Archive for the ‘Weekly Wanderings’ Category
Last week started off with doughnuts.
Homemade doughnuts.
Homemade doughnuts that my mom made, from a recipe she found on Fridgg.
They were wonderful. ^_^
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Monday was my mom’s birthday! All three of us kids took her out for Mexican food at her favorite local Mexican restaurant.
I had fish tacos (meh) and enchilada soup (so good).
Son got our usual go-to order of sweet and spicy shrimp.
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Normally I work from home, but Wednesday I had to be out, and I realized last-minute that I needed something for lunch.
Long story short, I’m now kind of obsessed with those new Starbucks Thai peanut chicken wraps. I wasn’t expecting much (because refrigerator case food? … bleh.), but these are actually really freaking delicious.
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Happened to be in the area, so we stopped by Padua Pasta Makers, which I’ve been wanting to try since they opened. The antipasta salad was delicious! Definitely want to try some of their fresh pastas one of these days.
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Son’s dad wanted to go try a snail place in Little Saigon, so we headed down there yesterday.
Yes, you heard me right, SNAILS.
They’re cooked in a coconut broth, and they’re SO GOOD.
That is, if you can get them out of their damn shells.
I was kind of obsessed with the grilled squid.
The grilled scallops were good, too.
Ginormous peppery snails.
Of course, being in Little Saigon, we had to go get all the other good Vietnamese foods we can’t get elsewhere… so of course we bought banh mi, chicken curry, and plenty of tropical fruits (jackfruit! durian!).
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Have a wonderful week!
The last two weeks in my world (I really should just start calling this “Biweekly Wanderings” at this point…!):
Son’s dad sent home a TON of Vietnamese braised pork belly. So good with pickled bean sprouts.
Justified a four mile run by going to Five Guys for bugers and fries. 😀
Pickled jalapeños + lemon zest + paprika + mayo + Dijon mustard + salt + pepper + fried onions = BOMB deviled eggs.
Made these hot cross buns for Easter.
Son has challenged me to run a one-hour 10k a year from now. o_0 So of course my legs decide that now would be an excellent time to start cramping every time I run!
My everyday lunch.
OMG Tillamook White Chocolate Lemon Curd ice cream bars. The latest food love in my life.
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Links I’ve loved lately:
This black sesame cappuccino sounds amazing.
I’m pretty sure Son would flip over these gochujang pigs in a blanket!
Black. sesame. mochi. ice cream. The two Asian dessert things I adore most, in one ice cream!
These curry sweet potato fries with miso gravy. They’re vegan so they must be healthy, right? 😀
Interesting article about a sushi bar in Tokyo.
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Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
The last (two) weeks in my world…
We’ve suddenly gone from being a household that is ‘meh’ about cheese, to one that always has a delicious cheese in the fridge. This week, goat cheese with fig jam and walnuts. So good!
This is real life. Rice with… stuff. This week: canned clams, random Japanese sides we bought from Mitsuwa, and furikake nori.
I was having a particularly difficult day, only to come home to find that Son had cooked dinner! He makes me so happy. And the scrambled eggs and mushrooms were freaking fantastic.
I made colcannon for the first time ever.
We be feasting!
This year was the first time we ever did the whole “traditional” St. Patrick’s Day thing. It was wonderful!
Son cooking dinner is now a weekly thing. Every Wednesday, after my ballet class, I come home to find him in the kitchen, watching TV and cooking sauteed mushrooms and scrambled eggs. ^_^
It’s ugly as all heck, but I finished crocheting a potholder! This is all very exciting. 😀
Sunday dinner last week started with caprese salad on a stick…
… and ended with (slightly burnt) angel food cake, and a rowdy game of Cards Against Humanity. Son won this week. o_0
Son’s been obsessed with the idea of natto for the longest time. This week, we actually tried it for the first time. At first, we both found it repulsive. But Son (being the frugal, refuses to throw away perfectly good food kind of guy that he is) kept trying it again and again… and by the time he got to the end of the container, he actually really enjoyed it! I still find it a little odd, but I’ve also got to admit that it’s not that bad.
We found a hummingbird nest by our front walk! I’ve been checking on it every day when I walk by… I’m hoping to see itty bitty hummingbird babies soon!
Pickles are a must with fried chicken.
When we can, we love to go exploring around LA. Our lives have been so hectic lately, so it’s a nice break – and as close as we get to a weekend off, these days.
Since we had to be in the area anyways, we got to stop by Caroline Adobo’s cake pop-up at Dripp Bar in Chino Hills, CA last weekend.
Clockwise from top left: tres leches cake, matcha almond latte cake, strawberry mango cake, three bears mocha cake. All were fantastic.
My favorite eggplant dish.
Adore this pork belly.
We’re obsessed with this steamed cod.
Have a wonderful week!
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Links I’ve loved lately:
I wish we had Daffodil Days here too!
As a female in tech, this is important.
We need more security princesses in the world.
Excellent writing.
Love the idea of these double tahini sandwich cookies. More sesame in my life is always a good thing.
I’ve got a thing for Asian desserts.
Exactly how I feel about all the negativity online these days. And also why I’m so, sooo grateful that the Fridgg community is so positive and supportive of each other.
This sounds heavenly.
I’d be all over these Matcha Cruffins.
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Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
Do you do big Sunday dinners with your family?
We never did growing up (although Sunday breakfasts were totally a thing), and that’s not something Son and I do these days either.
But randomly, last weekend, my sister (who’s taking care of my dad right now) invited us all over for dinner.
It was fantastic, and I’ve unofficially decided it’s going to be a thing that we do every week (except for this week, because we’re doing it on Tuesday for St. Patrick’s Day instead), from here on out. 😀
I made these miso-roasted potatoes and mushrooms, and there was also pot roast, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, and artichokes. Delicious all around.
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A few years ago, when we first moved into this apartment, Son and I started a garden.
At first, it worked out, and we even got a little tomato harvest!
And then it failed spectacularly.
Unfortunately our porch gets very little sunlight, our area tends to be very humid, and OHMYGOD SO MANY BUGS. Our poor little garden hardly stood a chance.
So we’ve had this little planter sitting outside by the walkway, empty for years. And recently, we’ve noticed it’s actually started growing random weeds and stuff. So Son decided, on our way out to run errands, to pull out the weeds and plant some seeds, just to see if anything happens. We’ll see…
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Boiling Point is comfort food. I love their Japanese Miso hot pot, and Son always gets the Lamb one. So satisfying.
Our favorite Thai restaurant is right next door to Boiling Point, so even if we get Boiling Point, we always have to stop by for take-out.
Their bathroom mirror wants you to know that you are beautiful. ^_^
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As I’ve mentioned a month ago, I’ve started learning to crochet!
First things first, learning basic stitches on scrap yarn.
Next up, a potholder!
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You know it’s going to be a good day, when your mom shows up with a pink cardboard box full of… chashu bao!
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My sister’s girlfriend, Hal, wanted to try ramen for the first time, and asked me where she could get some. Son and I were planning on going to Mitsuwa this week anyways, for the Kyoto Fair, so we invited them along.
Unfortunately, the bento advertised for the Kyoto Fair was unavailable, but she still got to try takoyaki, okonomiyaki, ramen, and tempura.
Although the bento was unavailable, there were still some packaged foods for sale. We got some sesame and chocolate yatsuhashi (Kyoto-style folded mochi), which were delicious!
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We loved the yatsuhashi so much, we went back the next day for more, to give to Son’s parents (and get some more for us, as we had already shared with my family).
We also tried a matcha dango. It was strongly matcha-flavored, and refreshing on such a hot day (we’re in the middle of a crazy heat-wave).
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It’s weird seeing cows in the middle of Southern California.
I’m pretty sure they thought it was weird seeing people pulling up and taking pictures of them, while they were trying to eat.
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It’s been a while since we’ve gone to the Chinese restaurant that we love in Chino Hills, so we had forgotten how delicious everything was.
We got the braised eggplant, mapo tofu, braised pork belly, and steamed cod. All were fantastic. We definitely overate.
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Links I’ve loved lately:
I wish I could have this breakfast sandwich to start off every day!
This hermit crab video made my week. They line up in order!
This ice cream sounds AMAZING.
I want to live here.
I need to make this Thai-style salmon chowder, and this spicy Korean clam chowder. All the Asian chowders!
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Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
The last couple of weeks have been more hectic than usual, what with dealing with taxes (bleh), and more client work than usual. Hence the lack of a Weekly Wanderings post last week, and a several-days-late post this week. On the bright side, I got a new desk chair! I’m all about celebrating the little victories. 😀
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I had to take care of something at my dad’s in the middle of the week, which was the perfect excuse to steal an old-school ice cream sandwich from his freezer. I never have these at home, but they’re like a taste of my childhood summers. Neapolitan for the win!
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Last weekend, we had to head inland to visit Son’s dad. For some reason, traffic was waaaay worse than normal, so we ended up taking a detour that cut through Chino Hills state park. Driving through the hills felt like we were on vacation. We even pulled over to the side of the road for a little bit to take in the scenery, while Son took a cool little video of the moon.
