Cathy – Page 91

Mom’s cheesecake

May 9, 2010 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Just an online diary, written by some friends, of foods they have had to eat. Whether they bought it or made it themselves. Today, Cathy is talking about her venture into a dessert.

Hi. As I was making "my" cheesecake to bring, on request, to a small get together, I looked at the recipe I was using and realised it isn't mine. It's the cheesecake I grew up with and never altered, because I like it this way. (I was out of college before I even knew that most other people thought cheesecake was made with cream cheese, which I thought was *only* used for bagels, and I still like butter on bagels rather than that stuff anyhow). This is the cheesecake my mom makes. I follow her recipe.
The ingredients make TWO cheesecakes (one to take and one to keep at home). The photograph shows way too much sugar and no flour nor the pinch of salt which are also ingredients.

Mrs. B's Cheesecake (makes two)

Crust: 14 graham crackers

1 stick butter, melted

1 Tbs sugar

Filling: Two Pounds cheese- either Cottage Cheese, Farmers Cheese or a combination of both to get to two pounds.

Two eggs

Two Tbs flour

Two Tbs milk

Pinch salt

1 Tbs vanilla (optional)

Blend, pour into graham crusts, Bake at 325° for 45 minutes, until top is brown.

Making the cheesecake looks like this:

Crush 14 graham crackers-7 doublets per pie plate-with a rolling pin, or just place into the pie plate and crush with the back of a glass. Mix in about a Tablespoon of sugar and about half a stick of melted butter and form the crust to the pie plate. Set aside. (the crust is the only sweet part of the entire dessert)

Farmer's cheese when packaged as above, is wrapped in paper inside that package. You can see it is kind of cottage-cheesy in texture. It has a bit more sharp flavor and also seems richer, even more than full fat cottage cheese (which I usually use and which was not on sale when I was buying cheese for this recipe).
Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl (the Farmer's Cheese shown is only 7.5 ounces, I do buy it by the pound at different Ethnic Markets in El Cajon) so as to have 2 pounds of cheese total and mix with a fork.
This is a photo of a half recipe- with the 7.5 ounces of Farmer's Cheese and about 8 ounces of Cottage cheese.
Pour into the crust and bake at 325° for about 45 minutes. I don't check to see if it is done- I don't know how, except I know when I look at it.
It will have puffed, the top will crack and be light brown. Remove and let cool.
It will collapse. It's supposed to.
Serve and enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Especially my mom!

Seisel’s- Sandwiches from a grocery store

May 6, 2010 Cathy Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. The part usually played by Kirk is being played by Cathy for a while. He is on vacation. Still.

Hi. Kirk has written about Seisel's, one of the best meat stores in the San Diego area, but that was almost five years ago . The other day, The Mister and I wanted a quick lunch.
Seisel's sells really good quality meat. Aged. Prime. They also make sandwiches and sell soup and chili and other things you can grab, pay for and take outside and eat at the tables. You order and the order is written on the bag that your sandwich will be placed.
Seisel's has a small grocery and produce area and you can purchase your beverage when you pay for your sandwiches. The few tables are out front and in the parking area (next to the cow; you'll see it).
The Reuben, served hot, on toasted rye with kraut, is perfect. Not too fatty, everything heated through and the rye bread is very flavorful.
Rare, flavorful roast beef, on a hearty white bread, with everything-lettuce, tomato, onions, mustard, mayonnaise. My usual lunch when I am in this part of town.
The Mister's sandwich had onions on it, which he specifically did *not* order. Oh, all the sandwiches come with a small dill pickle.

Almost all grocery stores sell some sort of ready to eat food. Next time you see something, try it. I bet you won't be disappointed.

Seisel's Old Fashioned Meat Market 4131 Ashton San Diego 92110 (619)275-1234 Website

Breakfast at Bristol Farms

May 5, 2010 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog written by a few friends who like to eat and write about their respective meals. Kirk usually writes, but he is on vacation (nobody has guessed where yet). ed (from Yuma) is busy with work. VickyL and a few others are apparently merely eating and not writing and so today, Cathy is sharing a nice breakfast with you.

