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ursamajorI brought my raincoat and boots down to SoCal for Christmas because the news had been spouting dire warnings about historic levels of rainfall, and they weren't kidding. The one time I chose to wear sneakers to walk around instead of my boots, they got completely soaked through; corner puddles rivaling in depth the ones I've stepped into in Boston hidden underneath grey-brown snow. Got to chat with a few neighbors and local restaurant owners about whether or not being open for Christmas was going to be worth it given the copious precipitation - takeout and delivery, yes; dine-in: almost certainly not.
Christmas Eve morning, I woke up before everyone else and went to HMart for some basic groceries (eggs, produce), and then nearly drowned in the downpour on the way back. Stopped at 85C and actually got a hot lemon black tea to warm up.
Carpeing the diem,hyounpark finally got to have lunch at the Colombian place a few blocks away. I'd eaten there before when I came down for the Death Cab/Postal Service concert, and zeroed in on the sancocho, hearty chicken stew perfect for the rainy weather. Meat-loving H went for the tres amigos (meat platter with chicharron, chorizo, and morcilla), as well as empanadas.
We spent the afternoon catching up on Culinary Class Wars and Chef and My Fridge, then ordered pizza from the K-town place that fills the crust with sweet potato puree. Starting to become a tradition!
I grabbed my chance for a brief run Christmas morning during the two-hour window of not-actively-raining, then treated myself to a hojicha einspänner. When I got back, people were finally waking up, so we made pancake brunch. Spent the afternoon making a gingerbread house - Sara did the icing decoration and tiled the roof with Cheerios, while Jane and I focused on structure and additional decor (primarily using sprinkle pretzels and gummi bears). Hyoun sliced up mint leaves for greenery, and I also contributed Toblerone hedges, a chocolate Christmas tree, and then (what I was most proud of!) constructed a snowperson out of a Lindt ball, three cheerios, and the remaining royal icing, with black sesame seeds as eyes and a tiny bit of an orange gummi bear as the "carrot" nose. :)
We met up with Sophia and Jung at Soot Bull Jip for dinner, and basically ordered one of every meat on the menu, including the tongue (three guesses who pounced on that *looks innocent*). They're one of very few charcoal-grill KBBQ spots, and they're known for their marinated meats. Delicious, but totally smelled like charcoal afterwards.
We spent the weekend after Christmas in San Diego to see more family - got to hang out with Hyein and Nick for the first time since their wedding! Meandered around Balboa Park, took the kids to the model railway museum, which was surprisingly huge - some of the largest setups I've ever seen, and that includes the railway villages that used to be in the Embarcadero Hyatt every Christmas.
Dinner was Roy's, seafood to satisfy everyone, though I was the only person at the table who risked any dairy. But lobster bisque was on the menu, a red curry coconut milk base (but affirmed to have dairy cream, alas for everyone else otherwise interested). We also shared the crab cakes, the butterfish, and the short rib, and Uhmuhni had the Lakanilau roll (wagyu beef and snow crab with asparagus).
The next morning, I jogged up the Embarcadero to the Mercato in Little Italy, where of course the very first booth I stumbled across was the used book vendor ;) I breakfasted on kürtőskalács, snagged some dill pickle beef jerky for the road, and then joined back up with Hyoun for brunch at the fancy croissant bakery we'd heard about from YouTube. GARGANTUAN AF, HOLY COW. We shared a classic basic croissant to appreciate the layers, and then the carnitas croissant, and then the s'mores croissant. I'd also wanted to try their Moroccan black olive chocolate croissant, though they were sold out of it. And I don't even know how they achieved a muffaletta croissant, *stuffed* with pork and provolone and olive salad. Maybe someday I'll develop the patience to achieve that kind of lamination? :) They also do sourdough, which they were sadly sold out of; I was highly intrigued by their lao gan ma-gruyere sourdough, and reminded that I'd like to try keeping a sourdough starter alive again in the new year. We shall see!
And then getting a few precious hours to hang out with Dania on our way back up the coast. Crocheting on pause to play with the new family crafting toy, a 3D pen; we managed to create our initials all together :) Acknowledgement of life continuing to be heavy, the promises made by our younger more idealistic selves that we're going to be unable to keep, the nuance of dealing with that. But it's always good to see faraway friends whom I've known half a lifetime now, more than, crap.
