October 2008 – mmm-yoso

Happy Halloween

October 31, 2008 Cathy Recipes, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food, mostly written by Kirk (but he is still on vacation) and ed (from Yuma) (but he is in Yuma and working) and Cathy, who is here now and writing about one of her little secret cravings.

Hi. Snack 013

It is Halloween Day and soon the children in costumes will be at my door, begging for a treat, lest they give me a trick.

I am prepared.

Snack 005

Yes, I want the leftovers (if there are any) and do not crave chocolate. So, 50 vendor bags of each of three salty snacks have been purchased.

Snack 003

But, right now it is lunch time and I am hungry…but not just for a snack…

SO….Grab one of these.

Snack 004

Go to your kitchen and see if you have these two ingredients. (cheese and jarred or canned or boxed chili).

Heat up the chili.

Snack 006

Open the bag.

Snack 007

Ladle some of the hot chili right into the bag.

Snack 010

Top with some cheese.

Maybe some chopped onions.

Snack 012

Leave the spoon in the bag. Eat. Enjoy. Toss the bag and there is only the spoon to clean up.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween and a good weekend. I'll have a more complex "recipe" next week.

Oishii – an excellent Thai and Japanese and Sushi restaurant in Santee

October 30, 2008 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog written by a bunch of friends. Cathy is still blogging about meals she has eaten.

Hi. I blogged Oishii about two years ago- as my last post before Kirk and His Missus came back from their Hawaiian vacation. It is a small restaurant that serves great, fresh sushi, wonderful Japanese food and Thai. Wonderful Thai food. Because all I keep reading in my email from Kirk is describing Thailand and Laos and the food he is eating there, I have been craving Thai almost daily…I suppose to be enjoying something vicariously.

Oishii is in a strip mall on Mast Boulevard (an exit off the 52) just before Magnolia, and seems nondescript. OiishiThai 002 (I will insert a photo of the restaurant soon but will post now).

It isn't very fancy but it is nice and clean. There are 10 chairs surrounding the sushi bar, 5 booths and 8 tables.

The menu does have a plethora of Special rolls listed which a lot of people seem to order. I didn't.

OiishiThai 001

I always get an oyster shooter ($3.50) and sometimes they give me two which always makes me happy.

There are at least two oysters in the shot glasses which are filled with the liqueur of the oyster and spicy sauce, topped with masago (herring roe) and served with a lime slice.

The Mister ordered the fried calamari appetizer ($5), which is listed on the Thai side of the menu, even though tempura is all over the Japanese side…

In amazingly light batter and very soft, tender squid. It is always done so well here.

Served with a sweet chili dipping sauce (which tastes like the stuff I usually buy off the shelf at 99Ranch, which is from Thailand).(The cap is yellow and "Pantai norasingh" is written on it-this is thicker than the sauce served with the calamari, but the flavor balance is the same).

I got the silver noodle salad ($7.95) made with bean threads, shrimp and chicken and covered with a spicy lime based dressing.

It is always fresh made and very filling.

OiishiThai 006

Not much spice for The Mister, still, so he got beef pad see ewe- flat noodles with red and green pepper, onion, black bean sauce and broccoli. ($9.95)

Fresh vegetables, beef and sauce as well as nicely fried noodles.

It is always good here. The Japanese and sushi is prepared as well and as much care as the Thai food. Always fresh.

Excellent lunch specials.

Oishii Japanese-Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar 10251 Mast Boulevard Santee 92071 (619) 596-4852

Mon-Sat 11-9 closed Sunday

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Wednesday revelations

October 29, 2008 Cathy What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the blog about food. Cathy is still talking, ed is still in Yuma and Kirk (and His Missus) are still in Thailand.

So anyhow, I was eating somewhere and was talking with my friend about different restaurants and what to order where and someone asked me if I was a food blogger, mentioned the word "yoso" and walked away-it was kind of creepy, in a stalker-like way. In that particular restaurant, I saw three people taking photos of their food anyhow. I didn't even have my camera with me. I haven't posted on the place and might not. But, if you are some sort of stalker type, there are clues if you watch how I eat or order… Baked potato 002

Say you are at Wendy's and see someone with a baked potato.

Seems OK, so far…but the potato is not cut open…the butter is on the outside. Baked potato 004

Hm. So is the sour cream.

OK. Now the clue. Baked potato 006

Never, ever, EVER would this be the part I would toss away from a baked potato-anywhere. Ever.

