Archive for the ‘Weekly Wanderings’ Category
For those of you who celebrate, happy Lunar New Year!
Each year, Son’s dad wants to cook less and less, which means the responsibility has been falling on me more and more.
Which meant the first half of my week completely revolved around preparing the food – from a mad rush to find good recipes for all the new-to-me things I had to make, to somehow managing to entirely avoid the crowds when buying ingredients at 99 Ranch (talk about good luck!), to somehow managing to cook everything in one day while also attending client meetings and getting all my work done (I still don’t know how I managed to get everything cooked on time!)
This year’s menu consisted of stuffed bitter melon (a first for me)…
… catfish…
… egg tarts (which turned out SO GOOD – recipe coming soon!)…
… as well as boiled pork belly, rice, and a bamboo/pork belly/duck braise that Son’s dad made, that we ate in spring rolls.
And now I’m exhausted. I’m glad we only have to do this once a year!
~~~~
As my mom and her siblings are cleaning out my grandmother’s house, they’re finding all sorts of random stuff. My mom texted me a few weeks ago to ask if I wanted an exercise ball they had found deep in one of the closets… of course, I said yes.
Although brand-new, you can tell it’s really, really old – when we opened the box, we found an unopened VHS tape accompanying it! I feel like I’ve unearthed some sort of ancient artifact… π
~~~~
After the craziness of the Lunar New Year, I didn’t have the time or gumption to cook the rest of the week. So we went with one of our usual no-cook meals – meatballs from the freezer, in spring rolls with leftover veggies from Lunar New Year. Super easy, but still delicious!
~~~~
My favoritest thing about the Lunar New Year is the leftover bΓ‘nh chΖ°ng (a Vietnamese rice cake filled with pork and mung bean) that we get to eat for the rest of the week! I like to eat it topped with coconut palm sugar; we also sometimes have it with a certain type of Vietnamese pickles.
Best ever.
I really need to learn how to make it one of these days.
~~~~
I ended the week by dragging Son to go see Los Angeles Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty… because my mom works for them as a costumer! It was really cool getting to see some of her work in action – she’s made plenty of costumes back when I used to dance, but this is the first time she’s actually built an entire tutu from scratch. Go mom! ^_^
~~~~
Links I’ve loved lately:
Ohmygosh if you haven’t seen this, you absolutely must go watch it now.
I wish I were Irvin’s next door neighbor.
If ever I make fortune cookies, it will have to be these.
WHAT.
The best thing I never knew I needed in my life.
~~~~
Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
The last week’s been a crazier than usual one, the kind where you’re insanely busy but don’t get a single thing crossed off your to-do list. Blogging fell by the wayside, but in its place came lobsters! Random screaming animals! Tasty cheese! So, you know, I’m not complaining.
~~~~
For the longest time, Son was NOT a cheese person. He didn’t like it, he didn’t really understand why people loved it so much. So for the past ten years, we haven’t really been a cheese-eating household, and I had to go elsewhere to get my occasional cheese fix.
But recently, seemingly out of nowhere, he suddenly LOVES cheese. He likes to eat the Laughing Cow wedges with bananas (apparently this was a thing he did as a kid), and then I bought a creamy swiss from Good Eggs and he adored that (on slices of French bread) as well.
Then, last week, we were at Whole Foods and he was drawn to the cheese section. He kept going back to the triple-creme bries, because he loved how soft they were. So we got one (and I’m still trying to get over my shock of Son voluntarily buying fancy cheese!)
Oh my goodness, it’s so good. Like butter! We’ve been eating it on these raisin pecan crackers, and we’ve had to severely limit ourselves lest we overdo it because it is so darn delicious.
~~~~
As self-employed software engineers, Son and I have a pretty stereotypical programmer schedule. On a normal night, we’re up coding until 3 or 4 in the morning, and then wake up around 11am or noon (unless we have an earlier client meeting).
So it was particularly unpleasant getting woken up at 6am mid-week, by the most horrible, creepy, inhuman screaming right outside our bedroom window.
After quickly determining it was definitely not the sound of one of our neighbors being tortured or the baby next door screeching her head off (which does, of course, happen on a regular basis, as babies tend to do), we got up and peeked outside in the dark to try to figure out what the heck was going on.
