Hot Dog Dinner

I can't believe I have less than two weeks until the wedding. Is calm panic a state of being that's easy to understand? That's what I'm feeling right now. I have a schedule that seems doable, but there's a nagging feeling in the back of my head that it could all come crashing down if just one thing goes wrong.

In an effort to preserve sanity, we're keeping meals very simple this week. I got some good beef franks and chicken and apple sausages from Trader Joe's and caramelized some sweet onions. Along with plenty of salad greens, a citrus Fizzy Lizzy, some bread and butter pickles, and the usual condiments, it was a delicious meal. And, do you like my new houseplants? We're trying to be cheery and clean for any wedding guests who decide they want to come see our apartment.

And in my bid for the title of Hostess with the Mostest, I whipped out a Japanese snack dish set my sister bought me last year and filled them with all the treats I could find. I don't think of myself and J as big snackers (we prefer real meals over little munchies), but we sure do have a lot of stuff lying around!

Breadbar

I love an Alpine loaf as much as the next carbocheesophile, but I have to admit I'd never eaten lunch at Breadbar until this week. And you know what, it's pretty darn tasty!

Ringing in at $12.50 before tax and tip, their soup and sandwich combo is no cheap eats. However, the quality is excellent. The cauliflower soup had a creamy, almost unctuous (but pleasantly so) texture, with toasty curry bits in the olive oil and croutons. The house-cured gravlax was cool and light, contrasting delightfully with thinly sliced apples and lightly dressed greens. The portions are what most would consider small, but what I think most American should be striving to make their norm. A lovely lunch in what is pretty much the only quiet sanctuary in a Christmas-crazed mall.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Mmm, healthy lunch.



Sure, it's not pretty, but it's delicious! Lean strips of skirt steak, crispy snow peas, and scrambled eggs with caramelized onions. All seasoned with a smidge of Plugra, a dash of kosher salt, and plenty of fresh cracked pepper. Don't quibble with me about the butter; it's literally 20 calories and deeeeeeeeeeeeeliciuos. You know you love butter. Don't pretend.


A gift from Taiwan: I love these hair ties. Thanks Cat for bringing me a fresh supply!

Le Palais des Thes, Beverly Hills

I'm having some computer-camera problems, but I thought my trip to The Tea Palace was worth a post even without photos.

I never noticed this shop until a few weeks ago, and I've been hankering to get inside ever since. It's a lovely store, with hundreds of teas available. The best part about the store is that you can open whatever canister you want to smell it, and they always have two teas brewed for free tasting. The saleswoman I talked to was very helpful, patient, and even said she had a lot of fun answering all my questions and walking me through a dozen or more teas. I ended up with the The du Hamman, which is a green tea blended with fruits and flowers. It smells incredible, and she said it's one of their consistent top two sellers. I also picked up a mint rooibos, which is caffeine free and soothing for after dinner. She also gave me a sample bag of the The de Moinse, another top seller that is her personal favorite and more of a straight up tea lovers' tea.

A few other interesting teas I smelled included the blueberry and tropical fruit. So far I like everything I bought, but still hold Taiwanese high mountain oolong up as the gold standard of teas.

Din Tai Fung

Despite having grown up in Los Angeles, I'd only been to Din Tai Fung once in my life, and that was long before I became one of the pickiest eaters I know.


I wasn't impressed then, and I'm still not impressed now. The Shanghai soup dumplings are moist, the skins are thin, and there's plenty of juice. However, there's something lackluster about the skins. They're slack, they don't have enough gluten in them, and they have no flavor. There's just no life to them.

The glutinous rice siu mai were even worse. Thick, gummy skin wrapped around overcooked, dry, unseasoned rice. I had to douse mine in soy sauce, and I typically eschew soy sauce on anything that's supposed to already have soy sauce in it.

Din Tai Fung gets a few points for offering some of the cheapest soup dumplings around, but I won't be returning.

Roni's Diner

I've been very good for the past few months about eating plenty of protein, good fats, and a lot of fruits and vegetables. Then, J told me he was going to happy hour at Roni's and I was smitten by the siren call of their St. Louis sandwich.

So I made the boy bring me home one to drink with a dry martini, two olives. The St. Louis is Roni's gift to the sandwich world: two sides of lightly toasted French roll tightly holding together swirls of warm turkey, crisped pastrami, chunks of avocado, and creamy Thousand Island-esque dressing. And I'm not usually someone who goes on about sandwiches!

Tried to walk off the sandwich today by going shopping with my sister. We loved the little green dress, but they didn't have the right size so we had to give up the dream of having quite the untraditionally fashionable little addition to our wedding party. I hesitate to say "flower girl" because I don't need someone to skip down an aisle throwing petals to announce my arrival, but I do want to give my cousin a nice Christmas present and ask her to be in my wedding photos.

Boypinions Sought!

I admit, when it comes to presents for our groomsmen I'm somewhat stumped. Bridesmaids are easy; my two sisters and a friend I've known since she was in diapers is really not a tough crowd. But boys are another matter. J and I joked around about personalized flasks and monogrammed business card holders, but seriously folks. We need help.