Baked potato 005

THIS is the part I don't bother with- the innards of a baked potato. Useless. I love potato skins. With butter. Real butter.

Mary's 008

OK. Here's another clue.

Say it is before the sun rises.

You are in Santee.

You see Mary's donuts and few cars parked outside. One of them is most likely mine.

Mary's 005

You see someone looking at all the hot fresh donuts, Mary's 009

eventually settling on no more than four. One maybe has chocolate.

Mary's 007

(Because The Mister will eventually wake up and somehow know I brought home donuts.) But one will *always* be a plain glazed French Cruller. That's mine.

Longhorn 004

A final tell about how I eat. Pretty much anywhere (this photo is from Longhorn), I will get a 1/3 to 1/2 lb, medium rare burger, no cheese…and if I can, put some mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles on it. But *never* cheese.

So, if you see someone eating and talking about food, it might be me and it might not. We are all just people. Blogging is a hobby for most of us…a kind of diversion. It does not define us. We are just happy to be sharing part of ourselves-kind of anonymously. Start a conversation about food and things that might be of interest to the other person. Don't worry if they blog or not.

Today is a busy day for me. Gotta run. I hope all of you are having a nice week so far.

Mary's Donuts SouthEast corner of Mission Gorge Road at the 125/52 exchange, Santee. Never closed.

Taco Tuesdays-inexpensive deals around town.

October 28, 2008 Cathy Chains, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog where Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy contribute sometimes interesting and sometimes mindless posts about food they ate. You get to enjoy our creative writing exercises.

Hello again. Cathy here with a summary of an interesting phenomenon I have been noticing around town- really inexpensive fast food…Taco Tuesdays-deals on tacos at Del Taco and Rubio's and L&L Hawaiian- available only on Tuesdays. You can get a semi-decent meal (protein and vegetable anyhow) for little cash.

Del Taco three for $1.38 Hard shell or soft shell. The "filling"…about what you should expect for 45¢…yet quite tasty if you spread the meat around and add some hot sauce and three are enough to satisfy as a snack. The hard shells are very thin an delicate. You can get this three mini taco deal for 78¢ more any other day during the week.

The $1.25 fish tacos-Tuesday only-from Rubio's(with a 75¢side of guacamole and $1.38 side of beans.) The innards of a Rubio's fish taco… beer batter fried piece of flaky fresh white fish topped with shredded cabbage and a tangy white sauce and salsa.

Here is a better photo- Served on a corn tortilla (although you can get it on a flour tortilla, which would make it not a taco). Served with a slice of lime garnish to squeeze over everything.

Last week, we ordered a quesedilla ($4.49)-cheeses melted in a large flour tortilla garnished with guacamole and sour cream and served with fresh fried corn tortilla chips. It was not very good nor very filling. Stick with the taco special.

If you just have a craving for a fried shell, a sort of meat filling, topped with shredded lettuce and cheese all fried in that shell, Jack in the Box has two tacos for 99¢ 24 hours a day…you've had these. I know.

L&L 003

Then, last week, we went to L&L in Santee. There was a sign on the door-Tuesdays only- 99¢ tacos.

This is a photo of the Kalua Pork taco.

OMG! Soooo good. Very large. Cheese, lettuce and sauce. You can ask for no cheese. The price every other day is $2.19. Try this one…

There are other choices: shrimp, fish, BBQ beef and chicken. I am going there now and will finish this post later…

Rubio's website

Del Taco website

Jack in the Box website

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue website

L&L 011

L&L 008 Addendum: At L&L, the grilled fish is pretty good. The chicken is also very nice. The BBQ beef is kind of sweet. Kalua pork is the best.

L&L 009

Pete’s Meats- Italian Sandwiches on India Street

October 27, 2008 Cathy Italian Restaurants, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog. About food. Written mostly by Kirk with the help of ed (from Yuma) and Cathy. Kirk is in Thailand. Still. ed is in Yuma. Still. Read about Cathy's adventures.

Hi. Pete's Meats is -and has been- located in this nondescript storefront in Little Italy across from Filippi's. In this area of town with all the fancy Italian themed restaurants, Pete's is one of very few places I consider not pretentious and just good.

It used to be a butcher shop and a lot of the original shop paraphernalia is still inside-more to the back of the store.

There are usually two tables out in front.

Inside, pretty much as nondescript, as you can see from this view from one of the back tables.

