Year: 2012

Mary, Recipes

all you need is (mango) love – mango granita

It’s been hot. The heat has made me thankful for tank tops, ice cold water, air conditioned movie theaters, and delicious frozen treats. And while it is super fun to go out and get some ice cream at a shop, sometimes it’s nice to try making it yourself at home, too.

I was at Jake’s again for the weekend and Jake has been wanting me to try making a mango sorbet for quite some time. We had it at Khan’s Cave for my Dad’s birthday back in April and liked it so much that we wanted to try making it at home. We finally got our hands on some ripe mangoes so I could experiment and try making this frozen treat.

Just about every sorbet recipe I read talked about using an ice cream maker to chill the sorbet. I didn’t have one of those on hand so I decided to try making a granita instead, which is sort of a cross between a sorbet and an Italian ice. You don’t need much to make this! Just a few ingredients, a long pan, a fork, a freezer and some time to kill.

[the cast of characters]

You need three things: ripe mangoes, lime juice, and sugar. That’s it!

[cubed mango]

Jake and I were able to pick up a couple of ripe mangoes for fairly cheap at the Farmer’s Market in Lemon Grove. Mangoes are kind of a bitch to cube. They’ve got that crazy, fibery pit in the middle making them hard to cut through. I managed to just slice around it in pieces and cut off the peel as I went. I used both mangoes for this.

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Normal Heights, Products, San Diego County, Mary

viva pops / normal heights – san diego, ca

Hot summer days demand cool and refreshing treats. The frozen treats made at Viva Pops in Normal Heights is definitely a good option for any warm day with their mix of creative flavors. I don’t know of any other place that puts goat cheese into a frozen treat. That right there is reason enough to swing by and check this place out.

Here’s their menu from the day that we visited. The menu changes and rotates and frequently, considering everything is made fresh at the store and depends on local produce to create their frozen treats. Some of the flavors that really caught my eye were the Lavender Lemonade, the Tri-Color Melon (which is made with three different types of melon) and the Key Lime Pie bars.

I was also impressed to see that they make dog pops so your pup can also have a treat! The dog pops are sold by donations, which are donated to Second Chance Dog Rescue. Tugged at my heart strings a little to hear that. Sadly I didn’t have Maya with me that afternoon, otherwise she would gotten a dog viva pop!

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Mary, Downtown, San Diego County

kelvin at the w hotel / downtown – san diego, ca

Writing this post is making me hungry just reliving this dinner! I brought Stacey in tow with me to experience the food here, having no idea what a treat we were in for that evening. I had been invited to sample the menu at one of the new restaurants Downtown – Kelvin, which is situated inside of the newly renovated W Hotel. This new restaurant is headed by executive chef Kevin Harry. Chef Harry took the time to talk with us and present each dish to us to explain the dish which was a really nice personal touch. He pretty much fed us until we cried uncle – and it tempting to keep going, but there’s only so much room in your stomach… unless we’re talking about dessert. There’s also room for dessert!

[Dining room at the Kelvin in the W Hotel]

[Crazy pretty light fixtures]

One thing I can say about the Kelvin is that is pretty. And it’s cozy. And I love the light fixtures! I love the use of colors here.

[Complimentary bread and Pomegranate Mojitos]

Stacey and I started the night off with some tasty complimentary bread and some very minty pomegranate mojitos – that had pomegranate seeds floating through the drink. It was a nice fruity and minty way to start a meal.

After getting our drinks, we were introduced to chef Kevin Harry who asked about any allergies or diet restrictions. I told him of Stacey’s aversion to seafood but assured him that he could still bring seafood for to me.

Mmm, get the seafood into my belly!

And with that, we let Chef Harry take the reigns and bring us whatever he felt like putting before us to stuff into our faces.

[compressed watermelon with point reyes blue cheese, cilantro and saba drizzle]

The first thing Chef Harry brought out was this dish with these bright, colorful cubes. The cubes are compressed watermelon – the air is taken out of the watermelon to intensify the flavor of the watermelon. It’s paired with a rich, creamy, salty blue cheese and drizzled with saba, which is made from grape must (yeah, I had to Google it).

The sweet, refreshing watermelon paired so well with the blue cheese that I was really taken by surprise. It’s a unique twist on a salty-sweet combination that I found to be so original and refreshing.

[polano corn soup with spiced popcorn]

Our next dish was one of my favorites – a corn soup with popcorn! There’s a little drizzle of a spicy oil in for a nice kick and the creamy soup was simply delicious. The popcorn kernels adorning the top of the soup gave a little crispy element to the soup. The bottom started to soak up the flavor of the soup but was still crisp and crunchy enough to give that fun texture. Chunky pieces of potatoes and corn are in the soup contrasting with the creamy, rich broth.