If you are one of J's groomsmen, STOP READING NOW! I'm not really worried, I don't think those three have the time to peruse this page much. But still, go away! Fair warning.










Backup plan: a bottle of hard liquor each. After all, who doesn't like liquor? We'll pick something amusingly appropriate for each guy. But what are some more intersting options? The following I either came up with or got from friends:

• a gift certificate to a restaurant in each of their respective home towns (except that we're the ones who love to eat, not really them)
• a jersey from each guy's favorite sports team (doesn't quite work, not a bunch of sports fans)
• a souvenir of some sort from their alma mater (only works for two out of three, because that's how they know J and their school has a lot of school spirit)
• a very special bottle of liquor, to be enjoyed between the four of them while they're all in town (seems less appropriate than something they can keep)
• cigars are out; no smokers
• no wine lovers
• no time to take them to a game or show
• I don't know them well enough to pick out a special book for each, and J doesn't have time to go looking.
• boys don't want makeup or gift certificates for manicures and facials, right? Or do they?

Any unique ideas you've done or seen?

Great Balls of Chocolate

I've been on the prowl for holiday sales on candy, and it's really paid off.

So far, I've scored great deals on Lindt truffles and Ferrero Rocher truffles. I also have some Taiwanese sweets, and I'm keeping an eye peeled for Almond Rocha. If necessary, I'll send my mom to Costco to round out the candy collection, but I doubt we'll need to. Having so much candy around the apartment makes me very happy. Let's hope I can keep my grubby paws out of the jars!

Yum, Food!

Finally, a food post! I admit I've been slacking in the kitchen lately. Our gas bill this month was $6.28. That means not enough eating at home (too much time spent in Hacienda Heights with our parents, I say).

I really felt a need to get creative in the kitchen after such a long time away. But I don't have the energy to get too fancy. Vegetable bisque in a squash bowl was fancy enough satisfy the cook in me, but not at all time consuming. I cut one carrot, one small onion, and one parsnip into large chunks and threw it into a pot with a handful of parsley sprigs, a dash of marjoram, a teaspoon of salt, a generous amount of black pepper, and a quart of water. I would have added a bay leaf if I'd had one. Simmer until everything's mushy, then cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, roast three baby squash (about a pound each) in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour. Carefully cut the tops off two and scoop out the insides. Leave most of the meat, or you'll get a leaky squash; just remove the seeds and rough fibers. Take the third squash apart completely, discarding seeds and skin. Pour your vegetable stock and the meat of the third squash into a blender and puree, adding water if necessary. Taste for salt and pepper, reheat, pour into the two intact squash, and top with the "lid." Sprinkle with chopped parsley!

And a New York Strip on the side, medium rare.

Ah, Dishes

Like any good home cook, I love my dishes. And, with a wedding coming up, I have an excuse to indulge my inner dish monger.

I present, the Kate Spade Gwinett. Some pieces are white with gold edging...
And other pieces have a colorful floral motif. I love the juxtaposition of crisp white and floral designs. I feel like it'll allow me to show off food (which looks best on plain china) without being boring. I just hope they look as good in person as on line!

Pre-Wedding Blues

It's happened; Pei has the pre-wedding stress-outs. Symptoms: highly irritable, pissed off at people who ask me for for little favors, irrationally jealous of anyone who's having a good time, with zero desire to Christmas shop. I wish I had a tennis ball to throw angrily at the wall. Or a punching bag to kick. Oh, I know, I have a revolver I can fire. I should head here. People should remember before they annoy me that I can usually hit the target's head from 25 yards.

There are still a ton of things to plan for the wedding, but it's not just things directly related to the reception either. I have certain family members who aren't doing great healthwise, so I have responsibilities there. J's mom is clueless about weddings and needs a lot of help, so there I am again in that corner. Relatives start arriving in under two weeks, so my parents' house needs to look nice and we need to have enough blankets and beds. Plus I have the sniffles, my toes feel frozen, and I have a million details to wrap up. Plus Christmas is coming, as is my sister's birthday. And instead of helping J and his friend are planning a bachelor's party for two nights before my "very hands on, very DIY, need a lot of non-hung over helping hands" wedding. Are all men clueless? Don't answer that. I'm happy to handle 99% of the wedding tasks because he works and I don't, but this is bullshit.

Bought adorable thank you cards yesterday, though! Looking at them makes me happy. And it occured to me that a certain couple still hasn't sent us a thank you card for what was quite a substantial wedding gift. Petty of me to remember, right? Why is it often considered petty when you call people out for being downright rude?

Pa Pa Walk

I recently stumbled onto this Taiwanese eatery while out with my mom, and I think I'm in love with it.

A Chowhound recommended I try this dish, and it's so tasty! Classic Hong Kong style vegetable/ham chowder, mounded into a buttery hollowed out piece of thick-sliced Chinese toast. It's creative, hearty, and delicious.

The rest of the menu will be more familiar to lovers of Taiwanese casual dining: sausages, cold platters of pressed tofu and marinated seaweed, fried tofu, pork chop rice, beef noodle soup, oyster pancakes, shaved ice, mango ice, fun drinks, and literally a hundred or more other choices.