Hi. The other morning, The Mister and I decided to drive to La Jolla to look for breakfast. We ended up at Bristol Farms, just West of the UTC Mall.
Bristol is a High End grocery store. Very close to La Jolla. Albertsons is its parent company, but nothing in here is like your local Albertsons Store. There is a wide selection of prime and dry aged meats, seafoods, deli meats and cheeses, breads, wines, produce and even the regular grocery aisles have some quite fancy items, as well as everyday groceries. The prices here for the higher end items are not bargain basement, but are fair for the quality of the item. The everyday item prices are similar to what you pay at your regular grocery.

Each location has a cafe. There are some steam trays, a by the pound salad bar, pizza, roasted chicken and in the morning breakfast burritos already made to grab and go. You can have plates or sandwiches made, pay and take them to go, or you can sit down and get a menu and have a nice meal.
Starting with a good coffee ($1.65). You can see there are daily breakfast -and lunch- specials. Those specials are about $4 off of the regular price. There are also wine tastings on some evenings. High end, but accessible. Everyone here is very helpful and explains the foods they sell- in the store and in the Cafe.
The Mister got a bacon, avocado and cheddar omelet ($9.49) with seeded rye toast and a fresh fruit cup. The omelet made of two fresh tasting eggs, a very nice, sharp cheddar cheese and the bacon- those 1/2 slices, crispy and maple flavored…really, really good. Topped with ripe, fresh avocado and a side of a fresh roasted tomato salsa. The toast was a thin sliced seeded rye, also very fresh and good. The fresh fruit cup was only cantaloupe and grapes, but both fruits were very ripe and nice flavored.
I got the smoked salmon scramble ($9.99). Again two eggs mixed with a lot of high quality cold smoked salmon, capers and onions. This was accompanied with a toasted "everything" bagel and whipped cream cheese and those…up there on the top right. I like to call those "Bristol Tots"…cubes of potatoes, deep fried so there is an outer crust and the inside is light and fluffy and lightly seasoned. Heavenly little cubes. Maybe because I have not had French Fries in a very long time, or maybe because of the type of potato used, but those little cubes of goodness are addictive.

A special breakfast inside a special grocery store.

Bristol Farms 8510 Genesee Avenue, San Diego 92122 (858) 558-4180 Website

Hafa Adai! Chamorro Grill.

May 4, 2010 Cathy Guamanian/Chamorro, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Kirk usually writes here, but he isn't here right now. He is in an exotic land far, far away. Well. The land may not be exotic, but is far away for some of you and the food he is eating is exotic. In the interim, Cathy is talking about her foray into exotic.

Hi. The other day, The Mister and I were driving along Mission Gorge Road and saw the two end buildings at the NorthEast corner at Zion had changed ownership last year and we kept forgetting to stop. At this point in time, we were both hungry. We remembered to stop.
I was not interested in the Hula part, but the "Island Barbeque" sign caught my eye. Basically, Chamorro means Guamanian food. The Mister had spent quite a bit of time in Guam and said Guam had the best food, and he thought it was the first place he had had poke. I figured I could get poke if nothing on the menu seemed interesting.
Well. No poke on the menu. Different island food here. But interesting looking items. Decor was Philippines, Guam and Hawwaii… We went inside.
We placed our order, paid, sat down and waited. The good thing about Chamorro Grill is that your food is made to order. The only bad thing about Chamorro Grill is that your food is made to order. Many people came in to pick up phoned in/to go orders. There had been 5 tables with people eating when we came in. We watched the television, read a copy of The Reader and pondered a lot about that door to the right. The one with the red sign "Employees Only". The door which cannot possibly open fully. See the wall behind it, the wall with the clock, the 12 inch wide wall employees walk around to get to the kitchen? The wall with a door. We pondered that little sort of storage area a long time.
It was worth the wait. The lumpia ($3.25), which we ordered as an afterthought, were home made, filled with ground beef and peas and a nice spice. We got 5 and not 4, as the menu stated. Perhaps because we were waiting. These were prepared last and were very hot. We could not eat them for a while. But they were fried properly-crispy, not greasy. Again: made here, not the frozen ones you can buy at the Asian Market.
I wanted to try the Kadun Pika ($6.50). Chicken in a spicy coconut sauce. Boneless, skinless thighs, at least two thighs, possibly three. The menu says braised chicken…in any case, moist and flavorful meat. The sauce did not have any hints of coconut, but was thick (not from cornstarch), tasty and had some very nice heat to it. This was served with Calrose rice- with a hint of achoete (achiote?). Menu says the rice is cooked with garlic, onions and other spices, but it wasn't. I think if it had been, that would have contrasted with the pika sauce.
Next to the cash register there was a board listing 'specials'. The garlic shrimp cooked in crab fat ($7.95) caught my eye. Crab fat, sometimes called crab paste, is sold in jars, not refrigerated. I have seen it at most of the Asian markets around here. I never bought it. I should have. I will. The flavor of crab fat is …crab. Buttery, concentrated crab.

