2011 July 30 - Buddhist Church Bazaar

2011 July 30 - Buddhist Church Bazaar
Stockton, CA

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The annual Stockton Buddhist Church Cultural Bazaar is this weekend. And a big part of that is the Food. The Bazaar opens at 11:00 AM but the parking lot is already into the dirt overflow lot by 10:50 when we arrive.
Picking up Mom at Bayside Landing where she has been living since March 27th

We walk passed the garden and into the inner lot.
Here Aeko (should be spelled Eiko but her father anglicized the spelling) is talking to Mom

Mom knows a lot of people so is greeted by many before we get to the food.
Our recently retired Reverend Hasegawa

They are still setting up a lot of the Game Booths.
This is Mom's next door neighbor before she moved into her Senior Residence

Cooking a ton of chicken teriyaki takes spray cans full of teriyaki sauce.

There are a whole string of grates in various states of cooking

Talking to another long time friend in front of the nursery.


Besides the Japanese cuisine there is the standard hamburger and fries.

Jerry is a friend of my younger brother who passed away in 1995 at the age of 48

Inside the big multi-purpose room is a display of Shogunate era weapons.






More friends along the walk to the food.


We are now inside where most of the food is bought.

Lunch today is chicken teriyaki, beef kushiyaki (skewed thin sliced beef grilled over coals) and inarizushi and futomaki (a tradtional roll).
Mom is reaching for an inarizushi which is a traditional sushi where the seasoned (sushi) rice is placed into the pocket of a seasoned and deep fried tofu wrapper

A friend has given her a half dozen Japanese manju:
Manju are traditional Japanese confections that are usually made from flour, rice powder, and buckwheat, with a red bean or white lima bean paste filling.


After eating we go to the other kitchen where the noodles are being cooked to visit another of Mom's close friends.
Cooking up a couple of batches of udon - Udon are white and thick noodles. Udon noodles are basically made by kneading wheat flour, salt, and water.

Mom's friend was taking a break from her cooking chores.


So after a couple of hours of lunch and visiting it was time to get Mom back before her 2:30 PM Bingo game at her residence. They have Bingo four times a week and Mom rarely misses a Bingo game.
Mom heading in for a short rest before her Bingo game


~end for now .

2011 June 21 - U-Pick Orchards
Brentwood, CA

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Today is the first day of Summer so mom and I are headed thirty miles west of Stockton to what used to be a small farm community in eastern Contra Costa County. Brentwood, CA has become a city of 50,000 and more and more of the orchards are being replaced by housing developments.

We used to visit a few of the U-Pick-Em farms when dad was still alive. Then mom would actually take a bucket and pick the fruit while dad waited in the shade.

Mom at her 10:00am daily exercise class


Mom headed to the car


Stockton has become a warehousing town with its proximity to water, rail and road transportation.
This is a big Toys R Us distribution center at the west edge of town along Hwy 4


We will be traveling over the San Joaquin Delta islands. The farm land here is a rich peat soil since the land here in prehistoric times was a big inland sea.

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat has a high carbon content and can burn under low moisture conditions. Once ignited by the presence of a heat source it smolders.
One of the warning signs along Hwy 4 in the Delta


We arrive at one of our favorite spots the Canciamilla Ranch in Brentwood.
Mom heading to the cashiers table


Mom quit picking her own a couple of years ago and now just buys the fruit for sale that is at the table


One of the four U-Pick orchards at Canciamilla


Lunch today will be at a fairly new spot in downtown Brentwood, MJ's Cafe. It was opened about a year ago by some locals and is open for breakfast and lunch only.
Brentwood is in the middle of a downtown renovation project.
MJ's is near the old movie theater


Wow. Seniors (55+) can get in for $4.50 any day, any time


Heading into MJ's


What to order?


The interior is laid out with a lot of space


Mom settles on the half sandwich with home made potato salad and I have the Eggs Benedict


The sandwich was just okay, but the potato salad was excellent


MJ's also has fresh baked goods


Then it is back to Stockton.

Brentwood Corn Festival
A summertime barbeque is just not complete without some sweet Brentwood corn. Brentwood is probably where a large part of the bay area's corn supply comes from.Some Brentwood corn being brought to market

Harvesting the corn


Union Point Cafe, Bar and Marina along Hwy 4 about 10 miles west of Stockton

Back home.
Mom heads back to her room


~end
.