Random Dictates of a Half Ass Foodie

Koloa Mill Ice Cream & Coffee

2011-07-24T22:02:00.003-10:00

We were in Koloa yesterday, taking Olive to meet her great-grandma. Kea, Olive, my mom, my brother, and I took the 9 am flight in and spent the day at great-grandma's house with various uncles and aunties. By 3 pm, Olive was cranky but refused to take a nap and Kea and I were ready for our second coffee of the day so we went for a drive. We stopped by blow hole and then the little commercial area in Koloa near Sueoka Store. We stopped by Koloa Mill Ice Cream & Coffee and I was not expecting much.

First happy thing was that they saw my local driver's license when I opened my wallet to pay and gave me a discount. Second, the iced coffee is just about the best I've ever had. Smooth. Third, the iced mocha was also good--not too sweet. This place is super awesome. I want to go back! They also have locally-made Roselani ice cream--and plenty flavors too, not just the kind they sell in the grocery store.

sandwich of the day

2011-06-21T21:55:00.002-10:00

toast+cream cheese+korean pear+walnuts

Tea at 1024, Honolulu

2011-03-20T12:49:00.004-10:00

Went here for my cousin's bridal shower yesterday. I was excited because I've always wanted to try it. You get to choose your own teacup to use from off the shelves. Just a little thing that is fun. This is the one I picked.

They also have hats and boas to wear, which is kinda cute.

They gave us their house tea first, a black tea with raspberry and rose petals I think they said. I didn't think I'd like the rose, but it was good. Later they asked us if we wanted to try another tea.

Food was good. There were sandwiches, of course. My favorites were the smoked salmon, curry chicken, crab and olive, and cucumber. The egg salad sandwich was a bit boring and the cheese sandwich was strange. The scones were good and hooray for clotted cream. Idk what that stuff is but it's so good. I wouldn't know what to do with it besides put it on scones though.

Desserts were also good--and pretty. In the glasses is some kind of lemon dessert. In the chocolate cups is chocolate mousse; I think they said it was chocolate haupia, but it just tasted like chocolate to me. And the flower-shaped thing is like a brownie with a molten center.

I've had tea at Waioli Tea Room before and can't decide which I like better!

wendy's frosties...

2011-03-12T14:42:00.001-10:00

... are so reasonably sized.

Grand Cafe and Bakery

2011-03-05T10:36:00.005-10:00

The back story

I always heard great things about Grand Cafe and Bakery but never went until yesterday.

It's kind of a random story. We had to pick Kea's dad up at the airport at around 8 and I had a doctor's appointment in the Chinatown/downtown area at 9:30. We figured we'd go for breakfast. Kea's dad is mostly into Local food. Actually, I think it's more that he's not into spending money on food. Like I think when Kea was growing up, they never ate out. And when his dad does eat out, it's like okazuya and plate lunch places mostly.

So Kea and I were trying to think where to have breakfast with his dad. We thought about Byron's, Mitsuken, and Char Hung Sut (his dad's favorite place to get manapua) but were kind of at a loss.

Anyway, it was his dad's idea to go to Grand Cafe. Every time he makes this kind of suggestion, we immediately think, oh this must be some place his girlfriend introduced him too. It's amusing. In any case, I was glad for a chance to try the place.

The food

First off, their pastries are amazing. I am not a pastry person. I often will eat them if they're around because it seems like you should and then I'll like barely even enjoy it and feel totally sick after. The Grand Cafe pastries, though, well, they're small, which is fine with me. The size is closer to that of rugelach than the bear claws we usually see though. The pastry itself is amazing. I usually think of the pastry as just the holder for the filling, but this pastry was seriously the best part. Anyway, I had the apple and tried the lemon cream cheese; I definitely preferred the apple. The lemon cream cheese was too cheesy for me. Kea and his dad had bear claws and Kea tried the lemon cream cheese too; he preferred the bear claw also.

I had a pretty basic breakfast. I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I didn't know what to order and I figured this way I could try a little of everything. And even this basic breakfast was good. The pancakes were very light, as advertised. Even the eggs were good. I'm not a fan of scrambled eggs and only ordered them because I'm not supposed to eat raw yolks right now, but these were a good texture and tasted better than scrambled eggs I'm used to too. (Maybe scrambled eggs are usually overcooked? I'm not sure exactly what it is.)

Kea had the breakfast panini and his dad had corned beef hash and eggs. His dad spoke highly of the omelettes and eggs from what he remembered last time.

One last thing: There was a Bananas Fosters French Toast on the menu. I was so tempted to order it, but it came with gelato, which just sounded out of control.

Empanadas

2011-02-06T19:29:00.003-10:00

Made empanadas for a get-together last night. They were a hit; I think I'll try and make them again some other time now that I got the kinks out. In hopes that you can learn from my mistakes, here is a list of things I forgot to do:

Thaw the puff pastry. I'd allow about 20-30 minutes for this.
Roll out the pastry before you cut it into 4" squares. Luckily, if you mess up you can just have bigger empanadas, which is not too much of a problem. I don't know if pastry sheets are always folded into thirds, but ours were and each third seemed to roll out to about 4" wide.
If you don't have non-stick baking pans, use Pam or something.
Don't forget the vegetable oil on top; I think it just makes it brown up nicer, but that is a good thing.

I also didn't use a full 1/4 cup of oil in the filling. I just started with a tablespoon or two and added more as needed to keep the filling saute-ing (and not burning).

I also didn't make the salsa provided in this recipe because I am nervous about fruit salsas. Luckily someone had brought homemade salsa and that was a good thing. (The corners tend not to have much filling so salsa is nice with those bits.

Soul

2011-01-29T23:25:00.003-10:00

Finally finally went to Soul, a soul food restaurant in Hawai'i. (Word of caution: their website kind of stinks. Not sure why but the links are super slow for me.) This place has been getting a lot of good press. If I remember correctly, they started out as a food truck, and before that, the chef Sean Priester was at Top of Waikiki and getting good press there. And who the hell goes to that restaurant anyways?

Anyway, was trying not to get my hopes up. For one thing, there aren't many places to get soul food in Hawai'i so this place doesn't even have to be good, but it is. I heard the fried chicken was the best in Hawai'i and I'd also heard good things about the vegetarian chili. K and I both had the chicken and chili, which also comes with collard greens, coleslaw, and cornbread. Sooo good. Seriously, the juiciest, most flavorful fried chicken I've ever had. A little on the salty side, but I prefer that to too bland. I wasn't sure about getting fried chicken because I find it's so messy and I usually get lazy about eating it. Not this one though. It's good stuff. K pointed out that they separate (but don't remove) the bone before they fry it. This way, the chicken can cook all the way through without getting dry.

I wasn't that big a fan of the chili, although K and our other friend really liked it. I really liked the cornbread, but, honestly, it was all good. We shared a slice of sweet potato pie after and K said he thinks maybe that was his favorite.

Parking is a pain here, yes, and the restaurant is pretty crowded too. Our party of three got there a little after 6 on a Saturday night and they managed to squeeze us in. Also, the level of fancy is a bit confusing as it looks nice inside, but you go up to the counter to order. We talked about how it reminded us of India Cafe back in the day; both restaurants even have the TV playing "cultural" entertainment. lol.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

2011-01-23T12:07:00.003-10:00

Made this for a family party. I ended up with 14 sticks (6-7 pieces/stick), which used almost two full packs of bacon and I'd say not even half a Costco bag of asparagus. The instructions I found online said to cut the asparagus to the width of the bacon but I might consider cutting it longer next time to up the asparagus:bacon ratio.

I found that cutting the bacon into quarters makes it a good length for wrapping; any shorter and it's messy.

Baked in a single layer on a foil-covered cookie sheet for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. (I find that the back of my oven is hotter so next time I'll rotate the pan halfway through. And soaked the skewers beforehand of course.)

Surprisingly, these don't need to be eaten super hot. Still good at room temperature. They were a big hit--even though my health freak dad was alarmed at the amount of bacon.

Land O Lakes Arctic White Hot Cocoa

2010-12-12T21:03:00.001-10:00

This kind of just tastes like sugar milk. And that is okay with me right now.

Enchiladas and Beans

2010-12-12T09:54:00.000-10:00

Cooked up a storm yesterday. We were getting together with Kea's cousin, who was here for surgery, and her family, and Kea's sister and her family, which includes two school-age kids who have sports like all day on Saturdays. We were happy to cook since we hardly ever do, although we were a little worried about cooking for so many people, as we never have before. Seriously, this is the most burners we have ever used.

I did the beans in the back. I have always wanted to try making beans from scratch and I figured this was a good opportunity cuz how you gonna take a can of beans to someone's house? I was a little worried though that the effort wouldn't be worth it because I've sometimes had beans from scratch that were nothing special. Hoped it would just be about seasoning though and I was really happy with how it turned out. I used this recipe, although I don't know why it lists "slow cooker" as one of the tools because in the directions, it doesn't really make sense to use a slow cooker. Anyway, my beans were soft after only about 2.5 hours I think, but I still stewed them for an extra couple hours with the sofrito (which is in the fry pan) and it was fine. Oh, also, I didn't use the food mill cuz too much work! So I just diced the onion and pepper to start off. Warning: This smells soooo good as it cooks!

Kea wanted to make green sauce for the first time (in foreground). He found tomatillos and serranos at Safeway Kapahulu, which he says has everything. I'm not sure what recipe he used, but it called for like 4-5 serranos and it was way too hot. We like hot stuff of all kinds, like wasabi, ginger, angry red Korean soups, Thai. Really, we like stuff that's hot enough to make you sweat, but this was too much so he ended up throwing some sour cream in. It worked out okay; even our 12-year-old nephew ate it (although he did say it was hot). Next time, though, starting with maybe 1 or 2 peppers! The big surprise for us was that green sauce is not too hard to make; it seems a lot less common than red sauce so I thought it must be hard to make, but the basic steps were boil tomatillos and peppers until tomatillos lose their bright green color, and then blend.

Since we were making two pans of enchiladas, I suggested using corn tortillas for one (because I love them so much more). They were very fragile, but I love the taste. And I think flour tortillas make me feel sick sometimes.

The Big Frozen Yogurt Challenge

2010-09-04T16:00:00.002-10:00

I guess it's probably been the past year or so that we've been trying all the different frozen yogurt places around town and I've come to define my own ranking and a sense of the strengths of each of them. You might think this is sad, but I think it is also useful.

Milano Freezer: We used to go here a lot because K's friends love it. They primarily serve gelato, which is also awesome, but they also serve some frozen yogurt. One shortcoming with the frozen yogurt is that they only have original and one other flavor (like blueberry). The original is really good though and I think Milano Freezer has the freshest fruit toppings (e.g. strawberries).

Menchie's: I've eaten here quite a bit too. I guess because I live near one. I like their cake batter, cheesecake, original, and red velvet flavors. Their fresh fruits aren't always the best.

Yogurtland: I've only been here a couple of times. Went because of their Tokidoki promotion and because it was the first of the new frozen yogurt places I'd heard of when they first opened near UH a few years ago. The yogurt seemed very runny to me, like it was messy getting it out of the dispenser. The texture also seemed more icy than creamy to me. Overall, I'm not a Yogurtland fan yet. Both times we went, it was just before closing though so this may have caused some of the problems.

OrangeTree/OrangeGrove: My favorite thing about this place is the bubble and jelly toppings. My favorites are the yogurt, lilikoi, and lychee bubbles. It's been awhile since I went here so I can't even remember what flavor yogurt I like!

Cherry On Top: The best thing about this place is their chocolate yogurt. Chocolate flavors at other places like OrangeTree/OrangeGrove and Menchie can be a little weird. I had thought that maybe chocolate flavor just didn't translate well to frozen yogurt, but this place proved me wrong.

Tutti Frutti: Like OrangeTree/OrangeGrove, this place also has bubbles and jellies. I think they have a greater selection of toppings (or maybe just different ones) than other places too. I was surprised to see just about every kind of M&M (plain, peanut, coconut, pretzel, etc.) available, for instance. I also managed to put together a breakfast-themed snack here: coffee yogurt with granola and coffee jelly on top.

Bianelli's Pizza in Kona

2010-08-12T22:28:00.002-10:00

Kea and his mom took me to Kona for my flight home on Wednesday. Kea's mom had to stop by AT&T and we thought we'd grab lunch nearby. There was a Subway, Korean food place, Safeway, Blazin Steaks, and Bianelli's Pizza. Usually I think we'd go for Korean, but Kea has not been in the mood for that lately. We were curious about Bianelli's, but cautious for a couple reasons:

It's located in a health food store. Seemed kind of strange. I mean, I am not opposed to health food at all, but it doesn't always seem the best direction to go in for pizza.
It's in Kona.

In reality, A and B overlap. Together, they gave us cause for concern that it would be expensive. We were pleasantly surprised. We ordered a deep dish with mushrooms, ham, garlic, and spinach. This was to split between three of us and it cost about $18. (I was also eye-ing their lunch special: $6 for slice, soda, and salad.) As the clerk informed us, it was 6 slices.

It was enough for the three of us (with Kea being a big eater and me and his mom pretty small eaters). I'm not sure if everyone really had their fill, but I sure did with my share. I think it would've still been pretty reasonable if we had added on a salad or something too. The garlic was whole, marinated cloves; that was a highlight. The crust was nice and crispy; the clerk mentioned that it was twice-baked. Overall: delicious.

The one down-side was that it wasn't deep dish! Kea and I have come to expect this. You really can't get deep dish this far from Chicago. So, that's barely a knock on Bianelli's. Still good pizza!

White chili

2010-06-02T20:18:00.017-10:00

I grew up eating chili con carne. My mom cooks it and all. It is one of the things I am most comfortable cooking myself. Never had white chili though. Thought it sounded gross, but a trusted friend spoke highly of it and shared the recipe she used so I wanted to give it a try.

My husband and I liked it; my parents thought it was okay. I think their minds were sort of blown by the idea of white chili. While I was cooking, my dad said, "So it doesn't have tomatoes? Why would you do that?"

I also made sure to add the cheese when my parents weren't looking because they tend to get nervous about the amount of cheese my husband and I eat. I didn't find the chili too rich though. It was very interesting to have the cheese melted into the sauce, different than anything else we eat regularly. And because of this, I think my parents didn't even really know that it had cheese in it.

I served the chili with cornbread. I think this also confused my parents.

My recipe needs some tweaking but I think this was a good first try.

Recipe
Adapted from Simply Recipes and allrecipes.com

1.5 lbs. chicken, cut into small pieces
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 t cumin
2 t oregano
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t cayenne
8 oz. canned green chiles
45 oz. cannelini beans
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and chicken and saute for 10 minutes, or until chicken is well browned. Salt to taste. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne pepper to taste and saute for 5 more minutes.
Add two cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.

Notes:

One of the recipes calls for ground turkey; I went with chicken just because it was on sale.
I only used two cans and did not puree a third can but I wish the chili came out thicker so I would puree a third can next time.
I only had half an onion. :(
I might consider using more spices next time.
I didn't salt the chicken before I cooked it and it really needed it. Don't make this rookie mistake!
I used 6 cups of chicken broth and it was a lot--although with the pureed beans, it might've been okay.

Ratatouille, Take 2

2010-05-21T23:38:00.019-10:00

Take 1 was delicious, but not so aesthetically pleasing. Didn't make the cut for the blog! This one is somewhat presentable, although using yellow squash and/or yellow and red bell peppers would give it even more aesthetic value. This is what the finished product looked like.In Take 1, I had ignored the instructions to use a large skillet to saute each vegetable separately before putting it into the large pot. The zucchini got way overcooked and a lot of them disintegrated. So this time I followed directions. Here you can see my two pans: one for the individual saute and one for combining all the cooked veggies.
Still, the zucchini and eggplant got a bit over done. I think next time I need to follow the directions more closely--and only brown the vegetables before adding them to the pot rather than cooking them more fully.

Another problem is that I have trouble chopping my vegetables into even cubes! Something else to work on I guess.

