He can't fit... I wonder why... : )

http://www.fuh2.com/ (Courtesy of Nick)

Little Tokyo Gig

This past Sunday we had an AWESOME show at 2nd Street Jazz in Little Tokyo.

Little Tokyo itself is a bit of a disapointment. Run down and very tiny. HOWEVER, it looks like they've started renovating; and being that it's close to the Walt Disney concert hall and the MOCA museum, chances are they'll want to upgrade a bit to attract people, so here's to hoping it gets better.

Dark, Hot, and Tiny this jazz club is very much like what I would have thought an underground club would be like. A bit tough to find as well-- there was not a sign over the door, just their address.

@ 2nd st Jazz
366 East 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

... More farmers market.. sort of

So that Farmers Market I wrote about a week or so back; you know, the one with all the grapes, peaches and the poor Dave carrying all my bags and a backpack worth of produce? Yeah that one : )

Alright. So pitch dark and very early this morning (5:30 AM) I made my way to the Bakery to finally show my face after a month or more of me being rediculous (another story in itself). They were putting stuff together for the market for their stall. (I'll talk more about the bakery another time. See internship link ) ... etc. etc. etc. zip forward... okay now we're at the market.

There is a lady, Anne, who has a booth where she sells these BEAUTIFUL scarves that she makes all by hand.. er by loom I should say. I wish she sold on the internet b/c of how much she could get for them. Anyhow, these BEAUTIFUL scarves have been screaming "BUY ME NOW!!!" for about a year or so..... I finally caved in.

Being the So Cal girl that I am, my warmest clothes are light sweaters. So it's almost impossible to find something that I love that is warm. Aren't they gorgeous?! I can't wait until I'm in Japan and up in the Bay Area to wear them.

Gimpy

Alright, So I'm a bit gimpy when it comes to html and commands.. that's why you're looking at this template webpage instead of a fancy one. So I've been tinkering with commands if you will and I've gotten the side bar to work, sort of. I'm trying to do something like Keiko's blog where the books are all lined up. But, for some reason the picture of the book keeps encrouching on eveyrthing else and it just looks horrid! Anybody know how to fix this aside from sending me to class to learn this stuff?

Houri is a good friend of mine whom I've had the pleasure of knowing for let's see.. maybe eight (?) years now. Yes, that is quite a long time for me being that I'm 24. She's very lively, super intelligent, and very beautiful. She reminds me a lot of my cat Todd. ;) Houri is also one of the few people who actively tries to make herself and the world around her better. Anyhooo.. enough of the mushy crap... so she and her new Man, who I will lovingly call "Mr. T," (not to be confused with the other Mr. T (no I'm not talking of the A Team Mr. T) came to dinner the other night.
On the menu for the night, a mix of Ethnic fare--Hummus, Tandoori Chicken, Bulgarian Feta with fresh Mint (from my garden::preen::), Saffron Rice, Cucumber Mint Yogurt, Eggplant Badmejan (sp?), and Baklava.
I'd post a picture of her and Mr. T if I was certain I could, but since she absolutely hates it when I take her picture, I'm assuming that I should play it safe and just stick with the food pics. (Though if you wanted to see what she looks like and what Mr. T looks like, you could just go to her blog here)
Alright, so back to the food. I must confess that I was a bit of a lazy munchkin having just gotten back from work at six. So I had ran to the Wholesome Choice (local Iranian mart) and also to India Sweets and Spices (Local Indian Shop) and picked up a few things.
I wish I could tell you here that I made the Baklava, but.. this would be one of the things I picked up out of laziness. However, I did make the Tandoori Chicken (sans Tandoor--random factoid: the CIA Napa has an actual Tandoor Oven!) as well as the cucumber yogurt and hummus. Ideally, this chicken would have been blackened a bit....

