Vanilla Moon

I love these cupcakes from a little bakery called Vanilla Moon in San Carlos.

So does Emi-chan!

Taylor Brothers Hot Dogs

For all you folks from the Watsonville area, here is the world(?) famous Taylor Brothers Hot Dog stand!


Why is it famous? Probably because the chili dogs are great and relatively cheap. Sorry no photos of the chili dogs. Too busy eating them to take a picture.

How can you beat these prices?

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?