The simple menu is right there-above the grill, in front of the barstools. Sandwiches- hot or mild sausage, meatball, steak, eggplant. Each $6.95. You can ask for half and half if you would like.

(There used to be a Spitini sandwich which is now covered over on the menu- veal and prosciutto, rolled around a mix of cheese, parsley, onions, tomatoes, pine nuts and currants: heaven. It always cost about $2 more than the other sandwiches, could not be gotten as a half sandwich and was wonderful…)

ANYHOW…This is a photo of half of an eggplant sandwich-grilled, thin sliced pieces of eggplant with grilled onions and peppers, some marinara and topped with Parmesan. Pete's Meats 002

This is a photo of half of a mild Italian sausage sandwich. The same fresh roll and toppings. The sausage is made in house and is *excellent* with the wonderful fennel that compliments the pork.

You can buy canned regular or diet Coke and bottled water as your beverage. That's it.

Limited menu. Done perfectly every time. A San Diego Institution.

Pete's Meats 1742 1/2 India Street San Diego 92101 (619)234-1684 Hours Mon-Sat 10-5, closed Sunday.

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Thai Style- In Santee

October 26, 2008 Cathy Thai Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thai Style has closed, but remains a Thai Restaurant, the location of Sab-E-Lee, East

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!!, the blog about food. There have been some issues with Typepad (the blogging tool) this weekend and I apologize if things do not look the same. I am still blogging about things I have eaten.

Hi again. Cathy here. Kirk is still in Thailand and e-mailing me almost daily and I must admit I am not only envious, but *craving* Thai-spiced foods daily (when I am not craving Italian or Mexican spiced foods, anyhow). Thai Style I know people are critical of Thai food in San Diego and I am now reiterating that I blog about the taste of the food and if I like it or not.

Thai Style has been in Santee for about a year now, having moved from its El Cajon Boulevard at 70th location, where it had been a mainstay for many years. This makes it the second Thai restaurant in this East County city. Run by a very nice family- Joe, the husband (from the Lanna area of Northern Thailand) and His wife, Kham (from Laos), striving to make good quality Thai foods available for East county residents. Thai Style 009

The interior of this location is much larger than the old place, with seating for at least 46 people.

The interior is nicely decorated and there are two televisions inside, neither of which have been on when I have come here to eat in or take out.

Of course I always get hot tea to drink and here it is bagged jasmine.

We started out this dinner with Som Tum -papaya salad made with tomatoes, garlic, chili and lime juice, topped with peanuts. ($7.95). Of course you are asked what spice level you would like (1-5) and The Mister is having some issues with peppers of late and we asked for a "2" and it was still too hot for him and right on the edge of not being able to taste all of the ingredients for me.

I ordered the chicken larb (also at a level 2) ($8.95) and this was excellent, made with green and red onion, cilantro, mint, rice powder, chili and lime juice and served with a small cabbage wedge.

The Mister played it safe for himself and ordered the Rad Nah with beef ($8.95) -pan fried rice noodles with carrots, broccoli, garlic and a black bean based gravy.

The wide rice noodles were just a touch pan fried and slightly crispy and very nice. The sauce was excellent and complimented the beef.

I had to get the panang curry, because I really like it here.

A very rich, slightly sweet and spicy coconut based curry sauce with green beans, carrots, red and green bell peppers and basil.

Served with rice, of course.

There is a lunch menu, Mon-Fri served from 11a.m.-3 p.m. which are served with soup, a fried vegetable wonton, salad and rice (or noodles when appropriate) with prices from $7.95-$10.95

Thai Style Restaurant 9159 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (619)328-1568

Lunch M-F 11-3, Dinner Mon-Fri 5-9 Sat Noon-9 closed Sunday website

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Easy Enchiladas

October 24, 2008 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. If it’s Friday, Cathy is talking an inexpensive ‘recipe’…

Hi. Time for another $5 Friday-a meal for two for less than $5. These are just things I cook you know. I like the flavors of enchiladas but sometimes don’t have much time to make them properly, individually rolled up. OK. I haven’t made ‘proper’ enchiladas in years.

The main "hint" I can tell you about making enchiladas is to briefly dip the corn tortillas in hot oil. Just a few seconds; flip it..

Then dip the still-dripping- with-hot-oil tortilla into warm enchilada sauce.

In this case, I was using green sauce, but you can use red sauce, whichever is your preference.

Oh. These can be your main ingredients, along with grated cheese, corn tortillas and some oil (used above).

