Seaport Village on the Beautiful San Diego Bay

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Jodee

By Jodee Weiland

When visiting the San Diego Bay on our recent trip to southern California, we walked down to Seaport Village to have a wonderful seafood lunch at the San Diego Pier Café, a dark brown building built out over the water and overlooking the harbor. This bay is the third largest natural harbor along the California coastline after San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay. It is absolutely beautiful, and no matter how many times we go to San Diego, we will never get tired of looking out across the deep blue waters and watching the beautiful sailboats gliding across the waters.

Another gem on this bay is the Seaport Village, where you will find over sixty unique shops and restaurants to visit while being entertained by musicians in the courtyards. People of all ages will sit and listen to the music, while others are eating or shopping. It is not unusual to see young children dancing to the music or riding on the Historic Carousel, the 1895 Looff carousel. There is a fountain and gazebo amid the shops and restaurants as well.

If you are hungry, you can eat in a bay view restaurant, such as the one we chose, or you can find a wide array of casual dining from authentic Mexican cuisine to Greek specialties to Chicago deep dish pizza and more. People ate inside restaurants or grabbed a quick bite to eat outside while enjoying the music and beautiful sunny day!

The shops are just as diversified as the food choices available in Seaport Village. You can visit shops that sell international flags, personalized wooden toys, distinctive clothing and accessories, kites, Indian jewelry and artifacts, shoes, artwork, holiday items, and more. The list goes on and on, but the most unique aspect of shopping and eating at Seaport Village is that while doing so, you will continually catch glimpses of the beautiful San Diego Bay with any number of sailboats gliding gracefully across the waters.

The brochures they hand out in Seaport Village will tell you that this is “Where the magic of the sea comes to life.” From my personal experience, I have to agree with this description. On a sunny day, walking anywhere along the San Diego Bay and looking out at the harbor is an experience, you’re not likely to soon forget. So if you get the chance to visit San Diego, visit the harbor and Seaport Village, and enjoy!

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Delicious Strawberry Apple Smoothie with Ginger

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Jodee

By Jodee Weiland

Sometimes when I feel the urge to have something sweet, I turn to a smoothie. I do this because a smoothie made with fruit and other nutritional ingredients can satisfy my craving and still be healthy for me. It’s times like this that I find myself putting together something like my Delicious Strawberry Apple Smoothie with Ginger.

Fresh fruits are always a healthy addition to any smoothie. I will sometimes wash and freeze fresh fruit for a smoothie I want to make. That’s what I did here with some fresh strawberries. That gives texture to my recipe without adding ice because my frozen strawberries become my ice in a way. Then I will usually add a fresh apple along with fruit juice to the mixture giving it even more texture. That along with grated ginger makes this smoothie a refreshing, tasty, and naturally sweet treat without any added sugar or honey. This particular smoothie is dairy free as well.

Delicious Strawberry Apple Smoothie with Ginger

1 cup fresh strawberries frozen
1 medium Granny Smith apple cored
1/2 cup unsweetened pure black cherry juice
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated

This recipe makes one smoothie. Put the above ingredients into a blender. Blend the mixture together until smooth. When done, pour into a glass and serve.

My Delicious Strawberry Apple Smoothie with Ginger has 264 calories, 8 grams of fiber, and is rich in vitamins and other healthy nutrients. Because there is no dairy, it is fat free. For me, this is a perfect smoothie for a snack or as a refresher before or after working out. I love a good smoothie and with the warmer weather approaching soon, a cool refreshing smoothie will be even more appreciated by most of us. So give this a try, and enjoy!

Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Jodee

By Jodee Weiland

I had never baked an acorn squash before, so I thought it was definitely time to do so, especially since I am so fond of so many varieties of squash. I already make butternut squash often with brown sugar, butter, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Sweet Butternut Squash with Chopped Walnuts is a family favorite in our home. Because my family enjoys it so much, I decided to try something similar with acorn squash for my Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. The biggest difference is that it is far easier to make. The other difference is that it has butter, brown sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, but no nutmeg or walnuts.

