October 2006 – Page 3

Episode 9-Week2- Italia Ristorante

October 9, 2006 Cathy Italian Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Italia has closed

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Happy Columbus Day! In honor of all of my Italian friends, today we can all be a little Italian…and will go to one of our favorite places not in Little Italy, Italia Ristorante, in Santee.

I must confess, I have an ulterior motive, besides really liking this place. There is a *lot* of construction going on on Mission Gorge Road and the left turn lane onto Carlton Hills is closed until January at least. All of the businesses in this area have seen a tremendous drop in foot traffic since the street has been narrowed. I do not want Italia to close.

The Mister and I have been to Italy. We liked the food. We like quality Italian food wherever we go. Italia has it. This is the whole menu. Fairly simple, quite elegant. Quality ingredients prepared fresh for you. We started out with the traditional "first date" appetizer- fried calamari. Lightly breaded rings and tentacles served with a fresh, warm marinara that is mostly crushed tomatoes and basil. ($7.95)

Then we shared the medium antipasto salad ($7.95) which had mortadella, salami, provolone, olives, marinated cauliflower, celery, carrots and red peppers, pepperocini and romaine lettuce. The side of anchovies is for me. (something else besides onions the Mister will not touch)

We ordered only one main course, knowing it was a large portion, and that came with either soup or salad. We got the minestrone soup, made with large chunks of celery, carrots, zucchini and had kidney beans also, all in a rich tomato broth.

The main course arrived, freshly made for us. Tortellini carbonara. Cheese tortellini, ham and mushrooms in a creamy Parmesan sauce. This sauce has garlic in it..and butter…and cream and its just wonderful! I have tried to make the sauce at home but cannot emulate it…I don't keep heavy cream around the house…

Italia Ristorante 8918 Carlton Hills Blvd (next to Al's Sports Shop at Mission Gorge) Santee 92071 (619) 449-7960

Open seven days a week, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Its worth the U-turns….

and when you leave, take a right onto Mission Gorge and just past the first light, at Fanita, on your left is Mary's Donuts…I told you about them in Episode 7…open 24/7…you won't need dessert after you eat at Italia, but for breakfast tomorrow…

Cathy's Favorite pasta dish

Cut 1/4 lb bacon into little pieces and cook until clear in a stick of butter. Heat 1 cup milk in small saucepan and add bacon and butter. Add 2 Tbs wine vinegar. This will turn the milk to cheese. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce cooks smooth.

Boil your favorite pasta al dente (1 lb), drain (do not rinse) and return to pan. Immediately toss in two whipped eggs, the above sauce and 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, salt and pepper. Toss and serve.

Episode 8-Week 2 Carnitas Uruapan

October 8, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Carnitas Uruapan closed in September 2011. It will be missed. It has relocated and is being run by former employees at 4233 Spring Street, La Mesa 92042 Here's a post

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

When I started blogging, yea all of seven days ago, the first comment I received was from Ted, who asked if I might possibly review Mexican restaurants in the San Diego area. "Ha!" I thought. Mexican restaurants…what is out there? what is good?…

Then I was reading the chowhound website and recalled seeing a lot of inquiries this summer from people who were going to be staying in downtown San Diego for some sort of convention or another and they, too were asking about 'good Mexican restaurants'.

Invariably, someone always mentioned "Carnitas Uruapan" for great carnitas, yet I have never seen a review. (Carnitas is essentially orange juice marinated pork, simmered in boiling oil, then braised in the oven to get a crispy crust.). So, since I am not doing much of anything, I felt it was necessary to at least show some photographs to the few people who do not know about Carnitas Uruapan. It is in Lemon Grove…waaaay out in East county (maybe 12 minutes from downtown, because you get stuck at lights getting out of downtown).

Looks innocuous, eh? Its a lot nicer than the old location, which did not have air conditioning. That location was taken over by Eminent Domain about 15 years ago.

We went here today, a Sunday, at 1 p.m. We were the only non-Hispanics in the place. This is a good sign.