I also ended up adding about 4 tablespoons of olive oil to each batch of eggplant just 'cause that stuff soaks up so much oil. I don't mind though; makes it taste good. I mean seriously, this dish is all veggies so what's a little olive oil?

I love this dish. My family and I ate it as a side dish with grilled chicken and pork and also as a snack in the afternoons. My parents said it looks like pinakbet! And it does have some of the same veggies. I guess it's Italian pinakbet!

Recipe
Adapted from Summer Vegetable Ratatouille at allrecipes.com

1 onion, sliced into thin rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium eggplant, cubed
2 zucchini, cubed
2 green bell peppers, seeded and cubed
2 Roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
8 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. Lower burner to medium-low or low.
In a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the zucchini in batches until slightly browned on all sides. Remove the zucchini and place in the pot with the onions and garlic. (Really, just brown the veggies. They'll have time to fully cook later.)
Saute all the remaining vegetables one batch at a time, adding 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet each time you add a new set of vegetables. (You may need more for the eggplant as those buggers really suck up the oil.) Once each batch has been sauteed, add them to the large pot as was done in step 2.
Season with salt and pepper. Add the thyme and cover the pot. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and parsley to the large pot, cook another 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Breakfast: Sourdough+ratatouille+fried egg

2010-05-20T10:00:00.003-10:00

This breakfast is inspired by Town. And I'm so excited that I even took a picture. Well, I guess this is as aesthetically pleasing as my food gets. Yikes! Anyway, I'm no professional (chef or photographer, lol). Seriously I can barely fry an egg, but I was completely inspired by breakfast at Town last week. They seem to have sort of a formula going: starch + hearty, savory deliciousness + fried egg. In two of the dishes we had, the starch was either a slice of bread or some polenta. And the middle layer was either a nice slice of ham or--I guess you could call it a stir-fry, of kale, sausage, raisins. (I guess what I'm saying is that if I were to attempt that, I would stir fry it!)

It's kind of the Eggs Benedict model too I guess, which I only started eating a couple years ago, and then only at The Soup Spoon in Lansing, where they have a San Diego Bennie with avocados and spicy hollandaise. I still fear real hollandaise.

Anyway, I made this with some sourdough bread my mom had bought. I debated using an English muffin too. Next time. The ratatouille I had made on Monday. It came out kind of mushy and ugly; need to try that recipe again, but still yummy and thus perfect for hiding under an egg. I still need to work on my fried egg technique, but at least this time when the yolk broke, the whites were almost done anyway. That, my friends, is progress!

It tasted awesome and I think I have found my favorite way to eat eggs!

Aoki's Shave Ice, Haleiwa, HI

2010-05-15T21:43:00.002-10:00

Kea and I usually go to Aoki's because the line is shorter than Matsumoto's. I'm mad at them now though. We went there last Sunday and the shave ice was so poorly constructed. I had ice cream leaking out of the top of mine from the moment they handed it to me. Actually, I think it was from even before they handed it to me because the girl noticed it had problems and put another cup--which did absolutely nothing to solve the problem! It also was very wobbly and crooked so I had to hold it sideways--which made the ice cream leak out even more. Grr... one of my friends had problems with his too. Some of it spontaneously fell on the ground. Jeez, maybe they are trying to persuade us to buy those shave ice holders! They were messing up plenny people's orders too. I go Matsumoto's next time.

Bubbies Mochi Ice Cream from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

2010-05-15T21:33:00.002-10:00

After Diamond Head, we were all a little hungry. We hadn't had much lunch, but only wanted a snack before going home for dinner. We stopped at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Monsarrat and had some mochi ice cream. The workers were pros. They had no problem dealing with our decision-making issues and they put each of our orders (3 mochi ice cream each) in a covered cup. Very cute and perfect for taking in the car.

I had li hing mango, chocolate espresso, and chocolate strawberry. I would not order the chocolate espresso again; the espresso ice cream was awesome but the chocolate mochi was a little weird. To be honest, it reminded me of dog food somehow. The other two were both awesome. I am sometimes weird about mango, but this one passed muster. The chocolate strawberry had chocolate ice cream, which apparently Bubbies does very well, and strawberry mochi. *yummy noises*

S had green tea, which she thought tasted weird. She said she likes other places green tea ice cream but was not a fan of this one. I recall feeling the same way about Bubbies green tea ice cream. (Can't remember the other flavors she had...)

D had sakura and lychee. I can't remember his third, but I remember he picked things that sounded different. He's so funny. Anyway, he liked all of his too I think, but I remember a lot of yummy noises over the sakura especially.

I was also impressed that the mochi ice cream traveled well. I was driving and it was no problem for me to eat and drive simultaneously. The treats must have been really cold because I had to let them warm up for a bit before eating them. I savored them and there were no problems with ice cream running down my chin.

I was never much of a fan of mochi ice cream, but this week I realized that one of the best things about them is that they are small so that you can try multiple flavors!

Diamond Head Cove Health Bar

2010-05-15T21:28:00.003-10:00

I'm really confused about the name of this place as I don't recall their sign reading "Diamond Head Cove Health Bar," but the pictures and address look right. Anyway. We needed a quick meal before doing Diamond Head and I recalled this smoothie place on Monsarrat. The menu was limited (all their smoothies [$6] but one had at least one ingredient I am not a fan of [bananas, mango, papaya]) and the smoothies and juices were expensive, but it was good stuff, is not a chain, and did the trick. I wanted the mint and honeydew smoothie, but they were out of mint. :( So I had a juice ($7) made with cucumber, ginger, celery, and lemon. I wished that the juice had ice in it, but it was good and it did the trick of getting me up and down Diamond Head.

Green Papaya on Keeaumoku

2010-05-15T21:23:00.003-10:00

Went here again. We had green papaya salad (with shrimp), summer rolls (also with shrimp), and lemongrass chicken. The green papaya salad was awesome as always and the shrimp was very fresh. The summer rolls came with a peanut sauce that had coconut in it. That was new to me and it was very good. The summer rolls by themselves were kind of plain, but I think maybe that's just how summer rolls are. The lemongrass chicken was great. I usually don't like to order just meat like that, but this was good, lemongrassy stuff!

Breakfast at Town

2010-05-15T21:12:00.002-10:00

I've heard so much about Town, but somehow never went there until this week. I think part of it is that their website stinks. There's nothing like reading a menu (even a sample one) to persuade me to visit a restaurant. Anyway, my sense was that they were fancy and I knew that they use local ingredients. That was the extent of my knowledge. I read some Yelp reviews and learned that morning is sort of self-serve (The staff called it "counter service"), that they serve Illy coffee, and that breakfast is good--which I had heard from some friends too.

Anyway, nothing like having a friend in town to motivate you to go out and do things. My friend's flight was at 1 so we figured that brunch would be a good morning activity.

I ordered the polenta which was the best thing ever. I've had polenta a couple times before but it was never like this. It was crispy on the edges. The polenta was served with a fried egg, some breakfast sausage, greens (kale?), and raisins (or maybe those fancier sultanas or something). I have never been a fan of breakfast sausage but, like I said, this was the best thing ever. I also liked having all the greens.

My friend and I shared our orders so I had some of her bruschetta too. It also had some greens (arugula?), but not as much. Also had some really nice ham and a fried egg. Good, but I think I prefer the polenta, in part because of all the veggies. Also because the bruschetta was a bit messy; it was kind of like an open face breakfast sandwich.

Kea had the banana pancakes, which he said he thinks is just menu filler. Still yet it was good. Very banana-y.

Hokulani Bake Shop, Part 2

2010-05-15T21:08:00.002-10:00

Hokulani Bake Shop was another must-do on our list. Located in Restaurant Row, it wasn't too hard to find. The shop is small and looks like it's under construction. The cupcakes and cookies are gorgeous though! They also had onesies and baby t-shirts for sale that said "Made from Scratch." I thought that was cute.

Anyway, one of my friends asked if he could take pictures and they said he could but that he couldn't post them online. We were dumbfounded and think they are missing out on a huge marketing opportunity.

Luckily, the cupcakes are still good. I tried the guava, lilikoi, coconut, and mango. The lilikoi was my favorite. The guava wasn't as good as last time. Still good, but the lilikoi had a stronger flavor. The mango had actual chunks of fruit which was also good.

Palama Supermarket in Waimalu

2010-05-15T21:05:00.002-10:00

My family and I are huge fans of Palama Supermarket (the ones in Kalihi and the Keeaumoku area). We love the kim bap and other prepared foods as well. Unfortunately, the one in Waimalu doesn't seem so good. First, their kim bap didn't even have sesame oil on it! I ended up putting my own! I'm not a fan of fish jun, but my mom is and she said theirs is junk. The meat jun and chap chae were okay...

Dim Sum at Legend Seafood Restaurant

2010-05-15T20:56:00.002-10:00

I had some friends in town and wanted to take them to dim sum. One of them is vegetarian so I thought we'd try Legend Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurant, which is affiliated with the well-known Legend Seafood Restaurant. I wanted my non-veggie friend to have a "real" dim sum experience though so I called the restaurant to ask whether vegetarian dim sum could be ordered on the seafood side and vice versa. They said yes and I was very happy. (They also answered their phone and had someone who was fluent in English for me to speak to, neither of which I assumed would be true for Chinatown.)

Anyway, we ended up going to the seafood side on Mother's Day. We went at 10 am and it was a good thing because there was a crazy crowd by the time we came out at around 11. The host was very helpful and offered to bring two vegetarian dim sum--one steamed and one fried--for my friend. The rest of us ordered off the carts and menu as usual.

Legend is not my favorite dim sum place. Compared to some other places in Honolulu, it seems they focus more on quantity than quality, but I'm really happy with it as a place where vegetarians and omnivores can have dim sum together.

Chun Wah Kam

2010-04-28T23:24:00.002-10:00

Nothing new but I gotta say how much I love Chun Wah Kam. I had it for lunch like four days in the past week. The last two times were leftovers from Sunday, but still yet. I think everything there is good! Kea always gets the manapua, pork hash, half moon, and all that kind. I usually get a mini-plate with chow fun and often get szechuan eggplant or mapo tofu. Or anything else with nice veggies inside. Last Friday, the chow fun didn't look so good so I got duck fried rice instead. Was so good. From what my parents bought on Sunday, I liked the Hong Kong noodle and beef asparagus. The roast pork was too porky for me; I like pork, but I like it with vegetables I guess. They also bought this like yellow udon fried noodle; I didn't really like that one either.

Also, they got so many choices that there's something for everyone. Always got at least some vegetarian options. And when we took our picky 8-year-old nephew, he got furikake rice with orange chicken.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/2579171534/

Kunio in Waikele

2010-04-28T23:20:00.002-10:00

Was looking for soup on the Leeward side and ended up here. I ate here couple times before. I think those times my parents paid so I got sushi. Plus it was when we were still living in Michigan and would only be in Hawai'i for the summer. This time I got udon. I was glad that they had an udon with all kind toppings (nabe udon). Had shrimp tempura, egg, enoki mushrooms, bamboo shoot... maybe more too. I forget already. It was kind of bland for me though. It fulfilled my desire for soup, but I rather have Gomatei or Taiyo

Pizza Bob's in Haleiwa

2010-04-19T22:25:00.003-10:00

Kea's favorite North Shore restaurant is Cholo's so we usually eat there. I kinda wanted to check out other places, but Cholo's is good too... Anyway, we didn't have time to wait for a table at Cholo's this time. Were going to go to Kono's, which a friend recommended, but they were closing.

So it was the perfect opportunity to try one of these other places out. I hadn't been to Pizza Bob's since high school. I remembered that one of my friend's and her family liked it, but I couldn't really remember much about the food.

Luckily, we were pleased. The three of us shared a large Roberto's ($28), which included eight slices. It was a bit pricey and not as large as we expected, but it was good. The tomato sauce was really herby, the crust had a good texture, there were a lot of toppings, and overall, it had a home-made taste. Our friend also ordered Portuguese Bean soup, which he said was good. It came with two huge pieces of bread that looked yummy and filling. I think maybe they were made from pizza dough or something.

And while Cholo's had a 30-minute wait, we got in right away here. They had a covered outdoor-seating area that looked nice too. Oh, and the water came with a slice of lemon--always a nice touch.
Photo credit: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/s6HMN6yE8loewSXOiwDFPQ?select=9t_GOUVFTBeKZY9GH10ajw

Hokulani Bake Shop

2010-04-17T17:06:00.002-10:00

Yum... had a guava cupcake at a baby party today and it was so good. The guava flavor tasted real, not like other guava cakes I've had. And the frosting was good too; my guess is that it was a variation on cream cheese frosting. The host of the party said the lilikoi is good too. I definitely want to try it and this place is going on my list for omiyage.

(Photo from Hokulani Bake Shop website.)

Itsu's Shave Ice in Hilo

2010-03-28T16:51:00.005-10:00

Kea's dad drove us down by Pahoa, Kea'au side. On the drive back, I was craving shave ice. I figured Hilo must have and Kea's dad took us to Itsu's. And I had my proof that they really do call it Ice Shave in Hilo. Kea never heard of this. Never had shave ice in Waimea before I guess.

Anyway, there was a sign saying they had been cited Best Shave Ice in Hilo. Promising. And it lived up to its name! Service was a little slow since it was one lady taking the money, doing the ice, the ice cream and azuki, and the syrup. Not like Matsumoto's and Aoki's where they have assembly line. They had a good selection of syrups though. I ordered lilikoi and--I can't remember the other flavor, but I remember they had lychee too. I was eyeing that one but the lady said only can make two flavors! I dunno why. Maybe she's not good at fractions. Anyway, two flavors was good though. Was so refreshing!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubio/76722841/

Pakini Grill in Waimea

2010-03-28T16:35:00.004-10:00

There's this spot in Waimea that has shuffled through at least three owners in the past seven years or so (since I started going to the Big Island with Kea). We went once when it was Koa Grill and it was awful--although to be fair, we probably ordered the wrong thing. Anyway, it's been operating as Pakini Grill for at least a year or two. And it has the cutest owl logo as you can see. (To be honest, this alone piqued my interest...)

We never checked it out. Not sure why. I guess we are usually eating my mother-in-law's home-cooking so we don't go out too much. We ended up meeting Kea's high school classmate and his wife there for lunch though.

He recommended the fish and chips and they were great. Kind of heavy on the batter but the batter had such good flavor that I didn't mind. It had an herb that reminds me of Thanksgiving turkey. It came with four huge pieces; I gave one to Kea. Also came with a huge pile of crispy french fries and a nice herby remoulade.

Kea ordered the hamburger steak and his classmate ordered the roast pork. Big portions all around and they said their food was good too. I tried the char siu red potato salad and loved it. I guess it's one of those newer twists on potato salad--lighter on the mayo and with more flavor. I am a fan of this trend!

Kea's classmate also ordered a Tahitian lemonade. I think it was kind of like a milkshake, but maybe not as thick. He said it had coconut flavor too. I so want to try it next time!

Image credit: http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/menu/1449536?p=0

Chicken with Artichokes

2010-03-18T23:07:00.002-10:00

I adapted this recipe for dinner tonight and it turned out great. I couldn't find frozen artichokes so I used the marinated ones from Costco. Rather than jarred peppers, I used these ones my dad grows. I'm not sure what they are called, but they are small and occasionally hot. I guess it's either the younger or older ones that are hot but we tend to get surprised. They have a really strong pepper flavor the way green bell peppers do, so Kea doesn't like them much, but I sliced them up thin and he loved it. Since the artichokes were marinated I chose to put them into the sauce rather than into the orzo.

I also used skinless chicken and again it was fine. The cooking time for chicken on this recipe is perfect, but I did the orzo for about 10 minutes (because I didn't read directions carefully...). Came out good though; I think the orzo would've been underdone if I followed the directions in the recipe.

Lastly, I subbed 1/2 t. cider vinegar and 1/2 c. chicken broth for the wine just because we didn't have any. Learned this tip from some site and it worked great!

