Lunch Today On The River After Church

After church this morning and in the van ready to leave, Gerry asked his usual question "where do you want to eat?". I couldn't think of any place which is my usual response. :)) He mentioned wanting to go to Chevy's and asked if it was alright to do Mexican today. It was fine with me.

He got on the freeway and headed towards Sacramento. I couldn't figure out which one he was going to until he took the exit for I-5 towards downtown Sacramento. I realized he was going to the Chevy's on Garden Highway which is on the Sacramento River. I don't think we've ever been to this particular one.A bowl of Chevy's salsa. Gerry stuck a tortilla chip in the salsa before I took the picture. Jalna, is this called "staging"? LOL!!

Gerry had his head down and didn't know I was going to take this picture. I had my camera ready (yes, I remembered to put my camera in my purse before we left for church). As soon as he looked up, I snapped and got this. I didn't realize I was so close. :)) He told me it wasn't nice to get him stuffing his mouth. He finished off 3 bowls of the salsa. I can't eat spicy/hot stuff so I am happy to let him enjoy it all.

They make the guacamole right at the table.

Here is Gerry's dinner. We forgot what this is called and we couldn't find it on Chevy's menu online. It was two chicken enchiladas with a green cream sauce on it. It was served with rice, vegetables and a sweet corn tamalito. (I'll share Chevy's recipe for these that I found online later).

Here is my dinner, 2 cheese enchiladas with tomatillo sauce (green vegetarian sauce). Tomatillo are small, look like green tomatoes with a brown jacket on. The waiter assured me that the sauce was not spicy, however there was a little bit of a hick to it. (I found a recipe online for this too.) I had an extra serving of rice instead of beans which I can't eat either and a sweet corn tamalito. I love these!! They are quite tasty.

This is a shot looking across the river to downtown Sacramento. The odd shaped building on the right of the picture is actually in Yolo County which is on the other side of the river. It was built several years ago by The Money Store. It has a name for the shape of it, however, I can't remember what it is called. One of Gerry's daughters and her husband use to work in the building. The buildings on the left of the picture are in downtown Sacramento.

A view of the Sacramento River with Yolo County on the other side. The Sacramento River and the American River are the main two rivers that run through Sacramento. The American River flows into the Sacramento River at Discovery Park. The Sacramento River then flows through the Sacramento Delta out to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Gerry rides his bicycle on the American River Parkway that goes along the American River.

Crawdad's, a restaurant that is right on the river. It actually is situated on a floating pier. I meant to get a picture of that and then forgot to do it. I had lunch here back in the late '90's with some friends that I worked with at the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. We sat on the deck and had our lunch. I can't remember if it was Crawdad's then or if it was called something else.

* Correction: This pole actually goes into the ground, I think its called a "piling". It is one of several which holds the floating pier from floating down the river. So when the river rises and falls, the pier slides up or down on this pole. The markings on the pole show how high the river has gotten. This is a tall pole situated on the deck of Crawdad's. The markings on the pole show how high the river got in those particular years. Enlarge the picture so it can be seen more clearly. Look at the very top one. Absolutely amazing!! That white door to the right is an elevator to get down to the restaurant and the marina. Where I am standing taking this picture are steps to walk down to the restaurant and the marina.

* Correction: This houseboat is actually tied to the pier. A houseboat that is moored in a slip to the left of the restaurant. It sure was nice with a nice deck on the top.

This is looking down the river with some of the boats moored at the marina.

This is looking up the river. Notice the empty slips, a sign of the times.

The backside of another restaurant. It would be nice to sit out here and enjoy a meal.

Office space available. How cool would it be to have an office right on the river. The sign above it is for a law office.

I am not sure, this may be the backside of Chevy's. We parked on the top/street level and then drove down to the parking on the bottom. Gerry's wasn't sure if the van would be too tall to drive it into the bottom level. It is pretty low down there. It was fine.

After we left Chevy's we drove along Garden Highway towards Sutter County. The river is right beside the highway. There are some beautiful huge homes along the river, the river on one side and farmland on the other side. We drove under I-5 and Highway 99. After we got into Sutter County a ways, the highway turns away from the river and heads inland. We drove through the town of Nicholas which has a post office and tavern as the only businesses we saw. One house we drove by had a huge orange tree in the front yard which was heavily laden with fruit.

* Correction: We actually took the onramp for Highway 70. Highway 70 merges into Highway 99 a little past where we got on the freeway. We came up on Highway 99 again and took the onramp to head back to Sacramento. These are rice fields off in the distance perhaps newly planted.

More rice fields with rice actually growing. Note: To those of you that purchase and eat rice on a regular basis - if the package says: "grown or produced in West Sacramento, Colusa, Arbuckle to name a few towns, that is rice from the Sacramento Valley.

We took the Elkhorn cutoff to head towards home. These dark clouds greeted us. It was raining a little bit. Gerry did turn on the windshield wipers for just a little bit. It was sprinkling when we got home.

I really enjoy our Sunday drives.

Chevy's Fresh Mex Sweet Corn Tomalito

5 tablespoons margarine, softened

1/4 cup Masa Harina

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen, thawed, divided

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk

In a small mixing bowl, mix the margarine, masa and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.In a blender container, blend half the corn kernels with the water until smooth.

Combine this mixture with the margarine mixture, stirring well. Add the remaining corn kernels, corn meal, baking powder, salt and milk and mix well.

Pour the corn mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan.

Tightly cover with plastic wrap and steam by setting atop a medium saucepan of water on top of the stove.

Bring water to a boil and steam corn mixture for 50 minutes to one hour (check to see whether you might need to add more water), until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Tomalito should have a smooth, moist texture.

NOTE: The pan must be tightly wrapped at all times.Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Source: Chevy's Fresh Mex Restaurant

Tomatillo Sauce

Tomatillos are those little things that have begun to appear in supermarket produce sections that resemble green tomatoes wrapped in brown paper. This unique and versatile sauce can be prepared with either canned or fresh tomatillos.

1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 14-ounce can tomatillos, drained, OR 1½ cups fresh tomatillos, husks removed, chopped
1 7-ounce can chopped green chiles
1 fresh jalapeño, seeded, stem and veins removed, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
1 tablespoon water
1 medium green tomato (optional)

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion is clear. Add the tomatillos, chiles, jalapeño, and green tomato (if using), and pour the entire mixture into a blender or food processor. Pulse to make a coarse purée. Return mixture to pan. Add the sugar and salt, and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes until sauce is thick. Makes about 2 cups. Stores well in the refrigerator.