Recipes:


Tandoori Chicken
Curtesy of My Friend from the Office, Reema

4 Large Pieces of Chicken Breast
Ginger Paste-1tsp
Garlic-1 tsp
Cummin Powder-1 tsp
Corriander Powder-1 tsp
Tandoori dry masaala-1flat tsp
Tandoori paste-tip of tsp
Tomato paste-small can 2 oz.
Salt-1tsp
Red Chili Powder-1/4 tsp
Plain yogurt ½ cup

Put all the ingredients on the chicken and make sure you mix them with your hands so you cover all the chicken. You can either barbeque this or bake in the oven.

If BBQing, medium heat and turn over frequently, end results should be a little blackened but not burned.

If baking it in the oven, preheat to 400 degrees. Squirt a little bit of olive oil all over the chicken, cover it with foil and poke holes and bake for 14 min. Take foil off, turn (mix) and bake at 325 for another 15 minutes to dry the sauce a little. To blacken, leave it on the lower rack and turn the broiler on for 3-5 minutes.


Hummus
Curtesy of Epicurious.com

4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
2 1lb 3 ounce cans of chick peas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup well stirred tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tbs pine nuts, toasted lightly

Mash the garlic to a paste with teh salt. In a food processor puree the chick-peas with the garlic paste, the tahini, and lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the oil, and 1/2 cup water, scraping down the sides, until the hummus is smooth and add salt to taste. Add water, if necessary, to thin the hummas to the desired consistency and transfer to a bowl. In the cleaned food processor, puree the remaining 1/4 cup oil with the parsley until the oil is bright green and the parsley is minced transfer the parsley oil to a small jar (or whatever). The hummas and the parsley oil may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Divide the hummus between shallow serving dishes and smooth the tops. Drizzle the hummus with the parsley oil and sprinkle it with the pine nuts.

Hakata Ramen

I have been meaning to check out the yakitori place that I've b een hearing great stuff about, Shinsengumi. Alas, they were closed! But, next door the same owners operate a no frills ramen joint that Shin (and now myself) believe to have the BEST ramen in Orange County. This place is called Hakata Ramen. I wish I knew more Japanese to be able to guess at what "hakata" means. When you walk in you are greeted with a booming “EEEERASHIIIIMASEHHHHHH!!!” from one of the chefs. At the time there were not servers b/c the bandana clad chefs played double duty as it was a small place. What you get is a very tiny restaurant with the usual complementary manga, news, magazine bookshelf by the window and an open kitchen where the seating is mainly counter-side. There are only TWO tables, so be prepared to wait. We were there at 3pm and still waited for 45 minutes to get a counter seat! But, with all that being said, the food was worth the wait.





The menu is offered in both Japanese and in English. you order by writing what you want on the paper they provide for you. This paper also allows for personalization--weak, regular, strong--X (soup). They had other choices but I can't remember what they were.


Dave and I shared Ramen (uhmm.. wish I knew what kind..sorry…he ordered while I was in the restroom) and Hiyashi Chuka . I remembered to take pictures of Dave’s food, but when my stuff got there, I was totally absorbed in my food and remembered at the very end. The Ramen was FANTASTIC. I think I would have chosen the soup to be “strong,” (Dave picked “regular”) but it is by far their house specialty. I regret to inform you, however, that the Hiyashi Chuka wasn’t all that grand… the flavor was off. I can’t peg my finger on it exactly but the vinegar-ish taste wasn’t quite right…





But for $6 bucks you can’t beat what you do get--the best Ramen in town served with your choice of chowhan (sp?) or sushi (ca rolls) or gyoza etc. as well as a bowl of miso soup. My tummy was very very happy that day.

Mondegreen

This is embarassing but we've all had one of these at one point in time I think....

