Don't Pass this Over

Passover and Easter are a great time of the year for me, food wise. Well, okay, there is more to those days than just food. LOL. This year, we celebrated both Passover and Easter. We went over to my sister's in-laws for Easter and had a fabulous luncheon! Fabulous!! So much food, I thought we were having Thanksgiving. My dad was out of town for both of those, but we had a quiet Passover celebration with my mom, sister and brother in law. We didn't do the full on ceremony, which could take hours.  Even still, it took us about 1 hour before we ate and then about 15 more minutes for the after eating part of the ceremony. I blasted our Jewish folk music from when I was a child. My sister is not a fan, but I love it.  My mom made lamb stuffed with garlic on the grill. After she bought the lamb, we discovered you  aren't supposed to eat lamb for Passover. There are probably a lot of things you are or are not supposed to do that we did wrong, but we enjoyed it. It was still a special night of remembrance.
The reason the poached egg looks brownish is because my mom grilled it on the grill! Weird. We peeled it a few days later and this is what it looked like. We, of course, did not eat it because it stood out for a while. This is what it looks like after it has been peeled. 

 

Speaking of eggs, I participated in the Poway Easter Egg Hunt. We blew through about 23,000 eggs this year. Fun event!

 

 

Anyway, I made Tabouleh for Passover. Love that stuff.

 

Here is my recipe.

1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat (or couscous or quinoa)

1 bunch green onions, chopped (or chives or scallions)

1 cucumber, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 bunch of parsley, de-stemmed and chopped

1 bunch fresh mint, chopped

juice of 2 lemons or to taste

4 tbsp. olive oil

Or if you are in a hurry, buy the Near East box mix of Tabouleh.  Add in the vegetables, oil and lemon. I personally love the parsley and mint taste, but my sister uses cilantro instead of mint or parsley and that tastes great too!



Classic 50's Chippy's Diner

Mom and I tried out the new diner in Escondido. Chippy's Diner took over the Metaphor Café, which is awesome because it was seedy to begin with. Grosser once it was abandoned. Chippy's is on the corner of E. 2nd Ave and Juniper.  They just opened up this past February. You can check out the article in the Union Tribune.

I liked their look. Full of black and white checks, some vintage décor, old Coke stuff. It was quiet when we went there as it was lunch time. However, they are still brand new and have not even completed renovating. Part of the eating area was curtained off because they haven't completed that part yet. One day they probably will have juke boxes and more wall art, but they aren't quite there yet. I just like to support local establishments, especially one's that are trying to get up and running. I know how that is, after working for 2 locally and independently owned establishments.

Besides all that, the food was pretty good. Mom got a Reuben and I bought a cheeseburger. The cheeseburger was very good. I feel that if the meat is not marinated or flavored in some way, it is BORING!  This was not. The owner was a chef for several restaurants before this, so he knows his stuff. Oh, and besides, they serve Coca Cola, not Pepsi!  So booyah Pepsi lovers.

But the fries were what I loved the most. Their signature fries are served with scatterings of balsamic vinegar and minced garlic and sprinkled with parsley and parmesan cheese. Very delightful.

And don't forget the pickle!

They leave you with little candies with the check too. Saltwater taffy and bubble gum. So cute.