Breakfast Sandwiches

J worked from home today, so I made breakfast sandwiches with sausages, eggs, Parmesan, and arugula.

Mine was open-faced.

He needed the extra slice of toast.

More Noodles

Yes, more noodles. I have to say, I don't mind. I love soup, and light broth has been great while I'm trying to kick a cold.

We used up the pork and chicken stock, this time adding shredded napa cabbage, sliced carrots, shredded pork and chicken, enoki mushrooms, and a generous handful of chopped cilantro and scallions.

In wedding news, our friend recommended Rembrandt Band. S's sister used them for her wedding, and S wanted them for her own wedding but they were booked. They are probably expensive, but I'm going to give them a call tomorrow. I trust S. She's been to lots of events and heard a lot of bands. If she says they're the best in LA, that's good enough for me. Their on line samples are probably the best I've heard so far in terms of variety and singers' vocal abilities.

Gojiberries!

Despite its being Memorial Day, we had a simple Monday dinner last night. Pork and chicken bones boiled for several hours and then used to cook some ginger, gojiberries, white pepper, and thin Taiwanese noodles. Topped with scallions, of course.

Gojiberries were always associated in my brain with Chinese medicine, but they're appearing in health food stores everywhere now. They're kind of fun to eat. They're a little tangy, a little sweet, and have a lot of tiny seeds that pop kind of the way strawberry seeds do.

We also got a HUGE pot today. I wanted a bigger one but It wouldn't have fit on our stovetop or in our sink. A big yellow 16 qt. stockpot now means I have one big pot in every primary color: a red all-purpose non-stick thick-bottomed clad pot, a blue Le Creuset enameled cast iron, and now a big yellow relatively lightweight Tivoli enameled stockpot. What's cooking in it, you ask? You'll just have to wait to find out. I promise, it's different.

Little Tokyo Adventure

This weekend we went to Little Tokyo together for the first time. I know, two Angelenos who've been together for 10 years, and never to Little Tokyo. Disgraceful!

Our first stop was Fugetsu-Do Sweet Shop, where they make colorful fresh mochi.

J got a mochi with chunky red bean filling, and I got mochi with namado (sp?) leaves ground into it, with a smooth red bean filling.

Inside shot! After this snack, J found a place (Matsuda) where he got an awesome haircut. The old barber really knew what he was doing and made J look trim and neat without that "I'm a shorn sheep" look. Bonus: he gave J a lovely head and shoulder massage, a shave with a straight razor, and a cleanup and steam with a hot towel. Heaven for $15!

We wandered around one of the main plazas awhile, passing by Pinkberry competitor cefiore. I had a sample, but it was before lunch so we didn't buy anything. It was pretty good, but all the Italian-style tart frozen yogurts flooding LA are starting to taste the same to me. We saw another one in Santa Monica called YoGreen.

Hungry, we finally got to our main destination, Daikokuya.

An appetizer of korobuta pork with teriyaki sauce. Too much sauce, but fatty and yummy.

The ramen was tasty! Pork broth cooked until milky white, miso, noodles, pork, an egg, sesame seeds, and tons of scallions. So good! I had a cold all weekend so I really enjoyed all the lovely soups we had. Miso is always a little salty to me, but otherwise this was one of the better ramens I've had in awhile.

No English Name Korean

There are a lot of Korean restaurants in K-town that have no English name. This one is in a plaza on 6th and Serrano along with a branch of Paris Baguette, Yushun, and a place called Pho LA. It's next door to Albae Korean Restaurant. We decided to go because J noticed a traditional Korean soup called sol-long-tang:

The English name is beef knuckle/knee soup, and I would liken is to Korean pho. It had big chunks of tendon and a few pieces of beef, so if you like tendon this is the dish for you. I really ejoyed the broth with a bowl of really great rice. I love when restaurants get rice right.

J wanted the slow-cooked pork and blood sausage platter. Needless to say, it was a lot of food.

We also tried their version of black goat stew. It has a lot of parilla leaves in it, which are kind of minty but also medicinally herbaceous. I wasn't feeling too well last night so the strong smell was really off putting to me and I stuck with my bland soup and rice. I tried some more today, though, and I liked it.

Also, hilarious signs are a great passion of mine. Los Angeles really takes the cake in the silly signs department.

Banana Shake

Today's 3 o'clock snack comes in the form of a banana shake.


The healthy version:

• 1 very ripe banana
• 4 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup non-fat milk
• juice of 1 lime

Put everything into a blender and combine until smooth. If you have a sweet tooth or if your banana is not sickeningly sweet with ripeness, add up to a tablespoon of sugar or honey.

The unhealthy, but still healthier than dessert, version:

• substitute the milk with a shot of rum

And in case you're dying to ask where I bought cool black straws, I stole it. I take a couple of straws from cafes and restaurants when I see them, because I'm too cheap to spend a dollar on a whole pack of them. Plus, the straws that retail places are able to buy tend to be made with thicker plastic and are sometimes longer. They're just better than the cheapo clear ones you can buy for yourself.

