What Cathy Eats! – Page 107

The 2007 San Diego County Fair, Part 3, which was part of Part 2.

June 22, 2007 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso, the blog, had some issues last night. Cathy had some issues by wanting to fall asleep. Kirk isn't going to post anyhow. He probably has issues, too.

Hi. I was trying to finish up the post about the County Fair last night and everything kept freezing up on me. Then it was Friday and I had stuff I needed to do. Here is the last of the post, and some general information.

Yep, the newest culinary sensation offered at the Fairgrounds.

I asked you to look at the skeleton on the front part of the grill in this photo.

I assume all of you correctly identified it as being from a snake, and more specifically a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, or Crotalus atrox to be completely correct.

Yes, the newest food fad is rattlesnake. Farm raised and costing the owners of this booth $41 a pound.

So, since everyone is in business to make a profit, they are charging $9.50 for rattlesnake chili and $12.50 for fried rattlesnake bites (or, Snakebites) served with fried potatoes and fried jalapeño slices.

For some reason, I do not consider chili to be a Fair Food, plus the idea of eating a tomato based sauce in the heat and sun just was not right to me, so , we opted for more fried food. Snakebites.

There ended up being nine pieces of breaded fried rattlesnake and as many potatoes and only those three jalapeños.

The breading was light and crispy and the Snake meat was not too tough or chewy. There were three of us sharing all of this food at the fair and our Friend, Ms. T, said the Snake tasted more like rabbit, while The Mister said it was kind of like muskrat, better than turtle and way better than seagull.

It was not offensive to me. I did like the breading and added some hot sauce for the potatoes.

We then went in search of cooling desserts.

Ms. T got a strawberry hot fudge waffle cone sundae.

The Mister got the ice cream square dipped in chocolate and peanuts.

I, however, still being adverse to sweets, got the "Still only 25¢" Footsie Wootsie and called it a day.

Do try and get to the Fair and maybe think about participating in some of the exhibits. It is part of our (rather large)community, but still always local.

*****************************************************

Hmmm- Cathy is wearing Cowboy Boots…why would she do that?

Yes, I wear Cowboy Boots. I know a little bit about rattlesnakes. They appear in my back yard every year about this time.

I would like to show you why farmed raised rattlers cost so much. Basically they are larger since they do not have to forage for their meals. Wild rattlesnakes do grow and gain a rattle about every year, but are constantly looking for food and are more likely to be smaller/leaner overall. Being farm raised and not having to slither all over looking and hoping for food makes you lazy and fat (remember this the next time you are sitting in a Drive Thru lane).

I know this about snakes. Because, as I said, they show up in my yard every year.

Here are the skins I preserved from two of the five rattlers I killed (no, not The Mister -me- I killed five rattlers) in 2005. You will notice the rattle in the photograph is 13 in number. Not his lucky year.

If I was not wearing Cowboy Boots, I would be permanently scarred by that one big boy; when I put the shovel on his neck, he really whipped around and hit my calf.

Here are my boots, and the rattler who died this past Sunday- June 17, 2007. Only 7 rattles.

As you noticed, you don't eat the skin. You save it. Also, you have to bury the head. You don't want it to be left out, even in the trash. Yellow jackets will eat the whole head, including the poison sac, and then if those same yellow jackets go out and sting you, well, you get the venom. You should just call your local Fire Department, on their non-emergency line and they will come out right away, kill the varmint and dispose of him properly. They will ask if you want to keep the snake and his skin. You could. Here is what you do with it.

First, nail each end onto a board, belly up. (This is a Cedar fence board from Home Depot, it costs about $1.67; if you buy a "Cedar Plank" for cooking salmon on the grill, it is one of these boards cut into 4 pieces)(it seems to cost a lot to make three cuts with a saw).

Then cut gently down the center, peel the skin off and remove the meat.

You can really see in this photo that this snake, despite being older, is mostly bone and not meat. It would be a bother to have to de-bone all of this animal and then what meat would be left would barely be worth your time and effort.

Then you flatten out the skin as much as possible and pour salt over the whole skin, to aid in the drying out. I leave it in the sun for at least a week. The one from this past Sunday is still there.

After the skin is dry, you do not want it to get hard and brittle or it will fall apart in a few years. Rinse off the salt and then coat the skin daily with glycerin (sold in the Pharmacy Department of most stores) for about another week will preserve the skin and keep it pliable for years to come.

That's it. Hope everyone has a nice first Summer weekend. Enjoy the Fair.

The 2007 San Diego County Fair, Part 2-It’s open, it’s been open

June 21, 2007 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog. Kirk just wrote about food from a local Vietnamese Grocery store and a Whiskey Soda Lounge in Portland, Oregon, Ed just wrote something about food from taco trucks in Yuma and now Cathy is writing this, food at the San Diego County Fair. Variety, you know. You don't have to go to a sit down restaurant in San Diego for food.

Hi again. The San Diego County Fair has been going on for a few days now. If you recall, from my previous post, it opened in June 8. It goes on until July 4. Here is what it looks like, what some exhibits look like and, oh, what we ate.

When you enter the Fairgrounds, you are always greeted by the statue of Don Diego, who is dressed in the theme of the Fair, this year, " A Salute to Heroes".

