Pinjing

Some more things that I love:

• Anything that contains peanut butter. I saw these interesting ginger chews made with peanut butter at Bristol Farms last weekend and I just had to buy them. They’re surprisingly good and I am loving the design of the tin itself.
• This show. I’ve recently finished season 3 and can’t wait for season 4 to start. The thought of Mad Men-inspired Barbie dolls is just a little weird, though.
• Seeing my sister play in her end-of-the quarter recitals. To see how far she’s progressed in her music studies makes me so happy and proud.

I just put up a review of our meal at Cedar Creek Inn from Orange County Restaurant week here, if you’re interested.

Btw, sorry for all the changes in layout lately; I’ve been itching to redesign but I haven’t decided exactly what I want to do yet . . . please bear with me until then.

Another meme, yes, but one I’ve always wanted to participate in since reading Abby’s Five Senses Friday every week. It’s a great way to slow down and reflect, which I am needing more and more lately it seems . . .

• Tasting: “DIY” banh mi sandwiches, made with freshly baked baguette from Banh Mi Che Cali, homemade roasted pork ribs, slow-braised tofu and bamboo, pickled carrots and basil
• Touching: the ends of my freshly trimmed hair
• Seeing: an episode from season three of Mad Men
• Hearing: the sound of raindrops on the roof, which I love falling asleep to
• Smelling: the deliciousness that is roasted Okinawan purple sweet potatoes

Our worst fears lie in anticipation

I’ve been having more and more moments of internal disquietude lately regarding some aspects of my life. The fact that I don’t know what kind of future lies ahead for me is unsettling for me. These fears always seem to surface late at night when I’m the least rational; when I wake up in the morning I feel fine (but not without a slightest bit of emotional hangover).

At least I have those girl scout cookies to assuage my worries (for the time being) and tomorrow I’m visiting my little sister at school, hanging out with her always makes me feel better.

I’m finally participating in Things I Love Thursday! Here’s a couple of things that I’ve been loving this week:

• The fact that my sister always surprises me with holiday-themed peanut butter candies
• Sweets, in general. I’ve been having a raging case of sweet tooth lately, it seems. Here I broiled a caramel marshmallow over an english muffin spread with homemade nutella.
• Watching sports on tv. For the last two weeks, my dad and I have been glued to the television watching the Vancouver olympics. Despite NBC’s infuriating delayed/edited broadcast for the west coast, I really enjoyed watching all the events this time around. Now that the olympics are over, my life feels slightly empty . . . it’s back to watching NBA games but those aren’t every night . . .
• Orange County Restaurant Week. $10 lunches and $20 dinners at places where an appetizer will usually run you about that much. My parents and godsister went to try local restaurant, and had a fabulous dinner. Post about that to come
• This book.
  Stayed up way past my normal sleep time just finish this last night. Hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Probably one of the best books I’ve read in the past couple of years. Pick it up if you can.
• A simple dinner of freshly fried tortilla chips, salsa and Jarritos Tamarindo. Comfort food at its best.

Parents weren’t around for dinner tonight, so I happily drove myself to Mother’s Market for some vegan grub (the parentals don’t usually go for vegan fare).

I ordered a Tahini Fusion wrap. As you can see, it’s HUGE. I only managed to eat 1/3 of this, and I didn’t even make a dent in the brown rice that they put on the side.

From their website: Bean sprouts, tomatoes, organic mixed greens, grilled tempeh, brown rice, avocado and tahini dressing in a whole wheat chapati.

This was really delicious and I’m discovering that I REALLY love tempeh. Nutty soy goodness. I usually hate having leftovers, but I’m looking forward to eating this for the next couple of days.

From the deli case I picked up this Turtle Truffle Torte:

Going to eat this later tonight, will let you know how it is

Some recent snaps from the favorite film camera I own, the Nikon FM. I’ve almost forgotten what a joy it is to shoot analog sometimes.

I’ve been making good progress on my resolution to read more books this year; I used to devour novels when I was in high school but once I went to university I had no time for non-academic reading. Recently I finally finished Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (900+ pages, oh my), Kathy Griffin’s Official Book Club Selection (went with my sister to meet her in Laguna Beach last winter), Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle: A Memoir and now I’m reading this:

(Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog.)

I’m already thinking of what book to read next; does anyone have any suggestions?

It was my dad’s birthday last Wednesday.

His favorite thing to eat is sushi, so we took him to a sushi bar that we used to go to frequently when my sister and I were small:

Amaebi (sweet shrimp), Ankimo (steamed fish liver), baked clam appetizer, deep fried shrimp heads from the amaebi nigiri and uni (sea urchin) for everyone.

The sushi here is always extremely fresh, and the portions are huge (which is good or bad depending on how you look at it). The only bad thing about eating here is that the wait typically is very long; we usually end up waiting two hours for seats at the sushi bar.

And because it was a sushi-themed night, I made a sushi-themed birthday card for him too. I will try to take a photo of the inside of the card too

Because cookies are love.

Cats on display at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I went with my sister pre-Itzhak Perlman concert. I’ve never had a pet before, so this cat show and the Eukanuba/AKC championship last December (which is coincidentally being shown this weekend on Animal Planet?) are my feeble attempts to make up for lost time.

My favorites were the breeds that had smushed up, flat faces. Too bad you couldn’t pet any of the cats and most were housed in their cages . . .

Hello 2010! Life has been a bit busy around here, but I just want to encourage everyone to help out (if you haven’t already).

(Hope)

Like many others, I found it hard to pick one of the many charities and organizations that are out there; I found this site useful in determining my charity of choice. I hope it helps you too.

So last year I made a resolution to try to do Project 365; but as you can see I failed miserably (though I was pretty good about it for the first half of the year. I guess life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans . . . (Lennon).

This year I’m not going to put that pressure on myself and thus no resolution to do Project 365 (too many times I found myself just searching for a photo to post because I had to, not because I wanted to. I guess my “resolution” this year is just to post what I like, when I like.

So here we go! Some recent meals that I’ve been making at home:

Homemade spelt bread with raw honey, banana.

Homemade guacamole with a ton of garlic tabasco cause I’m a tabasco addict. With homemade bread “chips”. Steamed silken tofu topped with a shrimp, dashi stock, shichimi togarashi, katsuo (bonito) flakes and corn.

“Kitchen sink” soup: basically daikon soup with a bunch of leftovers thrown in. Toasted spelt bread for dunking. More guacamole. Smoked Japanese oyster next to bread. Looks gross but I like it. @_@