Ate at the Counter, where you can design your own burger. I picked alfalfa, roasted red peppers, grilled pineapple, baby kale, and of course a beef patty, to go with the brioche bun.
Their shoestring fries and onion rings always are delicious!
A simple meal at home of steamed broccoli, panko-crusted cod, miso seaweed soup, and rice.
Dim sum Sunday lunch. There was also charsiubao and chow mien.
Currently…
Reading:
Bright Young Things – Scarlett Thomas
Watching:
Run-On on Netflix. I love the very slow moving relationship.
Listening:
Pop Song – Larissa Pham
Eating and Drinking:
For breakfast, homemade sourdough bread toasted and with butter. Yorkshire Gold tea.
Cooking:
Mashed potatoes and chicken drumsticks, with some vegetables, haven’t figured out what yet…. and since there’s not that much vegetables in the fridge, I’m probably going to put in an order with Weee! (an online grocer that specialises in Asian products).
Last week:
I read:
The Picture Bride – Lee Geum-yi
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute – Talia Hibbert
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
More rain on Sunday led to part of a major highway being closed here. It’s sunny today but there’s a high wind warning and also more rain coming tomorrow!
Last week’s tangzhong whole wheat bread
Made some taco rice (ground beef, celery, eggplant with taco seasoning, topped with grated cheese, shredded lettuce).
Also picked up some sushi and bento from a nearby place.
Currently…
Reading:
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute – Talia Hibbert
Watching:
Run On on Netflix
Listening:
The Latehomecomer – Kao Kalia Yang
Eating and Drinking:
I had a coffee and toast. Needed coffee this morning! Thanks to the daylight savings time change, it was hard to get going this morning!
Cooking:
I’m thinking of making a chicken stew. I also want to make a Singapore dessert called tau suan, it’s a soupy dessert made with mung beans.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
I tried to get tickets to the Agust D concert (also known as BTS member Suga). To get presale access, you had to have a paid BTS ARMY membership (check) and sign up on two different websites, and then get lucky and get an access code. And yup, I got all that! But, when it came to the actual presale itself, I guess I wasn’t lucky enough to get a good virtual queue number and entered the website only 40 minutes after it opened. And by that time, there were very few seats left. What’s worse is that Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing had already kicked in and all the seats left were ridiculously “Platinum” priced.
I had been lucky enough to get tickets to Day 2 of their Permission to Dance in Los Angeles tour. And good seats too! While that was stressful (clicking on seat after seat to be told that someone else already got that seat), at least there wasn’t dynamic pricing, so the tickets were affordable. But this, nope sorry Suga, you are awesome but that’s too expensive for me….
I went for a physical last week and got my blood drawn on Saturday. And the lab results were normal. But I noticed that my blood glucose level was on the higher side of the normal range. So I’ve been thinking about how to work on that. Like exercising more, and eating less white carbs. We don’t usually eat white rice on its own, usually I mix it with brown or a multigrain mix from Korea. But I realise that the noodles/pasta we eat is usually wheat noodles or regular pasta. I sometimes cook rice noodles, but I’ve never tried whole grain pasta. Have you?
Crispy chicken bowl. Brown rice and salad included.
Currently…
Reading:
I’m Waiting for You – Kim Bo-Young
Watching:
The last two episodes of Crash Course in Romance were just released over the weekend. And while there were some parts of the show that didn’t work for me, I did enjoy watching it every weekend. It was something I looked forward to, and I’m sad that it’s over. I loved Jung Kyung-ho in Hospital Playlist. His relationship with Ik-sun was the best part of the show (besides the friendship of the main cast).
I’m also watching Jinny’s Kitchen on Amazon video. I only started watching it because V of BTS is in it (he’s the second from the right in the photo above). But if you’re a Kdrama fan, you may know the others, like Park Seo-joon.
Listening:
Nothing at the moment.
Eating and Drinking:
I had homemade sourdough toast for breakfast, and Yorkshire Gold tea.
