Tuesdays with Letty: Avanti Bistro - Pasadena, California

With our son using a wheelchair, we have a need for adaptive equipment such as a lift for our van. That lift sometimes breaks down or needs maintenance. The closest service facility is MobilityWorks in Pasadena.

It's not in the part of Pasadena that's full of great restaurants and places to wander around, it's in a fairly industrial and residential part of East Pasadena on Altadena Drive...though the Rose Parade passes within about a hundred yards of it.

That means we don't have a lot of selection of places to eat while we wait for the lift to be serviced.  There's a subpar taco place and donut shop across the street, Wonder Burgers is a decent place for breakfast two blocks away, Super Burger on the other side of the 210 Freeway makes incredibly good burgers in a run-down shack, and the oldest existing and operating In 'n Out is about a half mile away.

Any will do for a quick bite but one time we wanted something a little more. Lucky for us, Avanti Cafe...known for it's wood-fired pizzas on Lake Avenue...opened another branch only a block away from MobilityWorks. This one is more upscale and called Avanti Bistro.

It serves very good pizza and Italian dishes at prices that will make you skip a breath or two but they do have a very fun and reasonably priced happy hour from 3-6 on weeknights.

Once in awhile, Letty and I will come here to take advantage on Tuesdays.  It's also the night a roving band of real estate professionals show up (they hit different happy hours each night after work). They're a fun and friendly group and we crowd into the little bar with them.

There's a drink of the day special plus discounts on wine and beer.  The happy hour dishes are very good and cheap, too.

We each get a personal pizza, which is only $8 and share a plate of calamari which will set you back $5.

It's a fun and easy place to get to but beware that outside of happy hour, the prices can give you a bit of sticker shock.

Avanti is at 187 N. Sierra Madre Boulevard at the corner of Foothill, just a bit south of the 210 Freeway.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

THIS WEEK'S MENU: Smoked Pork Ribs with Honey Glazed Carrots

Got a new computer and other issues put a kink in our blogging this week but here's your weekend menu.  The pork ribs came out amazingly good, as did the carrots which I got from Martha Stewart's website.

Recipes at the links below...

DINNER: Smoked Pork Ribs

SUPER SIDE: Honey Glazed Carrots

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Tuesdays with Letty: Osuna's Mexican Grill, Glendora, California

Back before Christmas, my doctor ordered me to take a Diabetes management class. It was a four-week regimen (cut down to 3 because the nurse instructor wanted to skip Christmas week) at our health plan's Glendora office.

Letty and Tim wanted to come with me (the 2 hours on Tuesday nights cured them of that and the last two classes I attended solo) so we went a little early so we could grab a bite to eat first.

The office is located in a small shopping center where the main tenant, Fresh and Easy Market, went under and the rest of the shops, if not empty, struggle to hold on.  Across the parking lot from the class were a couple of restaurants...Subway (not a favorite) and Osuna's.

We gave them a shot and were rewarded with delicious food that only raised my blood sugar by 40 points.

Fast forward to a couple of months later and my wife wants to pick up some items at Costco so I tell her we can do that on our Tuesday night out. On the way we're trying to decide where to eat first.  Driving along the 210 freeway, mentally mapping out what restaurants are at which exits, I remember that night at Osuna's at the Grand Avenue exit and say "why not there?"

Why not indeed? 

We have the place to ourselves, just the owner, the cook, and the owner's young son for company. When the boy comes up and asks us if we'd like to buy some cookies, I ask if he's selling them for school.

"I'm selling them for money!"

A young entreprenuer in the making.

It's an Ensenada themed place and since that Baja city is known for it's fish tacos, that's what Letty gets, along with a carne asada sope.  I opt for the Taco Tuesday special of two al pastor tacos along with a sope of my own.  They're all good and delicious, maybe an 8 out of 10 compared to the best we've had.

A solid place for a nice, casual dinner.

Osuna's is at 1311 S. Grand Avenue in Glendora, about two blocks south of the 210 freeway.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

New Transplants to the Neighborhood

Picture by Letty Musick

Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

Our seedlings have been living the plush, comfortable life in a tray in our family room window.  Sorry kids, out you go...

It's time to show these youngsters the way outside where they will now have to sink or swim in the cold, cruel world.

Actually, it's pretty warm now that spring is here and we've made a nice, comfortable, and nutritional bed for them with our tilling.

The little peat pockets I've started them in snap right off of the tray.

Next, a small hole is just right for that little peat pot.  The plant stays in it as the whole thing is put in the ground so no transplant shock and the peat serves as food for the plant.

Time to water in.

Some plants, like the tomatoes and this canteloupe, need some protection from predators so I put this wire basket around them to keep the bad guys at bay.

Now, they're all part of the garden. Let's get ready for the harvest later.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Smoked Pork Ribs

I was looking in our freezer for something to cook this weekend and found a rack of ribs.

Let's give it a try.

While I have a smoker, it works much better on large volumes of meat. I've been wanting to try a small scale cook on my Weber kettle grill.

This starts a day before you cook, put the ribs in a sealable bowl.  I cut this rack in two to fit in the bowl. Fill with pineapple juice, fortified with two tablespoons of kosher salt. This will make a nice, marinating brine. Seal up and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Take 4 cups of wood chips (we're using mesquite), put in a bucket, fill with water, and let soak overnight.

The next day, drain off the brine, sprinkle some sale and pepper on the ribs, and cover with a nice rub. Massage it in with your fingers on both sides.

On the grill, I'm using a 'slow fuse' method of burning the coals.  I put a broken ring of charcoal around the edge of the grill, drain the water off of the wood chips, sprinkle them on top of the briquettes, then light just one end.  This will let the coals burn slow, steady, and at a low temperature.

The ribs go in the middle for indirect heat.  Cover and let cook. 

This slab took four hours to be done.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick 
All Rights Reserved

SUPER SIDES: Honey Glazed Carrots

This is not my recipe but it was very easy and fairly quick to make.  You can get the entire recipe at Martha Stewart's website: Martha Stewart's Honey Glazed Carrots

I used half as much as her recipe and used baby carrots instead of sliced carrots, but other than that, completely the same.

Try it, it's delicious.

Darryl

Tuesdays with Letty: 88 Noodle House, Arcadia

Home of the world famous Santa Anita Racetrack and the Arboretum, Arcadia has morphed into an upscale Asian neighborhood.  The San Gabriel Valley is famous for its Asian population and food stretching east from the epicenter of Monterey Park.  Those with money have gravitated over to San Marino and Arcadia. Fortunately, they've brought their food with them.

Across the street from the world famous Din Tai Fung dumpling house is our favorite place for Chinese soup, the 88 Noodle House.

While there is an extensive menu here, I come for one thing...beef tendon noodle soup.

These little bits of jellied cow floating in a spicy and savory broth are just irresistible. Imagine the best ribeye steak literally melting in your mouth and you get a hint of the taste.  Along with the noodles, spinach, and that tasty broth, it makes for a soup you'll remember to your grave.

Also, Letty likes to have the shrimp and pork dumplings that rival the famous ones people are lined up for across the street.

88 Noodle House is in a strip mall on Baldwin Avenue, just north of the corner of Baldwin and Duarte and about 4 blocks south of Santa Anita Mall.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved