Meet The Boys

No, we didn't adopt any young tykes, or even buy a couple of turtles. I was at the local Mitsuwa Market, and found these: Otokomae Tofu-ya. What's so special about them? They give their tofu male names and personalities!

This is Ryuichi:


This is Tetsuo:



This is Masahiro:


They're so handsome and manly, I can't bring myself to eat them. They're still sitting in my refrigerator, getting older and manlier by the day.

Fair Food

Fair food. It isn't just fair. It's really, really good.



We went to the Washington County Fair last weekend and I think I almost drooled. Everywhere I turned, something made my eyes pop. Seriously, I think the fair needs to run at least a month so that I can keep going back and eating!

I wasn't able to get pictures of the food itself ('cause I was too busy eating it all), but just looking at the signs makes my mouth water. Elephant Ears. Funnel Cake. Fresh-squeezed Lemonade. Corn dogs. I think these once-a-year delicacies taste even better when they're mixed together with the lights, sounds, rickety rides, and childhood memories of shooting a water gun at the target to win a prize.

Pine State Biscuits

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives recently spotlighted Pine State Biscuits in Portland, so my mom and I decided to check it out. They're famous for their biscuits (obviously) so we each had a biscuit sandwich.





I had the Reggie Deluxe -- fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and an egg, topped with gravy. My mom had the special which had flank steak and blue cheese (I didn't get a picture of it, darn). Sounds good right? It was okay. Sadly. Not bad. Just satisfactory. The prices were reasonable, and I probably would go back if they were closer to me, but I didn't think it was worth the 40+ minute drive across town.

I also thought it was odd that the wait for the food was pretty substantial, considering that a lot of the food was pre-prepared (I saw the guy assemble my sandwich from a bunch of pre-cooked eggs and bacon sitting in piles on the assembly table). I'm thinking that maybe the trick to this place is to call your order in ahead of time, then go pick it up. Something to think about.

Sigh. So now you know.

Oh, by the way, if you're wondering about the background of my biscuit sandwich, it's my car. There's very little seating at the cafe (very little), and since Sydney had fallen asleep in the car, we opened the windows and ate in the car.

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.