Food – Not Just Another Mother In Heels…

The Best Sushi in San Diego

Oddly enough, the best sushi to be found in San Diego happens to be found right between a 7-11 and a Planned Parenthood. Not what you might expect.

See… there it is, hiding in the corner.

But once you reach the front door, everything changes.

We decided to try the Blue Fin Shashimi Sampler, and boy, am I glad we did!

We also ate a wonderful Rainbow Roll and a Crunchy Tempura Roll.

It was all so incredibly delicious, and I can’t wait to go back.

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December 23

I have had a “thing” for iced coffee for years. It started when my boys were both babies. We were living in Phoenix, AZ, and I was at home with them, and sometimes felt the need to escape the house for a small adventure. I loved going to the Biltmore mall and having coffee at one of the coffee shops there. It has been a really long time now, (one of the afore mentioned boys is in high school) but I think the name of the shop was “The Coffee Plantation”???

Anyway, they had THE BEST iced mochas I have ever tasted. Finally, I asked them how they achieved this coffee wonder, and I was informed of the “cold brewing process.” This is where you put lots (and I do means lots) of grounds into cold water and let it sit in the fridge over night. In the morning you will find what looks like thick mud, but once strained, is the sweetest, most delicious coffee around.

The secret seems to be, that heat, is the factor that makes coffee bitter. Remove the heat, and you get the same great coffee flavor, but no bite. Now, I will caution you somewhat, because the caffeine level is higher, due to the length of time the beans spend in the water. This, however, just makes me like this drink even more.

I was inspired to make my iced coffee, and then write this post, the other day while I was visiting The Pioneer Woman site. (Which I love!) She has her version in a post and a printable recipe. Please click on the link and try it yourself. 🙂

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April 25

The Outfits of Easter Sunday

Brrr! It was pretty cold on the bay at 6am, but it was well worth it to be up with the sun for a sunrise Easter service. I am in my fuzzy Coach boots due to the wetness of the grass. I learned my lesson about 5 years ago when we started going to this service. The grass is very wet at that time of day, thus cute Easter shoes have to wait to make their appearance untill later in the day.

The sun was just starting to peek out.

Later in the morning, my outfit changed to this. The pose is courtesy of “Older Brother” who said, “Mom, hold the bag up by your shoulder like a model.” Well, ok then. Who knew he could have such insight into the pictures. 🙂 I will post this outfit again with more info shortly as a shoe challenge post.

And finally… This was the final outfit of the day, for a lovely lunch with family in Carlsbad. Again, this outfit will appear later in more detail for a shoe challenge post.

We ate at Twenty/20 Grill & Wine Bar. The brunch was delicious! We will be going back again soon to eat out on their great patio.

Category: Family, Fashion, Food, Restaurants | 1 Comment

April 6

The Guacamole Bird

I saw this picture, and thought that it deserved it’s own little post. This is the delicious guacamole served at Casa De Pico. The best part is how delicious it is, fresh and seasoned just right. What can’t be overlooked, however, it how cute it is! It always comes to the table as a bird. I love that! Food and fun are a great pair.

Category: Food, Restaurants | 4 Comments

March 14

Ash Wednesday Dinner at Zen 5 Sushi

Last week, the boys and I had a delicious sushi dinner at Zen 5 Sushi. This our go-to place in Pacific Beach for a quick yummy dinner.

This is the delicious sashimi plate we had! Boy, was it as delicious as it was gorgeous.

Steve’s Kirin looks good.

Now that the boys like to eat sushi themselves, our order always comes in a boat. In fact, I have to constantly tell Big Brother to slow down, so I’m sure Steve will get enough to eat. Little Brother is content to sit and munch away on his Crunchy California Roll.

I took about 15 pictures of the boys while we sat there, and this was the BEST one I could get. What a couple of goof balls! In every shot one of them had a goofy face. At least we were all giggling about it for some time.

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March 7

Is that Manwich? No, It’s Momwich!