Oh SF, How I Miss You

I must go to SF this summer. I miss the food too much. Maybe I'll go some weekend when it's 90 degrees in LA and the wintery SF summers seem like a wonderful alternative. But, duh, mostly it'll be to eat. If I do visit, I have to remember to go to:

• Chaat Cafe for papri chaat
• Little Delhi for butter chicken
• Lots of Cal-Cuisine places (maybe Delfina, since I did Zuni last time)
• Ritual Roasters for a latte
• Tartine to load up on sweets to bring home
• Cafe Amici for chai
• Spices I for lamb hot pot
• The new Tajine location
• The Hidden Vine
• Kokkari because J never got to eat there
• The Ferry Building in all its splendor

It's weird what we miss, isn't it?

Taiwanese Breakfast for Dinner

Okay, I finally cooked today.

Taiwanese breakfast at home usually consists of rice porridge and sides. I added some sliced ginger and frozen sole to the porridge, stir fried some cabbage with dried shrimp, and made a chives omelet. The ramekins have pickled cabbage heart and tofu curd, traditional Taiwanese pickled/preserved side dishes.

Dessert was the first watermelon of the year. Healthy, huh? The watermelon, from Trader Joe's, was not bad for this time of year. Still, I expect better once it really starts to heat up around here!

Vindicated, at Last!

When I lived in San Francisco, I loved to go the the Ferry Building farmers' market for produce. This shot is of the inside of the Ferry Building, where there are permanent food-related shops, markets, and restaurants. The farmers' market is outside.

I knew it was expensive, but I was willing to go for the superior products. Slowly, however, I began to feel like it actually wasn't more expensive than going to Safeway. Recently, this popular Bay Area blogger made a point by buying the same list of ingredients at both Safeway and the Ferry Building. She actually came out $9 ahead at the Ferry Building, and the products she got there were undoubtedly superior.

She says she was surprised, but I have to say I'm not. I only shop at chain supermarkets for packaged foods that can't be found elsewhere: dried pasta, canned vegetables, juice, soda, cereal, etc. Produce, fruit, seafood, and meat are usually expensive and are better off purchased at Asian markets (to save money) or gourmet and farmers' markets (for higher quality).

Doughboys

I love the Doughboys t-shirt. "Buy Doughboys...We Knead the Dough!"

I also love the Doughboys prices (lots of pastries around $3, entrees under $10) and enormous portions. I had a pulled pork sandwich today and could barely finish half of it along with a small bowl of cole slaw. I need to go with a friend next time, because it makes me sad to go and not have room for a cookie that's bigger than a hockey puck or a foot long biscotti.

The menu has something for everyone: a dozen different cakes, cookies, and muffins; a half dozen soups served in a huge crock along with a chunk of bread; and a page each of salads, sandwiches, and breakfast items (variations on pancakes and French toast).

Also, Doughboys has good coffee! you can get the fancy brew in a French press, but the stuff they're pouring out of the machine is already dark and smooth enough to drink black.

Gaby's Mediterranean

We tried to go to Fraiche, the hottest new restaurant in Culver City, but they were closed on Monday night! I still have to find out if that was a fluke or if they're closed every Monday. We ended up at Gaby's Mediterranean instead. Not bad, but nothing worth going on about.

The pita bread was of the pre-packaged variety and came with olive oil filled with sesame seeds and oregano. This needed more salt, and would be more fragrant with fresh herbs.

J's lamb shank was a good size and tender enough, but we both agreed he's made better Mediterranean style roast lamb shank.

My lentil soup was good, with a hearty amount of cumin and paprika. It just needed a touch more salt, but it was a nice dinner for me.

And in today's WTF corner, I present the ugliest shoe I've seen in a long time. How did this end up at Macy's?

Burt and Rocky's, Claremont.

Sweets for the sweet:

Two of my favorite ice cream flavors of all time can be found at Claremont's Burt & Rocky's: peppermint stick and chocolate orange. They don't exactly complement each other well (the orange in the chocolate gets overwhelmed by the peppermint), but I had to have both since I'm not in Claremont often. It's part nostalgia, part actual quality, but I really enjoy B&R's homemade style.

We were in Claremont to visit some friends who decided to do a mini college reunion there, and also to catch a gun showin Ontario. We wanted to get some ammo for target practice, since we could get bullets for $7.50 a box instead of the $11-12 charged by shooting ranges. We also got some ear muffs, cleaning supplies, and paper targets. Now, if we go, our only fee will be a $12-20 lane rental fee. Fun fun fun!

Note: gun shows are super fun for women. Most of the women there are either police/military and know plenty about guns, or have been dragged there by men. Therefore, the vendors are very excited when there's a woman who's new to shooting but actually happy to listen to them. Also, there's something deeply satisfying about toting a 20 lb. box of ammo in each hand and having strangers compliment me on how easy I make it look. It makes all those hours at the gym worth it.

Chicken Kiev Dinner

We had some friends over for Friday night dinner. Chicken Kiev was the star of the evening.

