Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, since you can eat, shop like mad on Black Friday, and look forward to Christmas fast approaching. And it's a great time to get into the habit of counting your blessings, instead of focusing on what you might be missing.

My family tried combining Asian and American dishes for Thanksgiving dinner this year and left the table happily stuffed. On the menu:

• Butternut squash with basil (It was my first time cutting and peeling butternut squash, and it was terribly unwieldy. I'll have to research some techniques next time so I don't have to throw my weight onto the cutting board or risk losing any fingers.)
• Brussels sprouts with garlic and prosciutto
• Soy sauce chicken, courtesy of our local Chinese BBQ store
• And of course, pumpkin pie!

And adding to my list of blessings – plenty of leftovers. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Committed

I attended my good friend's wedding at the UCLA Faculty Center last weekend, which was beautiful, romantic, and had surprisingly good food catered by the university. By that, I don't mean the "decent for a wedding and the open bar helped" sort of food, but food that I actually remembered and inquired about afterwards. I may also have dived after some caterers to get to a plate of lamb chop appetizers. But you can't be shy about running after good food!

This was also my first wedding hustling around behind the scenes to help out with random things (this is probably common knowledge, but there should definitely be waterproof makeup, champagne, and flip flops for the bride on her big day) and giving a toast, which should've been easy given how often I write. But truthfully, it took several hours and multiple drafts before I had something that I (and luckily, the bride) thought sounded acceptable, and a couple glasses of liquid courage on the big day before giving the toast so that I wouldn't totally freak out.

So like most weddings, it was somewhat hectic, but everything worked out in the end for a lovely time. Maybe that's a reflection of marriage too?

People always fall in love with the most perfect aspects of each other's personalities. Who wouldn't? Anybody can love the most wonderful parts of another person. But that's not the clever trick. The really clever trick is this: Can you accept the flaws? Can you look at your partner's faults honestly and say, "I can work around that. I can make something out of that."? Because the good stuff is always going to be there, and it's always going to be pretty and sparkly, but the crap underneath can ruin you. **

** Book credit – Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert. A tip for toast-writers: If you ever need inspiration, use book quotes.

Afternoon Break

My idea of a perfect afternoon? Visiting the SF Ferry Building and grabbing a latte from Blue Bottle Coffee and some macarons from Miette! Simplicity can be a blessing sometimes. (P.S. While I usually prefer more complex flavors and colors, the vanilla macaron was my favorite today!)

New Layout!

Decided to give this blog a new look. Fortunately, Blogger makes this sort of thing pretty easy. Any feedback is appreciated. More yummy posts to come, I promise!

Farewell 2009; Hello 2010!

Overall, 2009 was a pretty good year - I started my legal career, met someone special, and adjusted to balancing the best of suburbia and city living. I wish my health had been better (I'm staying in for New Years Eve because I caught another cold), but I'm crossing my fingers for next year!

I also started getting into the mentality of simplifying my life, omitting the inconsequential and unnecessary so I get more time with the good stuff. As a student, I had the time, means, and desire to juggle too many things and people at the same time, but perhaps part of "growing up" and being in "the real world" means learning to focus on the important things.

2009 foodie collage [click for larger view]

And one of the important things to me is still FOOD! My top five foodie moments from 2009:
1. Foodbuzz-sponsored food tour in SF
2. Foodbuzz 1st Annual Food Blogger Festival in SF
3. My birthday dinner at Chapeau
4. Foodbuzz Community Table at Bushi-Tei
5. Watching Julie & Julia

My resolutions for 2010 - (1) reduce computer use (beware of carpal tunnel!), and (2) bake more. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and yummy new year!

Giving Thanks

Whenever I tell people I have a food blog, they often follow with the question, "So how'd you get into food blogging?" To which I usually give a quick, cookie-cutter answer somewhere along the lines of "I love to eat, and I started taking photos of stuff I ate, and voila! The food blog was born."

The longer answer to how I got into food blogging is a bit more interesting than that, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a more personal story and give thanks to those who have inspired, and continue to inspire me to write and shamelessly indulge in food.

