Random Munchies

My sister and I had a nice afternoon out yesterday.

Before she got off school, I dropped my car off for maintenance and had breakfast at Jack n' Jill's. I had their house special porridge and some tea. The porridge was great. It was a smooth, creamy mix of different oats and bran. However, like at so many places, the portion was enormous. I finished about a third, and even that took me an hour. I read the paper and made some phone calls while eating, and I still could not eat over half.

My sister met up with me later and we bought some summer gear: a green cardigan for me, some lip gloss for her. We shared a gyro and some spanikopita at some Greek restaurant on 3rd Street Promenade. It's entirely forgettable. Don't go. I forget the name, but the word Greek is written in big red neon "Greeky" letters and it's closer to the Wilshire end of 3rd Street.

We came home to make dinner for everyone (see last post), but not before stopping by Buttercake Bakery for some Easter petit fours. Aren't they adorable? The rabbit is white cake topped by a layer of chocolate ganache and filled with rasberry cream; the pink egg is a plain white cake; and the bunch of eggs on grass is a lemon curd cake with coconut "grass."

Matzo Ball Soup

One of my favorite soups is matzo ball soup. And with all the talk of Passover lately, I was craving Jewish food.

I simmered one stewing chicken in a pot of water with celery and onions (didn't havce carrots). I added some Whole Foods low sodium chicken stock because I didn't have enough liquid, and because that particular stock basically tastes like a chicken noodle soup. I made the stock the night before, and the matzo balls an hour before dinner. Delicious! My sister picked the flower for me off a bush in front of the apartment.

The same sister says that a cafe at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica has great mint lemonade, so we tried to recreate it at home. They basically take good homemade lemonade and blend in a ton of mint. She said this cup was getting close, but that the cafe had even more mint.

There are more eating photos from our gals' day out, but more on that later!

Catfish en Papillote

Fish doesn't get easier than this.

Buy filets of your favorite fish. Make sure there are no bones in them. Arrange one filet, a handful each of three or four vegetables, salt, pepper, a few tablespoons of chicken stock, and a tablespoon of dry vermouth or white wine on a piece of aluminum foil. Fold up the foil into a packet, making sure all the ends are upturned but leaving a small hole on one side for steam to escape. Steam in a 375 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes for a large filet.

Good vegetables to use are tomatoes, zucchini, green onions, yellow or white onions, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. For an Asian twist, use soy sauce and ginger instead of white wine and chicken stock. You can slice your vegetables into paper thin disks, slivers, or both. Whatever tickles your fancy. Just make sure you put the harder to cook items (potatoes) close to or even under the fish for maximum cooking.

Reclaiming My Zen

I need to cook. Cooking helps me be less of a Ms. Crankypants. Maybe it's the wielding of sharp objects that makes me feel more in control.

I spent a good hour in the kitchen today, cleaning the stovetop, clearing the fridge, washing the dishes, and then chopping vegetables into teeny tiny uniform pieces. No phone, no television, no computer--just me and my deadly sharp Shun. Paper thin slices for the tomatoes and potatoes, shoestring juliennes for the carrots and zucchini. Somehow I ran out of onions, so maybe I'll pick a few up on a jog later. Dinner promises to be delicious.

White Bean Soup

I've had white bean soup for dinner for two days straight. See how your whining affects my diet?

Just kidding. I've been fighting a cold, and soup is delicious. Seriously, I love white bean soup. It's really easy to make, and creamy without actually requiring me to have cream on hand. It's a great dish to make when you have no fresh ingredients.

Start by soaking two cups of white beans overnight. I use northern or giant lima beans. Simmer the beans in water until they're soft. Meanwhile, sautee a diced medium onion and five chopped up cloves of garlic. If you want to roast a bulb of garlic instead, that'll be even tastier. When the onions and garlic are soft and slightly brown, pour them into the simmering beans. Add salt, pepper, and any herbs you like (oregano, thyme, and parsley are all good).

Pour about a cup of the soup into a blender, and carefully turn the blender on. Cover the top of the blender with a towel and don't close the lid all the way so that hot air can escape. When the blender's running, take off the lid and carefully pour all the soup into the blender, and blend until perfectly smooth. You can add diced tomatoes at this point, or pour the soup back into the pot and add the tomatoes if you want them in chunks. My soup's a big orange because I added some tomato liquid for flavor. Salt and pepper more to taste, and you're done! If your soup is too thick, add a little water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock.

