I adapted this recipe from one a person posted in a Craigslist forum. It's amazingly simple and delicious. Even Mika thought the meat (sans the vinegar) was yummy. Mike really dug the vinegar, I thought it was good either way.

-6 lamb chops, trimmed
-salt & pepper
-1Tbsp olive oil
-herbes de provence
-1 large shallot, finely chopped
-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle lamb chops with salt and pepper. Rub herbes de provence on both sides. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a sautee pan and sautee lamb chops for about 3-4 minutes per side. You may have to do this in batches. Remove and keep warm.

Add the chopped shallot to the pan and sautee until tender. Add the vinegar, mix well and boil until the vinegar reduces by at least half. Return lamb chops to the pan, flip to make sure both sides are covered with the vinegar, and serve.

Rainforest Cafe is an international chain of themed restaurants which feature a jungle-like atmosphere with large and pretty realistic looking animatronics. I've only been to the San Francisco branch, both times during a slow time, and I found the restaurant sort of sad. It's pretty dark and it reminded me of the dining area at the zoo, soon before it closes.

The first time I went to the Rainforest Cafe in San Francisco was last March, when Desiree and her kids joined my kids and I on a ferry trip from Jack London Square to Pier 41. We ate at Boudin, but we toured the Cafe to please the kids. They liked it, and I thought that we should probably eat there next time we were in the area. The opportunity presented itself yesterday when my father and sister were visiting from L.A., and I decided to repeat the ferry trip from last March. Mika insisted that we go there and I saw no reason why not to. My dad, who'd been there before, did say the food wasn't very good, but I am an optimist. The Rainforest Cafe made it clear that I shouldn't be one.

The menu at the Rainforest Cafe features typical American restaurant food, burgers, pastas, wraps, pizzas and meats. Prices are pretty high, with appetizers averaging about $10 and main dishes in the high teens to twenties. Children dishes, which don't include either drinks or dessert, are about $7. The place ain't cheap.

We weren't terribly hungry - I'd actually eaten before we left - so daddy and Kathy split the fried mozzarella sticks and the buffalo wings while Mika had the pasta marinara. Neither the cheese nor the wings were special, the wings were a bit spicy but otherwise unmemorable. The pasta - penne - was very unwieldly for a 6 yo (she ended up getting most of it over her shirt) and innocuous enough. The portions were in the small side, considering the prices.

I wanted to try "The Volcano", their signature dessert ($15), and I was also disappointed. The dessert consists of a mass of ice cream shaped in the form of a pyramid and sided by large slabs of brownie. Chocolate and caramel syrups complete the effect. The description (and price!) suggests that it's large enough for 2 or more people to share. Three adults and three kids couldn't finish it at our table - it's really immense. It's also not that great. The vanilla ice cream is generic, the brownie could be chewier and more chocolaty, and the sauces could have stronger flavors. I can only speculate that the problem is the lack of quality ingredients - so much money has gone into building the restaurant, that there can't be much left for the actual food.

The waiters, at least, were trying. Ours overheard my sister say it was my birthday and he brought me a complimentary ice cream sundae (just what I needed). They also sang me happy birthday. Yes, I was mortified. The kids enjoyed it, though.

In all, given the quality of the food and the prices, I'd avoid the Rainforest Cafe if I was you. You can, however, go and tour the place, have your kids see the animals, and avoid the food.

The Rainforest Cafe
145 Jefferson St # 400
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 440-5610
http://www.rainforestcafe.com/

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I think it's been many years now since Ben & Jerry's has come out with a flavor of ice cream I actually like. Meanwhile, they've gotten rid of many of my favorites, including the best flavor they ever had, Wavy Gravy. Still, I always try the new flavors they come up with, showing that I'm a pretty slow learner.

The latest flavor I tried was ONE Cheesecake Brownie, and seldom have I tasted a more flavorless flavor. The ice cream itself just tasted sour - no cheesiness, no complexity, just a note of sourness. The miniscule cheesecake brownie bits were also sour, though at least a bit chocolaty. They didn't add much. In all, a complete failure of a flavor.

This ice ceam seems to be part of a campaign to "end poverty", the carton doesn't explain how, just directs you to a website. I personally find it deeply offensive when big corporate giants like Unilever (Ben & Jerry's parent company), who themselves contribute to world poverty, by, for example, exploiting child workers, use the plight of poor people as a marketing scheme.

Chicago Blues Cafe is a tiny restaurant and coffeehouse located in the parking lot of the Palma Plaza shopping center. It started as a place where you could get coffee, then branched out into hot dogs, and has since become pretty much a full fledged restaurant, serving late breakfast, lunch and early dinner (they are open from 11 AM - 7 PM weekdays, from 9 AM - 7 PM Saturdays and closed on Sundays). The owner, Mark Tichy, is a colorful character currently running for city council.

I went to Chicago Blues Cafe for breakfast a few weeks ago, and had a very nice crepe, and I have since been wanting to go back to try their BBQ. The opportunity finally presented itself yesterday (my birthday) when Joaquin Deli, my first choice, was closed.

Chicago Blues offers a large menu of hot dogs, sandwiches, BBQ items and deep-dish pizza. My friend Cynthia had had the latter and has enjoyed it. Prices are moderate, with pizza slices starting at $4, and BBQ lunch plates averaging around $8 (it goes up to the low teens for dinner and combinations). You order at the counter and can either eat inside their little covered area or in one of the unshaded tables outside. There isn't really much room for more than 2 or 3 parties inside - but I find the place cute. We ate outside, however.

