Kitchen On Fire - Cooking Indian.

For Mothers Day I received a gift certificate to Kitchen On Fire, a cooking school in Berkeley.

I signed up for an evening class called, A Summer Taste of Punjab.

Taking that class was heavenly for me.  The chef teacher; Vinita Jacinto, who was born and raised in India, classically trained at Cordon Blue, and has tons of teaching experience, was so enthusiastic about her love for cooking Indian, it was contagious. I loved listening to her talk about her memories of watching her family cook when she was a young girl, and her passion for spices.  On her business card she calls herself a "spice whisperer".  (Her website, The Spice Whisperer.)

Chef Vinita telling us about rice.

The 28 Spice Packet.

She say she's often up late at night, mixing and experimenting with her spices.  And in preparation for this evenings class, she spent some time and came up with a unique spice mixture and made little baggies for each of us to take home.  This mixture combines 28 spices.


There were about ten of us in this class and each of us got to make one part of the meal.  I made the Indian Potato salad with Yogurt dressing, and Cumin water or Indian spiced lemonade.  The other dishes on the menu included Tangy Chickpea Curry with Daikon Relish, Gingered Cauliflower and Fresh Flatbread smeered with ghee.

Chickpea Curry.

Whole Wheat Flatbread and Rice.

After we all chopped and cooked (and you don't have to clean! The best part about taking a professional cooking class), we plated all the food and served our selves and stood at the counter and ate and listened to Vinita talk about Indian cuisine in America.  (She says that no Indian restaurants really represent true homemade cooking.  Which at first seems surprising, but then when I think about it, same goes for American cuisine or really any restaurant.  There is "restaurant" food and then there's "home cooked" food, which you can only find at home, really.)

I wish I could take a cooking class every week.  I love it, it's so much fun. 

A few days later I made my own chickpea curry with peas and tomatoes, using her spice packet she gave us.  It's easy and came out great. One big thing I took away from this class; the spices always have to be cooked first.

The start of my own Chickpeas and 28 Spices.

Pork Belly & Off The Grid.

I'm a sucker for food trucks.  I'm always tempted by what they have to offer. 

With out the constraints and costs of running a traditional restaurant, food trucks are independent, nimble and extra creative in what they cook up. For me it's a great way to try quality food without the extra effort of going to a restaurant.  And the idea also is that they are a bit cheaper than a traditional restaurant, because of the low overhead cost.  But that's not really true, at least not in this area, as I find that most food trucks prices are the same as in a good restaurant, with just smaller food portions.

I regularly visit my favorite truck in Fruitvale, Sinaloa, which I wrote about here.  Sinaloa, makes the most amazing tortas (sandwiches) ever. Their $5 for a giant sandwich, is a steal.  I've tried tortas from many different places and they never compare to the ones they make there.

I have some friends refer to food from food trucks as "street meat", which always makes me laugh. Some people are too cautious to buy food from a truck.  Where is their kitchen, what really goes on in that truck anyway?  Food trucks, by the way, are regulated by the health department just as any restaurant is. 

Recently, one Saturday after a soccer practice I was finally able to go to a Off The Grid event. OTG organizes gathering spots for food trucks all over the Bay Area.  A "..roaming, mobile food extravaganza", they call it.   They are San Francisco based, and for a long time only stayed near the city. But recently they've come closer to Oakland and last summer they were in Alameda at a shopping center every friday.

When faced with a gathering of food trucks, the choices can be overwhelming. There is food from literally all over the world, tons of different types, lots of variety.  What to pick?

I walk around, take my time, reading the menus and I watch what others are eating.

I finally decide on Nicks Wheely Good Breakfast. Because....they have a pork belly sandwich!  Oh, I'm also a sucker for pork belly.  Pork belly is such a bad way to describe a cut of meat.  But it's the most tender, tasty, delectable part of the pig.  I never cook it and rarely, rarely order it. (Mainly because it's rarely on menus).  Their description on the menu; maple glazed, arugula, fried egg... convinces me to get it.  And a guy who just ordered one tells me that it's the absolute best and he always gets one when he can.   

So back to my Maple Glazed Pork Belly Sandwich.  I have to wait for ever for it.  But that means it's fresh and that's always good.  And when I see it....

Close-up of my sandwich.  Charlotte in the background.