Put one layer of the sauced tortillas on the bottom of a baking pan (I use a 9×11 glass pan). Toss on some grated cheese (I use sharp cheddar, but you can use a cheddar-jack mix or a "Mexican cheese" mix).

Here is variation #1: top the cheese with canned green chiles and chopped olives.

and/or, variation #2: some leftover cooked chicken

and/or, variation #3: leftover shredded beef (from a pot roast, maybe?)(next week).

Do the same (oil, sauce, cheese and topping) for at least one more layer.

The pour any extra enchilada sauce on top and put cheese on the top layer. I end up using at least 3/4 lb of shredded cheese for a 9×11 pan.

Since everything is cooked, you just pop in the oven until the cheese is melted, maybe 20 minutes in a 350° oven…look at it…You’ll see when the cheese is melted.

I serve mine with some sour cream on the side.

Viola! Hop everyone has a good weekend.

Snack Time- Tapioca Express

October 23, 2008 Cathy Chains, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso!!! is the little blog, written by some friends who use it as a bizarre outlet to only talk about food they eat. Enjoy reading.

Hi. I’ve been a little busy lately and still find time to eat. A lot of the time what I eat is not a meal, but a bunch of snacks. Boba houses abound, and I tend to just stop somewhere when I am hungry and see one. Here is a synopsis of a quick lunch. I apologize for the photography now; I did not use flash and should’ve used the camera in my mobile phone, which has turned out better photos in the last few posts.

Tapioca Express is a franchised outfit, with many locations in California, Washington, Nevada and Texas. I go to the one on Convoy, in the mall with no parking available, ever. Each location of Tapioca Express has a bit of a different menu, but the food is prepared fresh to order and sometimes I don’t need much.

The menu is on the wall and *only* the far right column is food items- the rest is beverages available.

Yes, beverages.

Overwhelming variations of juices, teas, coffees, icy, shaved ice, yogurt frost, and "snow bubbles"..not even mentioning the addition of boba or jellies, sweetened or not, milk added or not, hot or cold…

I never can decide and get the hot coffee milk tea. (Yes, I end up getting an "everything bagel" when I go out for the same reason.)..The Mister ordered a cold sesame mango iced something. I always ask for no added sweetener. No need. Each of these beverages was about $3. Boba costs and extra 50¢ and just doesn’t seem to do anything for me.

I always get the fried tofu (~$3). I get mild or medium spicy, because I like the taste of tofu. Go figure.

All the snacks are served in bags with bamboo skewers so you can grab and eat.

At some point, I use the skewers like chopsticks because it is silly to keep poking in the bag.

Crispy calamari rings (~$4). All the snacks come with a choice of spice level. Mild. Trust me. The hot just overwhelms everything. There is a lot of fried squid rings in here and I like the flavor of squid and breading. {The medium is right on the edge of being too spicy hot.}

A variety of dipping sauces are available, provided by Sysco. Sweet and sour and ranch dressing. They are in focus when in front of you.

Oh, what is that in the back?

Potstickers. This plate is $4.75 and a meal in itself. Ten pork and cabbage filled pockets of goodness, steamed, pan or deep fried, served with some steamed veggies (broccoli in this case) and a soy/vinegar/garlic dipping sauce. Very good.

This is a particularly bad photograph of the crispy chicken. The bag is a very large handful size and costs about $4. The chicken is, as with everything fried here, in a light batter -almost just flour- with a choice of spice level and in the case of the chicken, also fried with basil leaves for flavor…and the fried, crispy basil leaves are in the bag and so tasty.

There are also rice plates available which are quite large and filling and everything is at most ~$7. I do like the coffee shop/wifi/quick food aspect of this place. Supposedly the snacks are similar to those in Taiwan. I wouldn’t know, but that’s what the website tells me. I have heard the food at other locations is not good, but have never had a problem at this one.

If you haven’t tried the snacks here-or from any boba or tea house, you should. You will enjoy it.

Tapioca Express 4646 Convoy San Diego 92111 (858) 636-7889

website

Tacos at Taqueria San Pedro

October 22, 2008 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Well Kirk is off in Thailand – eating and taking pics so we can enjoy his trip also – and Cathy is scampering about sharing her meals and ideas with us too. But today, ed (from Yuma) wants to talk tacos.

If you remember my post about a taco reconnaissance, we ended that night with hot dogs at Taqueria San Pedro. Everything about that place called for a return visit, but this time we wanted to focus on the tacos.

