meandering eats

On Contentment: Sawmill Lake

2013-05-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

I sit on the edge of this lake and life is amazing. It's scary, frustrating, and sad, but it's also good. There are more stories coming, but I just wanted to share this.

On Direction and Apples: The Post That Never Was

2013-04-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Every year, I sit down and think about the direction of this blog. Given how infrequently I post, it probably sounds pretty surprising that I sit down and think about this blog at all. Nevertheless, I care about what I post and I'm always thinking about who I am as a writer. There are so many labels out there... blogger, writer, publisher, recipe developer, hobbyist, professional, photographer, storyteller...

Who am I? Why am I writing this blog?

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El Cajon Oktoberfest

2012-10-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we went to the El Cajon Oktoberfest, hosted by the German American Societies of San Diego. It was a great event with lots of fantastic food. Only here for one more weekend, it's definitely worth a stop for some fantastic food and beer. The oom-pah band is awesome and everyone there takes the Chicken Dance pretty seriously.

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Romesco: On Amazing Happy Hours

2012-09-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Most of my posts this year have been introspective, somewhat dreary, and always bordering on the clichéd. Sure, a lot's happened. My inner voice whispers:

Yo, lady, this is still a flippin' food blog...

That's right, it is. I haven't been faithful about the posting, but when I do, it really shouldn't be constant musings on my quest for school. At this rate, Frodo and Sam took less time to get to Mordor. Let's get back to the food, with my new love Romesco (not a new restaurant, just new to me).

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Monterey, Hwy 1, Nepenthe: On Silver Linings and Space Shuttles

2012-09-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

If things had worked out as I'd hoped, life would be very different right now. Perhaps it's me getting older, but I learned to see the silver linings in life. One more year in my beautiful home state and time to do things like drive from San Luis Obispo (more accurately, Cayucos) to Monterey via Highway 1. Lots of winding roads and spectacular vistas that can't be beat.

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Terra American Bistro: On Soothing the Soul

2012-09-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Multi-purpose planter is decorative and provides herbs for the restaurant.

Dan and I had an amazing meal at Terra American Bistro as a preview for San Diego Restaurant Week, starting Monday, September 17. As we sat in the warm dining room and watched the people around us, it was clear that Terra's an inviting place with great food that adds to any celebration, helps a first date along, or soothes an aching soul.

We definitely needed some soothing and if food is medicine, Terra was what the doctor ordered.
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Del Mar Rendezvous: Restaurant Week Giveaway

2012-09-10T15:04:00.003-07:00

Dan is rather ambivalent about media dinners. We've had some amazing meals thanks to PR outreach, but he remains a picky date. Say the words "group dinner" and he's out. There will be no making small talk with strangers, thankyouverymuch. However, when I first heard from Del Mar Rendezvous in January, he actually nagged me to take them up on the offer of dinner. My schedule didn't allow it, but when DMR came calling again a few weeks ago, I had to say yes.

For Dan. Of course.

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Humphreys Restaurant: On New Friends

2012-09-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

Things didn't work out for me this summer, so I will be in San Diego another year. Blogging will be sparse, but I am taking a hiatus from my hiatus with a few posts about San Diego restaurants.

Ah, tunnel vision. As I mentioned in my last post, I signed up for a couple of summer school classes. On July 4, I had attended the first lecture for each and things hadn't picked up yet. By August 4, I had spent the entire month of July underground, practically living on campus, and being challenged by a rigorous combination of Mammalian Physiology and Cell Biology taken in five weeks.

I loved it.

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Cake: On Birthdays and Dreams Deferred

2012-07-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to do homework.

I know, it's the 4th of July, right? And clearly, if I'm posting, I'm not getting much done. My heart hasn't been in much lately, just because I've been hoping for news that my life would change drastically.

The silence has been deafening.

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Pasta e Fagioli: On Stubbornness

2012-06-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am incredibly lazy about soup. It's not a difficult dish to make, but I often end up obsessing about the nuances. It's not just a hot bowl of liquid, but flavors that need to be tweaked and balanced. With my obsessive need for perfection in soup, borne from a lifetime of my mother's perfect broths, I've given up.

Last week, I arrived home from a fabulously fun dinner and my throat felt a little scratchy. I chalked it up to too much wine and too little water and went to bed. The next day, the sore throat was worse, along with some heavy congestion. That was last Tuesday. Today, I'm still fighting the last dregs of the cold, which yo-yo'd from bedridden to 95% and back.