Circling back, there was a Filipino cafe just outside the railway museum; mostly sold out of food for the day, but I did get calamansi lemonade and their last "Dubai chocolate" ensaymada. Overly sweet to me, I think mostly due to it being stuffed with more creme (seriously, it tasted like the filling in a Krispy Kreme creme donut) than I've seen in an ensaymada before. I grew up with Goldilocks' ensaymada, with enough butter and sugar on top to remain visible, but not a full-on creme filling, nor actual buttercream frosting. But that's pretty typical Filipino cuisine - "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU"-ing right over the Asian stereotype of "not too sweet."
It's making me think I really should try to make ensaymada again this year; if I want to make a Dubai chocolate version, I would probably nix the creme, but see what chocolate goes best with the traditional queso de bola/Edam cheese, and the Dubai pistachios, and then I'd have to figure out how to incorporate the kataifi somehow. Probably sprinkled on top.
And then we got back to LA and mostly it kept raining, but we did manage to slip out to Santa Monica for the sunset on Monday when the skies cleared for a few precious hours. One more lunch out with Jung and Uhmuhni at Republique (H and U loved their chicken sandwiches Jung got the potato pancake with smoked salmon, and I got the seasonal ricotta toast with persimmons and pistachios. Cheesemaking goals; I'd love to make a ricotta at home that creamy!). Clearing out the leftovers.
And then the long drive back up the coast. Sandwiches at Red Scooter Deli in Paso to break up the journey (French dip for H, bacon jam grilled cheese for me); heading straight to the Aquarium upon arrival in Monterey. Mediocre overpriced pizza and garlic bread at the closest place still open (it was New Year's Day and we were in the heart of tourist trapland). I awoke the next day in time to catch an utterly sublime sunrise, jogging slowly along the coastal trail. Hyoun woke up half an hour later, caught up to me; we walked back together through the park where we got married sixteen-plus years ago.
Picked up Jollibee on the last leg so we wouldn't have to cook when we got home; drove past the sign we always spot too late talking about artichoke cupcakes, another thing I'll have to try to replicate at home this year. And then we were HOME and we did laundry and slept forever.
Christmas Eve morning, I woke up before everyone else and went to HMart for some basic groceries (eggs, produce), and then nearly drowned in the downpour on the way back. Stopped at 85C and actually got a hot lemon black tea to warm up.
Carpeing the diem,
hyounpark finally got to have lunch at the Colombian place a few blocks away. I'd eaten there before when I came down for the Death Cab/Postal Service concert, and zeroed in on the sancocho, hearty chicken stew perfect for the rainy weather. Meat-loving H went for the tres amigos (meat platter with chicharron, chorizo, and morcilla), as well as empanadas. We spent the afternoon catching up on Culinary Class Wars and Chef and My Fridge, then ordered pizza from the K-town place that fills the crust with sweet potato puree. Starting to become a tradition!
I grabbed my chance for a brief run Christmas morning during the two-hour window of not-actively-raining, then treated myself to a hojicha einspänner. When I got back, people were finally waking up, so we made pancake brunch. Spent the afternoon making a gingerbread house - Sara did the icing decoration and tiled the roof with Cheerios, while Jane and I focused on structure and additional decor (primarily using sprinkle pretzels and gummi bears). Hyoun sliced up mint leaves for greenery, and I also contributed Toblerone hedges, a chocolate Christmas tree, and then (what I was most proud of!) constructed a snowperson out of a Lindt ball, three cheerios, and the remaining royal icing, with black sesame seeds as eyes and a tiny bit of an orange gummi bear as the "carrot" nose. :)
We met up with Sophia and Jung at Soot Bull Jip for dinner, and basically ordered one of every meat on the menu, including the tongue (three guesses who pounced on that *looks innocent*). They're one of very few charcoal-grill KBBQ spots, and they're known for their marinated meats. Delicious, but totally smelled like charcoal afterwards.
We spent the weekend after Christmas in San Diego to see more family - got to hang out with Hyein and Nick for the first time since their wedding! Meandered around Balboa Park, took the kids to the model railway museum, which was surprisingly huge - some of the largest setups I've ever seen, and that includes the railway villages that used to be in the Embarcadero Hyatt every Christmas.
