Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Flavors of the week

cutie h.p.

Dumplings delicious

Laura R (who does not usually wear Jim's loose-fitting sweatshirt, please note), Hannah K, Jenny B, Ann C, Pam O, Kath S, Holly M

Ode to frequent flier miles; I'm in Orange County visiting Laura & Jacob on my fourth such trip of the year. Before making another "here's what I did" photo montage, I thought I'd go with a sub-plot of food.

On Saturday, a gang of JBU girlfriends now living in OC came over for a dumpling party. Inspired by 101 Cookbooks, the only food blog I ever look at, I don't know why I'm endorsing it because I'm neither a good cook or baker, we made pea dumplings. I thought they were yummy to the tune of eating 20, Pammy did not.

On Sunday, we went to visit Jake's dad and step-mom who live near Camp Pendleton in avocado country. Maria makes 1) the best refried beans, secret ingredients: lard and not stirring with a metal spoon and 2) the best salsa, rivaled only by Bryson Moore. Cheney cooked up perfect carne asada.

My favorite foods are anything from a country bordering the Mediterranean, Indian, anything from vegetarian brunch places in hippie tourist towns, steaks at home, and ("there-was-a-vertebra-in-my-menudo-in-Old-Mexico" Tex-)Mexican. I've had Mexican food in Siloam Springs, Dublin, Berlin, Athens, Melbourne, and Hong Kong, but lunch at Maria's house beats them all.

favorite lunch

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's another food blog you may appreciate. http://almostturkish.blogspot.com/

The author takes Turkish principals and/or ingredients and makes unique dishes. As a fellow Mediterranean food lover, some of these recipes make me salivate just reading them!

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Dan and Lynn said...

lynntrewDad and I are glad to know that an H and K steak ranks up there on top! Love- Mother

Amanda said...

yum--pea dumplings sound delish!

Jennifer Miller said...

You have such great pictures, awesome friends, and good adventures! I envy your travel time and friends around the globe :)

Manny Kay said...

yes! i taught him how to make that salsa.

The Frugal Muse said...

Shhhhh! Don't let the secret out about Maria's incredible cooking. The entire globe will converge on Fallbrook to see for themselves if the lore of the best mexican food on the planet is true.

Lucas says he is sending me to Fallbrook for a week for 'cooking camp' with Maria so that I can learn to cook all her specialties. I'm not sure if it's okay to tell your wife that you're sending her to her mother-in-laws to learn how to cook.... but, hey- whatever. :-)

Glad you had a great trip to cali!