Cooking:
I made Singapore-style carrot cake (find out more in my old blog post). It’s made with daikon, and is a savoury thing, not a dessert. This part is the steamed grated daikon “cake”. Later today I’ll chop it up and fry it with egg and pickled turnip.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
We are at the last Monday of the month. Wow. Have a great week ahead!
Some things last week:
You might have read that California was hit by rain and snow last week. My city has a pretty well-known (at least in the Bay Area) 2,500+ feet mountain that’s popular with hikers. And since I’ve lived here (about 13 years now), we’ve seen snow up on the peak maybe twice. And that’s really just right at the top. So it was fun to see the lower elevations dusted with snow too. And there was even some snow lingering up there this morning.
The kids wanted pizza after their tennis class so we grabbed our favourite pizzas from the Indian pizza store. The kids got a combo and Hawaiian.
We picked up some Korean Chinese food like jjampong (spicy seafood noodles) and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork). This was our first time trying the Korean version of sweet and sour pork. The husband is a big fan of the Chinese version and didn’t like this one 😛 But for me, I don’t like the Chinese version and so I’m ok with the way the sauce was separated from the meat and I could just dip a bit of the sauce instead of having it soaked in the sauce.
Been a while since I’ve made mac and cheese. I usually make a roux and use milk but I saw this one-pot kimchi mac and cheese, and while I didn’t want to make a spicy one, I was interested in the way the macaroni was cooked in a vegetable broth, then the cheese added in. I hadn’t made it like this before so I tried out this way of cooking it (minus the kimchi and the squash). It was definitely not as creamy as usual and in the end I added some heavy cream! It’s easier than making a roux and cooking down the milk and cheese though. So this may be a viable option if I’m low on milk etc.
Made some boba milk tea for the kids again. My younger son really likes boba. But drinking those can add up! They’re about $7 each here.
Currently…
Reading:
Cursed Bunny – Bora Chung
Mademoiselle Revolution – Zoe Sivak
Watching:
Crash Course in Romance – we are down to the last two episodes this coming weekend!
Eating and Drinking:
I had cheese and bread for breakfast.
Cooking:
Bought some fresh egg noodles from the Asian supermarket. So I’ll stirfry that with pork and vegetables. I also picked up some daikon and want to make a Singapore-style carrot cake or chai tow kway in a Chinese dialect. I involves making a steamed “cake” of grated daikon and rice flour. Then chopping it up and frying it with garlic, eggs, and dried radish which is salty and crunchy. You can see what it looks like on this post of mine.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
It’s Presidents’ Day today so the kids are off school, but the husband still has to do work – plus he worked over the weekend!
Some things last week:
We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant on Sunday. The 9yo wanted to try the salmon skin sushi but then declared he didn’t like it… so guess who had to eat it.
Made some more Chinese bakery-style hot dog buns, with tangzhong dough. This time I cut the sausages in half so it’s less for a portion. Much better. But I somehow forgot to pay attention to the time on this first batch and it got too brown. 😛
Currently…
Reading:
Rise by Jeff Yang etc
I feel like these past couple of weeks, I haven’t been reading as much as last month. Haven’t figured out why yet. It’s taking me a while to sink into the various books I have going….!
Watching:
Crash Course in Romance on Netflix (new episodes every weekend). Also, each new ep of Abbott Elementary that comes out, as I love it. I am also rationing the episodes of the Makanai, a Japanese drama, because there are only 9 episodes and it’s so sweet and delightful.
Listening:
The Sixth Extinction – yes it’s been a while, but see above with my problems with reading these couple of weeks!
Last night for dinner I cooked lamb loin chops with mashed potatoes, pan seared king oyster mushrooms and asparagus. We also have leftovers from the Japanese restaurant (chicken katsu) so I won’t need to cook for today. But it looks like we will be getting some rain (Thursday and Friday) and cold temps this week so I want to make something soupy. Fish ball noodles maybe, and make some tomato soup.
Last week:
I read:
Anne of Greenville – Mariko Tamaki (isn’t that cover just delightful).
