Restaurant review - Tamarind

My sister and I were searching for someplace to eat tonight and came across this place at the Chino Spectrum...

As the sign says, it's Pakistani and Indian Cuisine, which I am a HUGE fan of.  So, I pull into the parking lot, practically on two tires that's how hungry and excited I was.  And I gotta tell you, it's unfortunate that this little gem is where it is.  It's a bit hidden at the far end of the shopping center between a vitamin shop and a sushi place so it didn't get much traffic when we were there.  In fact, we were the only ones there during our whole meal.

The interior is trendy and comfortable...

And the food....YUM!!!  We shared the Tandoori combo platter, samosas and garlic naan.  With the samosas (which were the only disappointing part of the meal because they were so small) our server brought two sauces.  One was a little bit sweet while the other was not, it was spicy and good enough to drink from the little tiny bowl it was served in.  (Rest assured I did not do this even though I thought about it more than once)  Here's a pic of it after I, uh, I mean we finished with it...

Sorry for all the blurry pics - it's the only kind my little phone knows how to take.  Anyway, I loved this stuff (I have no idea what it's called) so much that I asked our server if it was possible to buy a pint of it to take home.  She was so sweet - she gave us a bunch to take with us without charging us.  

So, if you're ever in the vicinity of the Chino Spectrum you have to go to Tamarind!  Also, if you're lucky enough to be there when the owner is there, well, let's just he's easy on the eyes!

Ireland here I come!

In dealing with bills, bill collectors and an ever-shrinking paycheck due to our sucky economy, I decided I want to join a commune. Or maybe start one, I'm not sure yet. So, like always, I start the necessary research and let me tell you, there are some really freaky people out there. But then I came upon The Village. It's a planned eco-village...in Ireland! I think I could handle that. Here's a list of some of their features...

A thriving community closely integrated with the town of Cloughjordan
130 low energy homes
A solar- and wood- powered community heating system
Pedestrian pathways lined with fruit and nut trees, and a streamside walkway
An enterprise centre and broadband
50 acres of land for allotments, farming and woodland
A centre of education for sustainable living
A hostel for visitors
A nearby train station and local car-sharing scheme

Considering that one of the bills I'm having trouble with is my car payment, that last feature sounds like it's right up my alley.

Anywho, here are some pics from their photo gallery...


The land - who wouldn't want to live here?!


Local pub - very important to know the where abouts of the local establishments!



Store who's name I can not read nor pronounce - anybody want to teach me Gaelic?

Fairymount Farm - I'm thinking this is the acreage they have set aside for members to plant and tend. Doesn't really matter, it's called Fairymount for crying out loud! I'm buying my plane ticket today!

Where did the sun go?

We have been having the strangest weather here! We normally have our daily dose of June Gloom that burns off around noon or late morning then it's bright and sunny and HOT. So far this month there's been 1, one, uno, un, ein, ichi day of sun. That was yesterday and it wasn't hot it was, well, balmy. A bit warm with a breeze, the perfect temperature for me (probably around 75 degrees). But today it's back to this...

GLOOOOOOMY!!

Yoohoo, Sun, where did you go?!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Just an update on the gardening venture...

My Oregano, which I started from seed, is actually starting to show itself

My cilantro, after the initial plant being picked over, started to grow this weirdness. The lower leaves are the normal cilantro type leaves but this stuff on top is just strange.

Mmmmmm...chives! Flourishing - yay!

And rosemary is doing quite well, I think some Gouda and Garlic stuffed rosemary chicken is in order!

My tomato plants (I now have 2) are also doing quite well. Unfortunately I have no current pics but the first plant is about chest height now with lots of flower, just no actual tomatoes yet. My pepper plants are getting taller but are also getting eaten by little buggies. I've been using this spray from Scott's EcoSense line that is called "Insecticidal Soap". It's slowing the bugs down but not actually keeping them away. I'm gonna have to figure something else out for that.

If anybody has any suggestions on how to get rid of the little pests in nontoxic way leave a comment please.

Baby Blanket

I know my last post was a bit, shall we say, melodramatic. I think my problem is/was that I didn't have any of my stuff/stash/craft supplies around me. They were all still packed up after having our floors done. I get alot of inspiration just from looking at all the different fabrics and supplies so since my muse was boxed up so was my creativity.

Anyhoo, a friend of mine had a baby shower this weekend so I whipped this little blankie up for the baby girl that is on her way...

Sasha was my helper all evening...

And here she is showing off the backing of the blankie (such a good little helper!)...

Now if I could just get her to do the dishes...

Reward!

ATTENTION: LOST!

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

Goes by the name 'Creativity'. Has been missing since approximately the middle of April.

