Kouign Aman

La Ranchita, Poway (intersection of Twin Peaks Rd and Espola). This falls in the Mexican fast food category - Baja style eats. Utterly delicious lard-laden refritos. And other good eats. The crispy taco shells were freshly fried and managed to be crispy and greasy as all get-out simultaneously. Good adobo, shredded beef, chunky guacamole (they offer a choice of smooth or chunky). I ended up wrapping my beef taco inside my guacamole taco and having a tacotaco. The horchata seemed spicier than many and therefore particularly good. This place is swamped when the rodeo is in town. Its pretty busy the rest of the time too, according to friends who live near by. Service nevertheless was quick. 3 tacos, one combination plate,large drink, $15. Enough food for two fairly large and very hungry adults.

Kira has the most twinkly sparkling eyes. Thank you for all the pix. Isnt a pre-birthday party meltdown a rule for all children? To be followed by the post-party destressing meltdown? (which of course only destresses the child....) I love the picture of her in her mini papa-san chair, looking like a miniature teenager rocking out to her ipod, the Princess in her well demonstrated by having her hands held by her nanny. What IS it with playdoh? It does not taste good. I used to eat it, the munchkin eats it, Kira eats it.... does Kira like table salt straight too? (I did, the munchkin does). I've put your lemon pudding on my eagerly anticipated to do list. Thank you for sharing.

Basic guidelines: 1 column per category. NEVER merge cells. Fill each column completely, every row, even if the entry is identical for 100 lines. This lets you use the awesome sorting and filtering power of Excel to its greatest ability, also summing etc. Add as many columns as you like: you can hide columns if you are not interested in that info today. Good luck.

I think the saltiness of the Kraft grated/dried made-in-the-parmesan style cheese is why l liked it as a kid. I loved salt, and strong cheezy flavors (xtra sharp cheddars, stilton,etc). The GreenCan always had a weird texture tho. Fresh PR doesnt cut it on top of red-sauce to my taste. I prefer romano for the extra sharpness, or more usually nothing. Pasta with nothing but olive oil and a metric ton of PR is a delight. And its a darn nice thing to be able to put it on the table in 20 min by grating it in advance and freezing it. Bless the freezer. One day we will re-establish the grating-at-table ritual, but for now, its nice to be able to make do. And bless the greencan, for all I dont like it anymore ( I did go and check at a friends house). <yes,I know it doesnt take 20 min to boil pasta and grate cheese. Part of that time is spent prep'ing veggies etc. You dont like your cheese frozen, dont freeze it. It works for me. And gives the kid something to feel superior about when she's a teenage cook. ewwwww, my mom used to....ewwwwwww.>

Me too. And also :happy: because that means I've changed, and that can be good. I remember progressing from the green can to the grated stuff in the fridge at Trader Joes, to buying actual blocks of cheese at a high quality shop (suitable for eating alone or grating on plain pasta), to buying larger blocks at Price Club, grating and freezing it for future speed. Im working toward that 30 min meal prep time that allows a few of those 2 min and 30 second steps... by the time I get there, it'll probably be tolerable to have the grater at table without the munchkin wanting to test the gratability of little fingers. But godforbid a child try less than perfect italian food until its old enough to appreciate every nuance. Even if cooked by the italian neighbors. And godknows there are no bad cooks in italy...

The Brussels are sprouting. The guavas are swelling. The passion fruit has been fed (fingers crossed). The silly tomatoes have new growth and the late planted oregano, thyme & carrots gave up the ghost after several weeks. They seem to be timing the light, because the weather's been plenty sunny and warm. But the basil plants (4 of em now) are going great guns. Ditto the cilantro. And the tuberose bloomed, for which I thank you, Toliver. Without your rhapsodies on this flower I too like, I never would have thunk to plant it.

Comfort food and childhood favorites have no logic. They just are. Its possible to know something is "bad" food and still enjoy eating it. I am endlessly amused by the self-righteous tone so often given to the factual statement that it only takes a couple minutes to do thus-and-such "right". Those couple minutes add up over the course of preparing a meal (2 min here for salad dressing, 2 min there to make the mayo for the dressing, 2 min to grate the cheese, blah blah blah). These days, with 20 min from start to dinner on the table, I'm taking shortcuts I never dreamed possible 3 years ago. Pre-grated cheese, whether grated in bulk at home or the store, is a god-send. Its been ages since I tasted green-can Kraft, so long I had no idea the packaging's been changed. Gotta go try some, and see how it measures up to memory and to which memory, the early childhood ones, when I first tasted Italian food, or the later ones when chunks of cheese were a staple. Without the green-can, I'd never have eaten spaghetti. It wasnt salty enough. So, it did me a favor and opened the door a crack to a whole new world. Nothing to vilify about that, IMO.