As with all County Fairs, there are Livestock – cattle, calves, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys mainly. There are small animal competitions and on June 30 the animals for food are auctioned off.

In the Home Arts section, there are displayed the winners of many of the competitions- Preserved Foods, quilting, collections, various craft competitions, cookies and cakes.

The Fine Woodworkers Association had a vast array of hand made furniture and accessories as well as demonstrations going on all day.

There are also competitions of High School and Junior College students, a Gem and Mineral Show, Photography and Fine Art. There is a Newsroom at the Fair with the local newspaper having staff there to answer questions and.

There are some celebrities- musical performers at night, and the day we were there, the Roloff Family of the Discovery channel television show "Little People, Big World" .

Oh, then there is the Midway with Fun Zone rides, games and general "Fair" diversions…

There is that Chair Lift that carries you from the one gate to the Bing Crosby Hall , where sales of gadgets abound…

Oh, and look at that- there is food. The reason for the blog. Let's get into it.

A sample menu, of pretty much everything you might want to try…and I have, in prior years- Deep fried Twinkie, (Twinkie dipped in batter then fried), Deep fried Snickers Bar (I like how the caramel is warm and oozy) and then new- this year. The Chicken sandwich on a Krispy Kreme donut. Yep; had to.

Not a plain Krispy Kreme, nope- a jelly donut. Salty, yet juicy and flavorful preformed chicken served on a fresh jelly donut. I liked the mix of sweet and salty, for two bites anyhow. They give you honey as a condiment, in case the jelly and glaze isn't enough. This cost about $6. I don't know. It doesn't matter.

The rest of the stuff we got was pretty much the usual. The falafel sandwich, with avocado, which is always my favorite food.

Mushrooms on a stick (eh); artichoke hearts on a stick (yum).

There are also available the turkey legs, Sdcf2007_028 the "Ten Pound Loaf" of bread slice, topped with cheeses and garlic butter, the grilled corn, grilled peppers (stuffed with nacho cheese, I might add).

The Cinnamon Roll Truck-if you look closely, they list all the locations the truck will be this year- the County Fairs-

The cream puffs, fried sweet potatoes, and so much else.

But, there was something new and different this year, oh yes…

See those bones on the front of the grill?

That post will show up soon. Unfortunately, Typepad is doing something odd and I cannot finish this post. I have been trying for the last 30 minutes. This one is done and Part 2 of The County Fair Part 2 will be up before you know it!

The San Diego County Fair, now until July 4 www.SDFair.com

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant

June 16, 2007 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Al Salam has closed.

Hi. Its a Saturday night and mmm-yoso is tired. This is a short post on a favorite place Cathy and The Mister like to go to when they want something healthy and tasty. Kirk isn't posting anything tonight anyhow.

Hi. This will be short; I don't have a photo of the menu- it is one piece of paper kept at the cash register. Also, the camera died…well, the batteries did, anyhow.

Joseph E. asked me about my favorite place or two when I responded to a question about Mediterranean foods on a Forum earlier today. I pretty much have kept this one to myself for a very long time. They have good business mostly from the same local families and walk ins. There are many Mediterranean places in El Cajon, due to the large Chaldean population (when Iraq was having elections, one of the four places in the USA to vote was right down the street from this restaurant on Main Street in El Cajon). There were a lot more places on Main Street, seemingly one on top of another, but they have now spread out over the City of El Cajon. Nonetheless there are many small markets that are very ethnic and I saw a few that are both Arabic and Mexican in inventory on Main Street. (Main Produce Market as 1255 East Main, near Second has a "Coming Soon" sign and writing in Arabic and Spanish).

So, this little place…Most people come in here and get food to go, or just buy some Halal meats from the one refrigerator case, filled with Halal meats (I think the easiest way to describe Halal is "Muslim Kosher".) The menu is mostly written in Arabic with two columns for prices- it is less expensive to get something to go than to 'have service' as the owner says. Nevertheless, we are willing to pay the extra dollar or two per item and sit down at one of the 8 tables.

The building used to be a Doctor's office.

If the lady is working, she speaks good English, if it is all men in there (as it was on Saturday night), be patient. They speak broken English but they cook very well. They have a hard time explaining things if you ask a question-(we tried asking about the ingredients in the salads)- so order something simple (hummus appetizer, lamb kabob, Greek salad) or point and say "yes, I want that". It will be good.

It is clean inside, no air conditioning. They will bring you a pitcher of ice water.

The menu has appetizers, salads, main courses and kabob sandwiches.

We ordered the Shawarma (lamb/beef cooked on a spit with spices, shredded . The taste and texture is a little different than Gyros) and a Greek salad and one hot tea. The hot tea is served in a small glass and there is no refill; it is nice mint flavor and goes well with the food.

You get this GIANT piece of bread- round and hollow like pita, whole grain in texture. A good 12 inches plus in diameter, toasty warm and cooked on one side and folded into a basket.

The condiments on the table are salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and sumac. (Sumac is a powdered spice, kind of lemony/tart in flavor so it sort of also substitutes for salt). You know my camera died, don't you?

Here is the photo of the Shawarma plate. $8. A good pound of shredded, cooked, nicely flavored and still lightly game-y tasting lamb/beef served with sliced raw onion, tomato, parsley and pickled turnips.