Ah, the feeding of a young teen-aged boy (not to mention Dad and Little Brother!) 🙂 Manwich has been a favorite in our house for years. One day they cried out, “We want Manwich,” and oh the horror, I was out of the magical cans of sauce. Thus began Momwich. Really, this is about the easiest and most inexpensive meal to make. The first (and almost only) step is to brown the ground beef with the diced onion. The sauce is basically ketchup, with a few tasty additions. I use Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar, yellow mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Just simmer for a bit and you are done. Big Brother’s smile is evidence of the victory over dinner!

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February 22

Delicious Scones

I thought I would begin with the end result here. Yesterday I made cranberry orange scones, and they turned out to be delicious!

I used the Taste of Home cookbook for the recipe. I almost always have really good luck when using a recipe from their books or magazines. The directions are easy and the food turns out well. They have a great website you can find here. However if you end up looking for this actual recipe, I believe it was called “Afternoon Tea Scones.” I just changed the raisins to craisins, because I like them better. (Don’t tell raisins!)

Although the taste was great, the best part about these scones is that they came out light and fluffy. I do not enjoy a chewy or dry scone. Who does really? 😉

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February 16

Valentine’s Dinner

What a fun Valentine’s dinner we had! We were lucky enough to get a table at the iconic restaurant Mr. A’s, so I was very excited to get dressed up for a fabulous meal. Don’t we look so cute… especially after 2 kids, 16 years of marriage and almost 20 years together.

This is the view we had from our table. I have no idea how it happened, becuase I made the reservation so late, but we had the best table in the place. The host called it “table 52” (I think.) It was worth asking for that table again.

The restaurant was decorated super cute for the holiday, and they had a special menu. Steve and I LOVE French food, so the choices were good ones for the two of us.

Two delicious cocktails. Steve drank his signature Whiskey Sour, and I had a drink called the “Triple Crown.” It was very yummy, but watch out! I had 2 of them and it knocked me on my generous keester! Those puppies are strong! I’ll stay with one next time. 🙂

This may not look like anything super fancy, but it was one of the best tasting salads I have had. The secret was the truffle oil drizzled over the greens. Also, anything with goat cheese is a winner in my book!

This cute couple got engaged right in front of us, and everyone else. What fun!

I’m skipping to dessert, because my entree photos came out a little dark. This is red velvet cake and not only is it adorable, but it tasted fantastic!

And there ended a really fun night!

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February 13

My Newest Favorite Place

I have found a new store to LOVE in San Diego! It’s called “WE Olive” and it is located on Prospect in La Jolla. They sell many different types of olive oil and olives, but what I really love, are the dipping sauces. We really like to eat bread with oil and balsamic for a snack around the house. Today my favorite was the Carmen’s Gorgonzola Thyme. Yummy!

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February 13

Lunch at Panda Inn

Yesterday, all three boys and I went to Panda Inn at Horton Plaza for lunch. I had high hopes, because when I had been there previously, my experiences had been very good. Steve said he didn’t remember that he had ever been there before, and the boys definitely never had. We started off with the Mu Shu, pictured above. All of us really liked it, even Alex, who doesn’t always enjoy his vegetables.

This is the Hot and Sour soup. Steve and I always get the same soup when we eat Chinese food, because we enjoy it so much. The trouble there, is that we have become very picky about our Hot and Sour soups. This one was just average. It wasn’t particularly bad, just not really good either.

The Lemon Chicken was the star of the meal. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it! The chicken was tender and juicy, with a crispy crust. The sauce was tart, with just a little sweetness. Yum!

The shrimp dish, (the name of which escapes me today) was good, but like the soup, not fantastic.

Finally, the fortune cookies! They are almost worth the visit to Panda Inn. They come wrapped in gorgeous purple tinfoil, but the inside is still the best part. They are dipped in white chocolate! Normally, I am not the biggest white chocolate fan, but it seemed to work really well with the cookie. Alex was tyring to eat every one’s cookie because he liked them so much.

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