the best...

The tacos are $1.65 each. Figure about $5  a person if you get 3 tacos. More if you buy a drink. We are definitely coming back again to try the other menu items...

Sun Dog!

As we were about to get back into C's minivan,  her husband the Farmer noticed the sky. "Hey, it's a Sun Dog!"

A Sun Dog is an atmospheric phenomenon that we'd never seen before...I've seen a solar halo but not a sun dog...

According to Wikipedia:
"A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion, plural parhelia, from Greek parēlion, (παρήλιον), παρά(beside) + ήλιος(sun), "beside the sun"; also called a mock sun) is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.


Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.  (In our case, it was about 8:30 pm - yeah, and the sun was still out too! It didn't get dark until after 9:30 when we were in Canada which TC loved)

In the photo below, you can barely see the sun dogs on both sides of the sun (which is in the middle)...

(continued)
"Sundogs are formed by plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low levels. These crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them by 22°. If the crystals are randomly oriented, a complete ring around the sun is seen — a halo. But often, as the crystals sink through the air they become vertically aligned, so sunlight is refracted horizontally — in this case, sundogs are seen."
As the sun rises higher, the rays passing through the crystals are increasingly skewed from the horizontal plane. Their angle of deviation increases and the sundogs move further from the sun.  However, they always stay at the same altitude as the sun".

The red band on the edge of the sun dog is the one closest to the sun...

Now if we could see Northern Lights that would be even cooler!

Santa Who?

It's the Holiday season and everyone is scurrying about buying presents, getting ready for Christmas parties and going to the mall to have their kids take photos with the man in the red suit. Everyone knows someone with young children who take photos with Santa Claus every year. I suppose that's a "nice" tradition.

Buuuuut.....


I always thought it was a BIG FUCKING WASTE OF TIME AND $$$$!

Let me explain...

Okay, Bert and I had TC's photo taken with Santa up until she was 3. The first year she wasn't looking. The 2nd year and 3rd year, she looked terrified of Santa Claus. Maybe it was because he looked like this:

All right, he really didn't look like that, but to a 2 year old's eyes, he probably did. She didn't really like ANYONE in costume and that includes fat old bearded white guys with red suits.

But it would be so cool if Santa looked like this:

Then he would be shooting lasers out of his eyes and shit. Yeah....that would be rad!

Back to my story...

I hate subscribing to the idea that every Holiday season, kids should have their photo taken with an elderly man hired for the season to have kids sitting on his lap telling him their secrets wishes and desires. Kinda creepy to me. I always felt like we were being ripped off as we forked over our hard earned cash for a photo that invariably came out awful. You could see the fearful eyes, on the verge of tears and squirming in abject terror and discomfort. The "elves" would try to cajole us into buying photopackages or keychain holders with the photo just taken. Being cautious, we only got one 5 x 7 which ended up being near $20 or some shit like that  because we couldn't justify spending more $$$ on photos we wouldn't want to see again. I don't even display them to this day.

Plus, the lines to see Santa are always long. Imagine waiting in line with other parents with restless brats in tow. It's like being in the 7th level of infant/toddler hell. "Abandon hope all ye who enter here..."the sign should read.  If you dislike crying children and bratty fucks as much as I do, then you would understand why I would refuse to stand in line and subject myself or my unwilling child to that  experience. Fuck that y'all.

Therefore, we decided to forgo the prerequisite Santa photo 7 years ago and it's been hunky dory ever since. Yay! Cue dancing unicorns prancing on glitterry rainbows with flowers woven into their manes and with RuPaul playing in the background!

Plus, do they even check these Santas? For all we know, they could be pedos...

Come sit on my lap little girl...

Tehkummah - Garden's Gate Restaurant

So finally, nearly 6 months later, here come this really late post This is near the end of Day 5 of our Canada trip. We are still on Manitoulin Island.

If you recall from the prevous day 5 posts, we'd gone to Bridal Veil Falls, the Manitoulin Chocolate Works, Gore Bay, and Providence Bay. For dinner, C and her husband took everyone out to dinner at a restaurant she'd raved about previously on her blog, the Garden's Gate Restaurant. It's in their little town and just literally less than five minutes down the road. Her parents also live right next to the restaurant.

By everyone, I meant, C, her husband and their daughter, her university friend S and his lovely and expectant wife E (they had their baby boy a few weeks ago!), TCS (the College Student) who was there for the summer, Bert, me, and of course, TC.

