Baron’s Meat & Poultry is an old-fashioned butcher shop selling the best quality meats from reputable names such as Niman Ranch, Western Grasslands, Creekstone Farms and Mary’s Free Range Poultry, sources that are committed to raising animals humanely with no hormones, no antibiotics and organic vegetarian feed. There really is a big difference in taste, not to mention the good health that comes from eating food raised healthily.

I’m not a knife expert, so another perk of having an old-fashioned butcher shop in the neighborhood is that I can request my meats cut any way I like. Cubed, sliced for a stir-fry, diced or ground, the staff at Baron’s Meat & Poultry do it better than I could, so when I get home to my kitchen, all I have to do is cook.

The Niman Ranch Ground Chuck is great for shaping into burger patties with minced onion, salt and pepper. I bake it at 350 degrees for 20 minutes well done, less if you want it rare. The chuck is fatty enough to grease the pan on its own. It’s a quick and easy meal for the whole family.

Baron’s Meat & Poultry is one of the only places in the San Francisco Bay Area you can get the onglet, which is a strip of beef that hangs between the last rib and the loin, very close to the beef’s kidney. The onglet is very tender and flavorful. I usually get it cut in half-inch strips and stir fry it with vegetables in a soy sauce and sesame oil base.

Baron’s also makes their own delicious specialty sausages in-house. The steaks and marinades are amazing, and come Thanksgiving, I will be pre-ordering my Mary’s Free Range Turkey right here at Baron’s Meat & Poultry.

Check out www.BaronsMeats.com for more information on Baron’s Meat & Poultry. Better yet, pay them a visit at the Alameda Marketplace on the corner of Park Street and Buena Vista.

9-11 Memorial at Alameda Fire Department, originally uploaded by Alameda Locations.

The Alameda Fire Department set up a memorial for Alameda military men and women in duty. This memorial has each person’s photo and personal information on white pieces of paper shaped into 3-dimensional pieces linked together.

Sushi House on the corner of Shoreline Drive and Park Street has got to be Alameda’s busiest restaurant. Every time I walk by there the place is full, no matter what time it is.

I remember them way back when they were inside the South Shore mall area with a small space, that eventually doubled up to the space next door, and then when that was still not enough space, they took over the old Lyon’s building. For the last ten years it seemed that no one could make a restaurant work on the prime location of the old Lyon’s building overlooking the San Francisco Bay and Alameda Bird Sanctuary. I always wondered why such a perfect spot could not gain success for restaurants like Lyon’s and later Picante Mexican style restaurant. Now that Sushi House has taken over the location, business is booming!

If the weather is nice, ask to be seated outside to enjoy the amazing bay views and fresh air. Way back when Sushi House was a small restaurant we used to go there all the time. Now that they are so busy, we don’t go as often. The food is good, and best of all affordable. Our harshest critique is that the place is often so busy; it’s a little too frenetic an atmosphere for me. During their busy hours, the service is lacking. Whenever I go to Sushi House, I tend to expect a little chaos if I’m going at prime time. Weekends are insane. The sushi rolls are a bit too big and makes it hard to fit in one bite. You definitely get your money’s worth, however. Like I said, it is the busiest restaurant on the island. That alone should be enough to make one want to check it out. It’s food this good with great prices that have made Sushi House a huge success.

Nigiri sushi: ama-ebi, tobi-tama, hamachi; Shrimp tempura hand roll; Wakame

Jay and Malaya share a Bento box

Check out their menu at www.e-sushihouse.com

Thomas the Train Railroad Play Area

Malaya trying out a Fisher Price bicycle at the Toy Safari store front