Looking at the end of the possible songs we might be covering for the Suntory Gig that Gavin sent to me
...
Marley Legend Reggae 1978 12/30/2004 10:42 PM 11/13/2004 3:40 PM 128 44100 AAC audio file 1 3/15/2005 7:47 AM \Bob Marley & The Wailers\Legend\12 Satisfy My Soul.m4aI Shot The Sheriff Bob Marley & The Wailers Bob Marley Burnin' Reggae 1973 8/10/2005 11:18 PM 7/10/2005 1:57 PM 128 44100 AAC audio file 1 8/9/2005 5:46PM \Bob Marley & The Wailers\Burnin'\03 I Shot The Sheriff.m4a

And then it occurs to me "holy shit! It's not I shocked the cherry!"........

Then, I explain to Gavin what had happened and he sends me this.

Alright for you lazy ones.. here's a sampling of what "this" is.

A mondegreen (also sometimes spelt 'mondagreen') is the mishearing (usually accidental) of a phrase, such that it acquires a new meaning.The word 'mondegreen' is itself a mondegreen of "They hae slain the Earl o' Murray and laid him on the green", from the anonymous 17th century ballad 'The Bonnie Earl O' Murray', the last five words being misheard as "Lady Mondegreen". Sylvia Wright is thought to have coined the word to describe all such mishearings. While a common occurrence for children, many adults have their own collection, particularly with regard to popular music.

Examples:
Australians all are ostriches (from the opening line of the Australian national anthem - "Australians all let us rejoice")

O Canada, our home's on native land (from the Canadian national anthem - "O Canada, our home and native land")

Excuse me while I kiss this guy (from a lyric in the song "Purple Haze", by Jimi Hendrix - "Excuse me while I kiss the sky")

This guy is cryin (from a lyric in the song "The Sky is Crying", by Stevie Ray Vaughan)

Just labelmates and fitting rage (from a lyric in the song "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" by Metallica - "Just labeled mentally deranged"

The girl with colitis goes by (from a lyric in the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", by The Beatles - "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.")

It is hard to wreck a nice beach (from a story, perhaps apocryphal, about one of the earliest speech recognition programs being presented, at a demo, with someone saying "It's hard to recognize speech" and producing that phrase as the output)

There's a bathroom on the right (the payoff line at the end of each verse of the rock song Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival — "There's a bad moon on the rise")

Climb every woman (from the Whitney Houston song I'm every woman)

Play that f---ing music right boy (from the Wild Cherry song Play that funky music)

Spare him his life from his pork sausages (from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen - spare him his life from this monstrosity)

It's a hard egg (from It's A Heartache by Bonnie Tyler)

Bullshit! (from Push It by Salt-N-Pepa)

"Buttocks-Pressing Song" (from a mishearing of Kodály's "Could I But Express in Song")

Me Ears Are Alight (from a mishearing of "The Israelites" in the Desmond Dekker song of the same name)

Sue Lawley! (from a mishearing of So lonely by The Police)

Farmers Market Saturday

So I got a little carried away at the farmers market last Saturday and spent fourty dollars on really expensive but perfect produce.
Living in Irvine has it's benefits-you can find just about everything but the downside is that everything becomes just a little more expensive. Say if I were to go to the Tustin market (Wednesdays, 9-1), there wouldn't be as many vendors, but the vendors there that are also at the Irvine market price their produce more just because they're in **Irvine**. ::sigh:: Sorry a bit of a pet peave of mine.
But in the meanwhile you can find EVERYTHING that's in season.. well produce wise.


For example right now Figs, Grapes are EVERYWHERE, that and .....
gorgeous white peaches which are coming to a close season wise. The challenge now is to figure out what do to with all this stuff ASAP while it's all good. You see, I've got this habit of keeping stuff and forgetting about it... but this week, this week will be different. I promise : )

More Stuff That I bought bits of from the Market

Figs

Really really REALLY good Japanese Grapes

Carrots

Sugar Giant Peaches

Silly Girlishness

Girls worry and make rediculous conclusions about trivial things...well, not all the time.

e: btw heidlebergs doesn' tlook very good
a: why
a: i've been hearing it's good
e: well go to that name and then .net
e: look at the cakes.. awful.
a: can u link me to it
a: are u working today
e: yes
e: i'm just not having anythign to do so here i am until boss man gets here and gives me stuff
e: my schedules are different depending on the day
a: oh ok
a: i wasn't quite sure if u were at work or not
a: i think i'm going to goto the gym
a: i feel like a fat slob
e: yeah me too so i dressed pretty in case
e: but it's not woring b/c my pits are sweating through my sweater and ijust feel ugly all over again.
a: hahahaha

You know, had I not paused and re-read our conversation I would not have realized how rediculous it was.

Case in Point

1. Since when does the appearance of a cake give you the tell all as to how good the food is at a restaurant? The only thing you could say is that they have poor cake decorating taste.

2. How is dressing pretty going to alleviate the feeling of being a fat slob.. well logically. I mean you can only trick yourself into thinking you're "not chubby" by your plummage for so long. When it all comes down to it, you're just a chubby girl in pretty plummage

Between the both of us would you believe we have three degrees?

Google Benefits

Doreen is my culinary fairy; every other month or so she has little foodie goodies for me. From blog addresses, restaurants or radio show suggestions to diamond classic cookbook finds at the local used book store. Last Friday culinary fairy brought to me this article from the LA Times.

About last month (?) or so they had another article about the Google’s campus and how they get free transportation from the Bay area in a Techno souped up shuttles to the “Googleplex” –in free wi-fi equipped shuttles. Free wi-fi equipped shuttles!

Alright, so I’m a little bit jelous. So, where was I… Yes, So the foodie fairy dropped off an article to me from the LA Times. I just about dropped my coffee guffawing. Such spoiled Google-ites! (online text of article)

OMG What a freaky moment!!! I’m reading Maya’s blog while I was waiting for our Home office to pick up the phone. I’m reading this line

"Rory and his roommate found a place to live in Glendale (no, not that Glendale), Queens"

right as I read "Queens" this lady picks up the phone “thank you for calling rep services, Queen speaking, how can I help you.

FREAKY!

Poor Bougainvillea

Poor Bougainvillea! It's natural tendency is to climb. This guy is meant to be draping himself over a trellis or a fence stretching its arms to the sky covered in scattered blossoms of either orange, pink or magenta. I'm guessing that they have to lop this guy every week just to get it to stay in the pot....poor bougainvillea!

Todd

This is Todd, our beautiful cat. He isn't the typical kind of friendly. He's very smart, shy, and a bit of a brat. (don't pet anywhere but his head and don't dare pick him up. He'll bite!)

We lovingly call him Toddles. He definitely lived up to his nick-name when he had the cone on his head (see earlier post). He'd toddle around the room with his head wagging side to side (much like a shark swims, says Dave). But now that his stitches are out, he can go back to looking like his normal self. (As pictured here)
So I guess this is really more of a "nothing" post. Just one to show off how pretty Todd is and I guess to celibrate his cone removal.

These are from earlier this Spring. Right now he still looks a bit funny. (square chunk of hair missing from his butt) : )

They were all taken on our patio which happens to be at the same height as the tree canopies that line the street.

Doesn't the green of the trees and the green of his eyes just go great.

Silly me. I guess this is really a girl thing.

Something just magical about “Paris”

Houri had once said that to her Seattle was her magical place. To me, I imagine that Paris would be mine. We had lived there when I was three for a year; and of course being three, I do not remember a thing. I have stories. LOTS of stories and pictures--from my parents, from Yannis, from Houri, from books (Paris to the Moon is one) and of course from blogs (Clotilde's par example). Even with some of the more horrid recountings (the smell in summer, the people--wells some), it's image in my mind just cannot, for the moment be tarnished. The boulangeries, history, romance, and just en Vogue of the whole city intrigues me. Un jour je vais vister Paris... (er.. well maybe)