The Greek salad was $6- chopped tomatoes, sweet Persian cucumbers, lettuce and a good amount of a very nice salty, fresh Feta cheese. The dressing is a red vinaigrette. Nice and thick, but not too much; you can toss it more so it spreads over the ingredients. I sprinkled sumac on everything- the salad, my pieces of bread…

The Mister gave me a lot of his lamb to put onto the salad, made himself lots of little bites on top of pieces of the torn bread and I had a lot of the bread also and there was still some leftover. Total bill was $15.70

The men were all there tonight and did not interfere with our meal, even to ask how it was going. When we were leaving, all of them asked us how we liked it and when were we coming back…so, don't be offended if you go and they seem to be staring at you. They are more used to the 'to go' orders, and having the lady working there.

Down the same block two stores West is the El Cajon International Foods Market. They sell cooked kabobs inside the store. You could get a kabob at Al Salam and then one at the Market to compare…

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant 550 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619)585-5374

Cathy’s Trip Part One- A short, late, spring vacation…with food

June 15, 2007 Cathy Travel, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is a blog. About food. Sometimes other stuff creeps in here. But it all comes back to food. Cathy is blogging while Kirk has no time to do much writing about food.

Hi. I left San Diego on Southwest Airlines last Friday morning. Early. Got to Phoenix and had to find the other gate in another terminal and waited. This is the rug on the floor in the Phoenix Terminal It is a neat pattern, don’t you think?

So, anyhow, you know I eat and blog about it…but what does Cathy pack to eat on board the plane? Do I merely buy something outrageously expensive in the terminal? Ha!

Smoked salmon pate in a can; two slices of buttered rye bread; raw Spanish peanuts; the bag of Mediterranean herbed olives from Trader Joe’s; Banana Crisp Bonanza Trek Mix from TJ’s; hot tea and a glass of ice from Southwest ( I make my own iced tea; that canned stuff is insipid) and my ever-present (and x-ray undetectable) chopsticks.

I’d just like to let you know this isn’t any sort of special meal; I have flown on Southwest a *lot* (to the point that I get birthday and Christmas cards from them) since 2001 and I want some part of my lengthy in-air time to have luxury. This is, however, the first time I photographed my take aboard meal.

And I flew back east. Here are some of the sights, as well as some more "native" hints at foods to be blogged about.

Some sports fans out there might recognize where I was.

OK, I’ll show some native foods.

A coney- hot dog- an a loose hamburger. Each topped with chili (no beans)(never any beans), mustard and onions (never *ever*cheese). That, on the right, a package of …City Chicken.???

Galabki (gah-whoump-key) sometimes called stuffed cabbage, topped with a tomato sauce, which is also on the mashed potatoes .

Chrusciki- Angel Wings..?

Still no idea? Well… The consumption of potato chips by the people in the county this city is located in is the largest, per capita, in the world (according to the pamphlet at the airport, which I memorized, while waiting, because the plane got in 50 minutes EARLY).

There are Still Big Boy Restaurants in town.

As is the case everywhere I live, or lived, here is one of many taco trucks…

I know, not many who read this blog are actually from here, nor do they particularly choose this as a place to visit for vacation.

OK, easiest clues.

More to follow…

Major Market- your “other than Asian” grocery store

June 12, 2007 Cathy Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Editor’s Note: Major Market is no longer affiliated with the Independent Grocer’s Alliance and is a freestanding market, with some supplies (mostly dry goods and some refrigerated products) still being purchased from the IGA.

Kirk eats, Cathy eats. Each of us blogs about what we eat, where we eat and where we get supplies for eating when we do eat at home. Enjoy this episode of mmm-yoso!!!.

Hi there. Cathy here, just adding some variety in your day.

About 3 years ago, my Friend, Mr. G., told me about this *really cool* supermarket in Escondido. I had seen it, actually, and ignored it, and had gone to the Trader Joe’s in the same parking lot. Big mistake. Huge.

See, it’s an IGA. There used to be an IGA in Santee…the building it was in turned into a church; it wasn’t a fun place to shop, had a lot of store brand (Springfield) stuff and the prices were not competitive and really, it was not interesting.

Now, I know that there are five IGA’s called "Food Land" out there and they have great Panderias (bakeries) and Tortillerias and even Taquerias inside…but those are in El Cajon and National City and South San Diego. This is in Escondido- Centre City Parkway(the next exit after North County Fair)- and, well, I wasn’t thinking there would be anything interesting…WRONG. Oh, so wrong.

Kobe hamburger? Here is the meat counter…and then the sign over the meat counter.

USDA Prime.

3 lobster tanks, sold by size.

Oh, this isn’t all. I could not take photos of everything…

Here- the fresh baked stuff.

I like the fresh baguettes and scones. The pastries are wonderful and there is a whole coffee bar area next to the bakery area, with tables (the ham and cheese croissant is wonderful, BTW). Next to this area is the meat/salad/deli area, where they will make sandwiches for you. Dietz and Watson meats. (I did not take a photo- I promised the two managers on duty there would be no people in any pictures) . There is a small (made in store-fresh) Sushi area, a hot foods/steam tray area. This, rotisserie chickens and carnitas area…BBQ and side dishes.

