koko's corner

60 year member of Ironworkers Local 229

Stan is a member of the Ironworker's Union Local 229.
He's been a member for 60 years and yesterday his 60 year pin was bestowed upon him. 
















He was awarded his pin along with Frankie, in the middle, the man he was inducted with 60 yrs ago.
















At that time they made the union 133 members strong. Now it is about 2,000 members strong.
The oldest member is a 99 yr old 65 yr pin recipient. 
















Lets go to Santee Lakes and the picnic.

Gator By The Bay

If you are into Zydeco and Cajun this was the place for you. My friend Shelly and I went to the Zydeco and Blues Festival called Gator By The Bay today. What a great time we had. Stan wasn't interested in going so he made the Costco run for me, what a guy.

We were fortunate enough to get parking on Harbor Island not far from the Festival. Our walk took us right along the bay with a view of our beautiful city.

Let's eat some crawfish and shake a leg ;-)

Happy Birthday Cindy

Dare I let everyone know it's the big 6 OH for Cindy. Dang, it doesn't seem that long ago we were on the back of our husband's Harleys riding through the the breathtaking mountains of South Dakota during Sturgis week . Oh the sights we saw and the fun we had. Sorry, I digress, that story is for another time.

Family and friends gathered from far and near to ready the party for the huge success it was.

The party was a surprise, and she was totally overwhelmed. Some friends drove for hours to surprise her. 

The grill Queen and King, they grilled pounds of tri-tip for the party.

I heard raves about the chicken that was also served but I just couldn't quit eating the tri-tip.

I brought a Goat Cheese Torte, an appetizer that I'm usually requested to bring to parties and family gatherings. No photo but follow the link.

I also made a Malaysian pineapple and jicama salad called Rojak which means mixed up in Malay. It is a popular street snack there. I'll put the recipe in the recipe spot along with more photos. It is really delicious with a sweet salty dressing.

Someone brought the ever popular Pizza Pasta Salad. It's been so long since I've made one I was happy to see it. I'll sure make it more often this summer.

There was plenty to eat and I had more than my fair share of tri tip and beans. I also enjoyed the green jello salad with the cottage cheese in it. It's been years, and I mean years since I've eaten that and it was deeeelicious. I also had some good ol' homemade potato salad and a very refreshing tomato cucumber salad that was dressed with ranch dressing.

Cindy's daughter Lisa made her cake. Lisa the wonder woman with 6 children, the youngest being 4 mos old. The cake matched the napkins and plates.

The most delicious spice carrot cake ever.

One of the highlights of my trip to Cindy's birthday was getting to meet someone who's name I know very well but had never met. I hope his ear has stopped ringing from my screaming "I know you" in it while I was hugging him when I found out who he was. A little hint, mmmm it's time for chow.

It was a great party for a wonderful woman. I'm tempted to, but I'm not going to get all sappy. I wish everyone could be as blessed as I am to have a friend like Cindy.

Happy Birthday Girl.

Snow day in San Diego

The weather forecast for today called for scattered showers in the morning, and clear skies in the afternoon. This evening at 6:00 I measured 2 inches of snow and still falling heavily on my front porch. A friend down the road measured 4 inches at their place at 7:30 and still falling, only not as fast or heavy.

Here is one of my rose bushes.

Snow on front porch railing.

Deep foot print in snow.

View from dining table.

A snow day was called at work so I'll have tomorrow off.  Yippiee!!!! I'll have a 4 day weekend, more time to clean house, do laundry and tackle the closet. ;-(

I took more photos the next morning see Post Continuation.

Oktoberfest in La Mesa

Today we went to Oktoberfest in La Mesa.  We met up with daughter Vicky and son in law Bill.

The first thing we did was get some bratwurst and beer. The bratwurst seemed exceptionally good this year. I don't know if it was because I was really really hungry or what, but they were really really good. I like mine with grilled onions and sauerkraut with a little spicy brown mustard. I cut the end off to show the bratwurst under all that mess of goodness. See the spices in it mmmmm.

