Loving…

I hadn’t uploaded and processed my photos in a while. Tonight after I uploaded my photos from all my cameras and went through them in Lightroom, I felt so blessed.

Right now, I’m loving…

The AC Amy Tangerine Calendar Stamp


Going to The Rock Church last Sunday with our friends Monika and David.




The Asian Chicken Salad at Urban Plates. (Went there for the first time on Monday 2/18.)


Living 15 minutes from the beach.




Late to the party, but I finally got an iPhone.


And a cool case that looks like a Polaroid camera.


Love my very own geek who is building his new computer.


My super-cuddly cat Noodle.


This alphabet roller stamp I got on Etsy.


Coloring wood veneer stars (or anything wood veneer) with the Sharpie glitter paint pen.


Making this goodbye card for my friend Cassi.


Having a ramen dinner at Santouka with Cassi and her family. (But NOT loving that she’s moving away. :(


Going to visit Sally and her twin babies.


The Salsicce pizza at Pizzeria Bruno.


Eating at Pizzeria Bruno with Dejah & Roby and Randy & Rena.


Another work week is starting. I’m not ready, but I feel truly blessed. :)

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Food Club | Pomegranate Russian

What’s Food Club?  Well, the first rule of Food Club is we don’t talk about Food Club.  Ha ha, just kidding! :p  Food Club is just a bunch of us friends who are adventurous eaters.  We want to eat our way around all the different world cuisines in San Diego.  We meet up every few weeks and eat some food that are new to us. 

Last Sunday 4/29 our Food Club met at Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant in North Park. None of us had ever had Russian food before, and this restaurant had a good recommendation from another friend, plus good Yelp reviews. 


They had a wacky menu with funny descriptions and commentaries. 


There was a four-salad sampler that we all got to try a little bit.  I loved the beet salad! 


Here we were.  But Todd’s taking the picture so you can’t see him.  And you also can’t see Ryan.


So we asked our waiter to take a photo of us.  There, that’s better!  Ryan, Shannon, me, Todd, Roby, Dejah, and Maria. 


Todd and I shared all our food.  We started out getting these Pelmeni, which were Siberian meat dumplings, garnished with yogurt-dill-garlic sauce. These were good!


Then for our main entrée, we shared the Chakhokhbili, which they dubbed the “Georgian Eagle”. This had large pieces of chicken simmered with onions, tomatoes, lemons, basil -- plus, of course, the chef's secret spices.

My portion of Chakhokhbili.


Almost everyone else got this:  the Shashlik.  Basically grilled meats.  They didn’t have the lamb on Sunday so it was just pork loin and chicken.


For dessert, we shared the Babushka's Surprise:  Baked apple filled with sweet fruits, walnuts and honey.  The apple was actually marinated and quite tart, and provided a good contrast to the ice cream.  Although, the sauce on the ice cream was tart too!


It was a really nice dinner!  I was surprised that Russian-Georgian food was pretty good.  (Don’t know why I was surprised, I just was.) And I really enjoyed the company and the social aspect of trying out new foods together with our friends.  Long live Food Club!  I think for our next adventure we’re going to try out some food trucks.  Or we may go South American this time and try Peruvian.  :)

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Food Club | Muzita Abyssinian Bistro

A bunch of us friends formed a food club of sorts about a year and a half ago.  We used to be the “Asian Food Club”, but we changed it to just “Food Club” now, because we have ventured into non-Asian food territory!  We’ve met 7-8 times now, each time eating at a new and exotic place.  (See one of our previous food club outing to Yakyudori. 

Last Sunday, March 4th, we met up at Muzita Abyssinian Bistro for some Ethiopian food!  None of us have ever had it, so it was a new adventure for all of us.  But first, Todd and I left early to enjoy the warm 80 degree weather at Balboa Park.  The scenery and the weather couldn’t be beat!



They’re doing some maintenance at one of the museums. 


Front of Museum of Man.


The Prado.


San Diego Museum of Art.


Inside the Prado courtyard.  So pretty.


Ok, back to the Ethiopian food.  We met up at Muzita Abyssinian Bistro at 5pm.  It is located in University Heights, on Park Blvd. 


Shannon and Ryan were already there, as were Dejah, Roby, and Roby's uncle Paul.  Maria arrived shortly thereafter. 

Our waitress explaining the food to us.  She was really great.


Roby ordered Birsn Korosho, which was a spicy lentil spread with crispy fried injera bread.  We got to try some. 

Maria ordered Sambusas, which was actually very similar to Indian samosas!  It was stuffed crispy pastries filled with mixed veggies and potatoes.  


Todd and I shared an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.  To start, we had Teff Encrusted Bamya, which was basically fried okra.  It was pretty good, but the okra was a little bit slimy. 


Todd and I shared the Zigini Siga entree, which was beef with stewed tomatoes and onion.  It was strange to eat with the injera bread, scooping up the food with it.  Eating with hands is weird! 


For dessert, Todd and I shared the creme brulee.  Yum yum!


A group shot, taken by Todd.  It was fun to hang out with everyone at Food Club again.  The last time we went was a long time ago!

I really enjoyed trying Ethiopian/Abyssinian food.  It was something that Todd and I probably wouldn’t go on our own, but it was super-fun to go with a group of people!  Can’t wait for our next Food Club meeting.  I think we’re eating Peruvian or El Salvadorian next!

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Asian Food Club: Yakyudori

Last Wednesday 5/4 our Asian Food Club met at Yakyudori Restaurant in Kearny Mesa for some Yakitori and Ramen. According to my foodie friend Andy, who happens to be Japanese American, Yakyudori does both yakitori and ramen really well, which is very rare. Each type of meal is a specialty and it's not often that a restaurant does both, let alone does both well. So I got a primer from Andy before going to the restaurant.

When we got there, Shannon and Ryan were already sitting at our big table.


Andy had told me that the yakitori chicken wings are a must-have, so I ordered some.

Who doesn't like salted grilled meat? They were perfectly salted and had just the right amount of crispiness and tenderness. Todd and I shared it.

Andy also said be a little adventurous and order something more exotic. So I ordered grilled beef tongue.

The flavor was very good. The texture was a little more tough than a regular beef skewer and I wasn't used to that. It was also perfectly salted.

Now here is where I messed up and got confused. Andy had said that I should order the "shio" ramen (salted) because that's their specialty. I got confused and ordered the "shoyu" ramen, which is a soy sauce based broth instead. Oops! I didn't even realize this until after the meal, LOL.

I guess I'll just have to go back to Yakyudori and order the shio ramen next time! :D I still liked my shoyu ramen, it was not too salty and the toppings were good. I added the egg and bamboo as my extras. The noodles were perfectly cooked al-dente.

So I liked the food. The company was good too. I enjoyed catching up with everyone.








Next meeting of the Asian Food Club will be Ethiopian food. Yes, I know that's African and not Asian, but we're equal opportunity eaters. :p

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