Mike had the links BBQ plate with potato salad. He wasn't happy with it. He thought the links tasted mostly like plain sausage covered by BBQ sauce, rather than by the slowly smoked links we usually get at our favorite BBQ joint. He found the medium-spiced sauce to be quite spicy, but otherwise unremarkable. The potato salad was also pretty pedestrian.

My dad had a hot dog with sourkrat and he was very happy with it. He thought the baked beans were very, very good.

I had the pulled pork sandwich, which is often on special for $5. The sandwich was huge, and definitely a great value, but I didn't find the pork very appealing. It had the look and texture of pork that had been boiled rather than smoked or baked. The flavor was quite mild (Camila liked it). I also found the vinegary mild BBQ sauce unremarkable, though better than commercial products. In any case, I wouldn't be rushing back to have this dish. All this said, with E&J's around, my standards for BBQ are pretty high.

In all, I'm glad that Chicago Blues Cafe is around, and I'd definitely go there for breakfast or for a hot dog, and might even give the pizza a try, but I wouldn't go for their BBQ again.

Chicago Blues Cafe
13802 E. 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-3053

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Yes, I should have known better, but a few days ago prompted by a desire to neither cook nor experiment, and a "buy one, get another one for $4" coupon, we went to Chevys in San Leandro. I, of course, avoided the baby back ribs. Instead I went for the beef fajitas, my ever favorite. The plate (see below) was semi-empty, I guess Chevy's has decided that roasted veggies are too expensive and that presentation is overrated anyway. I had requested the beef medium rare, but as you can see there was no hint of pinkness on the meat. The portions of sour cream, guacamole and tamalito were also significantly reduced since the last time I've had the dish - and there was no pico de gallo at all. I know that food prices have gone up, but that was just ridiculous. The meat tasted fine, but clearly they are tired and bored of this dish.

Mike had one of the seafood combos on special. He thought it was fine, what he expected from Chevy's, fairly consistent, decent food. The girls nibbled at their quesadillas.

For dessert we had their chewy sunday which was large enough for the whole family to share. It wasn't as good as the desserts at Chili's, but it was satisfying.

In all, I think I won't be getting a hankering from going back to Chevys anytime soon.

Yesterday was my birthday and my mom got me (by proxy) an ice cream cake from Safeway. It was a simple affair, a matter of vanilla ice cream sandwiched by white cake, and it wasn't the most delicious thing ever, but pretty satisfying. I do think that I like their regular cakes better. They cost about the same, I think.

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and I wanted to make some Mexican food. My sister Kathy doesn't eat Mexican food, however, so finding something she liked was pretty hard. Also, while I would have liked to make a mole, I didn't have the time to commit to it. So I decided on carnitas. While searching for the entree, I also found a recipe for polvorones, a.k.a. Mexican wedding cookies, and it seemed easy enough to try. Both were quite good. I didn't like the carnitas as much as my regular recipe, but they were easier to make (if that's possible) and, more importantly, they are made in the crock pot, which means that I don't have to be at home while they cook. They were succulent, moist, tender and not at all greasy. I'll definitely make them again.

The polvorones were also very good and very easy to make. I know I've had them before, but I'd never made them. I made them according to the recipe, but I used raw pecans rather than toasted pecans, as I didn't have the latter and didn't feel like toasting what I had. I also had to go to a meeting after making the dough, so I left it in the fridge for about 3 hours. I put it in the counter for about 15 minutes before baking it, though.

Carnitas

• 5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into large pieces
• 5 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 5 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 onions, quartered.

Place the pork pieces in a slow cooker. Add the seasoning and mix well. Top with the onions.
Cook in a slow cooker in low setting for 6 hours.

Adapted from epicurious.com

Polvorones

• 1 cup butter at room temperature
  
• 2 cups powdered sugar
  
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
  
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

In an electric mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and mix well. Add pecans and mix well. Divide the dough in two. Wrap each part in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Put about 2 tsp. of dough in your hands and roll into a ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat until the rest of the dough is used up. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the bottom is golden and the top slightly golden. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile combine 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar with the cinnamon. Roll the cookies on the sugar mixture until well covered. Place on a rack and cool completely.

Adapted from epicurious.com

Last Xmas I got a KitchenAid K45SS Classic 250-Watt 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer from Mike. It's the lowest KitchenAid model, but I'm not a big baker and it got pretty good reviews. It was also VERY CHEAP ($110, it's currently selling for about $200). I hadn't used it until now, however, because I needed a three prong adapter for my kitchen. Apparently we had one, but I couldn't find it when I looked for it.

In any case, it's been found and yesterday I used the mixer for the first time. Now, keep in mind that this is my first stand mixer - I've been using cheap mixers that you have to hold until now. But I loved it, it was so great to leave the mixer to do its job while I could prepare the next step in the recipe. And I thought it did quite a good job of mixing things. Anyway, for the time being at least, I'm happy with it.

On Saturday May 3rd, my birthday, I took a Southeast Asian cooking class at the San Leandro Adult School, taught by the same instructor (Jenny Sin), that had taught the Malaysian cooking class I took last month. It was quite good, though I didn't enjoy it as much as the last class.

Part of it was that in the middle of the class we had the fire alarm go off. It was probably the strong smell of the frying sardines. We had to leave the building and wait in the parking lot for quite a bit until we were given the clear to return to class. We couldn't continue inside, however, so we moved the whole class outside. It was a nice day, so I think that turned out quite well.