This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Himalayan Kitchen in Honolulu

2010-03-18T14:46:00.003-10:00

K is in town and we were agonizing over where to get together. We were determined to avoid downtown because of St. Patrick's Day and were hoping for somewhere kid-friendly. We ended up at Himalayan Kitchen, courtesy of J's lovely suggestion.

We ended up sitting in their outdoor area, which was perfect as the kids could run around without bothering other patrons and also away from the street. The host was worried that it might rain and made contingency plans for us, but it looked like they were working on getting some kind of covering set up for the future too which would eliminate that problem.

The staff were also very accommodating of and friendly with the kids. They talked to them and brought them complimentary dessert too. (Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the dessert would appeal to picky kids. Even as an adult, I found it a bit unusual. It was like a rice pudding with herbs and other flavoring in it. I'm not sure if I liked it or not.) The staff were also patient with us even though some of our party was late. Of course we helped a bit by ordering some appetizers to start but they didn't rush us in any way. This may be partly because they were not too crowded, but I still see that as a plus. Honolulu restaurants can be very crowded and it was great to be able to have a good meal and talk a bit without feeling rushed.

Himalayan Kitchen was different than other Indian restaurants, which seem to encourage more family-style dining. Entrees came on a big plate with rice, a bowl of curry, and a small salad of lettuce and tomatoes. I think you could still easily eat family-style, but it seems tailored more for each person to order their own--just in how it looks I guess.

I ordered the eggplant mild; I'd try medium next time. We were all scared because J said her medium last time was super hot, but this time the mild was super mild. The eggplant was not the best I've had, but it might be because it was mild. I also tried a bite of J's chicken tikka masala, which was great. So rich. I think I liked it better than my own dish, but I think I might still experiment with other items on the menu first. The salad that accompanied all the entrees was nothing special, but I am always glad to have extra veggies.

We also ordered garlic naan and a spinach dip that came with some type of fried bread. The garlic naan was not as garlicky as I would've liked, but it came with a dip that I loved. I've had it at Indian restaurants before but am not sure what it's called. It's green and herb-y, a little spicy, and citrus-y, as J pointed out. The spinach dip and fried bread were so good! Sort of like Indian pizza!

Overall: The food was not the best I've had, but I'd like to return and try other dishes, especially because the staff was so friendly and accommodating.

Prices: Comparable to other Indian restaurants (e.g. $14 for chicken tikka masala, $13 for eggplant entree, $4 for garlic naan)

Sweet and Spicy Nuts

2010-02-07T13:30:00.002-10:00

In the past couple of years I've gotten into giving out homemade treats for Christmas. I suppose this is what happens as we get older and anything I can buy for my friends or family they can buy for themselves! And if they can't buy it for themselves, I sure can't either! I'm always hesitant to give sweets because my parents' house is always overloaded with cookies and chocolate at Christmas. It's especially bad because my dad is a letter carrier and receives these kinds of gifts from his customers. I know that some people really like sweets though and that my parents' house is a unique situation so I am considering doing cookies next year--at least for those who I know have sweet tooths!

This year, though, I gave out Sweet and Spicy Nuts and am considering making it a tradition. I adapted it from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe for Toasted Cecchi, Almonds, and Pistachios. While I'm intrigued by her use of cecchis (or chickpeas) I'm also skeptical so I didn't go that route. I also couldn't find shelled pistachios (and didn't want to shell several pounds of it). I used almonds, cashews, and peanuts. Honestly the peanuts were for filler because nuts are expensive!

I doubled the amounts of cayenne, rosemary, thyme, and salt. I worked in 2-3 cup batches, mixing into each batch:
1 T olive oil
1 T sugar
2 T chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 T chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 t salt (I used table salt)
1 t cayenne

Unlike in de Laurentiis version, I added the seasoning before baking. I also toasted all the nuts separately, stirring 2-3 times during baking. Here are the temperatures and times:

almonds: 12 minutes at 350 degrees
cashews: 13 minutes at 300 degrees
peanuts: 65 minutes at 225 degrees

The peanuts were the most difficult; I think the high fat content leads them to burn easily. It was so frustrating because they burn very quickly too--one minute they're raw and the next they're burnt! That's why I ended up doing them at such a low temperature even though they took so long. Cashews were much easier than peanuts and almonds much easier than cashews. I think almonds were especially easy, not just because of their low fat content, but also because they taste good raw too! The bottom line: check the nuts often when toasting and work in small batches until you get the temperature and time settings right for your oven.

OrangeTree

2010-01-23T21:31:00.002-10:00

Another frozen yogurt place, but I like this one a lot. I think this might be my favorite, mostly for the toppings. They have these different flavored balls--I tried the passion fruit and yogurt but they also have mango and other flavors too I think. They look kind of like the big fish eggs and they burst in your mouth. They are so good! They also had mango, strawberry, and green apple jelly toppings; looked kind of like jello in syrup as one of my friends said. Another friend said they are really strong. Not sure exactly what that means. They also have regular, mango, and green tea flavored mochi and their strawberries, kiwis, and blueberries looked good too. This is along side other toppings like condensed milk, cheesecake bites, chocolate chips, oreos, chocolate sprinkles, etc.

As for the yogurt itself, it had a more cheese-like flavor. It matched really well with the blueberry cheesecake yogurt. For the original yogurt, I felt the cheese flavor was a little too strong. I ended up getting taro and coconut swirled and it was really good! I think the cheese flavor cuts the sweet a bit.

Lasagna

2010-01-20T21:55:00.002-10:00

Adapted from Honpa Hongwanji cookbook.

1.5 t salt (I used less than 1 t)
1 t sugar
2 lbs. ground chuck (I used 2 lbs. Italian sausage and 1 lb. ground beef)
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 t. pepper
3.5 c whole tomatoes (I used 2 cans diced)
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 small can mushrooms (I used a little under 1 lb. fresh)
1 pkg. spaghetti sauce mix (I used oregano, basil, and fennel to taste)
1/2 lb. lasagna noodles
1/2 lb. mozzarella
1/2 lb. ricotta
1/2 c. parmesan

Brown ground chuck with salt in deep saucepan. Add garlic and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, herbs. Saute mushrooms in separate pan and add to sauce. Cover and simmer 30-60 minutes. Meanwhile, cook noodles until tender. Drain; rise in cold water.

Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease 9x13x2 pan. (I also came across recipes that said to just put some sauce in the bottom of the pan; I think this might prevent sticking as well. I ended up doing both.) Cover with strips of noodles and add sauce, then slices of mozzarella cheese, spoonfuls of ricotta cheese. Repeat layer, ending with sauce. Top with parmesan cheese. (I didn't really understand the layers this recipe was talking about; not sure it really matters...)

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese melts.

Ichiriki in Honolulu, HI

2010-01-05T15:31:00.003-10:00

My cousin works here and my mom has been talking it up forever. We finally had a chance to go with the weather cooling down a bit. The reason we wanted to go when it is cold is so that we could have their hot pot/nabe in relative comfort. It was very good, if a little expensive.

First off, if you can, make reservations. My mom had made reservations for 7:30 on a Saturday. Good thing because there was a small group waiting outside when we got there and another small group that was told they could expect to get a table around 10. (But then when we left, maybe around 9:30, there were several tables available...)

Second point is that the place is well-decorated. The right side is sort of like Japanese style, where you're sitting at low tables. Instead of having to sit on your knees though, there's room under the table so that it is the same as sitting on a chair. Probably awkward to get in and out in a skirt though. The place just looks nice, has that Japanese ambiance, simple, kind of rustic.

The prices are about $20-$25 per person. If you go after 9:30 though, it is only about $11. (You don't get EVERYTHING you do at the $20 rate, but you get most of it I think.) They have three basic broths: shio (salt), shoyu, and miso. Then there are different variations. I was mostly interested in the spicy versions (spicy shio, spicy shoyu, kim chee miso) and the ginger one which is advertised as being good if you are coming down with a cold. I ordered the spicy shoyu and also tried a little of Kea's kim chee miso and my dad's ginger. I liked all of them but may go with the ginger next time. (I'm a big fan of ginger.)

Depending on which broth you order, you get an assortment of raw meat and veggies to cook in the broth. Everyone got tsukune, a chicken and pork sausage. It comes in bamboo and you have a tool to separate it into meatballs and push it into your broth. My spicy shoyu broth really brought out the sesame oil flavor in the tsukune. The different sets came with ingredients like pork, arabiki, another sausage, chicken, scallop, shrimp, salmon, aburage, shiitake, enoki mushrooms, head cabbage, won bok, arrowroot noodles (kind of like konnyaku) and bean sprouts.

Some members of our party were a little nervous about cooking and eating with the same utensil, especially with the tsukune and other raw pork and chicken, but you know this restaurant would get sued so fast if they had problems. Plus Alton Brown said no one in the U.S. has gotten trichonosis in like 50 years or something. I tend not to worry about those kinds of things although I know some of my friends would not like it. You can probably ask for an extra set of chopsticks if you like.

Overall, it was a really great experience. I think interactive eating is always fun. Some kinds of cook-your-own restaurants can be stressful I think (like yakiniku where one or two people seem to end up in charge of cooking) but I found this one to be low stress.

Kamuela/Waikoloa, Hawai'i

2010-01-03T14:01:00.003-10:00

Butter and sweetened condensed milk on toast
One of the culinary highlights of Christmas week in Kamuela was that my mother-in-law introduced me to this wonder. Had it on either bread or a bagel nearly every morning. Sooo yummy. Goes great with coffee.

Some crappy ramen place in Waikoloa
Kea's mom was talking up this ramen place in the King's Shops or Queen's Shops or something like that. It turned out crappy. I was fooled in part by the design of their signage. The typeface was clean and modern and led me to expect something of quality. Should've been tipped off by the fact that it was Chinese-owned though. I don't think I've ever been to a Chinese-owned ramen place. Or if I have, they knew enough to make it look Japanese. This one had shoyu containers on the table that just looked like they didn't belong.

Kea's mom ordered tempura ramen and it was so not tempura! It was more Chinese or Local-style battered and fried shrimp. Maybe even like American style? Whatever it was, it was not tempura.

The gyoza was so junk, like not even worth eating. The filling was like unseasoned meat. Kea's mom also ordered fried scallops in seaweed. When it came it was wrapped in bacon instead--and while the menu had said it was $4, we ended up being charge $14. I didn't know about this until we had left; otherwise I totally would have said something. I can't believe neither Kea nor his mom said anything.

I had the spicy pork ramen. I think it was the best although it had way too much pork. Honestly though, I think ramen is hard to mess up. Even if it is crappy, it still fills you up and has that comforting quality.

Still yet, never going back there.

Pizza place in the Fireside Food Court in Kamuela
Kea and I had spent a few hours at the beach and were starving by the time we got back up to Waimea. After our experience in Waikoloa, I was sort of resigned to the fact that we were not in a metropolis, meaning that there isn't the competition to enforce quality control. There are definitely good places to eat on the Big Island, but it seems it's better to stick to the tried and true. I guess to some extent that's true everywhere... anyway, I think pizza, like ramen, is hard to mess up. We ended up grabbing a special: fountain drink, salad bar, and slice of pizza for about $8. It was a good deal. The pizza was not the best--and only cheese and pepperoni were available--but it was enough to fulfill a pizza craving. The salad bar included some nice greens (probably the mix from Costco) and a decent variety of other toppings (e.g. olives, mushrooms).

Yong's in Kamuela
I was really blown away by Yong's. I had been there before but not for awhile. And I think I've become much more knowledgeable about Korean food in Michigan. Yes, it's strange, but I ate a lot more of it in Michigan. Plus before I would always just get meat jun or barbecue chicken. Since living in Michigan, I've become a total convert to the soups and stews. With the cold weather in Waimea I definitely wanted a hot and spicy soup.

I ordered the Yukgaejang (spicy beef stew) and it was so awesome. Definitely spicy--I've developed a tolerance to spicy food so this didn't burn my mouth, but it did tickle the back of my throat and make me cough. I suppose it's not much to say it's better than the yukgaejang I had in Michigan, but that's the only other place I've had it. For sure, the meat was less fatty than in Michigan.

Kea had meat jun and it even smelled high quality; I've never smelled the nice fried egg on the meat jun before. I think it was fried up really well. Or it could be because most times I eat meat jun that's had to survive the drive home from the restaurant...

Anyway, I think Yong's is my favorite place to eat in Waimea... second only to Kea's mom's house.

Foodventures in Pearlridge

2009-10-30T22:57:00.007-10:00

Church's Chicken and Charley's
Kea and I met Jamie, Dave, and their two boys at the food court in Pearlridge Uptown. Had a great time playing with the 2 1/2 year old, who was shy at first, but was soon showing us all his cars. The newborn slept the whole time.

Anyway, Kea was not really in the mood for the stuff at that food court so we ended up splitting a chicken tender meal (with mashed potatoes) from Church's Chicken and a bacon and cheese fries from Charley's. The verdict: Church's Chicken is not as good as Popeye's. Had less batter and not much taste. Charley's bacon and cheese fries, however, we both like better than Jack in the Box potato wedges. It's more crunchy.

Off the Wall
A few hours later we went for second dinner. Thought about trying Kuru Kuru Sushi but they still had a line at 8:30 pm. Ended up around the corner at Off the Wall, a place I'd read good things about in The Honolulu Advertiser. Kea especially was in the mood for sushi and I thought bar food would be a good option for a smaller meal since we had eaten a little earlier.

Anyway, we loved it and think it fulfills a great need in the Pearl City area. The Kuru Kuru overflow should seriously just make their way to Off the Wall; they serve sushi, sashimi, poke--the usual as well as more innovative stuff. We had the Naked Spicy Ahi Poke Musubi. I guess it's naked because there's no nori. It's like four rectangles of rice with poke on top and spicy sauce. So good. Real nice amount of heat. Seriously, though, we were thinking that Off the Wall should make some kind of sign in/on a car and park it right outside Kuru Kuru...

Off the Wall is great as an izakaya style restaurant: you know, drinks and pupus. Seems like there aren't that many of these kinds of places on the Leeward side. They serve entrees as well but Kea said they looked kind of small. And honestly I rather eat pupus--have my rice in sushi form and save room for the good stuff. As for drinks, they serve sake and beer. Looked like they had Budweiser, Bud Light, Kirin, and Heineken on tap. The waitress said they open late-night on Fridays--until 1 and serve a limited pupu menu from 10:00. Speaking of the waitress, she was super friendly, professional, and helpful.

I find that it's easy to spend a lot of money when eating izakaya-style and this is no different. Prices are a little on the steep side (e.g. $8 for four bite-sized pieces of ahi poke musubi) but everything is so good that it's worth it. The place is also well-decorated in contrast to its neighbors; Pearl Kai has a lot of good food but most places don't seem to pay any attention to decor.

Anyway, back to the food. In addition to the sushi and musubi, we also ordered Fukuoka style tonkatsu, which had choi sum wrapped in bacon wrapped in pork. So good. I think this was my favorite thing. We also had shrimp wrapped in bacon; I think both of us are more bacon fans than shrimp fans. It was like eating smoky shrimp. Yum...

Also had pork andagi. This was kind of weird. We were both excited to try it, but ultimately Kea liked it more than I did. The andagi was good. And the pork was ginger-y, which I liked, but I'm not sure if I liked the whole package. It wasn't a sure thing like the tonkatsu. It was interesting, though, something to try at least once if not something to go back to again and again.

Still want to try the bittermelon and the other kinds of pork. Looking forward to going back again!

Milano Freezer in Aiea, HI

2009-09-21T18:57:00.005-10:00

This place has been open for a few years in that strip mall by Pearlridge (the one with Tony Roma's) but I never cared to go. Not sure why; probably something about the design didn't appeal to me. I have heard that a couple of friends are fans though and also saw their website featuring their cute logo. Along with the fact that this is one of the few places in Hawai'i to get gelato, these convinced me to give it a try. That and I was getting cabin fever just cruising at home while Kea played poker with his friends. (Still rather stay home by myself than watch him play though.)

