food

Hip hip hooray, it’s Mardi Gras, grab a king cake

It’s Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Time for king cake. Americans usher in the new year with diets and lifestyle resolutions galore, but many people across the globe — particularly those from predominantly Catholic countries — celebrate the calendar change with a sweet pastry known as king cake. It first appears in bakery cases at the beginning of each year and can be…


George Burgers — Not George’s Burgers

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!!the blog about food.  Kirk is busy with work today. ed(from Yuma) is busy with vacation today. Cathy is blogging today. Hi.   Since I seem to travel all over this vast — 4,200-square-mile — county, it seems normal that at some point San Marcos would be a stop. I have met at George Burger with friends who attend(ed) Palomar College, friends who attend(ed) CSUSanMarcos and,…


You’re eating microplastics and don’t know it

We’re increasingly aware of how plastic is polluting our environment. Much recent attention has focused on how microplastics – tiny pieces ranging from 5 millimetres down to 100 nanometres in diameter – are filling the seas and working their way into the creatures that live in them. That means these ocean microplastics are entering the food chain and, ultimately, our bodies. But fish and shellfish…


Charm of honey; fine glasses toast great party

Two event-related items from Sabrina Cadini’s La Dolce Idea – The Charm of Honey, followed by fine glasses toast the perfect party. Honey always has been a pantry item in our house. My mom, an avid tea drinker, religiously brews a cup of Earl Grey after 4 p.m. every afternoon, enhancing the aroma with a spoonful of honey. I am attracted to all those different varieties…



Plastic ocean pollution and climate change

Although burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of global warming, fossil fuels could also be driving climate change via a completely different mechanism involving ocean plastic debris and tiny, bioluminescent fish living hundreds of meters beneath the ocean’s surface. Lanternfish (aka myctophids) are only a few inches long typically but so ubiquitous that they account for over half the ocean’s total fish-mass. They are…


Taking root at San Diego farmers markets

Selling directly to shoppers—and meeting face-to-face with chefs and other buyers—is helping keep San Diego farmers afloat amid economic downturns and historic droughts. When Dave Heafner and Leslie Pesic started their DA-LE Ranch in 2003, they were raising hens, pigs, and rabbits and selling to a few customers by pre-order, delivered once a week to the parking lot of the DMV in Santa Ana, California. Now, they…


Ketchup or PFAS with those fries?

Researchers Raise Concerns About Chemicals in Fast-Food Packaging As if cheeseburgers, fries and microwave popcorn weren’t enough of a dietary worry, now comes word that fast-food packaging is also a cause for concern. In a paper published last week, federal government and university researchers report finding chemicals from a suspect family of compounds in the wrappers and containers of one out of every three sandwiches, burgers, desserts…


Burger Bench on Grand Avenue, Escondido

Burger Bench is the brainchild of one of my hiking / blogging friends 100peaks and in its first year of being open, it has already carved itself a spot in the downtown Escondido culture. Serving up good burgers and a large menu of San Diego craft beer, it is one of those spots you want to go after a long hike in one of San Diego’s many…


Champion’s aside, Rosie’s Cafe now open

Lines out Grand Avenue, tears on half-eaten cinnamon rolls, Champion’s Family Restaurant wrapped it up Friday, Jan. 29, after 44 years in business, the future be damned. Now, almost a year later, bookending Champion’s run is the new Rosie’s Cafe, which soft-opened with little notice on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 117 Grand Avenue in downtown Escondido. Owned and operated by the youthful Kaitlin Rose, under…