Happy Whisky with Chocolat

Well, on this post I think the title says it all! Yes the whisky was very happy with the chocolat and so were we to taste it! Suntory Whisky—nothing else like it to warm you up on a cold day!

Such a lovely wine!

For Thanksgiving dinner we brought along some lovely wine from Giessinger Winery. We got it when we were in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago. The wine comes in a cobalt blue bottle with a graceful long neck. I wish I had taken a photo because the wine looks as nice as it tastes. It was a light desert wine called Forgiveness. It is a pale red color and has the most beautiful aroma. It smells like roses and raspberry. It has a light peach flavor and was delicious after our meal.

Here's what the winery has to say about it: "Forgiveness Reserve, South Coast (CA) (Organically Grown) $34.95

This wine is dedicated to my creator, my mother. She will always be remembered and present. Forgiveness heals the soul. It is its renewal and a fresh start for the tempted. There is beauty, peace, and ease in forgiveness. Offer this wine with roses to your parents, lover or friend and ask for forgiveness. Medium body fruity red wine that is delicious as it is delicate. Peach aromas and flavors greet the nose and the palate. Soft and silky tannins add structure, depth and intensity. The wine is supple, the fruit lingering. A VOTRE SANTE!!"

California Vacation Day 14 - Monday - Part I Randy's Donuts

I'm sorry to say this was the last day of my local vacation. It took place way back in July and I'm finally documenting it. I'm going to split this entry into two parts because there are just so many photos and I want to share them all! Well, maybe I won't share all 500 that I took that day, but I'll show a few.

One thing Manami really wanted to see in Southern California was Randy's Donuts. It is one of those quirky things you see sometimes on TV and she really thought it was cool. Matt had never even heard of it and really couldn't understand why someone would want to see a giant donut in Inglewood. Inglewood's not a very nice part of town, but luckily the stand is right off the 405 and on the way to Malibu. So we made the pit stop to get donuts for breakfast.

If you've never been to Randy's, their donuts are so very fresh and tasty you should try it out! They are open 24 hours with a drive thru so you can grab a donut and be on the way. I've only been there late at night after events at the forum, so I was surprised to see how many people were there in the morning. And many of them were doing just like us and taking photos and posing, so I didn't feel too much like a stupid tourist, ha ha!

We enjoyed our donuts, posed for photos, and were on our way to the Getty Museum. There are two absolutely stunning Getty Museums in LA and I highly recommend both of them. They both have gorgeous archeticture and gardens and they both have stunning ocean views. The "new" Getty Complex is a fantastic modern series of buildings and I absolutely adore it. In one of the buildings they feature some Rococo style art and decor which I honestly hate. It is my least favorite style of art, but luckily they have other buildings with modern photography, changing displays and other art. Even if the whole museum was Rococo, I would still love it because of the beautiful modern buildings.

Here is a photo of it; I hope you agree that it's wonderful. It was taken in May of 2006. My camera ran out of juice that day, so I don't have any more photos for you to see.

The "old" Getty Villa has recently been renovated, so we can almost call it the "new-old" Getty because the "new" Getty is really not very new at all now, being somewhere between 10-15 years old, ha ha! The "old" Getty is a replica of an ancient Roman villa. It has Roman gardens and fountains and a beautiful herb garden off to the side. Inside the villa you are in for a treat because it is filled with Greek, Roman and Minoan antiquities. What a wonderful museum it is! I absolutely love the art in this museum as much as I hate the Rococo in the other museum. Stay tuned tomorrow because I will feature the Getty Villa and the beautiful day we spent there this summer. It was my favorite day of the whole month we spent with Johnny and Manami.

California Vacation Day 11- Friday - Whittier

Well, guess what we did this day!? Today was our day to go back to Abercrombie. But at least we went to a new A&F, ha ha! We went to the stores in the Cerritos mall. At least we went to a couple of other stores, too—we checked out Gap and the Body Shop to buy some cosmetic gifts for Manami's friends.

We chose Cerritos because it's on the way to Whittier. We couldn't wait to see Matt's dad and Polly who just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Polly wowed us (as usual) with some wonderful Mexican food—I swear she is one of the best cooks ever!

Manami got to try some things for the first time ever! We had watermelon with chili pepper on it and jicama. We also had radishes and cucumbers; none of which were foods she cared for. She did seem to like the tasty grilled chicken tacos and other treats though, and of course, the rest of us ate way too much! It was fun to see Matt's sisters; I always enjoy seeing them! I wish I could remember more details to share—that's the problem with documenting something 2 months after the fact! I didn't take pictures, either—I guess I was just tired and I wanted to enjoy myself! Sigh—I'll try to do better next time!

California Vacation Day 9 - Wednesday -Hollywood

One of the main things Manami wanted to see in California (besides Abercrombie & Fitch!) was Hollywood. This was our trip to go there, but on the way we stopped at the Japanese market again to pick up some supplies. I also suspect she was a little culture-shocked and homesick so this probably helped. She wanted particular things to make her feel at home; certain soaps and miso soup for her breakfast; and other things. I love the Mitsuwa market so I was happy to go. We ate lunch there at the foodcourt and had some pastries afterwards! Then we were on our way to Hollywood.

(Kit is Ashalee Wall's Maven kit available at Oscraps. Letters are from Microferk Designs. Font is Dahrlin.)



We had tons of fun at the Mann's Chinese Theatre. We acted like complete tourists; posed for pictures, looked for people's stars and I even had Manami pose with the theatre doorman! They have a webcam that takes photos and we got in front of it and called a co-worker to save screenshots of us! We shopped in the little mall and I bought some socks and Manami picked up some perfume at Gap.

Hollywood is surprisingly close to little Ethiopia, so Matt wanted to stop there and have Ethiopian food for dinner. We love the fact that Southern California is so multicultural and you can get practically anything here. We went earlier this year so I could try Ethiopian food for the first time and it was really good! Basically it is a shared platter of food and sour spongy pancake-type breads that you use to scoop up bites of the food. Very tasty!

We got chicken and fish and lamb along with the veggie combo (greens, lentils, cabbage and who knows what else, ha ha!) I got the Ethiopian wine (sweet and very similar to honey mead) and the boys got Ethiopian Beer. Matt & Johnny shared some Ethiopian coffee afterwards. They roast the beans right at your table and the coffee is very strong. Matt was twitching all night when he tried to sleep but he loved that coffee!

California Vacation Day 8 - Tuesday - County Fair

Well, this was the day I had to go to work for a special meeting. But after my busy weekend, I was actually glad to have the peace of a cubicle!

After work we went to the OC County Fair. I love the fair—everything's so bright and colorful. It was fun seeing it with Manami. She looked at things that I just normally pass by. She loved the Native American crafts booth. She also loved the midway and the games! She won one of the games so she could get a cute Jerry Mouse doll and Matt won a game for her so she could get a blow up Strawberry Shortcake. (for some reason her and Johnny are obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake—I just don't get the attraction!)

We rode a couple of rides—I went on the giant swing with her and we all went on the giant slide. I was so scared because I'm really afraid of heights! I kept stopping my blanket to slow down, but I made it down so I felt very brave! Manami really wanted to go on one ride but nobody wanted to go with her so we skipped it (whew—that was a scarey one—a thing that they sometimes call the "Zipper" it goes high up in the air and spins around and upside down!) We also did a funhouse; it ended up being a sucky one but at least it had a good view!

We made sure to try some of the crazy food that you can only get at the fair—we ate corn dogs and even tried a fried Snickers Bar! I can't remember everything we tried (stuffed Jalapenos, fruit smoothie, ice cream, and who knows what else!) but it was all fun. The whole trip both of them were amazed at the huge food portions we have here in the US (no wonder why we are all overweight!) Even Johnny who grew up here was stunned because he has adjusted to Japanese food and portions.

California Vacation - Day 7 - Monday - South Coast Plaza

Ah--the last day of my three-day weekend! We decided to have lunch at Daphne's, a fast-food Greek restaurant in town. Their food is pretty darn tasty, so if you haven't tried it, you should go! Then we went shopping at another Japanese market nearby; Marukai. They are a little different from Mitsuwa, and we managed to find some more supplies and snacks for Manami.

The best part about Marukai is the new place in the food-court: Beard Papa's. If you ever go to Tokyo, you will find their delectable cream puffs in the train stations. We got addicted to them there, but had no idea they were coming to America! But it was our lucky day--Beard Papa's had just opened that week and we were the lucky people who got to have some! Yummy yum! They fill the cream puffs right when you order, so they are not soggy or stale. They use fresh, excelent-quality ingredients so they are oh-so-good!

After our snack, we headed to South Coast Plaza, the big side this time. Above is a picture of Manami posing as she walks into the door of Nordstrom's for the first time! South Coast Plaza was one of the main destinations that she wanted to see on her trip. The mall is so famous that many Japanese Salarymen sign up for a special tour to the US to see it. They spend 5 days in the states and see San Francisco, South Coast Plaza and Vegas. SCP is a full day of their trip and we often see buses full of tourists carrying their many purchases from the expensive stores that we don't even walk into because they're so pricey!

Manami mainly wanted to go to Abercrombie & Fitch. She wanted to buy clothes for herself, her sister and her brother-in-law. The guys left us there and came back after an hour and a half and we were still in the store! Manami tried on many things until she found exactly what she wanted and made sure it was perfect. Once the guys made it to the store we spent at least another 45 minutes picking out the perfect shirt for her brother-in-law. I didn't mind because I knew it's what she wanted to do the very most!

Have you ever been to A&F? Well, it's filled with young, perfect sales clerks who won't even give someone like me a second glance. They carry small sizes--even Manami got an "M-Size" for some of her things and she's tiny! There is nothing there that would fit me, though I can find something my size at most nicer stores. Their products are very high-priced for the torn/distressed look you are buying in my opinon. Their clothes are a little too skimpy for my old-fashioned taste, so I'm not too unhappy that they don't carry my size. The store is very dim and to me a little depressing! They play very loud dance-club music, so if you're ok with techno then it helps. I like the music and Matt and I especially liked it when Johnny got bored and started "nerd-techno" dancing! That made it fun to be there laughing and carrying on while Manami shopped. I'm sure the sales clerks didn't appreciate having us "old farts" in thier store, but hey--she bought enough to justify all of our presence!

I'm glad Manami got to go to her dream store (the first of many trips, ha ha) but spending my afternoon here made me happy to go back to work on Monday!

California Vacation - Day 4 - Friday - Ramen

Sigh! It's Friday already! My work week is over. Our guests are suffering from jet-lag and all the rich foods, so we decide to go to a local Ramen House. It's called Shin Sen Gumi and one half of the restaurant is for ramen and the other half is yaki-tori, or Japanese BBQ. Oh, yummy! Sorry, no pictures today--I guess I should have brought my camera!

California Vacation - Day 2 - Rainforest Cafe & Groceries~

I had to work on Wednesday, but we all met for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in South Coast Plaza. I just love going to that place to see all the tropical fish and their Disneyland atmosphere is fun too! We met Shaun and Rhett and had such a fun time. I almost always get the Buffalo Chicken Salad and this time was no exception! You can see a picture of Johnny with a huge chimichanga--he's gone 3 years with hardly any Mexican food, can you imagine!? We all split the Volcano for dessert--a huge brownie sundae with a sparkler on top. We all yell Volcano-ooh! as it comes out!

After I get home from work, we decide to barbeque at home. Matt is the best grill master and makes such tasty chicken. After dinner we walk to the grocery store. Manami has never seen an American grocery store and the cereal aisle makes her gasp out loud! The produce section is another fun thing. We spend time guessing the price of different items and weighing watermelons and things to see how much they cost here vs. Japan. We spent almost 2 hours in the store looking at each item. I never knew grocery shopping could be so fun!

California Vacation - Day 1

Johnny and Manami land at LAX at around 3:00 in the afternoon, where Matt is there to pick them up. They get home and rest until I get home from work at 6. Then we are off to Huntington Beach Pier. We got to walk around for a minute and then we ate a fabulous dinner at Chimayo's, right on the beach! Afterwards, we had coffee with Nicky (Matt's brother) and went to Matt's sister's house to say "hi".

Gourmet Feast

Oh, Joy! We have been looking forward to tonight's dinner for weeks! Matt decided to sign us up for a gourmet dinner at the local Italian restaurant that we love. I've never gone to one of these fancy dinners before, so it is such a treat. And for the price, I figure it will be a very long time before I get to go again, ha ha!

I usually try to avoid the whole restaurant experience for holidays like this because I hate crowds, cold food, bad service and the whole range of things that go along with having too many people try to force a romantic time on each other on a certain day of the year. Call me a curmudgeon, but I'd rather have a thermos of soup on the beach, or stay home and have a quiet evening together and celebrate the holiday on a different day. But this menu was so tempting I can't wait for tonight! I'm going to try to eat a very light lunch so I have a good appetite for dinner.

Prosciutto Wrapped Roasted Asparagus

Topped with Parmigiano Chese

Paired with Suggested Wine

Cauliflower Soup

With Seared Scallop and Lemon Oil

Paired with Suggested Wine

Pasta Envoltini

Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese, Spinach, Parmigiano Chese, Crab Meat, and Asparagus topped in a Saffron Cream Sauce

Paired with Suggested Wine

Osso Bucco and Shrimp Scampi

Veal Shank topped with Onion, Celery, Carrots, Porcini Mushrooms in a Light Marinara Sauce with a Bed of Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Paired with Suggested Wine

Salad

String Beans and Potatoes tossed in a Vinaigrette Dressing with a Bed of Spinach

Paired with Suggested Wine

Dessert

Mile High Espresso Pie

Coffee

Now even though there's a few things I won't be having on this menu, I have a feeling I won't be going hungry. And five different wine courses will be plenty, so I am glad we will be walking home after this feast! I hope your Valentine's Day is lovely and enjoyable today!

