Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! Stay warm (or cold if you are in the southern hemisphere). I am sickie so I will be enjoying this Christmas at home in my pajamas.

Holy Crap

Sometimes, when you are reallllllly busy, you forget things. For example, putting on your shoes. One of my computers has decided to forget how to work properly. It is like swimming in an ocean of crap. Who knew we were/ are so dependent on technology? Ohhhh yeah, EVERYONE. It is a necessary factor for life in that it prevents you from swimming in an ocean of crap.
Could you imagine? An ocean of crap. Holy crap.
RANT. UGHHHHDJBFHDHFIUSUHFUSDFSHFUDUf

Video: Turned off the TV- LeeSsang

LeeSsang: Turned off the TV (ft. Tasha, Gwon Jeongyeol of 10cm)
리쌍- TV를껐네 (ft. t윤미래, 권정열십센치)

I have been obsessed with this song recently. The video is very interesting, and the clouds look like rolled up toilet paper.  Despite my bitterness towards relationships during the majority of my waking hours, I do wish that sometimes (JUST SOMETIMES) I had someone to turn the TV off for me.

Random Thoughts: What I really need.

It has been a long time. I am busy gearing up for school, which technically started today, but I start on Monday. I met one of the Chinese teachers today, and she was with another Chinese teacher (because you know Chinese people travel in flocks, like fluffy sheep) having tea. After talking briefly about a Chinese class I probably wouldn't be able to get into because it is full, I realized what I really need in life is a tea drinking buddy.

Now, I love tea (and drinking), but I hate going out to drink tea all the time. The ideal situation would be that I would be tied to a ridiculously rich man who was never home but still supported my culinary/clothing/luxury items habit, and I would have tons of free time. So basically, I would be a Chinese concubine (or a qinfu hahahahah) because I don't actually want to get married. Since the laogong (literally: old man) wouldn't be home, I would have a friend come over to my house for tea and snacks on a daily basis. If I didn't have any delicious tea that day and my (gay, straight, male, female, transgender, transvestite, asexual, bisexual, or whatever floats your boat yo because I love everyone, but hate everyone at the same time) friend didn't have proper tea at their house (which would preferably within a 30minute drive or my glorious castle) we would go out to Larchmont or Pasadena to buy more delicious things to eat and drink.

ANY TAKERS YO??? Old man and tea friend positions are open! The position of ME unfortunately is not open for auditions because no one is qualified enough to be me except me.

Some may ask, "Don't you have friends?" Yes. Yes, I do, but they are all far far away right now. Or mayber, I am the one far far away.

Places: The Counter in Pasadena

Went to The Counter in Pasadena with British cousin and friendies. We split the fries/ sweet potato fries. I appreciated their shoe stringy like quality. I had the veggie burger bowl (I love bowls, taco bowls from CHIPOTLE AKA THE BEST AND MOST WONDERFUL FAST FOOD EVER). For the set price you get to choose what you want from each list (if you want extras, they list the price added on the side). I had the organic greens, veggie patty, sharp provolone, olives, jalapenos, sun dried tomato vinaigrette, and pickles. The ingredients were FRESH, and the only worry we had was if the combinations we picked would work together or not. IT WORKED. Service was friendly, but I felt like I had to be really friendly back. All in all super duper duper duper. BECAUSE BOWLS ARE THE WAY TO GO. GO. GO.
 

Recipes: Vegetarian Dim Sum

I really like dim sum, but being a vegetarian, there are not many options. The only restaurant I know of that serves all veggie dim sum is Fine Garden in Rosemead. At regular dim sum places they have veggie things, but most of them are sweet pineapple, custard, or taro buns that are baked or steamed. You also get funny looks at regular dim sum places...after all, they are probably thinking "Why don't you eat meat? It is so DELICIOUS?" But who am I to read minds. It's an invasion of privacy.

SOOOO....I made vegetarian dim sum at home. Note: These are not vegan friendly, but the egg white can be left out to be made vegan friendly. Actually, I only added the egg white because Mama Chan said so, and I don't think it was necessary.


Vegetarian Dim Sum

Shu Mai wrappers (The one I use has a pink and clear plastic cover that sports a happy looking panda)

Shark fin melon (steamed and squeezed to be a dry as possible, can also be left out, but it gives it a nice texture)

Chinese celery stems (can be replaced with cilantro leaves AND stems, washed and chopped)

Vegetarian meat paste (chinese markets have this, if you can't find it replace it with tofu and some seasoning for flavor)

Vege shrimp (diced)

A large spoonful of cornstarch (about 1-2 tablespoons depending on how watery you ingredients look)

1 egg white

Mix everything together, minus the Shu Mai wrappers. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. If it is reallllllly watery, then strain out the excess fluid ( Save it, it makes for a great soup flavoring). Wrap it up and brush it with oil if you want it to look nice, and steam it for about 20-30 minutes. Honestly, it doesn't matter how you wrap it, but it looks nice with an open top so people can see whats inside like regular shu mai.