J complained that there wasn't enough butter in the middle. Next time, THREE tablespoons! We also had pesto buttermilk squashed potatoes and broccoli and mushrooms that I tossed with olive oil and the pulp of roasted garlic .

Chicken Kiev is reasonably easy. First, the compound butter. You must have compound butter! What you put in the butter is up to you, but there should be salt, pepper, and chives. I also added shallots, rosemary, and thyme. The more herbs you can mix into some softened butter the better. Then refrigerate at least overnight and cut into chunks of two tablespoons' worth each.

A few hours before you want dinner, pound some chicken breasts flat. Here's a visual of how big each piece can get--no thinner than an eighth of an inch thick, please. I found that instead of pounding between two pieces if plastic wrap, it's easier to stick the chicken in one of those plastic bags you get in the produce section. I also don't own a meat mallet, so I pound the meat with my French rolling pin (which is really just a big tapered stick).

Season all the flattened chicken on both sides. Anything goes here: salt, pepper, herbs. Just make sure the flavors complement what you have going on inside the butter. Roll two tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of panko bread crumbs into the center of each piece of chicken. Roll tightly! Put the chicken rolls into a container so they're packed pretty close together, and put in the fridge for a few hours. This gives the chicken time to kind of take shape.

When ready to cook, dust the rolls in flour, dredge in some beaten eggs, and coat in panko bread crumbs. Fry in half an inch of oil over medium heat. It should take five minutes for each side to become golden. Any faster and you'll have a raw center. Let it cool a few minutes before you cut into it.

We had panna cotta with mountains of berries for dessert. I think that was the real winner of the evening!

Hansen's Cakes

Wedding research took me to Hansen's Cakes in Beverly Hills today. I came away with sack of goodies:

I guess I can stop worrying about not having enough dessert tomorrow...

Hansen's makes classic American cake. To me, an American cake is dense and sweet like pound cake. It has its place in the pantheon of cakes, but it doesn't scream "delicate and fancy enough for a wedding." Plus, I sampled about ten bites and my head started hurting from all the sugar. I do admit to having a low tolerance for very sugary foods (Jell-O makes my head hurt), but to me that's a red flag to keep shopping for cake.

The white cake with strawberry cream filing was my favorite. The flavor of fresh strawberry puree really popped against the sweet white cake. Everything else was good, but no better than anyone could make at home. The thing that Hansen's excels in is making cakes in crazy shapes (an ice bucket filled with a champagne bottle, a sneaker, Harry Potter's Sorting Hat, King Kong, etc.). Very cool, but not what I'm looking for.

They're not hurting for business though. The place was packed, the ladies were super nice, and they can obviously afford to give every customer a free sack of cake. I'm not complaining!

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Yum! Look at the pretty vanilla seeds!

Buttermilk panna cotta goes into the mental stash of recipes under "cheap tricks." I can't believe I've waited this long to make it, intimidated because it has this veneer of being something only "real chefs" make. I should have known better. Italians are not known for complicated desserts.

• 1 packet gelatin
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups buttermilk (reduced fat 2% is fine)
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean and/or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup heavy cream. I used 2 teaspoons. Add the whole packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) if you want more of a jello-like consistency, and 1/4 less if you prefer something that's more like pudding. Let the gelatin soften for ten minutes. It will be a semi-solid blob.

Heat cream and sugar over medium heat until sugar melts. If you are using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the cream before heating. Don't let the liquid boil. When it comes close to a boil, dump in the gelatin and whisk until the gelatin completely dissolves. I have a sneaking suspicion this would work better if the hot liquid went into the gelatin instead of the other way around. Anyway, after the gelatin melts set the pot aside to cool to room temperature (20-45 minutes, or chill in an ice bath like I did).

Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract, and strain. Do not forget to strain! Straining will remove any clumps of gelatin that you've missed, as well as giant floaty vanilla pieces.

Pour into six small ramekins or cups. Chill for at least six hours. To serve, set in a bowl of hot water for ten seconds and inver over a plate.

New Häagen-Dazs Flavor: Sticky Toffee Pudding!

I've been waiting for this to hit the shelves ever since I saw that stupid reality series on FoodTV where they asked watchers to send in their favorite homemade ice cream flavors.

In two words: it's good. If you like caramel and brown sugar, this is the ice cream for you. There are bits of brown sugar flavored bread/cake in the ice cream, but the bits are very soft and almost melted into the ice cream. The toffee bits are also very soft and spread out so it's not like giant hard chunks you have to chew through. Obviously on the sweet side, but lovely.

In other news, I ate a lot of green food today. I sauteed some shallots, parsley, and cubed filets of sole, then mixed it all with short grain rice and steamed it.

Pesto smashed potatoes. One tablespoon pesto, a teaspoon of good butter, a pinch of salt, a few cracks of pepper, a handful of raw milk Parmesan, and three small Yukon gold baby potatoes went into a bowl. Then they were smashed togethr with a fork. Not pretty, but it's hard to say there are no good vegetarian dishes out there when this is so obviously amazing.