Your Whining is Killing Me

Seriously people, your whining is killing me. Or, at the very least, causing my soul to wither away. And it's not any one person in particular, it's a handful of you who keep coming at me with the same two identical complaints:

• I'm such a catch, why doesn't anyone want me?
• I'm so out of shape, but exercise is so hard.

I have three words for you: SUCK IT UP! I'm so sick of your whining for the sake of whining. It's not like you're complaining and hoping for constructive criticism. You're just whining for the sake of whining, with no intention of doing anything about anything.

If you wanted something badly enough, you'd go out and get it. Think about it. If your boss came to you and said "You have six months to get a boy/girlfriend, and you'd better exercise three times a week or I'll fire your ass" I'm sure 99% of you whiners would shape up pretty quickly (or sue your boss for being totally inappropriate). Because, for some sad reason, most of us are more motivated by our jobs and money than by a desire for personal fulfillment.

So if you want to bounce ideas off me for finding a mate or getting in shape, bring it on. If you're just going to come at me with the same complaints week after week, month after month, with no commitment toward progress, I really don't care. Seriously folks. I'm dying on the inside, and it's not pretty. And I'm nothing without my pretty.

FoodFest For T

A day-long orgy of eating the likes of this hasn't been seen since I lived in SF. I think we consumed over three thousand calories each today.


First, some beloved ACME bread T brought us from SF. One walnut levain and two regular levains. Sadly, they were out of cheese wheels and baguettes by the times she got there, but I love levain too!


We had lunch at Chilbomyunok, since there's not much good Korean in SF.

My #2 cold noodle.



T's bibim neng myun. Neither of our cold noodle dishes was very good. Not enough flavor in the broth, basically. C's bibimbap was just terrible. She said everything in it was tough, there was a ton of lettuce in it, and the rice came on the side. Weird.

Consensus: the one good dish at Chilbomyunok is the #1 cold noodle that J got. It's quite delicious. Just don't get anything else.

Since most of us had an unsatisfying lunch, we doubled up on desserts. Cream puffs from Beard Papa's came first. The vanilla was good as usual, but the strawberry tasted like diluted strawberry ice cream.

Then we went to Pinkberry and shared a large yogurt.

After wandering around Venice a little, we stopped at Jin Patisserie and shared an afternoon tea plate and a few pots of tea. I have to say, the quality of tea at Jin is pretty sad.

The pastries were good, and the place is cute, but nothing to write home about. It's a nice place to stop if you're in the area but I wouldn't make it a destination. But thank you to C, our driver for the afternoon, for treating us ladies to afternoon tea!

Dinner was the winner today. We had quite the marathon at Best Szechuan on Garfield in Monterey Park. First, a cold platter trio: pork ears, marinated beef slices, and cold mung bean noodles.

Garlicked cold pork belly slices.

"Fire toasted" kidney slices.

"Water-cooked" beef slices.

Garlic and chili stir fried a-chai (Taiwanese lettuce).

And a pot of chicken and pork soup to wash down all the spiciness.

We came back to the apartment for gin and tonics and a box of French macaroons I picked up while we were at Jin. My favorites were the pistachio (far right) and caramel (far left).

Mezes-Inspired Dinner Party

It's been a really long time since I threw a proper dinner party. I think the last one was actually New Year's Eve! It's nice to get back in the game.


Button mushrooms sauteed with thyme and pepper flakes, served cold. I added the cucumbers for color, and also so we could dip the cucumbers in hummus and yogurt.

Blanched, chilled asparagus spears wrapped in rare roast beef and topped with a lemon dressing. My sister usually doesn't like asparagus, but she liked this because she loves rare beef and lemon!

Hummus from Sunnin, which we went a friend to buy. Thank you!

Giant white beans. I love these because of the soft, almost potato-like centers. They're so big one person thought they were bird eggs! I simmered these until they were soft. In a seperate pan, I sauteed onions and garlic until soft, added thyme and oregano, diced tomatoes, salt, and pepper. I should have remembered some white wine or vermouth. The beans were stirred in and simmered for a few minutes at the end.

Tiger prawns marinated in olive oil, salt, pepper, onions, and garlic, broiled for 3 minutes per side and topped with onions and lemon zest.

Seared snapper filets smothered in a sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, capers, pitted Kalamata olives, olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. I topped it with olives and lemon zest.