HAR HAR HAR. Good luck. Took me ages to perfect the recipe. Enjoy it!

xoxo

Places: Lovebird Cafe in Alhambra

Went to Lovebird Cafe in Alhambra with cousin, who is applying for med school right now. I had the veggie meatball sandwich, but I am going to try the veggie turkey next time. Bread was good, but it needed more cheese. CHEESE IS DELISH.

Oh yeahhhh, good luck GINNY!

xoxo

BDAY

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

This video made my day, sent in by Best Friendies in Hotlanta. 

Places: Extraordinary Desserts in Balboa Park, San Diego

I had a Danish Parisenne or something. It had a complicated name. It was pretty delicious. It had the sugar crystals on top that you could crunch and munch on, but not enough PINEAPPLE! WHY!?! WHY WERE YOU STINGY ON THE PINEAPPLE?!?! It had vanilla custard on the inside, which was good. The Extraordinary house coffee was pretty yummy. It is in San Diego, but that is veryyyyyy fall from LA. My ass hurts from all the sitting and driving.

http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/

Places: Brioche in East LA Pt. 2

So I talked about the macaroons at Brioche. Here they are! Also carrot cake and opera cake. OMG SO DELICIOUS. Why are they delicious? They are not heavy or oily, and they are not too sweet. I am not a fan of my mouth being invaded by sugar crystal soldiers cutting my taste buds into smithereens. You know how I roll. It has to be balanced. BALANCE IS ESSENTIAL IN LIFE, AND BAKED GOODS ARE LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you. xoxoxo

Places: Brioche in East LA

I met college best roomie this weekend, and we caught up over at Brioche, which is a small french bakery over on Whittier. I had the iced coffee, which is pretty good, meaning that there was nothing I hated about it. The shiny goodness was the pastries. I had a cranberry orange scone. SCONESSS ARE DELICIOUS. I like them better than donuts because they are not as greasy, but they are covered in powdered sugar goodness. I also liked the pretty plate.
College roomie bestie is applying for med school (ie: that which destroys one social life). She is suffering, but it is for the sake of a good lucrative future. Oh yeah, she mentioned helping people too. I love college roomie bestie. She is so on top of it.

On another note, I bought some macaroons, which they are famous for, and cakes to go home. I will share later.

http://www.briochepastries.com/

Gardening: Chili and Basil

Chili, sweet basic, and thai basil from my garden. All natural and organic yo! Hahahahaha My mission to become self sustaining is slow but progressive! I need more land to plant things. I started to plant onions, different varieties of chilies, and garlic. Hopefully, they all grow. The tomato and zucchini  seem to be kind of major fails, probably because I planted them too late in the season.

Life goal: Survive by farming on three acres of land.

Places: Perfectly Sweet

I had the carrot cake, and newly relocated friendie had the raspberry mousse. OH MY GOD. SO GOOD. I would punch someone in the face to live there.

http://www.perfectlysweet.com/

I encourage you to go, but you know a better suggestion? I encourage you to take me with you. K thx bye.

Places: Honey Badger + Newly relocated Friendies

I went to Honey Badger Cafe in Alhambra. Only two words can describe the way I feel about that place: FREAKING AWESOME. They had a ricotta and portabello mushroom sandwich, which was really really really really really good. I had the honey chrysanthemum tea, which was light and good for summer, but the flower petals kept falling off and in my mouth. That was not as awesome. It seems like a good place to study, chit-chat, and eat delicious sandwiches. Newly relocated friendie went there with me. Welcome to Alhambra and LA my dear! 

On another note, Honey Badger also had art hanging on the walls, which made it seem very comfy. I will definitely go there again. Who will go with me? It is lonely to go by myself. I'm a big baby, DEAL WITH IT.

Places: The Grove in LA

I am from LA, yet this was my first trip to The Grove. I LOVED IT. There's a farmer's market and a Nordstroms in one place. Need I say more? They had kettle corn, fruits, veggies, and SHADE. You know, it is hot in CA. Very hot. Although, I heard in TX it is extremely lot. The east coast is hot now too, right? HAHA CA WEATHER IS AWESOME.

The pretty girl in the top picture is obviously not me. That's my wonderful friend of over...I want to say...15 years? I've lost count. We've been friends since we were in the first grade. Now, aren't we so wonderful. <3
Next, it's me!!! Yeah. It's not like a picture of me on this blog is something new. I think I have made that exact same face and pose like 10000000000x.