There is a reward for anybody who can provide information that results in the reunion of me and my precious Creativity!

A give away

The ever fabulous edward and lilly is having a give away. For all you crafty types out there, go check it out but do not, I repeat, DO NOT leave a comment...if you do, my chances of winning go down and, well, I'd like to win. I guess if you must, you must but just know that I won't be happy about it.

I LOVE those fabrics!

flickr favs friday

I used to do this, rembember? I had pretty much forgotten about it until this mom-to-be's post reminded me all about it. So, since I have been struggling to keep my few meager vegetable plants alive, have been fairly obsessing about it, actually, I decided this would be the perfect subject to start this meme up again. So here is a mosaic of some veggie gardens my 1' x 3' plot of dirt aspires to be...

1. spring vegetable garden, 2. Vegetable Garden, 3. Vegetable Garden Overview, 4. THE vegetable garden, 5. 2006 Garden Vegetable Beds, 6. Vegetable Garden Full Grown and producing, 7. Vegetable Garden, 8. winter vegetable garden, 9. Vegetable Garden

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Petra Haden

Have you seen this amazing commercial?



I love it so much that I just had to find out the artist who is singing this version of Let the Love Flow. Her name is Petra Haden. All the "instrumentals" you hear are actually aren't instruments but man made sounds (or woman made actually). She's pretty awesome.

A thumb not so black

Thanks everybody who sent me well wishes and commiserated with my migraine woes. It's nice to know we're not alone on our off days, isn't it?

Anyway, remember my little garden that I told you about? And my apprehension about killing the poor hapless plants? Well, good news...my tomato plant, this tomato plant...

is now this humongous tomato plant...

It's up to my hip, which ain't no small thing being 5'9 and my hip being pretty far off the ground. So my thumb is not quite so black, maybe just a dark shade of gray-green. The other plants are... well, it's about a 50% mortality rate around here and that's ok with me

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I luv ya, tomorrow...

Have you ever had a day when you just wish you could take a break from being you? That's me today. I woke up with a slight headache that is turning into a migraine and I think I broke my chi. Is that possible? I dunno, but it feels broken. Things are off kilter today and I'm just wishing it would hurry up and be tomorrow.

What is going on?

I am a bad blogger! Yep, you heard it, bad blogger, bad! First, I've only done 6 (6!!) blog posts in the last month. Then, I have gotten sooooo lazy that I've relied strictly on my Google reader which means I've only read 5 blogs or so for the last few months and the ones I have read I've left only a handful of comments. Terrible! And the last offense, the worst offense in my opinion, I've abandoned my camera! I haven't taken a single picture in at least 2 weeks. And today, I'm really regretting it. Today is Mother's Day and I have no pictures of our outing with our lovely mother. Not only am I a bad blogger, I'm a bad daughter! Sheesh!





And it was such a nice outing. Lunch at a local Mediterranean restaurant then a quick trip to Dogwoods a Mediterranean deli and grocery store. I guess there was a bit of a theme. My poor mom doesn't get to eat any type of "different" foods when it's just her and my dad, he's stricly a meat and potatoes kind of guy. So we had a Mediterranean day of it.


Since I didn't get any photos today, I leave you with my favorite of my mom which I've posted before but it's such cute picture I can't resist posting it again...

Happy Mother's Day!

I do not recommend this!

I just finished watching 3 hours of Grey's Anatomy...straight through. Big mistake! I should have known that I'd be ablubbering fool by the end of the first episode, forget about all the way through to the last. I mean really, I cry at everything...why did I think I could watch 3 whole episodes of Grey's?! I'm not gonna give anything away as far as story lines if someone out there hasn't watched the last 3 weeks worth yet but jeez! They really put us through the ringer emotionally. So if you're a cryer like me, do not, I repeat, do not watch more than one episode at a time!

Cinco de Mayo!

Card Tops

Here's another round of time card tops. I posted some a while back with the This is... meme and just felt like posting some more.

What I draw depends on a lot of things...the season, things that are happening in my personal life, my level of inspiration at the time, etc. For instance, the top two were done when nothing was going on. The one that looks hot pink but is supposed to be red was done the week of Valentine's Day. The one next to that and the two below it were inspired by the onset of Spring. The one with the dandelions is depicting my front lawn at the moment. The last one, well, that was drawn for no reason, I just felt like it.

I feel that this little bitty bit of creativity is therapeutic in my bland and beige work world.

Has it only been a week since my last post?! It feels longer than that, a lot longer. I found out on Thursday evening that my general manager passed away that afternoon. He was not only my boss but also a friend. He was like that grumpy, cranky uncle that is actually a teddy bear deep down inside. Yeah, that was Tony.

