"Olivers" > wrote in message
...
>
> 1) The inscription, to my mother from my father....
> "These enchiladas sound like Ramona's Kitchen. How about some."
>
> Where was "Ramona's Kitchen"? Looking at the recipe, "stacked" enchiladas
> topped with fried egg and containing chopped ripe olives, leads me to
> believe that it may have been in the San Diego area

That would be an obvious choice as the name Ramona is very much associated
with San Diego since the publication of the book "Ramona" in the early 20th
century. My copy is packed in a box somewhere and I don't rember the
author's name nor the exact year she wrote it. There have been many places,
including a town, called Ramona's or Ramona in San Diego County. This is
especially true in San Diego's Old Town area.

The use of olives is also very Californian. The Spanish planted olives all
over California and the use of them in cooking became intrinsic to
California Rancho food. These would but the preserved Spanish type olives.
RIPE olive processing was developed independently by 2 people in
California at the turn of the 20th century. One in Northern CA (her name
escapes me at the moment) and by Captain Gifford in San Diego. With the
greatly expanded supply of olives provided by the ease of canning California
Ripe olives, their use increased in all California cooking including the
well established Spanish Rancho cuisine. As Mexican foods began to be an
influence in the middle 1900's, the olive survived in the new Cal-Mex
cuisine formed from the mixing of California Rancho and Mexican foods.

Charlie