Another part was that neither dish we made (and we only made two :-( ) was my cup of tea. One was a shrimp sambal - and I don't like shrimp. The sauce was very good, but it wouldn't be a dish I'd made by myself. The other dish was nasi lemak, or "rice in cream", a dish of rice cooked in coconut milk with other flavors, and served with a variety of "toppings". In the class, we made ikan bilis samble, dried anchovies cooked in a sauce. The result was pretty tasty, but they were anchovies all the same. The instructor also cooked water spinach - which I didn't sample -, fried some peanuts, and served it with other veggies that I can't remember, but I photographed the whole thing so it should be apparent when I upload the pictures :-)

I'd like to be able to take more classes like this - they are a lot of fun. Alas, the principal of the adult school is considering not holding any more due to poor attendance. If you like/want to take this type of *very affordable* classes, please e-mail her at swong@sanleandro.k12.ca.us (her name is Suzanne Wong).

If anyone wants the recipes we've cooked, let me know and I'll type them in. I'm feeling too lazy to do it otherwise :-)

Sunday night Kathy and I took our dad wine tasting in Livermore. He loves to wine taste and Livermore is the closest wine growing region to San Leandro. We hit quite a few wineries (Kathy, a non-wine drinker, was driving) and I took a lot of notes. It's interesting that many wineries are now charging for tastings - and not necessarily the better ones.

Our first stop was Bodega Aguirre, where tastings are $5. It has a very small, simple tasting room. It was already crowded when we arrived there at noon, opening time. There were cheese and crackers offered, but not much wine talk. Indeed, we barely heard any descriptions of the wines we tasted, their growing conditions or even information about the wineries during our whole trip. On the other hand, it we rarely found any pressure to buy anything.

Bodega Aguirre seems specialize in blends. I found most of them to be very light and watery, with very little complexity. I like hearty wines, however, and oaky ones in particular. Some of their wines, like the Estate Merlot Reserva ($32) were earthy, which I liked. My father, on the other hand, liked them in general and got a bottle of the 2003 Merlot ($18). Given the tasting fee and the fact that the wines didn't impress me, I don't think I'd stop there again.

We followed up with Boaventura de Caires winery, where tasting were free but they had only 2 wines to taste - a Cab (Boaventura de Caires 05/06 Platinum Label Cabernet Sauvignon) selling at $39 and a white table wine (BoaVentura de Caires 2006 White Table Wine) selling at $22 (they also offer splits and magnums). I liked the cab, it was smooth with a hint of oak. The white table wine was dry (I tend to prefer sweeter wines), but I also liked it. However, I didn't think either wine justified their price.

The winery was very cute and quirky, with an open and informal tasting room. Several types of cheese were available.

Next stop was Little Valley winery, a cute relatively new winery that offers both wines and flavored sparkling wines. Their California champagne was fruity, with hints of melon. I liked it. I also liked both their Chardonnay ($15) and their White Zinfandel ($9.50). They were easy drinking, non-challenging wines, perfect for summer afternoons. Their Tempranillo ($18) was also smooth, easy and flavorful, I'd definitely drink it. Finally, their 2002 Clark Vineyard Cabernet was very unusual, it tasted almost like brandy - though I was assured it had not been fortified. Not my cup of tea. I didn't like the flavored sparkling wines ($14), they usually taste fake to me, but I did find the whole tasting experience very enjoyable. I'd go back here again.

The White Crane has a small tasting room which was very, very busy. It's no surprise because not only there was no tasting fee, but the wines were very good. The 2006 Pinot Noir ($45) has a medium body but was full flavored, my father liked it too. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon was full bodied, oaky and smooth. I wasn't as happy with the 2006 Zinfandel ($44), but I didn't note why :-)

I'd probably stop at this winery again, though I'd pray that it wasn't as busy.

McGrail Vineyards could not have been more different. It features a large, brand-new tasting room in the style of those of Napa and Sonoma. Very elegant and slick. However, there was nobody there - they think because they are relatively new, but I wonder. Tasting are free and the wines are also good and more affordable than at other places. I found the 2005 Chardonnay ($28) to be very buttery and full bodied, I'd drink it. My dad would too. The 2004 Cabernet ($36) was smooth but full bodied, very nice to drink. I don't have notes on other wines, so that's probably all we tasted. Their wines are available at PW supermarkets in addition as at the winery.

After this tasting we took a break and went into town for some coffee (yes, we hit Starbucks, we couldn't find anything else). We probably hang out there for an hour or so. But we weren't yet done for the day, though we only hit a couple of other wineries.

I'd been to Tesla Vintners before. This is a pretty nice tasting room, also small, where you get to taste wines from a couple of other wineries in the region. They also have flavored champagnes, and we tasted the peach one ($14). It smelled nice, but the taste was a bit off-putting. I did like the Singing Winemaker Serzando ($16), made with malvasa bianca. It was very sweet and grapy (yes, grapy, it tasted like white grapes). I also liked the 2005 Mattern Ranch Zinfandel ($23). It was good, full bodied, meaty. Dad thought it was nice. The Ryhan Estate Vineyard Rouge Sang ($20), a red wine blend, was well balanced as was the 2005 Malbec ($25). I do wonder, however, if I liked the wines here more because by now I was quite tipsy. I think that Tesla has a $5 tasting fee as well, but I didn't put it in my notes.

Next was Crooked Vine / Stony Ridge winery, where I'd also been before, albeit quite a few years ago. It has a nice, large tasting room with barrels. There is a $5 tasting fee.