We got some much-needed rain that evening – as the sun was setting, you could see the storm clouds moving in.
We went for Korean food, as we tend to do when we visit Son’s family. Tofu soup is especially perfect on cold, rainy evenings.
Son opted for a spicy seafood hot pot that he had seen other people ordering in the past. He quite enjoyed it.
And we found the ittiest, bittiest, cutest little crab in Son’s dinner!
After dinner, we ventured through the rain to a dessert restaurant called Wähfle. I got the “Salted Ganache” Wähfle, with chocolate ganache, bacon, candied walnuts, and vanilla ice cream. Just as decadent and delicious as it sounds.
Son got the “‘Murica” which had berries and sweetened condensed milk, while his dad got the creme brulee Wähfle. All were delicious.
And then, on our way home, we stopped by the grocery store. And found a couple of ducks in the parking lot! Son herded them off to the side of the parking lot so nobody would run over them. As we left, the employees of the grocery store were tossing the ducks pieces of bread. Hopefully the ducks got home alright!
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Lest you be fooled by all the beautiful, delicious, magazine-quality food I post (*snort*), let me assure you that most of my meals consist of roasted veggies, rice, and frozen meatballs. And just in case you might think I’m the most amazing cook… you should probably know that I managed to burn all the green beans, asparagus, and mushrooms I made earlier this week. I’m super talented like that.
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Though I used to be a Girl Scout, I don’t really buy Girl Scout cookies much anymore. But I also can’t let a year go by without at least one cookie… and luckily for me, my mother knows me well. I had started craving Tagalongs, and when I stopped by to visit my mom earlier in the week, what do you know – she just happened to have a few Tagalongs set aside just for me!
My mom’s awesome like that.
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So… my younger brother is pursuing an acting and modeling career. Which is awesome. I’m totally jealous.
And his girlfriend (who’s also an actor/model), had the idea that Patrick should start taking ballet classes, to help with his career. Since I used to dance quite seriously, he asked me if I knew any beginner adult ballet classes he could take… and then asked if I would join him. I enthusiastically agreed, of course, as it has been waaaay too long since I’ve been in the studio, and I miss it dearly. Plus, I’m never in better shape than I am when I’m taking ballet classes.
Wednesday was our first class.
… I may have overdone it just a bit.
I couldn’t walk the next day… or the day after that. Or the day after that. And even now, nearly a week later, my calves are still rather tight.
Oops?
Worth it, though! Back to do it all over again on Wednesday! 😀
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Of course, the day after the ballet class, my sister invited me to go to the farmer’s market with her.
Remember the part about how I couldn’t walk? Yeah…
Well, she and her girlfriend felt bad for me, so they stopped by with flowers and kettle corn afterward! So sweet. Made my day. ^_^
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Our new favorite sweet snack: toast with sweetened condensed milk. SO. GOOD.
My brother’s girlfriend, who is also Vietnamese, suggested soaking French bread with Vietnamese coffee, then dipping that in sweetened condensed milk. Guess what I’m trying next? 😀
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Reading: I just finished Servants of the Storm
, which I bought a couple of weeks ago when Amazon had it as a Daily Kindle Deal. It’s pretty good, not as spooky as I’d worried it would be, but still a good, suspenseful book.
Now I’m reading Libriomancer
, which is a fun book. Kind of reminds me of a mix between the Dresden books and Percy Jackson. A nice, light read (would be a good beach read), and it also happens to be on sale for Kindle right now.
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And lastly, in case you’re worried my life was getting a little too boring, we spent our Friday night chasing a cricket out of our apartment. How it got in (and all the way to the back room!) we’ll never know, but it was a slow, jumpy chase to the front door that involved the tossing of decorative plates, see-through tupperware, and reflective poster paper. Thankfully, both for the cricket and for the sake of our sanity, we finally got the poor thing outside! Sweet, sweet silence.
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Links I’ve loved lately:
This is a powerful piece.
Uptown Funk is my jam these days, but this version is by far my favorite.
Who knew vegan ice cream could sound this delicious?!
I need this pork belly in my life.
Also, this Sriracha duck.
And I always love a good bacon waffle.
This strikes a chord. Even though I don’t have kids, work from home, and could be considered to be somewhat experienced in the kitchen, even I have trouble getting a good meal on the table most days! Sometimes, pre-packaged frozen foods (see: meatballs, above) are just easier, and tastier, and feel like a more reasonable option.
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Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