The menu is easy to find as there is one on each table:

The only items missing from this list are the wonderful aguas frescas and the hot dogs, which are only prepared on weekends. We each ordered up three tacos – a volcanes, a San Pedro, and a pastor.

While we were waiting a complete cafeteria tray covered with condiments arrived with our aguas frescas:

Although the cucumber slices are pretty ordinary, the three salsas (one smoky, probably chipotle, one arbol that's thick with chile chunks, and one pico de gallo) are each good, if not outstanding. The grilled onions and jalapenos are fiery enough to bring tears to one's eyes. The pickled carrots and jalapenos, on the other hand, were relatively mild. The highlight of the tray was the real guacamole, nearly pure avocado purée:

We also tried an order of the frijoles, and they were served whole bean style, not refritos. Good but nothing special:

The tacos, when they arrived, were things of beauty. The taco San Pedro, at the upper right, is a soft corn tortilla topped with a split whole roasted chile covered with cheese and carne asada. As you eat this, the greenness of the chile permeates every bite, without making the flavors too picante. Many of the same pleasures as green chile cheeseburgers:

Even though I saw no trompo, the al pastor was very good. The spice rub/marinade added sweet and picant red chili notes to the sliced pork steak. The onions and cilantro provided complexity and contrast. This close-up shows the porky freshness of the meat:

The highlights of the tacos, nonetheless, were the volcanes. Based on the few words of Spanish I recognized in my conversation with Pedro, the owner, I thought that these might be vampiros hiding under an alias. And indeed, that's what they were. This close-up shows all of the usual suspects. The moist and flavorful carne asada, covered with a blanket of melty white cheese, lay on a bed provided by a thick, desiccated, charred, crunchy corn tortilla:

On another visit, I discovered that Pedro will make volcanes with al pastor. This is how that looks:

Add salsa and guacamole and you have a tasty thing of beauty decorated with enough red and green to make one think about Christmas:

Taqueria San Pedro seems to be open every evening around five o'clock. They close long after I've gone to bed. The folks are friendly and the ambience is as sophisticated and elegant as is possible at a taco stand.

Taqueria San Pedro, 3445 8th St, Yuma AZ

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Ikea, again- dinner items

October 20, 2008 Cathy European Restaurants, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! A blog. Seemingly random posts about seemingly random meals written by seemingly anonymous people.

Hi again. Cathy blogging, because Kirk is in Thailand and ed (from Yuma) is in Yuma. I am here, with a camera inside a phone and a bit too much free time on my hands.

The Mister and I were hungry the other evening, again, and were in the vicinity of Mission Valley when the pangs hit. We looked around and-there it was- a furniture store!

But, Ikea is not only a Swedish based furniture store, but also serves up some tasty food, ostensibly to keep you in the store and relaxed while shopping for flat packed, oddly named furniture you assemble yourself with a L-shaped tool called a hex key(Allen wrench)and the help of drawings as your instruction.

Hot items are served cafeteria style in a steam tray area. There is always a variety to choose from, (the cooked salmon plate is wonderful) (so is the stew), as are the fresh vegetable side dishes and the macaroni and cheese, but The Mister (and I) enjoy the basic 15 meatball plate.

15 meatballs (mostly ground beef and spices, no fillers) topped with a cream gravy and served with skin-on mashed potatoes and a side of lingonberry sauce. $4.99 and always good.

You can buy a bag of the frozen meatballs and two packages of gravy, as well as lingonberry sauce, jelly and concentrate downstairs in the "Swede Shop" just past the check out registers so you can enjoy this meal at home anytime you get a craving (you can easily make some mashed potatoes, right?).

There is an area of refrigerated glass cases where you can choose from desserts, salads, wraps and sandwiches. I got the gravad lox plate ($4.99) Two slices of excellent gravad lox served with a creamy mustard sauce, lettuce, fresh dill and a lemon wedge.

You can also buy frozen gravad lox in the Swede shop.

We also decided to share a shrimp salad ($3.99). About 50 small, but flavorful-small, shrimp served on a bed of mixed greens, tomatoes and cucumbers. There is a station of sauces and dressings near the beverage area. The ranch seemed to go best, but I tried the Italian and French also.

The dishes and tableware are all sold in the store, as are the chairs and tables in the eating area. Kind of good way to see what you would like to buy. Or not…

Ikea San Diego 2149 Fenton Parkway 92108 (619) 834-1520 website