Flatbread from Trader Joe's. I was going to make bread but when I saw a pack of it at TJ's I couldn't resist the temptation to skip all that hassle.

Seared scallops. I wanted to get these to the table as quickly as possible so I took the picture while the second side was browning.

My own little plate, all filled up and ready to be eaten.

Impromptu Steak Wrap

Sometimes the thrown together lunch is the best.

I'm slow cooking roast beef for dinner, so I sliced of a few pieces of it and put it on grilled flat bread with cucumber slices and a dollop of Trader Joe's Greek Style Yogurt (2%). The warm meat melted the yogurt into a creamy sauce. Incredibly yummy for something so simple.

Sushi-Zo, Culver City

Neither of us was terribly hungry last night, but at the same time no one wanted to cook. We took it as a sign that it was the perfect night to try Sushi-Zo in Culver City without breaking the bank.

Sushi-Zo's gimmick is that they serve only sushi and sashimi. When you walk in the door, the hostess makes a point of telling you there are no California rolls or maki (cut) rolls at the restaurant. In case you didn't get the point, there's also a sign on the wall that says the same. Gimmicks aside, the quality of the fish is some of the best I've had anywhere, including Asia. Even the soy sauce and pickled ginger tasted better than usual. The soy sauce had a light flavor, not just saltiness. And the pickled ginger was very tender and tissue-thin.

Abalone with ground lemongrass. I'm not a fan of either, so I liked this well enough but didn't love it. It has a crunchy texture and quite fishy flavor. J loves it.

Salmon nigiri with a transparent layer of seaweed marinated in sugar. If you've ever had the little snacks that are sticky layers of seaweed pressed together (you peel off each layer as you eat it), you'll recognize the flavor of this seaweed.

Amberjack. The fish here is so good. I don't know how they get fish to just melt into your mouth. The warm (body temperature) rice is also delicious, and so lightly packed together it's very delicate work picking it up with chopsticks or your fingers.

Spanish mackerel. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed aji so much, since it's usually kind of chewy and fishy. This just tasted fresh and oceany.

Orange clam. Neither of us had had this before. I like geoduck better, but J liked this better. I think orange clam is fishier and softer.

Fish liver (ankimo) nigiri. Clearly the evening's winner! I've never had ankimo jiggle as it's set down. Comparing this ankimo to other ankimos is like comparing silken, fresh tofu with hard, stale tofu from the Sizzler's salad bar. Biting into it really was like biting into a seafood version of foie gras. I wanted to chew on it forever.

We ended with four handrolls: yellowtail, (cooked) blue crab, tuna, and toro. Of course, the clear winner was toro. However, props to Sushi-Zo for their amazing hand rolls. They're not big, but everything about them was perfect. The seaweed is thinner and crisper than I've seen anywhere else, and you can taste both the fishy seaweed flavor as well as tiny crisp salt crystals with every bite. The sushi chef admonished me to not take pictures and take the first bite before the seaweed lost its crispiness. I have to say, the man had a point. The first bite was paradigm shiftingly good. If I had a bottomless wallet, I would just have him make handroll after handroll and eat the first bite of them all.

As for the fish in the handroll, J wanted to know how they chopped it to such a texture that it literally just melted in your mouth. Instead of chunks, the fish in all the handrolls was as fine as a pate. I wonder if they food processed it? Knowing Sushi-Zo, they probably arduously chopped all of the fish until it reached pate consistency.

We didn't get there very hungry, but I thought we got a decent amount of food for our $90 total (after tax and tip). For some of the best quality in LA, I'm willing to go back--when I'm not terribly hungry and just want an intensely delicious meal.

Groundwork Coffee

A friend was in town for work this week, so I used the opportunity to go to Groundwork on 2nd and Main and check out their amazing new $11,000 Clover coffee machine as featured in The Los Angeles Times last week.

Thank goodness the cup of coffee itself costs only $2! It's amazing coffee, though. Smooth, with distinct flavors. I've never really been able to detect separate flavors in my coffee, only general impressions like "this is more smokey, this is more sour, this is very fruity." But with the Clover, I could distinctly make out caramel and a lingering grapefruit fragrance. It was really incredible. I bought some Sumatra to see if I can get the same flavors in my French press, or if it really is the magic of their $11,000 machine.

New Look

Well, I thought the first day of spring would be as good a day as any to change the look of my website. I'm too lazy to find a template other than Blogger, so selection was limited.

