Nearing more closer to summer and instead I feel the constant flow of adjustment more than ease or celebration. It seems as though more often than not, we’re doing things for the last time even before summer begins. Oh to be mature, to have plans. I’m still one that’s more childlike, waiting to waste my summer and immerse myself in rays of sun and food, plenty of food. We savored the lasts of our disneyland passes while we could, before impending trips took place, some more permanent than others for my friends. Waiting for my arms to fully outstretch in what is truly summer, these pictures and further posts are the reflections of Spring.
Praisin’ Ma as we do yearly and rightly so, with food n’ comfort. We all had work that day, including her, which was a bust. We still created a setting just right, with warmth and simplistic gestures, like classy appetizers and flower arrangements. Sara and I splurged a little at Whole Foods the day before, getting some prime produce and whatever else needed for decor. The cheese plate we arranged was straight up class my friends, with edible flowers, rosemary crackers and more uniquely put fruits, pluots slivered across the plate (the birthing of a plum and apricot together, oooh). We had a chèvre, the gnarliest stilton i’ve ever encountered and a cheddar with caramelized onions and herbs. I also made another appetizer before dinner, which was roasted pickled beets on toasts with burrata cheese. I’d never had burrata cheese before, I first assumed it was something most similar to goat cheese. Mistakenly, it’s really a medley of fresh mozzarella and ricotta cheese, texturally and also flavorfully. I first boiled the golden beets with herbs like thyme, rosemary and sherry vinegar. After being softened and peeled, the diced mixture was brought back to a slight boil with more sherry, brown sugar, thyme and salt/pepper. The beets were sweetly tart, really balancing the flavors of being earthy and all the components to make it pickled. I’m a fool for pickled shit man, it’s da bomb. I toasted french baguette with some tuscan olive oil and then topped them with the burrata, beets and a sprig of arugula with some lemon pepper. Surprisingly, the flavor of the cheese wasn’t overtly salty, if anything a little too subtle. I would have liked it to provide something more hearty when being paired with the beets. These crunchy morsels still went down smoothly, we wasted time binging on classy treats with sparkling wine my pops couldn’t dare muster, much too sweet for him. Whateverz, we got a sweet deal on it at whole foods and my mom approved, it’s all good.
For the main course, I made a vegetarian pasta dish, stuffed cannelloni. These babez were pounded in with massive chunks of shiitake mushroom, eggplant, kidney beans and spinach. They were first pan roasted in garlic, nutmeg and paprika and then folded into a mixture of ricotta, egg and parmesan. After being funneled into the tubage of pasta shells, they were plated in a homely concocted roma tomato sauce, filled with red wine and basil. After, they were sauced on top and cheesed. The cheese topping was a medley of sorts, this time more nutty cheeses like romano and gouda cheese. Sounds weird, but it paired really well with the nutmeg and spinach, still accentuating the saltiness, not numbing it with too much nuttiness. Going hard on the appetizers, it was hard to stomach more than a couple, these babies packed a punch in girth. Girth in a good way though, I feel like i recently had a conversation in which girth had a negative sounding connotation. Girth, in that despite it being vegetarian, they were most hearty and were no lacking of flavor. My ma was fully satisfied and content with her somewhat day of praise, although she needs little to begin with, cuz she’s just cool like that.
It’s weird to welcome something so new and to celebrate while at the same time watching another aspect linger and fade into memories, to let go of something you don’t want to dissipate or grow distant from. This celebration was truly in the midst of both of these tides, wrenching our heartstrings together and creating the sounds of bittersweet melodies. The celebration was a bridal shower held for my Cousin Mikey, to swoon over her upcoming marriage and to glorify the many steps of being a bride and the beginnings of great things in store for her and Charles. It’s exciting to see the family expand and envision all future possibilities. What makes it bittersweet is that it was held at our Dolly’s house in Orange, with only a week left before her big move. It was the final party to be held at her home, goin’ out in style before having to part, to say the least. It was beautifully done with help from the family, a perfect balance of warmth, atmosphere and food.
It was mainly catered by the Chili Pepper, a favorite of ours in Santa Ana with some authentic and bitchin’ Mexican food. Dolly always serves their chile verde at parties, chunks of crazy tender pork lathered in a green sauce with onions and other stir fried vegetables. I’m usually not one keen on a lot of heavy meat and a dish like this sounds pretty heavy, but the meat is always so surprisingly tender and well seasoned that it’s a perfect serving, nothing too overwhelming. The various appetizers were concocted by homemade hands, different dishes from different family members. I busted out a couple of reoccurring dishes, ones I’ve previously blogged about like kimbap and classy jello shots. We made the kimbap especially because Dolly wanted to welcome Charles’s side of the family with a more familiar appetizer, bringing some Korean in da fam bam. At first she had asked if I would research Korean desserts but I found very few and when I asked my friend Eli to help me out, he said simply that dessert is for white people, that Koreans typically cut up some pear or something if they want to get extravagant with an after dinner treat. This news was amusing and welcoming, mostly because I was more comfortable making something I’d already had experience with, hopefully boosting my chances of producing something more authentic, more culturally sound.
these bad boys included mostly what we’ve used in previous rolls, the only exceptions being that the spinach was marinated a little differently after blanching, with more intricate flavors, and that there was also marinated slivers of beef amongst the other roll ingredients. The beef was marinated overnight in sesame seed oil, garlic, asian pear, ginger, sugar, green onion and a little siracha for heat. Along with the spinach, cucumber and pickled radish, it hit those anticipated notes of a pickled, earthy kind of sweet. What was most memorable and made my day really was that Charles’s sister thought her mother had brought the kimbap as an appetizer. I had them fooled with my facade of authenticity! So happily baffled by her assumptions. Sprawled throughout the tables were other appetizers and desserts like “cowboy caviar” which is my absolute favorite. It’s loaded with smashed avocado, roasted corn, cherry tomatoes, white beans, green onion and garlic/other seasonings. It’s like an evolved form of guacamole that excuses you from using chips to portion it, I simply scooped it onto my plate to eat alone.
There weren’t silly games, merely good conversations, congratulating and speaking of certain prospects of the future. There were creative presents, like undergarments hung from a clothes line for hanging laundry, continuously spewing and pulling outwards from a wrapped gift. Our couple soon to be changed up their approach when requesting specific gifts, mostly donations being made to parts of their honeymoon as they travel into the depths of Thailand for their after wedding celebrations. Small, humbled speeches were made and it was a calm, intimate setting throughout. Congratulations to Mikey and Charles! A half hearted goodbye to Dolly’s home and to Orange. Reluctantly saying goodbye in it’s most full and beautiful form after this party. Orange is where I’ve spent a lot of my childhood and the ongoings of my teen to young adult years, it’s the environment that defines family for me, a second home. Without Dolly’s house there itself, I’ll have to find excuses to tread back, pacing familiar steps and asking “remember when”?
My birthday had alternated celebrations this year, whether it was amongst friends or family. I loved it entirely, for those closest to me know me best. I’m not one looking for a crazy party when in need of celebration, I simply love to venture and find things that are either visually appealing or tempt my palette. I’m a sucker for good food and a solid view. It’s what I like to do when I want to feel at ease or inspired, to simply enjoy the bounty of our most basic senses. We did just that on both occasions, whether I was venturing the museums of Balboa Park in San Diego with my sisters or immersing myself into all parts of LA with my friends. Sadly, I didn’t have the camera battery to savor all that I saw in Balboa, but I had a new camera to mess with on our day in LA, hence the overload of upcoming pictures you’ll see. My buds took me all over, starting and ending with food cuz that’s just how we roll. Eela had it all planned, researching some new food spots for us to check out, having us branch out from our normal downtown routines. We went to a food joint called Lares in Santa Monica which sadly would go unnoticed if you weren’t looking for it. We drove well past it when we were first looking, it’s spacious within but blends from the outside. It doesn’t have any obnoxious displays to call in its diners and it doesn’t need it. When found, the food and atmosphere speaks for itself. We realized only after that it was two stories, so I’m guessing this place gets pretty bumpin’ in the later hours, they had some seriously advertised drank goin’ on. They specialized in southern spanish food and were pretty upscale price wise. And when I say high in price, I guess I mean for cheap teens, not so much normal adults. Spendage wise, we kept it simple with a medley of tacos that were pretty bomb, vegetarian and fish. We regretfully ate more than we could handle and still took leftovers. I loved the decor of it too, with darker lighting but colorful streamers and these miniature pinatas dispersed throughout the room. I felt funny taking pictures though, as the waiters would swoop in when I would attempt a flash, asking if they needed to take a photo of all of us or commenting on what I would picture, like the price of the pinatas. “Nice huh? You want? Fifty dollars! Heh but really, I’m keeding”. 
We later met up with Vanessa and tried some cream puffs, a total suggested stoner food that I figured out was much too heavy for my subtle tastebuds. I also thought they were more like ice cream? I more so played with my food, squeezing its creamy innards as my other friends enjoyed. The place was unbearably cute and I’ll do anything for an excuse to take pictures of new food.
oh and it’s called beard papa’s?! Hah man, how does that not sound appealing?
My most favorite part was being a first timer at the observatory. The city was kinda covered in that thick matter of los angeles smog but as things started to darken and we began to see the spectrum of city lights, it was pretty cool. Moments like that are pivotal when thinking of Los Angeles, instances defining that as there are views pretty fookin’ ugly in the city, there are beautiful parts too. And the actual show we saw in the planetarium far surpassed its price in my opinion, a measly five bucks. Man, as lame as it sounds, I felt like a kid when I first watched Harry Potter or something, feeling so insignificant while watching something magical take place at the same time. Does that make sense? Or is this the part where you’re like, damn, what Devon?! You know, you see magic happen and you’re like, if only that were real, I want to be apart of it! In this case, it’s the real dealio and we’re apart of all that entails but we create the smallest of a footprint when magnifying all that’s out there, just a mere inkling in all that exists. It’s kind of scary but immensely cool at the same time. I just try not to think about it too much cuz then it trips me out. But as we leaned back in those seats, watching a whirl of the stars history pass us from above, I couldn’t help but see it as something pretty magical. And the chick talking had to have been an actress, the whole time I was thinking she could do the voiceovers for planet earth or one of those Morgan Freeman movies. It’s like she could be talking about the importance of poop and you’d listen because that kind of voice has the needed impact of sounding right, of sounding all-knowing. Also, the score they played during the show was goose-bump worthy at most points. This segment is probably beyond cheesy to most but I’m totally okay with that and will use the word magical as a descriptive term as much as I please.
We treaded back home after our galaxy stupor and munched on some kick ass pub food at the haven in a somewhat sleepy state, surrounded by the banter of adults thriving off their youth and social skills. Being totally exhausted and simply in need of sustenance, I think we were all cool with the lack of conversation and just down for the grub. That’s the moment you know you’re a real foodie.
Also seen in the last video, we ventured to a crepe place, recommended by my bud Megan. It’s called La Galette and located right across from the pier in San Clemente. Here they master both sweet and savory crepes in all different forms, from more sandwich type dishes to scrambles wedged and wrapped beneath each crepe. I’d never had a savory one before so I was stoked to try. We had a few variations at the table. Mine personally was called the Santa Cruz, which was roasted mushrooms with rosemary herbed potatoes and monterey jack cheese. It also came with a béchamel sauce but I went without, questioning whether it would be too heavy. I’m glad I didn’t pair it with a cream sauce, it was super hearty with the surprising thickness of the crepe and the starchiness of the herbed potatoes. Douse some hot sauce on that lass and you have a complete, savory crepe. Izzy’s was very similar to mine, only that hers was folded into a scramble. There was another scramble variation with applewood sausage and sharp cheddar with the béchamel sauce. Lastly, another vegetarian dish, the caprese crepe filled with mozzarella and tomatoes, drizzled lightly with a balsamic on top and basil. We eat that regularly in my family as is, but folded with a crepe? BOMB. Maybe a more gluttonous bomb but a solid one at that. With such a setting and some solid grub, especially for the early day, I suggest this joint. Mind you, it’s only open until two, emphasis on breakfast and brunch.