I can tell right away that it's going to be good.  And it is.  Fresh foccacia bread, pork belly which is made into a tasty hash, with sharp arugula and a perfectly fried egg...all together.  A perfect blend of flavor and texture.  I'm oohing, and aahing while I'm eating.  It's incredibly rich, but not in a gross way. It's so flavorful and just melty. That awesome pork flavor that you can only get from pork.  It's the perfect meal in a sandwich. I'm so, so glad I tried it.  And I can't wait to track them down and get another one :)  And by the way, the price for this sandwich, $8 is really fair.  It's a big sandwich and top quality.  It's the kind of meal that stays on my mind all day.  An experience that lasts a while.  Really great.

The line was only two deep.  

Then of course I want to try desert.  And desert food trucks are not as common.  There are too many cupcake food trucks.  Anyway, I find this Pacific Puffs truck, all the way from San Francisco, it seems. Expensive, ($3.25) cream puffs.  I opted for the mini versions which are $2 each, so that it's easier for our family of five to share.

I really can't stand over priced food. It makes me a bit mad.  But these were good, and of course I wanted more than just half of a mini... I had to share theses with my three kids!

Three little cream puffs.

I can't wait to go to my next food truck gathering.  Be sure to go hungry, take your time and enjoy yourself.

Tiny Homes. Really Tiny.

I came across this movement of Tiny Homes.  Have you heard of it?  I don't know if "movement" is the right word, but it is a thing for sure.  Downsizing and simplifying, living small. People who build/buy and live in miniature homes, that can fit in a parking space.  Imagine that. 

About 320 square feet of living space, that's how tiny!  And they live in these homes, full time.

Tiny home (MoleculeTinyHomes.blogspot.com)

Cozy. Also from the above website. 

And by the way, when I googled "Tiny Homes" I also found a blog about a person who obsesses over decorating tiny rooms, like a dollhouse. She re-arranges furniture and re-designs the doll house rooms and takes pictures and blogs about it and she's quite popular.  She has lots of interested readers who want to know where she bought the furniture, or how she made that tiny throw rug. Who knew?  I love learning about quirky things like that. 

But these little houses for humans, are people's full time homes.  They are built on wheels, like a camper, to circumvent some kind of a building permit rule.  There are companies and contractors who specialize in building and designing these and their popularity is rising.  They are permanent homes usually even though they are on wheels.  They have little gardens and porches and almost always a cozy looking loft in the rafters for sleeping.

(From ecojoes.com/tiny-house-big-savings/)

I read blogs about people, and even families with kids, such as TinyHouseFamily, who decide to downsize their whole life and move into a home like this. 

It gets me thinking about my minimalist side.  I know that for me, having fewer things, and fewer things to take care of, clean, keep track of, put a way and fix, makes me feel better in general.  I feel less stressed, less anxious and burdened.   And yet I live in a largish house full of stuff, like most families do.

But on the other hand, I like to have things on hand, just in case. We are lucky enough to have a large storage area below our house (let alone we also own a self storage facility), and so I keep collections of things such as; various empty glass jars, a large amount of old towels and sheets, and about twenty different quart size containers of paint, because I'm convinced I may need those sometime.  I might needs those class jars for a kids project. like making snow globes.  And all those old sheets, I may need for Halloween costumes or a future sewing project.  And the paint.. I may find an old piece of furniture I want to fix up and paint.  I might.  

So I save all this stuff because I can and I have the room, but meanwhile it contributes to stuff and clutter in my house.   And that sort of clutters my brain.

And our clothes in our closet?  How much do we really wear?  

How much time do I spend shuffling my "things" around in my house?  I make a pile of things at the top of the stairs, to go downstairs, and pile of things at the bottom of the stairs to go up, another pile at the entrance of our storage space and a pile of things in our hallway that need to go to our garage. It's an endless cycle of organizing stuff.

I feel like a squirrel shuttling my nuts around my den, tucking things away.  Cleaning our house consists of moving things from here to there, to there and here.  

I wonder what it would be like to have to pair down your possessions to only have things you really, really want or need.  It sounds like a nightmare on one hand, (how would I decide what to get rid of?) but maybe it would free up my time for other more fun things. 

