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Breaking News!
And we're back!
I wasn't gone in real life but I guess I haven't posted here for a while. Big news! Starting today you'll be getting 3, count 'em 3!, posts a week out of your, I mean, my VERY own eating San Diego blog! Wow!
What fun!
Oh, you'll get all kind of eating talk that you can't get anywhere. Oh, you'll get junk about overeating at The Tractor Room - a place brought to you by the Hash House guys! Yummy! What about The Linkery? You can't go wrong there!
And what about recipes? Remember some cooking guy named Sam? He has given off one of my favorite creamed up enchilada recipe! Grab a rotted chicken! Or two! I mean a rotisserie chicken. Shred. Add a cup of salsa verde and add in green chilies or chipotles as desired and roll 'em up in tortillas and toss in a glass baking dish. Dump as much whipping cream over it all and then as much shredded monterey jack cheese as you want. Bake it up at 350 for a half hour. Eat.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
2 days late.
And many many months since I said "Hi how's it going?"
Still here. I read the normal San Diego Food Blobs. Some of them. Anything that Yummy-Oh-So links to. I could share some vacation pictures or some eating pictures I suppose. I'm still a little stuffed from Thursday. We feasted like no other feast plus all the snacking I did during the day. Oh, my belly was packed! And does anyone have a report from the Wine and Food festival?
That's THE DOG up in the Lake Tahoe area. Still some snow at 8,500 whatever feet at the end of August.
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Happy...uh...January 24th!
I have not passed on! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all rolled in to one. I'm not very good with this blog thing. Never have been quite honestly. Anyhow, we've been feasting quite nicely. Of course I read all the big blogs, mmm-so-yummy-o-so, 3 dogs run around in a kitchen, what we dig up, of course, the blog from Ms. Foodie, Alice Q., I'd call these the preeminent SD blogs, plus there is the Linkery blog. And others I missed.
Of course we've been eating quite well, mostly at home, we absolutely feasted over the holidays, but in our area neighborhood joints too... Opera in Sorrento Valley of course, the Thai place we like just off of Scripps Poway Parkway, the Cuban place in Poway, etc... plus this last week was restaurant week in our very own San Diego so there was that going on too. More on those meals some day. Maybe...
But rewind to our Thanksgiving-fest feast. Turkey of course, and cranberry sauce with port, potatoes with a fennel puree and a very winning "Country Bread Stuffing with Smoked Ham, Goat Cheese and Dried Cherries". Yummo! As you can probably figure out we hopped on to epicurious dot com to find some delicious recipes.
The desert winner for Thanksgiving was a....
Pumpkin cheesecake with Marshmallow-Sour Cream Topping and Gingersnap Crust. Looking at the reviews on the site, it looks like others had quite a good time with it at Thanksgiving too! A new tradition is born!
Delicious!
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I can't help it...
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Hey, how's it going everyone?
They (whoever "they" are...) say that you really can't take a bad picture of a dog. But...maybe once? Here our boy is apparently chomping away deep into a chow down session (he loves his food as much as I do) in the heart of our June vacation. I have a couple of posts from then to type up if I care to and then it might be back to our very own San Diego foodie talk.
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Taos! New Mexico!
You might find yourself in Taos sometime, you know, just traveling across the country – this time well north of I-40 – yep, the journey into the great southwest continues! Here we were able to leave the vast Interstate for awhile to explore northern New Mexico.
Let me guess, another La Quinta and a brewpub?
No no no! Here we had the best lodging of the trip – a great dog-friendly B&B. We'd highly recommend a stay here should you find yourself in the area for a few days.
But then you blew your budget on your room and went to McDonald’s right?
Oh my Lord, no, here we had our push into Taos finer dinin’ at Lambert's. All out with a shared heirloom tomato salad, mains of roast duck (for her) and elk for me, drinks (a couple) and a good chocolate mousse dessert. There is other good eatin' in Taos but this was a very good choice.
Boring. What about that Crapper Barrel?
What?
Oh, did I misspell Cracker Barrel? Oops.
Oh, yea, we went to a Cracker Barrel once in Colorado Springs after a tiring (and surprisingly cold day in June). Normally you go here and expect this great pants splitting amount of food.
Did you say pants splitting or pants shitting?
Oh my God, you have to stop this. I think this screwy Q&A format exists just to give me – I mean you – the opportunity to say inane things.
*Crickets chirp* ... Back with more soon! 
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Flagstaff! Arizona!
 You might find yourself in Flagstaff sometime, you know, just traveling across the country – this time on I-40 – hell, it’s the summer of love roadtrips (Orange Popsicles and Lemonade as the B-52’s famously sang) and decide it’s a reasonable stop along your trip. Let’s stick with that Q&A session…I don’t care about the nasty emails requesting I immediately be fired from the newspaper staff.
Should they at least cancel their subscriptions?
Sure, I don’t care.
Okay, what’s this about Flagstaff?
Cool it – I’m getting to it. It turns out that Flagstaff (after a hot and zesty drive thru AZ) was our first stop on our road trip.
You took a road trip? Have you seen gas prices?
Oh my Lord. Anyhow, Flagstaff is at an elevation about 7,000 feet above sea level so it’s cooler. In early June, when we were there, daytime highs were probably around 78 with lows around 50. I’d say it’s the gateway to the Grand Canyon.
I’m sure you ate.
Naturally! We checked into our DogFriendly™ hotel – and from my advance research on Chowhound and Yelp I saw that a place in downtown Flagstaff called the Beaver Street Brewery got some highmarks.
Wasn’t Cracker Barrel an option?
Yea probably.
Beaver Street just seems … a little sexual.
You have to stop this.
You know you are arguing with yourself…
Shut up.
Okay, you went to a brewery or something?
Oh yea, they’ve got the brews, burgers, woodfired pizza, the works. Of course I had to check out the beer sampler – 5 oz tastings of everything they make. And a burger for me – the Beaver Street Burger. Yum.
Anyhow, how are those DogFriendly™ hotels or *yikes* motels working out?
Great! AAA has a book about 2 ½ inches thick of woofer-friendly lodging. Technically, you really aren’t to leave your pup unattended in the room but hey we have to eat right? Our dog did great in the car and with each new experience nightly in a new spot.
Thumbs up for the Beaver Creek Brewery, right? Oh sure! 
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Restaurant Week 2008! Summertime eatin’!
 Just some quick notes on our two eatings for the summer Restaurant Week – we went to George’s (the longtime La Jolla favorite) and Nine-Ten just down the street. Not the same night - we aren't nutty. This is the first time for a summer RW.
What about that road trip?
Seriously, the Q&A format continues? I’ll get back to the road trip next time.
Why couldn’t you real-time blog from the road like any normal dude from the year 2008?
Next time!
So you went to George’s California Modern?
We were last there at one of the first times they did restaurant week – really probably nearly our first so-called “high-end” dinning experiences. Now flash-forward 3 or 4 years we are much more foodie-ized.
The menu?
Unlike most of the restaurants with these special three course menus for $30 or $40 that limit you to three choices per course, George’s gives you the full menu. Now that comes with a slight hitch – some menu times have a supplemental charge (normally 4 bucks with a few higher).
Uhhhh…almost sounds like a bad thing.
Not really – at least the options are there. And included in the $40 RW price were about 5 options each for starters and entrée’s. And 8 desserts.
The food dammit.
Okay – L had the (copied directly from the menu) Black Olive Cured Fresh Albacore – this was a real winner! Main was the Loch Duart Salmon (farm-raised off the coast of Scotland – I don’t know if that is a good thing or not.) Salmon wouldn’t be my first choice – it’s kinda like ordering chicken. But it was a big hunk and came with a variety of interesting little sides and L was pleased. Dessert was Marscapone Cheesecake with rhubarb salad.
I started with some pork meatballs - just okay. And I had Pacific albacore – two nice sized pieces, seared on on side only, on top of some grain, surrounded by a mix of salad and a veggie or two. Dessert was a gooey chocolate tart.
Who’s food won?
Is it a competition? I think we decided that the Albacore was the winner for starter and entrée. Desserts were both good – maybe not quite great. We had cocktails to start us off – I had something called a Pisco Sour – apparently a Peruvian drink.
How about Nine-Ten?
It was good too – but I’d pick George’s again before Nine-Ten. Especially the way George’s did RW plus the food was just more interesting. Here is the quickie rundown of Nine-Ten: sashimi and heirloom tomato salad, braised short rib, potato foam!, duck breast, white chocolate mousse, strawberry rose shake with beignets. Started off with a cocktail for each.
Oh shit, do they a mandatory gratuity?
Nope – neither did. I don’t care either way but I know some people get their panties bunched up about that stuff.
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Omaha! Nebraska! Whhhhaaaat?!?!
You might find yourself in Omaha sometime – you know, just traveling across the country on I-80 on one of those sum-sum-summertime roadtrips and decide it’s a reasonable stop along your trip. Let’s try it like a Q&A session…
Uh, what? A trip?
