Things a college student considers at the grocery store...

1. Does it require utensils?

2. Will it keep for long periods of time?

3. Can I microwave it? 

4. Can I run out the door with it? 

5. Is it under $5 dollars?

And with these general guidelines in mind, a sad trip to the grocery stor

e left me with Uncle Ben's rice in a pouch, tortillas, some cheese, (quesadillas a la microwave are great), tobasco sauce (to mask the taste of Uncle Ben), a bag of carrots, mint muskateers, tortilla chips, and salsa. 

 

A typically dinner consists of ABC.go.com for endless entertain

ment while I mindlessly eat tortillas from off my desk. 

God I hate living in a dormitory. 

I drooled in the grocery market line while looking through a Martha Stewart Living magazine. A delicious matzo covered chicken breast recipe was calling my Jewish roots. 

Sea Harbor Seafood Dim Sum

whun's tummy saver method--leave out all the carbs

it's a min hee!

whun, mid bite

mama

broth filled dumplings

bbq pork buns

deep fried sweet rice with pork

tofu in abalone sauce

number 90

When my mom gets an idea in her head, there's no stopping her, no matter how inconvenient. Sea Harbor Seafood was recommended to us by a family friend and despite being in Rosemead and a 45 minute drive from her house in Orange County, we had to go.  I'm not complaining.  I love dim sum.  We also went with my cousins Min Hee and Whun. Min Hee is visiting from Korea and her and her brother lived most of their lives in Singapore, where dim sum and Chinese food is pretty extraordinary.  Really.  I still salivate thinking about Singaporean chili crab.  Hopefully Sea Harbor met their high standards for Chinese food.  I thought the food was delicious but the service was just ridiculous.  They don't cater well to non-Chinese patrons.  Their menus are in Chinese and no one seemed willing to speak English to us.  Every time we asked for something they practically rolled their eyes.  And also, because it was a little later in the afternoon, they had run out of a lot of the dishes we wanted.  

Here are the positives:

1. bbq pork buns were fluffy and not too sweet

2. the deep fried sweet rice pork buns were amazing.  min hee commented that they could also work as a dessert

3.  service is fairly fast

4. their baked bbq buns are supposed to be their most popular but they had run out.  well, they sounded good, at least.

...Speaking of Better Brunches!? AQUITAINE

What a treasure!! After a night of moderately heavy drinking, I went out to brunch in the South End of Boston. It's a fantastic red-bricked area that has a cozy ambiance with its cobbled streets, many restaurants, and classic Boston residential architecture. One of the best features of the South End is that it's tucked away behind the touristy Back Bay area. It's not as accessible by Boston public transport, affectionately referred to as the T. You would have to get off at Copley, the center of the popular Newbury & Boylston street, then walk about or 4 blocks to get to the South End. 

Okay that was a serious tangent. 

Aquitaine is a French inspired restaurant/bar that features a reasonably-priced weekend brunch. I'd heard about it before and have been dying to try it. Three friends and I made it down there today despite the thunderous rain and wind. (yes...this is just one day after the beautiful day I raved about in the previous post) I ordered a brioche french toast with fruit and whipped cream. It also was topped with some delicious bacon. My friends ordered a eggs benedict provencal, fruit, cinnamon rolls, and an omelette de maison that was stu

ffed with goodies. 

I would highly suggest the $9.95 Pre fixe brunch menu that comes with orange juice or coffee, a cinnamon roll, and a

choice between three different types of omelets. The eggs benedict were especially good! The hollandaise sauce didn't have that heavy taste and the eggs were poached to perfection. The eggs benedict 

provencal came with tomatoes, avocados, breakfast potatoes, and 

some onions. Oh man, I could've eaten a million of those breakfast potatoes! They were perfectly seasoned. 

Another big feature of the breakfast is all the fun breakfast cocktails. I'm under 21, but it looked like almost every table had a different breakfast booze. Not to mention, I

 had a GREAT cup of coffee. I'm not sure if it reall

y was that delicious, or if I was just that happy to be having a cup of coffee after drinking. 

It's got an adorable atmosphere with diner booth semi-circle seats, dark woods, and mirrors all over like a french cafe. All in all, I can't believe it

 was so cheap. For four, the bills came out to about $40. It gets crowded, so definitely make reservations. 

A Beautiful Day in Boston calls for The Otherside Cafe

On the rare occasion of a beautiful day in Boston, a good friend and I played hooky to explore the city instead of feverishly taking notes on aggregate supply and demand. The weather had reached an unprecedented 60 some degrees & the sun was shining, so we decided to get brunch at The Otherside Cafe. 

It's a popular joint for the Boston vegetarians and vegans for breakfast or lunch. Tattoo sleeves are part of the employee dress code. 

While sitting out on the patio, I enjoyed a brie cheese, apple, pear, honey mustard sandwich. It was delicious, but I would've appreciated a better slice of french bread. It tasted a bit store bought generic. My friend ordered an omelette with tomatoes, bacon, feta, onions, etc. Her banana orange pineapple smoothie was pretty mediocre. 

I've tasted better brunch, but it's definitely worth going back for a laid back light meal on a sunny day. Plus -- it's dangerously close to the Ralph Lauren Rugby store where I subsequently did much damage. 

i've been humbled

nancy says i've been gloating about my baking.  i think she's right.  

Matzo Chocolate Brittle

I found this recipe here.  so happy, i am.  

These Cupcakes Astound Me

The Les Figues Garden Party is coming up and I needed to work out a vegan cupcake recipe to serve alongside the regular cupcakes.  I felt like experimenting a bit and I had read somewhere that you can substitute eggs and oil with applesauce.   I also decided to cut out the sugar since the cupcakes were already going in a healthy direction.  I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much, a crumbly dry scone-ish cupcake at best but these cupcakes ended up being amazing!  They were very gooey in the middle and the vegan chocolate chips were melty without being liquified.  Plus, if I'm calculating right, they are about 80 calories per cupcake.  I think next time I want to add dried sour cherries or maybe a dollop of fig jam in the center (for the Les Figues party).  So if you're in the Los Angeles area, come by the party on April 19th to try these cupcakes.   

Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)

3/4 cup cake flour 

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 cup Splenda

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (sugar free if you can find them)

1. preheat oven to 350

2. mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients in another

3. add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in small batches

4. add chocolate chips

5. put heaping spoonfuls into cupcake tins (makes about 10)

6. bake for approximately 30 minutes

7. let cool for 10 minutes

note:  hershey's special dark sugar free chocolate mini-bars work really well though they aren't vegan.  if you use these, chop the bar into pretty sizable chunks for a good melt.