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Miscellaneous, Mary, Recipes, Baking

snowcone cupcakes + lemon bars

The best thing about these cupcakes is that my co-workers all thought they were really snow cones.

How awesome is that?!

I saw the idea for this on justJENN’s blog and just tweaked it a little for my liking! I only used two colors and I didn’t add the straws – the spoons were good enough! The trickiest part of these cupcakes were trying to find the little styrofoam containers – I ended up getting them at Smart & Final for less than $2! You need the 4oz food container size – the cupcakes will fit in there perfectly after you bake them. The wooden spoons I just bought on Etsy from the Lemon Drop Shop.

Recipes I used: white chocolate strawberry mousse (skipping the last two steps) and these vanilla cupcakes.

Okay, onto decorating!

I used the same “cut a hole in it” technique that I used for the caramel cupcakes. Nothing fancy. Just use a knife to cut out a good sized hole.

Then stick the filling in! These were vanilla cupcakes with white chocolate strawberry mousse.

Yes. It is as delicious as it sounds.

Stuff the tops back on and then place the cupcakes in the styrofoam cups.

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San Diego County, Mary, City Heights

el salvador pupuseria y restaurante / city heights – san diego, ca

The day we decided to go here we had originally planned on going to Slater’s 50/50. But we looked at the long line outside and I said, “Never mind. Let’s do something else.” Jake and I decided it was high time to finally go to one of the places we’ve driven by tons of times and this place popped into mind – El Salvado Pupuseria Y Restaurante. It’s a pretty nondescript building – kind of looks like it used to be a pizza hut back in the day. Not very pretty to look at, but oftentimes little hole in the wall places will really surprise you.

[peek at one of the pages of their menu]

They had a pretty large menu – this is just one of the pages. On the other side of the menu they have more familiar sounding items, such as tacos, burritos, tortas, tostadas and the like. I was here to try the pupusas and with their nice pricing point (just $1.99 for one pupusa) I decided to splurge a little and try a few of them.

[pickled cabbage, salsa and chips]

We were given chips and salsa for start off with. It’s a tiny bowl though and we managed to polish those chips off lickity split.

The other bowl was a condiment to use with your food – I read on Yelp it’s a pickled cabbage slaw to be used as a condiment for your pupusas and other food. I had a tiny taste of it – very vinegary with a slight sweetness. Not my bag at all – I don’t like cabbage or pickled anything so I didn’t use this again.

[this is what’s to come!]

I’ve been doing this “above the table shot” thing lately. I think it looks kind of neat.

[beef enchiladas plate – with beans, rice and salad – $6.99]

Jake went with a safer bet and got the beef enchiladas to try. The red sauce they use is a little different from what you’d get at a Mexican restaurant. I think it’s a little bit more sour tasting than what I’m used to – I only had a bite or two before I retreated back to my own pupusas.

This plate also came with some homemade tortillas – you had the choice between the homemade or “the other kind” (aka, Mission flour tortillas) and Jake wisely choice to get the homemade ones. They taste like like the pupusa does if it doesn’t have any “stuff” in it – and quite a bit thicker than a normal tortilla. Very tasty!

[pollo asado plate with rice and beans – $6.99]

For Jake’s son, S., we got him the pollo asado plate. The pollo asado was very nicely grilled with a wonderful flavor and seasoning on it. The chicken was very moist and juicy with a nice char from the grill on the outside of the meat. I kept eating a few pieces time and time again. I kind of wished they put this kind of chicken in the pupusas instead…

[stack of pupusas – all pupusas are $1.99 each]

Since I had never had a pupusa before this trip, I didn’t know what I’d like the best. So I ordered three kinds. It’s an experiment to try new things! Pupusas are sort of like calzones – but with a flatter surface like a tortilla or a stuffed quesadilla – but fully enclosed.

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San Diego County, Mary, Little Italy, Downtown

isola pizza bar / little italy – san diego, ca

Isola Pizza Bar is a new joint that’s joined the little community of Little Italy. Chef Massimo Tenino is the owner, the restaurant named after his grandmother. His heart and soul has been put into this place as he told us about how he build and designed the place from the ground up.

[hanging lights]

These kick ass lights hanging above us was one of the first things I noticed when we entered and sat down in the restaurant. Chef Tenino told us that they were asparagus canning jars that he turned into lights for the restaurant. It felt so much more personal to know he had a hand in all aspects of the restaurant – it really is his baby.

[wood fire oven]

The restaurant also only featuring one cooking device – the wood fire oven. Everything is cooked in that oven, from appetizers and pizzas, and it serves as the heart and cornerstone of the restaurant.

