My parents, yes BOTH of them, not talking to each other, both brought me up my favorite "one ton" chips.  But no complaints from me!  It's the perfect addition to my weekday salads so I couldn't be happier, I just ran out from Christmas time!

It was another kalbi kinda night... which is also nice because Sean does the grilling!


sides were an arthichoke and corn on the cob.  Yummy!

I tried a new, simple recipe for beef stroganoff.  But to make it healthier I used ground turkey instead of beef.  I think it would have been better with the beef, but it wasn't bad!

Our chef at work asked for suggestions and since I'd been craving it, I asked for spaghetti bolognese.  This is what he made... different right??!  I mean I've never had spaghetti with rigatoni before haha... but it was good, really light- a perfect lunch!

I was still craving my spaghetti bolognese though, so I made it for dinner :)

Sean's mom's chili

my Swirls cupcake I had for breakfast

Ok.  Gyukaku.  This should really be an entry in itself.  First found by my dad in Hawaii.  Per his usual, he became obsessed and would take us there 2, 3 sometimes 4 times a week for dinner.  Well I needed a job that summer so he suggested I apply there.  Well so I worked there all summer.  Free good food was fantastic, the job was hard work though.  After I graduated from LMU, I needed a temp job to get some cash flow, so my old manager made a call and I ended up working at the Gyukaku Beverly Hills.  Next time I eat here, I'll update with more.  But that's it in a nutshell.  


David was in town for the weekend to grab the rest of his stuff :( (tear!) so we went to our favorite happy hour spot.  Too much beer and too much nigori sake, but it was a fun, yummy dinner as always.

work lunch- Edward made this bomb chicken with the perfect side of mac & cheese...and yes, gosh darnit he made the custard pie again.  It was so hard not to go back for seconds...or thirds...

Saturday morning I went golfing with Samantha, Tana & Whitney for Sam's pre-birthday celebration.  Sean made me a ham, egg & cheese breakfast burrito for breakfast!  :)

We went to Simmzy's in Manhattan Beach after golf.  I had a Primo and the other girls had Hef.  We got these fries to start off with and they were covered in ranch and buffalo wing sauce.  WOW.

I got the pulled pork "panino"...it was REALLY REALLY good...

Sam got a burger!

Sean and I couldn't decide where to go to dinner, and since we had a gift card we went to Cheesecake Factory.  It's been a while since I've been there.  But it definitely holds a special spot in my heart since it was the first actual date Sean took me on there our freshman year in college.  And even though I'm a bit foggy on it, I do believe it's the night I skipped a class (whoops!) and went to dinner with Sean there and that's the night I officially became his girlfriend HAHA (even though I wasn't 100% sure at the time!) 


Sean gets the same thing every single time, but he shocked me and got a burrito!  It was so weird!!!  I got the spicy beef and for the second time in a row it was really not very good.  So much batter, hardly any beef and just not that great.... oh wellllll.  We tried a new appetizer though, I think it was called a spicy tuna tempura or something, but that was really good.

C&O's.... this place deserves it's own posting as well.  But I'm sure I'll be back.  THe garlic ball are TO DIE FOR!  The pasta is good but I'd never come back for it, it's always the garlic balls that keep everyone coming back for more!!!


We got it to go so we could go home for the Laker game... I got the penne arrabiatta for the first time.  It was bleh- probably won't ever get that there again.


Sean got a mushroom pasta with cream sauce which I was tempted to get but don't really like cream sauce, but I should have.  His was good!

Sean and I walked to Nijiya and they had curry pan out... I couldn't help but get one!

Edward made chili and corn pancakes for lunch... the pancakes especially were so so so good!  I want to try and make them... 

Mom and Dad both got in on Thursday... Dad went to have dinner with Scott and his friends/parents and Sean and I went to have dinner with the Smiths at Versailles.  I absolutely love Versailles.  It's a cuban food restaurant and Sean and I get the same thing every time.  We used to both always get the combo plate with shredded pork and the lemon garlic chicken, until we realized that if one of us each orders one, not only do you get more, but it's way cheaper too!  Oh, and we also had some sangria!

