Monday Monday

We celebrated my friend L's birthday last Friday.  But I felt like it was my birthday too.  A fun morning and afternoon sans kids and good food!

I saw Top Chef Season 2 winner Ilan getting his morning coffee

PourOverBar coffee

  

Next stop.....Bottega Louie...dessert before lunch.

Lunch at SUGARFISH

Many of you who know me are probably wondering what I ate since I don't eat sashimi :)

I do eat tuna

Crab Rolls!

 After lunch, we decided to go for a second lunch and get ramen in Japan Town.  Yes, we like to walk on the wild side.

on the way to J town.  It was such a beautiful day in LA.

The ramen house was crowded and the wait was too long.  After all we had children that needed to picked up from school.  


Problem solved....Mochi!

 Then for dinner I really wanted to try the Burnt Truck.  Mini sliders.  Luckily, they were nearby.  I had the Vietnamese Pork.  They were really tasty.  I forgot my camera.

pictures from mobimunch.com

Sunday Night I went over H's house after church.  She is a good cook and bakes well too.  Though she will deny it in her sweet southern voice of hers.  She whipped up some okonomiyaki for us.

I've always wanted to make this at home, but never knew which mix to buy.

Follow the directions on the back and add some cabbage and green onions.

Throw some bacon on top cuz bacon makes everything taste better.

The white specks are mayo. 

 This morning as I was opening my bedroom curtains this is what I saw.  They were pruning the trees on my street all morning and well into the afternoon.  

The weather man predicted rain.  But the day was really nice.

midday....

While I was getting gas I noticed the dark clouds moving in.

night....

This was at night on the way to the library.  It was pouring.

I love the rain.  I don't mind it one bit. 

 

The last day in Korea
 

My last day in Korea was spent with my family and packing.  I ended up going to the airport pretty early so that my parents wouldn't have to go the airport twice (my sister was on an earlier flight).  It's funny that they insisted that I could not go to the airport alone.  I felt like I was 15 again.  I reminded them that not only was I in my mid 30's,  had an 8 year old daughter and had traveled to other foreign countries without them, but they did not care.   I gave up and off to the airport I went.  

I thought it was nice that they provided slippers at the airport.

Inchon airport is like mini South Coast Plaza.

Koreans are crazy about shopping!

Mochi

Japanese Mochi

ohhh pizza mochi!

I've been meaning to buy and experiment with this mochi.  The mochis come individually wrapped in this bag. 

 

I threw it on the frying pan with a little oil.  Once it started to brown I sprinkled sugar on it.  

It was ok.  Not as great as I hoped it would be.  There was a bit of a weird after taste to it.  Guess I need to figure out how to get rid of the after taste or maybe try another brand or better to stick to fresh mochi or make them at home. 

I've been trying to have something green on the table every night.

kale chips

Kale is so good for you.  Back in the day, my mom used to try and make us drink kale juice.  Have you had straight up kale juice...ick.   This is a much yummier way to eat kale. 

Kale Chips

 

Wash and cut kale into pieces throwing away the thick stem and rib.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt on them.  Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until crispy.  Be careful your family might get addicted to kale chips. 

I learned this one from my mom.  Wash and cut broccoli.  Steam for about 5-8 minutes.  Depending on how crunchy or soft you like your veggies.  I like mine with a crunch.  When the broccoli is ready add a splash of seasoned rice vinegar, pinch of salt, a drizzle of sesame seed oil, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.  Play around with it.  If you like more tang then add more rice vinegar.

A couple of weekends ago, we went out to the Grove in LA.  Stopped by the Farm for a cup of coffee and then to Bob's for apple fritters!

The best apple fritters!

****Donate to the American Red Cross for Japan's Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami****

Orange Cake

I'm continuing on with my citrus theme.  Today it's orange cake.  This recipe is a keeper.

I used one cara cara orange and one blood orange

final product

Orange Cake

recipe found on Epicurious

1 stick of butter at room temperature

3/4 cup of sugar

2 eggs

4 teaspoons of orange zest

1/4 cup of orange juice

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8 inch cake pan.

1.  Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

2.  Zest the orange and add to the sugar.  Mix so that the zest can be infused into the sugar.  Then add the butter and cream until light and fluffy.

3.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Mix.  Then add the orange juice and mix.

4.  Add half of the flour and mix well.  Then add all the sour cream and mix.  Add the rest of the flour mixture. 

 *I am already thinking about how to change up this recipe.  I think fresh cranberries would make a great addition.  I love orange/cranberry combo.

Gardening

This is a list of things that I am growing from seeds this season. 

From Left to Right:

Row 1.  Cosmos

Row 2.  Morning Glory

3.  Sweet Pea Moody Blue

4.  Chamomile/ Marigold

5.  Swiss Chard

6.  Sunspot Sunflower

7.  Chinese Chives

8.  Purple Basil

9.  Radish/ Beets

10.  Spacemaster Cucumbers

11.  Better Bush Tomatoes

12.  Brandywine Red and Yellow Tomatoes

This is Day 4

Day 6 (in 2 days they grew so much!)

Purple Basil

Morning Glory

beets, radishes, cucumbers

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

I had half a carton of buttermilk about to expire.  So I was on the hunt of buttermilk recipes.  I found this recipe in one of the library books I borrowed. 

Can you see the specks of the lemon zest?

Final product without the glaze

 Recipe

 From Stonewall Kitchen Favorites

1 1/2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup of buttermilk

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Grated zest of one lemon (I used a Meyer lemon)

1/2 cup of oil 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease one 8-inch cake pan.

In a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, mix the sugar and buttermilk with a whisk. Add the eggs and mix well.  Add the vanilla and the zest and mix.  

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth.  Then add the oil and mix until incorporated.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

All my seeds are now planted.

New succulent plant from my friend L.

Korea

The last days of my Korea trip was filled with family.  Spending as much time with them since I didn't know how soon I would be able to return.  

 I love grocery store shopping in Korea. 

I think they meant Crunchy :)

These are gift sets of tuna, olive oil, soy sauce etc.

My favorite gift set...SPAM!

The girls with grandpa