None of these photos are of the complete areas. Keep that in mind.

For example, in the aisles…this photo is not quite the complete selection of canned fish.

There are many unique items throughout the store, as well as everyday items.

An example of something unusual is this- Isboks- boxed water from Iceland, $10 for 5 liters…I dunno. But it is there, if you want to try. Of course, the most interesting things are on end units-Food from other countries, arranged by Country. Frozen foods from Great Britain (see the flag above the display?)

Italy, Scandinavian countries…there are whole end units of German and French products also, along with more unrefrigerated stuff from Great Britain.

Oh, and this is about half of all the marinated by the pound stuff- although mostly olives sold, the rest of the marinated veggies are in this photograph…

This is just a fun place to go for your general groceries, fruits and veggies, as well as maybe some special stuff.

Here are photos from our latest shopping trip.

Thanks, Mr. G, for telling me to stop in here. It’s the most fun Supermarket around!

Major Market Escondido 1855 S. Centre City Parkway (760)741-7827

Major Market Fallbrook 845 S. Main Avenue (760) 723-0857

website

Pho Pasteur Anh Hong-That Vietnamese place in the same mall as K Sandwiches

June 11, 2007 Cathy Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Hello again, mmm-yoso readers. Cathy here, blogging because I want to and Kirk doesn't.

Good morning, or afternoon, or evening, whenever you are reading this. Cathy here, with a confession and interesting observation. I somehow always assumed Kirk had posted on this place, and he hadn't. I have referred to it as 'you know, the place in the mall with K Sandwiches, the one with pink tablecloths' and assumed everyone knew what I was talking about. Silly me.

Well, here is one meal The Mister and I had, but trust me, we have have gone here pretty much regularly, because of one item on the menu…it is 123D, on this paper "To Go" menu…in fact, if you can read this menu (there are 197 items on this two sided paper), it isn't all of what you can possibly order once you get inside. There are a few 'variations' and sides and paper words taped over the menu.

So, anyhow, on this visit we got the #55 appetizer- Squid stuffed with ground pork and mushrooms.($4.99)

Not fried, not crispy. More baked… and flavorful with a warm sweet-salty sauce o the bottom (which went went with the lettuce, tomato and onions).

The Mister decided to go for more of a Chinese dish this time, # 141-Pan fried rice noodle with shrimp and vegetable ($7.49)

Most of the thick rice noodles were pan fried and had a nice crispiness crust on them and the shrimp had a good, sweet, full flavor. The vegetables (broccoli, carrots, bok choy)were not overcooked and the sauce was more salty and had a heat we had not experienced before…not Szechuan, but definitely a red chile…it was good and different.

Then, I got my "usual" Bun Tau Hu Ky ($6.29) #123D, if I haven't said it enough.

Salad on the bottom (made with mint and cucumber shreds), cold rice noodles and the usual toppings of mint, peanuts, shredded carrot and daikon and then the topping- bean curd skin wrapped around ground shrimp..and fried. See that cross section? Oh how I crave this stuff. I look for it at every Vietnamese place I go and have only found it at three so far: Here, Convoy Noodle House and Pho Saigon Star. I have had it as an appetizer at all the places, even though it is not listed on the menu that way. Here, at Anh Hong, they charged us $4.99 or four large pieces. Worth it.

So, if you are in the Mesa College area, and don't want to go to one of the many other places in the parking lot, try this one; it is good.

Anh Hong Pho Pasteur 7612 Linda Vista Road San Diego 92111 (858)569-7515

Website

Afterwards, walk on over to K Sandwiches (in the same parking lot)

Go to the back, to your left, and pick up a couple of pastries…then do what we did-drive to a Starbucks (there are at least three within 3 miles), get some coffee in "for here" cups , sit down, and enjoy your dessert. (That is a chocolate cream cheese croissant and a raisin custard swirled pastry. Each one costs $1 and is fresh made at K Sandwiches).

The 2007 San Diego County Fair-Part I- before it opens

June 6, 2007 Cathy Cookbooks, Cooking, Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to mmm-yoso, the blog. Cathy's turn today. Kirk is busy doing something else.

So, what are there events called County Fairs? Well, in general, long ago, before all this technology, farmers generally stayed on their land, worked it daily and produced crops or animals that would provide them money, food, sustenance until the long winter came and they could not produce such crops.

As autumn and 'bad' growing weather started up, the neighboring farmers would gather together and trade their foods with each other, basically showing off what they had grown, as well as providing a variety to share with everyone involved. A lot of the stuff needed to be preserved to last the entire winter and at some point a 'competition' began, gradually expanding into more public showings of what local people can do, as far as livestock and small animals and having exhibits of crafts, fine art, designs in wood, photography, photojournalism, digital arts, collections, gems, minerals, jewelry, a flower and garden show foods, craft brewing of homemade beer as well as wines.. oh, and preserved foods.

The San Diego County Fair is the fifth largest County Fair, in terms of attendance, and I believe square footage, in the United States. It opens this Friday, June 8. In addition to the above noted exhibits, there are daily contests, various areas of entertainment on stages as well as interactive entertainment, daily evening concerts, carnival rides, a plethora of food carts, sales booths of just about everything imaginable. Ours is the first of a series of County Fairs in California which will head north, culminating in the State Fair in Sacramento in October of this year.