Here is the menu, all three pages. You can click onto any of them and they will enlarge.

This is the main dinner menu and then there is the lunch menu.

If you have paid attention, the name of the place is CARNITAS Uruapan. Get the carnitas.

Carnitas for two: $12.90…we wanted guacamole also, $3.50

Doesn't look like much, you say? That is a pound of carnitas meat. You get three corn tortillas each, or two flour tortillas each. Here is what we made, and what was leftover:

I made a taco and then just a plate of beans, carnitas, guacamole, cilantro, onion and tomato. I used lots of carnitas.

The Mister made himself smaller burrito like servings on the flour tortillas.

After we each had two pretty large servings, this amount of meat was still left over. We did manage to finish it all though…but I wasn't hungry for dinner…

The "Sampler Platter" is $15.95 and includes about 1/3 lb carnitas, tamale, chile relleño, enchilada, a sopa, taco, rice and beans…lots of side stuff. Its good. Its all good. The carnitas here are great. The salsa is hot, fresh, the chips are made in house, the tortillas are fresh and warm when they get to your table, the beans are made with lard (wonder where they get it?), the cilantro and onions are plentiful and fresh and it is all brought to your table quickly with a smile. The only thing I don't like- the iced tea is instant, not brewed.

Carnitas Uruapan 8035 Broadway, Lemon Grove 91945

(619) 462-0704

Episode 7-Week One: Saturday musings and Mary’s

October 7, 2006 Cathy Cooking, Desserts, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Ah, every day should be Saturday in the autumn. Today was a particularly good day, starting out with a simple breakfast:

Hmmm…..I wonder what Kirk and I have in common anyhow….

That is rye bread I got from Panera Bakery earlier in the week. Its really good and chewy, and still great a few days later, if toasted.

Anyhow, the Mister and I didn’t want to go in to Pacific Beach to watch the Saturday football game for a couple of reasons: 1. It started at about 1:30 p.m., and so we would have to get there early to get a good seat. 2. The particular game we were going to watch was going to be played on national TV….and 3. We also wanted to see how the baseball playoffs were going…can’t use that remote in a bar, even one with about 50 TV sets… So, we stayed at home and had lunch:

Home made pizza:

The crust is simple: 2 C bread flour, 1/2 C corn meal, 1 tsp dry yeast, 1 Tbs sugar, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 2 Tbs olive oil, 1 C water. You know the drill: dissolve yeast, sugar in water, mix rest together..knead, let rise, let rise 2nd time. Makes about a 15 inch round. We put it on a pre-heated pizza stone and into the oven.

Toppings were fresh tomatoes (from the yard), fresh basil (from the yard), fresh mozzarella and shredded 4 cheese Mexican mix from Vons (Medium cheddar, Monterey Jack, Asadero and Queso Quesadilla). {Hey, I ate Spam for breakfast..I can put Mexican cheese on a pizza}. No olive oil or tomato sauce on the dough…baked in the oven until it was done. It was nice, crispy, chewy and filling.

Anyhow, we won the games and pretty soon it was time for dinner.

Beer can chicken!

Chicken, partial can of beer (take a big sip), fresh rosemary shoved into the beer can, place beer can/rosemary infusion into the chicken, and then set into the handy-dandy "Beer can chicken cooker" (sold at WalMart for $3.50, and at other places for $10) seasoned salt for the skin. Place on BBQ grill, using radiant heat (flames on one side, chicken on other side) The beer will eventually boil and steam inside the chicken and the result will be:

A beautifully roasted exterior and the interior will be very moist and flavorful.

You can use soda pop instead of beer, but be sure to used only sugared, not diet, soda pop….the chemical that makes diet stuff sweet tasting gets really weird when boiled.

Oh, as an aside, if anyone ever gives you one of those cute, 4 inch pots of rosemary shaped like a Christmas tree, and you decide to plant it in your back yard in San Diego…just know it *will* turn into a four foot by four foot bush/shrub that smells wonderful and will never die…

The chicken was served with rice pilaf, roasted squash (cut into quarters, innards scooped out, pat of butter on top, wrap in foil and put into the heat side of the grill). and beets. We needed some color on the plate; canned green beans or corn kernels would not make for a pretty picture.