After that, we picked up mom at the airport...she brought us lots of goodies, including Sean's favorite-- poke!  And she brought a new one they have "avocado poke".  It was really good!!

Well right around 11 pm, dad got hungry... I had been wanting them to try the kogi tacos, so I looked it up (on my new iphone he brought me whoohoo!) and it was right down the street on  Sawtelle... so we hopped in the car and drove over.  He loved them!

Scott graduated on Friday!!!!  I know that really has nothing to do with food, but I just had to blog it because I am just so so so proud of him.  He got his degree in biomedical engineering and with honors from USC!  And will be attending UCLA Dental School in the fall.  Congrats Scotty boy!

It ended a bit later than we anticipated so we just went to a kaiten sushi place on sawtelle to grab a bite & then we were in the worst traffic EVER on the way down to garden grove.  It took us like 2.5 hours to get there from LA.  Literally the worst traffic I've ever been stuck in I think.  Thank goodness it was worth it or everyone would have been MAD!  It was time to revisit Claws.  The last time we had all been there was the night of Sean & I's engagement!  Claws is delicious... you pick whatever seafood you want-- clams, mussels, shrimp, crawfish, crab...and you can add sausage, potatoes, corn...then you pick your cajun sauce and it's mixed in a bag and brought to your table.  You just peel and eat right there....it's the perfect yummy, messy goodness! Oh, and Jennifer wanted to order the snails as an appetizer...I've only has escargot before, but you know I'm down to try just about anything-- it was kind of hard to figure out how to eat it but you just suck it out of one end... the sauce it was in was delicious- it was a creamy coconut tasting sauce.  I would probably eat it again!

Saturday we stopped by for Margo's 3rd annual 80's pub crawl birthday party.  We only made it to the first stop at Yankee Doodle's but still managed to get some good tasting buffalo wings!  I think the celery and the buffalo wings with the ranch or blue cheese is just the perfect combo, whoever came up with that!

Saturday night was time for Scott's Grad Party Dinner.  I got back in time to help with the finishing touches, but Mom, Aunty Jeannine and Tutu had done most of the work.  
On the menu: 
Salmon
Filet
Salad
Taegu Linguine
Rice
Asparagus
Shish Kabobs with Shrimp, Red Onion, Bell Peppers and Mushrooms


And as Pupu's (appetizers) we had a 7 layer dip with chips, poke and dad's hamachi negitoro with korean nori that he copied from Gaku.  It's pretty darn good! 


Lastly, we had a graduation cake for Scott.  Tutu went to get it and it was the same price for a 1/4 or 1/2 sheet, so of course unable to pass up a deal she got the 1/2 sheet!  


It was a really yummy dinner shared with family.  What can be better?  Uncle Mike, Aunty Jeannine, Jolanta, Kalani (we missed Chris), Jennifer, Joe (we missed Julien and Jaren), Tutu, Mom, Dad, Sean, Marilyn, Jim, Aunty Kathy, Uncle David and our guest of honor Scott.  To end the night we watched mom & dad's wedding video that dad had transferred to DVD for Mother's Day.  That was awesome!!!!  And then we watched a slideshow of pictures Uncle Mike had on his PS3.  That was embarassing!!!


And of course I had to take pictures of everything-- it was so festive!

As imagined, we had a TON of leftovers the next day.  So Sean and I decided to make fried rice.  It was pretty gourmet if you ask me!!!  Filet and shrimp fried rice... yummy!

We took mom & dad to furaibo the last time they were in LA, but Scott had never been there.  So since we wanted something close by after going to our place, we went by.  The usuals: hanpen cheese (SOOOO good), tori pirikara (chicken), age nasu (eggplant), karei karaage (baby halibut).  Then we added chicken wings and calamari.  