I do consider preserved foods the "heart" of the Fair and will concentrate on that aspect in this post.

This booklet was in your local Public Library in March of this year. It has the information on how to enter your art, craft, preserved food into competition. If you walk into the Fair when it opens on Friday at 10 a.m., there will be ribbons on most items in the Home and Hobby as well as Art sections of the Fair. It has all been judged.

As you can see, the theme this year is " A Salute to Heroes" and on each day of the Fair a different group of 'Heroes' will be honored- military, law enforcement, entertainers, sports and even animal heroes.

There is a lot of information on the official fair website, as well as what is handed out when you walk in the front gates.

So, you may have read the booklet and saw that the Preserved Foods had to be brought in and entered on May 22 and 23rd. Judging was on Friday May 25. It was a cloudy day, the day before the Memorial Day weekend, but the decorating of the Fairgrounds was starting:

Here are a couple of views of the entries:

You can see (click and all photos enlarge) that entries are divided into Classes and then into larger Divisions. (example: in the 'Jams' Division, there are fruit/vegetable butters; apricot; apricot-pineapple; berry, other than listed; boysenberry; low sugar, mixed fruit, including berry; mixed fruit without berry; peach, plum, raspberry; strawberry and other than listed). Other Divisions are: jellies; dried foods, canned fruits, canned vegetables, other soft spreads, pickles, relishes and sauces, and the ubiquitous 'miscellaneous' (which includes, juices; honey, syrup, herb/non-sweet vinegars, fruit/sweet vinegars, and other). All in all 10 Divisions and 55 Classes, also including a "Gift Pack" Division.

This year there were less than five Judges. Not as many entries this year, possibly due to the many days in a row of frost we had and so fruit trees in the backyard did not produce. Also, many of the Classes have very few, if any products entered.

The people who are Judges are admonished to not let anyone know they are judges, primarily to eliminate any sort of questions as to "Well, why didn't I win?" as well as to not have an overt influence if they happen to know a competitor personally. Judging is done blindly- the competitor names are folded over and paper clipped on the entry forms and should not be on the jar, however the jar must be labeled with the type of product and process used to preserve it, as well as date it was processed (examples given in the Competition booklet are: apricot jam, pectin method, boiling water bath, apricot halves, raw packed, boiling water bath…Green beans, hot packed, 10 pounds pressure at 240° for 25 minutes).

Judging criteria: how the product is packed (is there enough 'head room' in the container so that the product is preserved properly as well as vacuum sealed-about 1/2 inch is standard)(does the judge hear the seal open) how does the product smell, look, the texture of it and finally how does it taste?

Here is a view from the Judge's seat…

These happen to be some (but not all) of the peach jams entered this year. They are brought up by a "Runner", along with the recipe used to make the product, confirmed with the "Secretary" to be the correct entries in the class and then the Judge takes over, opening, smelling, taking out a bit onto a paper plate to see the texture and eventually, tasting. Judges are given crackers, lemon wedges and water to clean the palate.

Despite what you may think, it is not an easy job to do, and is not overly fun in some ways (most people would not sit down and eat sugary things for4 hours straight in one day). Judges 'prepare' by not eating any carbohydrates for the day or two before they judge, so that they won't get overly 'sugared up' on the day they judge. If they don't do this, the most likely will not feel very good for days after they are done with judging. Some items entered are so similar in taste, texture and preservation method that it is very difficult to give a ribbon differentiating between First and Second or Third…and many 'Honorable Mentions' are also given. People who preserve foods well know what they are doing, and a lot of times the same names are seen over and over again as winners, showing that the blind tastinsg done by the judges can still discern great tasting foods.

Recipes are read to see ingredients used and to see if that flavor is discernible in the tasting- for example one of the 'other than listed' jams this year was called "Plum Chile" jam…turns out that "chile" was habañero… but usually, cinnamon is added to some of the fruit items, sometimes vanilla..it depends.

The salty/not sweet entries are possibly more prone to not be prepared properly (you can't get botulism from sugar based items, but watch out for tomato based home made items!) or are more apt to 'go bad' quicker. Pickled items, holding up the vinegar base/flavor for months show that there are proper methods used for the preservation of the food, as well as, of course, the taste.

All of the judges participate in judging the Strawberry Jams- since that class has the largest number of entries every year (19 different entries this year). The Blue Ribbon winner of the Strawberry Jam category this year will have their name printed on the jars of strawberry jam sold in the Home and Hobby section of the Fair next year (which means last year's winner's name is on the jars sold this year) along with selling a cookbook showing the recipes of last years winning entries from all categories of preserved foods as well as daily contests(including 28 Spam recipe winners from last year).

In the end, the first place winner from each Division is put up against the others and the judges choose the "Best of Show".

