Tapas and Backseat Driving

A while back I was in San Francisco and ate tapas for the first time. It was delicious. It was expensive. And to be honest, I think it was fusion. Nonetheless, it was still good food and a good experience. I'm hoping next time, I'll be able to find a more authentic Spanish tapas place. Also, later that night, I ate tacos that I'm convinced were magical.

...Not in the illegal sense. In the Abacadabra and Harry Potter sense.

Raw tuna and mango tacos. Or maybe it was Ahi, I don't remember.

Cubed sea bass. My God, this was heaven in my mouth.

Pork cheeks. My friend and I had a brief discussion on whether it was face cheeks or butt cheeks. We agreed on butt cheeks.

We also had mini sliders and fries but I don't have photos of those because I was too busy eating forgot. 

In other news, my teenage brother just got his driver's license and I decided to let him drive the other day. Now, I hate it when other people do it to me too, but I guess since I'm his older sister and I occasionally enjoy exercising my power and seniority over him, I couldn't help but do a little backseat driving. Which leads to this week's comic strip. 

(Yes, I used stick figures and not my usual comic style. Sorry, I got lazy.)

I think I may have to start writing my anecdotes down. I had a bunch of little funny tidbits stored up from the past few weeks, but when it came down to writing or drawing them out, I would forget the punchline or the entire story altogether. It's pretty annoying.

Always, ALWAYS, forget something

Guess what?? I cooked dinner today! Yes, it is special despite being a common occurrence. Applaud anyways.

Something's brewing in the oven...

 

It's Mexican lasagna!! ...Yeah, I don't know.

 

It was a Mexican lasagna of yum. :)

Every time I cook I always forget something. Usually it's my camera and I don't remember I was suppose to take a photo until after I finish eating. Very annoying. But this time, I DID remember to whip out my camera. Victory, right? Except after taking the lasagna out of the oven, I forgot to add the chopped tomato toppings that I so lovingly prepared while waiting for the lasagna to bake in the oven. It was pretty distressing. By the time I realized that I forgot, I was already full. I ate another small piece anyways to try it with the tomatoes. It was amazing. ;(

Oh and what is a Mexican lasagna, you ask? Really you just replace the lasagna pasta with tortilla. It's like a opened burrito in a pan with layers. Layers of yum. <3

Quest for sweet dairy desserts

Over the weekend, I took a family trip to Lakeport on the recommendation of my mom's co-worker. Apparently Clearlake is super pretty. And their eggs are more yummy and fresh.

Final verdict? The few hours we spent at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco for lunch on the way home was more fun than the two days we spent in Lakeport. To quote my mother: "Lake Tahoe is prettier."

However, I never been to a small town like Lakeport before. I felt like I was in an episode of Gilmore Girls. Their Main Street was less than a mile long and everything closes before 8pm. Some even earlier. This was particularly annoying when my brother and I had a mighty crave for some ice cream, and so we ventured down Main Street. To be honest, I thought it would be cute to sit in a small town ice cream parlor, digging into an ice cream sundae while eyeing the local eye candy (Oh! Maybe I'll find my own Dean...did he ever have a last name?) on a warm Saturday afternoon. Felt like a very small town-y thing to do and wouldn't be something I'd be able to do in my more urban hometown.

Well, it turned out I wouldn't be able to fulfill my Gilmore Girl fantasies because both of the ice cream parlors we found had closed at 2pm and 4pm, respectively. My brother and I ended up going up to the first gas station/convenience store we saw and buying our corporate manufactured ice cream bars there. Oh, and that's not even the best part. When we reached the convenience store, there was a hand-written "Be right back. Come back later," sign taped to the door. So we stood outside the door and waited.

If I was religious, I think that would have been the breaking point for me. No higher deity stands between me and my food cravings.

Also, 80% of the male population there had 40-inch waistlines and rode Harley-Davidsons. It was a good trip.

Foil Surprise!

In my quest to lead a more healthy lifestyle (read: get a hot bod), I've been following the email newsletter of Hungry Girl and I bought a few of her cookbooks. I don't follow her recipes word for word since some of them are a bit high in sodium, so I just adjust them accordingly. I have to admit, it annoys me when people think that food can't be delicious and healthy at the same time. I then brandish my Hungry Girl cookbooks proudly and shove it into their faces.

I cooked dinner tonight using one of her recipes.

 

Hmmm, mysterious foil packets...

 

Gasp! It's SALMON!

 

 

A lot of her recipes have cute names, this one being "Crazy Pineapple Salmon Teriyaki." This may not be one of them. 

I also added some Italian seasoning. In addition to the high sodium levels, the one other small complaint I would have to make is that some of her recipes can be a little lacking in flavor. I like my food to be rich in flavor and am a lover of spices so I always add a little something something whenever I'm using one of her recipes. 

In other news, we finally switched our internet and now it's wheeeeeeeee super fast! So fan-freaking-tastic. Am now watching all these youtube videos and streaming videos to take advantage of all this high-speed gloriousness. It's nice not having to wait 15 minutes for a 3 minute video clip to load.

It's a Korean Fiesta!

(See what I did there with the title? Heehee.)

My parents have been watching this food-related Korean drama and it's affecting what we've been having for dinner as of late. A few nights ago, my dad called out from their bedroom (my room is right next to theirs),

"Do you know bibimbap?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know how to cook it?"
"I can make it."
"I want to eat it."
"..."

So last night, I made bibimbap for my mother and passive-aggressive father. It's a very straightforward and simple recipe, and to be honest, involves very little cooking. Don't take my word for this, but I don't think there's a real strict recipe for it. Just take whatever meat and veggies you find in the fridge, throw it into a bowl with some red pepper paste, sesame oil, and rice, and then mix it all together.

And yes that is a huge metal mixing bowl. Was really hard to mix it around thoroughly and have the contents stay inside the bowl. Glad to have my handy and super eager vacuum cleaner on stand-by (read: my dog). 

I really enjoy simple recipes like these. Sure, the fancy ones are fun to try out and experiment with, but sometimes, when time isn't a luxury, it's nice to be able to just throw something together and for it to turn out just as flavorful and delicious. 

In other news, I went to watch X-Men: First Class today and it was surprisingly good. There were some cheesy parts, and it definitely had its flaws, but it was still a very entertaining movie with a very solid cast. Definitely makes up for the abominable fail that was X-3 and Wolverine (Origins). *Shudders*

There were also some cameos that I was really (but delightfully) surprised by. I'm usually very up-to-date when it comes to movies (am a semi-movie nerd) but I definitely didn't see some of this stuff coming. Not that it's a bad thing. I'm usually not a stickler for spoilers unless it's for movies that I plan to watch in the theater. It makes for a more rewarding movie-going experience. Like this one was. :)

Weird? No! ...Eclectic

 

How I drain my tofu. :D

Last night I made tofu/ground chicken burger patties, a recipe I picked up from my host mom when I was staying in Japan. Healthy AND delicious?? You must be thinking, 'Blasphemy!' But alas my friends, I bring you proof that it is possible. Well, actually I ate the proof but that is why we have cameras. 

 

You know, I realized while I was making this how unappetizing these dishes look at the start of the cooking process. 

When making these patties, I usually bounce from using ground chicken to ground turkey depending on which one is cheaper at the time, and for me at least, there's not enough of a discrepancy in taste between the two for me to adamantly stick to just one. The story of a poor recent graduate, ladies and gentlemen. But what I love about making this recipe is how versatile it actually is. Just the tofu and ground meat by itself can be rather bland, so it's the sauce or the spices that anchor the recipe. I'm an vocal advocate behind spices and sauces so this recipe gives me the license to be really creative in how I want this dish to end up tasting. Love this. It's really exciting because there's literally a gazillion different things you can try out. Really. A gazillion. Exactly. Maybe. I'll tally them up as I go along. 

Before adding the sauce.

I was lazy last night so I just mixed Ponzu with a dash of sugar for the sauce. Ha ha...

In other news, I mentioned before how I've been experiencing internet woes at home and it has finally pushed me to take refuge at my local library to use their more reliable (and free) wi-fi. It's nice in that I can get out of the house. It sucks because it involves me moving my lazy bum and leaving the lovely comforts of my beloved bed. 

I've been complaining mentioning my internet problems to my dad and we're switching providers next week so I'll be able to be spoiled in high-speed internet soon enough. Also Comcast Cable is doing a promo at the moment, so it all works out. And yes, that was my attempt to appear not spoiled. Seriously, some times I wish I was (I'm currently pining after a $800+ tablet). 

Oh and of course, as per usual, leaving the confines of my home resulted in a slightly embarrassing incident. I feel this incident deserves the glorification of a mini-comic strip. So stay tuned.

And it involves farting.

Spicy food

I had been craving Korean food and decided to try my hand at making Tteok Bok Ki. Tteok Bok Ki (떡볶이)is a popular Korean dish that you can find practically anywhere. It usually consists of sliced rice cakes, fish cakes, and gochujang, a hot paste made from chili peppers. You can then add meat, boiled eggs, mushrooms, and what have you. This dish was actually the first dish I ate when I arrived in Korea, and I ate it again in Lotte World. Deeelicious. :)

I found the recipe and it's a fairly simple recipe. However, I found the tubular rice cakes to be of a slightly different consistency than the sliced ones, and a little trickier to cook. I think for next time, I may just stick with the sliced ones for simplicity's sake.

The recipe was for two servings but since I was cooking for my family, I just double the ingredients. Simple enough, right? Turns out it was way too spicy for my brother. One bite was enough for him to shoot for the fridge for water. But I think it turned out quite well for a first attempt, and now I know how I can tweak the recipe more to my liking. 

If anyone's interested, this is the recipe I followed: Migi's Kitchen. If you don't want to go out and buy fish broth, you can substitute it with water and a bit of soy sauce. What you can also do is mix hon-dashi with water to make the broth. Hon-dashi is a Japanese fish soup stock, and I have a huge stash of it at home so I decided to make use of it. If you happen to have it in your kitchen, it should work great. 

However, speaking of spicy foods, I realized something that happens a lot when I eat really spicy food, particularly Korean or Thai food.

I can't stop. No matter how much pain I'm in, I can't stop eating it. It makes me wonder if I'm subconsciously a masochist. I just realized that I forgot to draw in the snot running down my nose. When I eat something really spicy, I get major runny nose. It's incredibly attractive.

Additional note: Ohmygod you guys, it took me ONE FRIKKIN' HOUR to get this pencil sketch from my brain to this blog. I had to download the scanner software for my parents' printer (because I couldn't be bothered to turn on another computer just to scan this one tiny thing) and since I'm having internet issues at the moment, it took an entire prehistoric age. And you know what? It didn't even finish downloading! My dad ended up scanning the sketch with his computer and giving it to me via an USB driver.

I seriously need to get a new tablet so I can just sketch these damn things straight into my computer. 

This would be a good time for things to start falling into my lap. Please? :D