The very large, plump, fresh shrimp(7) in this dish still had the fresh shrimp flavor, sauteed in garlic. The sauce had the most wonderful butter-garlic-crab flavor and lots of canned mushrooms. We spoke to the cook-chef, who was very happy we had ordered and really liked this dish.

This is a very nice place, the people working here are very friendly and the food is excellent.

Chamorro Grill 6628 Mission Gorge Road (at Zion-kitty corner from the Wendy's) 92120 (619) 280-2000 Website

Filippi’s (Little Italy location) and our ‘usual’ order

May 3, 2010 Cathy Italian Restaurants, Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog. Cathy is pretending she is Kirk and posting about food she eats and enjoys. Because Kirk is busy consuming (and enjoying) food in other parts of the world, which he will post about soon enough.

Hi again. Today I'd like to share yet another place where The Mister and I enjoy eating.

When you walk into the Little Italy location of Filippi's, you have to walk through the grocery area to get to the restaurant.
We were seated and looked at the menu. Our Waitress came by and we asked for a half carafe of Chianti (~$8) and continued to look at the menu…

Yes, the chianti is served in the small glasses shown. We then proceeded with our usual order…
The small antipasta (~$9). A bed of iceberg lettuce with mortadella, salami, cubed parmesan and provolone, beans, pickled vegetables and topped with the house (Italian) dressing.
The salad is served with fresh made Italian bread rolls and butter.

A sausage-mushroom pizza (~$14). The pizzas at this location are one size. The sausage is fresh, not fatty, has fennel seeds which add to the flavor and is so wonderful. The mushrooms are fresh, not canned.
The Mister is a wonderful man, who understands I need to have anchovies with my salad and my pizza. ($1.50). I cooperate by getting the anchovies on the side.

People love the pastas and sandwiches (hot and cold) offered here also. At this location, I have never had old bread or stale tasting anything, which has happened at other locations.

Filippi's (Little Italy location- there are 12 locations, all family owned and operated, but the food does not taste the same as it does at the Little Italy location.) 1747 India Street, San Diego 92101

(619)232-5094 Opens 11:00 a.m., closes at 10:00 p.m. on Sun & Mon, 10:30 p.m. on T-W-Th and 11:30 p.m. on Fri & Sat Website

Opera Patisseries Fines-part one, breakfast

April 30, 2010 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Part Two can be found here

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog. The writings are contributed by Kirk, ed (from Yuma), Cathy, Vicky L and a few others. We just take photos of what we eat and then write about it…an unusual hobby. Today, Cathy is writing. Everyone else is eating…Kirk is eating the most interesting food of all. He is on vacation. In a foreign country. Where they eat animals we would not consider eating. Prepared in a manner we would consider using.