Last week Tuesday, I made hamachi kama (yellowtail collar) for dinner alongside some asparagus and enoki mushrooms.  Yum yum.  We used to grill them up on the bbq when we had one, but recently I've just been throwing them in oven and they turn out just fine.  I love hamachi kama with the ponzu sauce. mmmm...

Then Wednesday our soccer game was a later one, so I made a big pot of curry for the week.  I love Japanese curry, I think I could eat it once a week.  I like to add a lot of veggies to my curry- carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and spinach.  And the spicier the better.  Lately I have been adding more and more to my curry when I eat it- furikake (nori and sesame seeds), tabasco and cheese.  Yes, cheese!  The first time I had it was at Hawaii's Coco Curry House.  Alanna and I used to love eating here- scallops with spinach in our curry...but then I came home and recommended by  a coworker of mine (who's also from Hawaii) was the cheese on the curry.  I thought it sounded kind of weird too but decided to give it a try.  So glad I did!  They sprinkle shredded American or Cheddar on top and it just melts... you need to try it!!
I also have been loving to eat my curry with croquette.  Nijiya market has a good selection of them, the cream corn croquette being my favorite, followed by the cream crab one.  But lately they have been out of the corn!  

On Thursday I went to dinner and wine with the girls.  We went to Ugo which is a cute little wine bar and restaurant in Culver City.  I've organized my company party here the last two years and love it there.  As Sam said, "It's like a mini wine tasting".  The food is pretty good too.  I was trying to remember the really good pasta we had for the party, but couldn't figure it out so I got the Penne Arrabiatta with angel hair instead and with mushrooms.  Not bad!  But not that big of a portion for Italian- I finished the whole thing and was still a little hungry... But the catering manager Fusun was there, and she's such a nice lady.  She even gave our whole table desserts on the house!  I do have to say though, the desserts weren't that great.  My strawberry shortcake and Tara's creme brulee were just so so.
It was great to see the girls and it was Sam and Britt's first time to a wine bar!  I love new experiences or sharing them with others!

On Saturday it was Julien's birthday at the zoo.  I didn't get a great picture of it, but Jennifer and Aunty Jeannine made the cutest chocolate train cake for him!  I can't believe he's already 4...
That night we were rushing to get back for the Laker's game at Jennifer's house and after much debate stopped off at Marukai to pick up some sushi.  There was a very limited selection, so we grabbed everything they had-- like 5 packs of spicy tuna, a salmon avocado roll, 8 char siu bao's, 4 bento's with chicken katsu, somen and tempura and then this fresh fish cake that was BOMB!  It was a hodge podge of food (Joe picked up a bunch of buffalo wings too) but so good!  I was stuffed...

Sunday was Mother's Day and I wanted to take tutu and Aunty Jeannine to dim sum.  Kalani came with us too!  Unfortunately, tutu stole the bill and told us this year we're saving for the wedding but next year we were paying.  Haha.

After dim sum we went to the garment district again in search of a fabric.... while we were there Sean had to stop at a taco truck for a taco!

After that, we went to the Smiths and hung out for a bit, then were off to an early dinner.  We decided to treat them and Sean's mom picked Thai so we went to Thai Talay (or reversed, I can't remember) on Lincoln.  This is where we ate for Jenny's grad party last year.  I remember loving this "seafood ball" but couldn't recall what it was- we ordered it and it WAS the same one, just not as good as the first time.  Oh well.  The rest of the meal was delicious.  Our standard favorites- pad thai, panang curry (guess I forgot a picture of it) and prik king....then Sean's dad decided on the spicy eggplant and it was super good!  

Lots to update on... 
Last week we had leftover salmon so I made a somen salad to accompany it.  Sean loves somen salad and so do I!  There are so many dressings to use with it... the traditional sauce, the Tropics dressing my mom uses, and now we've been using the Peitro dressing and really like that too.

