Black Bass in the Oven

A lot of my cousins fish for sport and my family sometimes get the bounty from these excursions.  My parents brought a black bass down for dinner and my mom has a new way of preparing the fish.

She fillets the fish and then lays it out in a baking pan with ginger and green onions.  She then mixes in a small rice bowl - fish sauce, light and dark soy sauce, oil, and water and whisks all together.  She pours the mixture over the fish and then bakes in a 350 degree oven until the fish is done.

The fish was delicious and I have a few pieces of tail left over to have after my parents go home.  Yum!

Lunch at Pho T Cali

Over the holiday weekend, my brother came down while my parents were visiting and we hit one of our favorite places for lunch - Pho T Cali.


Here are the various dishes we ordered.

Rice noodles with shrimp, chicken, pork, and vegetables.

Pho with steak.

Bun with egg rolls, shrimp, pork, and chicken.

Bun with egg rolls and shrimp.


On the counter, were were these fruit which we asked about.  It is called Rambutan from Vietnam.  The waitress stated that they are sweet and sour.

Prime Rib Dinner

When my family gets together, we always have a prime rib dinner prepared by my dad.

It was smaller get together and the dinner was smaller as well.  We had carrots which are cooked with the prime rib and some brown rice made in my new rice cooker, and a salad of mixed greens and strawberries.

It is always a very filling dinner with table leftovers for the pups.

Dinner at Tao

A while back, Val gave me some restaurant.com coupons for various places around town.  Since my parents were visiting, we took advantage of one of them for Tao.


I read the reviewed on yelp and there seemed to be a consensus that the food was great with a complimentary salad and warm tofu and a complimentary dessert.

This was the salad with a raspberry or strawberry dressing.


We order three dishes to share.

Mango chicken fried rice - tasty but not my idea of a fried rice since brown rice was served as a block in the center.

Yellow curry chicken - very tasty and a bit spicy.

Lemongrass shrimp - not very flavorful.  It could have been because my mouth was already full from mango and curry.


The plates were huge and they barely fit on the table.  We arrived at 5:15 and by 5:45 the place was packed and there was a waiting list.


Alas, we did not get a complimentary dessert and we left so our table could be prepped for another party.  Parking is tricky in the mostly residential neighborhood.

A Day at Coronado

During a visit by my parents, I took them to Coronado for a look around.  We parked at the Hotel Del Coronado which costs $16 for 2 hours.  We stayed less than an hour.  It was a sunny day and the hotel bar and restaurant were full as was the beach.

This was from the parking lot.

This is from the front driveway to the left of the lobby entrance.


We walked through the hotel and out to the beach.  Since no one wanted to go barefoot, we walked the perimeter of the hotel property and saw their garden.

This is the first time that I saw an artichoke plant.  It really looks like a weed.

There was also broccoli and other vegetables and herbs.  There is really a small amount of produce so I'm sure that it is not enough to feed anyone in the hotel.

I also saw this cool cactus plant.  I think it would thrive in my super sunny front courtyard so I will need to find out what it is.


We then drove around the island to see some of the super expensive homes before heading back over the bridge toward home.

First Knitting Project of 2012

I have been working diligently on my ongoing works in progress, but I wanted something that I would finish and maybe wear to Colorado.  I started the Rhossili Beach Watch Cap from the Wendy Knits Lace book but could not finish it in time.


I used Malabrigo Rios in the archangel color way which is a blend of pinks with some yellow and orange.  I made the medium and it is a little large but a snug enough fit.

The knitting has been slow going and I think I have too many large projects on the needles.

Chilly Colorado

I went to visit my bff, Val, for a long weekend and it was super chilly.  The temperatures were in the teens and the wind was whipping.  The last day I was there warmed up to the mid-30s and it was nice in the sun.


I stayed indoors pretty much the entire time.  The last time I visited, there was some snow but this time, a lot more snow covered the ground.

These are landscapes from the car ride from the airport.

I also was able to visit my boyfriend Bear, who now has cancer.  He was pretty lively while I was there which made me happy.  I hope he will be around for a while longer.

 I was able to get some cuddles in.

I had to put the choke hold on Aidan who was his usual mischievous self.

He is very photogenic with those eyes.  He likes to attack toes and fingers when you least expect it.

This is one of his favorite spots as we watched episodes of Criminal Minds.

