Cheese (Prequel)

I'd like to start out by saying, Craigslist is awesome. I find so many things on there....

I love collecting plants, and when I saw a 128 piece collection of succulents and cacti for sale on CL I couldn't stop myself. I had to go to El Cajon to meet up with Jim the Cactus Man, so I decided to go check out Danielle at Liberty Farm in El Cajon.

I've been seeing her ads for chicks, fresh eggs, and goat milk (for animal consumption) for months. I thought this would be a great opportunity to go get some fresh milk from her. (I'm working on putting together a graduation dinner for Roberto and I'd like to serve homemade cheese.) So our excursion begins. After work Ken D and I drove through an hour of traffic to acquire the collection. They are so spectacular. The succulents look like alien plants and the cactus are in full bloom. (I'll take pictures soon.)

We started headed to Liberty Farm. The wide city streets turned into a two lane street lined with big trees and homes on large lots. It was a beautiful part of San Diego I've never been in. In the hills, the air was warm and it felt like summer there. We stopped by a road side farmer's stand and the farmer's daughter sold us Hass avocados from her farm in Valley Center. A few more miles up we got to the farm. It had a long drive way lined with palm trees, goats in the front, chickens clucking, a beautiful raised vegetable garden as you drove up towards the big country house.

Needless to say, I was blown away. I walked through the back door into her large kitchen that was exploding with cans, jar, dinner cooking, dogs, children, etc. It was a vision I saw for myself. I got two gallons fresh goat's milk from her and a dozen fresh eggs. (Some still has feathers and poop clinging to it.)

By then it was dinner time so Ken D and I had to stop for dinner. We were headed to some italian place but took the wrong turn and ended up in a business shopping center with a cafe. It was 7 and we were hungry so we said, why not. We walk in and its dark and slightly dingy with outdated everything, but cheerful waitresses. I look around and everyone there's over 70. It was like senior night (and yes they had a Senior's Special). Ken D got the chicken fried steak and I got the Spagetti Meatball salad.

I was actually impressed. Their chicken cream w/ rice soup was creamy and not too thick with chunks of chicken and not salty at all. My noodles were a bit over cooked and wet, but the sauce was really good. It was the dessert (also included) that blew me away. It was a layered cake, strawberry, chocolate and vanilla pudding, whipped cream stack. WOW. Ken D's chicken fried steak was tasty also and the gravy wonderful! (Guilty of eating the gravy straight. It wasn't floury, not too peppery, and not too salty.)

Overall the next time I'm in the area, I'd go there again. Janet's Cafe

My quest for cactus and succulents took me to a part of town I've never been in buying avocados and goat milk and eating at a strange wonderful diner. Now I'm making feta.