Pleasant Surprise

Today was a great day because I have cool friends.

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Fishing at Oxnard, CA!

So this is my 3rd attempt at fishing. I was so excited to go fish at a real natural spot rather at a man made lake. Plus, I had never caught a fish the real way. So Johnny and I took a road trip up Oxnard, which is about 2 hours up the coast from Downtown LA. Now look at the sweet stuff I caught.

This is the first thing I caught with my fishing line, not with a crab net. It was beautiful and I couldn't wait to eat it. And boy was it good.

I also caught some little dudes like this Flounder, which I threw back into the ocean.

Soon the Mackrel started to bite around 7pm.

They were coming in like crazy. All the men at the pier were hooting and hollering every time they got something. It felt great because I was one of the only girls there and I was reeling them in like a man. I caught more, and more, and more. On this line I got 4 Mackerels. I was soooo happy.

A homemade tackel from Johnny's box. Isn't it cute? We used dead fish as bait.

There was one guy who fished and the end of the pier and caught this shark. He didn't have a strong line, so he couldn't reel it in on his own. He had to tire the bastard out back to shore. It was at least 4 feet.

After our catch, we went to the lunch tables and started cooking our food right there. That is as fresh as it gets. I brought a hot pot, and Johnny brought the sauces. 

What we drank. 

Yum, green onions, soy sauce, and other ingredients.

The chef enjoying his creation. T'was a good day.

OC Fair 2011

Welcome to the OC Fair! I've been waiting for this all year. My friends and I never been to it, and we were all super psyched. What we were most excited was the fair food of course.

Deep Fried Oreos were the best thing at the fair. Later we had fried cool-aid, bad choice.

We also got chili cheese fries and a cheesecake dipped in sprinkles.

Ashley and Johnny taking advantage of just turning 21. Margaritas anyone?

After a meal and a heart attack, we walked around looking for the petting zoo. This was by far my favorite part of the fair. At first I didn't want to spend $2 on animal pellets because I didn't want to break my twenty. But the goats were just so darn sweet and friendly, I had to go back and buy some. 

Look at the precious eyes of this Alpaca. 

We spent a good 30 minutes at the petting zoo just feeding them and laughing at Mellie freaking out everytime an animal's lips went near her hand. She was a good sport, because she kept on trying and she let me laugh at her.

The Ferris Wheel is a MUST when you go to the fair. It was quite high, Ashlee had to hold my hand. THUG LIFE.

The thrill seekers from the group.

The Procrastinators Drum Corp.

Johnny and I fighting pretending to be praying mantises. Did you know after mating, the female eats the male? WHO RUN THE WORLD? GIRLS.

Love them. They are zee best. Plus it was our first time hanging out with Mellie since she came back from the land of Harry Potter and truffles. We miss her, and we are glad she's back.

We ended the OC fair by locking Johnny out of my car. GOOD TIMES.

Food Bucket list

I have created a short list of all the foods I want to try. Enjoy!

Steak Tartar

Yes, THAT is raw meat. Raw meat is so taboo for me because I was always told to eat fully cooked meat. My dad would even forbid me to eat steak that is medium rare.  If my dad knew that I enjoy Sashimi & Raw Oysters he'll make me suffer his lecture of food poisoning. 

Ethiopian Food

 I find it so interesting how food is eaten because I bet most of us don't realize all the food etiquette that is involved with each culture. Like in Asian cusines, there are a few dishes where everyone shares. And everyone gets a few bites of whatever their heart desires with their chopsticks. They take their bite size portion and bring it to their own bowl of rice. In Western food, everyone gets their portions and eat it off their own plate with different forks, knives, and spoons.

>>>Side Story: When my siblings first brought my old fashioned parents to a Cafe, they ordered steaks. They had a hard time cutting their meat and using the fork. Can you imagine my mother finally giving up cutting her steak and eating it off her fork like it was a Costco sample on a toothpick.

Then in the Ethiopian culture everybody shares this huge tray of separate portions of stewed veggies and spiced meats. Everyone uses flat bread to pick up their food, which goes straight into their mouths. 

>>>Another Side Story: Last time I had a nice hot bowl of Albondigas, which is a Mexican meatball soup with hearty pieces of zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. The soup came with homemade corn tortillas and I didn't even think about how to eat it. So my dumb ass puts some meatballs and zucchini in the tortilla and eats it like a taco, because God knows that's the only way you eat Mexican food. My brother and his best friend, who happens to be Hispanic calls me out on it. I was suppose to dip the tortilla into the soup while I had spoonful. Or a spoonful, and taking a bite of the tortilla. IGNANT.

Odori Don

So creepy yet intriguing! No worries PETA, but this squid is dead. When the sodium from the soysauce comes in contact with the nuerons in the squid's muscles, it comes back from the dead and boogies the night away.