After wandering around for a while I was getting hungry for a little something sweet, and it wasn't a funnel cake I was wanting, and a cup of coffee. I came across the restaurant Tiramisu Trattoria,

they are located in downtown La Mesa, right in the heart of Oktoberfest. I was wanting to sit down in a restaurant and have a cup of coffee and a little dessert. I walked into the restaurant and saw the beautiful decor and the tables covered in white tablecloths with cloth napkins.

Whoa!! I wasn't expecting this, I was afraid just having dessert and coffee wouldn't be looked upon with much favor. I told the man that greeted me at the door that I only wanted dessert and coffee. He happily seated me at a nice booth and a waiter was there quickly with a dessert and coffee menu. I discussed the desserts with him and found that most of the desserts are made right there in the restaurant. They have three different kinds of tiramisu and a baba Amaretto. You have to click on their link and read the dessert menu, it was so hard to decide.
I had a cappuccino

and the traditional tiramisu.

Of course I was taking pictures of my dessert and told the waiter I have a food blog, he thought I said I kept a food log and wished he was so disciplined. We both had a laugh over that after I explained what I meant. The news made it to the kitchen because before long the chef Anna Maria Baslietto came out and introduced herself to me. She was so very gracious and explained to me how she makes the tiramisu. She uses pasteurized eggs and imported Marscapone as well as imported biscotti. The strawberry tiramisu is her latest creation, I need to get back there for that one. She is from Genoa and one of the owners is from Calabria and the other owner is from Mexico City.
Daughter Vicky, and her friend that joined us later, caught up with me in the restaurant. They weren't hungry and didn't order anything, yet they were brought glasses of water and were treated as though they had placed an order.
I was very impressed with the exceptional dessert and service. I am anxious to go back and try some of their pasta dishes.

After this brief respite, off we were to enjoy more of Oktoberfest, which of course included more food. Now the girls that were not hungry for dessert got their appetites back at the beer garden and ate another bratwurst with potato pancakes, hot German potato salad and cabbage. I tasted the potato pancakes and the potato salad. The potato pancakes were delicious and the potato salad was a little flat.

Of course it's not Oktoberfest without having a pretzel with mustard,

or a piece of lingonberry pie,

or doing the chicken dance to an oompah band,

or buying the grandsons marshmallow shooters that came complete with ammunition. 

I did buy two, one for each boy, but I had so much fun shooting marshmallows off in the beer garden that I just might have a hard time giving one up.

Odds and Ends from the Foodie Road Trip

Just a few odds and ends from the trip I wanted to share.
As we were walking from the plaza in Santa Fe to our car I noticed through a street level window, kitchen equipment and jars of olives, rice, pasta etc... I stopped and got a good look and low and behold (no pun intended;-) there was a working kitchen down there. I don't know why this intrigued me but it did.
As I was on my hands and knees taking pictures, a lady passing by asked if I zoomed in good enough to get the recipe. Dang, I wish there would have been one out to try. See the cook behind the pepper mill and the stove off to the right.

The port I had at St Claire's winery with my dessert was so delicious I had to get a bottle of it. One of my most expensive purchases. It's a D.H. Lescombes port. I will savor this for sure.
 

I bought myself two souvenirs. A hot air balloon gift basket from St Claire's winery. (I collect hot air balloons) It has a bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfadel a fifty fifty blend. Also a corkscrew, some crackers, blech!!, a beef salami roll, cheese log and some Chardonnay wine jelly. The top of the balloon hinges open. I'm going to take it to work and use it for candies and goodies.

I also bought a New Mexico coffee mug from Starbucks. I had to get it when I saw the red or green? on it, how New Mexico.

While we were in Hatch I bought some fresh chiles. One bag hot, one bag mild. Each bag cost three dollars. When I got home I weighed them, after leaving some with my daughter, and I still had 7 pounds of chiles.

Along with fresh chiles I bought a red chile decoration. It's real chiles that have been sprayed to preserve them. I lost this in AZ, to my daughter, so it's not so bad. I knew in the back of my mind when I bought it she'd end up with it.

If memory serves me right this is called the Palace of the Governors on the Santa Fe Plaza. This is where the Indians set out their blankets with their jewelry.

I also scored from Christine the cookin' hostess with the mostest, some smoked red chiles, oh my gosh, what a beautiful heady aroma comes from them. Also I bought some dried crushed jalapenos in Hatch.