Sure, a trip. You know in a car – gas $$$ be damned!
Okay, what’s this about Omaha?
Stop that – I’m getting to it. So we probably saw about 10 states along the way between our very own San Diego, CA and our destination and back. I won’t blog about it exactly in order – but by the end you’ll see everywhere we’ve been.
Pictures?
Maybe. Not many. Took trip pics and a very few really almost none on the iPhone which will be called the iDude going forward. Like it?
Ehh.
Anyhow, it happens to be a Monday and after a full day of driving we checked in to our DogFriendly™ hotel (maybe it was a motel) and looked around and saw a Village Inn. Urp. Things are looking mighty familiar – turns out we stayed here when we first moved out to California those many years ago – okay six years ago. We looked around a little more and saw something called “BrewBurgers” up the hill and across the street.
No Hooters?
I guess not. A quick search on the internets on the iDude brought up a review that made it sound pretty good – a sports bar with pretty decent food. We headed over – no hole in the wall here, it’s a pretty big place – and what’s this, a sign on the door said that Guy Fieri of Food Network fame would be there later that week? Okay that legitimizes the place!
You can’t go wrong with “The Guy”!
I read that he’d be in Omaha – hey I had time to read the weekend section of the Omaha local paper! So we sat and found out that they have this great Monday drink special: pretty much any “M” drink for $4. For food they have burgers, salads, dinner specials (yes, you can get a steak!) and the owner’s old school favorite: the beef brisket sammich! It’s all about $10 if you want say, a regular cheeseburger or something a little different like a lamb burger or bison, salmon or tuna and so on…plus your choice of side. Go for the onion rings – battered in-house. This is key I think so so much better than those pre-battered Sysco turds.
Uh, crude, just get back to the alcohol!
So, it was any Margarita, Martini, Mai-Tai or Mojito for $4 all day on Monday. This “M” drink happy hour could cover a lot of drinkin', my friends! Any they have a nice list of specialty martinis, etc – all just $4. I don’t know what they normally charge. I got a “Millionaire Martini” with several shots of liquor – it was a strong drink! They also have a great list of brews.
Thumbs up for the BrewBurgers?
Oh sure – a great local find – exactly what you want on a roadtrip. Great food, fun, casual place to kick back and drink a few (hey it was the end of the day). I’ll be watching for it on the Food Network. But browse the menu at the link and feel free to drool. And good news, I’ve got a 10 blog posts stuck in me – lots of trip talk so if I can push them out you’ll be seeing some activity in my little ghost town on the web. And I think I just might stumble onto Omaha again! And points east and west.
So now, what about this Q&A format?
Uh…not so much. Skip it next time.
Okay.
And now what about Restaurant Week 2008, the Summer Edition?
Shut up!
http://www.brewburgersomaha.com/
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Rice Krispy Treats
Or is it Krispie? Maybe it should be Krispies since you need many of them. Anyhow. I am baaaack! I didn't go anywhere but still. And it’s a rare recipe post. Hell, a rare post at all. I was always going to post some pictures of our South Pacific vacation but I didn’t even take any foodie pics. It would just be pics of sand, sky and water. I’ll probably get around to it.
This is one of our favorite simple desserts. Do you think it is too “white-trash”?
Crunchy Fudge Sandwiches
(1) 12 oz. package butterscotch chips
1 cup crunchy-style peanut butter
8 cups Rice Krispies
(1) 12 oz. package chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water
In a large saucepan, combine butterscotch chips and peanut butter; heat until chips melt and mixture is smooth. Add Rice Krispies; stir until well coated with butterscotch mixture.
Press half of the cereal mixture into greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Chill in refrigerator while preparing fudge mixture. Set remaining butterscotch mixture aside.
Combine in medium saucepan over low heat: chocolate chips, powdered sugar, butter and water. Stir until chips melt and mixture is smooth. Spread over refrigerated butterscotch mixture. Spread remaining butterscotch mixture evenly over top. Press gently. Chill in refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into squares.Sooooo….we’ve got a road trip coming up in June. I’m thinking I might blog from the road from an iPhone. Is it possible to do this without swearing? If I do it will be at a new website – of which I will provide my reader a link. (Hi, reader!) Hey, many new SD food stuffs blogs have popped (and probably pooped) up in the last year – one that I just noticed that looks really great is at http://5-ds.blogspot.com/ from a dude named Roger.
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