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Crohn’s Disease and the Purple Party: Why They’re the S**t

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The San Diego Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

Imagine you’re a teenager. You’re in one of the stages of puberty. You’re trying to grow into yourself in so many ways. You’re going to school, making friends, finding extracurricular activities and hobbies you enjoy.

Yet, your path becomes frequently and annoyingly disrupted by severe abdominal pain and vomiting to the point where you become afraid to eat. You eventually develop a fever that lands you in the emergency room. Hours later, you’re admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery. You have ulcers along your digestive tract along with a blockage due to inflammation. Youre admitted to the hospital for an emergency surgery.

When you wake up, you’re told you have had an ileostomy – your colon and rectum have been removed and you have a stoma with an ostomy pouch attached. You’re taught how to live with this pouch, how you have to empty the pouch several times a day and change it every two to five days.

Great, you think.   [Read more…]

Five Reasons Why I Love My Life More Without Alcohol

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(Even Though I Used To Really Love Alcohol!)

My first memory of alcohol was as a little girl tasting my dad’s beer while sitting on his lap on Saturday afternoons after he mowed the lawn. I loved the taste of the “forbidden” golden, sparkly and fizzy-bitter tasting liquid that sometimes made me hiccup.

My next beer memory was at a friend’s house after school in 10th grade. Since no one was home, we downed a couple, I got my first buzz and loved it.   [Read more…]

Keeping San Diego Seafood Local

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Sustainable Seafood / Slow Food Urban San Diego

The Port of San Diego envisions redeveloping the “Central Embarcadero” an area that includes Tuna Harbor, where the majority of San Diego’s active commercial fishermen dock their boats. “Tuna Harbor is central to San Diego’s cultural history as a fishing community,” says Pete Halmay, San Diego sea urchin fisherman. “It was the hub of San Diego fishing for a 100 years and is central to our local industry today.”

Today, San Diegans have little access to locally-caught seafood, even though we are a waterfront city. The U.S. imports over 90% of its seafood and San Diego fishermen are hard pressed to sell their catch locally. The redevelopment represents an opportunity to invest in our local fisheries and reconnect with our local seafood system. It’s up to the San Diego to commit to this.   [Read more…]

Ensenada Road Trip

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From the Cheese Cave to Top Dining Destinations

W. Scott Koenig / A Gringo in Mexico

When El Gringo and family roll into the municipality of Ensenada, we’re usually headed for a weekend, tour or a great day in the Valle de Guadalupe, just northeast of Baja California’s third largest city. It’s been a while since we’ve “done Ensenada”, and we certainly haven’t done the “new” Ensenada that’s risen to culinary fame in the past decade based on it’s street food scene and boasting rights to several of Pellegrino’s Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants.

So when we were invited to enjoy a weekend and tour at the Hotel Coral and Marina, we set our itinerary to new adventure, loaded up the trusty Jeep and proceeded south across the border.   [Read more…]

Mexican Chefs Do American Steakhouse in East County

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Mario Medina and Eduardo Escalante add spice to Ramona eatery

By W. Scott Koenig / A Gringo In Mexico

RAMONA, CALIFORNIA – When I heard that Mario Medina was taking over the kitchen at American steakhouse The Main Course Restaurant in Ramona, I couldn’t make the connection. When I met chef Mario – originally from Mexico City – he was executive chef at Finch’s in La Jolla, where he prepared elegant plates of California cuisine.

Who would have guessed that the chef would be slinging large slabs of dry-aged meat in rural east county San Diego just two years later?

Chef Mario explained it to me during a recent visit to Ramona to sample The Main Course’s menu. “One of the reasons I decided to take the position here, is the availability of local, sustainable ingredients from the farms and ranches in Ramona.”   [Read more…]

The Tijuana River Valley Community Garden

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By Barbara Zaragosa / South Bay Compass

The Tijuana River Valley (TRV) was once filled with vegetable farms, dairies and ranches. As a matter of fact, the famous horses Trigger and Seabiscuit were boarded here. Today, many ranches still pepper the TRV. You can take horse rides out to the beach or buy vegetables at Suzie’s farm stand on weekends. Along the road in this sleepy area the TRV Community Garden also rents plots to local residents.

