i like to eat.

To celebrate Tony's birthday, several friends and I went to House of Prime Rib for dinner. I've been to this fine establishment a handful of times and every single visit brings happiness and good food.

You go to HOPR to eat prime rib and really nothing else, therefore, the menu's short. There is a fish option, but seriously, you go there to enjoy their legendary prime rib.

An iceberg lettuce with sliced beets, carrots and cabbage in a house made thousand island-like dressing is tossed table side. I really like this salad, but the dressing is strong and I wish they wouldn't drench the lettuce.

There are four options of the size of cut you want. I always get the smallest portion, city cut, because I can never eat it all. Medium please. Many people say that's "overcooking" it, but hey, I don't like blood on my meat. Your portion is carved table side from a silver cart.

The prime rib dinner comes with a choice of creamed spinach or corn, mashed or baked potato and an amazing Yorkshire pudding. The creamed spinach (my choice always) is not heavy, yet very creamy. I also always get mashed potatoes which is whipped super smooth and topped with gravy. The Yorkshire pudding is definitely my favorite part of the meal. It is light and delicious when you soak it in the au jus...yummy.

For the birthday boy, we had a super thick, chocolate cake. I am not a fan of chocolate cake and this is the epitome of why I don't like them. Too thick, too chocolate-ly and too much overly sweet frosting. Just too much. After two bites, I was done - stuffed from the meal and from the over kill of sweetness.

Had a fabulous time with everyone, like any other time at HOPR. Thank you and happy birthday Tony!

                 

Click here to download:

092109_hopr.zip (2394 KB)

The day after the wedding was another big day of eating and hanging out with relatives from Japan and Indiana.

We went to Terzo on Steiner x Union for Ray and Aki's rehearsal dinner. I've never been to the restaurant, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The ambiance was spot on - low key, casual yet intimate, with delicious tapas-style food.

Our party of 14 had pretty much everything on the menu. From hummus with house made pita, braised pork meatballs with polenta to their famous chicken spiedini (skewered chicken with bread, marinated in cilantro, chile and onions) to grilled Niman Ranch skirt steak. Everything was tasty.

I didn't take any pictures because I hate to make people wait (lighting was also horrible), but I did take a picture of my dessert - warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect way to end a meal.

Thank you Ray and Aki. Congratulations! :)

To celebrate my friend's new apartment, we had a little housewarming party in San Mateo. Instead of ordering the usual pizza, a few of us cooked.

Mari made crackers with fig and goat cheese. It was pretty good. I'm usually skeptical about goat cheese, but the flavor was mild and helped accentuate the sweet fig. She also made coconut infused quinoa with chicken. I've always wanted to try quinoa and enjoyed it very much. It's a healthy grain and I can see its potential in many dishes.

The host, Genki, made some amazing karaage (Japanese style fried chicken). The chicken was extremely moist with a crispy batter. So good! One of the best karaages I've had. I definitely have to steal his recipe.

Mike showed off his chops with tuna tartare and chicken liver and gizzards. I'm not a fan of offal (internal organs), but I still had to try it. Meh, still not a fan. Haha. I don't mind the chewy texture, it's just the grainy after taste I dislike.

Buddy Jon made crispy lumpia (Filipino rolls) filled with meat and vegetables. We even had a special banana sauce to accompany the rolls. The sauce was tart, sweet and gave the lumpia extra flavor.

Kate also brought Vietnamese sandwiches and some interesting appetizers wrapped in banana leaves. Wrapped inside the leaves were roasted barbecue pork encased in a jelly-like texture. I'm not sure what it's called and I've never had it before. It was interesting, but nothing I'd ever buy myself. The translucent jelly was mild in flavor, but the pork was a little bit sweet.

My contribution was a vegetable stir fry of mushrooms and sugar snap peas. I'm glad I brought some vegetables since our assortment was filled with heavy items.

Genki had this really cool non-working panel for his stove. Something about its vintage look and simplicity appealed to me. What ended up being more appealing is this Japanese powder(?) that solidifies oil! I've never used something like this before, but it's really simple. You drop a packet into cooled oil and the stuff inside the packet solidifies the oil within 15 minutes. Crazy! What an easy way to throw out a lot of oil.

The night was fun - filled with eclectic food, a proposal (haha) and many games of beer pong. Thank you Genki for inviting us!

EDIT: Mike pointed out that he made HEART and gizzards. Ack, they're all the same stuff that I do not touch! :X

                             

Click here to download:

Hello_Burlingame_tag_parties_f.zip (3365 KB)

Yummy Miette cupcakes to celebrate colleagues' birthdays. :)

The sweet crew of my creative department threw me a little "surprise" celebration of Ciao Bella gelato and cupcakes for my birthday.

We had a gelato buffet line with flavors of Tahitian vanilla, pistachio, coconut and Madagascar chocolate.

I, of course, had to try one of each. The pistachio was surprisingly really good. I thought it would be a little weird (it sounds weird!), but it was a nice fragrant flavor. Madagascar chocolate was too rich for me, almost like fudge. It even had the consistency of fudge. Coconut flavor was really coconut-y and I felt like I was on a beach. Tahitian vanilla was certainly not plain, but creamy with a ton of vanilla beans.

BFF Alison brought homemade cupcakes with yellow cake and chocolate frosting. I usually don't eat chocolate frosting since it tends to be too sweet, but it was just the right amount of sweetness. And the yellow cake was moist, fluffy and delicious.

Thank you creative team all so much!

   

Click here to download:

BDay_Celebration_Part_1_tag_de.zip (426 KB)

I love weddings. They're fun, you eat good food, it's a reason to dress up and ahem, do I see an open bar? ;)

My cousin got married at the breathtaking Carneros Inn in Napa two weeks ago and it was a night filled with relatives that I haven't seen in years and enjoying each other's company with stunning Napa as our backdrop.

The quick ceremony was outside and then we trekked up the hill to the reception area for hor devours and dinner. I wasn't too hungry, so I didn't have any hor devours, but I saw tuna tartare and corn chowder - heard they were pretty good.

Dinner started with roasted beet salad that came with beet puree, oranges, aurgula and goat cheese crostini. The dressing was light with a hint of tangerine oil.

Second course was a large Dungeness crab cake that was sitting on avocado puree and topped with hazelnut vinagrette. I didn't taste the hazelnut, but it was still delicious and thinly shaved radishes were a precious detail.

Next came the entrees, which were served family style. I had a little bit of everything - beef, fish, potatoes and vegetables. The extremely tender prime filet of beef was moist and served with Bordelaise sauce. It was one of the best cuts of meat I've had.

The white sea bass (line caught, seriously? as the menu notes) was roasted with peppers, chervil and olive oil. It had a beautiful golden crust with a flaky interior. The fish was not oily at all, as sea bass most often tends to be.

I haven't had mashed potatoes in awhile, so I was looking forward to this. They were whipped smooth with hints of olive oil flavor. Yummy.

Lastly, we had sugar snap peas with wild mushrooms. The peas seemed a little over cooked, but had great flavor. Still, my least favorite item of the night.

Of course, you can't have a wedding without a cake. Everyone was served individual cakes by Masse's. There were two flavors, mango and hazelnut. I ended up with mango. It was a light and fluffy cake with mango mousse. I was so full from dinner and all the wine, I couldn't eat it all.

Speaking of wine, our glasses were never empty. We had chardonnay from Artesa and also a cabernet sauvignon from Edge in Napa. I'm usually not a white wine drinker, but the chardonnay was delicious and crisp. I'd definitely buy a bottle the next time I see it.

I've never heard of Carneros Inn before the wedding, but it is seriously luxurious. There are cottages you can stay at that run up to $2k a night! The cottages are super cute and it's like your own little home for the night or weekend, if you're lucky...and rich.

I had a lot of fun at the wedding and it was great to see many faces. I'm definitely staying at Carneros Inn when I hit the jackpot.

Congratulations Melodie and Ser!

               

Click here to download:

Carneros_Wedding_tag_parties_f.zip (1730 KB)

Source: 2-3

Kate was leaving for her usual Taiwan summer trip, so we had a goodbye dinner before she took off.

The dinner was filled with a ton of good food - bacon wrapped asparagus, artichoke shrimp (see original post), zucchini with mushrooms, chives and bean sprouts, roast beef, garlic broccoli, prosciutto wrapped dates and barbecued chicken (not pictured).

Everyone pitched in and made something (image 13 is cheesy, I know). It was fun cooking with everyone and helping each other make their dishes.

For dessert, we had a delicious, moist strawberry cake for Cocola.

And of course, sangria, served on a vintage cart - super cute. This time, we made the sangria with boxed wine. It tasted OK, but it gave me a nasty hangover. So, wine box, out.

As the night continued, we munched on Shrimp Flavored Chips. Yes, that sounds disgusting, but they're good. The taste is kind of indescribable since they do not taste like shrimp at all. They're extra crunchy and is a childhood memory. I used to eat them a lot when I was growing up.

The night ended quite late with our tummies filled with delicious food and wine. Good times.

Thank you Kate and Kai for having us, we miss you already!

                                   

Click here to download:

See_You_Soon_tag_dinner_americ.zip (4152 KB)

For Genki's birthday, we all went to Suppenküche in the Hayes Valley. I've always wanted to check this place out, so it's great we went there.

The place is small and not that great for large groups. We had about 15 people and were jam packed like sardines at a table. We didn't have any personal space at all. For a few minutes, one of our friends didn't even have a chair because they said they didn't have anymore. He was left standing there until a chair freed up! THAT packed!

There were a ton of German beers on tap and my friends bought the birthday boy a huge "boot." It was enormous! I tasted a variety of beers on tap (sorry, don't remember the names) and they were good that complimented the salty food.

We started with potato pancakes with homemade apple sauce. I love potato pancakes and Suppenküche does it well. The pancakes was cooked extra crispy and had a gorgeous golden color.

For dinner, I ordered one of their specials, suckling pig, that came with sauerkraut and a large matzo ball. The roasted young pork was drenched in gravy and was a little too salty, but I accepted it since we you need salty foods to compliment beer. The sauerkraut was good, not sure if it was homemade. And the matzo ball? Hmm, a little much. I barely ate it.

To finish our meal, I brought a mango mousse cake that was pretty good. I was afraid it wasn't going to be too good since I've never had it before. But it had just the right amount of sweetness.

Overall, Suppenküche is a fun, themed place, but I don't think I'd go back.

Happy birthday Genki!

         

Click here to download:

German_Beer_Food_tag_german_fo.zip (994 KB)

I wanted to make lasagna, so I needed some extra friends to help me finish it. Although, I do feel a lot of pressure when I'm cooking for people. It's like since I enjoy food so much, my cooking should be as good. Anyways, I've never made lasagna and I was pretty excited to try to make it.

I looked through my favorite blogs and found Pioneer Woman's lasagna recipe. Wow, it was pretty darn good. What's great about the recipe is you don't need fresh pasta, fancy cheese or any other special ingredients. I bought most of the ingredients on my last visit to Berkeley Bowl and they didn't have Jimmy Dean, so I bought some Saag sausages. Still good, maybe better. I'll have to try a version with Jimmies.

The lasagna was easy to make. The only tricky part was cooking the pasta and making sure they didn't stick to each other. I even put olive oil into the boiling water, no help there.

To accompany the lasagna, I made a super easy baby spinach salad. The dressing was equal parts honey and cider vinegar with a little bit of sugar to taste. I chopped some fresh strawberries and topped it with roasted peanuts. I loved it. I can eat this salad all day. The baby spinach was tender and the textures of the salad were perfect.

Every pasta dish, especially lasagna, needs garlic bread so I lazily popped open a box of Texas toast. So close to making this entire meal from scratch! :P

I had fun making this meal and I hope the guys enjoyed it. We did finish the entire lasagna dish, so that's a good sign. :)