More than anything, I wanted to add a search function to the site. So you'll notice a bar above the web page, with a search box on the left. I tried a few searches and it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing until I can buy a web design program (free trial ran out!) and alphabetize my reviews and recipes on separate web pages and link everything up.

Beef Noodle Soup

Lots of food posts today--happy?

I cut chuck roast into chunks and simmered with ginger and onions until soft (salt during the last half hour of simmering, then added tong hau (crysanthemum greens) and mushrooms for a few minutes. I poured the soup over some thick Shang Dong style noodles for dinner.

This is a Northern Chinese cold dish. It's mustard greens, lima beans, and pressed tofu tossed with salt and a dash of sesame oil. We had a lot of green vegetables today to celebrate the first day of spring!

Animal Killing: Yea or Nay?

My target practice post sort of started a discussion about hunting and killing, so I've been wondering:

How many of us have killed our own food? I personally have never killed anything that's not seafood: fish, crabs, lobsters, geoduck, sea urchin, conch, and any other sea creatures aren't a problem for me.

I've never had the opportunity to kill anything bigger, but I like to think I'd be able to do it because I don't think people should be allowed to eat things that they're unwilling to grow/harvest or catch/kill. Obviously we live in a society in which most of us will never have the opportunity to grow or catch our own food, but given the chance I'd happily run away and go live on a subsistence farm, at least for awhile.

Mondo Gelato

The sun came back today, and I spent the morning at the gym and running with a friend so I totally deserved this. Not that I ever need and excuse.

Consensus: pretty darned good for $3! Mondo Gelato's $3 medium probably packs more yogurt than Pinkberry's "large," which is served in a huge cup but consists of a ring of yogurt and a hollow center. Mondo also has a decent selection of fruit, but I like my yogurt plain. I tried both the "plain Italian" and "tart Italian" today. I actually didn't think the two tasted that different, but the plain was denser and creamier. The tart's machine may have been malfunctioning, because the gal behind the counter seemed a little frustrated with it and it seemed a little watery to me, but had it been more frozen would have tasted closer to Pinkberry's "crunchy" kind of frozen yogurt.

Chunky Alpaca Scarf

Cold weather means lots of indoor projects are getting finished (yes, a certain hat is still in the works--damn me for promising to do a project in thread-thin yarn).

A chunky alpaca scarf, on the other hand, takes about three hours of total knitting time to finish. And I know it's been a long time since I've cooked. J made a huge pot of gumbo this weekend and we just finished it last night. So tonight there should be something interesting coming out of the kitchen.

Homemade Apron

Tada! Easy peasy, done in one day.

I had to hold the apron because it doesn't have ties. Instead of ties, I wanted to copy In N' Out and hold the back together with a gigantic diaper pin. You know, just to be different.

Sewing, knitting, and cooking all share one characteristic: if you buy a few good tools and stick with quality ingredients, your end product will be impressive even if you only have basic skills.

Almost There!

I checked my site average today, and it was 195! It shouldn't be too long until I have to cook that promised feast for everyone.

And as a side note, I tried Yoku Yoku today. Definitely not as good as Pinkberry or Red Mango, and not worth trying again if you like your frozen yogurt to be tangy and not too sweet. Of course, everyone has different tastebuds, so I'm sure Yoku Yoku has fans. Their product is tasty, but with the explosion of what's being called "fat free Italian frozen yogurt" throughout Los Angeles, there's enough variation on a theme for me to pick and choose my favorites. So far:

-Red Mango, inside the California Roll & Sushi on Westwood
-Pinkberry (various locations, but I really hate going because the staff is idiotically incompetent)
-Lollicup, inside the Nogales 99 Ranch Market Plaza
-Yoku Yoku on Sepulveda at Palms
-Kiwiberri has gone under after a lawsuit by Pinkberry
-I still have to try Mondo Gelato on Pico and Roseberry in Glendale

Fashion District, LA

J had to go to court downtown today, so it was a chance for me to go prowl around the Fashion District without wasting a few gallons of gas. The Fashion District is LA's wholesale garment and textile district. People don't realize it, but Los Angeles has more manufacturing than any other city in the U.S., and one the biggest industries around is garment production.


The stores in The Fashion District therefore have access to a lot of great fabric. In fact, I heard there's nowhere in the country where an individual can have access to such a large variety of textiles without having a wholesale/retail license. Everything from 99 cent polyester to $10o embroidered brocade to $300 fur pelts can be found if you look hard enough. Today I was shopping for silk taffeta (successful!) but I bought a $5 piece of this fun canvas too. I don't know what I should do with it though. Make a tote? A zippered knitting kit? A few small zippered pouches?

