shabu shabu

last night, i had a korean-style shabu shabu meal. i haven't had shabu shabu in a long time, and usually when i do, it's either japanese- or chinese-style, but it was cool to try it it korean-style... there are some differences from what i'm used to. you cook the meats and veggies in broth (water?) like normal, but instead of eating them in a soup bowl, you eat them in lettuce wraps that have rice and shredded egg on top (not cheese!). there were a bunch of dipping sauces that i liked---a bean-like sauce that you add for the lettuce wraps, as well as a peanut and spicy sauce for meats and seafood and a dumpling sauce for dumplings and also some kim chee. after the meal, they prepared a kim chee rice porridge that was also yummy. finally, they serve a mochi dessert, along with a cinnamon drink that i've never had before---i liked it a lot and want to know where i can get more... it reminded me of goldschlager but without the gold sparkly bits, a lot less intensely cinnamon, and non-alcoholic. i think there were a couple of pine nuts in it too which i thought was a nice touch.

here are some pics, although they are very grainy because of the low light...

	dipping sauces
	boiling broth
	meat and veggies starting to cook
	lettuce wraps
	meats and seafood
	ingredients for kimchee rice porridge
	kimchee rice porridge
	mochi dessert and cinammon drink

Originally uploaded by cignoh

veggie and rice soup

Originally uploaded by cignoh

i made some soup for dinner last night. i sauteed chopped onions, carrots, and celery until the onions were clear, then added chicken broth and rice and boiled everything for about 20 minutes. then i added some frozen (fresh would be fine too, probably better) baby spinach at the end with a little salt and pepper to taste. it was very simple, but tasted yummy and healthy too...

cooking by internet

mini quiches
Originally uploaded by cignoh

yesterday, i had afternoon tea with some friends. we each made one or two dishes, the menu was:

* scones (orange pecan and date)
* clotted cream and jam/jelly
* banana chiffon cake
* matcha cupcakes
* chicken salad sandwiches
* cucumber dill cream cheese sandwiches
* egg salad sandwiches
* sesame squares
* strawberries, plain and chocolate dipped
* meat buns
* mini quiches (mushroom and spinach)

yummy!

i made mini quiches and egg salad sandwiches by combining recipes that i found online:

****** mini quiches ******

from this recipe, i found advice on making mini quiches in the comments section:
Reviewed on Oct. 12, 2004 by hope03
These might be okay appetizers, but these are not quiches. To make PERFECT mini quiches, use the Cream Cheese Tart Shells recipe on this site and also the Basic Quiche by Shelley. Use a mini muffin tin. I placed a tiny cube of pepper jack cheese, a tiny piece of canned mushroom and a tiny tear of frozen spinach (defrosted) in each cup, then filled with the egg mixture. Baked at 350 for 15-20 minutes until edges were beginning to get golden. Ah, they looked and tasted very professional!

here are the recipes that she refers to:
recipe: cream cheese tart shells
recipe: basic quiche filling

i pretty much followed hope's instructions, but i added tiny cubes of pepper jack, havarti, and mozzarella cheese instead of just pepper jack. i also used baby chopped spinach. i think i added the specified amount of salt to the quiche mix, but it maybe could've used a tiny bit more... i baked them for longer than 20 min, more like 25-30 min.

****** egg salad sandwiches ******

i combined these 2 recipes:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Egg-Salad-I/Detail.aspx?prop31=3
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Egg-Salad-III/Detail.aspx?prop31=5

and added the following:

8 eggs
2 T country dijon mustard (a little bit sweet)
4 T mayonnaise
1 t dill weed
1 t paprika
1 T minced red onion
1 celery stalk chopped
1 T pimento stuffed green olives chopped
salt/pepper to taste

i think i added a little too much salt but was otherwise happy with the egg salad. also, i followed these instructions to boil the eggs---a couple of them cracked a little, but it seemed ok otherwise. does anyone have better/different advice?

week of photos with focus on bcam

here's a week's worth of photos:

	subway
	mandarin fetus
	ganesh
	jars
	bike rack
	bcam
	date scones

and a focus on the broad contemporary art museum (bcam) at the lacma (more photos here):

uf(o)untain . cubees . jrmyst . tomatoes

some more photos a day: the first was taken at night where i work, my friend suggested that it looked a little like a ufo, and i agreed... in my continued effort to document all of the toys/knickknacks in our apartment (and there are many!) i took a photo of my cubee collection. i saw these on flickr and only had 3 had the time but had to have them all after i saw them... the last two were taken with my new 50mm lens that i got on friday and am excited about. it's going to be my primary lens. this morning, i went to the farmer's market and shot some photos, many of them were blurry/not focused on the right thing. i think it will take some practice, but i like it so far. one of these days, i'll try to actually make something but that is maybe not going to happen for another week or two...

my dinner

Tonight I made baked tofu (marinated in soy, sesame oil, nutritional yeast, ginger..) and stir-fried some veggies in five-spice, etc. It was yummy. I had to put a charge in the camera so veggies looking a little wilted.

Yesterday I made a spinach-feta sauce to go over quinoa. But no pictures because I ate it.

Last week I made this really yummy bean soup with red nightfall beans (heirloom), loads of celery and onions and tomatoes. Shared with cute law school boy living upstairs from me. No pictures, all gone.

I'm off to see a Bollywood movie with Ryan and Pey-Ning. Might bring a book to read.