O.m.g. My friends who recommended I try shrimp and grits when I went down to Myrtle Beach were sooo right. It’s such a rich, wonderful dish! I absolutely loved it and I’m definitely going to have to have some any time I’m in the south. I love shrimp, I love grits (and corn in almost any form), and I loved the little fresh tomato bits that this particular restaurant served on top! Maybe I should have been a Southern girl because I love cajun food and much of what you find in the southern states. Perhaps it’s because they use amazing spices to create such fragrant blends of tasty goodness. I might just have to move to the south at some point so I can eat that food all the time! Dang, that was some good shrimp. And grits. Whoever came up with that dish… kudos! It’s great.
Posts Tagged ‘food’
365great Day 305: shrimp & grits
Spiral cutting
We got an Amazon Prime trial this weekend, so I’ve immersed myself in taking advantage of that before it expires. That means tonight I’ll just share a quick video. I love machines that cut, slice, dice, and otherwise make food more manageable and fun. This one doe a spiral cut on potatoes, which I totally want! I also want the spiralizer that’s supposed to make zucchini noodles or something like that. Yum.
spiral cut potato machine from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
365great Day 302: Vicolo
Have you ever tried pizza with a corn meal crust? I personally love cornmeal, so this was such a treat to discover. Vicolo offers their pizzas fresh from San Francisco, so they’re only offered in limited stores. Back when I was demoing them at Whole Foods, they were shipped down to LA twice a week – always fresh, never frozen. Not sure if they still do it the same, but they’re definitely fresh. The one thing they do offer frozen are just the crust, which you can use to make your own pizzas. I’ve been craving them so much that I had Panda swing by the El Segundo Whole Foods before meeting me at LAX for our flight back earlier this week. I now have two to eat in the next couple of days, which I’m thrilled about! I’ve broken into the first one and will probably devour it all by next weekend. I just love how the crust is crunchy yet soft and grainy and wonderful. It’s such a great gustatory experience.
365great Day 300: kimchi fried rice
I’m a huge fan of kimchi fried rice! I love both the kind that I can get a Gushi in Westwood and the kind I used to make (before I could no longer find spicy kimchi). There’s something about the spicy, sour, crispy, juicy combination mixed with soft grains of rice and some eggs. It’s a bit of an addiction and it’s so easy to cook. I don’t even have to add seasoning since the kimchi flavor is more than enough for the whole dish. Of course, that’s assuming you use the kind of kimchi I like, which is tart and hot. The brand that I used to get changed their recipe on me one day and ever since then I haven’t found kimchi brand that quite cuts it. I’m going to have to go on the hunt again though, now that I’ve had some more again and the craving is back. Nom nom nom… I can’t wait to cook it again; it’s going to be sooo great.
The holiday break
With just about a day left before Panda and I headed back to LAX to return to our life out east, I started to feel anxious. It had been a wonderful two weeks, exactly the sort of healing, growing, relaxing, and enjoying I needed. I was kind of worried about getting back into things at work and all the other obligations being back entails. Luckily, the transition hasn’t been that bad at all and I’m happy to be (what is now) home.
Here are some highlights from my time in balmy SoCal. Other moments included hanging out with my mom, chatting with my cousin (and helping her get a new laptop at Best Buy), enjoying quiet moments alone at the mall, meeting up with some AKPsi pledge bros, grabbing lunch with an old UCLA AFROTC friend, catching up over tea with a friend I met at a Gogobot event, a session with my microdermabrasion guy (it’s been over a year!), relaxing at my fab reflexology spot, and reminiscing over old pictures (many that will slowly make their way into blog posts).
And off we go on our winter vacation.
We got upgraded to first class on the way in! I smartly brought a blanket.
As we took off, I tried to spot our new condo with little luck.
The creepy gray clouds tried to climb over the fluffy white ones…
Breakfast is served! I enjoyed the potatoes au gratin best.
Gettin’ frosty up here but I’m toasty in my blankie. 🙂
What’s that brilliantly bright light in the distance? I think it was probably a large lake catching the sun.
First order of business at home is to hang out with Missy.
Umm, how does this even happen to an apple?!
I discover a new favorite snack at the mall: Tornado Fries! Take a whole potato, swirl cut it, spread out along large stick, fry, and sprinkle on various powders for flavor. Fun!
Had my ring cleaned at my jewelers for the first time since getting it and it was nice to catch up with the owner.
Hehe, Missy doesn’t mind that the pillow is crushing her. She loves snuggling with me anyway.
For my birthday, I basically hopped from restaurant to cafe to bakery to restaurant. Happy taste buds and belly!
Oops, we over-ordered for food. Two people got what five probably should have.
Missy walks all over me and I love it.
When she’s like this, how can I work? Too cute.
I had a quiet NYE just watching the show on TV.
Ringing in the new year with this guy jamming on his electric guitar! #culvercitycharacters
Lol, I never got to check out the Westwood Farmer’s Market once it was moved to Thursday, and now here I am.
My absolute fav to get at Gushi.
Little miss princess.
Trying out a new pizza joint in DTLA with my Gogobot buds.
(re)Met a Gogoboter and we do some selfies.
Got together with old friends who I met the year I met Panda! Yes, the picture is intentionally blurry.
I couldn’t leave LA without bringing some treats.
At the airport, I got dinner since I hadn’t eaten all day.
I thought we got a pepperoni and mushroom, but we accidentally left off the mushroom part of the order. Oh well!
Festa di Carrabba First Tastes
Woo hoo, it’s time for another Carrabbas First Tastes event! This time they’re celebrating the new year with this tasting menu. It’s offered as a three-course meal with appetizer, entree, and dessert. We got to try all six possible entrees!!
This time I showed up a little late and found Panda sitting with a mother and daughter pair. They were super friendly and we had a grand old time chatting it up as we enjoyed course after course and drink after drink.
First up was the arancini appetizer, breaded and fried balls of risotto, sausage, bell peppers, and romano cheese with marinara sauce. I like the crispy shell and soft interior of this one, with a blend of savory flavors. It kind of reminded me of a small (Italian) version of the fried balls from Seoul Sausage.
The first of the entrees was the parmesan-crusted chicken, sauteed and covered in breadcrumbs. A grilled lemon offered a wonderful zest to the taste and I enjoyed the rich flavor of this one. The meat was not super succulent but it wasn’t too dry either.
Then we tried the potato-crusted haddock, which looked like hash browns at first. It was topped with a creamy mustard sauce and fresh diced tomatoes (mine happened to be missing that bit). I can’t say I’ve ever had fish and potatoes together, so this was an interesting combo. I liked the texture, but it didn’t have much flavor and I’m not sure the mustard sauce was fitting. I still gobbled it up though! I like how it feels lighter than a pasta dish.
I was looking forward to trying the champagne shrimp & scallop linguine because I love shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms. It’s a solid dish that I would try if I ever felt like a creamy pasta. I kind of like how the cream gathered at the bottom so you could get as much or as little as you like, to taste. Don’t know if that was intentional.
The grilled tuscan skewers came a little out of order, but that’s ok! A normal skewer would have six of these, I believe. I liked the combination of the tomato, red onion, and grilled sirloin. Great complement of flavors!
Mmmm, probably my favorite dish of the night (not counting dessert). The “forever braised” beef brasato was wonderfully tender and worked really well with the risotto. It’s rich and filling. I loved it even though I usually don’t care for beef!
The last entree of the night was the lobster mac & cheese. I thought the corkscrew pasta was perfect and they were quite generous with the lobster portions. You won’t need to dig around wondering where/if the lobster is there! I’m not a lobster person and this one was creamier than I’m used to, so it was decent for me. Perfect for lobster lovers though.
Throughout the meal, Panda took notes as feedback for the restaurant. At the end, the proprietor collected the feedback to review. I guess I should have written something down!
Finally, we ended the meal with a wooonderful sogno di cioccolata dessert. The brownie portion was amazingly dense in just the right way and the chocolate mousse and sauce added to the rich taste. We all devoured our pieces. What a meal!
365great Day 298: brownies
To me, brownies are probably the most indulgent snack. They’re so rich and dense that sometimes just a bite or two will satisfy me. I also love how easy they are to make – I almost never mess them up (whereas cakes are another story and cupcakes are pretty much hopeless for this girl’s baking skills). I’ve been partial to the wonderful boxes of Ghirardelli brownie pouches that you can get at Costco – indulgence discounted! It’s so much fun to play around with the different ingredients you can mix in to make brownies more exciting too, like chocolate chips, caramel, marshmallow, walnuts… and I don’t know how they make that top glazed crusty layer appear, but it’s pretty fantastic. Pair it with some ice cream and you’ve got a great dessert too!
365great Day 296: boba
I started drinking boba drinks sometime in junior year of high school, I think. There was a place at the food court in the mall that sold them and I remember going there to get black tea smoothies with boba. I loved how the iciness of the drink froze them up just so – so they were a little bit chewy, a little bit crunchy. They’re nice and sweet without being overwhelming and they add a fun element to your drink. I try to get them whenever I can and it’s always been a fun time to hang out with friends over boba drinks. Sometimes I go for the milk tea and sometimes I got for the fruity tea. I used to get a wonderfully light white tea but it’s no longer being offered. 🙁 Still, I love just about any boba drink, hot or cold, and I love how they provide a great way to spend time with friends.
November Favorites 2013
Well gosh, I better get my Nov favorites up before it’s time for the December ones!