If I lived in a tiny house, then maybe instead of caring for and organizing my things so much, I would spend more time doing things I truly enjoy.  

But what do you do when you have friends and family over?  Most of these homes involve some furniture re-organization in order to reveal a tiny dining table.  The "couch" doubles as a storage container and bed.  There's just no place to hang out and sit.  I think that would be deal breaker for me. And also the fact that we have 3 kids.  There's no way living in a tiny home is possible with three kids.

Taco Truck - Sinaloa.

Once in a while I get obsessed with a food item and I keep on having to go back and back for more. I cannot get enough of it.  

More recently, for a few years now, one of my crazes is this amazing taco truck in Fruitvale area of Oakland, called Tacos Sinaloa.

And I'm not alone, it's got a ton of good reviews on Yelp.

I learned of this place, when I was working in the area a few years ago.  My husband took me there for lunch, and I have been hooked ever since.  Now, almost every time I'm in the area, I make sure to take a trip to "Sinaloa" (which, by the way is one of the 31 states of Mexico. I had to look that up).  I always get it to go, but there are little tables to sit at.  

My favorite taco truck.  Who is that lady?  I don't know her.

It's a taco truck, which if you've ever seen one, doesn't look very glitzy.  Some of my friends call it "street meat" and probably wouldn't be caught dead eating from it.  But the fact is that these trucks are regulated and licensed just as any restaurant is, and the food that comes out of them is amazing, and the prices are great.  When I go, I'm not their usual crowd.  Mostly Hispanics and mostly men eat there.  The reviews say it's in a not so nice neighborhood, but I don't think it's that bad.  

Sometimes I get the tacos.  Usually I mix it up with one each of pork, chicken and beef.  I love how they are nothing like the American tacos we know.  Served on small soft round tortillas, piled high with meat and finely chopped salsa veggies and spices, these tacos are a perfect bite of flavor.

I always, always, always get the same thing.  The Torta for $5.  It's amazing. Honestly, this truck was my first experience with the torta, so at first I thought tortas were always this good.  Since then I've ordered the torta at lots of different restaurants and it never even comes near to being as good as the one at Sinaloa.  That's when I realized this place is special.

Someday I'll try the other things on their menu.

Torta means sandwich.  And the torta at Sinaloa is made with a delicious fresh bun that is slightly toasted, topped with tender shredded chicken that has smokey, heavenly flavor to it.  There is some shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and just the right amount of a white sauce on it too.  The white sauce is kinda tangy, sort of mayonnaise-y but much better than regular mayonnaise.  The ratio of all the ingredients is just right.  The flavors meld together, and every single bite is just scrumptious.  You don't have that left over just-bread part that many sandwiches give you.  I always order the torta "with everything", because it comes with a side of the best pickled veggies ever.  Carrots, sliced radishes, jalapeno peppers and a wedge of lime. I squeeze the lime on every bite as I'm eating and once in a while I bite into a jalapeno to get that spicyness I love. 

 

The torta.  With the yummie garnish that comes with it.

If you're ever in Fruitvale, you must visit Tacos Sinaloa.    

Adventure Land Playground - Berkeley

The amazing thing about the Bay Area is that there are truly endless things to do. From restaurants, to parks to hikes, to museums, to.... anything.  I have lived here for sixteen years and there are so many places I've never been to.  Relatively recently I discovered Adventure Land Playground in Berkeley.  Info here.  Right by the Berkeley Marina, off of highway 80, plenty of easy parking and it's FREE.

Welcome.... Read all the signs.

Ropes to climb on, swing on, step on...

Structures built by kids.

Adventure Land is run by the city and it's basically a playground that has been built by kids out of scrap wood and scrap anything.  The structures are always changing, depending on what someone decided to add or take down.  The deal is, if you collect 20 nails or a splinter wood or trash, you can turn it in at the "front desk" for tools like hammers and saws, or a bucket of paint and a paint brush.   With that you a go to town and start building and hammering where ever you want.    What kid wouldn't love that?

A few steps away there is the rocky shoreline and a bit of beach, depending on the tide.  Also adjacent to Adventure Land is a big grassy field and a proper playground.

Looking for tide pools...

Watching squirrels.

Check their hours before you go... Nothing more disappointing then showing up, with kids in tow and realizing that it's closed for whatever reason.  I've done that.