Hooray for Sweden, IKEA and Good Food Deals on Tuesdays
Plus: LV News Briefs, Different Local Bookstore Experiences, Coffee with a Cop Coming Up, Activities at LV Library, and Tree Planting at LV Park
Last week we put a recipe in the LV Update for Lemon-lime basil shortbread cookies. I hope some of you tried the cookies. I did and thought they were pretty good, though basil in cookies is something I have never tried before. In any event, my basil plant was about shot, so I decided to go to Lowe’s in Mission Valley to replenish. While we were there we decided to give the IKEA Swedish Restaurant another try and this time for lunch (We previously reported on food deals at IKEA back in the May 18, 2024 issue of this newsletter). It was Tuesday, and though they don’t have tacos, we wanted to see what specials they had to offer.
Upon arrival at the restaurant, we noticed the prices on the overhead menus seemed awfully cheap. For instance, Salmon, Garlic Lemon Cod, veggie balls, swedish meatballs, and other entrees were in the $4.99 range, Mac and Cheese $1.99 and so on. Meals came with two sides, such as mashed potatoes and gravy, riced cauliflower, mixed veggies, etc. With those prices we decided on the Lemon Cod (me) and Veggie balls (Steve). Mine came with mashed potatoes and cauliflower; Steve’s with Tahini Romesco and Veggie Blend. We also got a slice of Swedish apple cake. The veggie balls are made with a blend of savory vegetables.
The restaurant is cafeteria style. You go through the line and pay at the register at the end.
The cashier rang up our meals, and it was then we learned the 50% discount on Tuesday was only for those who belonged to IKEA Family, their loyalty program. We also learned there are other specials for family members such as on Wednesday when you get two free kids meals with 1 adult entrée, Thursday seniors 65+ get 20% off adult entries, Saturday 50% off breakfast entrees, and Monday 8-piece veggie and plant ball plates for $3.00. The cashier told us if you did not belong you could join immediately and have the cost of your meal reduced. We sat down to eat and I proceeded to try to open a family account, only to find out that I was already a member of the IKEA family. Unfortunately, the cashier was unable to get my number to work on her register, so we decided to just enjoy our meal and not worry about it.
Steve enjoyed the veggie balls. He said the sauce was very tasty, the vegetables were very fresh and the whole meal felt healthy. My lemon cod was well cooked, flaky, and with the mashed potatoes and cauliflower made a very filling lunch. Too much, in fact. The Swedish apple cake was tasty and not too sweet.
The restaurant has a variety of other menu items such as chicken tenders, cold salmon wrap, salads, fries, and a kids menu as well as drinks and desserts.
If you want to try some different items, I would advise making sure you come on a Tuesday and have joined the IKEA family, and have your QR code or email address handy. You will be amazed at the prices! That way you can try a variety of items and decide which you like the best. I believe the IKEA family membership also entitles you to discounts in the rest of the store. They have a bistro on the first floor where they sell hot dogs, ice cream and a selection of grocery and freezer items you can buy prior to exiting the store.
As I mentioned, we could not seem to get our IKEA family membership card to show up on our phone, but after we got home, voila! There it was in all its glory, the membership card and a QR code. So, next time we will be prepared. Even at full price the meal was well worth it, but I’m sure it would have tasted much better at 50% off.
We were amazed at how many people were there for lunch on a Tuesday. Doesn’t anyone work anymore? And since when did IKEA become the go-to place for lunch? Maybe it was because of the 50% discount, but they were really selling a lot of meatballs.
LV New Briefs:
—Bayside Gardening Seed Class: The Bayside Community Center’s Environmental Learning Center will hold its next monthly seed class on Friday November 22 from 12:30 to 1:30. The class will be held at Bayside's Community Room (2202 Comstock Street). The subject of this month’s class is Root Crops - Carrots, Radishes, and Beets. The class and materials are free. Please contact this email to RSVP for the class: azink@baysidecc.org
—Linda Vista Town Council: The Linda Town Council will hold its monthly general meeting on Wednesday November 20 at the Baha’i Center (6545 Alcala Knolls Drive). The meeting is open to the public. Meet and Greet time will begin at 6:00 pm with the official part of the agenda commencing at 6:30 pm. The guest speaker for the meeting will be Mark Contreras, owner of MC Properties. As you may have noticed from driving around Linda Vista, MC Properties apartments complexes dot the landscape. Come to the meeting, meet your fellow residents, and listen to the presentation from one of Linda Vista’s biggest property owners.
