Marshmallow Failure

Well...I didn't think it was possible but I guess it is. I managed to screw up while making rice krispie treats today. Apparently marshmallows do have a life span. I didn't look at the expiration until after my failure and that was when I realized it's been seven months after the expiration. Seven months doesn't seem so bad but I guess it is. The marshmallows didn't really melt, they just seem to compound together and created this huge gooey icky marshmallow in butter. Needless to say...I ended up tossing the whole thing in the trash.

I plan to buy a fresh bag of marshmallows tomorrow to see if it really was the stale marshmallows or just my terrible skills at the stove!

Note to self: I must go through the posts and rename the the labels!

Stainless Steel Pots & Pans

A new year, a new set of pots and pans to use. :) I finally got a chance to pull out my new pots and pans. The husband bought this set for me more than six months ago but they were sitting in a corner as I was simply too lazy to open the box. What is included in this set is the 8 inch skillet, 10 inch skillet, 1.5 quart saucepan with cover, 3 quart saucepan with cover, 3.5 quart saute with helper handle and cover, 8 quart stockpot with cover and the steamer with cover. And look at the shiny set! They are heavy too! Now I just need to use them!

Day 108 - Pretty Bottle

I went to dinner with a bunch of strangers today. By the end of the night, the concensus was that "RAW" was not the way to go in life.

It was my first time trying out a "RAW" restaurant and probably my last unless someone else can convince me that there is another "RAW" dish out there that is tasty. And..it's going to take a lot of convincing!

What is "RAW" you ask? According to online sources, it is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of un-cooked, un-processed and often organic foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and grain. The food cannot be cooked over 115 F degrees. I can't do it. I will gladly raise my little white flag and admit defeat if someone forces this diet on me.

Anyhoo.....I came home and then I thought of processed food. And meat. But I resisted since I ate vegetarian for most of the day. Now with about 30 minutes left before the day ends - I am ready to open up my pretty pink bottle filled with flavored food coloring pink lemonade straight from Trader Joe's. How ironic.

Day 105 - Shabu Shabu

This post is for PM's mom. ;P

The husband and I had shabu shabu at home. Shabu is super easy to make at home and is so much cheaper. The only thing is that eating at home means you have to clean up after yourself.

Ingredients (replicating from California Shabu Shabu) - most ingredients can be found at an Asian market:

• Garlic (chopped)
• Daikon radish (chopped)
• Green onions (chopped)
• Spinach
• Napa cabbage (sliced one inch sized)
• Enoki mushroom (found at a Korean or Japanese market)
• Carrots (cut in cubes)
• Broccoli (cut in smaller pieces)
• Soft tofu
• Clear noodle
• Udon
• Beef, chicken, pork or seafood
• Ponzu shabu sauce (for dipping, found at a Korean or Japanese market)
• Sesame shabu sauce (for dipping, found at a Korean or Japanese market)
• Soup base
• Chili oil (for water)
• Hot water in a pot

The veggies are cheap but the sauces are more expensive. Each bottle is about $ 5 to $ 8 a bottle but can be used several times.

I am picky with the ponzu sauce so we have tried three different brands! Ponzu sauce is a citrus-based sauce used in Japanese cuisine. Each brand is slightly different so my recommendation would be to try out a few to see which one suits the individual. The left bottle - Mitsukan ponzu sauce - more soy than sour. The middle bottle is the husband's favorite and it is some Japanese brand that has no American name - definitely more citrus than soy. The right bottle is Mizkan goma shabu ponzu sauce. I like this bottle although I think it can use a bit more citrus. Really - ponzu sauce is probably pretty easy to make since it's basically just soy sauce, lemon and maybe water. Chili oil to add to the hot water and to add a bit of flavor. I also add some soy sauce to the water to give it more flavor (optional).Noodle soup base for the udon and Mizkan sesame dipping sauce. This one is the best and only one I've seen.Clear noodle to go with the soup base.Udon also to go with the soup base. To prepare:

1. Wash and cut all the veggies.
2. Chop the garlic - this can be added to the hot water, ponzu or sesame sauce. I like adding it to the ponzu sauce.
3. Chop the daikon - this is added to the water or the dipping sauce.
4. Chop the green onions - this is added to the hot water.
5. Add water to a pot and place on portable burner or electronic burner.
6. Wait for water to boil - then add veggies and meat.

Enjoy! :D

Oh - the soup base is used towards the end when you want a bowl of noodle soup. Add all the udon and clear noodle to the water. Add about one or two tablespoon of the soup base to a bowl. After the noodle has cooked - add to the bowl with the soup base and some of the broth.

Brunch with My Family

I am taking a break from Project 365 this week since I have not been consistent with daily postings. Do not worry, I will resume soon.

Anyway - we celebrated my dad's birthday over the weekend by attending Saturday brunch in San Juan Capistrano. I love, love, love the image below with the husband's silhouette in the background.
Ramos House is located on Los Rios Street, which is on the other side of the railroad tracks. It is such a charming little place that is only open for breakfast and lunch. Dining is located in the patio area, overlooking Los Rios Street.

The weekend brunch included a beverage, a starter and the main course. Since there were six of us, we all chose something different. My freshly squeezed orange juice. I love, love that they use mason jars for the drinks! This restaurant was my inspiration when I bought mason jars a few years ago!

Pomegranate and orange mimosas. A little bitter and bubbly!

The husband ordered this starter. I am not sure what the name of this plate was but it was our least favorite out of all our starters.

PJ ordered the fresh baked huckleberry coffee cake. This was yummy! The cake was light, fluffy and had just the right amount of sweetness.

ECA ordered cinnamon apple beignets - always a favorite at this restaurant and rightly so. Everybody loved this starter.

I ordered this starter for my mom. Small plate of smoked salmon lox with herb sauce and toast points. A thin layer of smoked salmon covered the plate. You would lift the smoked salmon and place the layer on your toast points. Very tasty! The salmon was not too salty and tasted quite fresh.

I ordered the sweet corn hush puppies with sweet pepper jam. My favorite starter at this restaurant! Still a favorite! Split the hush puppy in half and spread the pepper jam over the hush puppy to get that sweet and sour taste that tingles your tastebuds. Absolutely yummy!

I ordered this soup for my dad. Not sure what it was but they added popcorn on top. I did not try this starter so I cannot comment.

I ordered the wild mushroom, roasted garlic and sundried tomato scramble for my dad.

PJ ordered the smoked bacon scramble with rocket and caramelized onions.

The husband ordered mac n' cheese with smoked veggies and lemon gremolada.

ECA ordered the crab hash with bacon scrambled eggs and sour cream remoulade.

I ordered the duck hash with wild mushroom eggs and herb sauce for my mom.

My order - BBQ chicken salad with hush puppy croutons. This restaurant used to have another plate that was similar to this one called the country chicken salad with cranberries and pumpkin seed buttermilk dressing. That was my favorite dish at this restaurant. The new dish is good but not the same. :(

Brunch was a flat price of $ 35 per person. After brunch, we roamed Los Rios Street and I took a few pictures of my parents, ECA and PJ. Then my parents, ECA and PJ went home while the husband and I headed down to San Diego for a weekend getaway!

MSC - Banana Walnut Cupcakes

I love banana bread so when the MSC group had this cupcake for the September bonus challenge, I knew I had to make these cupcakes.