Here, again, I enjoyed the wines. I was the 2006 Crooked Vine Pinot Grigio ($16) nice, well balanced and summerly. The 2005 Harriet's Merlot ($22) had similar attributes, but lacked a finish. Daddy wasn't thrilled with it. He did like the 2004 Crooked Vine del Arroyo Cabernet Sauvignon ($38) which I found chocolaty. He was less impressed by the 2004 Crooked Vine Petit Syrah ($38) which he found unremarkable. Their 2004 Crooked Vine Cabernet Sauvignon ($32) had a medium body but lacked oak. In all, and given the tasting fee, I'm not sure that I'll come back.

Finally, we went to Murrieta's Well, where I'd also been before. I'd enjoyed their Chilean inspired wines before, but this time I found them weak and lacking. Their 2006 Semillon/Chardonnay ($20) was nice, with a medium body. My father says that (at least back home) semillon is a cheap grape used in cheap wines (a favorite of drunkards). The 2006 white meritage ($24) was somewhat bitter but mostly fine while the 2006 Zinfandel had a medium body and was quite tasty. I found neither the 2004 Touriga Francesca ($24) nor the 2004 Zarzuela ($30) to be fully-developed and was equally disappointed by the 2005 Red Meritage ($35). They may be wines you want to keep, however.

In all, I will probably give Murrieta's Well a try again. Their tasting room is quite pretty, though they had some of the coldest attendants.

So in all we visited 8 wineries - quite a bit for just an afternoon - and had a very good time. I think that Livermore wines are improving, and I look forward to going again.

Mike got me a Hamilton Beach Liquid Blu 5 Speed Blender for my birthday and I tried it yesterday for the first time. It was OK. It did do a good job of blending and crushing the ice - a godsend after my old blender which took forever to crush ice and would start to smell after trying. But adjusting the bottom to the top seems tricky, apparently it needs to be adjusted really tightly, and my blender dripped all over the place. I'm hoping that next time it won't be as bad.

I'm a little concerned because I only found two reviews of the blender online, one by an Amazon customer and another by the never-to-be-trusted Consumers' Guide. But I'm not a particularly heavy user and only time will tell if the blender will perform. As it does, I'll comment here :)

I love short ribs. I usually order them when they are available in restaurants, and I've tried cooking them at home a few times, with various measures of success. I'm still looking for the perfect short rib recipe, however. All I know is that it will have red wine in it :-)

This one, from the Food Network, looks pretty good. I just put it in the oven, so you'll have to wait until it's ready to find out how good it is ;-).

Well, here I am, with a report on the short ribs. They were good. Good, but not great, and what I'm looking at this point is for something great. So I don't think I'd bother making them again.

For the time being, here is the recipe, as I made it. Note that I no longer use chicken or beef broth. Instead I add water and the corresponding amount of "Better than Bouillon" chicken or beef base. Also, I couldn't find good white onions at Safeway. They only had 6, and they were all bruised in some unappealing way. I got organic yellow onions instead, which looked better. As usual, I used "two-buck chuck" (cabernet sauvignon in this case).

Short Ribs Bouriguignonne

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 2/3 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/3 tsp. salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 lbs short ribs, trimmed
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 5 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups red wine
• 4 cups beef stock

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix the flour with the spices in a large bowl. Lightly coat the short ribs with the flour mixture.

Melt the butter in a large dutch oven and brown the short ribs on all sides. Remove and add the chopped bacon. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes or until brown and add the vegetables. Cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Return the meat to the pot and add the wine and the beef stock. Bring to a boil, then cover and put the pot in the oven. Cook for 2 to 3 hours.

Adapted from a recipe at the Food Network.

Prince Dim Sum House opened a few months ago, I think, at the space where East Village used to be. The restaurant underwent renovations before it opened as Prince, so I'm not sure if the owner, as well as the look and the name, have changed. The menu is pretty similar, as are the prices. I'd been to East Village several times, and this was my second visit to Prince as such.

Esthetically, they spiffed up the room a little bit, putting new furniture and a wine wall and removing the unattractive handwritten "specials" posters from the walls. Still, the room is square and has a flat ceiling, and there isn't that much you can do with it to make it attractive. The place is nice enough, but it's not and does not pretend to be, a "date" or "special occasion" sort of restaurant.

Service leaves something to be desired. We were seated quickly, but it took quite a long time for someone to come to take our orders. As we were waiting we saw the host chatting with people at one table, and one of the waitresses clean up another table, so I don't think the problem was that they were just busy. Once we ordered the food came to the table quite quickly, which we liked as we were starving. It took a little bit, though not as long, to get our bill. Prince, just East Village before it, has a printed dim sum menu and you chose what you want to eat and then give the completed form to the waitress. They have several dozen items, costing $2-$5.25 depending on the ingredients. In all, lunch here is comparable in price to lunch at most non-sandwich restaurants.

I'm not the best person to review a dim sum place - which is why I'm writing about it on my blog, rather than in one of my more formal (and edited!) restaurant reviews - as I don't really like most of what appears in dim sum menus. I do love pork buns, however, and that's what kept bringing me to East Village, and now to Prince.

Prince's baked BBQ pork buns are very good ($2 for 3). They are small and have a sweet glaze, they also have a nice amount of pork. I fear that they may be too sweet for some people, but they are my favorites in San Leandro. If you go, you should give them a try.

This time we also tried the Baked BBQ Pork Tart ($2.75 for 3). These are longish, thin pastries, also glazed and filled with BBQ pork. The dough is very flaky and Kathy liked it very much. I found them somewhat dry (though not nearly as dry as other versions of this dish) but also very yummy. We ordered a second serving.