—Linda Vista Community Planning Group: The LV Community Planning Group will hold its November meeting on November 25 (6:00 pm) at the American Legion Post 731 (7245 Linda Vista Road). The public is invited to attend. Community Planning Groups advise the City on land use-based community goals and development proposals.
—Additional SDPD Community Relations Officer: SDPD Western Division has added a new Community Relations Officer. Officer James Harris will be joining Officer David Surwilo in serving all the communities and neighborhoods of Western Division. Officer Harris has been on the force for numerous years, all of which were within Western Division. He can be contacted at harrisjb@pd.sandiego.gov
—Civics Contest: Assemblymember Chris Ward is sponsoring his second annual Civics Contest for fourth, eighth, and tenth graders who live in the 78th Assembly District. Check here for contest details: https://a78.asmdc.org/civics-competition
Different Book Store Experiences in the LV Area
Though many people do all their reading on digital readers nowadays, there are three locations around the Linda Vista area where you can still buy actual books. Though many people consider these establishments outdated because of the opportunity to buy books online, bookstores still provide a convenient place to peruse through stacks of books, to pick them up and turn the pages, and thereby check out what looks interesting.
In addition to buying books, a typical bookstore also serves as a place for fun kinds of book-related activities. We traveled this week to the three places in the Linda Vista area where one can still buy actual books to see what keeps readers going to these locations. The first place we went was Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in the Midway area (3555 Rosecrans Street) not too far away from the most southeastern border of Linda Vista. This popular independent bookstore is a San Diego institution with many loyal customers. One of the ways they keep customers coming back to buy more books is their author book signing program. Each week Mysterious Galaxy usually has two or three different authors paying a visit to conduct readings and book signings. In these sessions, an author will provide information about themselves, explain a little bit about their writing experiences and what went into writing their book, read passages from the book, answer questions from the audience, and then sign books for their fans. The audiences are typically made up of extremely loyal followers who feel a special connection with the book and/or author. This Sunday afternoon, the bookstore hosted a signing by author Mary Pearson who writes fantasy/science fiction novels. She was there to promote her new book The Courting of Bristol Keats, which is her debut adult novel. This book is “…about a woman from a small town who is unexpectedly plunged into a world of gods, faeries and monsters.”
Pearson spoke to an audience of about 50 enthusiastic readers who lined up after the presentation to get their copies of the book signed. It was fun to feel the excitement in the room from all these readers, most of whom were very familiar with her previous works.
We highly recommend LV Update readers check out the Mysterious Galaxy website to view the store’s schedule of upcoming book signing events. Many impressive authors have visited in the past.
The second book store we visited was the Barnes and Noble store located at Hazard Center in Mission Valley. We recently discovered that this store hosts a poetry reading the second Tuesday of each month. At these events, which begin at 6:00 pm, the public is invited to recite poetry in the form of traditional poems, contemporary spoken word performances, and more general performance art. Each poet/performer is given a maximum of 7 minutes to do their thing. At this Tuesday’s poetry reading event, eight people got up and recited their original works. Friends and relatives listened and observed. This monthly event has been going on since June. Though there will not be a poetry reading in December, the event will resume in January.
This event provides a great opportunity for poets to practice their oratory skills in front of an audience and to see what is effective. The event is still evolving, but in the future we think it would be nice for the emcee of the event, a Barnes and Noble employee, to provide more context in the form of a more thorough introduction of the event and of the individual poets so that the audience has a better understanding of the respective poets’ works, who the poets are in terms of a little biographical background info, and what they are trying to express. A podium and perhaps a microphone would also help. Nevertheless, the event as it currently exists, is fun and interesting.
