Historic buildings in Balboa Park

Mary Garbaciak tells us about the amazing architecture in San Diego on the Historical League tour.  "Due to wear and weather tear - Balboa Park buildings have been restored (to the tune of millions of dollars) to their original design.

After lunch on Tuesday, May 7th,  Jeff Guersey from the Gas Lamp Historical Foundation, gave us a wonderful walking tour of the restored Victorian & Historical Builldings in the GasLamp District.  I took a picture of the Yuma Building."

Tour guide Jeff Guersey

Yuma Building

Gaslamp District

This is the only original building that hasn't been duplicated in architect.

Balboa Park tour

Linda Wegener, Mary Garbaciak, Kim Duclo, Barbara Cardinal and Karen Swanson enjoy the day.

Tour chair Mary Garbaciak tells us about the Balboa Park ranger Kim Duclo.

"Last fall I first contacted various personnel at Balboa Park - ALL of them recommended Kim for our tours - "he is definitely the best".  But he wasn't available for our dates.  However, while we were touring the archives a ranger came into the area and Jane Kenealy immediately said to me "that is the person who you want for your tours".  I asked her if that was "Kim" and she said, "Yes." I asked him if he was available for tours today and he said, "Sure".  He took us on an hour tour (before lunch at El Prado) and then after lunch he picked up a few of us who wanted to continue picking his brain.  Other ladies had made other plans due to, originally, having the afternoon free to explore.  Kim had the keys to take five of us behind the historical organ pavilion to show us pictures and articles of history makers for this incredible building!"

US Grant Historic Hotel San Diego

Max Guardacospa was our Social Host guide for the U.S. Grant hotel. A San Diego icon since 1910, the palatial U.S. GRANT is situated in the lively, historic downtown Gaslamp quarter, just steps from top shopping, dining, and entertainment destinations. His tour included many "behind the scenes" views. It was wonderful to learn about all the history at the hotel.

After the informative tour, Mary Garbaciak presented him with the Historical League's cookbook, Tastes & Treasures. It was a hit with Max!

San Diego Historic Tour

Mary Garbaciak organized a fabulous historic tour of Balboa Park in San Diego. Thirteen ladies joined her for this adventure. Just returning from the trip, she describes what is happening in the pictures below.

"In the first picture guide Gabe Selak is telling us about the history of the brewing companies in San Diego and how they have grown and become a part of the development of the community. 

 The 2nd picture is with Jan Kenealy, Archivist.  She spoke about the historical archives that are stored in the basement of Balboa Park.  She was kind enough to put out several very old articles of interest to our ladies.  There are literally millions of photos, documents and articles in these vaults that are available to the public.  Both Gabe and Jane were most appreciative of the Tastes & Treasures  historic cookbook that I gave them as gifts."

Lunch at Island Prime in San Diego

Fantastic Cobb Salad, wonderful presentation and views of the harbor of San Diego. We also tried the crab cakes.

The Cottage Place in Flagstaff gave us a tasty crab cake recipe worth trying.

Crab Cakes with Corn Sauce page 28 Tastes & Treasures cookbook

Corn Sauce
1/2 cup marsala
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup water
1 cup roasted corn kernels or frozen roasted corn kernels, thawed
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Crab Cakes
1 pound crab meat, shells removed and crab meat flaked
1 rib celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup fresh corn kernels or frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 eggs
1/2 cup Clarified Butter (page 29)

For the corn sauce, bring the wine, shallots, salt and white pepper to a boil in a large saucepan. Cook until the mixture is reduced by one-half. Add the cream and water and return to a boil. Stir in the corn. Mix the flour and butter together and whisk into the boiling sauce. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Pour into a blender and process until pureed. Adjust the seasonings to taste and strain into a bowl. Keep warm.

For the crab cakes, combine the crab meat, celery, bell pepper, corn, horseradish, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, chives, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1/2 cup of the panko, 1/2 cup of the corn sauce and the eggs in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Divide the crab meat mixture into sixteen 2-ounce balls. Gently shape each ball into a round cake about 1/2 thick. Dredge the crab cakes in the remaining 1 1/2 cups panko, gently pressing to adhere. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Cover the bottom of the skillet with the clarified butter. Add the crab cakes and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

To serve, ladle 1/4 cup of the remaining corn sauce on each serving plate and plate the crab cakes in the pool of sauce.

Makes 16 appetizer-size crab cakes

USS Midway Museum Worth a Visit

Can you imagine cooking in this kitchen aboard the USS Midway? This was the captain's galley. The admiral has his own galley and we also visited several other kitchens for the entire crew. It is an amazing ship and well worth the visit if you are in San Diego. I especially appreciated so many volunteers who conducted tours. Most of them are retired navy pilots or had worked on the ship. Our guide, Dave, had 4,000 volunteer hours. They are so informative and really love to share stories about their days at sea.

This plane was the type flown by John McCain.