I'd never had the Hong Kong Fried Bread Sticks ($2 for 3) before, but I was curious about them. They ended up being very light pieces of fried dough. They were a bit salty, but I thought they'd be delicious dipped in sugar - alas, there was none on the table. They were a bit oily, and kind of boring by themselves, and I wouldn't order them again.

The fried chicken wings ($5.25 for 4) were plump, juicy and very hot. They were lightly spiced and salted, so you could really appreciate the taste of the chicken, and I liked them quite a bit - but I thought they were too expensive for what they were.

Finally, we had the Layered Egg Custard Cake ($2.75 for 3 small slices). Neither Kathy nor Mika were crazy about it, but I thought it was OK if you like Chinese cakes. I do think Mika would have been happier with a custard bun.

In all it was a good lunch, and I'll go back to Prince again for those pork buns.

Prince Dim Sum House
14736 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-667-9888

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Last night, Kathy, my sister who is visiting from LA, wanted to go to Chevy's for dinner. Alas, we'd been there only last week and the experience hadn't been that great, so I wasn't eager to repeat it. I suggested Chili's, as I figured one generic, mediocre, chain should be easy to substitute for another.

My first experience at Chili's in San Leandro had actually been positive. Granted, Mike and I were in a date so that might have rose-colored our glasses, but we thought the BBQ ribs were pretty good as was the rest of the food. We visited again a few months ago, this time with the kids, and I wasn't as happy with the experience. I found the food to be tired, with boring rather than vibrant flavors. It wasn't bad, just not exciting.

Still, our choices, here in San Leandro, are dismal, so I figured we might as well go there. Once again it wasn't exciting, but it wasn't bad.

None of us were particularly hungry, so we decided to split an order of baby back ribs ($17 for a full rack) and get an additional half-rack for Kathy ($7, if ordered with another entree). Mike got the habanero ribs, and he liked them quite a bit. He thought they weren't very spicy, but I disagreed. Kathy had the honey chipotle ones. She thought they were OK, but that they lacked flavor. I liked my honey BBQ ribs, they were fall-off-the-bone tender and had a pleasant, sweet, flavor. So far these have been my favorite.

I had ordered the loaded mashed potatoes as a side, but either the waitress didn't hear me (it's a rather loud restaurant), or she made a mistake, as she brought us french fries and veggies instead. The former were very disappointing, they were limp and not very flavorful. The veggies were OK.

We also ordered onion strings served with jalapeño ranch sauce ($6, I think). Mike and Kathy thought they were pretty good, I thought they lacked flavor, and wasn't too happy with the sauce.

Both kids got mac-n-cheese. It is Kraft, but Mika said it was just OK. Both she and Camila ate quite a bit, though. Neither touched their corn on the cob, however :(

In all, it wasn't a bad meal and I'd go back once in a while for the ribs.

Original Review

As I reported here a couple of weeks ago, Blossom is the last restaurant to occupy the space on East 14th previously taken by Good Food and Szechuan Restaurant. I will bet that it won't be the last.

We ordered food from there Saturday, when I was too involved in the preparations for my birthday party that evening (which I'll soon blog about), to attend to lunch. Kathy suggested it because they delivered, and I always want to try new places in town. Oh well.

Blossom offers your typical Chinese restaurant menu also at typical prices - generally $6-9 for entrees. The portions are large, though not as large as those of other restaurants, which is not necessarily a bad thing. My problem was with the food itself.

We found the fried wontons ($3.25) to be a bit limp - though that may be because they don't travel well. In any case, I like them crispier.

The sweet & sour pork ($6) had a lot of breading, little pork and a syrupy sauce that just didn't taste good. Nobody liked it. Mike and Kathy did like the Szechuan beef ($6.55), but I thought it was very one-dimensional, it was too spicy for the kids to try. None of us liked the orange flavored chicken ($6), full, scrawny chicken wings with a thick, spicy sauce. They were difficult to eat and just not very tasty. The chicken chow mein ($5) was pretty good, Mika liked it.

In all, I was unhappy with Blossom and I see no reason to order from there again. New Hong Kong also delivers and is much better.

Blossom Chinese Restaurant
14807 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-614-8112

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

For the last few years, I have been celebrating my birthday with a Free Form Games murder mystery role-playing game. This year I chose their newest addition, Lei'd to Rest, which takes place during a luau in a Hawaiian beach. There was no question that I'd have to make Hawaiian food for dinner, and fortunately there is no lack of online resources as to what to cook for a home-made luau. The menu consisted of the following - recipes and comments are below:

• Kalua Pig
• Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs
• Macaroni Salad
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake
• Mai Tais
• Luau Punch

I've returned to Zen's many times since my original review. I think it's by far the best deal for lunch in town, the food is delicious and the lunch buffet very nicely priced. It's well worth the trip to the Marina.

Zen's has been open for two years and I only read about it today, which tells you I'm not as in tune with the San Leandro restaurant "scene" as one might think. And a great pity it is, because if its buffet lunch is any indication, Zen may very well serve the best food in San Leandro.

I found the restaurant on TripAdvisor.com while looking for restaurants in San Leandro I might have missed. I suggested it to my friend Aamani, who I was meeting for lunch, and she was all for trying it - so we headed towards Doolittle in the hopes of finding it, which we did easily. It's located in a strip mall, just off Fairway.

The little restaurant is pretty cute with a tiki-bar kind of feel. It has, however, two annoying flat screen TVs showing Filipino shows. They are very loud, making conversation difficult.