The other Saturday morning The Mister and I found ourselves in the Sorrento Valley area, hungry.
Opera is in a food court mall, with about 6 other restaurants. This area is way crowded during the week, since people working at the surrounding offices apparently like to eat. Especially at the lunch hour. It is on Scranton Road, just off Mira Mesa Boulevard, East of the 805.
You walk in, order and pay, find a seat, put your number in that metal number holder thingy and soon, your coffee ($1.65) (if you ordered coffee-there are a variety of espresso drinks and teas as well as a soda fountain available) is delivered to your table.
Since it was early and breakfast time, The Mister chose the French Toast ($7.50).
Two slices of a *wonderful* brioche, dipped in a vanilla egg batter and fried perfectly lightly, placed on a raspberry sauce and served with warm maple syrup. Just a lightly crisp exterior, soft, not mushy bread interior. The serving size of two thick slices is quite large.
Trying to appear to be healthy (Hello Dr. B!), I ordered an egg white omelette ($8.95) which comes with a choice of three fillings (I chose mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus) (other items to choose from are ham, Cheddar, Swiss, bacon, onion and peppers) and is served with a choice of a fruit cup or salad and also the Yukon Gold potatoes seen here.
I must confess, I did not expect much at all, but this was the *most* wonderful egg white omelet, perfectly made. Crispy exterior and fluffly light interior. Just like the French Toast. The vegetables had been sauteed and were so fresh and flavorful. The fruit salad was all ripe, good fruit. The potatoes were thick sliced sauteed to a light crispiness and yet were still soft. The Yukon Gold flavor was there.

Opera is known best for its pastries and sweets and baking as well as the crepes, quiches, croissant sandwiches and salads which are made to order and which make each meal an event.

Breakfast is served Mon-Fri from 7:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and again from 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. and all day on Saturday. The lunch post is coming soon. Featuring pastries!

Opera Patissieres Fines 9254 Scranton Road San Diego 92121 (858) 458-9050 Mon-Fri 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., closed Sunday Website

Vine Ripe Market (and the adjoining restaurant)- La Mesa

April 28, 2010 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Since this post, the adjoining restaurant has changed. I'll link to it once I have something to say.

Hello and welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog written by Kirk, ed(from Yuma), VickyL and Cathy. Kirk is still on vacation. ed (from Yuma) is in Yuma. VickyL is in Northern California and cathy is in East San Diego County, blogging today.

Hello again. Vine Ripe Market was around a few years ago, then closed, then opened again in January 2010. I wrote a post about it back in 2006, when Kirk went on his Hawaii vacation. (It was my 5th post. Ever.)
It seems to be a bit cleaner than before, and the bakery, meat, produce, regular aisles, freezer and deli sections are filled with wonderful well priced items.
All Halal meats.
Household items and accessories are sold here also.

Inside there are steam trays with hot food, sandwiches can be made to order or you can go out front and to the Fletcher Parkway side of the building is the restaurant. (I have never seen a name for the restaurant, not even on the menu..)

We started with a Turkish coffee ($2)on this chilly day (all the seating is outdoors).

The Mister ordered the Ghorme Sabzi-Vegetable stew ($9.99) a baby lamb shank cooked with red beans, lime ad fresh herbs. The meat was tender and flavorful as was the accompanying stew. Really good.
I ordered a chicken Shawerma sandwich ($5.99) served on a warm pita bread. Juicy marinated very flavorful chicken cut from the spit then grilled with lettuce, green pepper and onion in the bread. This is served with salad and house made hummus. A nice olive oil with vinegar and herbs dressing is served also.
On another day, we ordered hot tea…
We decided on a Greek side salad ($4.99)to go with the sandwiches we ordered. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion olives, feta and the same house dressing…
A falafel sandwich ($4.99) was OK good. After having the falafel at Mystic Grill , I am spoiled. These were fresh and kind of fried a bit too long. The flavor of the falafel were good. The sandwich had lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion and a fresh home made (yogurt based) sauce.
My sandwich came wrapped in flatbread…looking like this from the outside.
and was filled with charbroiled boneless chicken. Not Shawerma/marinated, but juicy and good flavored. It must be Halal chicken.
As I said, the prices here are great.
Stop by if you are in the area. Great market, great restaurant.