Mmmm...Cheese!

I upped my runs to three miles instead of two (granted, I run/walk the last mile) so I deserved a treat. It doesn't take much for me to deem myself treat worthy.

These are my favorite olives from Whole Foods. They're very mild. I think they're just lightly salt-cured, because they don't have any tang to them. The cheese is a gorgonzola torte. It smells really sharp and stinky, but it's layered with mascarpone so it has nice alternating flavors of stinkiness and sweetness. The crackers are plain water crackers.

Mu Dung San Korean BBQ

We had an out of town visitor this past weekend, so we went to a new all you can eat Korean BBQ place on Friday.

Can you believe all this food for $16 each? And that's after a recent $1 price hike at most of the AYCE Korean places. We were starving when we got to the restaurant a little after nine, and we didn't get seated until past 9:30, so we didn't take pictures of all the side dishes before we dug in. They were good, though, and there were a lot of them. The kimchi was especially fresh with the strong hint of seafood that good kimchi has. My friend told me that homemade kimchi uses good seafood ingredients--maybe fish sauce or anchovies?--that commercial kimchi skimps on.

With a bottle of beer and a bottle of soju, or bill was still $20 each total.

I don't know if Mu Dung San wins over Gui Rim and Gui Rim II, but the three are definitely all worth going to if you're in the mood for a lot of BBQ.

Aha!

Like this!

Except we like v-neck dresses with straps, not strapless dresses that cut straight across the chest.

NOT like this. My mother made me try this on. And while it's certainly not the worst dress I've tried on, don't I look like Cake Topper Barbie? And as much as I love to flex, I'm actually holding the camera in front of my face on this one.

Here is the purple/pink/fuchsia silk aisle at F&S, just for fun.

Random 99 Ranch Food

I had random pre-packaged 99 Ranch items for lunch and dinner yesterday.

The first is a Taiwanese street food that can best be translated as "bowl cake." It's a rice flour mix steamed in a bowl and topped with ground pork, a soy sauce egg, sweet and hot sauce, and soy sauce paste.

The other is a Northern style beef roll. The outside is kind of like a thin scallion pancake, or mu shu wrappers. The inside is shredded braised beef with a hint of anise flavor, sauteed green onions, and lots of cilantro. There's a little sweet sauce in there too, the kind you put on Peking duck.

El Rinconcito

After loving Tacos Baja Ensenada's seafood cocktails, J made it his mission to find out where the best campechanas (mixed seafood cocktails) in Los Angeles are. This weekend, we went to El Rinconcito after seeing good reviews and photos of their enormous campechanas.

The meal started with very good warm chips and crazy spicy salsa.

The campechana really was enormous. J was ecstatic, but ultimately decided he likes the version at Baja Ensenada better because it has more lime juice and those gigantic gutted clams. I agree. Plus, the shrimp at Baja Ensenada were bigger.

My entree came with a shrimp soup. Very nice--light and refreshing.

My fish tacos were entirely uninspired. I think I like Rubio's fish tacos better. Besides, what kind of restaurant serves tacos in aluminum fast food envelopes? I took most of this to go, and was annoyed that our server took the plate away to pack for me but didn't pack the best part--the guacamole.

J's seafood soup was must better. We should have just ordered that, but we didn't know it would be enough soup for three normal people. The broth was very rich and sweet, and there were at least five or six different seafood items mounded into a large bowl.

Wedding Colors: Chosen!

An afternoon pow wow with my mom and sisters resulted in consensus regarding wedding colors. It's just nice to be able to agree on some things and get them out of the way. I'm stubborn, but even I get tired explaining and justifying my non-conventional wedding plans over and over again. The choices are a little suprising, but here goes.

Most of the room will be awash in the palest of pinks against ivory linens. I haven't decided on exact type of flowers, but I like the shade of these peonies.

Then, to liven things up, accent colors and bridesmaid dresses will be in dark fuchsia (maybe even darker than this dress, or the shade of that ribbon around her waist). I don't think my gals would enjoy the boring sheath shape of this dress, but the shade is close to what they like.

Is it too much? I know the men out there are probably cringing at the thought of a fuchsia wedding. It's a color that women love but men and young children abhor. But the more I look at it, the more I like it. It's a little different, gives a nice mix of lively (fuchsia) and elegant (the rest of the room in ivory and pale pink), and the color looks great against Asian skin.

If you think about it, there aren't many other choices out there.

• dark shades (burgundy, navy, black, hunter green, chocolate brown) are really dull and depressing. They don't really work with the ballroom at our hotel, and my young bridesmaids would look old and drab in those colors. None of them wanted dark shades
• most shades of blue look either uniformy to me or have been overdone as beachy sand and sky wedding colors.
• silver strikes me as a classic prom color.
• pastel shades are hard for Asians to pull off, and a little funny for a winter wedding. I'm talking about cotton candy pink, sky blue, butter yellow.
• blood red is the official color of Chinese weddings, but it's always paired with gold and usually incredibly tacky.
• a completely white wedding is very boring, and white and yellow are Chinese funeral colors so the older folks would be very uncomfortable at such a pale wedding. Besides, Asian bridesmaids in yellow dresses? Jaundice city, baby.
• lavendar: completely overdone.
• Super bright colors: goldenrod, teal, neon green, fuchsia. A bit much for me, but in the end I did pair one super bright color with one super muted color. I think it'll work.

