King's Hawaiian Restaurant and Bakery

To make up for the healthy food we ate in the morning, we went to King's Hawaiian Restaurant and Bakery in the evening to celebrate food, I mean Mi-chan's birthday. It was a carb, protein, and sugar feast! It was great!

Rick got the beef stew. The wonderfully yummy, filling, tender beef stew. Yumm. I kept picking at his stew.

Are you gonna eat that?

I got the Macadamia Chicken Bowl. It was wonderful. The chicken was tender and sweet and lightly spicy. Underneath that was perfectly stir-fried veggies and warm white rice. I should have gotten the medium instead of the full size. I was full just half-way through dinner. And there was still Rick's stew to eat :) I also got POG (passion-orange-guava juice).


After dinner, we had guava cake. It was nice and light. Perfect after a carb and protein heavy dinner. Before we left, I picked up some pastries for breakfast. Wow. I wish we had a place like this up north.

Clockwise from the top, I got an ensemada, chocolate muffin, chocolate croissant, and cinnamon roll with apples.

We had a good time eating and talking.

M Cafe

Outside

Inside

On our recent trip to LA for Baby Mi-chan's birthday and dedication, the girls (Yumiko, Lisa, Selena, Julie, and I) went out to an interesting cafe for brunch. It's called M Cafe de Chaya. On the outside, it looks like your average, trendy little eatery. What makes it different from the other trendy little places is that it serves only macrobiotic food. Until now, when I heard of macrobiotic, I had images of algae scum and vitamin pills. In other words, I had no idea what macrobiotic meant. Simply, it's eating only what is in season, and only vegetables, no meat, some fish. Truthfully, I was a little scared to try at first, but I was happily enlightened to this way of eating.

The manager (at least I think he was the manager) came out to explain the philosophy behind their food and pointed out their specials for the day and gave us tips on how and what order to eat their food. I ignored the advice and got their breakfast burrito and iced barley tea (mugicha). I was starving! We all took turns trying each others food. Surprisingly, it was all good.

Lisa and Yumiko with their sandwiches, soups, and coffee drinks

The soups were creamy and the sandwiches filling. Selena ordered some spicy sushi made with brown rice, and although it was a little on the mild side, it was still yummy.

Selena with her soup, sandwich, sushi,
and scarlet lemonade

Julie with soba, sandwich, and scarlet lemonade

My burrito was on the interesting side. Instead of scrambled eggs, it was filled with diced tofu colored and flavored to look and taste like scrambled eggs. Also, the bacon was substituted with tempeh. The texture was really weird. The experience eating tempeh was weird. It tasted and looked like bacon, but kind of spongy and grainy at the same time. Other than that, my burrito was really tasty and filling.

I don't think I can adhere to this type of eating and lifestyle, although I probably should, but it wasn't scary trying something really out of my comfort zone.

Who knew macrobiotic could be so decadent?

Krispy Kreme

At the tail end of our bout with the flu, Rick got a major craving for Krispy Kreme donuts. Now, I'm not a big fan of Krispy Kreme, but I was tired of not being able to taste anything. I was hoping that a overly sweet, pillow of deep fried piece of lard would kick start my taste buds.

We packed up Emi-chan and went to the local shop. It was almost 9 PM and Emi-chan was wide awake. Confused, but awake. When we got there, they were making a batch of orignal glazed donuts. The shop was BUSY, filled with hyper kids in pajamas and tired looking adults. Emi-chan loved watching the moving conveyor belts, even when there were no more dounts being made.


Rick bought a box of dozen donuts. This is the selection he chose (ignore the grubby little hand in the corner):


This was a surprise. Krispy Kreme donuts are now considered a health food:


Now, here is one happy customer!

Yum!

Hankook Korean Market

A few days ago, I had a craving for Korean beef. Plus I wanted to provide a dinner for some good friends and for my Bro Jeff, so I made a little trip to a Korean supermarket called Hankook. I usually go to Mitsuwa or Nijiya for my Japanese/Asian food, but I needed meat in bulk and those two places would break the bank for me.

I went in the late morning because 1)Emi-chan was in a pretty good mood, 2) the workers at Hankook are usually in a good mood, and 3)I was in pretty good mood. After 12 PM, we all would be in foul moods.

When I make a trip down to this store, I usually get their marinated meats and banchan, but not today. I went straight to their meat section and bought, oh, about 8 pounds of beef short ribs. I don't think I got enough :)

After picking up some other items for the marinade, Emi-chan and I wandered up and down the aisles for a few minutes. She was fascinated by the fish section. They had these HUGE flatfishes swimming unhappily in a tank. Emi-chan kept laughing and yelling, "Fishes!" I hope the fishes didn't think she was laughing at them. The fish guy looked a little annoyed.

I also picked up a couple of interesting items. The first one is a bag of frozen mantou.


I remember my mom telling me she loved eating mantou for breakfast as a little girl in China. I also remember my uncle, her younger brother, buying a dozen at a store in Chinatown in San Francisco, and eating about half in one sitting. The mantou brought back some good memories so I decided to get a bag. I got the chocolate flavored one, since I was a little scared of the pandan flavored one (pandan? What's pandan?). I microwaved one and ate it. It was pretty rubbery and dry. And it didn't taste like chocolate. Maybe I'll try to steam it next time.

The second item I got was Habanero Shoyu (soy sauce).

I was actually looking for la-yu and came across this instead. I'm a little scared to try this. Maybe I can talk Rick into trying it first.


I wanted to explore a little bit longer, but I could tell Emi-chan was getting a little tired and the lunch crowd was starting to trickle in, so I decided to leave. I want to go back soon to see what else I can find.