Anyway, we ended up at Milano Freezer at 9:45 on a Saturday night. The shop was empty. Even all the parking stalls in front of it were empty! I was worried the place was closed, but the sign said it doesn't close until 11:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

The young woman working was very cheerful. Kea commented that she was the happiest customer service employee he'd ever seen. She offered us samples of as many flavors we wanted. I tried the stracciatella first but was a little disappointed; it was a little on the bland side. I ended up ordering the chili chocolate. I was so excited about this flavor. It was nice and chocolate-y with a little burn afterward. I had it with pineapple and mac nuts on top.

The prices were steep. It ended up being about $11 for mine and Kea combined. (Kea got a medium and we both got toppings, which cost extra.) To be fair, though, the servings were generous. The cups were packed full--so much so that the toppings could barely stick to the top. In the future, Kea and I should probably share--like James and Kristy did with their green tea with mochi.

One thing that confused me was that there was no clear divisions between gelato and frozen yogurt in the display case. So I'm not entirely sure which was which...

Another plus, however, was the packed pints. There was low-fat, dairy-free, sugar-free, and a variety of interesting flavors in each category. Great for those with dietary restrictions. Again, the prices are steep (I believe $7-$10 for the different pre-packed sizes) but they'd be nice for a special occasion.

I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend Milano Freezer without trying out more flavors. I'm still a little undecided about the chili chocolate after having an entire serving. After awhile the burn started to make me think I had a sore throat. And yet, it's so rare to find a spicy chocolate flavor, it's nice to know that's one place I can find it.

Menchie's Mililani Town Center

2009-09-19T08:38:00.002-10:00

Finally got to try one of these new frozen yogurt places. Menchie's just opened in Mililani within the past month or so. I think their name sounds weird but oh well. The decor and all their marketing is cute so that helps.

We walk in and along the back wall are the self-serve frozen yogurt machines--just like the kind you see the workers using at TCBY or Dairy Queen. The flavors are paired so that you can get swirled versions too. And the workers will give you little cups so that you can sample some flavors before you choose. We tried chocolate mint, which was good; Kea ended up getting this swirled with strawberry. We tried Cable Car Chocolate (no idea why it's called that--maybe it's supposed to taste like Ghirardelli's?) swirled with vanilla. For some reason that was not good. We tried pistachio swirled with cake batter--and this is what I ended up getting. I think cake batter flavors are getting better; I find it's one of my favorites these days. Peanut butter was also good. I guess they change the flavors out regularly.

Then, to the right of the frozen yogurt is the topping bar. There was hot fudge and caramel; a whole bunch of candies, nuts, cereals, and crumbled cookies; and some fresh fruit (strawberries, bananas, kiwi, lychee), mochi, and other items (e.g. azuki beans). I just went with graham crackers on mine because I wasn't sure what matched with pistachio. Kea went crazy with hot fudge, shredded coconut, some kind of nuts, graham crackers, and who knows what else.

I found it a little stressful trying to decide on flavors and combinations, but I'm weird like that. I also had trouble with the ratio of toppings to yogurt. Need to go back and practice! And I hate that their only size is this huge cup so obviously it encourages you to eat a lot. I was worried about what the price would come out to but it was under $7 for both of us combined so that's not too bad I suppose.

Martini Madness at Indigo and Mei Sum

2009-09-13T18:14:00.003-10:00

Indigo has been Kea's and my favorite pau hana spot for several years now. We remember when the draw was $2.75 martinis. Now they're up to $4, but still a pretty good deal. This place used to be totally packed too--it was impossible to get a table or even some counter space to rest your drink. Nowadays, I guess all the kids go to Bar 35.

Bar 35 does have good pizza and a nice selection of beer, but I prefer Indigo. I guess it means I am old. Or I prefer martinis to beer. Or it might have something to do with the ambiance. The "Orient chic" decor of Indigo is pretty gross, but I think I like the way the space is set up better. More versatile seating for different sized groups I think.

Anyway, Indigo now has it's lack of crowds going for it too. We were there on a Friday and it was empty. I was worried that they no longer had Martini Madness, but they do. This means that the free buffet they put out lasts longer. It's not great--mostly salads and other veggie items, but free food is awesome no matter what it is. We also ordered fries--and while the Sriracha ketchup was not as good as in the past, the serving of fries seemed bigger. The fries were also really good--looked and tasted like McDonald's fries.

Here's the run-down on the martinis we had:

Lychee: Seemed sweeter than in the past. I didn't like it as much as I used to.
Strawberry Lychee: Our friend Will claimed it tasted the same as the Lychee but this was after he'd had a few.
Lemon Drop: My drink of choice that night.
Blueberry: Tasted like sour blueberry candy. I would've ordered this if I drank more.
Razzmatazz: Sour. Others liked it, but I was not a fan.
Chocolate: Strong. Drink of choice for a few in the group.
Woo woo: James ordered this twice so I guess it was good.
En Fuego: Too salty.
Vodka: Kea likes these but mostly orders them for the olives. (I only like the olives.)
Tony Soprano: Will said it was good, but again, he'd had a few.
Tropical Splendor: Tastes like juice. This is an old favorite of mine.

One of the reasons we like going to Indigo is so we can walk over to Mei Sum after, eat, and sober up. (This is Kea's favorite part actually.) Although dim sum is supposed to be for breakfast or lunch, Mei Sum serves it all day. My favorite dim sum were the shrimp and chive dumpling and the bean curd roll. I usually like the spinach and scallop dumpling but it was too fishy this time. The chicken and vegetable cake noodle was satisfying, but the chicken didn't look so appetizing--maybe we'll try it with beef next time. Others had the jellyfish--and liked it a lot.

Kamuela, Hawai'i

2009-09-13T16:37:00.011-10:00

Here's a report on some of the food we bought in Kamuela last weekend.

Farmer's Market
Crepes: Kea's mom had been talking up the crepes so we made sure to grab one. We got there late, after some ingredients had run out, and we didn't make the best decisions for filling, but it was still good. We had cheese, mushrooms, and Portuguese sausage. I would advise against the mushrooms as they are canned; if I had known, I wouldn't have chosen them. We wanted spinach but they had run out. I think the cheese goes with the crepe perfectly and the Portuguese sausage was too much; next time I would go with lighter fillings because the taste of the crepe is good enough!

Ice pops: I had a coffee and cream ice pop and Kea had a coconut one. I liked mine better. Still yet, I think they need to put less water in their ice pops. I haven't made ice pops in a long time but it seemed this was the problem. I could see ice crystals in it and I think the flavor would have been stronger with less water.

Fried green tomatoes: So good. Who would've thought you'd find fried green tomatoes in Hawai'i? They had whole cherry tomatoes and sliced regular ones. I liked the regular ones for higher batter to fruit ratio. Also some of the cherry tomatoes were too big for me to eat in one bite! (I am a small person with a small mouth.)

Church Row
Also bought kulolo from one of the churches in Church Row. We were so excited for kulolo since it's so hard to find, but one of the pieces we bought was too dry. It was our fault: they told us to pick which one we want and we picked wrong. So choose wisely if you go!

Foodland Bentos
For our drive up Mauna Kea, we picked up some bentos from Foodland. We tried both the teri katsu bento and the ribs. Both had good flavor, but I preferred the katsu. Love the idea of teri katsu so it's already flavored and there's no need for tonkatsu sauce, which could get kind of messy if you are eating with the bento in your lap. The ribs had a funny flavor to me, but maybe I'm just not a ribs person. Kea liked it.

Airplane food: Northwest Airlines

2009-08-28T11:19:00.004-10:00

When I fly from home, I usually take some spam musubis with me so I can last the flight. On this occasion, however, I didn't have that opportunity and ended up buying some food on the plane. I was very wary since the prices are so high, but some of it turned out to be pretty good.

First, I bought the fruit and yogurt, which I think was $3. I think they advertised it as Greek yogurt and it was definitely better than the stuff I usually get at the grocery store. The problem was the fruits though--blueberries and strawberries. I think the blueberries were fresh, the strawberries may have been frozen, and there was juice in the cup that did not look very appetizing. In addition, I didn't find this very filling.

Ended up buying the fruit and cheese plate a few hours later. (This was a Seattle to Honolulu flight.) I was really happy with this item. It was about $6, I think. It came with three kinds of cheese. One was on the softer side, about the consistency of brie. The next, a little harder, was smoky. And the third was hard enough that it would crumble. It had veins in it and tasted like a Thanksgiving herb--maybe sage or thyme. Each piece was about 1-1.5" squared. I looked at it and knew it would be filling. The plate also came with a few pecans, a small bunch of grapes, a couple of dried apricots, and two kinds of crackers. It was heaven--for airplane food.

The photos show something similar to the fruit and cheese plate I had.

Rosepepper in Nashville

2009-08-20T01:44:00.002-10:00

We had planned to go to the Family Wash, which, from what I gather is a hip ex-laundromat that specializes in Shepherd's pie--with the vegetarian version even better than the meat. Unfortunately, they were closed on Monday. :(

So we ended up at the nearby Rosepepper instead. One friend had previously been unimpressed with it so we were nervous. It turned out to be a good place to hang out and for my friend Stacey to catch up with her old friends. The restaurant was not busy (although we couldn't get an outdoor table) and we were able to hang out after we finished eating. First, drinks: margaritas and mojitos were strong! The mojito was a bit on the sweet side, but I guess that's typical. Chips and salsa were complimentary and the three salsas were great. I liked the hotter red one best and was a fan of the green one as well.

For appetizers, we had a cheese dip and avocado fries. The avocado was like tempura--it was a little strange, but the dipping sauce was good. As strange as it was, I kept eating it anyway. The cheese dip was also good.

I ordered tamales which were not good. I haven't had many tamales but I think the meal for this one was over processed or something; it was almost clay-like. For what it's worth, I did prefer the pork tamale to the chicken; the chicken was too dry and the pork had more flavor. Stacey had some kind of sizzling steak thing--she didn't love her dish either. Our other friend won--he got enchiladas with chile verde and a fried egg on it. I didn't try it but apparently it had a nice heat and he and Stacey really liked it.

P.M. in Nashville

2009-08-20T01:39:00.003-10:00

We had a late-night dinner at P.M. It seemed like that was one of its strengths--that it stayed open late. Another plus was the outdoor seating. It reminded me of being in Thailand. Is outdoor seating a tourist thing?

Anyway, I guess they are an Asian fusion restaurant. I really enjoyed the lettuce wraps. Also liked the summer rolls; to be honest, I've had better, but this is Tennessee, after all. The P.M. roll, which had peanut sauce, was also okay. I really really did not like the raw fish here. I suppose I should've known better. One of my friends also ordered the fried rice; based on the one bite I had, I was not impressed. I really hope my friends get to visit me in Hawai'i. I'd love to take them to have Vietnamese food and sushi in Hawai'i.

Tennessee Coffee Adventures

2009-08-20T01:17:00.008-10:00

Cornersville: A town without espresso
Spent a few days in my friend's hometown of Cornersville, Tennessee--where there is no espresso. Seriously, no Starbucks. Based on that, I've concluded that Cornersville is smaller than Kamuela, Hawai'i. Over the past few days, I've learned that I can drink weak coffee (Biggby's and Sparty's in East Lansing and old-school drip I guess) black. When I put soy, it gets that soy taste so fast. Anyways, this is a handy discovery--especially for those times when soy is not available.

Daily Starbucks runs
After Cornersville, we spent several nights with another friend's parents in Murfreesboro. These are like those kind of parents that keep up with current music. They also make Starbucks runs every morning--and not for the cheap stuff either. On the plus side, they've gotten to know the emmployees and will sometimes get their drinks comp'd. It happened once when we were there--between the five of us, almost $20 worth of free drinks!

I was also persuaded to try an iced mocha since that was the drink of choice of my friend and his mom. I learned/remembered that soy is much better in iced than hot drinks. And the mocha was not as sweet as I'd thought/remembered. Still got to be a little too much for me about half way through the tall. Maybe try one less pump next time.

Also learned that requesting a "teeny tiny splash of soy" for my Americanos gets me what I want.

Bongo Java and Fido in Nashville
Given the parental preference for (and treating to) Starbucks, I wondered whether there were other great places for espresso in Tennessee. We did also visit Bongo Java and Fido, which are related. They had some specialty drinks with cute names and their Americano was nice and strong also.

Cracker Barrel

2009-08-17T12:00:00.003-10:00

There are Cracker Barrels in Michigan but the first thing I heard about it was that it was the favorite restaurant of a friend's husband who I thought had awful taste. We ended up eating here on the drive to Tennessee. I think the Southern expatriates I was with saw it as my initiation or something.

Anyway, I loved it. I love the side dishes in Southern food. I had meatloaf with fried okra and hash brown casserole. The meatloaf was meh. It was okay, but very ketchup-y. It was the least favorite thing I had. The fried okra was awesome. The hash brown casserole was great but I might try mac and cheese next time cuz I'm a huge mac and cheese fan. I also wanted to try the greens.

I also got to try both the biscuits and cornbread. I think I prefer the biscuits just because you can eat them with jam and I liked having a bit of sweet fruitiness with that meal.

Cold Peanut Noodles at Udon Sushi Bakery in East Lansing, MI

2009-08-10T11:00:00.002-10:00

I've been here many times. It's the best udon in East Lansing which is really not saying much. Really, the udon is not that great, but if you can't get to Ajishin, it'll do. As it's summer though, I tried one of their cold dishes, the Cold Peanut Noodles. It was so awesome. Perhaps it's that I've never had cold peanut noodles before, but the sauce was awesome and the extras (cucumber, chicken, aburage) were perfect. I liked the cucumber cuz veggies are always good and the rest for protein. There was shrimp too but I picked it out. The shrimp at this place is small and really a waste of time. I guess I'm not that big of a fan of shrimp anyway. They also had two other cold noodle dishes; I think one was udon and one was soba.

Golden Harvest in Lansing, MI

2009-08-10T10:43:00.003-10:00

I'd heard many stories about Golden Harvest but never had the chance to go until now. Apparently, a local coffee shop, Gone Wired bills itself online as "Proudly serving the second best breakfast in Lansing" because everyone knows Golden Harvest is the best.

Pre-eating: We knew we'd have to wait. Got there at about 11 am on a Saturday. The chairs outside were full and there were others sitting on the curb as well. My friend Stacey said it was the most crowded she'd ever seen it. Still yet, I think we waited less than an hour. I know there were times when we thought we wouldn't make it, but we held on!

Also, people went in and out grabbing coffee and other drinks while they waited. So apparently that is acceptable.

The other funny thing is that the waiting line is all honor system. I was all like, "Why don't they have a list?" But apparently you just have to pay attention and know when it is your turn. And the system worked while we were there.

Eating: It's pretty crowded inside. There are a several tables (mostly four-tops I think) and a bar. Between Stacey and I, we shared the omelette special with basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella with potatoes and two blueberry pancakes. The omelette was so amazing. There were red, yellow, and purple tomatoes. I've never had yellow and purple tomatoes before. It was just heavenly. The basil was fresh and the potatoes were also awesome. I love omelettes but toward the end, as I get full, they are always too eggy for me. I really liked the nice, fresh tomatoes and basil in this one to balance that heavy egg and cheese though.

The pancakes were magical. They were the fluffiest pancakes I've ever had and had a nice texture--almost like a crust--too. And a nice amount of salt. These pancakes were so fat that the blueberries were whole and solid inside rather than smashed. I ate it without syrup. Seriously. Just ate them plain. Pancakes are usually not my favorite thing, but this one was something else. Stacey suspects that their pancake and biscuit batter are the same.

Of course we ordered too much food. We each took home about half a pancake. It made a great snack later in the day--even cold.

More about atmosphere: Also, they played M.I.A. while they were there. What restaurant ever plays M.I.A? And about 3-4 employees asked Stacey about her tattoo.