Mother's Day brunch was a sight to behold. My mom cracked up when she found out she was not only getting a pink cooler, but that the cooler was filled with the ingredients we were going to use to make her brunch.


I forgot to turn off the close-up function on the camera for this shot.

This plate of Susina pastries was barely touched, but my sisters and mom will have breakfast for the next few days. I got an apple tart, apricot scone, cinnamon twist, and croissants.

I apologize profusely for this photo. Because this dish was right under the light, the oil in the pesto caught all the artificial light and looks garishly zombie-like. Ew? It was actually pretty good. Pesto pasta tossed with salad, tomatoes, and rare salmon.

Gioia burrate--always a hit! My only mistake was getting it on a day when there were so many other things. Burrata benefits from being the sole appetizer or part of a simple meal, since its flavors are so clean and light. As for the baguette, we got it at Maison du Pain first thing in the morning. If this is the best French baguette LA has to offer, I give up. I'll never find baguettes like ACME's in this town.

Waffles, using an overnight recipe that requires yeast and rising. The result is incredibly fragrant, like a loaf of freshly baked bread.

Asparagus to clean the palate, a cake in a box, and a trio of berries with lemon and mint. We picked flowers from the yard and made arrangements. I did the roses and my sister did the snapdragons. Stupidly, I forgot to take a photo of the cake when it came time to cut it. By then we were all practically comatose with fullness. darn, I should have brought leftovers home. Pei Pei needs breakfast...

Sea Harbor and LAGC

We did Mothers' Day lunch with J's family today.

As usual, lots of sea creatures had to die. Among other things, we had a 7 lb. Australian lobster, an enormous geoduck, and live prawns the length of my hand.

After lunch, we tried to digest a little by trying our our new gun at the LA Gun Club. Look how tight my clusters are getting! As you can tell, I drift right consistently. This means I should probably adjust the sights on the gun, since before I was shooting low and left (normal for beginners).

Whatcha Gonna Get Yo Mama?

So, readers, what do you have up your sleeves for Mother's Day? I'm doing an afternoon tea (I think) for mom, sisters, and one or two of mom's friends, plus this:

It's such a cool cooler (I know. Ha). The long handle folds down and clicks in if you want to hold it with the two short handles, it's extra deep so it can hold more, and the top of the lid has holes in it to keep cans of soda in place if you want to use it as a little table. And it's just the right size for my mom's trunk in case she goes grocery shopping in the hot LA summer and can't get home right away. Except my mom doesn't do boring colors, so it's in Igloo's new breast cancer awareness pink like this:

Yeah, I know, what a boring present. Lucky for me, I have two younger sisters to cover the froo froo things like flowers so I can happily purchase practical gifts without worrying that the sentimental gifts will be forgotten.

Groundwork Breakfast and Ralph's Lunch

Headed to Groundworks today. I had a Lake Tuwar Sumatra, black, and J had a latte. I love a coffee shop that knows its latte art.

I had a busy morning and couldn't make lunch, so it was half an Italian Combo and a fried chicken thigh to the rescue. Besides, it's been 90 degrees the last three days. Hardly encouragement to fire up the stove.

Casa Del Mar--Again

Yes, I went again. But in my defense, it wasn't my idea this time. Our friend insisted he needed a drink last night, and CDM's blueberry mojito is his favorite drink of all time.

And here it is. Definitely tasty, but best of all time? I dunno. I still contend that the Frost Bite cocktail at the Four Seasons San Francisco is the best cocktail of all time. Who else uses Inniskillin Ice Wine in a cocktail?! That stuff is $60-90 a bottle.

Tuna club.

Calamari. It came with peanut sauce, which was bizarre. Not bad though.

Chocolate cake. Yum! The "cannoli" was whipped custard wrapped in kind of a burnt sugar cigar, and the cake was very dense moist cake and dark chocolate mousse layers. The syrup was warm, and everything just went very well together.

Ridiculously, our total bill for two cocktails, a beer, and the food above was over $90. CDM's lounge is not a good value. But if one person had eaten everything we ordered, he/she would have been very drunk and very full. So as far as wedding research goes, I don't think any guest will be leaving the wedding hungry. Mission accomplished.

Funny Photos

I cooked nothing interesting today so I'll show you funny photos instead. Consider them contenders for wedding ideas.

A unique and practical dress! When you're done with it, you eat it!

Who doesn't love a Rice Krispie treat?

Okay, this one's for real. The lady who's making my dress just finished this less formal dress for someone else's wedding. Cute, huh? I'm no fan of all the pick ups, but the fact that she can make them reassures me about her skills.

Breakfast Smoothie

It's starting to get really hot in LA!

