Culinary's "Concepts"

To answer this question and learn a whole lot about locally grown fruits and vegetables, we piled in the car and headed out to meet Tim Connelly of Connelly Gardens at his beautiful farm in Ramona.   In addition, Robert Farmer (yes- that's really his last name!!) of Moceri Produce, was along to offer his expertise (MANY years of experience farming and supplying produce throughout San Diego county, in addition to teaching courses in Agriculture, Organic Farming and Nutrition).  Check out Tim here, proudly showcasing one of his young peppers ~ not quite ripe yet--it will eventually turn red and sweet (we may have to head back there for that!!)

 

Of course, WE fit in right away at the farm, since Connelly Garden's tag line is "Growin' Crazy."  The field trip was a great success, and we learned SO MUCH about the process that brings fresh food from the fields to the warehouse to our kitchen to your plate!! FYI: This process usually only takes about 72 hours. 

We can now pass this info on to our customers, by guiding in menu selection (what foods to buy throughout the year), suggesting exciting new garnishes or food pairings (much more on this next week!), and providing general knowledge about what is locally grown in San Diego!

Find your inner zen!  Check out this blog entry about the Japanese Friendship Garden--an awesome, tranquil spot in Balboa Park.  One of our favorite San Diego Wedding locations, but also a fun spot to simply go for a walk to take in your surroundings and escape from the outside world.    

We are loving cucumber salads as a refreshing side dish option! Healthier than a potato or macaroni salad, refreshing (cucumbers have the highest water content of any vegetable), and delicious, a cucumber side is the perfect addition to your barbeque menu.  Try diced cucumbers, roma tomatoes, fresh basil, a sprinkling of red onions, salt and black pepper with a light vinaigrette.  Let the ingredients marinate together for a few hours beforehand and voila!  very cool...

Just read an interesting article about how much portion sizes have grown in the past few years. Read more here.  

As caterers, we know that an average dinner (including Appetizers, Salad, Bread & Butter, Entree, 2 Sides and Dessert) comes to about 25-30 oz per person.  That won't put you over the edge, but even that is a lot of food for a health conscious person.  But--ever notice what they are serving at Cheesecake Factory, Claim Jumpers, or Outback?  It's easy to overeat when all of food is set down on a plate in front of you!  Just some 'food' for thought.  My suggestion would be to ask the waiter to put 1/2 of your meal in doggie bag before you get it, if you know the restaurant you're at serves jumbo portions. 

Just heard that the bakery we LOVE to partner with for wedding cakes (and tons of other yummy pastries too!), Eccentric International Chefs, was featured on Fox5 yesterday as THE go-to bakery for Wedding Cakes in San Diego County!  And we've been saying it all along!  Chef Carl and his wife Melina make AMAZING decadent sweets and we are proud that they got the recognition they deserve!  I can't locate the link to the video segment, but if I do, I will pass it on.   However here is cool video clip of Carl's How-To Lesson on decorating wedding cakes.

Bad Cake: 

Good Cake:

checked out a favorite sushi joint in Old Town, Harney Sushi, last night (I know---go to Old Town on Cinco de Mayo and get SUSHI!?!  I think I was just Mexican-ed out).  For Dessert they served Tempura Strawberries over Vanilla Ice Cream with a Dash of Fudge Sauce.  My mouth was confused, it's used to the cool, firm texture of strawberries, but was greeted by a crispy outside and soft, warm berry center.  It was good, in the future I think it needs to be a little crispier to really execute this dish.  Overall.....

+  = unique taste and texture sensation!