There really WAS a garden's gate that led to the restaurant. More pix of the garden towards the end of this post. I love trellises and how flowers look when they are draped from the trellis. Too bad I don't have a green thumb.

Here is a spectacularly vivid purple iris...

This looks like a poppy but I'm not sure if it is one. Aren't the colors amazing?

The restaurant was mostly empty when we got there. There is also a covered sunroom with tables; there were some ladies out there having an early dinner.

Their menu. To see their offerings, click here!

I forgot whose drink this was. It was  Bert's beer, some microbrew I believe.

This was my drink, the Neilson Crispy Crunch milkshake. It was chocolate milk  but with a blended candy bar("Crispy Crunch" by Cadbury) in it. Nice.  It tasted like a cold melted candy bar. By the way, Neilson Cadbury is a Toronto-based company and part of the Weston Food Group.

Ooh, a local brew, Muskoka Cream Ale. This was S's drink . This shit happened waay back in July so I honestly don't remember.

One of the appetizers was mozzarella sticks with ranch dressing:

A few people ordered this, along with TC, the Chicken Fingers which was served with a small side salad. Now you might think, "Chicken Fingers, hmmmm, that's standard kid food".

But no.

This

was

not!

The chicken used in these chicken fingers was the best we've ever had. C and her husband weren't kidding when they said these chicken fingers were really good, like the best! The chicken was so soft and tender. The breading was just right - coating the chicken quite nicely with a crispy crust.

I think this was my side salad. I'd like to also mention that the service was super nice here. The owner took our orders and served us while his wife was in the back cooking. He was so kind to TC, even crouching down low to her level while taking her level (the guy is like 6'3 or taller!). He made her feel so important while he cracked jokes with her and the rest of the table.

I'm not sure whose soup this was but it had broccoli in it...
Here's a closeup...

Not only did I order this, but so did two others...This was the Pecan Crusted Chicken with Mango Rhubarb Sauce. I had to get something with rhubarb since I've never had it before. The nut crusted chicken is grilled in butter and finished with the sauce which also includes balsamic vinegar, shallots, mango, rhubarb (duh) and a tiny bit of maple syrup. Like TC's chicken fingers, this chicken was like the motherfkg holy grail of pecan crusted chicken! I never order chicken, but this was the rare exception. It was mouthgasmic, I tell you. So good, you'll need to smoke a cigarette when you're done.

I believe this was S's dish - since he's a vegeterian, this was obviously meatless. I think it's some sort of canneloni (wild rice and mushroom)...Looks good! And an animal didn't have to die for this!

This was Bert's Chicken Schnitzel also with the same sides (carrots and asparagus) and brown rice. Other plates on the table also had "mash" (what they called "mash potatoes").

All right, I saved the best for last! The dessert! This awesome looking dessert was mine, the Chocolate Tulip Cups with Cappuccino mousse inside...The delicate petals were made of multicolored chocolate and looked too beautiful to eat.

Someone had the Key Lime Pie....

This was the Mad About Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake...

C had the Creamy Rice Pudding which had a bit of a lemony kick to it...

As we left, we stopped a bit to admire the garden. We also took some group shots here.


Can you see the restaurant cat?

This was such a fun day going all over the island with the best tour guide ever, C!  Before we left, we saw this cool atmospheric phenomenon, the Sun Dog (that'll be the next post).

Here are C's previous posts on the Garden's Gate Restaurant:
June 2009
May 2009 - This was a sentimental day for C...
July 2007

Chicano Park

A few of the murals at Chicano Park while on the way home from Masala...

When the Coronado Bridge was being built in the late 1960's, the development tore apart the Barrio Logan neighborhood. Community activists were incensed that it was so easy for the city to just tear their neighborhood apart without regard for who lived there. In addition to having a freeway and the bridge run through the community, junkyards ("yonkes") were also prevalent as well as industrial type businesses that belched a lot of harmful smoke in the schoolyard and community.

This is the mural you see on your right hand side beforeyou exit to the 5-South.
One of these days, we're going to have to park here and really check out the murals in Chicano Park. Some of theme are really amazing...

Strawberry Fields...

The strawberry field on the corner of Main and Fourth in south Chula Vista. The strawberries should be ready by springtime.

This is one of the few patches of farmland left in Chula Vista.