Breakfast today was a smoothie instead of something hot. I used kefir instead of yogurt and milk. Kefir is great for smoothies because it really is pretty much the consistency of milk added to yogurt so you only have to buy one thing. For a giant smoothie I used:

• 1 cup kefir (Trader Joe's has them in white plastic bottles. I got the 1%)
• 1/2 cup frozen blackberries
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• juice of two oranges (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon honey

And yes, that's a cup from Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans. It's one of the souvenirs we brought back pre-Katrina.

Banh Mi Che Cali and Van's

I treated myself to three Vietnamese sandwiches today. They're $2 each and buy two get one free! What was I supposed to do, get just one?

This was so much better than Mr. Baguette. The bread was crisper on the outside and more airy on the inside, there was more meat and pate, and a ton more vegetables. I think taking the meat out of one and splitting it between the other two would make two perfect sandwiches, so that's my game plan next time. But at $2 a sandwich instead of Mr. Baguette's $3, this is clearly the superior option.

I drove by Van's Bakery on the way there and stopped in. I didn't get anything because the people were surly and unhelpful (even for me, and I have a fairly high tolerance for grumpy service).

Their cakes are super cheap, though. They start at $1.50 a slice, about $400 for one of the four-tiered ones with all the bells and whistles, and $60 for delivery no matter what the size. Most American bakeries start at $4.50 a slice, and the bakery used by Casa Del Mar wants $8.50 a slice. Shudder. But in case you think it should be a no-brainer to just buy a cake at Van's and serve it at the hotel, nope. The hotel charges a $4/slice service fee to serve someone else's cake, which pretty much negates any savings by going elsewhere. The wedding industry is such a crock. It's like this slate.com article quotes: "You're selling dreams, and you can charge anything."

"Studio Photo" Clarification

Hehe, I thought I'd clarify. A lot of you Americans don't know what I mean when I say studio shots. You think I just mean cheesy wedding photos like you always see: close ups of the rings, the bride getting ready, the couple gazing lovingly at each other in the rosy haze of dusk. I know everyone's expected to take those photos. Oh, no no no, I'm talking about Chinese style studio photos. I submit two example:

This one is modern and toned down, if you can call it that. Some might even say the couple didn't take this process far enough.

This one is traditional.

Basically, you're expected to spend an entire day at a photographer's studio. The studio has a costume and props collection, sets, makeup artist, and hair stylist. You pick a package and go for it. Costumes include:

• Costumes from every dynasty in Chinese history
• Kimonos
• Hanboks (Korean--sorry if I've botched the spelling)
• modern Western ballgowns
• Colonial American attire
• Medieval attire
• Napoleon-era military attire for man (complete with sword), Marie Antoinette for woman
• Disney attire (princess of choice + prince charming)
• Asian pop star attire (usually ony for female--crazy hair and glitzy skimpy dress)
• Multiple white wedding dreses
• Any costumes or clothing you bring of your own that you want to memorialize in photograph form
• Ironically, the dress(es) you're going to wear on the actual day of the wedding are usually not photographed on this day

It's like playing dress up on acid and a budget that just won't quit. A finished album costs from $1000 to goodness knows how much. When I look at the photos or even imagine myself doing it, I usually end up smirking or flat out giggling out loud. It's too ludicrous. I can't even be angry at it, because it's laughable.

As for the other stuff, I've achieved some zen after a night of sleep. I'm just going to do what I've done all my life--do things my way and wait for naggy people to come around. I'm not so immature and my taste is not so poor that what I pick is going to be flat out bad. People just get antsy when my ideas clash with their vision of "perfect," which means no one's ever going to agree. But at the same time, out of a set of reasonable choices, everyone will probably be happy with whatever I actually end up picking.

Bottom line is this: how often do you go to a wedding and say "Well, that was nice"? Probably almost always, unless someone really screwed up. How often do you go to a wedding and think "Wow, that was my dream come true, I would do it exactly like that?" Probably never. Ever.

My Consolation Prize

Girls who hang out with mommy get cute prizes.


I love the bib front and the buttons.

And the back has good pintuck detailing and a flared waist! For a classic shape like the blazer, it's the little details that matter.

In exchange, I merely had to endure a nine hour lecture about why:

• it's un-bridelike to enter the room without The Bridal March playing. Apparently the big white dress will not sufficiently indicate my status as the evening's center of attention
• wedding invitations should be bright red or bright pink because ivory and white are Chinese funeral colors.
• the cake should have at least four tiers even if three tiers feeds over 100 people.
• I really need to consider having at least three costume changes through the course of the night, because it's absolutely wrong (that's right, wrong) to greet your guests, eat dinner, and send off your guests in the same dress.
• studio wedding shots are an absolutely indispensable part of the wedding process. I was misinformed in thinking they were a tacky, self-aggrandizing, vain waste of money. Apparently photos are intended to let you and all your friends find out how glamorous you can look with hazy lighting and a ton of airbrushing, not to remind you about where you were and how you actually looked on your wedding day when you're old and gray.
• a wedding will be boring without karaoke.

