WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY: It Was a Very Wally Weekend

I get emails all the time saying "you da man" and "man, I wish I was Wally".  Well, I don't blame you.  Living in San Diego is pretty nice.  Last Sunday afternoon I found myself at the Solana Beach Farmer's Market with my camera, so come follow me for a bit.

I got there pretty hungry so the heck with looking at veggies, I wanted something to eat.  This looked pretty good.

Is that bacon on the grilled sausage?  Mighty tempting....

But I went with the Kalua Pork Hawaiian plate lunch.  Damn it was good!  Nice and moist, the pork was salty in a good way, mix it with the rice and some scorching hot Sciracha sauce and no regrets, none whatsoever.  There goes my low carb diet - oh well.

After the horrible taco experience at Ortega's in OB, my wife went for the shrimp and fish tacos and loved them, though she favored the shrimp.  Who wouldn't?  Let's go wander the market and see what's up.

Sunflowers always make me happy.  

Really beautiful produce, locally grown.  

So many free samples, but I'm stuffed!

Afterwards we walked down the street to Cedro's Design District, a cool shopping area that even I can tolerate - and I hate shopping!

See, lots of cool stuff, I was having a great time just snapping pics with my new camera.  But then, like the sound of a locomotive blast in the night that shatters a dream, I saw this....

Goddamn, that thing is scary!  Sawed off baby head with a crown?  You want that by your bedside at night?  Look, the eyes are following you.  They are.  Look again.  Let's get out of here!

Back home I had this Porterhouse steak, a whopper of a steak.  My doctor said NO MORE RED MEAT so I decided to split this with my wife.  I won't eat red meat tomorrow, I promise.  

We got this bag of mushrooms at the Farmer's Market for $5.  Let's see if they were worth it.

Here's my fast recipe for Golden Brown Crispy Smashed Potatos - microwave potatoes till soft (but not fall apart soft), cut in half, oil the pan and the flat side of the potato, smash it on cookie sheet, oil the top, cook at 400 degrees until crispy on the bottoms.  Good?  You'll just have to wait and see.

Food is done.  Let's plate up.

Try not to drool on your keyboard.  

This was one of those incredible meals where everything came together.  The mushrooms were worth it for sure, a nice medley of different textures and flavors, no going back to crummy supermarket button mushrooms.  And those potatoes....crispy, decadent really.  And don't forget the steak - a Porterhouse has a fillet on one side (tender texture) and the NY strip on the other (chewier but more flavorful) and both were beautifully cooked, if I do say so myself.  Cooked over charcoal, of course, with a bit of minced garlic, olive oil, kosher salt and ground pepper on top before it hit the fire. That's an aioli sauce on the tots, homemade.

Everyone was happy, including Andy.  Maybe especially Andy. 

And there you go, that's what I do on weekends.  See you next Tuesday for my next taco review!

More Wally, more Wally!  Go to Local Wally's Guide to San Diego!!  Tell your friends.  I always can use more visitors!