Spotted Dick

I bet you smirked when you read that title. This dish actually consist of dried fruits in a bread like pudding topped with custard. The name actually means spotted Dog. Not spotted no-no's!

Beluga Caviar

This is food for the sophisticated. Which is something I am not. But I would definitely love to try it. I had Masago caviar from Japanese restaurants, and enjoy the texture of it. It is so much fun having them pop in my mouth.

For the serious caviar eaters, caviar is eaten with a mother of pearl spoon. The natural mollusk shell spoon is used so that it would avoid tainting the taste of the caviar because the metal will oxidize it.

Crocodile & Deer Meat

Just cause.

Anything Fresh from the Farm or Ocean

I think my biggest food fantasy is just eating foods from where it came from. I'd get a foodgasm from just harvesting some vegetables and cooking it right at the farm. Or fishing in the ocean for crustaceans, then bringing it back to shore and cooking it right on the camp fire. LOVELY. 

What are some foods you want to try before you die?

Asian Painter

So I'm going to help my brother paint his new house.... and my mom thought it would be helpful to make this whole darn outfit so that I wouldn't get dirty.

Stank Face

I know this is late, but I would like to wish one of the COOLEST & CUTEST girl that I know a very Happy 21st Birthday. 

We met in Geometry class in the 7th grade. Funny Story: she had thought that I was some pretentious f*ck, and I had believed the same about her. But that was only because we were intimidated by each other and...... we might have had a serious case of the stank face. I'm so glad we got over that, because I would have never had such a great friend. 

Happy 21st Birthday AshLee!

Yum, Food!

Entertaining friends is so fun! Especially when I get to make them a full blown dinner. I haven't seen my friend Robin for a while, so I decided to make this Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta. This dish looks so professional, yet it is so simple to make. Get the recipe @ Evil Shenanigans!

Yummmm!! It was as good as it looked.
I served it with some salad and baked zucchini with cheese.

My test monkeys.

Then we had some artisan chocolate I had got from the Hollywood Farmers Market the other day. I was attracted to the packaging on this without noticing what the animals were doing. I had to get it once one of the workers told me the naughty things these animals were engaging in.

"You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals."

Look how simple the ingredients are!

After Dinner, we grabbed some shaved ice and watched Buried Alive. FUN!

The Nakayama's Orchard

My artsy friends and I went to visit our friend Shihori at her parent's Orange Orchard. I was born and raised in the urban city, and visiting the farm was a nice change to what I'm use to. It's a completely different life style, but I enjoyed staying there. The best part of the trip was the food. The Nakayama's have a garden in their backyard, so everything we ate was fresh. I liked it so much that I am now inspired to cook more often with fresh vegetables. I am much more appreciative of fresh foods and know that I should take complete advantage of it since I live in California; where vegetables are easily accessible compared to cold places. Here are some pictures that were taken by Jenny, Shihori, and me, Enjoy!

I've been driving for more than an hour from LA to Filmore. We went from metropolitan to suburbia to the boonies. I cut through mountains and went up and down on weaving paths. We would have past the property if it wasn't for this big fluorescent arrow.

We drove in and found acres of baby orange trees!

We drive slowly into the orchard, and finally reach their house. We're greeted by Emma, their hyper cocker spaniel and Mrs. Nakayama who had just been gardening in the back yard.

Once we settled in, all of us girls pitched our tent. Girl POWER!

Sweating in 90 degree humid weather, we cooled down to Mrs. Nakayama's light lunch!

After lunch, we headed straight to Ventura Beach to escape the Valley heat. 

Sponge Bob and Patrick stuck at shell city!

The beach was nice, but the Nakayama's backyard was even better!

Math Club

Shihori & Emma

Picking strawberries and plums in the garden.

YUM!!!

While we got a grand tour of the Orchard and the backyard, Mrs. Nakayama prepares us a great Summer dinner. All the vegetables were hand picked straight from the garden and into our meals: Tempura Eggplant, Chili, Bell Pepper, & String Beans. Zucchini topped with Cheddar and Grape Tomatoes, Garden Salad, Japanese Seaweed Rice Ball, Garlic and Basil Crostini's, Sausages, and Cucumbers marinated in Sesame oil and Basil. 

After dinner, Mr Nakayama lit the dry wood with a blow torch. We made smores with Meji chocolate and Ritz crackers.

See Shihori here? She has the skill to make the perfect smore.

After the bond fire, we drove into town and bought some TNT fireworks. Here are Melanie and Jenny ripping into the family pack!

Not the cool loud flying ones, but these will do.

After a long day filled of fun and great food, we camped out at the front yard, told lame scary stories and freaked every time we heard noises, even if they were just jack rabbits. The next morning,  I woke up to sweet Emma's slobbery kisses and had toast with homemade strawberry jam. We exchanged pictures and played Slap Jack.  

After so much fun, we had to part ways. We left with fresh souvenirs and drove off into the sun.

I hope everybody has an awesome 4th of July!