This is a photo of the competitors in the "other than listed above class" of the "Miscellaneous" Division…

You can see asparagus, beets, 'false capers' (made with nasturtium buds), carrots and up front, those preserved Chinese Tea Eggs…well, those won first place in their Class, Division and- Best of Show! They were made in 2006, but the vinegar was still potent, the egg white has a good tannin tea flavor (despite the fact that the recipe said it was made with Japanese tea and I would think that flavor would dissipate more than Chinese black tea) as well as the whites also having a good, heat 'kick' from the red chiles…and the yolk…it was yellow and strong flavored and tasted like a fresh, hard boiled egg…truly this entry was a great example of properly preserved food.

There are a lot more things to do and see and eat at the Fair, and those will be covered in a future post, done after the Fair opens. If you do go, please do take the time to see all the Fair has to offer. Home and Hobby is upstairs in the Grandstand section. You can't taste the preserved foods or any entries (they were opened about two weeks ago, remember)…the recipes will be available in Next year's cookbook, though…but there are plenty of other things available this year to purchase, including Fried Coke (frozen Coke syrup dipped in bater and then fried), chicken sandwiches served on a split (plain glazed non-jelly filled) Krispy Kreme donut, a roast beef sundae (roast beef on a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy topped with a cherry tomato), rattlesnake chili (I will taste this only for your sake) and the standard cream puffs, pasta, Indian Fry Bread, Australian Battered Potatoes..and much, much more!

San Diego Country Fair, Del Mar Fairgrounds I-5 to Via De la Valle. Free Parking (versus $9 in the lots adjacent to the Fair) at the horse park about one mile east as well as other locations. (www.sdfair.com) $1 entry on opening day only- if you buy tickets at Ralph's. Discount tickets for other days also available at Ralphs and at Costco. There is also a "frequent fairgoers pass", good for any three days, also group discounts are available. (858) 794-1096 . Regular adult admission is $12.

Open June 8-July 4, (Closed on June11,12, 18, 19 and 25 ) 10 a.m.-10 p.m. (11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and midnight on closing day, July 4)

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant -It’s been in La Mesa for all those years for a reason

June 4, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to mmm-yoso the blog. Today, it’s Cathy’s turn because Kirk just doesn’t want to blog.

Hello again, friends. As you know I live in East County and sort of know the area. If you are familiar, then…over there on Fletcher Parkway, where the Souplantation and Michael’s are – in that strip mall- is, and has been, Shizuoka. There are 12 or 13 tables inside, depending how you divide up those in the center, they have never expanded or extended their lunch hours or dinner hours, and the menu has stayed pretty much the same over all these years. (The dinners are 50¢ more than lunch and beef is $1 more than chicken). 17 or 18 years, in fact. Sure, prices have gone up in general, but for the most part, that is it. You still walk in and the nice ladies all say ‘hello’ (and they all say ‘goodbye’ when you leave). The tables are always set with paper napkins and chopsticks. The hot tea has always been free. Sure, its served in a plastic teapot, with plastic teacups , but it is always fresh and tasty.

Pretty much everything comes with miso soup, which always has seaweed and tofu in it and it is always hot. It isn’t the instant miso but made from the paste.

Rich broth. Soft, silky tofu. Re-hydrated seaweed, with flavor.

We got the Chicken Karage as an appetizer ($3.20). Quite a lot of dark meat chicken, lightly breaded with a slightly spicy batter and served with a Ponzu sauce.

Light, crispy, flavorful without the sauce and…well…only $3.20. It was a great start.

We each just wanted teriyaki Bentos this evening and I got the chicken with gyoza as my other choice. ($6.20)

All the Bento Boxes are served with a green salad with a nice ginger sesame dressing , a delightful cold noodle salad that is consistently al dente and has a wonderful mayonnaise based sauce and, the square of tofu in the middle.

The Mister got the beef teriyaki with his additional choice being sashimi- tuna, sliced thinly, in three pieces… but it had flavor.

Oh, the teriyaki sauce is a deeper flavor than I have had at other places and is not sickly sweet. My gyoza were filled with a well seasoned ground pork filling with water chestnuts and a small amount of scallion, adding just the right flavor as well as texture. The gyoza skins are not too thick nor thin and the gyoza are fried to a nice crispness.

This place does a brisk take out business and is always busy. There is a wait, it is a teensy waiting area and you will be seated in the order you walk in and stand there. It is best to get there when they first open (they are closed between lunch and dinner) so you can be assured of a seat. It is a wonderful, small, not fancy place with great fresh food.

Shizuoka Japanese Restaurant 9118 Fletcher Parkway La Mesa 91942 (619)461-1151 (in the mall with the Souplantation and Michael’s)

Tues-Fri 11:30-1:45, 4:30-8:45 Sat and Sun 4:30-8:45

Tokyo Sushi Loha on El Cajon Boulevard- which is not the same place as Tokyo in El Cajon

May 29, 2007 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to the blog called mmm-yoso. Despite the fact that it is an Asian restaurant, Kirk is not blogging about it; Cathy is. It’s OK. She knows if food is good or bad.

Hi again. A few people told me about this sushi place near SDSU, and that I should try it. I didn’t think about the name of it. The Mister and I went there for lunch the other day…I saw the name was Tokyo Sushi Loha…sounded…well…heck, I had blogged about Tokyo in El Cajon, and remember one comment, from Mike, who said he went to Tokyo all the time and their sushi had the best prices in town…and well, if you read that post, you can see it was part of my string of bad meals (and actually, generally bad days) I was having back in February. It came full circle when I was eating in this lovely restaurant.

