El Cajon Oktoberfest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(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

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

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Sam Live Giveaway Winner!

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

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

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

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

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

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.