Nishime

2009-07-21T18:00:00.004-10:00

Kea likes nishime but not the smell of it cooking. He didn't grow up eating it--only has it at my parents' house and at his sister and brother-in-law's house. He says it smells like farts; I think it's probably the daikon.

Nishime is one thing I need to learn how to make.

My mom cooked it last night but forgot to add the konnyaku so I cut and added it today. The package translates it into English as "yam cake," which I find amusing.

When I was small, "konnyaku" always meant the noodles, which Googling seems to show are more properly called "shirataki." We have started eating the gray one shown above though--I think my mom heard it is healthier. We shape it like the twist seen in the picture. It's kind of fun. You just slice it into rectangles, make a slit down the middle, and push one end of the rectangle through the slit.

photo 1 credit: http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesefoodpicture/ig/Japanese-Ingredients-Pictures/Konnyaku-Picture.htm

Fish Steamed in Microwave

2009-07-15T11:39:00.003-10:00

Last night, my mom cooked a fish I had never heard of before: swai. Googling turns up lots of information. Apparently it is from Southeast Asia, inexpensive, and sometimes sold as catfish, though now is required to be labelled "swai" or as a specific kind of catfish.

I'm picky about fish. I like salmon and tuna--though I will also eat both raw. I'm starting to like hamachi sushi too. I like opakapaka, mahi, and sometimes butterfish. And now I like swai. Also, to me, it doesn't taste like catfish. I'm not a fan of catfish; to me, it tastes dirty.

Anyway, besides this exciting new fish, I also liked how my mom prepared it. She cut it into small pieces (~2" square) and put them in a single layer in a corningware. She put salt, green onion, ginger, and some cooking oil. The ginger was sliced thin enough that you could eat it if you like ginger; I sort of like ginger but eating it was too strong for me. She then covered it and microwaved it! I think she didn't give a specific length of time for microwaving--just until it is done. When it was done, she put shoyu and sesame oil on top. Sooo good!! We had this and ribs last night and like I said, I'm cautious about fish so I would've guessed I would eat more ribs. Instead I found I liked the fish better!

Chili's

2009-07-15T11:20:00.003-10:00

I usually find chain restaurants disappointing. I think this comes from having high expectations from watching all these commercials for restaurants that are not in Hawai'i. You know, the food looks so good and you can't have it! Anyway, Chili's has been here for awhile but other than the excitement when they first opened, I have not been a fan.

Last time I went was in Sandusky, Ohio in 2006. Kea and I were in Sandusky for a couple days visiting Cedar Point amusement park. I thought Chili's was a Southwestern restaurant so I should order tacos or something. I don't remember what I ordered but I do remember that I hated it.

Anyway, we ended up at Chili's again last Friday with our nephews (age 10 and 8) and Kea's dad. I was racking my brain trying to think of a restaurant to please these two different audiences. Kea's dad usually doesn't eat out. He thinks it's a waste of money. If we were just going out with him, I think maybe we would've gone to a Chinese restaurant or like somewhere that served katsu curry or something. And kids of course are picky. I knew they liked Japanese food and pizza. They wanted to go to Hanaki at Manoa Marketplace and me and Kea refused. That place is so meh. It's good in that they have sushi, tempura, and all kinds of other stuff buffet style but the quality is really poor.

When we decided to go to Chili's, I was not happy, but Kea's sister recommended the Buffalo Chicken Salad. I ended up ordering it and it was awesome. I guess it helps that I love buffalo chicken. It was a little spicy--as in, more than I would expect from a chain restaurant. And it was nice having that somewhat healthy salad to go with the salty, battered, and sauced chicken. It was one of those salad's that's got so much stuff on it that non-salad people can enjoy it. But I have no problem with that.

Based on what everyone else ordered, I heard the ribs are good too.

Red Hot and Blue, somewhere just outside DC

2009-05-31T05:36:00.002-10:00

While we were in DC earlier this month, Kea's friend also took us to Red Hot and Blue, a small chain that serves barbecue. I was hoping to get some barbecue once I realized that DC was sort of "the South." We all had a half-rack with sides. For me, I only like to eat about four ribs and fill up on sides after that! I had fried okra and beans, which were awesome. Kea had hush puppies and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes looked really rich, but he liked them. The hush puppies were good, but I still prefer the okra. I wanted to try greens and mac and cheese too but you only get two sides. :( I'm sure that's normal; they are after all "sides," but I just love them so much!

Anyway, the food was awesome. We all made a lot of yummy noises.

The other sort of gimmicky thing is that they give you your drink in a huge pitcher. Well, a small pitcher, but it is huge for a cup! According to the restaurant's website, it sounds like this chain started in Texas and this whole pitcher thing really struck me as one of those "big" Texas things. However, we were just drinking water and iced tea so there's no foul in drinking a lot of those I think.

Zingerman's in Ann Arbor

2009-05-25T06:38:00.002-10:00

I didn't know about Zingerman's before we moved here but apparently it is kind of famous. It is definitely on the pricey side so I only go when my parents are in town! I was really disappointed this time though. Last time we'd had a chicken pot pie which was awesome. And they also sell some pastries to Sparty's coffee shop at MSU, so I'd had (and loved) their cookies and bagels.

I'd been eagerly awaiting the chance to try their deli sandwiches, which I'd heard so much about. They cost around $12 so there's no way I was going to go when mom and dad were not paying! Anyway, I got the reuben with corned beef and Kea got it with pastrami. It was good but mine had not enough sauerkraut and Kea's had too much! Besides my opinion about the proper amount of sauerkraut, I also was disappointed with the inconsistency! If you are going to charge that much for a sandwich, you need to be perfect! The pickles, however, were awesome! We usually go to Amer's for deli sandwiches and Amer's pickles are very sad. Zingerman's garlic pickle was awesome though and the other one was pretty good too.

My parents had some pasta salad that they liked but I was unimpressed with.

And we also had some gelato which cost a small fortune. Seriously, we paid several dollars for a Dixie cup. Of course we knew it was expensive, but we expected that it would be awesome and thus worth it right? I was disappointed. We got the chocolate hazelnut and the vanilla. The chocolate hazelnut had a really great flavor to start off, but as we went on, I got bored of it and felt it was too sweet. And this was with three of us sharing two tiny cups, so you know I didn't eat very much of it to begin with! The vanilla was also okay but a little bland. Going back and forth between the two was okay, but, again, for the price, it should be perfect! I had better gelato in the Westfield mall on Market Street in San Francisco and, honestly, in the Barnes and Noble in the Lansing Mall too!

Zingerman's has a lot of stuff. I'd love to try it all if I had the chance, but for the price, I definitely can't afford that. Maybe I'm just ordering the wrong stuff but I can't afford to experiment over there!

Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian in DC

2009-05-21T05:00:00.002-10:00

The Museum
I had heard some good things about the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) from some folks in my program and was excited to check it out. We had spent some time at the American history and natural history museums the day before and Kea and I liked the NMAI a lot better. First off, the building was gorgeous--very unique. When you go inside, it's just breathtaking. It was especially interesting for us (and probably other Hawai'i folks) because of the way they incorporated Native Hawaiian stuff. It's really interesting that they did that actually because other than that, it was all about indigenous people in the Americas--including Canada, U.S., South America. If you think about it, Hawaiians are only "American" in that the U.S. owns the islands, so it was interesting to think about how decisions were made.

There was a temporary exhibit on comic art, which we really enjoyed. And I bet it gets a lot of young people interested too, which I think is great. This was one of the first things we looked at and I really started to understand that this museum was not going to be freaky about "authenticity."

Another cool exhibit was a section about the writing of history and how histories are constructed to tell certain stories. And another was about how "Indians" are defined, which talked about blood quantum and the problems with that.

The food
But anyway, the food. It was cafeteria style, with 5-6 sections reflecting different regions. There was a Pacific northwest region with salmon, for example. We had a fry bread taco (from the Plains section I think) and pupusas, a tamale, and empanadas (can't remember what this section was called). Everything was great! I really liked the cheese pupusa because the cheese got all crispy. I was only a little disappointed in the tamale, but it could have been because we had so much food--I felt it was the same as the pupusa but in different shape. The fry bread taco had a lot of lettuce and tomatoes on it. It was my first time having fry bread and I heard it was very unhealthy; I don't know if it always comes with so many veggies, but the one at the NMAI at least doesn't seem too unhealthy.

I also had the spicy hot chocolate. There was also agua fresca which I wanted to try but even after two days eating in the NMAI, I never got around to that!

The prices were a little high but since we cannot get fry bread, pupusas, and empanadas very often, it was definitely worth it.

Jaleo in DC

2009-05-20T06:39:00.002-10:00

I travel for the food. My parents like good food but I think they travel for other things too. lol. Anyway, they had heard about Jaleo and asked me to try to find out how close it was to our hotel. I checked out the website and was so excited! I think maybe others have heard about this place before; I think the guy who started it, Jose Andres, has been a guest judge on Top Chef or something because he seems familiar.

I was excited to see it was a tapas restaurant because I thought my dad especially would love it. He has been lactose intolerant for 10-15 years but recently found out he can eat cheese and that cheese actually helps build his tolerance for lactose (so that he can then have some milk, butter, or cream also). And he really likes sausage too. And wine. I have only had tapas a few times but I love being able to try so many things. The thing I fear about tapas is the cost, which is another reason I was excited to go with my parents!

My parents had a really hard time understanding that tapas is Spanish and not Mexican. So that was fun. I've started to take charge a bit when I go to a restaurant with my parents. I guess as time goes on, I am more familiar with the kinds of foods in new restaurants and the way differnet kinds of restaurants work so it is helpful if I explain things to them and act as a go-between with the waiter. (I had to do this at Chipotle the other day too. lol.) Also, in negotiating between Kea and my parents, it is best for me to coordinate because Kea is shy about saying his likes and dislikes directly to my parents.

But anyway, the food. Everything we had was good. We had "Remolacha con cítricos," described on the menu as "A salad of red beets, citrus, picón cheese and pistachios with sherry dressing." Even Kea liked it, though he claimed not to like beets. It had beets in three forms: crispy (like a chip), thin slice, and thicker chunk. We had "Chistorra envuelta en patata frita," described on the menu as "Slightly spicy chorizo wrapped in a crispy potato." One of the best things was the patatas bravas, basically like french fries. I was hesitant to order this because I thought it was the kind of thing you order to get full without spending too much, but the sauce it came with was so good--a little spicy, a little smoky. We think it must've had charred peppers or tomatoes or something. We also had "Espinacas a la Catalana," described on the menu as "Sautéed spinach, pine nuts, raisins and apples." This is one of many dishes that is bringing Kea around to the idea of fruit in savory dishes.

The shrimp was just okay; I think shrimp doesn't absorb flavors very well. We had "Pimientos del piquillo rellenos de queso," described on the menu as "Piquillo peppers filled with goat cheese." This was a milder goat cheese; I'm not a fan of really strong goat cheese. And we got "Lomo de buey," described on the menu as, "Grilled skirt steak with piquillo peppers."

We also had the red sangria. I have only had sangria a few times so although I liked it, I'm not sure that says all that much. In any case, I would strongly recommend this restaurant. Just check out the menu and you'll be excited! I would go back anytime I am in DC--and even pay for it myself! It was definitely a light meal, but we all had enough to eat. The bill came out to about $30/person, with three of us sharing a half carafe of sangria.

Johnny Rockets and Other Burger Musings

2009-05-20T05:57:00.002-10:00

We hung out with Kea's friend Juan in DC. I guess he has only been there a few months so he doesn't really know anywhere to eat besides chains. We ended up at Johnny Rocket's, a '50s style burger chain. They have locations in Michigan too but we never went because it looked sort of cheesy, maybe a place for kids, maybe the kind of place that would be overpriced due to ambiance. Usually we go to Red Robin, Blimpy Burger, or even Steak N Shake.

We really liked Johnny Rocket's though. I got a Patty Melt and realized it is my favorite burger. I think the best thing about it is that it comes on rye instead of a regular bun. I'd forgotten about that. Plus it's a reasonable size, meaning I can fit it in my mouth and it doesn't fall apart. Red Robin burgers are way too big for me, which means they are messy and it's just too much food. I used to get Patty Melts at Anna Miller's; forgot how much I love them!

Also, somehow, Johnny Rocket's is less cheesy than Red Robin. I mean, Johnny Rocket's is super cheesy. They've got old-timey posters on the wall, black and white tile, a soda fountain counter, but somehow is still less cheesy than Red Robin's generic TGIF style decor. Our waitress also made us a happy face out of ketchup in a little ketchup dish. So cheesy, but totally cute.

We also had root beer floats, which were awesome. And Kea had some other burger that he also liked. A double with bacon or something...

Chicken Fajitas

2009-05-04T13:27:00.002-10:00

Just made this cuz chicken and bell peppers were on sale. Also Kea has recently become more tolerant of bell peppers.

This recipe is super easy.

I think I will make it more often.

And it is not too heavy on the bell pepper or onion once you get everything else in there.

I might consider adding another bell pepper next time just because I love them so much.

I don't know if lettuce and all that stuff usually goes in fajitas, but whatever, it tastes good.

Cafe Marie in Ann Arbor

2009-05-04T12:45:00.004-10:00

Kea and I wanted to go to Saica, our favorite Japanese restaurant in Ann Arbor (This is not saying much. The udon is passable, but when is udon not passable?) but it was closed. :( We ended up at Cafe Marie instead. First, it is ridiculous that we have lived where we have for 3.5 years and there are still restaurants right by our house we haven't gone to. Oh well I guess we prefer to stick to what we know. Cafe Marie was pretty good though. It reminds me of Mocha Java or Cafe Laufer in Honolulu, but more Midwestern, middle-of-the-road. I'd prefer Cafe Laufer in a second, but Cafe Marie had some items that sounded "special."

I had a chicken and cherry salad. Salads with dried cherries is my favorite thing about Michigan. I don't know if the whole fruit and greens thing just happened to take off around the time I moved up here... maybe chicken and cherry salad is not just here, but Michigan is known for it's cherries so I think it might be more common here. The chicken seemed a little dry at first, but had good flavor. There was a lot of feta--I might've asked for it on the side if I had known there would be so much.

Cafe Marie also serves breakfast all day so Kea had the Ultimate Omelette which came with sausage AND bacon and some veggies and sour cream. However, we think the "ultimate" part is about the meat. He liked it although he said Cafe Marie must be for old people because it was undersalted.

There were also a bunch of other breakfast items on the menu and sandwiches and wraps. One of my problems was that virtually everything on the menu had cheese in it. That's one way its Midwestern. Second is they had something called Potato Avalanche or Fries Avalanche... which was covered in ranch...

They also had a full coffee and tea menu and some fancy lemonades and outdoor seating.

Kea felt the decor was on the corporate side for an independent restaurant, but that it was there way of attracting a broad customer base. He thought the menu reflected this too--with more boojie stuff and more meat and potatoes stuff. And the crowd was also more racially diverse than I typically see in Ann Arbor. It was a Sunday afternoon and it seemed like partially a post-church crowd but not all. It was an interesting mix.

Rachael Ray's Sopa de Pedra

2009-04-03T14:02:00.003-10:00

Had some celery, potatoes, ham, and sausage to use up and so this recipe was perfect. I had everything in the house except carrots, an onion, a can of tomatoes, and I needed one more potato. So, first off, it was a good deal!

It turned out to be a huge pot of soup and pretty hearty as well. I think the meat, potatoes, and bread help make it filling.

I did sub regular paprika for the smoked, but luckily we have chipotle Tabasco so we got some smoky flavor in that way. I think the Tabasco is really what makes the soup; it's got a nice kick!

Mine was on the sweet side the first night... maybe cuz there's so much carrots... or because I threw in these zucchini insides I'd had frozen (from when I made stuffed zucchini). Anyway, that was kind of weird.