I really think Mike was talking about this place, which is on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego and not in El Cajon. This place is good. The sushi bar is very large and always busy.

As you can see from the menu (click on any photo and it enlarges) they have lunch specials, a variety of items for dinner and sushi and rolls.

There are only 13 tables inside, 12 seats at the sushi bar. It was almost full at 1 p.m.. The menu covers are made of bamboo, and so are the paper wrapped chopsticks. When they bring you the menu, they also give you the sushi and roll menu and a pen, so you can order that way if you wish. We decided to not go with the specials and ordered some crazy things, oddly, no rice was involved in any of our dishes. {Actually there was a reason for my eating no carbs, and you’ll find that out in a future post}

We read the sushi and roll menu and decided on the very last one listed- "Monkey Brains"- ($6.95)

Hush.

Deep fried spicy tuna with mushroom. Well, the idea of a deep fried mushroom sounded like County Fair Food and we both enjoy that as one of our treats when we do go to the Fair, as well as we wanted to try some spicy tuna…so we chose it. There were those four half tennis ball sized pieces as the serving- and then the cross section- spicy tuna, a layer of real crab and then a flavorful portobella mushroom cap on the bottom, deep fried. The description did not say it had crab, but I did notice that ‘crab’ was spelled correctly all over the menu, so I was happy. The melding of the flavors was perfect. The tuna was a nice spicy hot, the crab and mushroom both flavorful, the crunchies, fish eggs and green onions left over helped with our other plates and the sauce on the plate had a nice blend of sweet and heat. The fried crust was nice, light,not oily. Sure, nothing traditional, but we have established that I am the Caucasian person from East County blogging here…It tasted good and was fresh.

We decided to try the sesame chicken appetizer ($5.95) as opposed to the sesame chicken lunch special, which would have been $1 more and had less chicken, but would have had rice, a piece of tempura’d onion, salad, and 4 pieces of California roll. This was all chicken in a not too sweet teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds, served with daikon (and a piece of broccoli) This was a good 3/4 pound, easily, of dark meat chicken and was cooked well- the meat was juicy and flavorful. I did end up dipping it in the hot sauce from the ‘Monkey Brains’, just to get rid of some of the sweetness after eating a good portion of it.

We decided to try the Seared Albacore Salad ($7.95). This was a good choice. The albacore was cut in chunks and not thinly sliced, as it would be for sashimi, but it was only lightly seared, still raw in the center of each cube and served on a bed of mixed greens with a nice spicy dressing, daikon, radish sprouts and, as you can see, surrounded by a border of thinly sliced tomato. It was just a beautiful, as well as flavorful, presentation. There was a lot of albacore on this salad, as well as the token piece of burdock, which seems to be included on every salad in every Japanese restaurant we go to.

There were many Caucasian people eating lunch here. All the workers were Japanese. I heard the owner is Korean. Everyone was helpful and friendly and willing to answer questions. It is a small place. MY ONLY COMPLAINT WAS THE MUSIC WAS TURNED UP FULL VOLUME THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE THERE. Five television sets, two set to basketball and three set to Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera ‘live’ concerts.

Tokyo Sushi Loha Japanese Bistro 6784 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite D San Diego 92115 (619)644-8600 fax (619) 697-1937

Lunch Mon-Sat 11:30-3:00 Dinner Mon-Sat 5:00-9:30 (10:00 on Fri-Sat) Dinner only Sunday 4:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

Pho Saigon Star-Pho to go, Pho to eat in, and other good stuff!

May 28, 2007 Cathy Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. mmm-yoso is the name of the blog. Today, Cathy is blogging, Kirk is doing something else, most likely eating and photographing the food; it’s what we do.

Hi. Cathy is back… so, one day a few weeks ago when it was raining, The Mister called me and was going to be leaving work earlier than I had expected and I hadn’t even thought about dinner yet. "Bring something home" I told him…figuring, since it was a Tuesday, he’d get one (or three) of the $1.99 Tuesday only specials from KFC. {There is a poster, on one window only of your local KFC- look for it.} {It is an exceptionally good deal-2 pieces with one side and a biscuit}{which is why we usually get three meals} {sorry, digressing} Instead, he brought home pho!

Now, you must understand,we never had actually done pho as a take out item before. We have seen many people walking in and picking up at just about every place we were, noting how much toppings we could see were given in the bags (a lot of bean sprouts)…but still, we always just ate in.

In late March we saw a coupon online at Get 1 free dot com and we were going to meet there for dinner, but Pho Saigon Star wasn’t open yet. However, that night when The Mister went, it was open- and joy of joys-they had fried shrimp tofu as a side order on the menu.

Pretty much the only places that have fried shrimp tofu are Convoy Noodle House and Pho Pasteur Anh Hong (the place with tablecloths in the mall with K Sandwiches). I got it once with Bun and was hooked. It is just a shrimp paste inside of tofu skin that is fried. Crunchy/crispy and the shrimp paste tastes like shrimp mixed with some sugar and fish sauce… it is just something I crave.

Oh, and as a side (or "appetizer" as I like to call it) it’s only $3.