A Novice No More

What a difference a day makes! I went shooting for the first time yesterday, and the results weren't pretty even with the target set at merely five yards away from me. In my defense, toward the end I was getting better and all the shots in the top right quadrant were actually aimed there on purpose.

But today, much better! I can now shoot someone in the chest from 25 yards away--five times as far as yesterday! I learned that most right-handed people tend to shoot to the left and slightly below where they aim, so I think my shooting's pretty normal but not bad for a beginner.

Woodlands (Artesia)

Too tired to write much, but we had an incredibly delicious buffet, one dosa (Indian crepe), and delicious drink (choice of milk or mango) for FIVE DOLLARS EACH today. Even Vietnamese sandwiches aren't this good a steal.

$1.29 Filet O' Fish Fridays

I couldn't resist, and I refuse to apologize for it.

Besides, there are few acts as exclusively American as being handed a paper bag through a window, turning out of a drive-through lane, and then reaching into the bag for that first finger-burning fry. It made me think back to when I was first allowed to drive a car alone to high school. I'd wake up ten minutes earlier than usual. My mom thought it was so I could take the long way to school, which was safer than the windy, intensely foggy mountain road close to our house. Actually, it was so I could pick up a biscuit and some honey at McDonald's and eat it while driving down aforementioned mountain road while steering with one hand. Ah, the recklessness of youth. I don't have much use for McDonald's these days, but its nostalgic value is undeniable. Anyone else have McD's stories?

Pesto!

Whenever the weather gets warm, I want pesto with curly pasta and Pecorino Romano. And yes, it has to be curly pasta and Pecorino Romano.

Taiwanese Oyster Pancake

I have an oyster pancake update! My original recipe is here, but my uncle suggested I make one important change and it totally worked! Instead of tapioca starch, I used potato starch. The end product is similar, but the texture is more "right." I don't know how to describe it other than that. If you can't find potato starch use tapioca starch, but definitely do NOT use corn starch. You'll get a rubbery pancake instead of a gooey, slimy one--and yes, you do want slimy.

An Ode To Me

Dear Me,

I love me. Thank me for being me.

Love,

Me

PS. Feel free to upchuck your dinner and hurl rotten tomatoes at me.

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Cous Cous

Still eating healthy after this weekend's food overload. I can't even look at meat right now without feeling full. I know, it's weird.

I've never managed to make cous cous that was moist without being gummy before, and it always seemed so complicated (constant stirring for ten minutes, careful water measurement, etc.) I don't know if Trader Joe's just has good cous cous or if something just clicked in me, but today's was perfect and easy!

I heated a cup and a half of vegetable stock over low heat with two tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of salt and simmered some diced carrots in it for several minutes while I cut up some broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms. I added the broccoli and cauliflower for only about ten seconds before throwing in the mushrooms and stirring in the cous cous. Then I turned off the heat and covered the cous cous for about five or ten minutes. At that point, all the vegetables were steamed through but still firm in the center, and the whole thing just needed a little more salt and some fluffing with a fork. Simple, colorful, healthy, and delicious! And the whole wheat cous cous tastes just as good as regular. I think it will need a little more vegetable stock or water stirred in each time I eat leftovers, but that's no big deal.



We tried making Korean naeng myun last night. Not a huge success, but not a bad meal for a warm evening. And look at that soft boiled eg. Perfect (for me, at least)!

Quaker Oatmeal Squares

Mmm, Quaker Oatmeal Squares. These have been my favorite cereal since high school. They discontinued them for awhile and I was really sad. I guess I wasn't the only one, because they came back again pretty quickly.

I love Oatmeal Squares because they're cinnamony but not too sugary, and they're big enough that they don't get soggy in milk and are actually big enough to snack on without any milk. And since they're made from oatmeal, they're pretty filling. All in all, everything I look for in a cereal. And I wanted to load a photo, but Blogger is acting retarded again. Maybe tomorrow.

In other news, site hit average is up to 175! We're well on our way to 200.

Sushi

Yes, this weekend was a little ridiculous in terms of eating. I think we're going to be vegetarian for the rest of the week. When we did our usual shopping Sunday afternoon, neither of us was tempted to buy anything except green vegetables and fruit. $24 for groceries! Usually we buy enough meat and fish to push us closer to $70. Anyway, a trip out to our "secret" sushi restaurant this weekend. J still won't let me say where it is, but if you really want to know, e-mail me.