Since I did not have any pecans on hand, walnuts would have to do for my cupcakes. I actually made the first batch two weeks ago. I also made the caramel buttercream frosting and ended up using the frosting on ONE cupcake - the one that I gave to the husband to eat. This was the first time I made caramel and I was pretty impressed with myself as the caramel actually came out, CARAMEL! :P The first round of whisking the egg whites was a no-go. I whisked for a good ten minutes (after dissolving sugar with egg whites over the stove) but my mixture never got fluffy or curdled so I ended up tossing that away. On the second round - I hand whisked over the stove for 15 minutes and that seemed to do the trick. Afterwards - I poured the mixture in my electric mixer and added the caramel. The consistency came out pretty well but I must say - it tasted like butter. The husband did not really care for the caramel buttercream so we opted to eat all the cupcakes without any frosting. Still delicious! :D

Since we were going to celebrate my dad's birthday this past weekend and I had a lot of bananas left, I decided to make another batch for my parents to take home. This time I made whipped cream and added banana chips. Verdict: My parents loved the whipped cream frosting but they thought the cupcakes were a bit sweet. Then again...I think my parents find most American baked goods and desserts more on the sweet side so maybe their comments don't count. :P
A little over a dozen cupcakes for my parents to take home to share with their friends. :)

Day 102 - White Chocolate Cake

Cake to celebrate the husband's birthday. :D

Day 101 - Chicken Eggroll

Panda Express for dinner. Chicken eggroll to be specific.

Day 99 - Sunday is Leisure Time

We sipped our iced mochas while the people with the paper bags and shopping carts passed by us. There were a few parents with their kids but the majority were couples spending quality time together on such a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I caught up on my reading while the husband took a nap. Life. Simply. Uncomplicated.

Day 97 - Zzzzz on Zimzala

The clock strucked 6:15 p.m. It was time to leave the office. I grabbed my purse, searched for my keys and left the office. The weekend officially started. I rushed home, changed to a nice blue summer dress I bought from BCBG and off the husband and I went to start our dinner date.

The evening was beautiful. It was clear and the temperature was a perfect 70 degree or so. Our destination was Huntington Beach.
I made reservations for 7:30 p.m. at Zimzala, a restaurant on OC Restaurant Week's list.

Our dinner started with the server setting down a candle votive. How romantic! ;)

The server brought over a light appetizer that we did not order. That was nice of him. It was chicken salad with yogurt on a crouton. Yummy and refreshing!
And then the salad arrived. Buttercup lettuce (probably my all time favorite lettuce), carmelized pecans, sliced peaches with sherry vinaigrette. The salad was so-so for me. I could have used more dressing. The husband ordered a stone oven flatbread that was equivalent to a pizza. That was so-so too.

For the entree the husband ordered pan-roasted wild salmon. This plate was decent.

My entree was called Morroccan chicken tagine. I have never liked couscous and yet I still wanted to give it a try. OK...confirmed. I still don't like couscous.

At $ 40 a person - I was disappointed with this restaurant. The waiter was friendly and attentive but the bleh food was disappointing. My apologies for the lack of description. I was debating whether to even blog about Zimzala or not...

We left the restaurant and stopped by the grocery store at 10 p.m. at night where I decided to take a few shots of my local grocery store. Fall is just around the corner! Oh beautiful colors of orange, gold, mahogany or maroon - how I love thee!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. My favorites are Gala and Granny Smith. Do you know your apple?

I don't get the hype with organic food but I guess whatever floats people's boats.

When I first saw this bag - I thought I had scored! Fifty cent bananas! Doh! It was 50 cents off. Blah! Yes, I bought the bag. I needed the bananas.

Yeah to Haagen-Dazs for making green tea ice cream! Score! There was only one left! Mine! Mine! All Mine!

Day 96 - Shabu for Dinner and Dessert Is A Must!

Tonight I celebrated a belated birthday with some girlfriends. We celebrated by dining at the new California Shabu Shabu in Costa Mesa, CA. There are only a few places I like shabu shabu and this is one of them. It's all in the sauce. For those who've had shabu shabu, I know you're thinking, how can you go wrong with shabu?! Believe me, you can. I disliked shabu the first time I tried it and did not go back for several years. It wasn't until ECA and PJ introduced the husband and I to California Shabu Shabu that I realized there was good and bad shabu. I've been converted. Thank you ECA and PJ!

I did not take pictures of dinner. :( Now that I think about it, I should have. There were a few eye candy around and I don't mean chocolate. ;P OK - two eye candy. One was about 30 something and another was about 20 something (too young but nevertheless still eye candy).