I basically have to keep repeating my opinion that while a wedding should be lavish, if the only reason to do something is to show off then it gets crossed off the list (glamour shots, multiple dresses, custom ordered personalized favors, and excessive number of bridesmaids, all make this list in my world). Someone put me out of my misery.

Monte Alban

Monte Alban on Santa Monica and Brockton makes some of the best mole around, and this tamale is only $3! Unlike most tamales you see, it's wrapped in banana leaves instead of yellow corn husks. The style of wrapping is different too. The tamale isn't a big lump inside the leaf. Instead, the leaf is spread with the dough and then folded.

As a result, you get thin sheets of dough when you go to unwrap your tamale. Simply put, mole negro ("black sauce") is made from unsweetened chocolate and a lot of chilis and spices. The flavor is ever slightly sweet with a very interesting spice combination and the slightest bitter aftertaste. I liken it to certain types of Chinese beef jerky, but it's really unlike anything I've tated. This tamale had mole chicken filling. If you like dense sauces and strongly flavored jerky, give this a try.

Susina Bear Cake

Went back to Susina Bakery today and picked up a slice of Bear Cake (chocolate with layers of white chocolate mousse and milk chocolate mousse). Nice, but not anywhere near as good as the Berry Blossom Cake.

Then I bought a gorgeous head of cabbage. Look at the pretty purple edges! Cabbage is one of my favorite foods. Thank goodness too, because otherwise how would I be able to eat Bear Cake all the time? I really think everyone needs to love a good number of non-fatty foods (in addition to exercise!) in order to enjoy life without becoming obese. If you actually like certain low-calorie foods, you can maintain good health without saying self-restrictive things like "I'm on a diet." I mean, doesn't "I love cabbage, I'm going to eat it today" sound so much more pleasant than "I have to eat cabbage today; I ate ice cream yesterday"? So many American kids are taught that healthy things automatically taste gross. How is that even close to correct? I'd much rather eat a properly spiced homemade vegetable soup than a machine-made dry hulk of a cake.

Tackiest Wedding Contest

I relieve my wedding stress by mocking ridiculous wedding ideas and traditions. My friends have caught on, sending me links to gawdawful dresses and shoes, wedding stories from hell, and many ideas for how to tackify my own big day. Some of these are gut-splittingly hilarious. Any other bright ideas?

• my friend once helped out at a dinner reception where some guests showed up in shorts and flip flops. To prevent this, I will have a fashion nazi with a megaphone and burly bouncer stand at the front door. Anyone who is not dressed to my taste will be asked to go home and change or select an outfit from an available closet of formal wear.
• anyone who arrives in a white dress will be dipped in tar on the spot.
• to reduce our wedding costs, there will be an admission charge--you know, like prom. Guests can pay with cash, cashier's check, or credit card. One friend suggested I rent out a Discover Card machine because Discover charges the least per charge. Invitations will remind guests to bring their Discover cards because we won't be accepting the other guys. Personal checks will not be accepted because let's face it, some of you are shady.
• we should contact Discover and tell them our brilliant idea, in the hopes that they'll sponsor the wedding in return for prominently displaying their advertisements. It'll be the first Discover Wedding ever! If other girls can have Today Show weddings and Oprah weddings, why can't I have a Discover wedding? It's all about Discovering our new life together, right?
• because the hotel charges $4.50 a glass for soda, someone will be in charge of running in a tap from the back door, which is essentially the beach.
• because the hotel charges $20 for corkage, we'll sneak in relabelled wine and bring our own wine corkers. Wine will be poured under the table until people are so drunk they just lie down under the table to better access to the secret stash.
• to save money on a wedding dress while incorporating my new hobby into the general theme, I will design my own wedding dress and make it out of used paper targets. They come in an assortment of bold colors, so it'll be cute and fun. It'll give new meaning to "shotgun wedding."
• guests will be evited, even the guests over 50 who think Internet=AOL.

I aplogize if I've forgotten to include your tacky wedding suggestion. I've had so many I can't keep all of them straight.

All By Myself

My better half is in Florida for a firm retreat, leaving me all alone to enjoy my weekend as I please. Which, of course, means eating all the things he doesn't like to eat.

I know, it's not exotic, but I'm not kidding. He doesn't like plain old red sauce on spaghetti. What a weirdo. He actually groans when I make it. Today I made red sauce with ground buffalo and onions. Yay.

And, because a girl's gotta feel like a lady sometimes, a one-person's bottle of champagne (Perrier Jouet brut). Something special for the Thursday ABC prime time lineup.

Oh, and never stick a straw in a full bottle of champagne, even if it's a tiny bottle and you think it would be nice not to wash a glass. Champagne fizzes when it touches unsmooth surfaces--the more dust particles and scratches there are in your glass, the more the champagne will fizz. Some top of the line champagne glasses have a tiny scratch purposely cut into the bottom so there's always a stream of large bubbles going up the center of the glass. I hear it's really fun to watch. So if you do throw a straw in a full bottle of champagne, it will start foaming over. Better to pour it into a glass where it has some room to fizz.