A blog post for beer enthusiasts and an outreach to those in need of preachin’. I got to talkin’ with one of my coworkers and he has a passion for beer, so much that in more recent years, he’s been busting out a variety of his own. Rich has explained multiple parts of the process to me before, it’s been six years that he’s been crafting the sciences of what it is to make some quality brew. With each beer, he recycles different types of beer bottles to contain his product, is it weird that I’m always stoked to see what kind he’ll use when he gives me a new beer to try? Hah, I guess I really am someone who takes things in visually. I’ve tried two so far but he has experimented with many types, like imperial stouts, english style bitters, oatmeal stouts, Belgian trippel, Belgian golden strong ale, American Brown Ale and an American Pale Ale. A heavy selection and probably only an inkling in the whole spectrum of drinkage. I personally tried a bottle of his IPA (India Pale Ale) and something a little more calling to my tastebuds, a wild berry mead. The IPA was strongly hopped and had a rich, bitter taste. In the glass, it was almost a golden brown with a light foam and was very smooth to guzzle down. I had my pops try it and he was keen to finish the glass, being an avid and more knowing fan of beers than I am. He savored it, saying it’s bitter, hoppy quality reminded him of something very english, close to his wee European heart. The wild berry mead was crazy sick, it’s like it was a merriment of my two favorite things, sangria and cider. This mead was made of fermented honey and a medley of frozen berries that he treated. When he first made it, it was carbonized too early, so he gave it a few years to properly settle and lessen the blow, something not commonly done with beer but worked pretty well in this instance. From its drawn out journey, chillin’ and refining itself for a few years, it came out as this really strong, concentrated fruit flavor that was almost winey more so than anything. But the slight fizziness of it reminded me of cider. It was one potent glass, a surprisingly heavier drink that I really dug. Here are a couple pictures from his working space.
Honestly, if you know only so little about beer or do little to appreciate it, you need a person like Rich to help you better understand and really divulge into the complexities of what beer has to offer. I appreciate that much more from only small conversations we’ve had. To hear from someone who is truly passionate about a product is how it is better defined and spread in my opinion. What Rich has said himself…
“Overall, it has been a great hobby for me. I just love learning about the process. It can be as simple or as complex as someone wants to make it. I have been doing it for about 6 years and still feel I have a ton to learn. There is still a whole level of geeky science side I have yet to dive into, especially with water chemistry. People are always excited to try my latest beer and I’m always excited to share it. Some people are initially interested in it thinking they could save a bunch of money on beer doing it, which is somewhat true, but you really have to enjoy the process. It takes me at least 6-8 hrs and I do 10 gallon batches. It probably costs more than normal beer since I’m always trying to upgrade my equipment. I love to share with people that beer can be just as or even more complex than wine. It just has a bad rap in the public eye because of the image the big brewers have marketed it with”.
Check out his site, a promotion of his styles and understandings of beer, to spread the word of his work and da passion of beerz. Hit it up!
Fragments of Izzy’s birthday strewn in and out of other moments this last week. Some of her buds celebrated the Saturday prior to that actual day of birth, taking izzy to Ciao Pasta and then kickin’ it at our house afterwards for dessert. Sara and I were the master of decor and treaties, typical. That last saturday was also St. Patrick’s day so we kept things green, sticky silly hands hung from light bulbs and candles everywhere to make a friendly atmosphere. I busted out some fruity jello shots, tie dye cookies and for izzy’s preference, chocolate cupcakes with cool whip and strawberries. Cool whip, a little ghetto i know, but it’s her favie and also made perfect for recording the awkward eating of the cupcakes, trying to fit all of the topping within one bite.
On Izzy’s actual birthday we kept it simple at the land of d, spent with our ma and later we met up with our g-ma and ordered in chinese. It was mellow and playful, my mom super reminiscent of izzy and a little embarrassing, the much needed part of any birthday. We made her a breakfast filled with heavy starches like pancakes and a dishing of darkened turkey sausage, she needs da meat. I also fried some eggs partially, then topped them with roasted bell pepper that i blackened in the oven and peeled. Add some sliced tomato, lemon pepper, a shredded cheese medley from TJs and basil. Stick in the broiler to let the yolks settle and cheese melt, damn! Classy eggs in an instant.
Parker was in town from Seattle over the break, so we splurged a little one day while he was here. Well, really, i more so splurged and I guess force fed him some crazy asian pancake I have no way of remembering the actual name of from mitsuwa. It was filled with a batter along with egg, spring onions, cabbage and other veggies, immersed with loads of bacon and whatever gnarly asian seasoning. After being fried and flapped, it was spread with two different types of sauces and bonito flakes. I tried a bit and was keen on the whole dealio except for the bonito flakes, texturally too much for me. The darker sauce was sweet, much like eel sauce and really complimented the saltiness of the cake itself.