Sashimi plate for two. We were planning to eat this and a bowl of rice each, but temptation was too strong. The baby squid in the bottom left corner were new for me. They were pretty tasty, covered in a little honey mustard .

Toro (tuna belly) was especially good this weekend, as was un-photographed uni.

The ama ebi (sweet shrimp) was alive and kicking so we had a couple, along with their deep fried heads.

Cod milt was VERY new for me. Let's just say it's an R-rated food, and if you really want to know what it is you'll have to Google it.

Seafood Harbor

J's aunt and her husband moved to the United States from Taiwan this weekend, so a welcome luncheon was in order at Seafood Harbor on Rosemead, one of our favorite dim sum places. We had all the usual dim sum items, but what made it a real celebration was the addition of several very expensive special occassion seafood dishes.




Goose foot with sea cucumber. Each person got a plate of this, making it one of the few times I've ever seen Chinese food plated up separately for each diner.




Australian spiny lobster. It was brought to our table alive and kicking for an inspection, then cooked upon approval of its size and freshness.




Geoduck three ways. I didn't take a photo of the plain broth, which I actually love but isn't particulary photogenic. This preparation of the main body of the clam I didn't really like. It was a little overcooked and rubbery/livery.




I love the "tonge" of geoduck. The slices are very crisp and crunchy, with a sweet oceany taste. This is just four photos out of a three hour eating marathon. I was so full afterwards I fell asleep for an hour when we got home and skipped both three o'clock snack and a real dinner. We had some plain noodles and fruit and were plenty full all night.

Musha, Santa Monica

It's nice to know that even in Santa Monica, there's a place where you can get this much delicious food plus a pitcher of beer for $23 a head after tax and tip.

Homemade pure tofu, served with bonito flakes, salt, mustard, scallions, and ponzu.

Marinated squid strips with cucumber and ground daikon.

Raw mackerel, seared with a butane torch tableside. I love fire!

Tuna croquettes with aioli.

Tofu "french fries" with aioli and sweet sauce.

Chicken yakitori.

Braised pork with potatoes.

Fried rice.

Charcoal grilled steak.

Risotto mixed up with Parmesan in a big cheese wheel, served tableside.

Chocolate "souffle" which was really a molten cake, and vanilla ice cream.

Green tea ice cream parfait, the better of the two desserts. They really need to rename their desserts. This really wasn't a parfait either. But phew! That was a lot of food.

Zuni Roast Chicken

There are few things as basic and delicious as a properly roast chicken. For recipe, click here.

And late winter vegetables. It's not spring yet, but I managed to get some color on the table!

Boca Burgers!

J had a Boca burger for the first time the other day and liked it, so when I saw them on sale I grabbed a pack. Some mustard garlic mayo and a big handful of alfalfa sprouts later I had a great lunch.

Scallion Pancakes

A favorite appetizer/side dish at Northern Chinese restaurants is scallion or green onion pancakes. I don't have a hard and fast recipe for them, but here are the basics for four pancakes.

• 2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, mixed well with flour
• a cup each of very hot water and iced water (you won't use all)
• 3 green onions, roots removed and chopped finely (white and green parts)
• sesame oil

Use a heavy bowl or have someone hold it for you while you pour hot water in with one hand and start mixing the flour together with the other hand. As soon as any clumps start to form, switch to cold water. Ultimately, you should be using half hot and half cold, but the first few times it might be hard to gauge this. Don't sweat it, you'll be fine.

As soon as you have a tacky dough (less water is better here) set it aside for fifteen minutes to an hour, covered with a damp towel. then, knead the ball of dough a few times, sprinkling with a little flour of needed. Cut into four equal pieces and cover again for at least ten minutes. Roll each ball out, brush with a little sesame oil, cover generously with green onions, and then roll the circle up into a cylinder. Flatten the top a little, brush with more oil, and cover with a little more green onion. Then roll the cylinder up so you end up with something that has the shape of a cinnamon roll. By oiling and folding so many times, you're creating layers of dough that will give the pancake some texture when you tear it apart later. Let each "cinnamon roll" sit for a minute or two, then flatten and roll into a disc. The discs can be stacked between plastic wrap and frozen, or fried in a tablespoon of oil over medium heat for three to five minutes per side. Frozen ones take longer but do not have to be defrosted before cooking.

