A foodie's weekend - Saturday!

I know I'm going to be doing a lot of at-home cooking, so I wanted to get myself some decent fresh spices so I could give my veggies the necessary punch. I thought about going to Williams Sonoma or Surfas, but ended up going to Monsieur Marcel in the Farmer's Market on Third and Fairfax.

They have a great display of Nomu spices and set them out in little bowls so you can sniff them to your hearts content.


You don't want to sniff too much, though, cause you'll sneeze and spices will billow forth and people will give you dirty looks because it's nasty.  That didn't happen to me, mind you, because I instinctively knew this.

They have some basic spices but they're known for their blends which range from the common place (chicken rub) to the more adventurous (masala rub, smoky peri-peri rub).  Some of the blends have grinder so you can ensure that your spices are freshly ground. I ended up going with a general "one-for-all" blend grinder and harvested sea salt grinder.  Perfect for savory cooking.  

After our shopping expedition, we went to a Kay 'n Dave's, a fresh-mex restaurant that uses no lard or trans-fats in its cooking.  The outdoor patio where we ate was lovely, with beautiful Spanish tile and creeping vines covering the adobe walls.  

I had the lamb dish below (different types of meats like a good omnivore) and Mr. Insomniac had chicken mole tacos.  Avocado with salsa - a great natural way to get all the nutrient goodness of the tomatoes.  And damn tasty too.



And mojitos. Can't forget about the ruby red grapefruit mojitos.