Valentine's Day Delicious-latier

Last Saturday Chadsen took me out for a Valentine's day date! :) It was a wonderful day for lucky little me. Let's have the pictures (some taken with the iphone, some with my Canon) do most of the talking. 

In the morning he took over the kitchen and made me crepes for breakfast. I LOVE CREPES! :)
Thank you.

After breakfast he took me to a chocolate shop, one that is now my absolute favorite chocolate shop!

The name is Compartes Chocolatier 

The owner Jonathan designed all of the covers of these chocolate bars. They actually got featured on Vogue magazine. Pretty cool huh?

These chocolates & truffles were beyond gourmet. They were perfectly enjoyable. That means they were perfect, and enjoyable to a perfect degree. I would seriously call them a delicacy. 

Peanut butter cup, Chocolate dipped apricot & chocolate covered ginger. 

Why the heck were they so good? 

What was surprising about the peach was that it didn't taste like the typical "way too sweet" dried fruit. 

This is most likely the most delicious Gourmet Salted Toffee my mouth has ever savored.
We cannot wait to go back.

For lunch we just happened to find this little place called Layla's (Mediterranean food). This place was also extremely good, thank goodness we decided to try it. I scarfed down the little green salad that came as a side to the salmon wrap, which was a tasty surprise. 
Something about the sauce/dressing was so tasty.

So what did I do for him for Valentine's Day? On the actual day I baked him this little brownie & then gave him Batman Valentine's cards that had little messages from myself on Saturday. :)

We ended the day watching the movie Frequency together & drinking yummy boba. It was a great day for lucky little me.

Masumi

The Survey and Two Dozen Extra Donuts

This weekend was packed but definitely fun. Maybe you can say that it was fun-packed. (get it? >;)) We got to celebrate Chinese New Year twice over the weekend thanks to Warren's family and my Kat family, made our last fun memory before my close friend Joanne left to chase her dreams, and I got to join crazy fun people in being spiritually refined at the Relief Society Conference.

So today, having the day off, I slept in feeling sort of exhausted from the weekend (weaksauce.)


Today's post is about the survey that got us 24 extra Krispy Kreme donuts.


Last year Chadsen & I had a craving for Krispy Kreme donuts. After buying a few, I noticed that on the receipt the company wanted us customers to fill out a survey in return for a dozen free glazed donuts when we next buy a dozen. Usually I'm not one to care about filling out surveys (nor buying a dozen donuts), but I did and thankfully it barely took any time.

Having Valentine's Day around the corner, a few weeks ago Chadsen took me to Krispy Kreme again because I loooove seeing the different kinds of decoration and designs that companies do to their products during various holidays, especially the bakeries.


So we bought a dozen donuts, of course some including adorable Valentine's designed ones, then came the free extra glazed. We were quite satisfied with this deal (Already contemplating about who to obviously share this motherload of donuts with), but when we got to the register we saw something else that was definitely a "WOOHOO" moment. The sign said that if you buy a dozen donuts, you get 12 "Valentine's Cards" that lets the recipient get a free donut! Oh man, that day, we were getting more than our money's worth! Cha-ching! :)

So from buying 12 donuts, we essentially left with 36. I think some surveys may be worth filling out :).

Masumi

Pork with yo Veggies

Today Chadsen and I exercised. Some of you might be thinking, "Ok that's nice...". Well, besides stretching my legs when letting my chinnies out to play, I haven't been exercising for months. Same goes with Chadsen, with his loads of work for school. Exercise hasn't been on our priority list, so we were so glad to have gone on that hike! I can't wait to do that again. Pictures will come out a few posts later :).

Last night I made pork with tomatoes and lettuce with a side of a simple carrot salad. It's been so long since I cooked, it felt absolutely wonderful! Cooking is extra fun when the food you make turns out good. Fortunately this one did.

The pork was cooked using the toaster oven :). How did it work? I first inserted about 1 cm cuts into the pork on both sides, whacked it a few times to widen the cut, then added salt & pepper to both sides. After the pork was placed inside of crumpled up aluminum foil, it got cooked it in the toaster oven for seven minutes on one side and seven minutes on the other. (I added a few more minutes on the second round just to make sure that it was fully cooked). The tomatoes were marinated in a sauce that I made and when the pork was ready I put the sauce and tomatoes on top! The salad was a recipe on it's own, which I talked about on a previous post.

Next post: Extreme Krispy Kreme deal! :)

Masumi 

Porto's Date

Today, for a little date Chadsen took me to Porto's! :) 

I absolutely love this huge bakery. They have several locations throughout LA county. Their flavors are so unique and quite captivating. We love this place so much that we actually ordered our wedding cake from there! :) 

The first item that we ordered was their cheese rolls. One of the many things that Porto's is famous for is their cheese rolls. Please give this one a try if you get the opportunity to swing by. :)

I was feeling cake-y, so I ordered the Milk & Berries cake. This cake, awesome! :) It was very light, it didn't make me feel sweetened out after finishing at all. I would really recommend it.

Chadsen too wanted to try a cake too, so he asked for the Mango Cheesecake. He said that although the taste was delicious it was a bit sweet. The sweetness actually prevented him from finishing it :O. When I snagged a bite, I found his statement to be true: sweet and tasty at the same time. 

Other items that we like from Porto's is their Guava and Cheese strudel, the plantain and beans, and their Crème brûlée. 

Masumi

Just an Onion and Soysauce

Sometimes I just don't feel a desire to spend much time and effort on cooking, especially on those tired school days. A while ago when I was feeling very unenthusiastic to make a meal, I flipped open my favorite easy recipe book and found a side dish that only required an onion and soy sauce as the main ingredients, and then I ventured. Ever since that day I've made this twice, and both times it was scarfed down by both my husband and me. For anyone else who has "those days" like me, try this out. It is very simple and tastes really good! 