Only to find one of our neighbors outside in his pajamas with a flashlight, with a wide-eyed, freaked out look on his face, tiptoeing around trying to figure out what the hell had woken us all up.
Possum in heat? Raccoon torturing a small animal? We may never know… but luckily for the entire neighborhood Mr. Flashlight scared it into silence and it hasn’t been back since.
In comparison, getting woken up by loud gardeners or crying babies is music to my ears!
~~~~
I know you’re all going to hate me now, but this whole Southern California not having a winter thing is getting just plain ridiculous. It’s the middle of February, and I’m wearing shorts.
Yes, yes, I know I sound like a spoiled California brat. (Who am I kidding, I totally am – I’d never survive a snowy winter!) But seriously, we’re in such a bad drought in California, and we need rain so badly!
How about this – you send cold rainy wishes my way, and I’ll send warm sunny thoughts toward all of you in colder climates. Deal?
~~~~
As my mom and her siblings are cleaning out my late grandmother’s house, they’re finding all sorts of treasures, some of which I’ve inherited. (I am now the proud owner of a grand thimble collection!) My grandmother was an avid knitter and crocheter, so she left a ton of yarn, and quite a few partially- or mostly-finished projects.
So I’ve decided to take up crocheting and knitting. Eventually. Because I definitely need more to do in my life.
But a very (very!) easy first project was to finish off the potholders my grandmother had made. There were about ten that were almost completely finished, just needed to be sewn up the middle to complete them. My mom gave me the task of finishing them (which turned out to be an excellent, mindless thing to do during meetings that didn’t require a ton of my participation), with the agreement that I was allowed to keep whichever ones I wanted. Best deal ever!
~~~~
All my life, I’ve been an on-again off-again insomniac, so I’m always looking for ways to get to sleep easier. I recently read about the 4-7-8 breathing technique, where you breathe in for four counts, hold your breath for seven counts, and breathe out for eight counts. It’s supposed to be a good way to calm your mind and help you fall asleep quickly.
Friday morning I was going to have to get up quite a bit earlier than I normally do, so Thursday night I decided to try the technique. It seemed to be working well, and I was dropping off to sleep…
… and then, while holding my breath for seven counts, I accidentally let out a little squeak.
I peaked open one eye, to see if Son, who was still up watching TV, had heard, and found him looking down at me with a confused expression.
I totally lost it.
I spent the next ten minutes in tears because I was laughing so hard, which was made even worse by his first comment: “Did you fart?”
Suffice to say, the 4-7-8 breathing technique backfired dramatically.
~~~~
I spent several days last week at my dad’s house, staying with him while my sister was out of town. We expected her home early Friday evening – just in time to coincide with a fresh seafood delivery that one of my aunts had sent us.
However, early Friday afternoon, we discovered that she had left something behind, and had to go back for another night. So she wouldn’t be getting home Friday night.
… which meant that all of a sudden, I had to figure out how to cook the four live lobsters and five pounds of mussels that had arrived earlier that day.
Have I mentioned that I had never cooked, much less touched, live lobster before? (In fact, the only other time I’ve ever cooked any sort of recently-alive seafood resulted in a rather hilariously terrifying experience.)
I swear the lobsters were mad-dogging me the whole time.
I did it!
Mind you, I had to put on the dishwashing gloves before I could even get up the courage to touch one, and was trembling like crazy after I got it in the pot of boiling water, but I did it! And by the fourth one, I was barely even shaking anymore!
I also made moules frites (mussels and french fries)… with Five Guys french fries. Cooking four live lobsters and a pot full of mussels for the first time was enough for one day. I have my limits. π
The highlight of the day was when I went to serve my dad the lobster, he took one sniff of the melted butter and asked, “uh… which butter did you use?”
I looked back in the fridge, to find that the butter had an expiration date of May 8th, 2005 – one week before Son and I started dating. Hah! Needless to say, we got rid of that butter and melted some much fresher butter, for a very delicious lobster dinner. π
~~~~
I’m currently reading pretty much everything Brandon Sanderson has ever written. I had been introduced to his writing when he finished off the Wheel of Time
series after Robert Jordan passed, but had never pursued his other stories. However The Way of Kings
was free on Amazon for a while, so it was an obvious foot in the door. Although it started off slow, I ended up devouring The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance
… only to discover that they were the only two published books in a much longer epic fantasy series that wasn’t finished yet. -_-
I moved on to the Mistborn Trilogy
, and absolutely loved it. Now I’m reading Firefight
, the second book in the Reckoners series. This series of his is less epic fantasy and more superhero, which is fun in its own way.
~~~~
Links I’ve loved lately:
I wish I were the kind of cool cat who could pull off having tea parties, just for a good excuse to make these pretty elderflower and goldenberry friands. Yes, I just said cool cat. Which is a good hint as to why I’m not one.
I love the idea of living in a neighborhood where all the neighbors are friendly and invite each other over for dinner. Like this.
This photo styling! So good. Also, I totally want that cake.
The sucky part about being a female in a male dominated industry. I feel lucky that I’ve always been able to work with men who aren’t assholes, and have been supportive of us female programmers.
I’ve decided my life goal is to learn to knit, so I can KNIT SWEATERS FOR PENGUINS! I’ve found my calling.
This is the best article to read on Valentine’s Day. Got love in your life?
I’ve fallen in love with this travel blog. Every article makes me want to pack up and take a trip somewhere interesting.
I wish we could actually have a winter in LA (see: 80°F+ temperatures, above), just so I could have a good reason to make this hot chocolate. Hot chocolate just doesn’t feel right when it’s hot enough to wear shorts and a tank top…
~~~~
Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
Started off the week with a bit of green.
One of my favorite comfort foods is a bowl of brown rice topped with sliced cucumbers, then topped with a swirl of Kewpie mayonnaise, a generous drizzle of okonomiyaki sauce, and a hearty sprinkle of bonito flakes. It’s light but filling, and fairly healthy. My favorite sort of “reset” meal.
~~~~~
It’s tradition for us to watch the Australian Open every January, and I’m a little disappointed now that it’s over. But holy cow, that last match between Djokavic and Murray was exciting!
It’s crazy how hard they work. I’m pretty sure I’d collapse on the court after the equivalent of just one of their rallys. o_0
~~~~~
What’s going on here?
Lots of people refer to inari sushi as “footballs”, so obviously they make the perfect Super Bowl snack!
But I couldn’t just bring plain inari. It’s become tradition for me to bring my spicy shrimp inari every year. They’re easy to make, and everybody loved them.
I also made my grandma’s seven-layer dip recipe, which the guys were crazy about. It will definitely be coming back for next year’s Super Bowl party.
Also at our Super Bowl party this year: Rolo pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, eggrolls, pizza, and fancy wine (because that’s how our guy friends roll).
One of my favorite things about our Super Bowl party – every year, one of the guys brings fancy Japanese desserts from Chantilly. And every year I nab the black sesame cream puff, because, well, it’s a black sesame cream puff, need I say more? π
~~~~~
The calendar says it’s hot chocolate season, but the mild temperatures in LA make iced coffee seem way more appropriate.
~~~~~
Found some awesome chili. I still haven’t tried making chili, but I was craving it and needed a quick, easy meal for when I don’t have time to cook, so we tried this chili from Good Eggs. SO GOOD.
~~~~~
Guys! I poached eggs for the first time ever!
This is a super big deal for me, because traditionally if I’m intimidated by a new recipe or technique, I will procrastinate the hell out of it. But this time, I just went for it, and it didn’t turn out half bad!
Going to poach allllll the eggs now.
The poached eggs were for a Lyonnaise salad, which was really freaking delicious. Recipe coming soon-ish, with much prettier pictures that Son took.
~~~~~
My sister requested poke for her birthday this week, but I’ve been overloaded with work and stuff, so I didn’t think I’d have time to make it. But then I ended up having to be very close to Jus’ Poke on her birthday, so I picked up a couple of pounds of poke for her. And spam musubi for us. π
~~~~~
Fun cactus flowers.
It rained! Sort of. More like sprinkled, but we’ll take what we can get in California.