At least, it's not like last year's plague.

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The Glass is Cold: On Life, Movement, and Limbo

2012-05-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

(top, left to right) Diane and Todd of White on Rice Couple with Joy of Joy the Baker; Dianne Jacob; Khao man gai from Nong's in Portland, OR; (middle, left to right) Coava Coffee Roasters in Portland, OR; pomegranate seeds at Mercado Hidalgo in Tijuana, Mexico; lengua (tongue) and tripe tacos from Tacos El Guero in Tijuana, Mexico; (bottom, left to right) Minassian-Young Vineyards, Paso Robles, CA; Jenks Lake, near Angelus Oaks, CA, site of Camp Blogaway; Fentons Creamery, Vacaville, CA branch

Imagine me with my face pressed against a frosted glass window, trying my damnedest to see what's on the other side. That's what life has felt like in the past couple of months. 6 trips in 9 weeks, with all of them fun and enlightening. Exhausting, too, especially for an introvert who loves people, loves to travel, but really needs time to dial down and recharge.

My last post was written on a lazy Sunday afternoon and it feels like I haven't had a chance to sit down since. The following week, I drove up to visit Todd and Diane at a lovely event featuring Joy the Baker, Cristina Ferrare, and lots of Kitchen Aid products, I had a fantastic time hanging out with everyone. While I was there, a rejection letter popped up on my email. Damn smartphones.

The weighty thought hit me... maybe I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into medical school.

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Spring Sunday: On Relaxing Weekends

2012-02-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

This? Sunday morning here in San Diego. Winter, we hardly knew ye.

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Sam Live Giveaway Winner!

2012-02-16T13:15:00.001-08:00

Image from thecookingguy.com

Thank you very much for all of your entries! These were the numbers each entry was assigned based on order received.
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Sam Live: Recapping the Livecast and a Giveaway

2012-02-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

Back in October, I had the honor of visiting Sam the Cooking Guy and the crew over at The Sam Livecast. It was a total blast. I showed up, we chatted, I watched some cooking, and next thing I knew, it was streaming over the internet. Dan said I didn't seem like too big of a spaz. Unfortunately, with fall being as busy as it was, I didn't have a chance to post about my visit.

The episode is here. I always cringe when I hear myself on a recording, like on camera or on voicemail. Yes, I do sound that ridiculous.

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Fried Balls of Deliciousness: Bitterballen and Arancini

2012-02-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

Arancini (left) and bitterballen (right), right before kickoff at our Super Bowl party.

This is technically an Amsterdam-inspired post, although I don't have photos of the bar in Amsterdam where we tried bitterballen. In fact, there's a lot of food from Amsterdam I didn't photograph, because we ate like gluttonous kings and there isn't always good light. When I hang out with Kirk, we EAT. Our marathons have taken place in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and now Amsterdam.

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Amsterdam: On Cheese and Bringing the Magic Home

2012-02-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

We had walked into the cheese shop from a brisk foggy cold. Pulling off our layers, we noticed the small shop was bustling with folks tasting cheese and sipping wine. Stepping down into the main area of Kaashandel Abraham Kef, we were greeted by a friendly woman who asked if we wanted to try some "khh-howda". It sounded like "chowdah," said a la Boston, and replacing the "ch" with a guttural, throat-clearing "khh" sound.

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Amsterdam: On New Directions, the New Year, and Nostalgia

2012-01-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

A year ago today, I was heading to Food Blog Camp and starting a course in Genetics at the alma mater. I went back to school for six months, spent the summer applying, spent the fall freaking out, went to Paris, and now 2011 is over.

The most telling sign that I have no idea about what happened to 2011 is when my day job had some recent major breakdowns. It involved a lot of backtracking and reviewing data. In a discussion, I remarked that one of our molecules was made recently, in June.

Everyone stared at me. Turns out it was June 2010. Wow.

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On Resolutions: Guest Posting at Kitchen Corners

2012-01-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I don't have my act together enough to post on this blog. I have a post in progress, but catch my first post of the year: a guest post on my favorite salad ingredients over at Kitchen Corners.

Damaris and I met at Food Blog Camp and I was so glad to spend a little time with her this summer before she moved to Brazil. She's an amazing person to chat with and has a great eye for food and design. Check out her beautiful blog and say hello!