Oh, here is the menu, along with a photo of Tip Top’s paw as she waited for a precise moment to walk over it. For some reason, the website does not have prices. OH-THE NEATEST PART…look closely (click onto any photo and it will enlarge) or, go to the website- The menu is written in Vietnamese, English AND Spanish. I have never seen it this way, but it is neat. Therefore the fried shrimp tofu is, in Vietnamese: them chao tom hoac tau hu ky and in Spanish: adicional tofu de camarones.

So, anyhow, The Mister brought home Pho Tai (raw steak)(filete raro). (Small $ $5.50). Thinly sliced raw steak that cooks in the pho broth. The broth was rich, slightly oily, and not too overly anise-y/5 Spice-y. It was still very hot, to the point that when the meat was dropped in, a nice boiling effect came up from the soup. We live about 7 miles from this place, with quite a few lights between here and there. As you can see, the accompaniments of basil, jalapeños, one lime wedge and sprouts was plenty. The noodles were under the raw meat in the take out box. This was a *lot* of food. The large bowl is only 50¢ more and easily could feed two people.

We got an order of the fried spring rolls (cha ngo)(taquitos fritos de puerco) ($5.50) which also came with a fair amount of accompaniments-there could have been more mint- There was enough sauce though. Some chili is in the sauce, so there is a kick to it. The filling is quite a meaty ground pork as well as having daikon and carrot in it. The ‘to go’ packaging was perfect- they cut off a corner of the Styrofoam box, so that the thin egg roll skins stayed crispy.

Then, my meal- Bun. How I so crave Bun sometimes. Inside a restaurant, it is served in a large bowl with the lettuce/cabbage/basil/mint ‘salad’ on the bottom, noodles over it, then the toppings, shredded carrots, cucumbers, peanuts and whatever topping (I have had it with the fried shrimp tofu, at Ahn…#123D I think) this time, BBQ pork (thit nuong)(fideos de arroz con puerco de la barbacoa),

($5.99). It came in this Styrofoam take out box, and I had to dump it into a mixing bowl (as we had to do with the pho also) so as to get all the flavors mixed in…the noodles are under all of that BBQ’d pork which was *excellent* in flavor and cooking. The salad as nice and crisp and flavorful with the herbs in it.

So, the other day, we were hungry. It seems to happen a lot. I thought we should try Pho Saigon Star again and eat in. We were the *only* White people. This is always a good sign. This restaurant is located where Friars Road turns into Mission Gorge, near Kaiser Hospital, in the curved strip mall with the Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Petco, Coco’s, Rubio’s, Einsteins, Carl’s Jr. You know where. You’ve seen it.

Very nice, clean interior. Very friendly young men waiting on the tables. Very much family owned and run. everyone seemed to know everyone. … and there I was, White Girl with Camera. Oh well, they never asked me what the heck I was doing. It seemed that whenever they came around to fill up water, each person did ask us if we had any questions and were willing to give us information.

We decided to try the papaya salad with shrimp and pork ($5.99) It came with the sauce on the side. Unusual, but we saw the table next to us get it that way also. The sauce had a good amount of chilis in it, and we put the sauce over the portion we had placed onto our plates and it tasted great. I saw a lady at the table next to us adding sugar to the sauce. I thought it was fine. I tasted the papaya, shrimp and pork without any sauce and each ingredient had a good, fresh flavor on its own.

When The Mister was picking up that one day, he saw someone having curry and he had wanted to try it. He got rice with chicken curry (com cari ga)(arroz con curry de pollo) ($5.99). You could get it with noodles or French bread also, same price. The curry was sweet, with coconut milk and not very hot (spicy hot I mean). It had an excellent flavor, the chicken pieces were dark meat; flavorful. There were potatoes and hot onions and cilantro served with it. The sauce was not overly thick. it was good, tasty, but not like a Japanese curry sauce, which is thicker. You needed to put the rice into the curry to eat it.

I decided to try Sir Fry crispy noodles, with everything ($7.50) (mi xao gio thap cam) (never mind Spanish). You can get crispy egg noodles, soft egg noodles, pan fried noodles or rice… with beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, broccoli, celery, bok choy, carrots, mushrooms, onions, cilantro…and a nice brown sauce. Great flavors- and a *lot* of food.

But, we got dessert anyhow: the three colored one: pudding/sweet bean/green agar with coconut milk and ice ($3)

Nice and fresh. We were asked if we wanted it with our meal or as dessert. We asked to wait and the nice Young Man brought it out when he saw we were finishing up everything else. The pudding (yellow part) was wonderfully flavored, the beans were not mushy and had good flavor, the green agar strips were..chewy…and the coconut milk was *so* nice. It was a perfect ending.

Oh- the tea. It is $1.50 per pot. It is Jasmine. It is loose tea with a tea ball inside the pot. It is great.

..and, the weird thing. The ‘muzak’ was in Asian style- those echoing stringed instruments. But there were only 3 songs that kept repeating and one of them was *definitely* "Numb" by Linkin Park. Every subtle note of it. I kind of found that strange….just an observation.

Pho Saigon Star 10450 Friars Road , Suite E San Diego 92120 (619)640-2985 Open 7 days 9 a.m.- 9 pm. website