Category Archives: Favorite Foods

Giving the boot

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Red and Mrs. are back to a normal routine in our backyard. Maybe this spring we’ll have some baby Reds?

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day — plus I got the photo above of Red! I went to my post op appointment with my favorite surgeon. My surgery on my foot was a little over two weeks ago. The dressing and sutures were removed. Yay! I finally get a look at my “elective foot” as Tippy Gnu from Chasing Unicorns called it. (That’s in reference to the procedure first denied by our insurance company. They said it wasn’t medically necessary.) Like I wrote before, what is necessary about walking and wearing shoes?

My foot is black, blue and swollen. The bright news? I wore flip flops out of the doctor’s office instead of the infamous boot.

Here’s the boot from last June, post ankle surgery.

The infamous boot where it sits today until next time.

I would love to toss the boot into the trash. But my surgeon said I may need to have a follow up surgery in the distant future if I have pain. I’ve placed the boot in my closet up on a shelf where Olive the cat would sit and watch birds.

I’m excited to get out of the house and I’m meeting my lunch bunch at Kiki Rae’s. It’s a cute restaurant in Cave Creek with Pacific Northwest specialities like clam chowder, fish and chips and steamers. They even serve Seattle Dogs which are hot dogs with cream cheese and caramelized onions. As a native of the PNW, it’s a treat to have a restaurant serving my favorite foods from childhood and college.

My lunch bunch are two friends from my previous life in Palm Springs, pre kids. They were graphic designers I worked with in my PR Days. When I moved to Arizona a friend told me to look them up — they moved here 10 years before me. We’re all within a few miles of each other and meet up for lunch several times a year.

Here’s to giving the boot to the boot, regular visits by Red and feeling better!

What are some of your favorite foods from your childhood?

Do you have traditional or specific foods that are unique to your area?

Berkeley Views and the Best Pizza in the World

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These are photos from my recent trip to Berkeley and Oakland, California. I was helping my daughter, post her shoulder surgery.

This is the Cheeseboard pizza from Thursday. Cremini mushroom and Kale with a side of their famous cilantro pepper sauce to dip the crust. As an added bonus, they top your slice with a sliver! Cheeseboard Collective is an institution in Berkeley.

Here’s the background info from Cheeseboard’s website:

About Our Pizza

Cheese Board Pizza started with a simple, fun idea during one of our shifts

We’d grab some extra sourdough baguette dough, pick our favorite cheeses from the counter, and toss on veggies from the market next door to make pizzas just for us. Then, in 1985, we decided to share the fun and started serving a single type of vegetarian pizza to customers after hours on Friday nights. Each night, we’d make one fresh, unique pizza with veggies, specialty cheeses from the Cheese Board, and a thin, sourdough crust.

Today, that same recipe is still our go-to. The Pizzeria, now located just two doors south of the Cheese Shop and Bakery, is open for lunch and dinner four days a week. We’ve also added salads, roasted garlic, cookies, soft serve ice cream, sodas, beer, and wine. Live music is part of the scene at both lunch and dinner, adding to the vibrant atmosphere. Even though the line for pizza often stretches down the block, it moves quickly, with music keeping things lively along the way.

About Our Pizza

Here’s a rose I saw on my walk from my Berkeley Airbnb and Cheeseboard.

Beautiful Bougainvillea I spotted on a walk in Oakland with my son and daughter-in-law.

I’m not sure what these berries are. I just thought it made a unique shot on my walk to Cheeseboard for a slice.

Berkeley is a beautiful town when you open your eyes and notice the little things like flowers.

The tree-lined streets made for nice walks when I returned to my Airbnb after taking care of my daughter at my son’s apartment.

This was my cozy Airbnb — a separate room with it’s own entrance at the back of a home. I stayed here five years ago when my son had shoulder surgery. It has a bathroom, bedroom and a kitchenette.

Now for everything Cheeseboard:

My last three evenings, I walked from the Airbnb to Cheeseboard for a slice of pizza (and a sliver) before it got dark. It was my daughter’s idea. She told me to go home early so I could have Cheeseboard, which is a treat I enjoy when I visit my kids. Prior to my Cheeseboard walks, I was getting home after dark, exhausted and savoring a cup of chowder I had bought the day I arrived. I wrote about Cheeseboard years ago: How long would you wait for pizza? Hint: It’s Cheese Board.

I’d walk around Shattuck Avenue for about 30 minutes then get in line at Cheeseboard and walk home with my salad and slice. Yes, I’d get in line because there is always a line. There is also a cheese shop two doors down owned by Cheeseboard where I’d buy a few treats for the kids to bring the next day, like their favorite cheese, crackers, chips and homemade tomatillo salsa.

About Cheeseboard: They make one flavor of pizza per day and one salad. No special orders except Gluten and/or Vegan free. The pizza’s randomly change according to fresh produce and they locally source cheese. There is never meat on a Cheeseboard pizza.

I had this one and will say it was really, really good. I liked the Cremini/Kale better, though.

The pizza I had on my last night in Berkeley.