Then it was 8 pm.

Mary’s is open 24/7. Tomorrow is Sunday. Mary’s has been in Santee forever. Look at the cool signage. It used to be called Zona’s Donuts, more than 20 years ago. Sometimes I still call it Zona’s, but it is Mary’s.

Mary’s sells *lots* of donuts on Sunday…so they make them the night before. Fresh, warm and lots of them..

I bought four.

This is what made it home. I *really* like fresh French Crullers.

Mary’s Donuts 9031 Mission Gorge Road, Santee 92071 (SE corner of the 125) (619) 448-4800 …always open…

Episode Six. Week one-Tugboat Fish & Chips #18

October 6, 2006 Cathy Chains, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

So, the San Diego County Fair is over and you have been good for what, three months, now? No fried olives or avocadoes on a stick, or deep fried Twinkies, Snickers, or asparagus. No batter fried Australian potatoes, 10 pound loaves of bread, or plate of pesto pasta ( a favorite of the Mister). The cinnamon rolls were great, again this year, as were the giant pickles, BBQ chicken and cream puffs. The San Diego County Fair, 5th largest in the US, is history.

The Ginsu knives are also history, along with the jewelry cleaner, mink oil for your hands, the eyeglass cleaner. You can’t find either of your "Incredible Mops" (if you bought one, you got the other free). The Russian nesting dolls are getting dusty, the healing crystals don’t heal. That belt buckle is someplace-you’ll find it in time to use as a Christmas gift. Hopefully you are still using the Bamix and Vitamix machines, at least once a week, if not daily, and that sewing/embroidery serger machine has been put to good use also. The pickled garlic was nice to eat, the soup mixes are somewhere in the back of the cupboard and that prize winning strawberry jam was *really* good. (OK, the photos were taken before the Fair opened, but the look is the same as when they had to break it down).

So, that craving has returned. Deep fried something. Tugboat Fish & Chips fits the bill. The location, in Lemon Grove, has been there for at least three years now…and it is officially know as Tugboat Fish & Chips #18. There are at least 17 others around the state. None in SD County as far as I can tell. There is no main website for the company: its "under Construction".

Here is the menu. Look carefully. The only items not fried are the coleslaw and the beverages.

Oh…. yeah.

So, it being Friday and all, and me in my "just in case" way of living, well fish and chips are the way to go. Those of us who grew up in the Midwest fondly remember ‘fish fry friday’ and this is as close as I can find out here without driving to Point Loma Seafoods.

This is the two piece meal ($6.39). The fish is Pollock, in good sized pieces, not the pre-formed cod stuff. The batter is more "London" style, not all beer batter/fluffy and cakey. In fact, the malt vinegar made the flavor of the crust improved and there were references to London as part of the decor, along with Beatles music being played as part of the "ambiance". Lots of fries served with each plate: generic, but not greasy or bad per se.

These are condiments on the table. The tartar sauce served is smooth, not chunky and very good. The cocktail sauce is mild but has a nice horseradish flavor.

The side order of fried oysters was pretty good ($ 2.99), they were juicy, but I know made from either jarred oysters or were frozen and already battered . The batter is made of cornmeal. Still, when I have a craving….

This is the fish and clam plate ($6.99). Clam strips, one piece of fish. Lots of food.

The coleslaw dressing had a touch of vinegar taste to it, like the Marzettis from a jar.

We have had the shrimp platter, the vegetable platter, the seafood platter, the fried mushrooms (you get five) and the fried zucchini. The scallops were not that thrilling.

The family who works there are very friendly and honest. The food is not bad, not greasy. The iced tea is brewed, not instant.

You can phone in an order and pick it up. Tugboat fulfills many cravings.