While I ran laps in the rain, Son took pictures of flowers. And then told me to run more. π
~~~~~
It’s a tradition in Son’s family to take pictures of the birthday person with their birthday cake. This week was Son’s dad’s birthday, but since we didn’t have Son’s camera with us, we had to improvise a bit. For the record, using a double-layer of paper towels to diffuse the flash actually worked really well.
~~~~~
Guys, I think I’ve found my next band name – “Syntactic Sugar”. Son said that in a meeting with a client this week, and I had to mute myself so they wouldn’t hear me cracking up.
~~~~
Links I’ve loved lately:
I love scallion pancakes. I love quesadillas. So I’m pretty sure I’d love scallion pancake quesadillas. WHAT.
If I never make these banana muffins with toblerone chunks, it will only be because I know it would be waaaay too dangerous to have them anywhere near me.
Also, this chocolate chip banana cake. Merry-Jennifer’s writing makes me really want to take up knitting.
Dude. Cookie butter macarons. Come to think of it, I do have a bunch of egg whites just hanging out in the fridge…
Can we have a Super Bowl do-over? Because I just found out about these kalbi chunked tots with gochujang cheese sauce, and I really need an excuse to have them in my life.
Also, this Taiwanese popcorn chicken.
This spicy garlic eggplant with ground pork sounds like the best kind of comfort food.
I need to try this recipe for creamy scrambled eggs, because that first picture is exactly how I wish my scrambled eggs looked.
Four words: chicken pot pie burger.
I kind of want to make this, mostly because it sounds really neat: sous-vide egg yolk tacos.
<3
I just found out about the food blog Le Jus D’Orange, and I’m kind of obsessed. Case in point, this blood orange black sesame ice cream. Also, the scallion pancake quesadillas mentioned above.
Allll the garlic.
I want to make this lemon curd ice cream, but with the passionfruit curd I have in my pantry.
This article about motivation vs. discipline is exactly what I needed.
This cake. Now I need to go hunt down some Girl Scouts…
What’s been up in the world of Allison since my last Weekly Wanderings post?
I got a haircut!
Normally I don’t get particularly excited about haircuts, but this time…
Son cut my hair.
Which just goes to show you I probably belong in the looney bin, because Son had never cut anyone’s hair before. Ever.
This happened totally on a whim – I was going to cut his hair, and spontaneously blurted out, “hey, you want to cut my hair too?” (In my defense, I *really* needed a haircut, and haven’t had the time or gumption to bother with making an appointment to have someone cut my hair.)
And heck, he actually did a pretty darn good job of it! I was worried I might have to wear my hair in a ponytail for a couple of months until it grew out again, but I’m actually really happy with how it turned out.
~~~~
You know how yogurt companies like to advertise that their yogurt tastes just like dessert, but they never really do and it’s just disappointment all around? Well, a week ago, my foodie aunt (who is waaay more of a foodie than I am – this lady knows what she’s talking about) introduced me to Noosa yogurt. “It tastes just like panna cotta – you have to try it!”
Now, I’m normally not a huge yogurt fan (see: disappointment, above), but when Auntie Lydia tells me I have to try something delicious, she’s never wrong. On our way home, we stopped by Whole Foods and picked up a raspberry Noosa. … and then went back to Whole Foods a few days later, to try out every other flavor they have.
Their lemon flavor tastes like lemon meringue pie. I didn’t think I’d love their coconut flavor, but Son took one bite and told me, “you’ll love this – it tastes just like those Girl Scout Cookies…” He wasn’t kidding, it tastes just like Samoas and is now my favorite flavor that I’ve tried so far.
If you feel like signing up for their newsletter, they’ll give you a coupon right now. Or, if you’re buying it at Whole Foods (I don’t know where else Noosa is sold), ask about the Noosa coupon in the Whole Foods coupon book when you’re checking out. π
(P.S. Noosa doesn’t know who I am, and I have not in any way been compensated for writing about them, I just really really love this yogurt!)
~~~~
By the way, store-bought tortillas are buttheads. They fool you by looking all nice and delicious, and then three bites into your taco they fall apart in your hands. Is it just me?
(On that note, I found this recipe for homemade flour tortillas this week, and really want to try it.)