I bought a few different salts at Fremont's in Albuquerque. I opened the bag of Grey salt to put in my salt pig, low and behold, it really is grey. It is really, really good. It's moist and coarse without a chemically aftertaste.I think this will become my everyday salt.

When it cools off I'm going to fire up the grill and roast the chiles. mmmm a freezer full of New Mexico chiles.

Foodie Road Trip, The Finale.

This is the final installment of Foodie Road Trip. see Foodie Road Trip Part eight 

We did really good yesterday morning, Wed. We were awake at 4:00 a.m. We decided to, as Stan says, "get a wiggle on" and packed up the car and we were headed west, out of Albuquerque before sunrise. We came back I-40 because we wanted to visit the kids and grandkids in Lake Havasu, AZ on our way home.
We stopped at the Cracker Barrel  in Gallup for breakfast.

 

It was pretty good. Stan had biscuits and gravy and some bacon. . He said it wasn’t the best gravy he’s ever had, but it was good.

 

I had bacon and eggs with grits, hash brown casserole, and biscuits and gravy. I tasted the hash brown casserole, it was just o.k. and I didn’t eat it. The grits were very good and were eaten all gone. The bacon was really good. Stan commented a couple of times on how good it was. The eggs were good also. They were cooked just right, over easy so the yolk would be runny enough to dip a biscuit into.

Along the way we saw some beautiful countryside.

 

We stopped in Ash Fork,AZ in the afternoon for a little break and a snack at the Ranch House Cafe.

We each had a piece of apple pie with a crumb and nut topping that had been drizzled with caramel. It was a good pie albeit a little too sweet for me. The apples were firm, not mushy. I think it was a commercial pie. Probably from Costco or Sam’s club.

 

We arrived in Lake Havasu about 2:00 p.m. We had time to relax and have a nice visit before it was time to go out for dinner. We went to Barley Brothers for dinner. We started with an appetizer of Gorgonzola Mushrooms. Quoting the menu they are “stuffed marinated jumbo mushroom caps baked with Italian cheeses. Served with a homemade walnut pesto. “ We all dug in before I had a chance to get a good photo. They were delicious, even Stan the cheese hater ate one and liked it before he realized what he was eating.

Stan and sil had the steak sandwich. According to the menu it is a charbroiled top sirloin served open face over grilled focaccia bread and topped with crispy fried onions. Stan said his was a little dry, and on the tough side.

 

My oldest grandson age 9 had beef vegetable barley soup. This was thick and rich with nice sized pieces of vegetables.

He also had the Steak Pizzaioli which is a charbroiled top sirloin topped with a tomato bordelaise and broiled smoked provolone served with a fresh basil, red pepper couscous and vegetables.
He was more interested in just the steak and ordered the toppings on the side. He said his steak was a little chewy but he ate it all. The couscous was really, really delicious.

My daughter had Roasted Garlic Alfredo with sundried tomatoes and crimini mushrooms tossed with fettuccini in a light roasted garlic cream sauce. This was rich, creamy and to diet for. I’m having this next time I go visit.

 

I had the Porterhouse prepared with with an olive oil and garlic rub, charbroiled and served with fresh vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. Oh, my gosh, this was so good. I was so hungry for a steak and this was the perfect one. It was tender and juicy and seasoned just right. One of the best steak’s I’ve had in a long time.

 

We split a couple of desserts. A creme brule and a triple layer chocolate ganache cake.

 

We had a very good last night on the road.
We took off this morning before everyone got off to work and school.

We didn’t have breakfast because we were saving ourselves for our friend Pepe's restaurant, Los Manjares de Pepe, inYuma, AZ. Without a doubt, hands down, fabulous Mexican food. The best in Yuma.
Stan had Pepe’s special Pork in Tomatillo sauce. This is his signature dish and it’s the best I’ve had ever

I had two tacos with rice and beans.

Made from shredded beef of course, as we were no longer in New Mexico. Pepe’s are made with tender flavorful shredded beef in freshly fried tortilla shells with a sprinkling of dry Mexican cheese over them and his delicious marinated onions.