Tugboat Fish & Chips 8047 Broadway, Lemon Grove 91945

(619) 465-7060 Mon-Sat 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., closed Sunday

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Just a reminder- Oktoberfest in the Village of La Mesa started today. The food, entertainment and street sales of crafts will be going on Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday noon until 6 p.m. Admission is free. You can take the orange or green trolley line to get there.

Episode five:week One-Vine Ripe Market and Cuisine

October 5, 2006 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Vine Ripe Market was closed in 2008 and re-opened January 1, 2010…updates soon. (Hint-fresh hot flatbread at the bakery when you walk in, hot foods, Boars Head meats and more…and the restaurant is great too!)

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

OK. Another day and I continue to blog. I like variety in my life and try not to repeat certain things, like the nationality of food I eat daily…burrito for breakfast, then veggies and cheese for lunch and then probably something best eaten with chopsticks for dinner…. you know… I do like fresh fruits and vegetables, and have a small garden for that, but I find myself stopping at whatever fresh produce place I can find, daily, looking for munchies when the garden is winding down. One of my regular stops is Vine Ripe, in La Mesa.

The "official" name I see on the flyers I get in the mail is "Vine Ripe International Market and Cuisine" and its website is very well put together. It shows the weekly specials, the daily specials AND allows you to sign up for a text message of the daily specials, as well as having the menu for the adjacent, wonderful restaurant which serves Halal meats and everything else fresh from the market it shares space with in the building.

I took a few photos inside the market. (You can click onto any of them and they enlarge).

This is part of the produce section. Lots of selection, good prices, daily specials AND always a shopping cart of marked down packaged veggies and fruits that are right on the edge of ripeness and will only last a day more.

Bulk feta cheeses (this is about half of what is available) and bulk olives (there are 12 tubs like this- these are Moroccan oil cured @ $2.69/lb)

Refrigerated cheeses-3 different brands of Halloumi…and an aisle of sauces, mustards, purees, pickled vegetables. The products sold here are from all over the world- Germany, Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece. There are canned and jarred varieties of just about anything you can think of.

Then, in this aisle of mixes, there is this "Cheesecake Aid" stuff. I am unsure what kind of aid a cheesecake might require, but next time I make one and think I need aid, well, I know right where to look.

Apparently, there is a need for it.

These are the selection of frozen filo doughs.

Those are the frozen lamb heads, $1.29/lb.

The selection of Halal meats is all inclusive. People were milling about in the Meat Department and I didn't get a photo.

Now remember the name, its a Mediterranean market, not "Greek"…

The vegetarian plate- Spinach pie, falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, baba ghanouj and a feta cheese salad with pita bread. ($8.95) Excellent, fresh made everything and quite enough food. Its spinach pie, not spanakopita. The dough is more of a piroshki type and the filling is mostly fresh spinach and mild spices, no feta.

The gyros sandwich ($4.95)..not your typical. Its stuffed lavosh bread, gyros meat, a "graecian" sauce and greens- meaning lettuce and pickle..(you read that right-pickle).. Then the bread is grilled and the sandwich served with a salad. It is not huge, but it is quite enough food to make a meal, filling and wonderfully flavorful.

Oh, here is the menu, but you can also view it on the website.www.vineripemarket.com

Ah, Mediterranean food…dessert…

They make them all in the in-store bakery.

The menu includes lamb kafta, beef or chicken shawerma kabobs (shawerma is *sort* of more slouvlaki than gyros, as far as spices go), chicken and beef gyros, salmon, tilapia, trout, catfish and shrimp dishes.

Nothing is bad here. Really.

Vine Ripe Market 8191 Fletcher Parkway (at Jackson-same parking lot as Chili's and one parking lot north of the LM Costco) La Mesa 91942 (619) 462-9900

episode four/Week one-La Basil Thai

October 4, 2006 Cathy Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

***UPDATE*** La Basil at this location closed in June 2007. The La Jolla location is still open. Rumor is a new location in East County is in the works. Click onto website info at bottom of post for information.

mmm-yoso is on vacation. In the interim, the part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy.