This is also a great way to use up old bread too. I'm in the habit of throwing the ends of loaves into the freezer. When I used to make strata, I used them up quickly. And I use them when making hamburger patties too, but they've been just collecting in there...

King of Thai Noodle House, San Francisco

2009-03-16T17:25:00.003-10:00

Ran into this place late at night when my friend C needed food after a party. He was born in Thailand and ordered in Thai: fancy! Anyway, he said it was really good and so we ended up back there a couple of days later. There's one location on O'Farrell and one on Powell. The one on Powell has a deal right now where you get a free Thai iced tea. And their iced tea is so good! A lot of places make it too sweet I think. There's is perfect.

C recommended a dish with flat noodles and Chinese broccoli. I love flat noodles--like chow fun in Cantonese. I don't know exactly what the Chinese broccoli was; I thought it would be choi sum but it was a little bitter, like mustard cabbage. I loved it! I got it with chicken, which was fine, but next time I would try it with pork or beef.

D had pad thai and C had another noodle dish. Everything was awesome!

San Francisco Sweets

2009-03-16T17:01:00.008-10:00

We spent a lot of time in Westfield, the fancy mall at the corner of Market and Powell. There's a food court in the bottom that has a Peet's, a Beard Papa, and a gelato place called Melt. There was also like Korean food, a Whole Foods-type deli, bar food, um... yeah I didn't eat any of that.

So, first the gelato. A couple of my friends went here everyday! The vanilla had specks in it! They advertised that it was like natural flavors and stuff. You know, whatever, I don't really pay that much attention to that kind of stuff but I know it is a good thing. A small was about $3.50 and you could also get a larger double-scoop for maybe $1 more. I got the stracciatella, which I have loved since I got it at Barnes and Noble in the Lansing Mall. It is like chocolate chip ice cream, except with chocolate shavings (or shrapnel as we termed it in high school). If you've never had gelato--or like me just forgot what it was like--it's lighter than ice cream. Sooo good... I was also curious about an affogato style they had: gelato with espresso. I've seen Barnes and Noble drinks advertised as affogato style; I guess this is where it comes from.

Next, Beard Papa cream puffs. I just had to get one... got a vanilla... I think strawberry is my favorite, but they didn't have it that day. The pastry seemed crispier than the ones I've had in Hawai'i--then again, maybe I usually eat them after they've been in the fridge for a day or two... the taste of the pastry seemed not as good... but maybe it's all in my head. I've heard Beard Papa tastes different everywhere, so I'm experimenting with that idea. lol.

Not sure what I need to say about Peet's. I hadn't had it before, just heard great stuff from Julie and others. It was awesome... I walked two extra blocks for Peet's!

Rachel's Wickedly Delicious Yogurt

2009-02-22T05:59:00.003-10:00

A couple of people in my program are all into this yogurt, claiming they can't eat Yoplait anymore and stuff.

I usually eat Yoplait and consider it something of an indulgence compared to the other brands. Cuz we never bought Yoplait when I was young. Maybe the cost has come down since then? I am kind of sick of even Yoplait though, just not in the mood for yogurt anymore.

I think I have to try this stuff though, even though it is only carried by Whole Foods here (and in Honolulu, in case you were wondering), which probably means it will be super expensive. Okay so I figured it would be on the pricy side anyway, but still... I also hate their categorization of some of their flavors as "Exotic" but whatever, they sound good. Especialy the Vanilla Chai--I think I will try that one first.

I'm also interested in their cottage cheese, especially the savory ones: Cucumber Dill, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto. I am usually more interested in savory than sweet flavors. And I love cottage cheese! I remember hearing a critique about how it was like the crappy diet version of real cheese, but I never knew that! When I was little we would eat it with canned peaches, pears, or pineapples. I loved having some salt with my fruits. I guess we stopped eating it when we grew out of canned fruit, but I never knew it was a diet food until I was like a teenager or something. I guess I didn't know what a diet food was until then... but anyway, just wanted to share this find, which I am hoping to try soon!

Currently eating...

2009-01-22T06:23:00.000-10:00

spinach, bacon and mozzarella omelette with sourdough toast

Great Lakes Chocolate and Coffee Company in Ann Arbor

2009-01-21T19:19:00.003-10:00

Tried out a new study place today, at the instigation of a friend. It's a little out of the way for us--not downtown, not north campus, not by any stores we would typically go to. I think our friends go there because it is quiet. And for the hot chocolate, which was very good! It's made with real chocolate. Same as their mochas; they do also have a regular mocha, but at a chocolate shop, you have to get the one with real chocolate!

The hot chocolate was even good with soy milk! I had the soy milk in my coffee too and I was happy with it. I think some cafes use soy milk that's made for cold drinks and when it gets hot, it tastes funny.

The coffee was decent. I don't think I'm much of a coffee connoisseur. I just know that sometimes I don't like stuff and sometimes I do! They did ask if I wanted mild or bold so that was nice.

The workers were also very friendly. They had memorized the orders of some of the regulars and gave one guy extra syrup because they knew he liked his coffee as sweet as possible.

Also, the bathroom was clean.

I only wish they had more food options. I saw sandwiches, bagels, and a sign for oatmeal. They looked okay but I was not excited to try any of it.

Oh and free wi-fi of course.

Teriyaki Time in Ann Arbor

2009-01-21T18:25:00.005-10:00

This name of this restaurant doesn't sound promising, does it? It's been open for about a year and I've had no desire to go. We ended up going with a vegetarian friend though and it is good enough to go into rotation. It's a good value as far as portion size and pricing.

I had the teri chicken and gyoza combo ($6.50), Kea had the teri beef and katsu combo ($8), and our friend had (I believe) the tofu teriyaki ($6) and also ordered the vegetable tempura skewer ($2). I think her food was the best deal, now that I'm looking at the menu! I was glad to have gyoza and I think the only time I would have it is in a combo--because I usually don't need an appetizer! The katsu was good, though the sauce was not the best. The sweetness of teriyaki is not my favorite, but the teri chicken was fine. It tasted like simple home cooking. All our meals also came with rice and a side salad (not the best, but I'm always grateful for veggies--and it came with a great miso ginger dressing).

I'd like to try the dolsot bi bim bap, "spicy bits" (described on the menu as "lightly deep fried chicken bits w/ spicy teriyaki sauce"), yakisoba (which I'm not sure I've seen anywhere else in Ann Arbor or East Lansing), and kim bap. Not sure about the sushi as there are only two places in Michigan I will eat fish (Ajishin and Marnee Thai).

I think Teriyaki Time is an especially great place for vegetarians; that's why it's one of our friend's favorites! It's also a good place for vegetarians and omnivores to eat together.

(Photos from Teriyaki Time website)

Lactose-Free Blueberry Muffins

2009-01-20T08:08:00.002-10:00

Had some blueberries in the freezer I wanted to use up. I think we are over blueberry pancakes and prefer banana or chocolate chip. Thought muffins would be a good idea but my lactose intolerance has been a problem lately. It flares up from time to time... maybe due to stress? Seems to also flare up in the winter/spring and then settle down in the summer too. So not sure what that's all about.

Anyway, I was unsure about this recipe--just because anytime you alter traditional recipes, you just never know. Plus, as I was making it, I realized that though lime juice and vanilla are listed in the ingredient list, they aren't mentioned in the directions! Sketchy! (I ended up just adding them right before the blueberries.)

They came out great though! And I even subbed lime zest for juice since the lime I bought was dry. Seriously no juice. It was silly--a very silly failure of a lime. I think these are so great because they are heavy on the blueberries. One muffin I had this morning had all the blueberries on one side and the side without was kind of sad. :( The sugar sprinkled on top are also great--a bit of crunch.

Oh and regardless of the directions, do not fill muffin liners to the top! I just evenly distributed the batter into 18 cups (as it also says) and that worked very well.

Curry sauce for Curry Fries

2009-01-18T11:23:00.001-10:00

I belong to--I think we're calling it a Dinner Party Cult--with some folks in my program. Every event (occurring approximately once a month) has a theme. First month was Stacks (stacked food), second was Breakfast for Dinner, there was supposed to be an Oktoberfest in there, and this month was British. I thought this month was hard! Kea found out that curry fries are British though so we paired up with someone who does not have to drive an hour to the location so we could make the curry and she could make the fries.

*sigh* This was an adventure. I guess Googling a recipe is always a risk. And I figured this one looked sketchy, but I chose it cuz it claimed to be British and it didn't have chunks in it. (I figured chunks of veggies or meat would be hard to pick up with french fries...)

Anyway, as written, I think this recipe is made to mix with like already cooked chicken and poured over rice or something. It's a really small recipe though. It would only feed like one or two. Even just as sauce for fries, I thought we needed more so I kept trying to stretch it with tomato puree and water, and then thickening as needed with cornstarch. It started losing flavor so I added more spices... but... something was still missing... I think probably to make more, it would be best to start by doubling (at least) the recipe. Onion and garlic was stuff I couldn't just add more of later.

So... I ended up throwing in a jar of Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce. haha... it was Kea's (brilliant/cheaty) idea. That made it taste much better!

(Oh and just so you know, cardamom is expensive! So I subbed cinnamon instead. And I didn't know what "dried chilies" meant so I just used red chili pepper--you know like the kind at pizza restaurants.)

Giada's Spicy Baked Macaroni

2009-01-17T15:31:00.002-10:00

As with hamburger mac, pasta bake's are not Kea's favorite either. I think he will like this one though. I chose this one over some others I've made before because it has mushrooms and doesn't have mozzarella on top. Previous times I've done pasta bakes, the mozzarella on top is kind of a pain. Maybe it's better if you do a real thin layer, but otherwise it is difficult to cut. (Or maybe it's cuz I use generic cheap-ass mozzarella?)

Anyway, I also added ground turkey to this because we like meat. I just browned the meat and seasoned with salt and pepper, then removed from pan before doing the veggies. Then I ended up adding a bottle of spaghetti sauce because when I mixed everything together it looked like it needed it. I think I also seasoned the veggie mixture with salt and pepper at one point because it didn't have any.

I also subbed rotini for macaroni because that's what I have.

And I didn't use butter because the lactose intolerance is crazy these days. For the bottom, I used olive oil--more because I was worried about the pasta sticking to the pyrex. And because of the lack of oil, the top didn't brown.

Anyway, it's awesome!

New Discoveries

2009-01-14T08:40:00.002-10:00

Foodzie, described by this blogger as "an edible Etsy" sounds awesome! I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but the images on the front page look promising.

I was happy to stumble across Savor the Thyme too. I'm especially interested in her Lemony Chicken Orzo soup, which has lemon rind in it!

Ozoni attempt

2009-01-06T18:42:00.004-10:00

Had some mochi in the fridge and didn't think I could eat it all fried so decided to attempt ozoni. Went to the market in search of:

kamaboko,
araimo,
mizuna,
konbu,
shiitake, and
carrots.

Had to sub out some white stem cabbage or bok choy or something for the mizuna. Same thing. I was looking for dried konbu like my mom uses (pictured above), but could only find this other stuff (pictured below). I don't know what you call it. It looked fresh, but it wasn't in the refrigerator section or anything. And had little grains of salt on it.

I poured four cans of chicken stock into a big pot. It didn't look like much but the time I put in everything else, it was a lot!

I peeled the araimo with a potato peeler and then cut into thin slices. Put that in first so it could cook through. Figured it should cook for about 30 minutes. Put in shiitake and mochi next. The mochi started puffing up. It was cool! Then the bok choy, carrots (sliced thin like coins) and kamaboko (also sliced thin).

Fail
The kamaboko smelled funny as I was slicing it--even though it looked right--the bright pink half moon on the little piece of wood. It was way too fishy. I ended up picking it out. I might go look for more tomorrow. The kamaboko was frozen at the store, which I thought was weird, but I don't think it would affect the taste like that.

The soup was also way too salty--from the konbu I'm sure. I should've soaked it first. The instructions said that was an option but I figured I'd just throw it in. I ended up fishing all of them out too and tried to water down the soup.

Mochi dissolved a little more than I'd like. Next time I think I will put the mochi in maybe 5-10 minutes before I'm ready to eat.

I'll taste it again tomorrow and water down more if needed.

Green Food Tips from the Current Issue of Bon Appetit

2009-01-02T14:32:00.003-10:00

I read my magazines at the local Borders, which I suppose can be seen as green in its own way. Anyway, the current episode had a long list of green food-related tips. Some that were new to me and that I can actually use include:

Buy fair-trade coffee. I already follow their other tips on coffee (using a travel mug and a French press--I think the French press may be more about being able to make coffee as yummy as the coffee houses'), but for some reason have always focused on either buying the cheapest beans or asking my mom to send Kona. They also provided this website as a place to find 100% fair-trade coffee.
Make stock with leftover veggies. I have a hard time using up fresh veggies--especially green onion, celery, and fresh herbs (Are they veggies? Well, whatever), and I am always making soups and stews so this is a perfect tip for me.
And the easiest one: water for tea doesn't need to go until it whistles. As soon as it boils, it is fine, and letting it go further can actually make it too hot.

Old Siam Thai Restaurant in San Francisco

2009-01-01T13:45:00.003-10:00

Heard about this place from others at the conference. Some of them ate lunch here everyday I think! It is located near the Hilton so I will definitely be back for my next conference in March. Anyway, I ordered a special they had: pumpkin curry with chicken and bell peppers. I'd never had pumpkin curry before and it was awesome--it was the Japanese pumpkin with dark green skin. The curry had the perfect amount of heat for me also. I ordered it with sticky rice, which came wrapped in tin foil. I thought that was a little strange--I guess it was to keep it moist? The sticky rice also was either hard in some spots (like too hard to cut with my spoon) or got hard as I ate (and I ate fast I swear). Still yet, overall, I was very happy and look forward to going back.

Oh also there is a sign on the building that says that in case of earthquake, the structure is not reinforced so... uh... yeah.

San Sun in San Francisco Chinatown

2009-01-01T13:22:00.003-10:00

SP and I ended up here the first time on a hunt for pho. We were originally headed for Joy Hing BBQ Noodle House next door, which Yelp recommended for chicken pho, but the signs at San Sun indicated they also had pho and we decided we preferred beef to chicken.

So, as Yelp says, San Sun has a picture menu and closes at 7 pm. I underestimated the size of the picture menu--it has more than 200 items! I was nervous about getting pho at first because I thought with all the Chinese items on the menu, maybe this was a better place to get Chinese food. The pho was good though. Again, maybe my standards are low after being in Michigan so long. Seriously, this could be the worst pho in San Fran and I'm sure it would be better than what we get in Ann Arbor. The first good sign was the huge plate of bean sprouts, lemon, and basil they brought out. (Um, in Ann Arbor you have to ask for basil. Yeah, that's how bad it is.) The meat came stacked up in the bowl so that parts of it were still rare--I never seen the meat come so rare so that was also impressive. I think it had a good amount of meat and also the meat had great flavor--again, compared to the tasteless meat I've had in Ann Arbor pho. The broth was a little greasy, but not enough to bother me.

Oh, and if you are into it, you can get fish balls and/or tendon in your pho.

With so many items on the menu, I was eager to come back again and got the chance a couple days later. After two expensive dinners, CC and QD wanted dinner for under $10. Remembering that most of the items at San Sun were $5-$7, I suggested it and we were off. After minor drama after realizing they only take cash, we figured it out (there is an ATM nearby) and then took forever looking at the menu. I finally decided on black bean beef and bittermelon with chow fun. Chow fun is my favorite (see the fat noodles in the picture) and I can't find it in Michigan! I also wanted bittermelon since I only eat it when my mom cooks it. The weird thing with this place was that I ordered by number since I thought that's why they number the items--to make it easier, but they messed up my order that way! So maybe it is better to order by description. Still yet though--even with the confusion--the food came out super fast. And the waiter didn't give me a hard time about it either.

CC ordered chicken lo mein which looked kind of beige and I think he was a little disappointed. He was like, "So is this what Chinese food is like?" I think he meant like real Chinese food. I was like I guess.