Vine Ripe Market 8191 Fletcher Parkway (at Jackson-SE corner) La Mesa 91942 (619)462-9900

Yoshinoya- chain food. Good chain food.

April 27, 2010 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Yoshinoya has closed. It's Boba Time took this storefront space.

Just a blog about food we (Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy, VickyL and a few others) eat. That's what mmm-yoso!!! is. Not "fancy" foods, healthy foods or anything specific. You get to peek inside our eating habits and live vicariously. Today, Cathy is blogging.

Hi. Kirk is still on vacation. It's only been a week. Today I'm talking about a quick lunch at a fast food place.
This Kearney Mesa location of Yoshinoya has been in this mall on Convoy, across from the Weinerschnitzel for at least ten years. The interior is clean and reminds me of Burger King or McDonald's… I hesitated to categorize this as "Japanese" food. Yoshinoya basically markets itself as "you won't leave here hungry". The food here is inexpensive and for being food, is really not bad. Most people seem to order the teriyaki bowls (beef, chicken or steak, in combination and/or with vegetables on top of sticky rice).

Including the ordering area.
As well as the seating area.
However, the condiments offered are different…hot (ish) red pepper and very pickled ginger (and soy sauce).
Then there is the food. Some people complain that the usually ordered bowls are doused in teriyaki sauce, and I tend to agree, and order the sauce on the side or 'not as much sauce, please'. Or I get this: a BBQ combo bowl ($6.25). Grilled, skinless teriyaki chicken and thin sliced grilled teriyaki beef short ribs. With fried rice, salad and noodles.

All the items are not salty and not over-sauced. The rice is good, freshly fried, with some (probably) frozen vegetables and egg added. The stir fried noodles are pretty good with cabbage and carrots added. The salad comes with a packet of Italian dressing and is pretty standard.

Sometimes, I want fried and get the large order (9) of sesame chicken wings ($3.79). Nicely fried, not greasy, topped with sesame seeds, juicy meaty and good. This day , I decided to get a side of vegetables ($1.49). This is *not* a weird, badly lit photograph. The vegetables here are what I like to call 'neon veggies'. Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and some bok choy in this wonderful colored, not salty, thick neon yellow-green sauce. I like it and at least like to think it is a healthy meal…

Yoshinoya 4344 Convoy Street, Suite F San Diego 92111 (858) 560-5163

Garden Fresh Grill and Smoothie. Garlic for breakfast…

April 25, 2010 Cathy Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog written by Kirk and occasionally ed(from Yuma), VickyL, Cathy and a few others. Kirk is on vacation and today Cathy is writing.

The other day, I was on College Avenue at El Cajon Boulevard and drove into the Vons parking lot. I remembered a bagel place that used to be here, years ago and saw this instead.

Curious as I am about food, I walked up, asked some questions, grabbed a paper menu saw they serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, smoothies and fruit bowls. They serve halal meat, no alcohol. The families who own and run this very clean establishment are Lebanese.

The Mister and I first went on a Saturday afternoon. Three people were waiting for "To Go" orders, Two tables were filled with people eating, there was one couple in front of us. We ordered, paid and sat down.

We decided to try a cheese & zaatar pie ($2.99). Dough is made in house then baked in the wood fired oven (to the right, behind the pastry case above) the fresh bread dough is topped with a blend of 'premium cheeses', sesame seed and zaatar (oregano, sesame seed, olive oil and herbs) A nice blend of seasonings and quite a bit of cheese on this small (8 inch) pie. You can get a Zaatar pie for $1.99 if you don't want cheese.

The Mister ordered a beef gyros salad ($8.99) (the menu has chicken gyros as an option). The Mediterranean salad – lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, parsley and mint topped with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil (house) dressing. Topped with sliced grilled beef gyros (moist/slightly greasy in a good way). This was a large, plentiful, fresh and tasty salad.

I ordered the "Combo 3"($8.99)- an assortment of house made hummus, tabouli, falafel and spanakopita. House made everything.: The falafel was made of fresh chickpeas (not the powdered mix) and were light, airy, tender and just crispy on the outside. The spanakopita was crispy (not soggy on the bottom) and filled with Feta cheese as well as spinach and onions. The tabouli was very fresh parsley and bulghur, feta, onions and lemon juice. The hummus was excellent. All were done quite well. The Mister and I shared a cup of Turkish coffee ($1.99).