Redneck Wedding From Hell

I wish I had proof that this is for real, but life's just not that perfect. What do you think, real story or fake story? Either way it's hilarious.

Smith & Wesson 620

It's finally mine!

Yes, I know. Guns are evil, how can I have that in the house, why would a girl even want such a thing, bla bla bla. But you know what? If I'm ever going to own a gun it's going to be now while I'm young, sharp, and have no children. Target practice is extremely gratifying, and I can learn a lot more and save a lot of money if I own my own weapon. Plus, my birthday's coming up and a girl deserves something special for her 26th. We did a lot of research and tried a dozen or so handguns and decided this was the one we both liked best.

A medium frame revolver has comparatively little recoil, fires both the cheap .38 specials and the more powerful .357 bullets, has few parts, is easy to maintain, rarely jams, and is extremely accurate. I can't wait to take it to the range. Until then, there are two locks on it and it's hidden in a hard to reach place. Plus, we don't own any bullets.

Carrot Bread (oops!)

Emileee once asked why I never seem to have kitchen disasters, and I assured her I had many. Here's proof:

Always, always, ALWAYS lay down something between your cake and your pan! Even if the recipe doesn't say so, even if you spray, and even if you use a nostick pan. I mean, how much time and money would it have cost me to put down a little rectangle of aluminum foil or parchment paper? Oh well, at least it wasn't a present. The recipe's still worth trying if you want a breakfast bread that's not very sweet.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/2 whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (substitute with polenta, and grind the polenta and whole wheat flour until they're pretty fine if you really don't like grittiness like in corn bread)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 to 1 1/4 cups sugar (it's really up to you, I used 3/4 so I can stomach it first thing in the morning)
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup melted butter (I used light olive oil, you can use extra virgin if you like olive oil cakes or don't mind a mild grassy flavor)
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1 cup milk and 1/4 cup yogurt)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup grated carrots (apples, zucchini, or banana would also work)
• 1/2 cup nuts or raisins if you like

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients and whisk together. Beat the egg into the milk and butter. Create a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients, grated carrots, and add-ins. With a spatula, fold the wet and dry ingredients with a few swift folds. The batter should be combined (no huge pockets of dry ingredients) but still lumpy. Don't whisk everything together or start stirring like crazy.

Pour into a greased loaf pan (lined with something!) and bake for up to an hour. Start checking with a toothpick 45 minutes in, as your oven may be different from mine. Remove the bread as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry. Let cool for five to ten minutes, then invert onto a rack and let cool completely before cutting.

Treats From Hong Kong

Thanks, Cat! Our jetsetting friend brought us treats from her most recent trip to HK. She said they're from a very popular bakery in HK, though trying to wrap my mind around that hurts because there are probably ten million awesome bakeries in HK.

These are egg rolls (the egg rolls you're thinking of are actually called spring rolls in Chinese, and the Vietnamese things we usually call spring rolls in English are called Vietnamese spring rolls). Anyhow, they're not the most exotic treats but they really are better than what we get in the states. The egg rolls are smaller, more buttery, less sugary, and taste more fresh and crispy.

Vegetable Soup

I told you we're trying to eat more healthily. We tend to go overboard on the weekends (as if I needed to point that out), and vegetables are starting to look better and better as summer approaches so healthy eating works out well. Plus, our 99 Ranch bill this week was a laughable $13. We had a huge snapper in our fridge and supplemented the supermarket buy with a whole roast duck and some roast pork from a Cantonese style bbq place, but our food bill for this Monday-Friday was still under $40. That doesn't happen often, but when the two of us get it in our heads to scrimp and save we like to do it right. For a week, at least.

Nothing could be easier than vegetable soup. I simmered a pack of beef bones with a whole onion (yes, skin and all) and some garlic and strained out the liquid. Then I added a can of tomatoes, two diced carrots, half a head of diced celery, a bag of pearl onions, and half a chopped cabbage. I added a few shakes of thyme, oregano, and parsley and let it all simmer for an hour. Added some black pepper and I was done.

Mr. Baguette

We went to the Mr. Baguette on Atlantic this weekend. I've been craving a good Vietnamese sandwich for months now. We always seem to have new places to try, or family lunches to attend, so it's never the right time to grab one on the run. J's grandparents live close to a Mr. B, though, so this weekend I insisted.

Meh. It was okay, but it did not satisfy my banh mi craving at all. I don't like the long skinny bread, even though it was fairly good quality. There wasn't enough meat in it, and definitely not enough pate or vegetables. I think the quality of meat might be slightly better than what I'm used to, but I'd rather have a sandwich from a dirty dive in the Tenderloin any day. The baguettes there are a little fatter, and stuffed to bursting with meat, pate, and more strongly pickled vegetables. I'm sure there are better places in LA as well, I just need to get around more. What I did like at Mr. B was the iced coffee with condensed milk. It was really thick and creamy, but they filled up the entire cup with ice so there wasn't much coffee. Annoying.