Jake and I were also very impressed with our service and with our waiter, Alex. Alex was so on top of everything and very good at recommending dishes to us. He really sold us a lot of the dishes and was so passionate about the restaurant and it’s food – it was so refreshing to see! Attention to detail and service really makes your visit feel so much more welcoming and enjoyable.

Here’s a smiling Jake starting to enjoy one of our appetizers.

[focaccia with spicy olive oil]

This is the dish you get started off with – some simple focaccia bread with a flavored olive oil. The olive oil is flavored and seeped with chilies – they constantly are making new bottles and storing them away week after week to ensure they have a batch for their patrons. This olive oil had been working it’s magic for about 8 weeks. The spiciness of it kind of snuck up and hit me. I didn’t taste it at first, but after a few moments the rush of heat and flavor came through – surprising but very tasty.

[prosciutto wrapped tuscan melon]

Jake is in love with Tuscan Cantelope. He spotted this on the menu and just had to order it. The prosciutto was thin and draped over the melon instead of wrapped. Taking one bite gives you the sweetness from the perfectly ripe melon with the slight saltiness from the prosciutto. A perfect bite!

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San Diego County, Mary, El Cajon

hammurabi family restaurant / el cajon – san diego, ca

Welcome to another installment of “Adventures in Groupons” (dun dun dun).

This week, we’ll be visiting the Hammurabi Family Restaurant in El Cajon, CA. Hammurabi offers a number of Mediterranean foods. They have a pretty massive menu with a little bit of everything. On the back of the menu, they have a number of “Feast” meals depending on the number of people in your party.

Well, let me tell you – I think the numbers are off! You’ll see what I mean…

[Feast Menu]

Jake and T were with me for this outing, so we figured we’d just get the Feast for Three People to share between the three of us.

[Hummus]

The hummus was the first thing to come out to us. Very smooth with a good creamy consistency with a daub of olive oil on top and (I think) a large sprinkle of paprika. It was a little bit bland. There wasn’t a lot of seasoning or other flavors added – just a plain hummus.

[Lavash Flat Bread]

We got a big basket of lavash bread to go with the hummus. Pita bread is what I’m used to getting at other restaurants but the lavash bread was okay. Just a basic bread.

[Side Salad]

Salad came out to us next looking very fresh and green. Lots of tomatoes and cucumbers mixed in with some leafy greens. The dressing on this salad was extremely tart though – way too much of the acidic element was put into the dressing. And since the whole salad was coated with the dressing, after a few bites we gave up eating it. Luckily the “Feast” was coming up next after a few disappointing starters.

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Miscellaneous, Mary, Products

honest tea

I got the opportunity to try a handful of Honest Tea flavors this summer.

Honest Tea makes its products with all organic products – focusing on the tea and the flavor.

Among the flavors I got to try (from left to right): (Not Too) Sweet Tea, Half & Half, Pomegranate Blue , Orange Mango and Cranberry Lemonade.

Regular sweet tea has always been too much for me – to me, it just tastes like really sweet sugar water. Honest Tea’s version of “sweet tea” is much better. It’s sweet without being overbearing. It’s sweet but still drinkable. Sweet, but you can still taste the tea!

The Half & Half is organic tea with lemonade. This was one of my favorite flavors of the five I tried since I love the lemonade and tea combination. The lemonade adds just the right amount of lemon and sweetness to this flavor of tea. It’s not quite as strongly flavored as other teas, so this one is much better if the bottle is cold, rather than pouring it over ice.

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San Diego County, Mary, Del Mar

trifecta feast at flavor del mar

Opening Day at Del Mar is apparently a big deal.

I’ll be honest – I’ve never really paid attention. I’ve seen the commercials though – the ones singing about Del Mar. And I’ve heard about the “hats” that women wear for opening day. But beyond that, I don’t know a thing about horse racing. All I know about it is from what I’ve seen in the movies Seabiscuit and Secretariat.

But this post isn’t about the races – it’s about one of the after parties that happened in Del Mar celebrating Opening Day at the racetrack.

At Flavor Del Mar they had a special menu prepared for the day – a Trifecta Feast – with a three course meal to help you bask in your post-win celebration at the races.

[Trifecta Feast Menu]

Here’s a little peek at the menu and the offerings!

[Flavor Del Mar dining room – do you spot some hats?]

Laura and I started feeling a little under dressed as more people trickled into the dining room that evening for their Trifecta meal. It was great for people watching – seeing people all dressed up in suits and dresses with4 the ladies wearing their finest hats and high heels.

[Bread, butter, and fancy salts]

We started our fancy feast with some bread. This was a bit fancy though as we had a little tray of various salts laid down before us. The tiny little spoon for the salt just killed me, too. So freaking cute!

No one explained what the salts were to us – but I suspected the far right one was some kind of pink salt. One was also a bit gray-ish in color but the other two I wasn’t sure of. They were all coarse grained salts and I got a little over-eager and put too much salt on one slice of bread. Oops.