The vicarious travel is such a wonderful part of these blogs. This blog is amazingly photo-rich, including a beautiful child and beautiful cats. Your Sam looks like a tom cat I used to own - big soft and in charge.

All of those, and Coquilles St Jacques. I'm also fond of rumaki.

If that isn't foodie art, I don't know what is. Just beautiful... ← Toliver beat me to it. Beautiful Still-Life for Gazpacho. If it were in tighter focus, I'd be tempted to print it as a poster. I miss grouper.. How come you get it in Moab but I havent seen it in San Diego? <pout>

Actually, I think it would take you two weeks to become suspicious.

Chef Allen's: I enjoyed eating there 15 years ago. I'm glad to hear its still good. Also Mark's Place (the first one, I understand there are several now).

There is a flower stalk forming on the tuberrose.

I think your suggestion of asking another server about the restaurant's tipping policy is a good one. It makes sense to verify before giving up a place you enjoy, calling the law on someone, etc. I've been mad enough at a boss to forgo one night's tip income in order to make his life harder.

So glad to see you blogging, FFB. Those tomatos... oh ......... The banana dessert looks very good. Blue-cheese stuffed burgers.... I gotta go eat dinner now.

Lovely. all of it sparking thought in me. and this amazing image quietly tucked in the middle where it doesnt stand out, it simply adds its shine to the whole:

Many thanks. All the little limes but one have fallen off. That one is growing well. Thyme is hanging in there, barely. New crops of basil & cilantro are coming along well and ready for harvest. I pruned the older basil plants and they are leafing in well, so its fresh homegrown basil on the termaters this weekend, and a nice lemon/cilantro sauce for the meat. I had to replant the oregano but now I see life. The carrots came up fast, but they are not getting bigger. The potatoes have me mystified. Gardening is good. The passionfruit is rootbound and needs feeding.

Vegetables are good for you. I'll give ya an extra 0.125 point for including a green vegetable in the dessert course. Shame there wasnt another one anywhere to be found in the entire meal.

Is it too late to vote? course 1: chef 1 has slight lead for presentation, concept = tied, originality = peach foie with ginger. I find Stilton stronger than gorgonzola, so thats a knock since it precedes it in the meal. Tie course 2: I prefer the sandwhich, but they both made me instantly starved for peachy pork. Neither really looks as polished as courses 1 & 3. chef 2 course 3: I'll pass on the mint with that course, despite liking it with curry etc. But that tart, oh my oh my. I wish the bellini deconstruct had been presented in a bowl or small glass/cup whatever, to give more than one bite. That would have tied or even raised chef 2 above chef 1, because that is one substantial meal each chef prepared, and I like the idea of the cleaner tastes after such a feast. But not just a teaser bite. chef 1 overall chef 1 8 chef 2 7.75

Expenses track easily in Excel. Its also good for generating shopping lists and keeping inventory. Put in the cost of the new bottle of oil. when it runs out, its easy to divide across the meals prepared since it was purchased. More pix pls! Maybe there can be an eGullet glassware charity drive. I'd send you some, but its all cheap stuff etched with the names of various wineries, which is probably not what you have in mind. good luck, have fun.

Has anyone been to Baci on Moreno Blvd?

I like La Gran Tapa, if I'm not in a hurry. Another place for similar food, same neighborhood, is Ole Madrid, which is perhaps more family oriented. Here's a list & a website: http://where2eat.com/Spanish_restaurant.htm Cafe Sevilla 555 4th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 • (619) 233-5979 La Gran Tapa 611 B St. San Diego, CA 92101 • (619) 234-8272 Ole Madrid 751 Fifth Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 • (619) 557-0146 Tapas Picasso Spanish Restaurant 3923 4th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 • (619) 294-3061 Tesoro Restaurante & Taberna 548 Fifth Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 • (619) 234-5670

My first thought when I read this is that the foaming is being induced by rxn with peroxide (think hydrogen peroxide on a cut). H2O2 tastes a bit salty and I wouldnt want to drink much of it, tho it is used as a dental rinse. Now Im extremely curious what Chef Cantu uses in that drink.

I'm with Pontormo - here's a write in vote for fresh greens (baby bok choy perhaps, or kale? but if I have to stick to the list: peaches. Have fun, y'all. Thanks for blogging.

Saw a toy refrigerator today, oh my. Garage sale price $5. Just the size for a playyard house. Im sooooo glad we are too far away to go to your sale, Racheld, as we have a bad 'thing' for glass, and a house full of it already. Good luck.