Churrasco

Brazilians know soccer. They know samba. They know the beach. And they know barbecue. Man, do they know barbecue. Imagine a large sword skewered with bacon wrapped filet mignon, grilling over an open flame. Next to it are more swords, each skewered with cognac marinated chicken, tiger prawns, chili lime rubbed pork, flank steak, and more. As each sword is ready, a traditionally dressed waiter slices a piece of carnivorous delight onto your plate. This is how Brazilians do churrasco (shoe-hahz-koo).


I can't remember what this was, but it was good!

Gratefully, we don’t have to go all the way to Brazil to have churrasco -- a churrascaria (shoe-hahz-kah-ree-ah) opened up here in Portland a few years ago, much to our delight. So when it came time to celebrate Xang’s “my middle name is carnivore” birthday last month, Brazil Grill was a no brainer.


The birthday boy with his plate. Can you see his eyes glazing over?

We sat down and anxiously turned our disc to the green side, indicating to the waiters that we were ready to gorge. And they pounced. Much like the waiters at dim sum, they swarmed until our plates were nearly overflowing. And that was just the first round. We ate until our stomachs were content, and our eyes glazed over as much from the cognac-soaked chicken as from the dizzying array of meats that were offered to us. And then we ate some more. It’s funny how you can be stuffed, and I mean stuffed, then a waiter walks up to you with a sword full of juicy pineapple covered in a cinnamon sugar glaze that’s hot off the bbq and suddenly, oilah! There’s room in your stomach!


Cinnamon-glazed Pineapple is a specialty of the house. We try to re-create it at home sometimes, and it's never the same!

Since it was Xang’s birthday, we got dessert, compliments of the house. So…apple cinnamon empanada it was. Yum! Apples flavored with cinnamon and baked into a flaky pastry…it’s actually making my mouth water again!?

Burgerville

So...I'm not always a huge fan of fast food. But, on occasion, I confess to giving in to a hankering for a Filet-O-Fish from the Golden Arches. Since moving to the Portland area though, I've discovered Burgerville. They're Oregon-owned, and promote healthy, sustainable business practices (local ingredients, used only when in season, recycling and composting, using local vendors and farmers, hormone-free eggs, and they even offer affordable healthcare for employees, just to name a few).

So in keeping with their seasonal ingredients, every season brings a new item to their menu. At various times during the year, you can find chocolate hazelnut milkshakes (Oregon being known for its hazelnuts), Walla Walla Onion Rings, pumpkin milkshakes, strawberry shortcake, and more.

Currently, rosemary is the featured ingredient at Burgerville. If I didn't keep a check on their Rosemary Shoestring Potatoes, they would quickly become an addiction. It's a good thing they're seasonal! "...fried crispy, tossed in rosemary and garlic infused olive oil, then dusted with rosemary seasoning," as their website describes them. Yum-o! (excuse me, as I channel Rachel Ray).


Today, I had their chicken strips and fries, and substituted the rosemary shoestring potatoes. And let me tell you, these are not your ordinary chicken strips. They're juicy, white meat and lightly breaded. They're so good, I usually bring them home to eat with rice and tonkatsu sauce.

I was so anxious to start eating, I forgot to take a picture until Sydney and I had eaten a few of the chicken strips =D

Mini Cupcakes

*I posted last night/early this morning, but when I went back to edit a paragraph, I ended up deleting my whole post! Aaagh! All that writing! Oh well. I'm going to try again.*

As you probably guessed, I have a slight obsession with cupcakes. It's been a lot of fun trying to find the best, the sweetest, the cutest ones around, and I've just gotten started!

For Emi-chan's birthday, I decided to do mini cupcakes. First ones were for her Parent and Me class. Since I was the snack mom a couple days after her birthday, I decided to make some special ones. The normal thing is probably to go to a supermarket and buy a box of cupcakes for $6, but no, not for my precious baby. Only the best for the little princess. I had to make these beach going teddy bears I saw on Bakerella and My Little Mochi.

I found that these mini cupcakes were both easier than I thought it would be, and also harder than I thought it would be. The easy part: I decided I wouldn't make the cupcakes from scratch, but used a mix and canned frosting, for sanity and health reasons (my sanity and the kids' heathy. I'm not the best baker). Drawing the faces and bathing suits on the bears was easier than I thought it would be, thanks to edible marking pens. The hard part: finding decent bears to draw on (I ate most of the rejects...I don't want to look at another Teddy Graham for awhile), and frosting the cupcakes. I decided to use the easy-peasy frosting technique I saw on a Food Network show, where you take a plastic ziplock bag and load it up with frosting, push the frosting into a corner of the bag, snip the corner, and then pile your cake with fluffy frosting. When I tried it, it 1) got all over me and 2) looked like I had piles of white dog poo on the cupcakes. Not very appetizing. So, I had to refrost them before sprinkling them with blue sprinkles. In the end, I'm pretty happy with the results (the kids were, too, except for Emi-chan, who hates cake). What do you think?


For Satuday, we had a family birthday party. I had ordered 2 dozen mini cupcakes from Sibby's in San Mateo. My brother Jeff tagged along to help me pick them up. At first, I wasn't sure if I had the right directions. The address took me to a one way street behind a row of retail stores. All we saw were auto body shops. No bakery. I had Jeff re-read the directions to me. Then I saw it. Sibby's. A little pink oasis among dirt and grime. Once I saw the cupcakes, I was very happy I chose them.


Rick thought the cupcakes were too sweet. Emi-chan rejected them because they were cake. I liked them very much. Yes, the cupcakes were sweet, but you could taste the distinct flavors. I had ordered the variety pack, and we got (I think): Dulce de Leche, Carrot Cinnamon, Red Velvet, Grandma's Tea Cake, Choco Choco, and Butter Cup. I'm starting to get hungry again. Maybe I'll go and get a leftover cupcake :)