Finally, the other local place to buy books is the Costco at Fenton Marketplace in Mission Valley. They sell a small selection of the country’s top bestsellers. I can’t recall the last time I saw a book signing at Costco, and I think it’s too loud and crowded inside the Costco to hold a poetry reading (I would hate to see a poet get run down by a big heavily loaded shopping cart). However, the one thing you definitely can do there after buying a book is to buy a giant slice of inexpensive pizza and then start turn turning the pages of that bestseller. That’s exactly what happened when our very own Carnivore Sidekick accompanied us on a trip to Costco this week. We happened to go during lunch time, and though the Carnivore Sidekick—a voracious reader himself—bothered to buy a book, he was thinking even more voraciously about what he was going to eat for lunch. By the time we left the cash register and went outside, he was feeling a bit “hangry”. We heard him starting to growl. Apparently, his meat eating inner beast seemed to come out. Fortunately, we were able to get him a slice of pepperoni pizza and he subsequently started to calm down.
If you are a book reader, we highly recommend visiting any of these three bookstores and taking in the book-related events mentioned above. You will have a fun literary, and in the case of Costco, eating time.
Upcoming Community Event
Save the Date for Coffee with a Cop
The Linda Vista Update is partnering up with our SDPD Western Division Community Relations Officer David Surwilo to hold a Holiday Coffee with a Cop gathering. Come join your neighbors, District 7 Councilmember Raul Campillo, Western Division’s Captain Dobbs, and your neighborhood police officers at this event, which will be held December 5 from 9:30 am to 11:00 am at the Linda Vista Library (2160 Ulric Street).
No agendas or speeches, just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns and get to know the officers who patrol your community. This event is open to all Western Division’s neighborhoods so come, grab a coffee and donut, and join us for some casual conversation.
Coffee and donuts will be provided by the Linda Vista Update.
What’s Happening at the LV Library?
The following kid-oriented activities are occurring at the Linda Vista Library during the month of November:
Super Science Saturday!: Saturday, November 16 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Look, pal: SCIENCE is everywhere! SCIENCE is everything really! Want to see what I mean? Come to the Library SUPER SCIENCE SATURDAY! where tables will be set up, each with its own experiment for you to do! Dig in; mix some chemicals; shake things up! Because, on this day, you’re the scientist with mad curiosity! Brought to you by the University of San Diego. For kids grades 3 through 5. No sign-up necessary. And it's not a class. You don't have to show up 12 sharp. Just show up early enough so you've time to experience the STEAM fun!
Thanksgiving Treats O' Rama: Saturday, November 23 at 12:00 pm
For ages 4 to 11. It's also a Crafts O' Rama where kids will be making a craft or two. But what makes these crafts special are the materials you'll use to make them: Sweets! Candy! Sprinkles! Frosting! Maybe Cookies and a few other delectables! And after all's done, you can devour everything if you want!
The In-N-Out Reading Program: Through Saturday, November 16
For Kids 4 to 12 years old.
Read 5 books, get a free In-N-Out Burger! Kids can earn up to 3 In-N-Out Burgers!
Sign up here: https://sandiego.beanstack.org/reader365
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The Linda Vista Update wishes to thank LV Youth Services Librarian Luan Pham for providing the above information.
Tree Planting at LV Community Park
On this past Friday November 8, the City of San Diego celebrated Kate Sessions Day with the planting of 11 Magnolia trees at the Linda Vista Community Park. The new trees now line the Levant Street entrance to the park.
The planting was conducted with the help of City employees and individual volunteers along with many from different San Diego volunteer/civic organizations. The event proved a motivating one, with so many enthusiastic volunteers in attendance to participate in a physical activity benefitting the environment and adding to the aesthetics of the park.
This tree planting event also celebrated the launch of a $10 million project “Ready, Set, Grow San Diego,” funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program. This event will also mark the beginning of the tree planting season in San Diego and acknowledge the significant contributions of Kate Sessions to our urban forest.
San Diego’s Climate Action Plan sets an ambitious target of planting 100,000 new trees by 2035, and this federal funding will help the City make significant progress toward reaching this milestone.
Kate Sessions was a botanist, horticulturalist and landscape architect who lived and worked in San Diego in the early 20th century. She was known as the “Mother of Balboa Park” and introduced hundreds of trees to the San Diego region, including the popular Jacaranda tree. Her legacy is celebrated on Kate Sessions Day every year on Nov. 8, which was her birthday.
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The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities. We welcome ideas for stories. Let us know about any interesting people, places, or upcoming events.