QD ordered sweet sour chicken I think, which is not my favorite.

They both thought my dish looked pretty--the bittermelon was really bright green. I offered that they could try it and I thought I warned them about the taste but maybe not enough. They didn't say much about the bittermelon. haha... but then I told them to try the noodles and I think they liked that. Anyway, I couldn't even finish my dish and ended up taking it back to the hotel and finishing it a few hours later.

Akiko's Sushi Bar in San Fran

2009-01-01T13:10:00.004-10:00

To be fair, my sushi standards may be low after being in Michigan for so long. And the sushi did seem to be good everywhere we went in San Francisco, but I enjoyed the sushi here. Only sampled a few pieces of the negihama and Swamp Roll my friend ordered. We both really liked the negihama. I am not usually a fan of hamachi--but maybe I am branching out. I am just really picky when it comes to fish and slowly breaking out of the same old same old ahi and salmon. I really liked the green onion. The Swamp Roll had ocean salad on top and spicy tuna and--if I remember correctly--avocado inside. The avocado was the best. I didn't even realize how much I missed having it. Couldn't really taste the spicy tuna with all the ocean salad. It was definitely a roll on the heavier side. Not sure if I would order it again, but it was fine.

We also really enjoyed the complimentary tea (I believe it was genmaicha--my favorite!) and cabbage salad. It was sort of like Japanese coleslaw--shredded cabbage with sesame seeds and light vinegar. So yummy.

What I didn't like was the udon. I know, why do I order udon at a sushi bar? I just love udon so much. But here, I ordered the veggie udon and was really disappointed with the flavor of the broth. It was just meh. On the plus side, it did come with a lot of nice cabbage and shiitakes on top.

Oola in San Francisco

2009-01-01T12:45:00.008-10:00

When I go to conferences, fancy restaurants are not high on my list. Conferences are usually in big cities (or at least bigger than Ann Arbor--which is not hard), which tend to have cheap food that is much better than I can get in Ann Arbor--and that is good enough for me! I am always open to a fancy restaurant though, if others are into it. So that's how I ended up at Oola.

A fancy grown-up (aka a professor) was planning and I was told that anywhere she picked would be expensive, but probably worth it. I think I can mostly go along with that.

First off, this is a fancy restaurant in an unfancy neighborhood. Five inch rats (plus the tail) running around in the street and all. Yikes. Being done with my job interviews and on my last night in town, I was not too bothered by dropping $10 on a fancy cocktail. It had gin in it and was reminiscent of a mojito. It was great!

We ended up crowded around a table slightly too small for our group and I don't think the staff made too big a stink about it, so props to them.

Again, I was sort of disappointed by the menu. I don't know... maybe I am just not into the gussied-up "simple" American food in so many restaurants these days? Anyway, I had the Chicken Grandmere... something... I remember the waitress said it meant "chicken like your grandma used to make it." Presentation was pretty cool--little potato balls on the bottom, the size of pearl onions, a bone-in piece of chicken on top, some delicious mushrooms (shiitakes maybe? If not, something with a similar firm texture) and madeira wine sauce filling it out. I was worried about eating bone-in chicken in a fancy restaurant (um, I suck at cutting food gracefully) but it was mostly okay. Just a bit of meat at the end that I gave up on.

My friend CC ordered the house-made pasta with house-made sausage. I think he was a little disappointed. The waitress was really sweet in explaining to us that the presentation was great, with the pasta coming out of the onion, but when it came, JR commented that it looked like the onion was throwing up.

For dessert, I had a bite of the grown-up in charge's lemon cheesecake. It was light and yummy, but overall... not that special. And I think that would be my overall summary: pretty good, but nothing really special.

Roxanne Cafe in San Francisco: Not so good

2009-01-01T12:27:00.004-10:00

The menu at this place looked good, but the food was only mediocre, there were some definite service issues, and--really--we should've known better when it was the only place in the area with no wait for a table! Ended up here on a mission for a place where we could get food and hard liquor in a big group. The hard liquor was a lie. This exchange should've been a tip off:
Me: Do you serve hard liquor?
Waitress: No, we have wine, sparkling wine, and mixed drinks.
M: What kind of mixed drinks?
W: Like margaritas, bloody marys.

I was confused about the lack of hard liquor and the ability to make margaritas and Bloody Marys. Based on what my friends who ordered Cosmos and Cape Cods said, they tasted pretty much like juice. Oh, and they cost $7.

Food was inconsistent. Three or four people in our party ordered the mushroom ravioli and some of them looked different than others--probably spent different amounts of time under a heat lamp. I had penne primavera, which was fine, but nothing special. (I don't know how special penne primavera can get, but nothing on the menu really captured my attention anyway. Too much cream sauce.) Oh, and my friend ordered mussels and some that didn't open in cooking were served to her. Apparently this means they died before being cooked or something like that. (I don't know as I don't eat them.) And isn't complimentary bread customary at an Italian restaurant?

On the plus side, there were some polenta fries or something that were pretty good.

But then it gets bad again. Tiramisu was served with Hershey's syrup on the plate. And then they said they couldn't split the check--that it would take half an hour to run several credit cards. Really? Apparently this is more common in San Francisco restaurants that (think they) are fancy as we had the same problem as another restaurant, but here, they were pretty rude about it. When the manager ended up taking care of it, he didn't even apologize for the problem or anything. I thought that was what managers did!

*sigh* Anyway, don't waste your time.

Veggie and Bean 15-Minute Stoup

2008-12-17T09:41:00.001-10:00

It's been freaking cold. I wanted some soup to eat with my grilled cheese. Made this. Very happy.

Hamburger and Macaroni

2008-12-17T09:34:00.002-10:00

One of those things that I love way more than Kea. I have a strange attraction to like 1950s food somehow. I don't know. Anyway, recipe can be found here. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. And coriander instead of parsley. I don't think that was quite right. haha... I heard something about cilantro and coriander being the same thing, but maybe different parts of the same plant taste different or they are different kinds of parsleys or whatever. Also, I love celery seed! My friend made Bloody Marys with them. They are like magic little celery explosions.

Stuffed Cabbage Stoup

2008-10-17T13:34:00.003-10:00

I made this to use up a half-head of Savoy cabbage. And also because I love the stuffed cabbage my mom used to make when I was young. Kea is not as big a fan of stuffed cabbage as I am and he thought this recipe was a little strange I think. He said he liked it better the second day though. On one hand, I think it is very similar to a lot of Rachael Ray's recipes--with the chicken stock and tomato base, but the dill does give it a different flavor. Also, it's very cabbage heavy and thus feels healthy! Plus, lacks the sour cream of stuffed cabbage--at least my mom's recipe anyway.

Caramel Apples from Kilwin's in Ann Arbor

2008-10-17T13:22:00.003-10:00

Kilwin's is a candy shop in Michigan. I've sent candies from there home at Christmas. I had a caramel apple from there a couple weeks ago when my friend Jim's girlfriend Janice was visiting. She was craving a caramel apple and I was very excited because I don't know anyone else who likes to eat them! Anyway, I had a caramel apple dipped in pecans. It cost $5.50, which is kind of outrageous, but it was amazing. I like that for $5.50, you know the apple inside has to be quality. I worry sometimes that other companies use crappy apples knowing that the caramel will cover any brown spots or other flaws. The caramel was also great--it wasn't too sweet and it also had a more distinct flavor rather than just sweet. The apple inside was green--probably a Granny Smith--and the tartness went great with the caramel.

Shangri-La in West Bloomfield, MI

2008-10-17T13:14:00.002-10:00

A couple of our friends took us to Shangri-La last weekend for the best dim sum in Michigan. It was very good--still not as good as Hawai'i--but definitely better than our Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti favorite, Great Lakes. We had har gau, custard tarts, gin dui, jook (congee), a fried chive thing, taro puff, look fun, turnip cake, sticky rice, shu mai, and our friends ordered some squid and intestines, but I don't eat those. Compared to Great Lakes, it was definitely better. The sticky rice had more "goodies" (lup cheong, etc.) inside. The seafood tasted fresher. It is about forty minutes from Ann Arbor though so I think we will probably still stick with Great Lakes most of the time.

We also saw a family there that Kea is convinced is from Hawai'i. There was a little girl, a teenager, and an adult woman. The woman looked Local and Kea says he was further convinced by the way she was wearing her hair clip.

Marnee Thai in Ann Arbor

2008-10-17T13:00:00.002-10:00

We went to Marnee Thai twice last week. My friend Katie just recommended it to me a few weeks ago: she said it was a little expensive but the best Thai food in Ann Arbor. I have to agree. I think it is the best Thai food I have ever had! But we could only afford to go twice in one week because my auntie was in town and took us out the second time! They do have a lunch special ($7.50) which sounds like a good deal but it doesn't include all of our favorites.

Our favorites were the spring rolls (veggie and meat are both great), the tom kha gai soup (which my cousin Dawn ordered), and the ice cream with sticky rice for dessert. The spring rolls had a good ratio of wrapper to filling. They were thin and crispy. Kea and I hadn't had tom kha gai before, but we loved it. The only problem was that there was some herbs in the bottom of the dish that I guess we weren't supposed to eat because they were too pokey for our throat! The ice cream with sticky rice we had with both mango and coconut ice cream. The first time I liked the coconut ice cream better (although Kea preferred the mango). The second time they only gave us mango, but I think it was a different brand because the color was slightly different and I liked it better.

We also had the green papaya salad, yellow curry with chicken (the thin pieces of chicken are great), the mixed appetizer, the lotus duck, lotus tofu, and something with eggplant. They were all pretty good, but as good as our favorites.

Another really important thing is that the shrimp was good here. I think this may be the only place in Ann Arbor where I am still willing to try the seafood.

Oh they also have a location near Target called Lotus Thai. I heard it is not as good but still want to try it!

Moroccan Beef (or Turkey) Patties

2008-10-02T13:35:00.002-10:00

I am seriously excited by the yumminess of these. I've had this recipe, from Rachael Ray, bookmarked for awhile and just decided to make them tonight to go with some leftover pasta, spaghetti sauce, and this spinach/breadcrumb/parmesan/mushroom casserole that Kea invented. We'd had some chicken baked with spinach and parmesan earlier in the week but ran out so I just wanted to make some kind of meat thing that would "go."

Okay, they don't really go. They are okay if you don't eat them in the same bite, but just one after the other. My logic was that Morocco is by Italy. lol.

But anyway, the mini Moroccan-spiced burgers are awesome. Hmm... I like my name for them better... They sort of remind me of the baked kibbee served at the middle eastern restaurant at my school. Aha, similar spices: cinnamon, allspice, parsley. They just had an awesome unique flavor.

I think I am going to recommend them especially to my friend Katie K, who we had over for burgers the other night. She was saying that she hardly eats burgers but she liked ours stuffed with giardiniera. Later she said she doesn't like American food much (even though she's American) because it's so bland and prefers Indian and Mexican food. I think she would love these. Not that we need folks eating more beef. I recently have been thinking about the whole thing about cows being a larger cause of global warming than cars and thinking I should maybe eat less beef. So yeah we made these with turkey. Tastes the same in most cases.

Oh, a note on making burgers: Did you know you are not supposed to smash it when you mix and form the raw meat? I always did that until I saw Alton Brown talking about it on Good Eats. I try to be gentler now and my burgers have much better texture. They're more tender.

Green-Olive Chicken and Couscous

2008-09-25T13:09:00.002-10:00

I came across this recipe in a Rachael Ray magazine feature on different grains. I love couscous but have usually prepared it to be eaten cold, more like a salad--that is, cooked it first and then mixed with vegetables and some kind of dressing. I like this warm preparation of couscous for moving into the cooler months and also just for something different! The flavor is unlike anything else I cook.

It is a bit tart so I might cut back on the lemon if I were making this for kids or other picky folk. I think the tartness might also come from the green olives. I don't know if they sell it any other way, but I've been buying jarred ones with pimentos in the middle. Anyway, I always thought Kea didn't like tart but he loves this so who knows.

I've left out the parsley both times because I couldn't find any. And the second time I made it, it came out a little soggy. Not sure if it's because I bought the whole grain couscous or because the chicken broth needs to be shorted. (I think I shorted it last time...)

Sun-Dried Tomato Muffins

2008-09-15T06:06:00.002-10:00

My mom always makes craploads of muffins and then stores them in the freezer so we can just heat them up for breakfast when we want. I've been wanting to try making savory muffins--cuz a lot of times I am just not into sweet first thing in the morning. So I made these, baking them in muffin tins instead of a square pan. I'm not sure I would like these first thing in the morning either, but they are great for snacks. They only came out a little dry--probably because I used soymilk while the recipe calls for whole milk.

Stuffed Zucchini

2008-09-04T16:52:00.003-10:00

This time of the semester--before things get crazy--I like to experiment with new recipes. I also like to avoid soups and stews as that's what I'll be eating through the long, long winter. Flipping through my recipes, I came across some for stuffed zucchini. There was Zucchini with Quinoa Stuffing, recently published in Real Simple; Veg Stuffed Yellow Squash, which I came across somewhere online; but Kea and I decided that we wanted meat so I searched and found this recipe. Ah Cooks.com--you always come through for me.

Actually that's not true. Cooks is a great resource but you just never know with the recipes. I was nervous about this but it came out great! I even used generic tomato sauce. And subbed tarragon for some of the basil because we RAN OUT OF BASIL. How does this shit happen!? I also added some salt while cooking the turkey because it worried me that the only salt in this recipe was in the 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire and 1 tablespoon of Parm. Plus you're supposed to season meat before you cook it right? Anyway, I have a light hand when it comes to salt and I was worried this would still be too bland. Before tasting it I thought I probably should've seasoned the zucchini too! Dar dar! But alas, it turned out great. I even cut the zucchini a little uneven but it cooked fine.

We ate it straight--using the plain zucchini sort of like rice or potatoes. I think this recipe is very forgiving!

Also, I did a coarse chop on the part of the zucchini I scooped out and stuck in the freezer for future use. I figure I can throw it in a soup or stew. Or like enchiladas.

I also found another stuffed zucchini recipe in which lean protein (eggs) is represented that I think I might try next time. Just to mix it up.

Making coffee gelatin

2008-09-03T10:44:00.002-10:00

After trying the coffee gelatin at Mana Bu's, I wanted to try making it myself. Of the different recipes I found online, I followed this one most closely. Some others also added salt or lemon juice but I decided to keep it simple. I ended up making maybe about four cups of coffee--just cuz I decided to fill up my press pot. And I think I maybe only put enough grounds for two cups. Oops. haha... it was my first time using the press pot too so I felt very unsure of myself.

Anyway, it came out good. My friend Stacey was skeptical (as is mostly everyone I mention this too) but she liked it. Unless she is lying. Which she might. But anyway, I like it! Only thing is that I would make the coffee stronger next time.

Oh, and we had it with a bit of vanilla soy milk as that's what I had. That also worked well. I'd like to try making this for our next program party--hopefully next week! I want to get little containers with covers too.

Chapelure Japanese Bakery and Cafe in East Lansing, MI

2008-08-27T14:13:00.002-10:00

I heard about this place from Julie and Matt in my program and did not believe them when they said there was an Asian bakery in East Lansing. They said it was owned by the same folks that own the Japanese restaurant though so I was sort of convinced.

I headed down this afternoon with Jenn, a new student from Hawai'i in our program. I was so excited and yet kind of skeptical. This place did not disappoint. I was amazed by the choices: a counter of breads to take home by the door. I think I saw chestnut bread and at least five other choices. Next, I saw the little trays and tongs characteristic of St. Germain's and Panya in Honolulu. Those were for the pastries: there were a couple of savory ones, for example with ham, and then three kinds of an pan and I can't remember what else. I tried Jenn's apple tart which was pretty good. Like she said, there wasn't syrup on the apple so it wasn't overly sweet.