We went back for breakfast.

First, we ordered a small bowl of fresh fruit ($4.49), cut up just for us (which is the same as when a smoothie or fruit juice is ordered-fresh fruit that is available, not frozen fruit). Banana, apple, pineapple, cantaloupe, papaya and strawberries. Very fresh, flavorful fruit.

This was made on the other side of the cash register, where most people were walking in to get their morning smoothies.

The Mister tried the scrambled eggs with chicken schawarma ($6.99). There was more meat than egg. Simple, flavorful, moist. We figured two eggs were used.

We got a plate of pickles.

Along with four pieces of fresh baked, hot bread. These are small, maybe 4 inches, but thick and fluffy and soft. I believe it is the same bread used for the zaatar pie, above, just not as flattened/thin.

The pickles and bread accompanied my most wonderful hot breakfast of Foul Mudammas ($5.99) A 30 year old family recipe of warm, cooked fava beans, mashed then mixed with fresh garlic and lemon juice, topped with olive oil.

All cultures have some sort of warm breakfast, usually a grain like oats or bulghur or rice that is a usually made into a sort of porridge. Items have to be added in for flavor- salt, butter, brown sugar or fruit. The fava beans and garlic with lemon juice is by far my most favorite. Garlic for breakfast. Nothing needs to be added to this bowl of goodness. Yay!

Coffee is free with any breakfast order. It is a good dark roast of coffee. The food here is wonderfully fresh. Everyone has been very nice to us every time we have had a meal here, answering questions and asking how we like the food. I plan on stopping by whenever I am in this part of town.

Garden Fresh Grill and Smoothie. 6165 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite F San Diego 92115 (619) 287-2373 Website Open 7 days, 8 a.m.- 9 p.m.

One New Year Resolution Kept- Wednesdays at the Santee Farmers Market

April 23, 2010 Cathy Farmer's Markets/Night Market, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog, written by a few friends, about meals or foods in general they enjoy. Today, Cathy is writing, because the others aren't. Some of us are on vacation…

Hi. The County of San Diego Farm Bureau lists 47 different Farmers Markets within the County of San Diego. There is one happening somewhere every day of the week, (even on Monday there is one, at the Welk Village in Escondido). Here is a link to Kirk's (2007) post about the Sunday Hillcrest Farmers Market, which has within it a link to his other (2005) post and this stop at the Little Italy Farmers Market where he was last month.

Since I live in Santee, I definitely show up at "mine" most often, although I have made it a point to shop at at least on Farmer's Market a week for the last year, as part of my 2009 New Year Resolution. So, I tend to stop when I see one is happening somewhere I happen to be driving. Many of the vendors move from one to the other (hence, Monday is almost day off for some) and some vendors are "Uni"que.
When you park in the abandoned school parking lot in Santee (that's what they call it-the school was razed years ago) and walk toward the market, you see the craft vendors first.
You can see there were only a few Fruit and Vegetable vendors set up on this Wednesday.
The mostly locally grown produce is cut up so you can sample it, at most of the vendor booths.
When my garden's tomatoes have stopped producing, I can still get some nice ones here.
Sometimes I crave radishes, and these white ones were excellent.
As were these baby squash.
Some with blossoms. (All the baby squash and blossomed squash were $5/lb; we had a delightful meal of cheese stuffed fried blossoms a few weeks ago).
This past Wednesday it was raining and not as many vendors were set up. Citrus is in season. (The funny looking oranges on the left are Italian Blood Oranges).
So are English peas, which The Mister and I eat straight from the shell, raw.

There are several food vendors here usually- tamales, hummus, fresh breads, honey, jams and a few others. But that area (East end) is not as popular as at other (weekend) Farmers Markets.

If you are driving by and see a Farmers Market, do stop. You never know what you may find…
The San Diego County Farm Bureau Website