The buffet consisted of about 10 dishes, including a chicken soup, chicken and pork adobo, BBQ chicken, Filipino steak, chicken in a coconut sauce, and a few other dishes I don't remember now. There was one noodle dish I didn't try, and one green-bean dish. There was nothing else for vegetarians, so they may want to keep away.

Everything I tried was excellent, the meats were tender, flavorful and not exceedingly fatty. The sauces were full of flavor, the bbq chicken was delicious. My experience with Filipino food had been limited to adobos and lumpias, what I tasted seemed like a fusion of western and Asian foods - as you would expect.

According to its website, Zen's is also open to dinner until very late. They have music and karaoke some nights, so you may want to call them if you are just going for the food. I know I'll go back.

Zen's Filipino Cuisine and Ihaw-Ihaw (BBQ) House
13876 Doolittle Drive
San Leandro, CA
510-351-3312
http://www.zensfilipinocuisine.com

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

I've driven by Coffee Time countless times, but I had never had a reason to stop here. I usually do my coffee-drinking at Zocalo, and I rarely hang out in the Marina area. However, today I went to lunch with my friend Aamani to Zen's Filipino Cuisine and we wanted to get a coffee, in lieu of dessert, afterwards. So Coffee Time it was.

Coffee Time is a very small coffee shop. Inside there is barely space for a counter, a tiny kitchen and a few knick knacks. The place has character, however, like something you'd find in a beach town. There are three or four tables in a small covered patio outside, right next to the parking lot. It's a very relaxing place to seat in a sunny afternoon - even when you get to witness a police arrest (they did it very quietly).

I didn't ask Aamani how her iced coffee was. My peanut butter chocolate drink was mostly air, but it was refreshing enough. Not sure if I'd order it again. But if I lived in the neighborhood, I'd definitely frequent the place.

They serve a variety of sandwiches for lunch, perhaps one day I'll give them a try.

Coffee Time
2105 Doolittle Dr
San Leandro, CA
(510) 895-5997

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

My sister Kathy is in town and she likes me making her rum-based mixed drinks in the evenings. I seldom do it, and I'm not always successful, but last night she was insistent so I searched through the net for something I could do with the ingredients we had at home. What I came up with was this recipe for Pink Paradise, which I modified to suit the ingredients available at home. She liked it and I made her quite a bit of it :-)

• 2 oz Pineapple Juice
• 3 oz Cranberry Cocktail
• 2 oz Coconut Rum
• 1/2 oz Orgeat

Mix everything together. Serve over ice.

As I reported before, San Leandro has a new Farmers' Market, this time downtown. The downtown market is located on Parrot street, in front of The Englander and will operate throughout the summer on Wednesday evenings from 4 pm - 8 pm. The market was inaugurated yesterday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony involving the local politicos.

I think I like this farmer's market more than the one at Bayfair - which seems to be getting smaller. For one, it has more activities for children - including a stand where you can get elaborate balloon animals/characters made for only $3, another where you can get a caricature made for $10 (this was not a cheap trip to the FM) and one with face painting and so forth (which we fortunately avoided). They also have activities for adults, yesterday was cooking demonstrations (which I didn't stay for). They'll also have family entertainment, live music and wine tastings in subsequent Wednesdays.

As you would expect, there were several fruit and veggie stands - lots of ripe strawberries, cherries and even raspberries. There were a couple of bakeries, one stand selling honey, one selling Indian breads & spreads and another one a variety of dips. There was a flower stand, a fish stand and an egg stand - which means that if we miss the quail eggs on Saturday, we'll be able to get them on Wednesdays.

As far as food went, there is a tamales stand, a stand selling foot-long hot-dogs and teriyaki sticks ($6-9, I think) and The Englander has a burger stand. Unwisely, we decided to eat at The Englander instead, so we didn't get to actually taste the food from there. Next week.

I've heard rumors that Zocalo may open a stand at the farmers' market to sell its beans.

Here are some pictures of the market:

Yesterday my friend Lola and I went to California's Gold Country, for our yearly girls' weekend out. We drove east until we heat 49, and then north. We stopped in Sonora for lunch. We picked Alfredo's as it was the first restaurant we walked by after we parked.

Alfredo's occupies a very nice room in historical downtown Sonora. The main wall is brick with recessed shelves here and there displaying Maya and Aztec ceramics. Other walls have orange hues and there are couple of large stereotypical Mexican wall paintings. It's both stylish and informal at the same time.

Service was very good, the waiter was very attentive - and chips and drinks, and then food, came quickly to the table.

The major problem we had with Alfredo's was the food. It was just bland. Nothing had been adequately salted or spiced - it's as if they were cooking for middle-American seniors with high blood pressure (which may be their target audience, for all I know). The menu was your typical Tex-Mex, with entrees at $9 to $12.50. There is also a children's menu.

I ordered the Botana Combo ($8.75), which included four different appetizers: a good portion of guacamole, 4 beef taquitos, 1 plain quesadilla and 3 bacon wrapped shrimp. None of it was good. I love guacamole, but this one needed some lemon to perk it up. You could taste the corn tortillas on the taquitos, but the meat filling was to bland to come through. The quesadilla was just a cheese stuffed tortilla, with nothing to make it special. And while I didn't try the shrimp, as I don't like shrimp at all, Lola thought they were quite mediocre.

Lola had the same complaints of blandness vis a vis her entree, a combo plate of a beef tamale and a chicken enchilada ($10.55). She described the enchilada as "just an American enchilada" and while she praised the fluffy and light masa of the tamale, she thought the filling was bland and unsurprising.

As you'd expect, we wouldn't stop at Alfredo's again - but if you prefer bland food, this may be the place for you.