Great Gift Idea

Call me an old lady, but there's just something appealing about a nice big cup o' tea. My favorite tea remains high mountain oolong from Taiwan, but one can't drink the same tea all the time. It's difficult to find high quality tea period, and trying to find flavored ones is near impossible.



Mighty Leaf is mass produced, but out of all the readily available brands I like it best. The tea leaves used are not bitter (a lot of companies use flavors to mask low quality leaves), and the flavors are clean. I saw a gift pack of these loose leaf teas at Cost Plus Imports today and remembered that I like Mighty Leaf. If you know a tea lover, this would be a cute present. As for myself, I'm considering making some Mighty Leaf available to my guests at our chilly winter reception, along with some high mountain oolong for the older Chinese guests.

Grammar Slammer flashback: I loathe people who use "infamous" when they mean "very famous." Infamous means famous for doing something bad, idiots. A known serial killer is infamous. You might have been infamous during college for pulling the best fraternity pranks. Your wedding coordinator is not infamous. Or she might be, but in that case you should not be recommending her. Adding the "in" does not, in fact, emphasize your love of or the level of famousness of your subject. It just makes you sound stupid. How about saying "fabulously famous" or "deservedly famous"? Use your words, people. The English language has so many good ones.

This is like when Monica on Friends said "Sometimes, it's ME!" That's right, using "I" all the time does not automatically make you sound smart. "Are you coming to the market with Jeffrey and I?" is stupid. Would you say "Are you coming to the market with I and Jeffrey?" Duh, of course not. So why would you flip it around?

Clementine

Clementine's no bargain eatery, but their three salad combo option remains one of my favorite deals in Century City. For $11.50 (that's after a recent $1 hike) you can pick any three salads from their ready-made deli bar.

Yesterday I picked chicken pasta with olives, cous cous with butternut squash and dried cranberries, and a shrimp and calamari salad. It managed to tide both me and J over while we did some wedding stuff, and then we had some vegetable soup and shared a seared New York strip when we got home. Mmm, steak!

Hot Hands!

This might be my most unusual wedding-related purchase to date.

Hot Hands chemical hand warmers are one of my favorite inventions. They're shaped like a giant tea bag, and when you shake the bag the chemicals warm up and stay hot for up to ten hours. The heat does wear off after awhile, but I've used it outdoors for an entire workday and not had to use more than one package.

So for the wedding, I thought it would be great to have these for our older guests and for the bridal party during outdoor photos. Having a warm torso and fingers is sometimes the difference between being able to smile for another minute and feeling completely grouchy. I'm also planning to give some to my relatives, who are arriving a week before the wedding so they can see San Francisco and Las Vegas. Both those places are cold in January!

Musha (Torrance)

Finally made it to Musha in Torrance. We love the Santa Monica branch and were told the Torrance branch was very different and possibly better. While we did have a great time and made our friends into izakaya fans, I can't say that the two branches are significantly different from each other. There are some different dishes, but all our favorites are available at both. I definitely won't be driving out of my way to the Torrance branch in the future, though I would definitely recommend Musha Torrance to anyone in the area.

Lobster dumplings were a chopped mix of lobster and fillers, wrapped in tofu skin and deep fried. Hot, crisp, and tasty! One order has three dumplings, but they made two more a la carte for our party of five.

Ankimo. Very rich and creamy, a nice rendition of a classic Japanese side dish.

And in wedding wardrobe news that's not related to me, I found this and thought it would be cute for my ten year old cousin. My mom is going to buy her a little dress for the wedding. She hasn't found it yet, but I think this will go with almost whatever dress she picks. Is it too frilly? J laughed at it and said it looked like it was made out of a rabbit. Maybe my cousin will like it more because of that; she has three or four pet rabbits of her own.

Top Island (dim sum)

So I wanted to take J to Pa Pa Walk on Saturday for his first meal back from Virginia, but he wanted to go to New Capital for dim sum. We ended up compromising by my agreeing to dim sum if we ate at a new restaurant. I guess in one sense he won because all dim sum basically tastes the same. But I think we both lost because Pa Pa Walk is probably tastier than Top Island.

Standard dishes; not too great. The "fried milk" (bread with a custard center and meringue-ish top) was quite delicious though. I took two home to my sister and she agreed it was really good.

Daikon cake was really good. It made the meal for me, because everything else was fine but not great.

Scallops on tofu were pretty, but just eh. All in all, not a bad meal because every dish was $2.19, so there was no confusion about pricing. Quality was fine, the wait was not long at all, and I would go back if I happened to be in the area but I would not make a special trip there or recommend anyone else do so.

Wegman's Chocolates

Cute, huh? I got a whole box of these when J returned from his business trip yesterday. He lived near a fancy DC-area market called Wegman's and ate most of his dinners there. They make all their chocolates on site, and he noticed the chocolatiers hard at work and bought a box thinking they looked pretty unique. Good job, J! I've only tasted the coffee one so far and it was subtle, smooth, and not too sweet. The flavors are very interesting; you can see a whole list on the Wegman's website.