Ack! I’m supposed to post!

Being in last day before travel mode, I did not prepare a post for today. I should have taken pictures and written about last night’s dinner. No pictures, but it was Bahama Burgers. The ground beef and seasonings were provided - I had to mix them together and form 3 burger patties. Buns and pineapple salsa were provided. The burger was GOOD. I’m not a fan of pineapple salsa so I skipped that but SweetPrince delcared it a nice topping for his burger. I added roasted potato wedges with some rosemary/garlic seasoning and a salad. Very nice. Tonight I will make salmon which will leave me enough dinners to get through next week for sure.

Meanwhile I have done laundry and packed and made a list of things I need to get tonight (after nails are done and face is waxed - PRIORITIES!!). I like to leave the house clean so all that is now done. I mentally checked out of work yesterday It’s so hard to just come to work for 2 days! However, I do have one large task I must complete today and THEN I can space out totally and mentally start flying to Austin.

I downloaded the session list and have my favorites circled. I cannot believe that even the 3rd time around I will get the chance to meet some new faces. Writers such as the much beloved Meteor Blades & Nyceve who exposes the health care industry better than Michael Moore ever could. Orangeclouds will have a food panel, Markos and Harold Ford will debate the differences in the Democratic party between the DLC and progressive netroots. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sticking her neck out and taking questions (pre-submitted, but still!). Howard Dean and Richard Clarke return for their third years as speakers or panelists. I am a tad disappointed that Obama wont be there - watching the forum last year I was thinking that by this time we would have a nominee (and we almost didn’t!) and for sure that person would be here. But, this is when he is beginning his overseas tour. No matter - nearly every key staffer from his campaign will be there. I think there is an Obama related workshop in every time slot!

What really matters though are the friends I will see. I have to admit to being particularly excited to seeing CommonSenseMainer again. We bonded so well in Chicago and have counted down the weeks and months until Austin. I already warned Bill that CSM will be mine He’s arranged a dinner tomorrow night that will be well attended by our Cheers and Jeers friends and more. There are parties being thrown every night. Including - yes! - the return of the chocolate fountain!! We missed that last year.

SportsBoy is now with his grandma in the middle of Sweden (he had been in Stockholm all this time). He has access to IM from there so all is well.

Anyhoo - that is the random and boring post of the day to satisfy my NaBloPoMo committment.

Happy Birthday!

You know what happens when your child is 23? You realize that you have taken very few pictures of them with your digital camera!! I need to scan some old ones in The one above is a few years old, but actually a pretty good representaiton of how he looks now anyway (hair is not as long or as blonde but at least this in this picture he *has* hair!) On 7/14/85 I was watching Live Aid on MTV and went into labor. I did all the things you were supposed to do throughout the day - went for a walk, took a long shower, stayed relaxed and made the decision to go the hospital at just the right time. My water broke as the Sea World fireworks were going off. No meds because once things got rolling it all happened too fast. As you can see even from this picture he has always been long and thin! He’s also always been loving and affectionate with a very tender heart. Also sharp as could be - though not something he applied in school (sigh). There are many who are perhaps surprised to know he’s made it to 23..given some of his less sharp moments in the past 5 years or so. But, he has and while he still has some debts to pay, I really do think he’s turned a corner.

Move 2008 - Week 28 and food for the baseball lover’s soul

A great week (finally!) when I met all my goals by Friday. Not only did I make it through an avg of 5-20 mins aerobic sessions, but I also increased my arm weight reps from 150 per routine to 180 during two of them.

After 2 hours of yard work mostly trimming way overgrown shrubs and filling two containers with debris, I decided to reward myself with a Padres game. Oh wait, first a photo of a flower on what is really a weed on the slope, but which is really quite pretty and I have no clue what it is! :

The yellow flowers bloomed at the top of an over 4 foot stalk growing at the top of the slope on the side yard. I took that picture from insied the wall of the flowers which are just on the other side, but have grown so high that they are visible over the top. If the stalk itself was not so gangly looking and kind of ugly, I’d be more inclined to let these grow! I still might…not really in the mood to climb to the top and pull stuff out!

MusicMan brought home some corn plants yesterday so we are brainstorming what to clear out so they can be planted.