The Tijuana River Valley Community Garden has a simple goal: to promote healthy and fresh grown produce in a diverse community environment.   [Read more…]

A Re-Visit to Liberty Public Market

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“Could I Have Been that Wrong?”

Holy Moly! I’ve been lambasted for reviews I have done before, but none like my first review of the Liberty Public Market in Point Loma. I call it like I see it, but with all the positive comments – forgetting the negative ones for a moment – that the Liberty Public Market has received on my comments, I decided it was time to go back and revisit it. If I made a mistake, I am certainly willing to admit it. (And I do that – look at an old article entitled “If you have to eat crow how do you cook it?”) I gathered a few women from my widow support group and we headed over to the market.   [Read more…]

The New Liberty Station Public Market – A First Look

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As a recognized “foodie” I have anxiously awaited the opening of the Liberty Public Market. The one thing I miss most about living in the Bay Area is the “Berkeley Bowl” – a converted bowling alley turned into a multitude of food shops. From all I had heard, this new venture was a cross between the Bowl and the Seattle “Pike Place Market.” Even at my age I have not yet learned not to expect too much.

My friend Irene and I decided to take a look at this new venture on a Friday morning during the first week it was opened. Parking was relatively easy – but we noted it was packed when we left shortly after noon. We also found that most of “stores” did not open until 11:00am. But that suited our purpose, because we were just “lookie-loos” this first time around. Unfortunately, it might just be my “last time around.”   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Jimmy Carter’s Café

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It seems that this birthday has been going on forever. But this time the tables were turned, because I went out with Nancy and Stewart to celebrate MY birthday, and they found out that I was taking them out to celebrate THEIR birthday. Doesn’t matter, because we celebrated finding a great restaurant with an extensive menu and fair prices.

I remember many years ago eating at Jimmy Carter’s on Washington St. I was unaware that they had moved to the Fifth Ave. address. It was a pleasant surprise to see that this brightly decorated restaurant was still open to the public.   [Read more…]

Vermont Now Ground Zero In Fight to Label Genetically Modified Foods

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Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law is set to take place July 1—unless an amendment blocks it.

By Katherine Paul / AlterNet

The late, great political columnist Molly Ivins, who railed relentlessly against money in politics, would be all over the GMO labeling fight. She’d be especially keen to tackle the next battle, set to take place any day now in the U.S. Senate.

On Thursday, February 25, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry will take up a bill introduced last week by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). Roberts’ bill aims to establish a voluntary labeling plan that would block Vermont from enacting its mandatory GMO labeling law on July 1.   [Read more…]

Valentines Day Fluff for the Masses

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I skipped the PBS Democratic Presidential debate Thursday night. I heard that neither candidate promised to kill, deport or incarcerate any group of people. What are the Democrats thinking?

Instead, we went to see Aaron Neville perform at the Balboa Theater. It was a Valentines date and well worth it. The singer from New Orleans is 75 years old and didn’t miss a note during a two-hour performance.

Today I’ll share some tips on Valentines Day, post the weekly calendar and call it done. (See you Tuesday)   [Read more…]

Stone Fruit, Roses and the Wet Winter Garden

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By Susan Taylor

San Diego has had so much rain that while gardeners can continue to start cool weather crops we can also give the soil a break and think about other garden projects. The ground, beds and pots are all saturated so we can leave them alone for a bit.

This is the season to prune roses and stone fruit trees (plums, peaches and so on). AND, it is also time to plant new roses and fruit trees as well. Nurseries are flooded with bare root roses and trees. Bare root means that the plant was grown to be transplanted and is packed carefully for purchase and planting into your space!   [Read more…]

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