Dinner was Roy's, seafood to satisfy everyone, though I was the only person at the table who risked any dairy. But lobster bisque was on the menu, a red curry coconut milk base (but affirmed to have dairy cream, alas for everyone else otherwise interested). We also shared the crab cakes, the butterfish, and the short rib, and Uhmuhni had the Lakanilau roll (wagyu beef and snow crab with asparagus).
The next morning, I jogged up the Embarcadero to the Mercato in Little Italy, where of course the very first booth I stumbled across was the used book vendor ;) I breakfasted on kürtőskalács, snagged some dill pickle beef jerky for the road, and then joined back up with Hyoun for brunch at the fancy croissant bakery we'd heard about from YouTube. GARGANTUAN AF, HOLY COW. We shared a classic basic croissant to appreciate the layers, and then the carnitas croissant, and then the s'mores croissant. I'd also wanted to try their Moroccan black olive chocolate croissant, though they were sold out of it. And I don't even know how they achieved a muffaletta croissant, *stuffed* with pork and provolone and olive salad. Maybe someday I'll develop the patience to achieve that kind of lamination? :) They also do sourdough, which they were sadly sold out of; I was highly intrigued by their lao gan ma-gruyere sourdough, and reminded that I'd like to try keeping a sourdough starter alive again in the new year. We shall see!
And then getting a few precious hours to hang out with Dania on our way back up the coast. Crocheting on pause to play with the new family crafting toy, a 3D pen; we managed to create our initials all together :) Acknowledgement of life continuing to be heavy, the promises made by our younger more idealistic selves that we're going to be unable to keep, the nuance of dealing with that. But it's always good to see faraway friends whom I've known half a lifetime now, more than, crap.
Circling back, there was a Filipino cafe just outside the railway museum; mostly sold out of food for the day, but I did get calamansi lemonade and their last "Dubai chocolate" ensaymada. Overly sweet to me, I think mostly due to it being stuffed with more creme (seriously, it tasted like the filling in a Krispy Kreme creme donut) than I've seen in an ensaymada before. I grew up with Goldilocks' ensaymada, with enough butter and sugar on top to remain visible, but not a full-on creme filling, nor actual buttercream frosting. But that's pretty typical Filipino cuisine - "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU"-ing right over the Asian stereotype of "not too sweet."
It's making me think I really should try to make ensaymada again this year; if I want to make a Dubai chocolate version, I would probably nix the creme, but see what chocolate goes best with the traditional queso de bola/Edam cheese, and the Dubai pistachios, and then I'd have to figure out how to incorporate the kataifi somehow. Probably sprinkled on top.
And then we got back to LA and mostly it kept raining, but we did manage to slip out to Santa Monica for the sunset on Monday when the skies cleared for a few precious hours. One more lunch out with Jung and Uhmuhni at Republique (H and U loved their chicken sandwiches Jung got the potato pancake with smoked salmon, and I got the seasonal ricotta toast with persimmons and pistachios. Cheesemaking goals; I'd love to make a ricotta at home that creamy!). Clearing out the leftovers.
And then the long drive back up the coast. Sandwiches at Red Scooter Deli in Paso to break up the journey (French dip for H, bacon jam grilled cheese for me); heading straight to the Aquarium upon arrival in Monterey. Mediocre overpriced pizza and garlic bread at the closest place still open (it was New Year's Day and we were in the heart of tourist trapland). I awoke the next day in time to catch an utterly sublime sunrise, jogging slowly along the coastal trail. Hyoun woke up half an hour later, caught up to me; we walked back together through the park where we got married sixteen-plus years ago.
Picked up Jollibee on the last leg so we wouldn't have to cook when we got home; drove past the sign we always spot too late talking about artichoke cupcakes, another thing I'll have to try to replicate at home this year. And then we were HOME and we did laundry and slept forever.
Tags:
- aquariums: monterey bay aquarium,
- bakeries: izola,
- bakeries: mia sorella chimney cakes,
- beaches: berwick park,
- cafes: 85c,
- friends: the singing college,
- groceries: hmart,
- museums: model railroad museum,
- parks: balboa park,
- pizza: koreatown pizza company,
- restaurants: escala,
- restaurants: jollibee,
- restaurants: red scooter deli,
- restaurants: roy's,
- restaurants: république,
- restaurants: soot bull jip,
- travel: road trips: california