Baseball - the motivation last night was the celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the 1998 National League Championship season. Given that was the year I made the final leap away from the Dodgers to the Padres (Piazza was traded away that year and he had been my main motivation for still keeping an eye on the Dodgers) I have a lot of memories of that season. 7/25/98 is when they first started playing Hells Bells for Trevor Hoffman as he came in to pitch. He had 51 saves that year (his uniform number!) and Greg Vaughn hit 50 home runs which the first time ever for a Padre player (not ever matched). The image of over 50,000 fans at Qualcomm stadium waving white towels was repeated over and over. Including the night that the Yankees completed their World Series sweep over the Padres. Except that the fans didn’t care. They stayed out there and waved those towels and cheered and cheered until the team came back out from the clubhouse (once the Yankees had gone into theirs to celebrate) and the fans of San Diego got to show their appreciation to the team one last time. Not one fan left and not one player stayed in the clubhouse. It was a big season not just for the team but also for the city as just a few weeks later the referendum passed to allow construction of a downtown ballpark - what would become Petco Park.

I was sitting behind the dugout and first base and had a wonderful view. I love how the current Padres are sitting at the top of the dugout to watch the ‘98 players. There were plenty of tear producing moments, but having general manager Kevin Towers bring out the jersey of the late Ken Caminiti….

..well…

The other cool thing is that in the month of July hot dog and sodas are only $1!!! So I ate dinner for $3. The team lost as usual…oh well. It was still a nice evening.

An unexpected gem

Last night SweetPrince and I had our standing Friday night dinner date. Our original intention was to go to Fidels which is a mexican restaurant where we particularly enjoy the crab burritos, but it is a very popular place and even at 7:45, it was packed and the wait was 40 mins. Plus, the bar was jammed and there was nowhere good to sit for that time. Back in the car we go and continue north along the coast which gave a lovely view of the sunset. He remembered that there was a newer Italian place that he’d heard about so we made out way there. Torches out front of porch seating just across from the railroad tracks and the ocean greated us. It’s called Cicciottis Trattoria Italiana and Seafood.

There were three seating areas, the outside porch, a front room which looked to be an add on - almost more like a sun room area, and then the inside room with the large bar and live music. We were asked “music or no music?” and of course I said music! I do like that they give you a choice For me, the inside seating was perfect because there was also a tv over the bar with the Padres game on. Right away, they brought us bread with a dipping bowl of stewed tomoatoes:

Oh, heaven! And the bread had a lovely warm center.

OK, I should be truthfull. That picture up there is bowl #2, here is what happened to #1:

The menu had a terrific selection of salads and appetizers and soups and pasta and wood fired pizzas. I mean, I wanted to try everything I saw. Initially I spotted a very interesting sounding seafood lasagna which appealed to both of us. There was also lobster ravioli which is one of my favorites. So we agreed to order both and share. Unfortunately, they were out of the lasagna! Seems it is a very popular dish there. So instead I stuck with the ravioli and SP ordered a linguini shrimp with diablo (spicy marinara) sauce. He ordered his personal favorite caesar salad to start. I was content with the bread and tomatoes! I ordered a glass of sangiovese wine which was one of the cheapest by the glass on the menu ($7.50) but was really lovely. Smooth and fruity with no after taste at all. Oh yes, given that my last review focused on the overall price value, this menu was VERY reasonably priced. In fact, at the end the overall bill for the two of us was the same as at whisknladle, but we’d had much more food here.

SP declared the salad delicious and he is quite critical when it comes to caesar salad. He likes to taste the anchovi, though the dressing should not overpower and of course the romaine should be crisp. The cheese was in lovely flakes over the top.

Then the entrees arrived:

The shrimp diablo was wonderful. SP used the bread to soak up every last drip of the sauce. The lobster ravioli was not quite as good. I realize that I prefer the dish in with a blush sauce, or vodka sauce vs this pure white sauce which was a bit bland. There were generous chunks of lobster in each ravioli though which was nice.

For dessert I ordered the creme brulee knowing it would probably not match up to what I consider the best creme brulee at Ruth Chris’ Steak House. I was right. The top part was too thick and overly flambe’d. The inside custard was fine, though not perfectly smooth. Served with strawberries and sprinkled with powdered sugar it was still quite a nice touch of sweet to share at the end. SP wants to try the canoli next time

Yes, there will be a next time despite the not quite perfect review. There are many more items on the menu we would both like to try. Plus, the atmosphere really makes this place. The live music was one gentleman who could not have looked LESS like he sounded! Long hair pulled back in a ponytail under a fedora with a rather rough looking face and wearing abeach casual linen button down shirt and khaki slacks, he looked like a local folksy musician from the beach. But, he played the keyboards and sang just beautifully! From operatic Boccelli pieces to Andrew Lloyd Weber to the Beatles to Sinatra to finishing up as ate dessert with Billy Joel’s Piano Man. He was wonderful! Even though we arrived around 8pm, the place steadily filled up so that by the time we left every table was filled in all eating areas. Service was excellent. Very attentive. Water refills and bread/tomatoes came frequently. And the value - fabulous! With the wine and dessert, two entres and the salad it was just over $60 before tip. Given the location, atmosphere and entertainment, that was well worth it!