Pepe surprised us today with an after lunch treat, his beautiful homemade flan.

Rich, creamy, melt in your mouth delight.

If you want a much more comprehensive report on Pepe’s see Ed's report at mmm-yoso.typepad.com

We are now safely home, surrounded by unpacked bags that can wait until tomorrow. 

I had the time of my life on this trip. Thank you for coming along with me, I enjoyed your company.

 

 

Foodie Road Trip Part Eight

Eighth installment on Foodie Road Trip see Foodie Road Trip Part Seven

We went to downtown Santa Fe this morning. I’m telling you, early in the day on a weekday is the only time to go to the plaza.  We found easy parking and a shady park bench on the plaza for Stan to sit and read while I walked around.

I went to a little French pastry shop in the La Fonda Hotel called, surprisingly enough, The French Pastry Shop.

I had a double fruit crepe with the heavenliest, lightest, fluffiest, freshly whipped cream. The crepe was light and thin but had a nice body to it. I also had a Cappuccino.   

It was filled with strawberries and raspberries. The fruit didn’t taste like there was anything added to them, their own natural fruit flavor and juiciness was allowed to shine through. I took Stan a raisin cinnamon roll. All this is made fresh on premises.

I didn't have enough cash on me to pay my check and they only accept cash or checks. I thought holy moly, I'm going to have to do some dishes. I told him my husband was sitting in the plaza and I could run and get some money from him. He did not ask me to leave my drivers license or something to insure my return. He told me go ahead, and to take my time. I left Stan's cinnamon roll on the counter, I wasn't going to take that until I came back with the money. He hands me the roll and says, don't forget this. Wow!! So I took it and ran.....Yes, I went back with the money.

After the Plaza excursion we went to The Spanish Table. What a great store, I could have spent the rest of the day in there. Thank you Christine for telling me about it. I bought a paella pan, a small mortar and pestle for smashing up small seeds and peppercorns, and some rice.
This section is only a portion of the paella pans they have. 

They even carry squid ink. I wanted some but it needs to be kept refrigerated.

 

This shelf from top to bottom, end to end is olive oils and vinegars.

The people at The Spanish Table recommended we try La Boca.

The tables and chairs and wood trim is dark wood. They use cloth tablecloths and napkins. Nice.

This was such a great lunch. Stan had the Mediterranean green salad of dried mission figs, feta cheese, olives with a honey vinaigrette.

I had the Tomato Feta salad with olives and cucumber on baby greens with lemon oregano dressing.

We shared the paella la boca. This was the best of the best. The rice was perfect, each piece of rice was separate, no globs of rice here, and not cooked to mush. The paella was filled with sausage, chicken, mussels and oysters. It also had onion, garlic, peas and tomatoes and of course lots of saffron.

It was pretty spicy but I loved it. It is without a doubt one of the best, if not the single best thing I’ve eaten, not only on this trip, but in quite a while. It broke my heart to leave the uneaten portion behind, I almost cried.

 

Stan had his heart set on going to Bobcat Bite so he didn’t eat as much at lunch as I did. Gheesh, I know a burger is not a burger, but to pass up stuffing yourself with paella for a burger?  I’ll never figure that one out. He’s been such a good sport on this whole trip and this is one of the few things he has suggested, so we went to Bobcat Bite for dinner tonight. We arrived at just the right time. We got the last two of the 25 or so seats in the place. This is a very old building, It's been here forever.
I love the vigas so typical of New Mexico.

We got a seat at the counter and did some birdwatching while we waited for our burgers.

I had a green chili cheeseburger, medium well. I had to really smoosh this down.

Mine was delicious and I have to admit I ate half of it.

Stan had his still on the hoof. It looked almost like steak tartar. See, half of it already walked off the plate.

 

When we left there were quite a few people waiting outside and more pulling up. 

Tomorrow we are back on the road heading home via Lake Havasu AZ to see the kids and grandkids.

 

 

Foodie Road Trip Part Seven

The seventh installment on Foodie Road Trip. See Foodie Road Trip Part Six

Yesterday we drove up from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. We were a little early to check into the hotel and pretty hungry as we hadn’t eaten yet. We drove around looking for Horseman’s Haven. I remember eating there when it was actually in a Texaco gas station. Lucky us we found it right next to our hotel.