Hi. So, the parting words to me from Kirk were "Oh- and make sure you do Basil Thai"…and I don't want to. I don't want everyone to know about this place. Its one of the really great hole-in-the-walls, run by a Thai family. The people who go there frequently know they have a gem…and anyone who goes to K Sandwiches has been right on top of it. (click onto the photo- you can see K Sandwiches on the left and right there, at the end of the parking lot, under the setting sun-those buildings right there…go ahead, walk on over)

There they are- my two best kept secrets, right on Mesa College Drive. We will go from left to right and I will talk about La Basil today.

Here is the menu, posted outside. Basically for the lunch specials, you choose your type of noodle, type of meat and type of sauce. If you get vegetarian, chicken or pork,its $5.99; beef or duck is $6.99, shrimp or calamari is $7.99, scallop is $8.99 and mixed seafood is $10.99.

Dinners have a similar style of ordering, with the most expensive entree on the menu being $12.95.

For dinner, there are appetizers, salads, noodles & rice, house curries, specialties and fish.

The thing is, there are 18 CHAIRS for 5 tables total inside and 10 CHAIRS for 4 tables outside, and really, if you were to sit at the tables using all of those chairs, there is no space for plates for all the people. Notice there are no condiments on the tables.

We ordered, had water placed and a basket of still sizzling shrimp chips were brought out to the table. Not oily, not too hot, but still sizzling with a nice shrimp flavor and oh so light and crispy.

Then the appetizer we ordered arrived, having been freshly made, Spring rolls ($4.95): rice paper stuffed with tofu, lettuce, bean sprouts, carrot, mint, cucumber, rice noodle served with a sweet/sour/hot sauce topped with chopped peanuts on the left and warmed, fresh made peanut sauce on the right. These were very fresh, with the right amount of crunch and the sauces complimented the flavors perfectly.

Then my most absolute favorite Thai dish arrived- Larb salad…made with beef! I have looked high and low for larb made with beef anywhere else in San Diego and have yet to find it. Seems its always made with chicken. Here, you get to choose: beef, chicken or pork. Larb is made with the minced meat, lime juice, chili, rice powder (gives it crunch) and mint and also served are cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and shredded carrots. I asked for medium heat..not too much: I wanted to taste the flavors. It was just right. ($7.95)

We also got the chicken pad Thai this time. The pad Thai is kind of sweet tasting here and the noodles are fresh rice noodles, with a nice "bite" to them, but at lunchtime I like to get the pad see ew noodle, made with a thicker rice noodle, that seems to hold more of the sauce on it. (I also like the green curry on rice at lunch). Bean sprouts, scallion and egg along with chopped peanuts and the chicken and noodles. ($7.95)

This little placard was on the table, and we had ordered the rice with coconut ice cream once before, remembering it took about 10 minutes to come out, because they make it fresh, and it was busy. We ordered ahead of time. They were out of ice cream, so we asked for the custard.

Which was also made fresh. The rice is made with coconut milk, was still warm and wonderfully sticky. The custard was eggy and wonderfully fresh, with a skin just beginning to form on top. The price was $4.95.

All in all, the Mister and I really like La Basil. It does a brisk take out (but you don't call it in: i never have heard a phone ring when we were in there- you walk in, order and wait…they give you some shrimp chips to munch on… and enjoy the decor):

It is going to be Halloween soon, you know.

La Basil Thai Cuisine 7530 Mesa College Drive SD 92111

Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Sat 12:00 p.m.-9:00p.m.

Did anyone notice the parsley on the dessert plate?

Addendum- October 12, 2006….I was reading the morning paper and saw a coupon for La Basil Thai in La Jolla. There was a website: La Basil dot com and I went to it, looked at the menu section and it is, apparently, a chain! The La Jolla prices are a dollar more than the prices at this location on Mesa College Drive. There is nothing on the menu here to indicate they had another location. …and I just don't hang around in La Jolla enough to know that there was a La Basil there. Sorry if anyone was confused.

Episode three-week one/Niban

October 3, 2006 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Niban-fast, inexpensive, fresh, un-fancy, second best (?)Japanese and sushi.