I've always loved writing; this most likely developed during my childhood years as I spent too much time immersed in books and journal-writing in an effort to get out of ESL class and bring my English up to par with the kids in my grade level. I briefly entertained the idea of becoming a journalist, but I couldn't shake the desire - unwavering since fifth grade - of going to law school. (There are days when I question the sanity of my decision, but for the most part, I find legal practice to be a compelling career. Plus I have a bit more leeway in my Fine Dining Fund.)

I've never been a picky eater, and growing up in a family that almost always had Chinese food for meals made dining on any other kind of cuisine seem like a special occasion. Sad to say, I've had my share of craptastic food before I knew any better. And even when I studied abroad in Japan when I was 19 (which would be flavor heaven for me now), many of my meals consisted of packaged ramen, Yoshinoya beef bowls, and cheap alcohol. When I trekked over to the Tsukiji fish market one chilly morning, I didn't even think to order toro or uni or hamachi (although the sashimi I did have was still out of this world).

My introduction into the foodie world began when I came back from Japan and moved in with a young married couple who still had a lot of contacts at UCSD. The year and a half I lived there was an apprenticeship of sorts -- Mr. Lauren Leung gave me a foundation from which I learned to appreciate food, wine, and other indulgences. From him, I also picked up the habit of photographing particularly delicious-looking dishes, but I never did much with the pictures besides sharing them with friends or posting a couple on my personal blog at the time.

As I started taking more photos and developing more opinions about what I tasted, I toyed with the idea of starting a food blog. I had been following some well-known blogs for awhile, but starting my own seemed like a daunting commitment, especially as a stressed-out law student. The usual questions popped up: Will anyone read this? What if the photos aren't great? Do I need a theme? Isn't Yelping good enough? How often can I realistically update this thing?

Then during a semester externship gig, I met Passionate Eater and became addicted to her blog. I figured if she had the time to do something that great, I should at least give it a try. So I started this blog and have, thankfully, stuck with it for over two years now. Thanks Passionate Eater!

What I love best about food is how it brings people together. While I enjoy a quiet meal by myself now and then, everything always tastes a little better when you're in good company. So I think of blogging as an extension of that desire to share good eats with others. Plus it's kind of neat to think that if you mention a specific dish at a particular restaurant, someone you've never met will know exactly what you're talking about.

I never cease to be inspired by other foodies and food bloggers out there, including all the ones linked in the right sidebar. Some are old friends (Alex Eats World); others are new connections from Foodbuzz (Kitchen Wizard). It's pretty sweet dating one too (WongCo Food)! Thanks to everyone who has ever given me a foodie moment.

And with that, I'll sign off by saying Happy Thanksgiving! Eat well and be well!

Cravings

Being stuck indoors while sick and trying to study (a most unproductive combination) has led me to crave certain foods. And when I can't have them, looking at photos is the next best thing!

Roast pork

Gouda cheese

Naan and chicken curry (Naan-N-Curry, SF)

Stewed marinated pork (Hoshi, Santa Clara)

Strawberry crepe (Original Pancake House, Fremont)

My mother's steamed sea bass

Asian Art Museum

I love museums. Something about walking through one just relaxes me. The Asian Art Museum has free admission on the first Tuesday of every month (courtesy of Target), so I went last month in an attempt to distract myself from studying for finals.

I enjoyed their Japanese bamboo exhibit, which had so many cool baskets and vases that it made me want to try basket-weaving myself (reality hit me later and I haven't embarassed myself by actually trying this). Then I wandered around looking at their normal exhibits, which showcased various artifacts (mostly paintings, ceramics, and clothing) from China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. My favorite part of the whole museum, however, was the gorgeous stairway near the entrance. Just beautiful.

Top left: Stairway entrance. Top right: Silk embroidered Korean bridal robe. Bottom left: Collection of vases from the Chinese Qing court. Bottom right: Recreation of a Japanese tea room.

The little eatery on the first floor, Cafe Asia, also has some pretty decent food, and you don't need to pay admission to eat there. I ended my museum trip with a Thai green papaya salad (steamed prawns served with shredded green papaya salad tossed with mint, basil, peanuts, and cilantro dressing) and a cold bottled Kirin. It's kind of sad how many Japanese restaurants don't have Kirin, and here I found it in a museum!

Anyway, this is a lovely place to spend an afternoon :)

Asian Art Museum
200 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 581-3500
www.asianart.org