We stopped at the Bonefish where the wait was 90 minutes and for our patience, we got an order of the Bang Bang Shrimp for free.  I had the filet and lobster combo for dinner and Val had the Kung Pao shrimp with udon noodles.

The family also gathered for a Mexican feast and it was delicious.

I made a burrito bowl with spanish rice, black beans, chicken, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, cheese, jalapeño dip, and guacamole.  I also had a bowl of posole soup.

It was a great visit even with the cold.  As a bonus, I saw a tree full of bald eagles on the way back to the airport and we also stopped in Lyons at a quilt shop.  I'm planning my next visit in the summer.

Unexpected Gift

I was surprised by a gift I received in the mail today.  It came from Beth of HansenCrafts of the miniSpinner fame.  She knit me a pair of yoga socks!


Here they are on my feet.

It looks the the pattern is from Patons Kroy socks.  Lovely colors and comfy to wear!  Thanks to Beth for her thoughtfulness!

Ballet Socks

Well, socks called ballet anyways.


At my LYS, the Needlecraft Cottage, there is a group that meets each week called sock addicts.  I decided to join to learn to make regular socks.  The group fee is $20 or free if you buy your sock yarn at the LYS.


I went in and bought some Malabrigo Sock yarn in the Aguas color way and the sock pattern is from Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks.


I started using the recommended Judy's modified magic cast on and started the toe increase.  The goal is to get to 64 stitches on each sock or 32 each half.  I'm also using the magic loop method.


After getting home, I decided that one of my toes was having a hole issue and I started over.  This is my first toe next to the photo of the finished socks.

I'm casting on the other toe and when I get it to the correct number of stitches, I will join both on the same needles.  I'm using a US 1 Chiao Goo needle.

For the pattern, I'm deleting the first and last 2 stitches to decreased the circumference of the sock.  Part of this pattern is to do cables without cable needles.  Lots of learning opportunities.


The group meets every week so I'm excited to see what I can accomplish this year with regards to socks.

A Tree Falls in the Backyard

When I moved into my house, I had two huge pine trees in the backyard.  A couple of years ago, one of the trees started to have brown needles and I had it cut down.  At the same time, I fenced the lower half of the property so the dogs would have an adventure land - which has been a total success.


Last year, I noticed that the remaining tree started to have brown needles.  It is the fault of those blasted beetles.  As fall progressed, the tree slowly turned from green to brown.  It was an eyesore seeing that poor tree out the window of my office.


Last night during the rain storm (if it rains in San Diego, it qualifies as a storm), the tree up and fell over.  The tree made a small sound and if I had not been sitting at my desk, I would never have seen it happen.


This morning, I was greeted by brightness as the sun rose.  This was the view from my desk.  I now have a view of the apartments down below me.

I went out and took this picture of the tree.

I think the fence is still intact at the bottom, but the tree is definitely laying over it.  Now I will need to have someone come and cut it up.

I went down to check it out and the dogs went through the big hole where the root ball was.  Both dogs were covered in dirt but they had a great time digging in the soft earth.

Mardi Gras Menu for Supperclub

Due to busy scheduling for February, we had our supperclub early this month.  Kim patterned her menu after Mardi Gras so she prepared a spicy jambalaya.  She stated that she cut the rice portion by more than half and it was great to have with the zucchini corn bread and the chicory salad.


Janet rounded out dessert with a banana pastry.


The corn bread was really easy to make but the stirring of the mixture took some serious muscle.  I think it looks a bit strange with those 5 slices of zucchini on the top.

The jambalaya was very tasty with bites of the bread which was served together.

Amy stated that her first batch of dressing used fine salt which made it way too salty.  So she made another batch with coarser salt.

The dessert was made with the bananas on the bottom and the pastry on the top.

Kim flipped the entire dish upside down and we served the dessert with the bananas on top.  Janet forgot to bring the vanilla ice cream but the tart was good without since it was warm.

It was a great dinner as usual.  Next meet up will be comfort foods - there was talk about short ribs and garlic mashed potatoes!

The Benefits of Living in San Diego

Since I was gearing up for another week of travel, I was able to take the day on sunday and just lay in my hammock in the backyard reading a book for 4 hours.  There was a light breeze and the warm sun making the temperature feel like 80 degrees.  The best part is that the date is January 29th.


That is the best thing about living in San Diego.