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
We haven’t had pho in months! Our usual place closed down and was taken over by another pho place but the reviews weren’t the best… so we didn’t try it. This one is relatively new I think? The broth was nice and they were generous with the beef slices. The husband had their chicken plate and said it was pretty good.
On Friday night, I went out with some moms (our kids are all in the mandarin immersion program and have known each other since kindergarten) to celebrate a birthday. We tried out a new Korean fusion place that’s only been open for a few weeks. It’s a very instagrammable place with nice wall decorations and lights, even an angel wing neon sign for photo taking.
The food was pretty good too. We had tteokbokki, a massive tonkotsu, kimchi fried rice, and their special fries that came with five sauces, hot Cheetos and and egg. In a town where most restaurants close before 10, it’s nice to have a place that’s open past midnight!
One pasta dish I come back to these days is a simple broccoli puree with cheddar. I served it with some panfried sausages
Something I’m working on – a small bag for a friend
Currently…
Reading:
Love is a Revolution – Renee Watson (Pictured with some mochi doughnuts)
Watching:
Crash Course in Romance is still ongoing! Two episodes are released every weekend so we are making our way there. I’m also watching The Makanai, a Japanese drama about a teenaged girl who works as a cook for a geisha house. Her best friend is training to become a maiko or apprentice geisha.
Listening:
Still working on The Sixth Extinction
Eating and Drinking:
I had a mochi doughnut for breakfast. Or rather, we cut each of those doughnuts up into quarters so we could each try the different flavours.
Cooking:
I was thinking of making some mashed potatoes, maybe bangers and mash? Maybe another day, I’ll cook some japchae (sweet potato noodles) and make some Korean spinach side dish (an easy way to use up your spinach and it keeps in the fridge for a few days).
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Oof I woke up today just after 5. So everything feels very slow moving right now because I have a headache. Hopefully it will go away. Meanwhile, I’ll just quickly put up some photos…
Some things last week:
Made some granola yesterday. Added sliced almonds, coconut chips, chopped apricots, and raisins.
The husband also hinted that I should make the walnut bread he likes. So here it is. I need to find a new recipe though. Either that or try proofing it overnight. It tastes fine but I think the crumb/texture can be improved.
We needed to head to the South Bay to pick up something, so I figured might as well go to Super Duper Burger. Love the food there, even their lemonade is so tasty (and not too sweet). The burgers are always well cooked too.
Started on a new crochet project. First time trying this brand of cotton yarn. Cotton yarn is hard to work with! It makes my fingers tire more easily…
Currently…
Reading:
The Swimmers – Julie Otsuka
Anne of Greenville – Mariko Tamaki
Watching:
Crash Course in Romance on Netflix
Listening:
The Sixth Extinction – The Sixth Extinction
Eating and Drinking:
I just had a chocolate chip cookie
Cooking:
Today we have leftovers, but yesterday for dinner, I made risotto, with bacon and steamed green beans.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Hey, it’s Monday again. Hope you had a great weekend!
Some things last week:
We tried out two new-to-us eateries. This Japanese eatery has a huge selection of rolls, it was so hard to decide. We also wanted to get some of the cooked food to try – chicken katsu with added vegetable tempura, and pork belly with added prawn tempura. I quite liked their Godzilla roll – it was crab salad and a tempura prawn inside and on top is spicy tuna and eel with wonton chips.
Another new-to-us place was this Thai eatery. The last time I ate Thai food was last summer in Singapore! The kids really liked this crispy tamarind glazed duck dish. That surprised me as the younger son definitely didn’t like eating duck previously. I like that the eatery provided options of “hot” and “Thai hot”. I like spicy food but even Thai hot is too spicy for me (same goes for Indonesian version of “hot”), so this way I know that I can order it “hot” but it won’t be numb-my-tongue, cry-my-eyes-out hot 😛
The 9yo had his first elementary orchestra concert. He’s been learning the cello since mid-September. I was quite surprised that they would put on a concert so early on, especially since the kids had all only just been playing for a few months. But they did it wonderfully.