Alfredo's Mexican Restaurant
123 S. Washington St.
Sonora, CA
(209) 532-8332

Lola and I spent a nice weekend in the Gold Country which culminated with a late lunch in Auburn. We basically headed to the old town, and had lunch in the first place that caught our eye - we got lucky, because Auburn Alehouse serves very good food.

The restaurant is stylish, and doesn't really look like a beer joint. We were seated by the window and had a nice view of the antique market going on that weekend. Though the place was somewhat noisy, it was pretty relaxing for us.

The menu offers sophisticated versions of American classics. For example my burger was made with Kobe beef. Prices are a little high with appetizers averaging $8-9, sandwiches for $9-12 and main dishes from $10-25. But portions are very large and you feel you get your money's worth.

As I mentioned, I ordered the Kobe burger, a 1/2 lb patty that comes with bacon, avocado, American cheese, tomato and lettuce ($11). I substituted the fries for onion strings ($1 additional). The burger was cooked a little bit browner than the medium-rare I ordered, but it was still very juicy. The meat itself was very tender, but I otherwise could not distinguish a special taste to the kobe beef. The whole thing worked very well together, and I enjoyed it. The crispy onion strings were severely underseasoned, but they were good with some salt added. In all, I enjoyed the dish and would order it again.

Lola had the BBQ pork sandwich ($8.50) with a side salad. The BBQ pork was excellent, very flavorful with an intense BBQ sauce. I'd definitely order it myself. She liked the salad which had a simple vinaigrette, she particularly enjoyed the arugula and felt the greens were quite fresh. She also couldn't finish the whole thing.

We decided to skip dessert as they are all quite pricey ($7.50!).

I'll definitely eat here again next time I find myself in Auburn.

Auburn Alehouse
289 Washington Street
Auburn CA
530-885-2537
http://auburnalehouse.com/

Restaurant Reviews

My friend Lola and I went on weekend trip to the Gold Country last weekend, and spent Sunday morning wine tasting in the Shenondoah Valley. We hit 6 wineries, had a wonderful time and discovered a new and fantastic wine growing and wine making region. Pretty much every wine I tasted was good to very good, at one of the wineries I found some of my favorite wines ever. I was astounded, because I thought that that little known region would produce sub-par wines, I was definitely wrong.

Another great thing about tasting in Shenondoah is that none of the wineries had tasting fees and most of them offered a lot of wines for tasting. Indeed, after the first winery I limited myself to tasting four wines per winery, as I wanted to be able to hit as many as possible without getting tipsy.

Amador County specializes on Zinfandels, though Sangioveses and Barberas are also quite popular. Most of the Zinfs I tasted were very good, hearty yet balanced, and in the future I'll look for Amador County when I go Zinf-buying.

The International Food Market opened on the little outside mall where Prince Dim Sum House is located, a few months ago. I went to visit it a couple of weeks ago after having lunch at Prince.

The store is not very big but has big intentions. It sells Greek, Asian, Middle Eastern and Mexican products. You can find Indian spices and Mexican spices (not on the same isle), cheap avocados and fresh eggs, lots of boxes of Greek products and so forth. Their inventory is pretty eclectic and you really need to drop by (or, more conveniently, call) to see if they sell something in particular. I think the market will be most useful for Greek and Middle Eastern products, as there are plenty of stores specializing on Asian and Mexican products in town. I don't know how big the market is for what they do offer, and I'm concerned that the store may not survive. The woman who runs it, Eleni, is very nice and I'd like to see it succeed.

Now a note to my readers: please let me know of specific markets in San Leandro (and vicinities) that deserve to be visited and mentioned in this blog.

International Food Market
14624 East 14th Ave.
San Leandro, CA
510-352-1600
M-Sa 8:30 AM - 7:30 PM
Su - 10 AM - 6 PM

Wednesday evening we went to the Downtown Farmers' Market again. This time they had family entertainment and a few different stands, including one that serves coffee drinks and another one selling beautiful baskets. There is also now a place selling corn-on-the-cob, which the kids enjoyed.

Mike and I had the teriyaki chicken and beef at Meyers BBQ stand. They were both quite good, but not exceptional. The meat was very thin, tender and a little fatty. The portions were large enough for dinner, in particular if accompanied by rice. Chicken skewers are $6, beef $7, add $2 for a large portion of fried rice (which wasn't that good).

Today was not my day. I made both ribs and peanut butter ice cream, and both of them were a failure.

For the ribs, I used this recipe for Memphis Style Ribs, from the BBQ Bible, a book that has given me many a good recipe. However, either the instructions of how to cook the ribs were wrong, or I just didn't know how to follow them, for I completely burnt them. They were pretty much inedible. I still have a rack of spareribs and I will have to find another method for cooking them.

The problem with the peanut butter ice cream was not the recipe, but me. I just overcooked the custard base, This created a heavy custard with almost (but not quite) a chalky consistency that would not aerate or freeze properly. The results weren't bad per se - it tastes good - but it doesn't quite have the consistency of ice cream. Still, I'm finishing it. I may try the recipe again sometime, though I'll probably look for a simpler one.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day and I'm planning on cooking several things (burgers, chicken, potato salad). I'm a little apprehensive now. Wish me luck!

Today was Memorial Day and I had a BBQ. I figured it'd be a good reason to clean the backyard - and indeed, we did, which makes me very happy. We even put up the new hammock I bought last year.

Our friends Desiree and her kids were over, as well as Parker, Donovan and their kids. A good group.

