somebody...please let me brunch!

one of the hardest things about being back in cali is that i don't have my own place...therefore i don't have my own kitchen...therefore i don't have my own stuff to cook for/entertain folks. yes - i'm thankful that after 9.5 hours at work and then after a 45+ minute commute to my parents' house, dinner has already been cooked and is already on the table when i come through the front door. seriously - after 20 years of cooking for myself, it's really nice to come home (especially so late) and be able to eat right away. however - i am at the mercy of what the menu choice is...and sometimes eat what's there - even if i'm not in the mood or not a fan (which is rare because my mom's cooking kicks a$$).

although i've had spurts of trying to make meals for my family during the weekends, it's been few and far between because weekends tend to get booked up with doctor/dentist appts, nephews' baseball games, seeing friends, and other stuff i can't do during the work week. and then - there are my attempts at baking (which i can do since i have no life during weeknights right now), but often feel limited in what i can bake (i'm learning...but my recipients are a little pickier than i'm used to).

what has been challenging the most is that i don't have my cooking gear and servingware here, as well as the opportunity to entertain. one of my favorite things to do at my lenox village house in nashville was to brunch with friends.

the usual menu suspects included:
- crispy and flavorful waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
- stacks of mini chocolate chip pancakes with warm maple syrup
- egg bake with layers of veggies and herby goodness with splashes of tapatio
- limey minty fruit salad (like a mojito minus the rum)
- crispy bacon
- browned sausage links
- bold/smooth coffee

man - i miss brunching on a lovely saturday late morning on my beautiful travertine marble square dining table. then relaxing in the living room with full bellies, watching a DVD, and drifting off into a food coma. on a brunch day, dishes could wait...

$4.12 a day

i have spent many lunches sitting at my desk - at this current job and the last job (temping at CAT). i learned, after losing my HCA job 2.5 years ago, that taking my lunch to work was economically necessary and also got rid of the leftovers quicker. i also found it easier just to sit at my desk and eat rather than finding a place in the building not all up in the general employee public (which wasn't always something that i've ever liked much).

since moving back to cali, living with my parents, and starting this my new job, it's been challenging to bring food from home. mainly because, i don't cook much at home (i get home too late as it is to eat let alone to cook) and also because there's hardly any place to store any food i buy (even though my family has two refrigerators and one storage freezer!). whatever mom makes for dinner may not always be a good option to bring to my workstation to consume (often, it would leave an assaulting aroma in the air in our very open work space). also - the folks may want to eat leftovers the next day, so i just leave it be. and besides, bringing family leftovers was a feat in itself. there wasn't just a main and a side or two. it often required 3-5 small storage containers because you didn't want said items to "touch" and/or they were not all microwave-friendly. so - with all this to consider (i know...geez, it's just lunch!), i started to check out the commissary in the basement of my building on the lot.

the commissary has a decent number of offerings: two daily specials and two soups (one with meat and one vegetarian), a long list of a la carte items, made-to-order salads and sandwiches, a pretty good salad bar, and extensive beverage and snack selections (plus the guy behind the counter and the lady at the register are quite nice and smiley). i've tried a little of each and some choices were good and a few that were not so good. my first crack at the salad bar (and thankfully, the produce in cali is always great), i found there were two sizes of containers...small/medium and medium/large. and to my amazement, they didn't sell it by weight (i thought they did like whole foods and HCA). i started out putting my salad bar choices in the bigger container...but soon realized, i was way too full (since i sit at my desk for 9.5 hours everyday...i know, i know) and opted to choose the smaller container next time with soup or maybe some toasted pumpernickel bread (which is one of my faves and rarely available in eateries these days). let me tell you...after doing this a few times, i realized that the smaller container is plenty and no other side items are necessary.

so - here's my decision. i can afford $4.12 a day (it's what the smaller container of salad bar costs + tax). that's $20.60 a work week...$82.40 a month. if you know me, you know i could easily spend a decent amount of money when i eat out (especially since i don't do it that often anymore). now, i am often tempted by the plethora of gourmet food trucks that are parked outside our lot each day (and an email is circulated with the trucks of the day), but that would require me walking to the said street outside the lot and then a couple of uncertain variables which would cause me to refrain...unless a truck i've been dying to try comes and i can get away to go get it...but i digress). a $4.12 meal is completely worth it...as opposed to having to prepare and pack a lunch from home, heat it/prep it for consumption onsite, and remembering to take home the containers, and then cleaning them when i got home. that smaller container for the salad bar packs plenty of food, i bring my own favorite salad dressing (ken's steak house creamy balsamic and store it in my desk mini-fridge...we all have one under our workstations...and a decent sized flatscreen tv and dvd/vcr player on our workstations...are you jelly? ha. nbd), and i don't mind eating it at my workstation (since i usually don't actually take that required 30 minute lunch that i have to declare on my timesheets). and the crazy thing is - i'm not a fan of leftovers (except on rare occasions), but i could eat this salad pretty much everyday and not get bored...really. maybe it's because i could drink that salad dressing in a shot glass =) or because i feel like it's a reasonable, healthy choice i'm making given my current circumstances (sitting all day, commuting, not wanting to be too full from lunch, etc.) or i just like salad with good stuff on it. the funny thing is, i have yet to tire of the same salad bar selections i put into that smaller container every day. i find it strange that for someone who loves food with flavor, eats pretty much anything (and will try anything at least once), and is even quite adventurous when it comes to food...my choice of a salad lunch every day with the creamy balsamic dressing is one of the wisest things i've decided since moving back to cali. now...if i could commit to using that treadmill in the den...