Besides the elementary beginners, intermediate, and advanced bands, there were also performances by the junior high. The elementary bands are organised by the music teachers at the junior high, I guess to allow for more experienced kids by the time they enter junior high. I like that the elementary school kids get to see what they can possibly sound like in years to come.
Recently, I’ve been making boba at home. We found these boba packs at a Chinese supermarket and it’s super easy, just boil them in water. After that, I pop them into some sugar syrup, which keeps them from drying out.
The K-drama Crash Course in Romance on Netflix. I liked the actor Jung Kyung-ho in Hospital Playlist (still one of my favourite all-time shows), and he’s great in this one too!
Listening:
The Sixth Extinction – Elizabeth Kolbert
Eating and Drinking:
I’m typing this on Sunday afternoon for a change! I’m having some green tea and contemplating a slice of Castella cake.
Cooking:
Ah, the same question every week. What to cook for the week ahead? I have some cauliflower and broccoli to cook up. So maybe I’ll roast the cauliflower in the oven. And maybe since the oven will be on, grill some chicken drumsticks, marinated in soy-honey-garlic.
For the broccoli, I’ll cook it up with some pasta. And maybe some bacon?
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Happy Lunar New Year! It’s the Year of the Rabbit! Following our usual tradition, before the New Year, we spring cleaned, decorated the house a little bit, even managed to donate some old clothes to help a fundraiser at a local high school.
I also made some cookies previously, but wanted to make some huat kueh or fa gao 发糕. It’s supposed to bring fortune and is a delicious light steamed cupcake of sorts. I made a version with pandan and coconut.
For our reunion dinner or tuan yuan fan on the eve, we had hotpot
Thinly sliced meats are a must for hotpot!
A recent love of mine is mixing regular jasmine rice with some Korean mixed grains. I bought this packet at an Asian supermarket. It contains brown rice, sweet brown rice, barley, wild sweet rice, mung bean, millet, glutinous millet, green peas. Per some online recipes, I soak the grains for a bit before adding it to the washed jasmine rice. Then I let my rice cooker do the work. The first time, I tried it on a brown rice setting but that seemed to overcook it. A regular rice setting does much better.
Last Friday evening, while at the Japanese supermarket to pick up some thinly sliced meats for hotpot, we discovered that their sushi and cooked food is 20% off in the evenings. The husband grabbed probably what was a bit too much sushi, and we had a nice dinner out of it.
The mochi doughnuts were also discounted.
Currently…
Reading:
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – Shehan Karunatilaka
Watching:
Single’s Inferno on Netflix
Listening:
I’m glad my mom died – Jennette McCurdy
Eating and Drinking:
A homemade peanut cookie and coffee
Cooking:
We still have some hotpot broth leftover, so might warm that up with some extra fish tofu and vegetables. Eat it with rice. Later this week, maybe some mushroom pasta as I have extra mushrooms.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Another very rainy week. I think we only had one day where there was no rain. It rained so hard last night that I kept waking up!
Rainy days are good for baking, and since the Lunar New Year is coming up on Sunday, I decided to make some peanut cookies (the ones on the left) and some pork floss and sesame cookies. Both these cookies are the melt-in-your-mouth type of cookie, so they’re pretty much bite-sized.
Rainy days also mean soupy noodle cravings. We went to have Taiwanese beef noodles, as well as xiaolongbao. Unfortunately, there were a couple of customers in the restaurant who were coughing away! So we ate quickly!
Currently…
Reading:
Farm City – Novella Carpenter
Watching:
Last night, watched the Penguins documentary on Disney Plus with the kids. It was really funny.
Listening:
Started listening to Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon
Eating and Drinking:
I had homemade sourdough toast and a big mug of coffee
Cooking:
The husband has asked if I could make a pandan cake as I haven’t made one in a while. It’s a light chiffon cake flavoured with extract from pandan leaves (something grown in Southeast Asia), and coconut milk. Of course lots of eggs too since it’s a chiffon cake.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.
Real Life Reading 