The bread was a whole wheat type of bread. I found myself wishing the bread had been warm but I loved the tray of salts.

[Crispy, spicy shrimp with crazy frisee & arugula on the bottom]

For my starter dish, I chose the crispy, spicy shrimp. The shrimp was in light, crispy batter and definitely packed a punch of heat. It wasn’t the lingering kind of heat though – just a passing through heat. The spiciness managed to enhance the whole dish without taking away from the shrimp – a welcome surprise for someone who has shunned heat and spiciness for a long time! I ignored most of the frisee and arugula on the bottom. I had a taste of the frisee, but it just really isn’t my thing. And, it seemed more like a garnish than anything else – the shrimp is the real star of this dish.

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Mary, Recipes

fresh corn salad

For the Fourth of July this year, I made a few things – including my standby, go-to potluck side dish, the pesto pasta salad. With summer in full swing, I wanted to do a fresh salad with one of summer’s best vegetables – corn on the cob! I whipped up this fresh corn salad in a jiffy – doesn’t take too much to put it together and the taste of fresh, crunchy corn is always a welcome to my tastebuds.

Before I give you this magically delicious recipe, want some tips on how to cut off that corn from the cob?

Sure you do!

I’m pretty sure I saw this on an episode of 30 Minute Meals, back when I used to watch that show all of the time.

Basically, you put a smaller bowl upside inside of a bigger bowl. You stand the cob on top of the little bowl.

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Mission Hills, San Diego County, Mary

the huddle / mission hills – san diego, ca

I first read about the Huddle over on Dennis’s blog, A Radiused Corner. It’s been tickling the back of my mind for awhile now. I’ve been searching for a good “go-to” place for breakfast and looking for the elusive “perfect” hash browns after my favorite place for hash browns closed last year.

The Huddle has recently earned a place in my heart with it’s down-home, “sit and stay awhile” feel. This local, family owned restaurant has been around for quite awhile and I’m glad I finally got to make my rounds to drop by for a visit.

On our first visit, Jake and I (with two of the kids in tow) make only a conservative effort at tackling their massive menu.

The first thing I ordered? The “Del Mar Fair Cinnamon Roll”. It called to me. I had to answer the siren song.

[The Del Mar Fair Cinnamon Roll – $2.50]

The huge hunk of a cinnamon roll is the same recipe from the lady who makes the famous cinnamon rolls you get at the fair every summer. The Huddle puts their own spin on the roll by slicing and grilling the massive roll and topping it off with their own homemade cream cheese icing. What you get as a result is a fresh, warm cinnamon roll with a little crisp and crunch from the grilling. The creamy icing melts on top and should be slathered onto very bite for maximum enjoyment.

Four of us happily split this cinnamon roll and devoured it in record time. It’s so big that I do highly recommend you share this with a friend to avoid the onslaught of a sugar coma.

PS – This is my new favorite cinnamon roll in town. For reals!

[Corned Beef Hash and Eggs – $9.50]

I had a serious hankering for some corned beef hash. Jake only made a slight protest and then told me to “order whatever I wanted” since we were sharing. I was going to get something else, but since he’s a good boyfriend, made it sound like it really didn’t bother him if I ordered this. So I did.

We told our waitress we’d be sharing the plate, so she went ahead and split the plates for us. How nice is that! I was very touched by this little detail – and that we didn’t have to ask for it to happen and it was done at no extra charge. That is what I call some fine service!

The corned beef hash itself was quite good – it had a nice, crispy top and was soft on the bottom. Not too salty but with a good overall flavor. If you dig this type of thing, then the version they serve here won’t disappoint you.

[Homemade jams]

The other thing that I found exciting was their lineup of homemade jams.

Our waitress, who’s family has owned the Huddle for years, told us that the jams were her grandmother’s recipe. The jams you see above are: apple butter, strawberry rhubarb, and orange marmalade.

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Recipes, Baking, Mary

caramel cupcakes with honey sea salt

At the end of June, our friend Chris flew into town from Tampa to spend a couple of weeks with us. For some reason that I don’t remember, I promised him baked goods on his first night in town. I was going to make red velvet cupcakes since I had some leftover buttermilk but then I thought I should try something else. I stumbled upon this recipe for triple caramel cupcakes and was instantly smitten. Had to make them! Stat!

These. Are. The. Bestest. Cupcakes. Ever.

The cake base uses a ton of brown sugar in it to give the cake a sort of caramel flavor to it. Then it has caramel stuffed inside of it. Then there’s caramel frosting on top!#!@!

Swoon.

It’s dangerous to make these. But you can bet that I will be making them again soon.

Kind of looks like a little hat, doesn’t it?

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