He walked around the office (coffee cup in hand) with a perpetual frown on his face but his laugh came easily. And as much as we all complained about his triftyness (he was in charge of the company's financials) and grumpitude we are all going to miss him a lot.

I learned that he died sitting by his pool with his dog next to him with a smile on his face. That sounds about right. I think the only place he'd be happier would be on the golf course.

It's been very draining and difficult coming back to work this morning. We are all grieving and trying to work at the same time. Needless to say, I don't feel much like working.

A new adventure

Last week I took the week off from work...a staycation, if you will. My sister was on her spring break so we decided to get stuff done around the house. Now, if you know me, that's pretty much saying devote about 1/2 an hour a day to doing stuff around the house just so I can say that, yes, I did get some stuff done. Mostly, what I worked on was planting a teeny tiny veggie garden.

I originally had these grand plans for a raised flower bed and rows of little veggie plants but being a lazy wench, I ended up buying a few plants and getting some seedlings from a friend. So, now, I have 1 tomato plant, 1 green bell pepper plant, 1 jalapeno plant (that doesn't look like it's going to make it), 1 Santa Fe Grande pepper plant, 1 sweet basil, 3 cucumber, 1 purple bean, 2 broccoli, 2 spinach (the last 4 are still just itty bitty seedlings that are struggling to survive).


I've been inundated with signs telling me I should do this. The first was an article in Better Homes and Gardens about raised beds and planting veggies specifically for certain things (like salsa or Italian foods), then the seedlings being offered to me, then two different friends who don't know each other telling me that they're both doing raised beds and planting and then some blog posts that mention it (and here's one I actually found when doing a little research). I figure I really don't need to be beat over the head that much to catch on...so I planted.


There are 2 obstacles that I'm going to have to hurdle...1) I don't really like very many veggies. My sister is a veggie fan so I planted some that are her favorites (broccoli & cucumber - gross!) and 2) I've never kept a plant alive that wasn't in the cactus family. I'm relying heavily on my mother to get me through this one. I'm usually the kind of person that needs all the information before I start something like this. Normally, I'd read piles of books and magazine articles in order to garner the best way to do things but since time really won't allow that (this much I know about planting, it has to be done at certain times... I think) and since my mother has never killed a plant or met a plant that didn't flourish under her bright green thumb, I figure she's all the reference I need. And so far so good (I know it's only been a week but I've killed plants in a lot less time).

Really what I'm looking forward to are the peppers. Neither my sister nor I like tomatoes in their fresh raw state, so why, you might ask, do I have a tomato plant? Well, I'm a big fan of salsa and we both love things like marinara sauce, etc. But the peppers, they're really what this is all about for me. I can't wait! I think my next step will be to plant a couple of herb pots. They seem a little more delicate and easy to kill. Of course, I don't really know this, but that's what it seems like. I guess I gotta make a call to my mom again.

Just as a side note, over the weekend, my sister decided to put her bed together (it's an Ikea bed). The bed we bought her 3 years ago for her birthday. Procrastination runs in the family.

Happy Easter, a day late

Yesterday after we got back from church we planted petunias, see...

Then, we decided to decorate a few eggs, we're kids at heart, really. I was unsuccessful at creating any photo worthy eggs, plus we pretty much ate them as soon as we were done.

And, since we only boiled six eggs, 3 a piece, I got bored (in typical me fashion) and decided to tie dye my washcloth that I was using to wipe up any spills.

That was my Easter. It was a beautiful day outside and I regret that I didn't have the forethought to take any pictures, but take my word for it, it was gorgeous.



Today, was not so gorgeous, a bit overcast and humid and I had to take Sasha in for some shots...boy was she pissed! She spent 8 hours after I brought her home hiding under my bed. Now the poor girl is super sore and keeps rubbing her shoulders on our not quite finished floors. She's super miserable, poor baby.

I love surprises!

This weekend was, after a rocky start, a really lovely weekend. For the most part, it was spent doing things like laundry and a little bit of yard work/gardening. Saturday, after my brief bit of discomfort, I went out and decided to pull up this stuff from the flowerbed in the front of the house (it's the stuff right up against the house)...

I don't know what it's called but it was all over the place and hiding a couple of very pleasant surprises...

I had noticed the big leaves a few days back but, not being a plant person, I didn't know what kind of plant it was. Then I noticed this little gem peeking out of the jungle...

and decided right then this stuff had to go. If for no other reason but to see the full beauty of the lily.

I must say that it was so nice to see that lone flower struggling to get through all that mess. It brought to mind some wayward metaphor for life that I won't bore you with but it really made me smile. Now, if I can just keep from killing the poor thing like I do most other plants, I'll be very happy.