This is the line going into Cheeseboard. The open door near the front of the photo goes into their cheese and bakery shop.

The line wound around the corner and down the street.

If you go to Berkeley, I highly recommend a slice of pizza at Cheeseboard.

What’s your favorite pizza or a pizza spot?

What do you think of my Berkeley photos?

If you’ve never been there, did you think it would be so beautiful?

Dapple Dandy, Tastes Like Candy

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One of the joys of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria are the farmers markets. This is our favorite fruit stand. The pluots in the bin above the plums are called Dapple Dandy. Outside the tent filled with delicious fruit, a woman stands with slices of fruit samples calling out “Dapple Dandy, tastes like candy!” It really does. It’s my all time favorite and I’ve been eating them every day on vacation.

You can see how popular and large this fruit stand is. It has a line that goes outside the tent and once inside, lines on both sides of the fruit. The same farm is at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market on Saturdays and in Carpinteria on Thursdays.

Our favorite spot for fish tacos and chowder is called On the Alley. It’s in the Santa Barbara Harbor next to the Marina. It’s a casual place where you order inside, grab a table outside and a server brings your food.

Clam chowder with crusty warm sourdough!

The best fish taco I’ve ever had! On the Alley is owned by Brophy Bros which is a longtime favorite seafood restaurant at the Marina. Brophy’s is upstairs of On the Alley.

Sitting at a table devouring my fish taco, I had to take a photo of the shop next door.

The other day, we visited friends in Ventura. They took us in their Duffy electric boat for a harbor cruise (where we saw the sea lions). We ended up at the second location of Brophy’s.

Here’s a view from their boat.

This is called the Ventura Keys, where people dock their boats in their backyards. The boat we cruised in was like the blue topped boats across the key.

This is Ventura’s Brophy Bros with On the Alley below.

On one of our last nights we met our longtime friends, along with their friends we met a few summers ago for dinner at this local beach cafe. The seating is outside next to the beach. I love the location and having dinner outside. It’s casual with salads, burger and fish and chips.

Here are a few photos:

What are your favorite tastes of summer?

A Classic

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Remember the Monte Cristo sandwich? I went to a cooking class Friday and the menu included a Monte Cristo, salad and Harvey Wallbanger cake. This is a Monte Cristo I made at home for hubby and me. The class was held at Sweet Basil Culinary Center.

A neighbor who is president of the charity I’m involved with invited me to a second cooking class. Unlike the first one, where pairs of us were given assigned recipes to prepare, this class was called “Lunch and Learn.” That meant we sat and watched a demonstration and then ate lunch. It was fun and relaxing with no pressure.

I remembered Monte Cristo sandwiches from my younger days. They were popular and on many restaurant menus. Then they disappeared. Poof!

After eating two Monte Cristo sandwiches in two days, I figured out why the sandwiches are no long en vogue. Our dietary tastes have changed. It’s not a sandwich for light eaters. It’s on white bread with mayo, ham, turkey and cheese, dipped in egg and milk batter and fried in butter — the original ones were deep fried! Then sprinkled with powdered sugar and a dash of raspberry preserves. I could feel the sugar rush through my brain while the cholesterol roared through my veins.

At the class, they served an amazing salad that was light and citrusy and made a perfect contrast to the heavy sandwich. The Harvey Wallbanger cake (another blast from the past) was moist and delicious, but I could only manage a few bites. They served the cake in baby bundts, one for each student.

Here’s the salad recipe:

FYI, the instructor said the salad dressing keeps for up to two weeks in the fridge. It was really good. I plan on making some today.

What foods do you remember as being popular that we don’t often see anymore at home or in restaurants?

My mom used to make Oyster Stew and Liverwurst Sandwiches — haven’t seen either of those since my childhood.

Comfort Food

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With the cold weather the past two weeks, I have been indulging in comfort foods. Food that my mom taught me how to cook. Namely, oxtail soup last week and this week I made clam chowder.

After going through my recipes with a friend over the phone, I decided to check out how my great-grandmother’s recipes were different from mine.

This is the title page of the soup book. You can see my great-grandmother’s signature at the top of the page. This copy was a Christmas present to a relative or friend.

My great-grandmother, Ella Leighton Upton Owen, published a series of miniature cookbooks from 1898 to the early 1900s. I find it interesting that she went by her married name, “Mrs. Dewitt C. Owen” rather than her name — Ella Owen.

This soup book was the seventh in her series. I don’t know why she called them “Ripley Series of Cookbooks.” My great-grandfather, Dewitt Owen was a newspaper man in Dixon, Illinois. Eventually, they moved west to Washington state where he continued the trade. Great-grandmother Ella used her husband’s printing press to create her cookbooks. She had to set the type by hand! Can you imagine?

My mom told me that they hauled the printing press by covered wagon across our country. Don’t think the dates match up for that.

The cookbooks were sold throughout the country to women’s church auxiliary groups. At times, Ella supported the family with her ingenious little books.