After dinner...we went to cefiore for some yummy yogurt and of course, for "girl time." It was wonderful to catch up on everyone's life. :)

Day 90 - Ben & Jerry's

Can you guess which one belongs to me and which one belongs to the husband?
Psssss....mine is the smaller one! Lately, the husband has been craving for Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. I've never been particularly fond of Cherry Garcia. I find it to be too sweet for me but he loves the stuff AND I am the one who has a sweet tooth! Go figures!

Day 88 - A Little Sunny D

A little Sunny D for some tasty Vitamin C. :)

Day 83 - Treats for Tomorrow

We are going camping tomorrow and I've made some treats for everyone. Rice krispies! One of my girlfriends asked that I add chocolate chips so I added the chips to a batch. Unfortunately the chocolate chips all melted. Oh well.

Day 81 - Family Dinner at Tasty Garden

Tasty Garden

9433 Bolsa Ave, #C

Westminster, CA 92683

714-839-8580

There is a new restaurant in town. Their menu? HK (Hong Kong) style. Tasty Garden recently opened and I hadn't been there yet but the parents had. Last night they were talking about the restaurant and we decided to make it a family dinner tonight...at 10 p.m. I usually don't eat this late but the parents do not get out of work until that late and it's been eons since we've had a chance to have dinner together. Don't worry, the restaurant stays open pretty late....until 2 a.m.

Anyhoo, the husband and I met up with ECA, PJ, and the parents this lovely evening for a HK style dining experience. Upon walking into this restaurant, I am taken back to the few HK cafes we visited while we were in Hong Kong. They have an extensvie menu selection for all to choose something from.

I started the late evening with this drink (about $ 3 a drink): red bean and grass jelly with tapicoa milk tea. Refreshing. I should have ordered it without the red bean as it is really not my favorite in a drink other than those Vietnamese (Che) desserts. Oh well but I do love those grass jelly. Yum! Yum!The signature dish that I almost always order at any given Chinese restaurant: sweet and sour pork or Peking pork chops. Anybody who have dined with me at a Chinese restaurant KNOW that I will automatically order this dish...unless I know it's terrible at that place. Tasty Garden called theirs Country Style Sweet and Sour Pork (about $10 a plate). By far - my favorite dish of the night. Crispy battered pork chunks tossed with pineapple, onions and green pepper. The pork was not overly battered and crunchy at just the right places. I am salivating just thinking about this dish again. The sauce, tangy, sweet and colorful. Absolute perfection!
I don't remember the name of this dish but I think it's basically Hainan chicken. My family really liked this dish. I thought it was o.k. but I've never been much of a Hainan chicken person, although, that hasn't stopped me from trying different Hainan places. Also about $ 10 a plate.
This dish was probably the least favorite of the night by everyone. Fried clams with chili pepper flakes. I don't really care if the clams are not fresh but at least not smell or taste like it! :( Unfortunately - the "unfreshness" hits your tongue immediately the second you chew into the clam. Sad. I would not recommend this dish. Also about $ 10 a plate. This vegetable stir-fry has lotus root, snap peas, mushrooms and squid in it. This dish wasn't bad. I liked the lotus root and snap peas. I could have done without the squid. Also $ 10 a plate.
This rice dish was sticky rice fried with eggs and dried shrimp. Then they scattered some peanuts on top. I wanted to try this dish as it sounded interesting on the menu but sadly - this was a disappointment. The rice was quite dry and the dish was just o.k. We also ordered red bean pancakes but I did not get a chance to take a picture. Overall, there were a few hits and misses for the night. I would recommend the sweet and sour pork, Hainan chicken and maybe the vegetable stir-fry. Oh...I believe the husband, et al also liked the red bean pancake (I did not get a chance to try the dish).

Would I come back? Probably. This restaurant makes me nostalgic for Hong Kong. The plates are about $ 10 a plate but it's family style so remember to share. There is always the take-out boxes for the leftovers.