At The Grove, which I forgot to mention is a huge outdoor shopping area and farmer's market, we ate at this restaurant called La Piazza. I had the La Caprese (pic 3), and my wonderful friend had the pizza. It was pretty delicious, but the La Caprese, while it was delicious with it's basil infused olive oil on top and soft mozzarella cheese, was a bit oilier than I expected. AND ONLY TWO HUGE BASIL LEAVES. I should have brought the organic ones I grow in my garden. Slicing basil leaves is hard. But all in all, it was delicious fare.

To anyone visiting CA, I would definitely recommend this place as a day stop. It's in the heart of LA, and it exudes LA-ness from the people to the shops.   

Dim Sum+ Egg Tarts= Delicious + Notes

 

Dim sum is awesome. Egg tarts are awesome. I have no idea what's in them, but they are awesome. Sadly, I learned that my body hates carbohydrates because I gained two pounds from eating dimsum, which is for a vegetarian like me, all carbohydrates.

On another note, I volunteered at Tzu Chi. It's pretty fun, and I get to practice a lot of Chinese. WOOOHOOO.

Next notes: RIP Amy Winehouse. I really liked your song, "Rehab." also RIP the victims of the Norway massacre and bombing. The NYtimes says there are at least 80 dead. May you all rest in peace. All of you left us too soon, but I hope you can find peace.
I read that the gunman/bomber laughed while he shot the young people, and he was cited to be an extremist. This incident reminds me that we need the entire world to strive for tolerance, respect, and love. There's just not enough in the world.

落泊糕: Radish Cake deliciousness.

This is one of my favorite things to eat, and my mom recently taught me how to make it. It's called 落泊糕 in Chinese, or if we translate it, it's called a radish cake. Even though it's cake, there's nothing sugary about it. Although it lacks sugar, I would argue with anyone on this earth if they had the gall to say it wasn't one of the sweetest savory things they have eaten.
Now, traditionally it's made with meat, like ground pork, sausages, dried shrimp, etc.., but since I'm vegetarian again, I made a vegetarian version. There is also a variation of this dish called 芋头糕 made with taro instead of radish.
Making it was easier than I expected, so I decided to shareeeee <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

 落泊糕/ Luobogao/ Radish Cake Recipe

White Radish/ Daikon: about 1-2 cups grated or thinly sliced
(Apparently daikon prevents subcutaneous fat accumulation. HUZZAH!)

Rice flour (not sticky rice flour): 1 cup

Water: 2 cups (or if you like your cakes a little more solid, use 1.5 cups)

Optional delicious stuffs:
Mushrooms: 1/2 cup finely chopped, and stir fried with onion and garlic
Veggie meats: 1/2 cup finely chopped
Green onion: 1/4 cup finely chopped
Sesame seeds: roasted, for garnishing

Basically you mix all the ingredients together, and put it on the stove on medium heat for about 5 mins to make it a little bit more viscous. Why do we want it a bit more viscous? That way whatever you put into your nice little cake won't all float to the top. Even distribution is nice when you eat nice food. YES?
After, you put it in a pan, and put that pan into a steamer. The steamer has to have water in it that is already boiling. You know how when you preheat an oven to make things deliciously and evenly? Well, my lovely voracious eaters, this is the same concept.
Steam the monster for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take off the steamer cover as quickly as possible. WHY?!?! because you want to prevent all that water that has accumulated on the cover to avoid falling onto your beautiful cake, don't you? Let it steam without a cover for 5 to 10 mins. If the top of your cake is still wet. Take a paper towel and soak up all the excess water from the top. Sprinkle the sesame seeds. Let it cool for about 20-30 minutes. YOU ARE FINISHED!

Now eating it is also varies from person to person. You can eat it as is, or you can slice it up and pan fry/ shallow fry it. Don't deep fry it because rice flour just absorbs oil like no other being on this planet.

Now, aren't you so fabulous.

OH YEAH, you can also freeze it. It can keep for a couple months. When you want to eat it, just resteam or pan fry.

One more thing for my fellow vegetarians. Try to avoid putting tofu because there is a lot of excess water in tofu. If you really want tofu in there, get a dryer tofu/ firmer tofu, or you can get pressed tofu or something called 豆腐干/doufugan/dried tofu. This comes in different flavors (soy sauce, five spice, etc..). Get the plain ones.

LOVE YOU. K. THX.

sisters

Sisters are awesome, and this one is especially awesome. Those are Louie Bottega macaroons. The blue one is earl grey flavored, and the green is pistachio.

Behind the Scenes 'Moves Like Jagger' Video Shoot

So, I love Maroon 5 for many many reasons. Their lead singer is attractive because he has that druggie look. You know I like to live on the edge with my gardening and dining craziness. Oh, and they make good music.