~~~~
We visited Son’s family last weekend, and got to go to our favorite tofu soup place.
One of the reasons we love it is because in addition to the normal banchan, they also give you a bowl of edamame, and each person gets a yummy little fried fish to start off with.
I always have to get the bulgogi soon tofu, no spice thankyouverymuch. (I know I’m totally playing into the stereotype of the white girl who can’t handle spicy foods, but I can’t help it – without the spicy sauce they mix in, it tastes very much like miso soup! I can’t resist the comfort food.)
Son loves their octopus bibimbap, which he hasn’t been able to find anywhere else. It’s suuuuper spicy, so I generally don’t partake, but he adores it.
It was crazy windy that day. We came across two different fallen trees, and I had to go running across a parking lot to catch a random runaway shopping cart before it got blown into any cars. (Feel free to laugh at the mental image of me scampering across the Target parking lot, yelling, “come baaack!!!!” at the red plastic shopping cart. π )
~~~~
The next day, the storm came to our part of LA.
(Heh. I say “storm”, but it was really just a blustery day with a bit of rain in the afternoon.)
Before it started raining, Son and I headed out to get a quick run in.
I found a hopscotch. Yes, I immediately set aside any semblance of dignity I have, and hopped the hopscotch.
He found a leaf.
~~~~
By the next morning, the storm had passed.
It left a pretty sunrise, which almost made up for having to attend a 7am meeting.
~~~~
We both had to go to the dentist this week, so we took it as an excellent excuse to head to our favorite Thai restaurant.
Tom yum noodle soup, pumpkin eggplant stir fry, and pad Thai.
And Son being a goofball.
~~~~
The best thing about having a good toaster oven? Cookies anytime! No waiting for the oven to preheat – twenty minutes, and I have warm, fresh, gooey chocolate chip cookies.
~~~~
It was my dad’s birthday this week! We picked up El Pollo Loco, which he loves, and spent the evening with him and my siblings.
Every year, for his birthday, I make my grandma’s hot milk cake. It’s his favorite.
However, I haven’t ever been able to complete the last step of broiling the top of the cake – the broiler in my apartment right now is missing parts so I can’t use it (plus broilers scare me. Am I the only one?)
But… with my awesome new toaster oven
, I can now broil things! And it’s big enough to fit an 8×8 baking dish easily! And it has a glass window, so I can see if it’s about to burn, instead of having to open the broiler drawer every five seconds! This is all very exciting.
So what this means is this year, I made the best hot milk cake I’ve ever made. π
And then we played Cards Against Humanity (dad won), snacked on senbei, and stuck mochi ice cream on chopsticks to eat. (This is, obviously, the only right way to eat mochi ice cream. π )
~~~~
Links I’ve loved lately:
I recently signed up for the Now I Know newsletter, and I’m loving it! Every day it’s something new, and it has always been interesting so far. A little something I look forward to every morning.
Hello, Matcha Cinnamon Rolls with Black Sesame Cinnamon Filling. If any of you ever decide to randomly show up at my place for breakfast, bring these, please and thank you. π
This Chocolate Tart with Blood Oranges makes me swoon.
Sticky Toffee Pudding Pancakes. WHAT.
These Baby Bloomin’ Onions are super cute, and remind me of the time a waiter at Outback Steakhouse sat down in my lap. In front of my grandparents. I didn’t even know him. I was SO EMBARRASSED. They all thought it was hilarious.
I want this no-knead cinnamon raisin english muffin bread for breakfast.
A little disappointed I didn’t know about these homemade cough drops before I got sick a few weeks ago. They sound amazing.
Son loves shumai, so I’m definitely going to have to make this shumai recipe sometime soon.
We don’t have Vietnamese food as much as we’d like, now that Son’s dad has stopped cooking. I didn’t realize how much I missed it, until I saw this Bo Kho (Vietnamese beef stew) recipe. Going to have to fix that soon!
You all can keep your deep dish. This is my kind of pizza.
I really want to try these pandan cupcakes with lychee buttercream. I’m pretty sure Son would love them.
Everyone and their mother has linked to this recipe for peach splits this week. But can we talk about that goma praline? I’ll happily skip everything else and just steal the praline out of all your bowls. π
I really want a slice of this pretty brown butter apple tart. The glossiness of the apricot jam! So good.