The idea for the acorn squash was to make it very lightly sweetened with a touch of cinnamon. For this reason, I chose not to add the maple syrup usually seen in a recipe of this sort. I also wanted this dish to be easier to make, something that could be put together quickly to go along with the main course. Since it takes a while to bake, this could be prepared and put in the oven before getting the main course put together. Just time it, so it will be ready when the rest of the meal is done.

Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

1 to 2 acorn squash (1/2 acorn squash per person)
1 tablespoon brown sugar per half of acorn squash
1 tablespoon unsalted butter per half of acorn squash
Cinnamon (a sprinkle per half of acorn squash)
Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Clean and cut in half your butternut squash. With a tablespoon scrape the inside of each half clean, removing all seeds and stringy pulp. Once done, score the inside with a knife crossing over one way and then the other. Sprinkle the inside with a little sea salt, but just a little. Place the halves in a baking dish inside facing up. Put 1 to 2 cups of water in the bottom of the dish or about 1/4” to 3/8”. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in each half, followed by 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon for each half.

When done, put the acorn squash in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for the 60 minutes or until tender. After the squash is cooked, spread the melted butter and sugar mixture over the inside of the squash and the top edges carefully with a spoon. Then serve the squash with the rest of the meal.

Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon has just the slightest hint of sweetness. It works well with just about any meal and is so easy to make. Served with a main course and any other vegetable, it enhances the flavors of everything with its very slight sweetness and flavor. This makes a great side dish and you can easily adapt the number of people to be served by the halves of the acorn squash. We definitely enjoyed this addition to our meal and will be having it again soon. If you decide to try it, enjoy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Jodee

By Jodee Weiland

It’s that time of year when we all start thinking about the corned beef and cabbage we’ll be making for St. Patrick’s Day! When I was growing up in an Italian family of six, we all celebrated just like everyone else. Mom would make her corned beef and cabbage, and it was always delicious. She may have been Italian, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make a great St. Patrick’s Day meal with the best of them. That’s how I learned to cook Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots, and I love it!

As a young woman and later, I was always mistaken for Irish. People would look at me and insist I was Irish or at the very least, part Irish. I usually had to go through the list of our family names of both paternal and maternal parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents, before they believed me when I said I was one hundred percent Italian.

Everyone in our family had blue eyes, my father’s eyes being such a vivid blue that they were frequently commented on by those who met him. My mother had very fair skin, so fair that she wore big hats with scarves over them in the summer to keep her face from getting sunburnt whenever she was in a pool. Consequently, I had the blue eyes and fair skin that most would associate with being Irish. I can’t tell you how many people over the years wished me a Happy St. Pat’s and added, “It’s our day to celebrate!” Well as a result, naturally I always feel it’s a must for me to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style, and this meal helps me do just that!

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots

3 and 1/2 to 4 pound corned beef brisket
Water (enough to just barely cover the meat)
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 small onion chopped
3 to 4 garlic cloves chopped
2 bay leaves
Spice seasoning packet (packaged with the brisket)
1/2 large cabbage head cut into wedges
6 small potatoes peeled
6 carrots peeled and cut into large pieces

Put the corned beef brisket in a Dutch oven with just enough hot water to just barely cover it. Add the white vinegar and bring to a boil. After a few minutes, skim off the white foam that will form on the surface of your water. Then add the chopped onions, garlic, bay leaves, and the seasoning packet that was packaged with the corned beef brisket. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to simmer for 3 to 4 hours or until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the pot and cover with foil to keep it warm. Before doing this, remove the excess fat from the top of the brisket.

Put the potatoes and carrots in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the cabbage wedges on top of this in the pot. Cover and boil for another 20 minutes. When done, slice the corned beef brisket, slicing across the grain in about 1/4″ slices. Serve the potatoes, carrots and cabbage with the brisket and your meal is ready.

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots is a delicious meal with which to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or any day for that matter! The corned beef is tender and delicious, while the vegetables are cooked just right and compliment the flavor of the whole meal. This meal is a tradition in our home, and we love it. If you give it a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at just how good it truly is. So my friends, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and enjoy!

Learn from yesterday, live for today…

Life experiences are what make us who we are today. Come share what I have learned from my experiences about cooking, traveling, and more, and enjoy!

Monthly Archives: March 2014

Seaport Village on the Beautiful San Diego Bay

Delicious Strawberry Apple Smoothie with Ginger

Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots