11.27 to 11.30 - Thankfulness = Gluttony

I have so much to be thankful for-- and, unfortunately, our culture has taught us that being thankful goes hand-in-hand with gluttony. :\ The gym has been shouting my name for days now.


Two views of our multicultural Thanksgiving table-- American, Filipino, Mexican, Other


My five plates of the evening (luckily I was full when I got there, so I didn't go completely overboard)


Black Friday Dinner #1


Black Friday Dinner #2

11.25 - Souper Meal

I've always loved the Seinfeld soup nazi episode-- because it's so darn amusing, but mostly because I love the idea of a place dedicated to soup. There's something about soup that makes you want to hug yourself, it's so comforting.



Most places will have four or five soups (at the most) on-hand-- and you'll be lucky to find even one that will actually make you feel happy. But I want a whole mess of soup options, darnit! I want my brain to cramp because of all the delicious soup varieties! And like a wish come true, I found a place like that in Chicago several years ago that serves 12 scrumptious varieties daily. And like a personal present for me, there is a location near my work! :} So I had lunch here with my dear friend M yesterday and it was a wonderful struggle. New England Clam Chowder? Chicken and Dumpling? Chicken Gumbo? Roadhouse Beef Chili? Hearty Beef Stew? Thick Bacon and Potato? Ravioli Italiano? I couldn't decide!!



But . . . since it was super cold out, we finally settled on two creamy varieties: the clam chowder and the chicken & dumpling. After stuffing our faces, we felt so warm and toasty . . . that we got frozen yogurt immediately after. Ha. Soup and frozen yogurt: a perfect meal for a chilly day. No, seriously. I might go again today. ;)

11.21 - Krrrrrrazy for Kimchi

So I had kimchi in the refrigerator at home and, although it was in a plastic bag and that bag was in a tupperware, the smell still permeated the refrigerator. It didn’t bother me so much, but I didn’t quite consider how the others in my household would feel about it. When I got home from dinner last night, I went to the refrigerator to find out that my kimchi had been thrown out by the parents. I was so shocked that I guess you can say I sort of threw a tantrum. Ha.

Me: *incredulously* You threw out my kimchi!?!?
Mom: It was old.
Me: What do you mean it was old? That’s how it’s supposed to be!!
Mom: But it smelled.
Me: It’s supposed to smell!!
Mom: Well, we didn’t know.
Me: Why didn’t you ask me first before throwing it out?! (stalks past them to my room and closes the door loudly)
Dad: I can get it from the garbage! It’s just outside.
Me: (shouting from inside my room) No! I don’t want it from the garbage!

A little bit later, I was still in my room and overheard the parents talking to each other in their Filipino dialect.

Mom: I told you to ask her first.
Dad: You told me it was old!
Mom: I guess it's supposed to smell like that.
Dad: That’s what makes it good.
Mom: I told you not to throw it out.
Dad: Should I go get it? It’s still in the plastic.

Haha. And then my mom wrote me this e-mail earlier today:Hello [daughter], I was not gonna talk to you because you were acting crazy last night, but I asked your daddy to toss your hot hot salad or something cuz he said it smelled in the fridge. Oh well, if you really really like that salad, your daddy can always get you more.
Hahahahaha. Oh man. After my initial outburst, I immediately got over it but they apparently thought I was still harboring bad feelings and that their daughter is insane. *cracking up* Classic . . .

11.20 - Switched Places

I thought girls were the sentimental ones. I might've been wrong.

I was out with my cousin’s boyfriend and a few others for dinner last night, and I thought it’d be nice if we had dessert since his birthday is today. So I ordered us a slice of the NY-style cheesecake topped with berries. When the cake arrived, it looked absolutely gorgeous and delectable. I had my fork ready to attack but was stopped when my one guy cousin asked, “Where’s the candle??” And almost at the same time, my brother exclaimed, “You forgot the candle!”

Wait, what?! Haha. I purposely didn’t ask for the candle. My cousin’s boyfriend is a boy (obviously) and he’s older and I really didn’t think he’d care. Honestly, I thought having to blow out birthday candles and having people sing to you in a public place were two things a boy dreaded the most. I thought I was being understanding-- by giving him his cake and letting him eat it too (sans a candle and singing). But, apparently, the other boys at the table didn't seem to think so. So I walked over to the kitchen, asked for a candle, held it in my hand while a lady lit it, carefully brought it over to the table, and stuck it into the cheesecake. With just this one glowing piece of decorated wax, all became right with the world. At least for the boys. Frankly, I could've done without the candle. My world was right when they set a cheddar, blue cheese, and bacon burger in front of me (and later that cheesecake). Go figure. ;)

11.16 - Divine Drink

After church yesterday, a small group of us decided to stop by a nearby diner for some lunch. It was cold outside, so we were happily huddled together in one of the larger booths. After glancing at the TV to see another embarrassing display by our beloved Bears, I looked across our table and spotted a special drinks menu. Something called "Mama's Hot Chocolate" immediately caught my eye. It was described as luscious hot chocolate with Bailey's and Kahlua dark chocolate liqueur. I showed it to one of the girls, D, and her eyes immediately lit up. So we ordered it with no hesitation.

When the tall, clear beer mug full of "spiked" hot chocolate with whipped cream on top came out, D and I were so excited. She took the first sip and was in a very happy place. I took the next sip and joined her. I liked it because it wasn't overly sweet, so I figured it was because of the dark chocolate. We passed the mug around and everyone really enjoyed it. D and I kept throwing each other contented smiles, but at one point she said, "Next time, I'd want a little bit more liqueur." And I said, "Yeah. It's so subtle, though I kind of like that."

It was only after we looked at our check that we realized the waitress had brought over a regular cup of hot chocolate. *sheepish look* It was actually some pretty darn good hot chocolate, but we felt a little salty for raving about the subtle Irish cream and dark chocolate liqueur flavors the entire time. Ha. ;)

11.13 - A Post for Vampires & Those With Strong Stomachs ONLY

My last post got me thinking about blood soups and how disturbing they are to me. I'm not sure why that is, but there's something gross about cooking the blood of another living being for consumption. Yeah, I know it's just like eating the meat of another living being, but blood just seems off-limits. *shudder* It's interesting, though, that several countries have some version or another . . .


Czarnina (Polish soup made of duck blood and poulty broth-- "czarny" means "black")


Curry Mee (Malaysian egg noodle curry soup with seafood, chili, and cubes of coagulated pig's blood)


Dinuguan (Filipino stew with meat simmered in a special pig's blood gravy)


Svartsoppa (Southern Swedish soup made of goose or pig's blood)


Haejangguk (Korean soup made with pork bones and coagulated ox blood)


Tiet Canh (Vietnamese soup made of raw duck blood)


Kway Chap (Singaporean soup containing pig's blood and sometimes pig organs)

11.11 - Questions for Reflections

A friend tagged me to fill out a very interesting and personal questionnaire, but . . . in keeping to the blog theme, I found a food questionnaire instead that I thought would be an adequate substitute. Enjoy-- and I'd love to hear some of your answers. ;)

1. Do you have any funny food stories?
I’m sure I have plenty—but the only one I can think of right now is the time I was in a goofy mood so I put two bubble tea straws (those big ones) together and then tried to suck the tapioca balls from my drink through both. Because I couldn’t close the gap between the two straws perfectly, air kept leaking out and I had to suck even harder. To make a long story short . . . three or four tapioca balls suddenly flew into my throat, I started choking and coughing, and everyone in the restaurant turned to look at the idiot who doesn’t know how to dine in public. Ha.

2. What is the most disgusting thing you've ever eaten?
There’s this Filipino delicacy called balut that is pretty much a nearly-developed duck or chicken embryo that is boiled and eaten out of its shell. It is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen—and at the age of 9, I cried for hours because my parents and relatives were eating them. About a decade later, I was over at my Vietnamese friend’s house and found out that this disgusting excuse for food is a delicacy in other Southeast Asian countries as well . . . and his mom had cooked some that very day. Despite adamantly refusing to eat it, he chased me around the dining room table with a spoonful of duck embryo while his mother watched. I knew I was being disrespectful, so it took all my willpower to stop and open my mouth. He deposited the embryo bit into my mouth, we looked at each other for a few seconds, and I suddenly spit the sucker out and it hit him on the face. *embarrassed smile* Yeahhh . . . I guess I technically didn’t eat it, but it was close enough.

3. What is the most delicious thing you've ever eaten?
*laugh* There are too many. Pass.

4. What is your favorite song about food?
“Peaches” by Presidents of the United States of America. “Millions of peaches, peaches for me . . .”

5. What food do you refuse to try?
The aforementioned culinary abomination and . . . blood soup (from any culture). Bleccchh.

6. What do you like to eat when traveling?
Pirate Booty, if I can remember to get some. And gummy bears or sour gummy worms.

7. What type of food do you eat the most?
Cheese. Eggs. Pizza. Cheeseburgers. Fried chicken.

8. Do you have any recipes you can share with us?
#7 (a.k.a. the recipe for a heart attack)

11.10 - How Much is Two Hundred?

I had another instant noodle soup for lunch today. Mainly because I was lazy and it's cold outside. After I finished, I still felt hungry so I decided to treat myself to something from the vending machine. I normally get a Rice Krispies treat, but . . . today, I was craving something different.

I settled on a little package of two Pop Tarts since I hadn't had them in so long and I thought they'd be a nice warm treat (after a little bit of time in the toaster). I was horrified, though, when I found out that the two tarts together equal 400 calories. 200 is a lot of calories for one itty bitty Pop Tart considering I can't even burn that much from a half hour of walking.

In my post-horrification, I found that 200 calories comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.


taken from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm

Food for Thought: Next time I want a handful of gummies or half of a Snickers bar, maybe I should have a couple apples or a bunch of grapes instead. Junk food is so convenient, though. :\ Someone needs to create fruit vending machines . . .

11.07 to 11.09 - Fit for An Army

The Korean food I love most are the dishes that blend together a whole mess of stuff in a bubbling, hot pot. Like duk bokki or soon dubu. Especially on a cold day, that stuff is the best.

This past chilly weekend, my dorky buddies and I decided to whip up something they called budae jigae, which I looked up and means “army stew.” We didn’t really follow a recipe and we pretty much just threw a bunch of stuff into a pot, but it was fun, warm, and pleasing to the belly (till the gassiness occurred, of course). Our version had ramen, eggs, Spam, and kimchi. Mmm. Good stuff.

My next version is going to have ramen, cheese, kimchi, scrambled eggs (a la egg drop soup), and pork sausage pieces. I shall dub it spicy breakfast budae jigae. Mmm. I can't wait. ;)


not our picture though it looked like this

11.06 - Cure for Insomnia

I'm generally a tired person, so getting to sleep isn't too much of a problem for me. There are some nights, though, that I spend endless minutes tossing and turning (even when I'm sleep-deprived). That's what happened last night.

So I got up and decided that eating was a better option. I made myself a Taglish sandwich using a week-old hamburger bun (toasted, of course). The subtle sweetness and light texture of the hamburger bun made this version quite yummy. Upon finishing the last bit of eggy, cheesy, bready goodness, I walked straight to my bed and knocked out.

Forget hot milk and Tylenol PM. Seriously. Carbs never fail.

11.03 to 11.05 - Burritos for Barackfest

I stayed up late last night, like the majority of people in our nation. It was quite a night and I woke up quite hungry. For change? Definitely. But mainly for some Mickey D’s sausage burritos. ;)

10.31 to 11.02 - C is for Candy and Chicken, That's Good Enough For Me

This weekend contained a lot—in terms of events and good eating. With fabulous weather, the city threw a “farewell party” for October and readily welcomed in November. Luckily, in the midst of all the busyness, we gained an extra hour of sleep. Thank goodness for that.

I spent Friday night with my favorite people, particularly my cousin’s three kids. The little one refused to wear his Thomas the Tank Engine costume so I put it on to make him jealous, hoping he’d want it back. Instead, he was much too delighted with my “choo-choo”s and I ended up being good ol’ Thomas for the rest of the night. Despite my locomotive appeal, the little one refused to share his goodies with me. So while his back was turned, I stole an Almond Joy, some Lifesavers gummies, and animal crackers. Not all godmothers will clean you up and turn your pumpkins into coaches, you know. ;)



Anyway, the food highlights of my weekend were . . .

Friday: pizza, cheeseburgers, lasagna, and candy (albeit stolen)

Saturday: roast beef, broasted chicken, mashed potatoes, ice cream and cake, and a late-night steak torta (mmm)
Sunday: fried chicken and waffles (this was my only meal of the day and I enjoyed it immensely)



May November bring continued yumminess . . .