Ingredients:

Onion - 1

Olive oil - 1 Tablespoon (I used regular vegetable oil)

Soy sauce - 1/2 Tablespoon

Bonito flakes - 2.5 g (as desired)

Instructions:

Prep:

1. Cut the onions in half, and then cut the halfs so that you'll see all the pieces together in a half-circle (like the picture shown). 

After cutting the onion, you should have about 8-10 slices. Make sure to cut the pieces thick enough so that a toothpick can be inserted! :)

2. Poke a toothpick into each onion slice to keep the pieces together. 

Cook:

1. Add your oil to the heated pan. 

2. Add the onion slices onto the pan and turn the heat to a low-medium.

3. Take about 3-4 minutes to cook both sides of the onions ( I may have used a few more minutes, but the danger is that the onions will get overcooked and shrivel up a bit)

4. Add the soy sauce in a manner as to circle the onions. ( Circle them by pouring the soy sauce onto the edge of the pan and let the soy sauce run into the onions)

5. Take a minute or so to check that both sides of the onions got the soy sauce flavoring.

8. Put the cooked onion onto your plate and if desired, add bonito flakes onto the onions (which I would highly recommend).
Enjoy! :)

Sunshine:

I am having a blast taking pictures! Thank you Chadsen :)

To me, there may be no greater beauty than natural beauty, maybe with the exception of inner beauty.

Nearby park in Rosemead

I found this outside of my church.

Have a great weekend!

Masumi

"You're so Sheltered"

Warning: This is Not a very Sunshine-y post, but this to me is an important topic and I post it in hopes that people can be challenged to open their mind a little more about... people.

For those who know me, I'm generally a peaceable person. I try pretty hard to hold a nonjudgmental perspective about people and be open to possible reasons behind somebody's actions. If something rude or hurtful is said, most of the time I let it go- not too shabbily, and I try to see where the statement might be coming from and move on. Nonetheless, there have been several specific phrases that has continually given me an enormously difficult time handling.

They are: "You're (so) sheltered" and "You're so innocent."

I got told that recently by somebody who I sat down and talked to for the first time. In the past when others have said it I had let it go, but no longer can I let it pass by any longer.

Possibly every time someone says that to me, from within, every piece of me boils.

I argue that your best friend would never say such a thing. That is because it negates all of the experiences that one has struggled through to create the person who he or she is today. That statement implies that one received so many blessings that aren't deserved (such as happiness) or weren't possibly worked for. Those statements cement the ignorance of the person who assumes to know the life of the person who he or she is talking about. This isn't to pity myself. I am not saying that you're reading the blog of a Holocaust survivor, but I think that you would not want to step into my shoes, as I would not dare to ignorantly assume that your shoes are so much greater or easier to walk in. Every person has faced a trial, every person has shed tears of pain and suffered deep inside. Nobody is immune to trials and pain but I do love how we (most of us) are able to have agency of how to react to it.  

What possibly makes somebody innocent, or sheltered, these two meaning protected from pain, suffering, evil etc, (as I get the gist)? For those who say that phrase to people, perhaps they got told that themselves. I ask, taking an example of myself, is somebody "sheltered" because they have Christian beliefs and choose to live a life that strives to be like Christ? Is it because they don't know something that you do? Is it because somebody chooses to stay clean even while knowing about "all the different things somebody can indulge in?" Is somebody sheltered or "innocent" (implied as ignorant) because they look happy all of the time?

For whatever reason somebody thinks they have the right to say this to somebody, I cannot think of a more honest and frank reply than "and you are ignorant." It makes me feel so sad to hear someone being called sheltered or innocent, because although people can say that many people who smile and laugh often are "innocent" or "sheltered", I can literally see past tears that has given them an opportunity to grow that beautiful smile, even without having to disclosing the story.

I love being a counselor where I can know for myself what young children struggle with, further confirming my idea that nobody is "sheltered." Next time you assume that somebody has lived a "sheltered" or "innocent" life please think twice of the potential of your words. Your words can do both good and bad.

Innocence is not ignorance. I try to be innocent, not ignorant.

Masumi

P.S. I promise the next post will be about food. It'll be up soon with a brighter feel in the blog :)

My Japanese New Years

Happy 2013! 

New Year's is a holiday that I've always looked forward to every year for a few reasons. One is because Japanese children receive money from relatives on new years. (YESSS!) The other is that we get to eat traditional Japanese food! Even though the cash receiving tradition ended a few years ago when my parents told me I've become an adult (Dang), they still spare me to let me join the food festivity ;)) Instead of money my parents gave us a big rice container and a huge bag of Nishiki rice. Thanks Mom & Dad!  

Japanese people eat specific foods around New Year's time. It goes like this:

All the food have meanings to them in relation to the New Year, but I don't know all of them... haha.

New Year's Eve night: We eat soba.
I know the soba eating in hopes for a long life.

New Year's Morning (Happy New Year's!): Mochi

The meal that takes several days to prepare for is the main meal: Osechi (Oh'-se'-chi) Mom & Dad worked hard for about three days to make everything. So it can be understood that this is the meal that I look forward to the most! 

The bottom right salmon is wrapped with konbu.

Yorokobu means to rejoice.

So... Yorokonbu... as my mom said haha!

Mom also explained that the Yellow & White are celebratory colors for New Year's.

So for a lot of the foods I don't exactly know the meaning, but I know that they're all to celebrate New Year's! Next year I'll help you make the food Mom & Dad. :)

So New Year's Day was great on my side. How about yours? What did you do? :)

Masumi