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Gardening day today. Lots of overgrown things to cut back.

Dream Dinner #4 + This Week in Politics

Summertime Pasta. Chicken, penne, capers, onions and a very light sauce that was chicken broth based with lemon zest and some other seasons that I just don’t remember! But, it was indeed a very light summery flovred pasta which I paired with some peas and carrots. I got 6 servings of this one so I’ll finally have some leftovers! You see, when there are only 3 servings that really counts as 2 since SweetPrince has a rather errr…hefty appetite! This one was super easy - throw it all in the baking dish and bake for 30 mins. Done. Zero effort tonight. I like that

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TWIP: Links to two essays stood out for me this week. First, a diary by Kos on Clinton/Obama and their FISA votes which reflects pretty closely the way I have read this situation. Also for the record, I joined the group on BarackObama.com to protest his FISA vote - the group which rapidly became the largest on his site. I applaud him for supporting our right to disagree with him and for providing us a way to organize and do that.

Second, a diary by my new favorite author to plug, orangeclouds115. Not food related though! Just a tale of her encounter with a book store owner and her thought process as she debated issue with him. I normally disagree with calling people idiots - unless of course, they are. And in this case since the guys argument never got more nuanced than “Liberals want a national bedtime!”, well……if the shoe fits! Also, I know this guy is in no way reflective of everyone from the other side. But he’s a funny example of how people can latch onto a very shallow perception of things and never sway from it. Thank you corporate media.

Dream Dinner #3

Southwest steaks. What I prepared there was the spice mixture that I rubbed on the steaks before cooking them. The long grain rice package was part of a promotional give away from one of their food suppliers that was given to me as I left. So all I had to add was the salad with dried cranberries (my new favorite salad ingredient). I’m rating this as only ‘ok’ though partly for my own issue of leaving the steaks in the broiler too long. I like them medium rare, but they came out more medium well. Still, the effort on my part tonight was just to rub the steaks with the pre-mixed seasoning rub. The rice took 25 mins to cook while I was fixing the steaks. Overall then, a nice dinner for the short time and effort tonight, though perhaps not one I will choose again since I was not thrilled with the flavor of the rub. Of course, I cannot remember what went into it!! I think next time I am going to write down the main ingredients on my labels!Up next: Summertime Pasta tomorrow night.

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Sports Boy is clearly getting a touch home sick or perhaps bored with his routine. It’s been two weeks as of today that he’s been gone and he not only popped up for chats yesterday and again this morning, not only emailed me back in response to my updates from the ballgame last night, he even called again today! Two days in a row! He said he wants to ‘call as much as possible’ before he travels to see his grandmother and will lose the easy telephone and email access. Luckily the timing for that switch to a location when he cannot communicate so much is good. He’ll be with her when I am in Austin.

Apparently his dad had forwarded him a message from Coach (when you see that, I mean his football coach since he will forever be known as Coach to SB) who wanted the boys to keep up a fitness regimen. Well, sharp little SB noticed Coaches email address and promptly sent him a message. Since Coach is literally one of the really really Good Guys, he replied and the two of them exchanged several messages today about staying in shape and (ulp) girls! I emailed Coach to thank him for his patience, but to stop being a bad influence (jokingly of course) - bad enough that he allowed his team to have cheerleaders this year I said. I was hoping to stall the girl crazy stage a little while longer. His reply? “Too late!” Oh joy!

Yes, with the all star teams all losing last night, we are now officially on the countdown to football here! I am sure all of you readers are getting pumped up for it too. Right? All together now: GO FALCONS!

Food for your (childhood) ears

Road Runner Theme

Are you there? Sitting on the floor in front of the tv in your pajamas on a Saturday morning? I love how it ends in an ad for Keds. Remember those? Run faster! Jump higher! Oh, I wanted Keds shoes!!

Of course, if you are a girl of a certain age you know you watched this one:

Osmonds

Ah…memories!

But one of my favorites was this one:

H.R. Puff N Stuff

Sid and Marty Kroft were the original stoners weren’t they? Think about the shows they created! This one, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost, Bugaboos! Their wiki entry says they denied the drug influence claims but…well….you have to wonder!!