Last week at work we also had burgers which I tend to not like that much, but it was decent!  Plus the fresh corn is just amaaaaazing, mac & cheese delicious and once again he made his custard pie which is to die for and I just can't help but continue eating and eating...

Friday night we finally made it out to a UCLA Baseball game and the stadium sure has changed!  It's huge!  After that we stopped by Ditty Riese, hooray!  For those of you who haven't had it or don't live in LA, it's one of my favorite places to go... where else can you get an ice cream cooke sandwich for $1.50?  (AND that's a raise in price, it used to be $1 not too long ago!) Then they have a bunch of cookies you can get too- 3/ $1!  They are soft and yummy- cinnamon sugar is my favorite one by far.  This time I had a cinnamon sugar cookie espresso chip ice cream sandwich.  It was heaven.  Then of course, cookies to go (which I had for breakfast on Saturday).  
-There's almost always a line, but it goes pretty quickly so don't be discouraged if you go!

On Saturday we went to have a "southern meal" with Aunty Bet & Uncle Mikey.  I cant for the life of me remember the name of the place, but it was decorated with Texas flags and barn decorations.  To start off the meal, I had my first fried green tomato (with bacon).  I don't normally like tomatoes, but these were quite tasty!

It was another one of those places where you eat the peanuts and throw them on the ground.  I think it's kind of a cute idea and definitely adds to the ambiance, but I'd hate to be the one to clean that up at the end of the day!  I also loved the cups that they brought the drinks out in- jars!  How festive!

As an avid hot sauce lover (mostly tabasco and siracha) I had to take note of the hot sauces they had on the table and try them out.  I still stuck with tabasco, but the chili pepper one was interesting and had some zest and the other one was so so but not very spicy.

We had some fried goodies to start with... Sean got a pulled pork sandwich which he thought was good, but liked his sides even more (okra!) I got the chili but asked for no beans and she thought I said no beef, so I had a few bites but swapped it for the chicken and beef stew with cajun rice and corn bread which was pretty tasty. 

Don't you love the to-go bags?  Just keeping with the whole theme!

OK, and then that night it was Dodger game night!!!  Sean's dad got some really good seats and ended up not being able to come because Marilyn was coming home from China that night.  So, we lucked out!  Got some really great seats and enjoyed our first Dodger game of the season.  And what's a Dodger game without the food?  The usuals... Dodger Dog of course, some garlic fries and caramel popcorn for dessert!

All that and it's not even Sunday yet!  Well Sunday came around and the plan was to get dim sum (yes, again, it's becoming a tradition or something) and search for more fabric downtown.  Well we went to visit Papa first, then went to fill up at Costco gas...and were on our way....heeelllooo traffic! Finally we figured it out- Lakers playoff game AND Dodger game... so we decided to get off the freeway for lunch at Koreatown.  All You Can Eat Korean BBQ at Tahoe Galbi- what were we thinking?!!?  The lunch special was so cheap!! ($11.99) Only thing is that they only offered beef brisket, chicken and pork belly.  No Kalbi aka my favorite.  I still enjoyed the meal of course, but it just isn't the same without the Kalbi.  I don't think I'll do that again!

I think one of my favorite things of all is the rice paper....soo good!

Ok, almost there--Sunday night.  Marion and Vince's wedding!  The passed appetizers were tasty- spicy tuna on crackers, edamame hummus, mini pizza's... I chose fish for my meal and boy am I glad I did.  The miso cod was amazing!  Just melted in my mouth.  I told Sean "This is sooo good, reminds me of the miso butterfish at home"...his reply "mmhmmm and what do you think butterfish is?" Hahaha... I guess butterfish= cod.  Whoops!  I don't have a picture of the cake but that was right up my alley too....light and yummy. The wedding was beautiful, as was the couple, and can you talk about the perfect ending to a perfect night?  They ordered Mulberry Pizzeria (super good pizza place in Beverly Hills).  I'm not ashamed to say that I scarfed down 2 large slices and was in heaven!