Oh, and the anecdote about the maternity pants? Totally true. I definitely need to stick to a diet resolution.

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Meyer Lemon Sables

2011-12-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

The package was coming together nicely, but as I almost finished putting them together, I realized that my lovely little chocolate macarons had started to split. Their cajeta middles were oozing everywhere. It was clear that these wouldn't survive shipping without refrigeration. Baking them was a moment of overambition borne out of our recent trip to Paris. I'd wanted to bake a cookie that was undeniably French. The cookies were baked and filled, but the cajeta filling was just a little too soft at room temperature.

It was the day the cookies were to be shipped. Out went couple of panicked emails to Lindsay and Julie notifying them of the delay and then I had to figure out my Plan B. I still wanted to do something French, but it had to be fast and delicious.

Stress-Free Celebrating: Roy's Restaurant

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Growing up, we had big family dinners and my mother can put together an incredible meal for a big group. For the holidays, however, those big family meals were often at a restaurant. When I tell people this, they always cluck in sympathy (or is that pity?), thinking that I've missed out of growing up with big home-cooked celebratory meals.

As a kid, I wondered if I missed out. As an adult, I have to ask... is it that bad? It means not having to deal with dishes or having to clean your house. It means not having to stress over planning and executing the perfect meal. It means not having to feign delight and hoard Pepto Bismol if, for the love of George, people in your family just. can't. cook.

Mama's Pie in the Sky: On Missing Great Things

2011-11-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

I'm on vacation. I'm fortunate to travel enough for "Meandering Eats" to be a somewhat fitting blog title and this vacation is one of our major ones. When it was in the planning stages, we realized it'd be best to travel in November and end it at Thanksgiving. One of the first things I realized was that I'd miss out on Mama's Pie in the Sky and, as a delivery driver and pie volunteer, it was a major bummer.

Weekend Plans: Sublime Ale House

2011-11-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

What are your plans for San Diego Beer Week? If you're looking for something on Thursday (November 10), Sublime Ale House and Green Flash Brewing are having a Hops & Nosh dinner. Details here.

The busy continues at Casa Meandering Eats and, this time, it isn't about applications. We're going an amazing trip. I've tweeted about it, but if you haven't seen the tweets, then stay tuned for a surprise. I will definitely do a photo post on the road and I really hope I can do at least one written post, because my destination is one hell of an inspiration.

I'm leaving as fall sets in. It's time for hearty meals and San Diego Beer Week is upon us. I'm incredibly sad to miss a lot of the festivities, but I had my own fabulous beer + food experience recently and I highly recommend it as a place to put on your must-visit list. If not during Beer Week, then a weekend dinner with friends, perhaps?

Guest Post: Sugar and Spice Apple Chips from The Cilantropist

2011-10-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm still plugging away on getting things done, but the pieces are slowly reaching completion. Today's guest post is from a fabulous lady and great friend, Amanda from The Cilantropist. It's a story I've told many times... we met over a trafficky three-hour drive to Los Angeles and haven't stopped talking since. We've bonded over so many things, from photography to our beloved canines. One of the best things about being a part of the blogging community is the great people who have made an impact on my life. Amanda is certainly one of those people and I couldn't imagine life, in and outside of blogging, without her friendship. I'm verklempt at how awesome these photos are and I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do!

On Sunsets and Old Pups

2011-10-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

He reached the end of the leash, the tug on the collar reminding him that six feet was as far as he could go from us. A younger Bear would not have stood for it, straining wildly while one of us hung on tight, the leash wrapped tightly around our hand and wrist. Old Bear, however, accepted the restraint with equanimity. He stood where the leash stopped him and happily barked at the seagulls and sandpipers, looking very pleased with himself when they flew away. We started to trot up and down the beach with him, fully aware that too much running would mean a limping dog later in the evening.

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Farewell, Teej: Cucina Urbana and Balboa Park

2011-10-12T00:12:00.000-07:00

Whoa... still busy here. Between the applications, the day job, my new gig writing for San Diego CityBeat, and a bunch of other activities, I barely have time to stay caught up on my day job (the thing that pays the bills) and the applications (the thing that I hope will eventually pay the bills). Regardless, I wanted to share a fun afternoon with one of my favorite people at one of my favorite eateries.

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