So I don’t know much about the Japanese language except the Numbers one, two and three: ichi, ni, san…and so I use the Google Japanese translator and ichiban means "first", niban means "second" and sanban means "third". Then again, if you merely Google "niban" well, that is a brand name of a boric acid based granular bait used for pest control…I know I have seen restaurants named Ichiban…so to name yourself Niban, well, that takes …guts… on so many levels.

So yes, of course we eat here, regularly.

Its a simple system. You walk in, pay, then sit down. (If you are doing a "to go" order, you can sit at one of the chairs lining the front window). One of the people who works there takes your receipt, asks what you would like to drink (hot tea is free) (if you have paid for soda or beer, they ask you what kind you want) and they bring it to you and soon your order arrives.

The menu is simple:

and there are daily lunch specials written on a chalk board on the wall in front of you when you walk in, and other specials written on a chalkboard to the far right of the cash register (but also displayed in a glass case to your right as you walk in the door-you can see it from the front window right underneath this GIANT menu taped to the window.) Also, there is a monthly special, printed on a colored sheet of paper taped to the front window, a glass case straight ahead when you walk in the door and on the counter when you order. For October it is katsu curry-either chicken or shrimp, with salad and beverage for $5.50..regular $6.25 without beverage.

The specials are usually 75¢ to $1 off the regular price. There is a sushi bar with 7 (seven) seats total to the right and to the back of the cash register. If you want only that, you can walk in and sit down…paying when you leave. No photo; the people eating didn’t want to be in a picture.

But I like this display of plastic sushi and mirrors in the front window anyhow….

This is what we had in the last two visits:

The calamari appetizer- 5 pieces of squid steak breaded and fried. That sauce that looks like thousand island dressing..it isn’t…it has jalapeño in it…

The chicken katsu salad (regularly $3.50, sale price $2.75). I can eat this as a meal. Lettuce, chilled rice noodle, sliced carrots, sliced cucumbers and a ginger-garlic dressing served on the side. One whole piece of katsu chicken.

We got the sushi combo one night: 6 pieces nigiri and 2 hand rolls:$10.95

The hand rolls are regularly $3.50 each and are quite large. One was with crab meat and the other spicy tuna. All the fish was very fresh, tender, sliced thick enough and served on proper rice. Nothing outstanding, nothing bad, either. Below in this photo are the gyoza, served steamed or fried. ($2.95) Five handmade, thin skinned and filled with mostly pork with good ginger flavor as well as some water chestnut crunch. Very good.

On this visit, one of the daily specials was this bento box of chicken teriyaki, fried croquette (potato cake), salad, pickled bean sprouts, cold rice noodle and rice, served with miso soup. ($5.95 regular $6.75)

The chicken was mostly dark meat, the teriyaki sauce is good, not too thick or sweet. The croquette was excellent: crispy on the outside, and good mashed potato on the inside.

The October special, katsu curry.

We tried it with shrimp-you get three. If you get the chicken, you get 2 patties.

The curry tonight was not as thick as usual, but still tasty, with a nice "bite"..beef based, Japanese flavored, some chunks of beef (we have had more beef in it previously), potatoes, carrots and, according to the Mister, an inordinate amount of onions.

There is a TV on each side of the restaurant, none on the outside patio- but Players Bar and Grill is across the sidewalk and they have 4 television sets playing outside, for the smokers.

…and..my most favorite piece of decor:

The sushi clock!

All in all, Niban is good, fast and inexpensive…and has some sort of issues going on with self esteem, near as I can tell. Someday I’ll ask why they chose this name.

Niban 7081 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego (858) 268-0465

Lunch Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Dinner Sun-Thurs 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Fri and Sat 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

Episode two/week one-Emmas…and

October 2, 2006 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Emma’s Mexican Food…and what else I ate today

So, there was an incident in a parking lot on Labor Day and the parts are in, and Carter’s Collision opens at 7 a.m., so drop off a car and either walk home (all uphill, by the way, about three miles) or have the Mister follow me and perhaps go out to breakfast (heh heh) on a Monday. I chose the latter.