Breakfast with "Joe"

Mornings in our house have been especially sweet lately. You see, we've been having breakfast with Joe. That's our secret code name for our new breadmaker, a Zojirushi brand.

For some silly reason while we waited for it to arrive in the mail, we started calling it "Joe Zarushi" instead of "Zojirushi". Yes, we're pretty hilarious around here, dontcha think?

Well, this breadmaker is fantastic and I would highly recommend this model. I am eating the most wonderful, thick slice of bread slathered with butter as I write. This breadmaker cost more than many other brands and it's as big as a tank, but it makes delicious bread with great texture and crust. I even messed up the recipe by forgetting the butter the first time and it was still great bread! So while you're eating your cold cereal tomorrow morning, just think of me—I'll be having breakfast with Joe!

What the Pho?

I thought I'd share a little more of our "exciting" beach lifestyle with you today. To be honest, I'm probably one of the most boring people I know, and my main comforts in life are the daily routines. One of our favorite routines is our weekly dinner down by the beach. Almost every Friday night you can find us at "What the Pho", our favorite restaurant.

What the Pho (pronounced "fuh") is a tiny cafe located right on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. It's across from the Main Street Pier, nestled underneath the movie theatre.

We come in and almost always have "the usual" which consists of 2 spring rolls and 2 bowls of pho. Matt gets chicken (PHO GÀ) and I get shrimp (PHO TÔM) . I drink water and Matt will drink fresh squeezed lemonade. For dessert he will have a Thai iced tea.

If you've never had pho before, don't be afraid; it's just a simple clear broth soup with rice noodles, and this restaurant makes some of the best we've had. It has a sublime flavor and if you ate it without anything else, you would be completely satisfied with it's aroma and comforting properties. But much to your delight, your bowl of pho will always come with a side plate. Feel free to add a bright squeeze of lime, a couple of jalapeno slices, some bean sprouts and some fresh basil leaves. The basil is so fragrant that it will make you smile as you pinch off the leaves to put into your soup. I swear, just the scent of this soup has healing properties! If that's not enough, feel free to add some hoisin sauce (similar to a thick teriyaki sauce) like Matt does, or some red sauce (spicy rooster sauce) like I do.

If you're not much of a soup person, rest assured; all their menu items are wonderful. Once in awhile, I will get "crazy" and order something different and it's usually going to be a vermacelli dish. This is a cold noodle dish served with fresh cilantro and lettuce, crushed peanuts, and my favorite version comes with three toppings; BBQ pork, shrimp, and egg-rolls.

Everyone at What the Pho is helpful and friendly. In the photo you can see Hong and Tom, the owners, along with Hong's sister and father—the head chef. Tom, who doubles as a high-school math teacher during the day, will gladly help you pick exactly what you want to eat if you are undecided.

Do You SHABU!?

If you've never tried Shabu Shabu, you're in for a treat! It's a Japanese meal where you cook your own dinner in boiling water. Of course, since you are doing all the work you will pay for the privilege, but it is worth it to try something different for a change. You've probably never heard of Shabu before, but if you're near a large city there might be one nearby that you never even noticed. We have driven past California Shabu Shabu numerous times and even ate in the restaurant next door several times. We never knew Shabu existed! That is, until we went to Japan and got to try this tasty meal for ourselves.

Last week we finally went to our local Shabu shoppe and had a great time. The owner is from Osaka, Japan so he's friendly and he really knows what's up! Traditional Shabu is finely sliced beef, but the Cali version can also include chicken, pork, or scallops. You are served a plate of your meat of choice, along with some fresh veggies and tofu. The meal is simplicity itself—dip your piece of meat into the boiling pot using your chopsticks and swish it around until it is cooked. Then you can dip it into one of the two sauces provided and enjoy. When you're done, there are noodles you can cook in the meat-flavored broth and they are tasty too! Of course, since this is a Japanese meal you are served rice and a bottle of Kirin beer will go nicely too.

Shabu is a perfect date because it is unusual but not too creepy or scarey. It's also great if you are on a low-carb plan and tired of the same old meats and veggies. It's fresh and healthy and enjoyable, despite the good-natured bashing it got from the movie "Lost in Translation." Try it for a change and see if you agree that cooking your own meal can be fun. The best part is that you don't have to do dishes afterward!