here are the $4.12 salad bar (smaller container) contents of choice:

- baby spinach
- diced grilled chicken breast (plain)
- shredded carrots
- corn kernels
- pickled beets
- garbanzo beans
- sliced cucumbers
- crumbled hard boiled eggs
- tomatoes (depending on the day - cherry, grape, or chopped marinated in evoo and parsley)
- a few pieces of peach

mother's day weekend: consumption

wow...i can't believe all the food i consumed this weekend. granted, it was mother's day weekend and there was a lot appreciation going on centered around food (which is my M.O. and my family's M.O.). dios mio...we eat. our family eats well.

saturday:
i inhaled frozen waffles and an egg and fed my nephews before i had my last dental appointment (whoa - numb nostrils feel really weird) and then ran a long errand before buying a carl's jr jalapeno burger with fried zucchini (don't judge me, those things are good). mom & dad and timbro came down for caleb's baseball game and the family was all present. i got a snack shack large popcorn and a hot chocolate while daniel consumed nachos and a slush puppy then played snoody on my iPhone. caleb's team had been undefeated...until today. sadness.

we chilled out at their house of a bit and then made our way to dinner at the korean tofu place by the bowling alley. i got the pork, slightly spicy with egg...not as good as last time when i got beef (which was our first time there), but still tasty. dad got no spice (which he loved) and kate & scott had seafood. i don't know why they slice the meat so thin because it gets a little chewy. the side dishes were pretty good, but the roasted seaweed and the hot water poured into the stone pot with the "burnt" rice always are family favorites. we also shared the spicy acorn noodle salad dish which was refreshing with the addition of perilla leaves, which i love. the boys had kalbi which i snuck two pieces (sweeter and fattier than i'm used to, but good). there were a number of koreans, but also many other cultures and ethnicities there.

and to top it all off, we made our way to yogurtland and did the deed. i got my favorite usuals: original tart with mochi balls, coconut, and heath bar...and this time added the guava pineapple tart which paired well with what was already going on in my cup. we ate outside...but it was windy and cold - which i didn't mind. scott asked dad about his life growing up in north korea (what was going on historically and his parents' lives) and dad gave us some snapshots from what he recalled and what he had heard secondhand. he said that when they go to hawaii this summer he'd tell them more and in sequence...which made me even sadder that i wasn't going on that trip.

sunday:
i ended up staying home and watching the oasis church (nashville) service online since i saw on fb that pastor jillian was speaking. she said a lot...i need to go back and listen to it again. i know there was a lot there for me. and then i got ready to drive to camarillo outlets to return recent purchases. i ended up getting to moorpark and had to turn around because i forgot the returns in my room...so i trekked back, waited in line for costco gas, and tried carl's jr's new turkey burger for lunch (meh). then, it was back to camarillo. bought a strawberry julius (i try to get one everytime i see one since they're so scare)...but it was just frothy and lukewarm (ew). had a chance to have my weekly prayer time with lisa and speak with bets, the birthday girl. more shopping ensued and then had to book it back to SCV to take momma out to dinner.

ok - lawry's prime rib always does it right. we arrived famished (the only reservation we could get a week out was 7:30pm), but got seated soon after we arrived. the place was busy, as expected. our server had a cool accent (which we guessed correct, irish), gave us good service, and we chowed down. first comes their yummy sourdough bread with butter...serious chew and crispy crust. we then got the spinning salad show and we devoured that yummy goodness (spinach, romaine, sliced beets, egg, etc. in a house french dressing). then came the custom, pimped out cart with all the compartments holding the goodness. i had a lawry's cut prime rib medium rare with au jus and grated horseradish with mashed potatoes and beef gravy, yorkshire pudding, and their famous creamed corn. i left room for dessert and shared the chocolate covered strawberries with raspberry sorbet and the coconut banana cream pie with toasted coconut crust (my nod to the south) and a decaf coffee. what a meal...and a full belly all around. another legendary mother's day in the books.

...and where are we going for father's day? dad said he'll think of some place else, as we can only handle lawry's once a year. ;)

let the blogging commence

as i prepare to begin teaching cooking classes at the simply gourmet store in brentwood next week, it seems like it's really time to start blogging.

since i think about food all the time - recipes, dishes, buying groceries, different preparation techniques, and such - it's seems fitting to write about food: cooking, ingredients, eating, entertaining, and drinking.

here we go...!!!