Those of you who have lived in San Diego, should remember the first/only Price Club (which eventually bought out Costco), in Santee. It is now an empty lot (although this weekend it had some sort of carnival with all sorts of scary rides on the lot and soon it will have a Pumpkin Patch that will turn into a Christmas Tree sales place in about another month or so) and will sooner-or-later turn into Highway 52 joining up with Highway 67 and make our lives oh so much easier, if we are driving in that direction….[sorry; digression]…AND SO ANYHOW, if you remember that Price Club, the address on your receipts was Buena Vista Avenue, and you usually entered on that street and right on the other side of Buena Vista is Emma’s.

Which looks like this from Cuyamaca:

and looks like this from Buena Vista:

and so anyhow…we decided to go here for breakfast.

Here is the menu (I know someone loves to read the menus):

The Mister ordered the Enchiladas Rancheros (two cheese enchiladas, topped with an over-easy egg and some homemade nopalitos (preserved in a jar-with-salt water cactus)/onion/tomato salsa and rice and beans) $4.75:

Here is a better photo of the enchiladas and of the salsa: the enchiladas were nice and cheesy and fried on the bottom, so nicely crispy and the salsa was nice and chunky; good flavor but not heat:

and I ordered the breakfast burrito ($2.75): 2 eggs fluffily scrambled with cheese and ham:

Both entrees were brought out to the table by the owner and the place was hopping, with 9 other people having placed orders, most to go, before 7:30 a.m.. That is kind of interesting, considering the location being out of the way in a now non-busy part of Santee. Everything was fresh and tasty. There is a salsa bar with mild red, hot red and tomatillo spicy salsa that you can get for yourself. It was very nice and satisfying. They don’t serve coffee here, so you have to bring your own, or grab some soda pop from the fridge, or a bottle of water from your car if you want something to drink.

We usually go to Emma’s for lunch/dinner and get the quesedilla or carne asada burrito and both are always very good, oversized and filling. If it is on your way to somewhere (its just south of Mission Gorge, right off of Cuyamaca- the "new" Santee Costco is less than a mile from that corner, just northwest.) you should stop in. Everyone who works there is very friendly and the food is good. They make a LARGE shrimp cocktail for $7.05 (10 shrimp) and all of the shrimp dishes are very good.

One item unique to here is rolled FISH tacos. (Usually rolled tacos are made with shredded beef or chicken). These are especially good if you don’t eat meat on Fridays (and we all know fish isn’t meat, right?) because you grew up in a certain religion and so, "just in case" you continue to merely skip meat on that day of the week….

Oh, digression again, sorry.

Lunch was a nice respite:

Shrimp (31 count) was on sale at 99 Ranch this week for $4.99 per pound and so the Mister bought about 1.5 pounds and I made two things today: this simple shrimp salad (cook and chill shrimp, mix with grapes, fresh dill, mayo/sour cream, salt and white pepper) on a fresh croissant (99¢ from K Sandwiches)…and also this stir fry:

The rest of the shrimp, some leftover chicken, mushrooms and pea pods..stir fried in some sesame oil.

… served with some stir fried yakisoba and some re-hydrated miso soup from 99 Ranch.

All in all, it was a nice day weather-wise and food wise. I hope yours was, too.

Oooh, I do like doing this blog so far. You know, local lobster season just started, so in the interest of research and making an interesting post…

AND FOR TOMORROW- I promise no caffiene when I start writing.

Emma’s Mexican Food 8781 Cuyamaca, Santee 92071 (619) 596-8189 7 a.m.-8:3- p.m. Mon-Sat, closed Sunday

Episode one/Week one- Hello

October 1, 2006 Cathy What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Hello.

I know you are sort of traumatized. I will try to make you think that nothing has changed while Kirk is taking a well deserved rest. I am just going to blog about food, like he does. But, I'm not a guy…nor from Hawaii…so, even though I have similar observations as he does, some things may not be the same. Perhaps you will see some variety in my observations compared to his.

