Southern California - San Diego (Part 1)

We were visiting Southern California over the weekend to visit some colleges.  We started to drive down there early in the morning.  We had already booked the Woodfin Hotel in San Diego for a couple of nights.  We wanted to take a short break after 5 hours of driving and stopped in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.  This is the second time I have visited the little plaza.  It has more shops than I remember from the first time I visited a few years ago.  We got some frozen yogurt from "Cherry On Top".  The place was just so cute with a pink and white theme through out the store and a self-serve buffet of toppings to choose from.

Cherry On Top Frozen Yogurt

We also went to the Beard Papa for their famous cream puff:

These complicated handmade origami were displayed in one of the Japanese restaurants. Most were origami dinosaurs and some other hard to make figures, which were very impressive.

Little Tokyo

333 S. Alameda St.

Los Angeles, CA

We then drove to Monterey Park for dinner.  We had dinner in a Chinese restaurant.  The price was cheap but none of the dishes we ordered were good. The food was just so bad that I don't even remember what the name of the restaurant was.

We proceeded to drive 2 more hours to San Diego to Woodfin Hotel and by the time we got there, it was about ten o'clock in the evening.  We were surprised to see that the room we got was a suite, and with the special rate for that weekend, it only cost us a $89 per night.

Woodfin Hotel San Diego

When we entered our room, we felt like we were walking into a small apartment.  A good -sized kitchen is well stocked on the left.

The living area is adjacent to the kitchen.  It has a couch with a pull-out bed in it, a single chair, a TV with a great selection of channels,  and a DVD player on top of a desk.

 There is also a balcony you can walk out from the living area.

Behind a double door, there is an enormous bed that is very comfortable to sleep in. A good-sized bathroom and a small closet were attached to this bedroom.

Woodfin Hotel

10044 Pacific Mesa Blvd,

San Diego, CA 9212

(888)433-2150

The housekeeping service was not great as there were so many things not placed in our room we had to  go down to the front desk for additional necessities.  However,  the room itself is very comfortable and spacious enough to stay in for the four of us.  We loved the Starbucks coffee provided in the room as we needed it for a good start every morning. There's also a gym and a restaurant on the main floor.  There are also many restaurants close to the hotel to drive to. We will definitely go back and stay there again the next time we're in San Diego.

Green Daikon and Carrots Soup

I like to make this soup because it is filling and tasty without adding too much meat in it.  I usually ate more of this during meals if I wanted to reduce the intake of carbohydrate.

I

Some of the ingredients I already posted in Pears & Pork soup.  The two ingredients here are also commonly used in soup:

Semen Euryales  - Taste like cooked peanuts after it's cooked.

Chinese Yam - Also called Huai Shan

 Ingredients:

1 lb. Lean pork
1 Green Daikon, peeled and cut into big pieces
3 Carrots, peeled and cut into big pieces
2 Tbsp Semen Eurayles

6 Huai Shan
3 Dried Scallops
2 tbsp North Almonds
1 tsp South Almonds
3 Dates


Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil.
2. Rinse all ingredients and set aside.
3. Add in pork and the rest of ingredients into the boiling water . Bring to another boil on high.
4. Turn heat to simmer and continue to cook for two and half hours.

Note:

*North almonds are actually apricot kernels and are bitter in taste.  Never use too much of them. All of these ingredients can be found in any Chinese store and supermarket.

Parcel 104

I had heard about this restaurant for quite some times but never had a chance to experience it.  After reading the reviews on  restaurants review sites, Wave and Zagat.  I met up with my friend who I haven't seen for long time for lunch at Parcel 104 down in Santa Clara.

This restaurant is located inside the Santa Clara Marriot Hotel.  We parked at the adjacent covered parking lot and walked to the restaurant.  The restaurant had a very nice contemporary atmosphere.  We were very surprised to be told that we needed to have a reservation to be seated in the dining room.  The place was basically empty at 11:30am.  We were offered to sit at the bar or lounge area, which was more casual, and we didn't mind to sit there for simple lunch.

Colombian Flan

There weren't many choices on the lunch menu.  I had the Angus skirt steak and my friend ordered the chuck burger.  At the end we ordered this most delicious, creamy  flan I ever had - Colombian Flan for dessert.  It was so nice to see my old friend and had a nice lunch at the same time.

Bake A Meal - Salmon with Asparagus

This is a quick but delicious bake-a-meal (BAM) we all love. The ingredients used here are basically garlic, salt and peppers:

Salmon with asparagus over garlic potatoes

Here is how I did it:

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

Salmon Fillets
Asparagus
3 Potatoes, peeled and diced
Some milk
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic powder
Green onion, chopped

Directions:

1. Generously sprinkle salt and pepper on Salmon.
2. Sprinkle asparagus with olive oil, garlic powder, and some sea salt.
3. Microwave diced potatoes in water for 15 - 20 minutes until soft. Discard water.
4. Place asparagus and salmon on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10  to 13 minutes.
5. Mash potatoes when they are cooked, then add green onion, garlic powder, salt, butter and stir in some milk to the right consistency.
6. Cut salmon to serving sizes to serve with asparagus and mash potatoes.

Note:

When making BAM, try using food that requires the same amount of time to cook.  Potatoes took a long time to bake, thus I diced them first and used the microwave instead because the salmon and vegetables only take about 10 minutes to cook.

Bake A Meal (BAM) - Chicken and Green Peas

If you want a nutritious meal but do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen, "bake a meal". or BAM, is definitely the way to go.  I usually put everything onto a baking pan, turn on the oven, and leave the kitchen to continue my other chores at home until the food is done baking.  I am happy that the food was still delicious enough, and  my kids and husband served themselves directly onto their plates like a dinner buffet.  This saved time and cleaning up the dishes afterward. Here is one of the BAM I often make:

Rosemary Chicken , potatoes, green peas with onion.

Ingredients:

1  Whole Chicken
3 Russet Potatoes, peeled and diced
3 stalks of carrots
1 Can of green peas, drain and discard liquid
1/2  a Yellow Onion
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
Garlic salt
Black pepper

Directions:

1. Rinse whole chicken and dry with paper towel.
2. Sprinkle rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper generously inside and outside of chicken.
3. Place diced potatoes, carrots, chopped onion onto baking sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degree for 35 minutes.
5. Add the green peas with the potatoes and cook for 10 more minutes.
6. Check the thickest part of the chicken (thigh area) to make sure the chicken is cooked. 

Note:

Put a sheet of foil on top of the baking pan before placing all the food to be baked to save cleaning up by just discarding the foil afterward.

Spring Fashion

A couple weeks ago, as the weather was turning warm but was still cold at the same time, I went hunting for a trench coat.  I was very lucky to find this trench coat:

The weather was so nice yesterday after many cloudy and raining that I couldn't wait to go out.  I had no place to go but I wanted to dress up and decided to go for a short shopping spree.  I was glad to be free from wearing any stockings and wore my beloved platform zebra print shoes.  I also paired it with my suede skirt, which I have had for many years.

I was also happy to find this cotton jacket, because the length stops perfectly above my hip.  I am happy that the color is off white since I don't look nice in just white. This can be worn with jeans and casual skirts for casual chic looks.

I have been trying to find a pair of nude shoes, which are the trend of this season but so far, I've had no luck in that department yet.

Healthy Soup - Daikon Seaweed Miso Soup

I have been eating this soup to help me lose some weight. Daikon cleanses the blood, promotes energy circulation and increases the metabolic rate.  Seaweed is very high in alkaline and also help with the cleansing process.  My kids didn't like the smell of the fresh seaweed.  I took extra step just to get rid of the overpowering smell of the seaweed.  I boiled the seaweed in hot water first for about 5 minutes, drained and then proceeded to cook it with the rest in fresh pot of boiling water.  The soup was so delicious that we ate only that for dinner and were still full.

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) Daikon radish, cut into bite-size pieces
1 lb. Lean pork
Fresh seaweed, rinsed well with water a couple of times
5 cups water
2 slices of ginger (optional)
Silkien Tofu, diced
1 tbsp of Dashi powder (Japanese soup base mix)
1 1/2 tbsp white miso paste
2 Scallions, chopped

Directions:

1. Place daikon, seaweed  along with 5 cups water into a 2-quart saucepan and place over high heat. 
2. Add tofu and cook for another minute. Turn heat off.
3. Remove 1/4 cup stock from the pot and place in a small bowl.  Using a fork, dissolve the miso paste and add it back into the soup pot. Stir in the dashi powder. Garnish with scallions and serve

Note:

Always add miso and dashi powder before serving.  Heat destroys the nutrition value of the miso,so always remove the soup from heat when adding miso paste and dashi powder.