We had a combination plate that had a taco, cheese enchilada, rice, beans and posole. Stan had the red I had the green. The red was the best we've had so far on this trip. It has a depth to it. I would almost think the chiles they use are roasted rather than being made from dried.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw posole on the menu as a side item with a lot of the meals. Oh!! am I in heaven! It is nice and spicy with chunks of pork in it. By the way, I make a mean posole myself.

At first I was surprised that the tacos we’ve been served have been made with ground beef. Now that I think back, I don't think I saw shredded beef tacos offered until I went back to California. Not that ground beef is a bad thing, I just forgot about them.
For the first time the rice tasted homemade. Everything on the plate was delicious. I opted for the regular green chile, it was spicy enough and I ate every bite.

After a little afternoon nap we drove around and did some sightseeing south of town. We tried to track down Bobcat Bite but didn’t find it. We got better directions so maybe we’ll get by there today.
Getting on to evening we weren’t very hungry, but needed to eat a little something. We stopped by Blake’s Lottaburger. I’ve been looking forward to having a Blake’s Lottaburger since we started planning this trip.
I don’t want to hear “Where’s the beef” they are so tasty anyway. I did forget to order the double patty though.

 

A nice relaxing day.

 

Foodie Road Trip Part Six

Sixth installment on Foodie Road Trip see Foodie Road Trip part Five.

Sunday was the big cookin’ day. The reason we made the trip. We started congregating at Christine’s in the afternoon. We walked in the house, into a hubbub of activity. Megan was starting her world famous Buffalo curry. She says when she makes it she gets at least two marriage proposals and no leftovers.

 

Edrena was helping me with the figs while Megan’s parents, Chuckie and Jamie, were sampling the cheese tray.Among other cheese's was Christine’s homemade pimento cheese and Manchego cheese with Quince paste on crackers.

 

 Megan's finished curry.

Toppings for the curry were, coconut pineapple, basil, slivered almonds, basil, and a few others I forgot. :-(

Christine taught Megan how to make rice without using a rice cooker, she did a beautiful job.

Christine started her marinated chicken paella.

That’s one nice thing about cookin’s, not everything hits the table at once. Everyone takes their turn in the kitchen so there is a steady progression of food throughout the day.

The guys showed up and started their chocolate mousse. 

Well Rich did, Drew and Jeff were working their way through the food that was already out.

Christine's chicken faux gras. A chicken based pate.

My dates stuffed with chorizo wrapped in bacon.

Figs topped with Gorgonzola cheese drizzled with Citrine honey.

Edrina is the pickling queen, here are some of her creations.

Here's a run down of what was served. I thought I got photos of it all I guess I didn't. When I get some photos from the other's I'll edit this post and add them.

Edrena brought her Bread and Butter pickles that have a great zing to them. Nice and spicy. Also she brought Garlic Basil pickles. These are my favorite.

She also brought bluebarb jam, nectarine jam, blackberry jam, habanero pique, fancy cut pickled beets with red wine, pickled cauliflower with red peppers, pickled asparagus, pickled peaches, pickled okra with Texas honey. Commercial green olives stuffed with lemon, black Spanish olives and pickled walnuts.

Christine made chicken faux gras, upside down tomato tart, pimento cheese, Aztec chocolate ice cream and marinated chicken paella.   
Chuckie, Megan's mom made Scottish shortbread 

I made chorizo filled dates wrapped in bacon, goat cheese torte, figs filled with gorgonzola cheese
drizzled with citrine honey, I brought the fixin's for a herb salad with feta cheese, sprinkled with a mix of pine nuts, pepits and almonds and kalamata olive with homemade balsamic vinaigrette, but we didn't get to that or the rack of lamb, that'll go into Christine's freezer. There was just too much food. 

Patricia Hill brought blueberry cherry pie. 

Rich, Drew and Jeff contributed chocolate mousse and some barbershop singing. They didn't have to sing for their supper but it sure was appreciated.

I would say a good time was had by all. Thank you Christine, you are the BEST!!!!!