This Vietnamese caramelized pork belly pasta is SO happening in my kitchen soon. We’re normally not pasta people (I’m convinced Son can’t survive a day without a bowl of rice) but we would be all over this pasta.
I love black sesame pudding, and this version looks like a piece of art!
These Thai peanut sweet potato skins sound SO GOOD! I love sweet potatoes, but never know how to eat them, so this is perfect.
This fried cauliflower with dill yogurt sauce sounds like a super tasty way to get your veggies.
I just discovered the CommitStrip webcomic. This is my life in so many ways. (Heh.)
This chestnut montblanc tart is SO FREAKING PRETTY.
I really want these fried pork dumpling kimchi nachos to magically appear at my Super Bowl party.
~~~~
Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Seriously, I am not kidding how excited I am about that toaster oven. π
{I love reading the weekly roundups of other food bloggers – what they’re doing, reading, eating, etc. – so I decided to start one of my own. Welcome to the first installment of my Weekly Wanderings – let me know what you think!}
Son was feeling a little bit under the weather at the beginning of the year, and as is usual for us, if he’s got a cold then I’m guaranteed to get it a few days later, and about ten times worse. So I started the week off sneezing, sniffling, and sleeping as much as I possibly could. Not exactly the way I wanted to start off the year, but hey, sleep is always a good thing.
Luckily for me, I’ve got an amazing man in my life (I may have mentioned him here a few times before π ) who drove all the way out to our favorite Thai restaurant to get me their Ba Mee Nam with Wonton (aka wonton soup). So perfect for when you’re feeling under the weather.
Pretty much the first half of the week was fueled by Thai food, menthol cough drops (which really do help with bad sinus pressure!), and those wonderful Puffs Plus Lotion tissues (a total nose-saver). And naps. Lots of naps.
____
This blueberry muffin recipe is my favorite, and even moreso when my mom sends a fresh batch over when I’m sick.
____
For a while, we’ve had a cheap, crappy little toaster oven, that barely fit four slices of bread, burns anything you try to toast, and gets stuck every time you try to open or close it. I’ve been wanting to get rid of it for ages. So imagine how excited I was when Son surprised me with a new toaster oven on Christmas!
So of course, I’m taking as many opportunities to toast (and roast! and broil! and it even came with a pizza pan!) things as possible. Our daily sandwiches – honey wheat bread, garlic cashew spread, walnut pesto, ham, turkey, and bread and butter pickles – suddenly taste like they’re from a five-star restaurant. Good stuff.
____
Currently reading: Mastering the Art of French Eating, by Ann Mah
I wish I had read this book before I went to Paris last year! We were so overwhelmed when we went there (plus we only had a couple of days in Paris, so we had barely enough time to catch our breath and eat a few amazing meals before we were off again).
Speaking of Paris, Son and I went to Europe last year! And yes, I’ve been totally remiss in my blogging duties and have hardly shared a single thing about it yet. (Though if you follow me on Instagram, I posted a ton of photos while we were there last year.) But don’t despair! That will definitely be changing soon. There’s so much I want to tell you.
And yes, those are penguins on my pajama pants. π
____
It’s been a week of extremes – started off quiet and sleeping as much as possible, and ended with me being uncharacteristically social and pigging out for two days.
A colleague was in town on Friday, so we met up with him and his wife in the Sawtelle area of West LA.
When in Sawtelle… Tsujita LA is a must. They now serve their fantastic ramen and tsukemen all day (instead of just at lunch). Both are delicious – Son and I will often get one of each to share.
(This time Son wanted to try the salmon don with his ramen, which was also delicious.)
____
The next morning, we found out some of my relatives were in town, so we stopped by my dad’s for a short visit… which turned into a much longer visit when we found out that my aunt, who is an amazing cook, was planning on making dinner. What kind of amazing woman drives all the way down to LA from the Bay Area, and then cooks an amazing dinner of pasta carbonara and crab cakes? My aunt, that’s who.
____
We finished off the week with a little peace and quiet (and yelling at the Seahawks/Packers game – what a comeback!)
Have a wonderful week!