Kitchen for Exploring Foods

Nex time you're in Oldtown Pasadena and don't know what to eat, I suggest you drive a mile out and check out The Kitchen For Exploring Foods. Easy parking, cheaper food, and much tastier than the generic swill you find in Oldtown. I checked out a few reception locations and caterers today, and had lunch at The Kitchen. It's not fancy and there are only a few tables, but the food is delicious. This is the kind of food I'd be happy to eat all the time. A lot of buffet places can make food look this colorful, but at 90% of those places you bite in and everything tastes the same (and bad).


I had a slice of stuffed pork loin with apple stuffing. The meat was marinated all the way through and a little sweet and crispy around the edges. The stuffing was moist and infused with rosemary and onion fragrance. Salad bar offerings tend to be bland or all seasoned the same way, so I was really impressed how each salad was unique but not overpowering. The asparagus was perfectly roasted and smokey, and the slightly tangy sun-dried tomatoes and pungent cheese were just strong enough to stand up to the smoke without overpowering it; the cous cous was fluffy and moist with a hint of garlic; the white beans were cold and smooth with the fresh kick of raw onions; and the beets were wonderfully sweet and completely infused with a vinegary dressing. Each vegetable was given just enough treatment to bring out its best qualities, which is the thing I love most about California cuisine.


In a nutshell, The Kitchen is high on my list of caterers now even though their lunch offerings weren't fancy. I mean, there's a big difference between what they know they can sell at a lunch counter and what their catering department is going to plate up for a sit down dinner. More research will be done.

Merkato Ethiopian

We finally made it to Little Ethiopia this weekend and tried Merkato on Fairfax. I hope Merkato's not the best Ethiopian in LA, because I've had better in SF. I will say that Merkato was super cheap. $10 after tax and tip for six people to have lunch, coffee, and a total of two Cokes is nothing to complain about, and the restaurant is very cute in a completely casual way.


I loved the umbrellas on the ceilings, and these little saddled chairs were a hit with some little toddlers who came in to eat with their dad.


We started offwith pastries. One's filled with lentils, the other with beef. They're kind of like Indian samosas, but needed more spice.

Injera (bread) laden with our entree choices. We had an assortment of vegetables, a cooked beef, cooked chicken (in the bowl), and innards. Everything was fine, but could have used about twice as much spice and a pinch more salt than they used. The injera wasn't as sour as at most places I've been, but it depends on the audience to determine whether that's good or bad. Personally, I like it sour.

J and I ordered coffee while we waited for our friends, but it's supposed to be served after the meal. Actually, service here was so slow that it came right before our food, when our friends had already arrived. So timing was pretty off, but we're not sticklers for that kind of thing. It's just not somewhere to go if you're in a hurry.

Warning

Let this be a lesson to brides everywhere:

The difference between the price of a mid-range designer gown anywhere in LA County and the price of the same dress in Bakersfield? Over $1,000.

Both bridal boutiques were listed on the designer's list of boutiques around the world. I should find someone to order the dress for me in China.

Impromptu Lunch

There's nothing like a sausage sandwich!

I was ravenous after walking around all morning, so I had an Aidell's chicken and apple sausage on a piece of bread with some buttery sauteed onions and a sauce of mustard, mayo, and crushed garlic. The salad had some champagne vinegar and olive oil drizzled on it along with some of the same mustard sauce. This sandwich smelled divine and really hit the spot. Then again, mustard garlic mayo on anything usually hits the spot. Now, to survive without eating until 7 p.m. We're going to Cima!

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere!

French tulips! it's a pity I don't have the proper vase for these, because they were originally three feet long with gorgeous stems and leaves. It was heartbreaking to have to cut them down to the length of regular tulips, plus it doesn't show them off very much.

Pink stargazers for my mom, to celebrate her birthday. She's ten times better at arranging flowers than I am, so I got her a huge armload instead of an arranged bouquet. I think there's enough here for her to get three or four vases full to put around the house. There are about twenty stems squished together here, and each stem has four or five flowers or buds.

North End, Manhattan Beach

Another gorgeous day in LA. Today I checked out a possible wedding venue in Manhattan Beach and stopped for lunch near the shore at a cafe called North End. I was going to eat real food, but decided on Belgian fries with two kinds of dip instead. Chipotle mayo and dijon mayo were my choices.

The fries were great, as was the view.