After the pastries, there were whole cakes and slices behind glass: tiramisu, three kinds of chiffon cake (including green tea), raspberry mousse, chocolate mousse, and more I can't remember. I chose the sweet potato cake. It didn't look that appetizing (I wished it were purple or at least orange sweet potatoes) but I thought it sounded good. It was awesome--light and not too sweet.

We both also had the iced green tea and I loved that too. I think it was genmaicha or some other Japanese tea. At one point, the waitresses brought out what looked like two deluxe shave ices--sort of like Hong Kong style. They were huge bowls of ice with fruit on top. I definitely want to try that next time!

This is also a coffee shop for studying; I'm totally luring Kea to East Lansing with this cafe.

My Own Visit to Mana Bu's

2008-08-18T14:05:00.002-10:00

So after reading this post just a few days before I was scheduled to leave Hawai'i, I did manage to make it to Mana Bu's. Like my mom said, it was my "last meal."

My favorites:

any musubi with shiso
coffee gelatin: I would recommend sharing with a friend unless you are really hungry! I am going to try to make this myself--I will be the star of my program if I succeed. haha!
sweet potato salad: purple potato, macadamias, corn, peas, and a tiny bit of mayo.
anything with ten grain: It was just amazing how it was just like white rice--but I assume healthier. Same with the brown rice.

The rest was okay but not that special:

hijiki and most others: too mild for my taste.
miso yaki: the grilling made the crust too hard to chew. The grilled musubi at Tokkuri-tei was way better. Of course more expensive too.

Other notes:

I didn't get to try the konbu or the gobo--saved them for my sister. I'd like to try those.
We went at about 11:15 on Saturday--that's fifteen minutes after they opened and some things were already unavailable. There were two other groups that came in right after us too so I hurried up and grabbed stuff.
The owners are so cute! They seemed not to be too comfortable with English. I bet they are happy when customers speak Japanese to them.
They have cute bags and chopsticks with their logo!

Frozen Fresh Blueberries

2008-08-18T14:02:00.002-10:00

My Aunty Nancy taught me to eat blueberries frozen. This was in the '80s or early '90s when my family never even bought fresh blueberries. So I think the first way I ate them (except like in pancakes and pie) was frozen. It's like a teeny little popsicle. Not much taste really, but honestly, I don't think fresh blueberries taste all that great. I eat them for health I guess.

Freezing blueberries is also great as they keep longer. So for the past two years, around this time, I have bought a tub of fresh blueberries from Costco, washed them and tossed them in the freezer. While the weather's warm, I eat them frozen and when it cools off, Kea and I use them for blueberry pancakes.

More Eggs on Hawai'i Island

2008-08-12T20:20:00.003-10:00

When we came to visit in May, Kea's dad took us to breakfast at Hawaiian Style Cafe in Kamuela. We were super surprised because he never eats in restaurants. Anyway, we both ordered omelettes and were severely disappointed. The eggs were too thick. I ordered the veggie and it came with canned mushrooms.

We were amazed that so many people said this was the best breakfast place in Kamuela, although to be fair, the place hasn't got a lot of restaurants. Anyway, when Kea's mom took us to Pine Tree Cafe in Kona for breakfast after we flew in, I was wary. Kona is a more populous area and so I thought the food might be better. Plus the most appealing thing on the menu to me was the Fried Rice Omelette. I had it and it was great. It was like a mountain of fried rice wrapped in a thin layer of egg. Plus two pieces of bacon on top. Yum... Kea had the loco moco and also loved it.

A few days later, Kea's tutu gave us money and told us to go out for breakfast. We weren't sure where to go and found ourselves back at Hawaiian Style Cafe. First, because there was nowhere else to go. We also continued to hear good stuff about the place from several different people so we thought we'd give it a second chance. Kea's dad, after all, had had the country fried steak (I think) and eggs and seemed happy with his meal. We ordered very carefully. The omelettes were definitely out. I went for the easiest thing; I think it was called the Lite Breakfast or something: fried egg, rice, and bacon. It was awesome. Very generous with the bacon; I couldn't even eat it all. I got the egg over-easy; I wouldn't trust them to do scrambled after that disastrous omelette. Kea got the luau stew and also loved it. They used a good cut of meat, he said--it had enough fat. And it had been stewing at least from the day before. It was soupy, but still plenty.

Bottom line: Two options for breakfast on Hawai'i island--just gotta know what to order at Hawaiian Style.

Hilo, Hawai'i

2008-08-12T19:55:00.007-10:00

Kea and I went out to Hilo today to pick up some chocolate-dipped shortbread from Big Island Candies. Yeah, it's expensive and all, but so good that we drove an hour to pick some stuff up for our neighbors who've been watching our place and some other folks on O'ahu. The classic chocolate dipped and Dark Dipped Coffee Shortbread are our favorites. They've got a lot of other cool treats but it's really the shortbread that makes it I think--their other chocolates are nothing special.

So we wanted to do more out there than just go pick up cookies so we stopped by Laupahoehoe and saw where the tsunami hit in 1946. We also decided to have lunch at Ken's House of Pancakes. I'd heard a lot about this place--I can't even remember if what I heard was good or bad; it just seems like this place is sort of legendary. The inside looks kind of like Wailana except open air and just less Waikiki I guess. The table set-up was similar anyway.

And the menu was huge. I guess typical diner: burgers, omelettes, pancakes, sandwiches, hot entrees. A good deal of local stuff like saimin and kalua cabbage. There were really too many options. I guess it's similar to the Anna Miller's menu. Anyway, Kea and I of course had our eye on stuff we can't get in Michigan so I settled on the lup cheong and green onion omelette and he ordered the macadamia nut pancakes with a side of Portuguese sausage. The great thing about the omelette was that the default was two carbs on the side--like rice or hashbrowns and toast or something. I can't even remember. However, you could also trade out carbs for two slices of pineapple or three slices of tomato. I think there were other options too but these were the ones that appealed to me. I went with the pineapple, but was a little disappointed to see that it was canned pineapple.

The omelette, however, was pretty awesome--at least to start with. The lup cheong was sliced real thin. And the omelette was very greasy, but at first this was a good thing. It was almost crackly if that makes any sense. The omelette also looked different than any I'd seen before. The egg wasn't smooth but looked like it had been drizzled like batter or something. Anyway, it was awesome, but as it cooled, it was just too greasy. There was also cheese in it even though I thought the menu indicated that cheese could be ordered for an extra charge.

Kea's pancakes were also great although the side order of sausage was almost four dollars! The service was also excellent though. My water was filled constantly. While the restaurant was slow at the time (around 2:30) I get the feeling these are like professional waitresses. Bottom line: we were happy with our choice but I kind of wished I had ordered the saimin afterward. Of course saimin is my favorite.

2008-08-09T14:27:00.002-10:00

Check out the post on The Tasty Island on new musubi place in Honolulu, Mana Bu's. It looks so good! I wonder if I'll have a chance to check it out before I go back...

Hiroshi's in Honolulu

2008-07-28T21:54:00.002-10:00

I guess my excuse for all the fancy restaurants is that this is a continuation of my birthday celebration--combined with me and Kea wanting to get to all these restaurants before we have to fly back to Michigan. So, Hiroshi's is one of my other favorite restaurants. We dream about the Kampachi Carpaccio--or as we like to call it, Kampaccio--all year. Honestly, I don't even know what kampachi tastes like because it's the sauce and garnishes that really make the dish. We found green onion, ginger, tiny cubes of tofu, tomato, and yellow bell pepper. And Kea doesn't even like tomato and bell pepper.

My new favorite dish is the chawan mushi. Usually it's basically a savory custard with things like little bits of seafood and shiitake in it. It is typical Japanese food but I never had it growing up so any kind of chawan mushi kind of excites me. This one was amazing though. The custard was on the bottom and there was broth on top. I think the truffle oil really made it because it was just rich, yummy goodness. But not too rich. Kea said he was sure there were ingredients in it that he didn't like but all together it tasted great. It was so good that I didn't mind at all that the portion was small enough that it was served in an espresso cup. That's how good the food is here. It's so expensive ($88 for two, no drinks) but so worth it.

Our other favorite thing was the complimentary rice crackers and wasabi aioli that are served before the meal. The crackers are made out toasty puffed rice stuck together and broken into irregular chip-sized shapes. It somehow manages to taste better and better throughout the meal.

We also made sure to save room for dessert. I had the Haupia Lemongrass Creme Brulee and Kea had the Bananas Foster Ice Cream Puff. Both were awesome. The desserts here are beautiful and not too big. They're served on rectangular plates with different elements set out in a row. So I had the creme brulee on the left, orange sorbet on the right, and some fruit and sauces artfully set up in the middle. Dessert here is so satisfying!

We also had the sushi duo, panko-crusted ahi, spinach salad, and almond-crusted mahi. These were all okay. The miso salmon in the sushi duo was a little salty; I liked the ginger-scallion ahi better. The almond-crusted mahi was my least favorite. It was a little too rich and I think mahi just reminds me of junk fish.

Sansei Waikiki

2008-07-27T22:47:00.006-10:00

This is one of my favorite restaurants, although there were some disappointments since the last time I visited--back when it was still in Restaurant Row. (Also, note that there are *that* many good restaurants in Honolulu that I can not visit a favorite restaurant for years!)

Food
Anyway, we ordered the Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll, which was awesome (photo above right). Although I don't know why the name is so long. The arugula and wasabi gave it a bitterness that I loved. And Kea did too even though he is not much of a fan of wasabi.

We also had the Mango Crab Salad Roll. I think the photo in the middle above is supposed to be it, but ours looked different. There wasn't enough mango and there was way too much crab salad. We all really liked the Thai chili sauce that came on the plate though.

Others at our table ordered the ahi poke, which tasted pretty good and came in a pretty large portion size, but was a little salty and honestly pretty basic. I go to Sansei for the special stuff, not the standards!

The Sansei Special Roll was a little sweet for my taste and wasn't rolled well--the pieces were falling apart! I probably wouldn't order this again.

I think everything else we ordered was from the list of specials. We had the collar of some fish which was pretty moist despite being over-cooked. It had a smoky flavor, which I also liked, and came with some greens.

My parents ordered the set meal for two and felt it was a waste. I could've told them that; it really sounded like something for tourists that had no clue what to order.

For dessert, some of the group loved the tempura ice cream, although it wasn't to my taste. My sister said it tasted like malasada. I loved the creme brulee even though it was pretty basic. I don't think the brownie sundae went over to well--or maybe it was just too big. My auntie had the apple tart and loved it--so much that she "forgot" to share some with her daughter.

Etc.
Other than the food, there were some other factors that influenced the experience. First, as the restaurant is now in Waikiki, parking is a mess. The lot was full and though we managed to find street parking, everyone else in our party ended up paying $12 per car for the valet. My mom's theory is that they leave the "Lot Full" sign on permanently to encourage people to get valet.

Also, our party of thirteen was split onto two tables. I think they said they could accommodate one party of our size on a single table, but there was already a birthday party there. To be fair, they had told my mom on the phone that our party would be split up. On the plus side, when she did complain, the manager was kind enough to offer every member of the party a complimentary dessert.

My sister also felt that the decor was below par for the price of the food. The chairs were pretty generic basic restaurant chairs. Also, the tablecloths were covered with plexiglass like they do at Chinese restaurants. It makes sense at Chinese restaurants so that the staff can prep the table for the next party quickly, but the turnover at Sansei doesn't seem fast enough that a new tablecloth would be a big deal. It also seemed the plexiglass was there so that flyers about happy hour and other events could be slipped underneath. Kind of ghetto, although personally, as long as the food is good, I don't know that I mind a casual atmosphere. And there were other elements of the decor that were more attractive, like wood and other organic elements.

7/13/08: Overheard at Starbucks in Borders Waikele

2008-07-14T11:32:00.002-10:00

College-age local guy and girl. Conversation seemed only mildly awkward at first, like I'm 20 and I need to prove that I'm cool. She was saying something about how Jabbawockeez was gonna be performing or making an appearance somewhere. He didn't believe her at first and then he was like, "I gotta go to that. I wanna get a picture with all those guys. Without their masks."

Then like he was giving her a hard time about some guys she was hanging out with while he was away and her not answering when he called. It was total bullshit. Like they were both such shitty arguers, it was totally painful. He even grabbed her phone to look at her numbers and I wanted to slap him. I'm not really sure how the conversation turned but I think he was trying to get her to be more considerate of his feelings or something so he goes, "What do you do when your son gets hurt? When he scrapes his knee or burns his lip? Do you just let him cry?"

And she goes, "No. I tell him, 'Suck it up.'"

Favorite Starbucks in Hawai'i: Waimalu Shopping Center

2008-07-06T12:10:00.002-10:00

This location did not charge me for the "splash of soy" in my Americano (which I am pretty sure is the right way to do things because it's the same as adding free creamer) and they also put the right amount of soy--not too much. I'm wondering if these two things are related--like the people who put too much soy charge me because they think I want a lot.

Ramen Series, Part I: I Love Instant

2008-07-01T12:08:00.006-10:00

I love instant ramen far too much. I know it is supposed to be like college student food, poor people food. To be fair, I guess I am still a college student, but it's not about that. I seriously love instant ramen. I eat it when I have a cold or sinus infection, going with the theory that at least it's hot soup even if it's got little nutritional value. I also just like to have it for breakfast sometimes, especially if it's cold or I am in the mood for something salty. I think I generally prefer salty over sweet so breakfast options anger me sometimes.

I think my love for instant ramen is also emotional though. Even Kea doesn't understand it. He never eats the stuff. So it can't be a Hawai'i thing. I think in my home, instant ramen was a weird kind of treat. Like if we wanted it for breakfast, we could only do that if we had enough time. But the best was when my dad would make instant ramen after we got home at night--maybe after a movie or going to the carnival. We'd be driving home and my dad would propose the idea. It was very exciting, sort of like a midnight snack. He'd top the noodles with whatever we had in the fridge--slices of fishcake or leftover steak, pork chops, or barbecue chicken, leftover boiled won bok, choi sum, or mustard cabbage. And we'd sit around the folding table in the TV room, my parents commenting on how big our appetites were and how they would need to make an extra package next time.

Crispy Black Bean Cakes

2008-04-23T01:57:00.000-10:00

Me and Kea tag teamed this one. I did step one while he was at school and then he did the rest while I was at Pilates. It came out pretty good, although he said it soaked up a lot of oil and so it maybe didn't taste as healthy as we would've liked. We really felt like we just wanted to eat it with fruits and veggies. (Luckily we had some carrots and oranges.) We thought salsa might be good, but we didn't have any.

Along the way, I thought maybe it would be better as an appetizer. And then today, when we decided to make chili, I thought they might go well together. And I also thought they might be good with a fried egg for breakfast.

Some challenges we faced: I didn't follow the directions about food processing because ours is cheap and I was worried it wouldn't be able to handle. Kea took one look at those giant pieces of onion though and decided to blend. But then he had trouble keeping the patties together. (They would fall apart when he dipped them in the egg.) So... please follow the directions about food processing.

Tasty Twist

2008-04-13T16:17:00.002-10:00

Went to Tasty Twist on Friday evening with some friends. First we had dinner at Sansu, which has just about the best Japanese food available in East Lansing. But that's not important. The important thing is that when we were done eating and totally full I was like, "Hey, let's study and then get ice cream." It's been a bit warmer lately--well, it was, but then it got cold again and snowed, but that is not important either. The important thing is that everyone got really excited. So we studied for a couple of hours and then went to Tasty Twist. It was totally too cold (well, like 50 degrees or something) but whatever. We walked over from K and S's apartment. We ran, cuz it was cold.

I had a caramel sundae with nuts and whipped cream. It was a little more whipped cream than I needed, but still good. K had a sundae with pecans--costs more but they looked really good. Last time I had a Twister, like a McFlurry or Blizzard. The best thing is the price. Most stuff is under $3. J had a chocolate marshmallow sundae--that's chocolate sauce and marshmallow fluff, not chocolate-flavored marshmallow. I hear the chocolate peanut butter milkshakes are good too.