Desiree brought a salad and brownies for dessert. I made a potato salad, which everyone liked. I also barbecued some chicken thighs using the method outlined here. I didn't make the BBQ sauce but used E&J barbecue sauce instead. I managed not to burn the chicken this time (OK, I only burnt it a little), and it tasted pretty good. I did have to adjust the time, as thighs cook quicker than a whole chicken.

The main dish, however, were blue cheese burgers. This time I used ground beef and also added bacon bits (fried bacon that had been crumbled) to the blue cheese and made the burgers with 1/2 lb of meat each. They were huge, but people did eat them. Mike thought they were "awesome".

I had some corn to grill, but I completely forgot about it. Oh well.

This concerns my Azeri menu posted at http://www.marga.org/food/int/azerbaijan/

Dear Margarita,

I recently came across your International Recipes web site and I was
thrilled to see the section you created on Azerbaijani food among many
others. Needless to say, I clicked to read what you had to say about the
cuisine of the country I was born and raised in.

Unfortunately, I was shocked. From the very first sentence, your
introduction to Azerbaijani cuisine sounded biased and I found the language
you described it quite offensive to say the least. I applaud and
appreciate your initiative, but I also believe if done it needs to be done
professionally and be grounded on sound research or at least personal
experience.

Let me bring clarification to some of the things you've mentioned in you r
article.

YOU SAID: At first glance (and at second and third), Azeri cuisine
resembles both in name and form the cuisine of its neighboring countries.
Indeed, it seems to me that Azeri cuisine falls right within what I know
suspect is a large Persian-Ottoman culinary tradition. It's therefore not
surprising that I have encountered versions of many typical Azeri dishes in
my previous culinary journeys. Azeris love kebabs (skewered meats), for
example, and even have their own versions of kofta (meatballs, ). They
serve a variety of dolmas (stuffed vegetables) and among their desserts you
can find such Middle Eastern favorites as baklava and halva. They even have
a type of meat turnovers called kutabs which are extremely reminiscent of
Argentine empanadas. And of course, the crown of any meal is a well-known
pilaf.

I SAY: Yes, Azerbaijan has been influenced by the food of its neighboring
countries, but it is not a one way process.Many countries have been
influenced by our food as well. Show me a country with the "pure"
cuisines. There is simply none. Also, note that Azerbaijani dolma (dolma
in Azeri means stuffed by the way) is way different from its counterparts
from other countries so well known to you. Azerbaijani Pakhlava is in no
way similar to Baklava from the Middle East you are familiar with. And do
you really believe Argentine empanadas found their way to Azerbaijan and
turned into Gutabs? Gutabs are indigenous to Azerbaijan. Would you also
claim that Japanese Gyozas are where Azerbaijanis drew their inspiration
and created Gurza, a dough pocket filled with meat? Then you probably are
not aware that Azerbaijan was a part of Soviet Union for 75 years and
traveling to distant countries was a very rare and almost non-existent
thing to happen not to mention bringing food ideas from there.

YOU SAID: I was thus a bit skeptical when I read that Azeris consider their
cuisine to be "unique and original" and unable to be confused with that of
any other nation. While I still believe that such statements are
exaggerations, to say the least, I was pleasantly surprised by the
simplicity of Azeri cuisine.

I SAY: This is by far the most offensive statement I've read so far in your
article. Azerbaijani cuisine IS unique and original in its own way.
Perhaps you haven't tried Piti in Sheki, lamb slowly cooked in clay pots,
or Dushbere, a clear broth soup with meat filled miniature dumplings. The
list can go on a on. There are hundreds of dishes in Azerbaijani cuisine
that do not exist in other countries. Moreover, Azerbaijani cuisine is not
simple at all. And the ingredients we use are not copy-cats from other
cuisines! The techniques we use to make our dishes are different too.

YOU SAID: Indeed I wonder if some of the ingredients that I encountered in
my Azeri journey, such as sour cream and salmon, are Russian in origin.

I SAY: Yes, Azerbaijan was a part of Soviet Union for 75 years and our
cuisine was influenced by Russian foods and visa versa. If you did a better
research, you would know that Caspian Sea is known for its rich fauna and
it is home to the most delicious Caspian Salmon. Oh, sour cream is used all
over the world, to my knowledge, not only in Russia.

YOU SAID: I chose the dishes I made based on their simplicity (I now have a
small baby which makes it impossible for me to spend long hours in the
kitchen), the ubiquity of the required ingredients and the overall balance
of the meal.

I SAY: Unfortunately, the dishes you chose to prepare are not the best
candidates to represent Azerbaijani cuisine. Some of the ingredients you
used as well as techniques are quite strange to me. For example, we do not
baste chicken in sour cream for Djudja Kebab.

I read that you have a baby and as someone who has young kids and writes a
cookbook at the same time I do understand it is not an easy thing to
compile such a comprehensive directory with international recipes, but I do
believe in the saying - ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST! Please research and ask and
you'll have a different opinion on Azerbaijani cuisine.

In closing, I would like to invite you to visit my food blog dedicated to
Azerbaijani cuisine. It is still new and I will be adding more post to it.
I hope it helps you understand our food culture better and makes you think
otherwise about the beautiful cuisine deeply rooted in the history, culture
and the tradition of the people who created it. I would appreciate if you
revise the section on Azerbaijani cuisine in your recipe project.

If there is anything you would like to know about our cuisine, please do
not hesitate to contact me at my email address. farida@azcookbook.com. I
will gladly help.

Regards,

Farida

Farida's Azerbaijani Cookbook
http://AZcookbook.com