I like to cook, like he does:

This is from a Holiday Bowl tailgate last year, where the Mister and I always meet with 100 of our closest friends and everyone brings something to eat (we bring about 15 lbs of small end rib roast and 6 lbs of rolls, all made at home that morning) starting at about noon (the pre-game starts at about 5 p.m.)…and where we all return to after the game, to finish up leftovers, have some hot chili, a nice turkey soup that one couple always brings, hot cider and perhaps some sort of beverage made with …um..instant coffee crystals, hot water, whipped cream…and watch the traffic clear out.

I also like a nice cup of coffee:

I make drinking coffee a reason for me to sit down and relax, not just to drink while driving around in the car. I have a refurbished Proteo Barista machine from Starbucks and have at least two shots of espresso every morning. I saw this website and was inspired to make cute designs with the foam, at least on mornings when I feel like it. My brother liked this design. He says it looks like Mr. Spacely (of Spacely Space Sprockets) from The Jetsons.

I also have a small garden:

Where this year, I grew corn, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, basil, dill, parsley, potatoes and radishes…you know, stuff for munching. Oh, there is that one sunflower that showed up also…

Of course the Mister and I do go out to eat, too:

I take photos. Most chefs take such pride in presenting a beautiful plate.

These are potstickers, for a soon to be published post.

The Mister and I are unafraid to try any type of food, anywhere we happen to find an open restaurant. The Mister is now retired from the military and we have lived and visited kind of everywhere in the States and the Med and some of the Pacific Rim and not much scares us and we are willing to try just about any type of cuisine…and walk around in any type of neighborhood….you'll see that soon enough.

So, I hope you will not notice much of a difference and will maybe find some new places you might want to try -or avoid- …remember, its just blogging and observing, so not all of my comments will be positive. I look forward to sharing with you. -Cathy

P.S. I know, I have to figure out the stopwatch feature on my mobile phone….such requirements for blogging!

Sunday Stuffs

October 1, 2006 mmm-yoso Blog

Let Me Introduce to You……..

MMM-YOSO is a true labor of love for me. I’m always so amazed and so very appreciative of most of the individuals who actually take time out of their day to visit mmm-yoso.

So when the Missus and I arranged a vacation, not a short trip, but a real vacation, I was torn. The first thing I thought was "what about my blog???" Sounds strange I know, but when I started this little ol’ blog, I made a commitment to attempt to do it to the best of my abilities.

As fate would have it, a friend of mmm-yoso stepped up to the plate, and has agreed to provide mmm-yoso with Her own brand of humor, insight, and most importantly her opinions.

So let me turn over mmm-yoso to Cathy, a frequent commenter, the same Cathy who often accuses me of being a restaurant stalker, since we have often eaten at the same restaurants during the same period of time. Cathy is a longtime San Diego resident, one thing I’m not, and can provide much background on various topics. Cathy is also well traveled(hint: don’t replace her chopsticks with a fork and spoon….), and has great taste…since we often have the same opinion and observations on various restaurants. LOL!

Thanks so much for graciously taking the wheel Cathy! I’m forever indebted to you!

Just one more item, and I’m on vacation(I will be checking in though):

Dont forget about the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

One of the many personalities of the blogger sometimes known as ChiliCheeseFries, known as Ron will have a full length feature film that he Co-Directed and Wrote called Asian Stories (Book III) shown. Tickets can be purchased here.

If you want some free tickets, I have 3 pairs. So first 3 emails I get requesting tickets will get those….again it’s emails. Just send me an email requesting tickets and I’ll respond with an email requesting mailing info.

Just snack before I go:

That’s some Ika(Squid) Shiokara on the left, Tako(Octopus) Wasabi on the right – from Sammy’s.

Hey Ron, I bet this is the first time Asian Stories has been mentioned along with Fermented Squid Intestines and Octopus!

See you all in a few weeks!

Without further ado….let me formally turn over the reins to Cathy.