1. fall colors – This was the month of gorgeous colors. Fall beauty was everywhere to be found and I loved it. It’s one of the things about having real seasons that I was looking forward to. I don’t know if it was the richness of the leaves, but I swear even the sky was more pigmented.
2. touchscreen laptop – I’ve been using my new ASUS laptop and now I’m used to having a touchscreen laptop. It’s a lot easier than trying to navigate the touchpad. It’s very convenient just to tap on what I’m looking at. Too bad not all my devices are like that – I’ve found I try to tap all other laptops now too, lol. It’s hard to remember when I’m using other laptops that they don’t have touchscreens. Hopefully everything will just have that in the future so I don’t have to keep track.
3. yoga – I’ve been going to yoga again and picking up my practice, which is wonderful. I like that I can choose from a range of levels depending on what I’m feeling. I’ve tried everything from Hatha Yoga for all levels to Power Yoga with some meditation thrown in too. I look forward to continuing with my practice and getting strong enough to do a handstand one day!
4. going home – It was so nice to return home for Thanksgiving and be reunited with my parents, cousin, and cats. It was the first time I’d been back since starting work out east and it was a welcome break. We also got a chance to get together my family and Panda’s!
5. Bruins football – UCLA’s program has finally been doing better and it was so thrilling to watch our team beat USC in our football showdown this year. Our crosstown rivalry is going strong and with the liberty bell securely in our possession, we can proudly say that we run LA. 😉
6. fun hair styles – For a long time, I’d just let my hair fall however it wanted. It’s the easiest to do and requires absolute minimal effort. I started to play around with some hair styles more recently, particularly a side braid, French braids, or a bun. I want to try a braid that wraps around my head, but I’m not quite sure how to end it so I’ll have to test it out.
7. revisiting New York (and the city) – After over a decade, I finally got a chance to return to one of my childhood homes. It was so nice to be able to share that with Panda so he can see some of what used to be my life. It also became an opportunity to explore parts of NYC that I’m not that familiar with. It’s the first time I’d been back to any of my old stomping grounds other than a brief visit to Penn State many years ago. I’ve never returned to my homes in Kansas and Missouri, but I sure do plan on it!
8. long sleeve v-necks – I find these to be so perfect to wear. They’re comfortable, warm, and flattering. I can wear them under another shirt or alone and throw on a jacket for extra warmth. I even use it during yoga if it’s an extra chilly night. It’s easy to dress them up or down and if I don’t want my neck so exposed, I just throw on a scarf. Simple, the way I like it.
9. pumpkin flavored – I almost never get pumpkin flavored stuff, but somehow I ended up trying a few this month and they were quite good! This was a pumpkin souffle I got at a happy hour. Very yummy. I also had pumpkin spice caramels and a pumpkin creme brulee snack. Maybe I should try more pumpkin things since I really enjoyed those foods.
What about you? What did you find yourself gravitating towards in November?
28 going on 30s
Was it really my birthday today? It feels so surreal. At times I marvel that I’m now 28 though (more recently) sometimes I kind of am ready to just be in my 30s already. I guess I should enjoy the next two years before that big 3-0 hits for real and I can’t go back to these crazy 20s. 😉
I started off my day much like I ended my night yesterday: with Missy sleeping on my chest. 🙂
Once I got up, I went to get Panda and he took us to this dim sum place with MASSIVE lobsters (no, we did not eat any). Note the normal lobsters in the tank next to it.
After our meal, we explored a fun Japanese store. These earmuffs are fun but too cutesy for me. I got a hedgehog microfiber glove instead, lol.
As we sat looking for a tea place we’d heard of, I was amused by how Panda’s pant leg rode up and he had a random thread on his socks. Silly boy.
We found the place with 3D latte art!
Such adorable designs! I got that marsh-minion for free just for checking in on Yelp.
As I drank my drink, the bear slowly drifted away into oblivion (or my stomach, as it were).
The next stop was Frances Bakery for deeelicious cronuts.
I was so excited I totally over-ordered!
Nom nom nom… couldn’t wait to enjoy the goodness.
Then it was off to Glendale Galleria, where we wandered around the stores and I entertained myself trying on these crazy heels.
What do you think of making this necklace a headdress?
L’Occitane had a free hand massage offer so I got treated to it.
For dinner, we went kind of overboard and ordered 5 things, not thinking the portions would be ENORMOUS. Sooo many leftovers!
We stopped for boba and then went to our respective homes. I arrived to find Missy ready for my attention.
As my mom and I chatted in the kitchen, Missy lay claim to the cronuts. Or maybe she just likes the box. 😉
And now I’m comfortably in bed snuggling with Missy. I think she’s pleased I finally went to bed… she’d been waiting over an hour for me!