I wrote more about her books HERE with excerpts from her “Sick Room Necessities” booklet. Two years ago, I wrote a post about comfort foods and shared snippets of the Soup book. You can read it HERE. When I wrote this post yesterday, I thought it was a brand new subject. You can imagine how I felt when I discovered I wrote the same title and subject matter two years ago! But no worries, I have more information in this post, than the one two years ago!

The recipe above is similar to my oxtail soup that I learned from my mom. But I quit dredging the oxtails in flour, because I like a clear broth. I also don’t use cayenne, wine or Worcestershire sauce. I skip the turnip cut in “fancy shapes” and I don’t “par-boil” the veggies. I do use lots of garlic and a bay leaf.

Another secret, is to refrigerate the soup overnight. The next day, I get rid of the fat that solidifies on top of the soup.

For clam chowder, I use canned clams. I cut bacon into small bits with my kitchen scissors (no fat salt pork — whatever that is) and fry it up. Then I add onions, celery and garlic to the bacon. I boil cubed potatoes in a separate pot. After the onions are clear, I stir in Wondra Flour and cook it in the bacon mixture. Add milk, let it thicken, then add clams and potatoes with the potato water. Delish and very comforting in our cold weather.

What are your favorite comfort foods?

That’s What a Hamburger is All About!

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In-N-Out double hamburger with grilled onions, cheeseburger with raw onions and fries. That was our order and the cost was $11 and change.

Yesterday, my husband had the day off. We ran errands, I got my hair done, shopped at Trader Joe’s and finished the day at In-N-Out, an iconic hamburger stand that began in California in 1948 by husband and wife Harry and Esther Snyder.

If you’re not from California, or don’t live in the west, you might not know about In-N-Out. I’ll give some of the highlights.

What makes In-N-Out so good?

Fresh ingredients, quality and simplicity. It’s been family owned and operated from the beginning. They’ve never once wanted to franchise or sell out, because they don’t want to sacrifice quality.

This is the wrapper my cheeseburger came in. It sums up why their food tastes so good.

As for their employees, the Snyders have treated them like family from day one. Company policy is to promote from within. Many of their restaurant managers earn more than six figures per year. The average worker at this hamburger fast food chain makes $20 an hour with a $2,000 annual bonus.

I first went to an In-N-Out burger with my husband when we were first married. It was in Loma Linda, Calif. and it had drive-throughs on both sides, no dining room, but some outside tables. We sat outside and ate. Eventually, we got one near Palm Springs in 1988. It was In-N-Out’s 50th restaurant.

Today there are 415 restaurants in eight states: California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. Here’s a LINK to In-N-Out History.

There’s always a line at In-N-Out. It doesn’t matter the time.

Here’s the regular menu. Talk about simplicity:

There’s a Secret (not so secret) Menu that isn’t posted. One of the most popular items I notice being ordered whenever I’m at In-N-Out is Fries, Animal Style.

After Harry Snyder passed away, running the business went to one of two sons. When that son died in a tragic airplane crash, the other son took over. Then when he died, the business went back to Esther. Eventually granddaughter Lynsi took over and she runs the family business today.

Here’s the theme song for In-N-Out:

Have you been to In-N-Out? If so what do you order?

What’s your favorite burger restaurant?

I noticed Revelation 3:20 on the wrapper for the first time. I looked it up:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

What’s up kitty cat?

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Olive is feeling better. I keep finding her up on top of things.

I had a few stress-filled weeks when we came home from vacation. Olive the cat was not her usual perky self. I wrote about it HERE.

For about two weeks, I monitored Olive. She’d have a good day followed by several bad ones. On her bad days, I wouldn’t see her. If I did see her for a few brief moments, she looked really scruffy and miserable.

One of my neighbors asked me how old she was, When I said 11, the neighbor suggested maybe it was time. You know what? I pushed back on that. I took Olive to the vet. I waited, watched and eventually Olive no longer hid under the bed all day. She started eating like a champ. Her other bodily functions became normal. Definitely it was NOT “time.”

Our last cat, Sherman, was 17 years old when he was attacked by a neighbor’s dog. No, he didn’t make it. Olive is an indoor cat and I expect her to have a long life.

Now, she’s leaping to the top of the closet. The shelf she’s on is six feet high! Yesterday she was up on the closet space a few feet higher than that!

I walked into the casita to see this! She’s never been a counter shopper before.

FYI, the photos on this post are taken with my iphone, not my DSLR camera.

I’m getting ready for guests this coming weekend. The Wickham Casita has been a popular place this past month. Our last guest is a world champion spear fisherman. He’s entering a competition at Lake Pleasant, which is about 30 minutes from us. He’s planning on scouting the lake several times before the event. He brought us black cod, salmon, rock fish and lobster during his last visit. I wrote about Black Cod also known as Sablefish HERE.

We enjoyed lobster over the weekend. Our houseguest free dives off the coast in Southern California for lobster.

What a treat! I had to share the lobster photos.

Lobster poached in lemon butter with steamed broccoli. Yum! Yes, our last guest is welcome to our casita anytime.

What is your most favorite food and why?

If you’ve had dogs or cats, do you get stressed if they aren’t feeling well?