I have to thank the morning radio show for inspiring this. They took requests and played all these fun morning shows and those three were the ones that made me smile.

Dance fest pictures!

I told you that my friend Grumpy would get me those pictures (still waiting for the ones from the ex….don’t hold your breath!)

All photos are here. Just a disclaimer - I look horrible!! Damn wind blowing my hair into a mess and then, well, I never photograph well, but I also rarely care. It’s just…ooog..these are bad!! And hello? Could my kid be more serious?

Dream Dinner #2

As you can tell by the bites, I almost forgot to take a picture of this one!! Pulled pork sandwiches. The meat, sauce and bread provided by DD. Corn on the cob on sale at Vons. The suggested side dish was cole slaw, and I suppose a green salad would have been healthier, but the cobs are in season, on sale, and really really yummy right now! Had them at each bbq last week too. Yes, I realize the irony after my psuedo corn rant yesterday! But hey, this wasn’t HFCS. Though, I was not into label reading the night I blended the sauce and I suspect that some may have snuck into one of those ingredients. That was not pre-made bbq sauce - I blended it at Dream Dinners. Honey, dijon mustard and…other stuff that I cannot remember!! But, it was good! Sweet Prince agreed as well. 20 mins of simmering on the stove and it was done.

Next up: Southwest steaks on Wed night.

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If you follow my tweets you saw that I was watching a little league all-star game on Sunday. The team that SportsBoy practiced with for his last week in town - and the one he would have been on had he stayed - has made it to the final round of the district tournament. If you following youth sports at all, all-star roads lead eventually to the Little League All Star World Series in Williamsport PA. Well, that is for the 12u team. Which two of our friends from travel ball ARE on - they are so good that they were picked as 11 year olds. This though is the 11u team with many of his other travel ball team mates. I am not sure where *they* finish up eventually, but it’s quite a surprise that they even made it to this District final. Especially when one of their best pitchers was taken up to the 12u level. I watched their semi-final game and they were down 5-1 in their final at-bats and came back - with two outs! - to win 8-5. It was really exciting and a great accomplishment to come back from so far down. Tomorrow night they play in the final and I’m heading out to watch and support our friends. Plus I have to report back to SB the next time he calls.

Yes, I am heading out to Austin next week for the Netroots Nation conference. The alst two years it was called Yearly Kos since it was primarily a gathering of participants on Daily Kos, but it grew so large so fast, that it now encompasses many Democratic blog communitites so they have joined forces. Thanks LSM for the restaurant suggestion! I think we do have a night out still planned without a place in mind. Wed night when I fly in we are meeting at a more traditional Texas bbq and burger joint. From my prior experiences at the conference though, healthy eating is not at a premium

Food challenge for the week

I spent this past week eating a fair amount of junk - bbq at work on the 3rd, just about everything on the 4th at the beach house etc. etc. This week though, I can control things pretty well because I have the dinners already prepared and I bring my own food to work for during the day. Thanks to a diary that orangeclouds posted about two weeks ago, I’ve had High Fructose Corn Syrup on my mind as something to avoid. yes, I am back to her again since she writes so well about the food industry. I’ll give another plug for her blog La Vida Locale since I am using so much of her stuff! Here was the gist of that post:

Did you know that high fructose corn syrup is good for you? Oh yes! So says the Corn Refiners’ Association, which is launching an 18-mo $20-$30 million national ad campaign starting tomorrow. Phew! Time to celebrate with a 42 oz. Coke from McDonalds!

So I am looking at all my labels this week and doing everything I can to avoid HFCS which we should all probably be doing anyway. The yogurt I bought is without it (Horizon). My morning energy drink which *used* to be a Red Bull (I know, bad!), is now a Naked juice energy drink. I’ve just had to face that I need *something* to jump start my brain in the mornings. Otherwise I would get nothing significant done - and would be very grumpy as my mother will happily tell you - until nearly 10am. For whatever reason my brain is just not set to wake up quickly. I’ve tried and I cannot control it. Getting enough sleep is one thing, but even then I just cannot get it started without some help so for years I would go back and forth between coffee, tea, or trying nothing…and nothing just will not work people! Anyhoo….the naked juice drinks work plenty fine and have the added bonus of no HFCS. Which also means no sugar drop later on (which would happen with Red Bull). BIG bonus! So those two items are covered which really during the middle of the week is about all I would have potentially with HFCS. Next week I will be in Austin and who *knows* what I will eat there, but since it is a vacation - who cares?