Christmas birthday cake

I'm just as confused as you. But it was delicious, if that matters. (Vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake, Baskin Robbins)

Christmas dinner (hot pot)

Merry Christmas (with food)

Goodbye, Boston

A bowl of Rhode Island clam chowdah at Logan Airport. Headed to Houston for a warm Christmas break! ^.^

Blizzard cookies!

Not the kind you were thinking of. There was a blizzard on Sunday, so we made some Christmas cookies. I had already eaten parts of this dragon before taking the picture. The Dragonslayer achievement has never been tastier!

A vegetable?

My family went to a supermarket called "Ranch" that opened recently. Apparently they have a buffet-style section that allows you to fill a styrofoam container with as much food as you can fit for $5. My dad and uncle picked some of this mystery food. My dad thought it was fish. My uncle thought it was rice cakes. The guy in front of them in line said it was "a vegetable". After eating it, I'm still not sure. It would have its own 20 questions category. Animal, mineral, vegetable, or that thing I ate for dinner? Oddly enough, it was pretty good. We might go back and try to find out what it is. =P

Pre-Thanksgiving dinner

Tofu and shrimp from dinner last night (at some Chinese restaurant in Houston that my parents think is called Yuen Tian). They were awesome. I've gotten too lazy to shell shrimp, so I just ate the shells. Crunchy. ^.^

Thanksgiving turkey!

Cooked upside down so that the juices flow into the breast. Cajun seasoning and orange juice. We'll see how it tastes. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

V for Victory!

Bacon and apple omelette with cinnamon apples. The first decisively delicious meal I've cooked... Possibly ever! I now have more confidence that I will survive the transition to adulthood. =P

Steak n Shake

Got some sliders at Steak n Shake. Was a pretty long time ago, but I remember my favorite being the BBQ one. Also, the fries were tiny and thus really cute, but that also meant they got cold rather quickly. =( Was very much worth the $4 I paid for the meal, though. Next time I go, I should try the shake! XD

Lunchables'd!

Fruit Dive CapriSun + Skittles in a Lunchables = basically the best Lunchables ever! (The keyboard in the background, however, wasn't so tasty).

This Lunchables was basically perfect, when it comes to your "crackers with meat and cheese" variety of Lunchables... except for one minor flaw. I'm not sure what percentage of the ham was actual ham, and it still ended up tasting good, but it was obviously quite processed meat. Nonetheless, the CapriSun and the dessert of a little baggy of Skittles more than made up for the somewhat sub-par ham. The cheese, as always, was great! Unfortunately, I did not appear to win a VIP ticket to the Ultimate Summer Camp... :P

Turtle!!

I don't think real turtles taste like this... but for a candy bar of sorts, it's not bad! It doesn't really taste like Chex Mix... and I'm guessing there are other flavors... but still, it's not too bad, and a lot less chocolatey than a lot of other chocolate-containing bars out there. Plus, it gets bonus points for having the word "Turtle" written on the wrapper! (I wonder what turtles taste like... :'c!!)

P.S. Turtles are cool :P (and probably tasty :'x!!)

McNuggets'd

I know... I eat way too much fast food. :{ I should start making food and taking it to work! But for tonight, I had McNuggets (my friend, Kris, wanted to go to McDonald's). I like my nuggets with Honey Mustard dipping sauce, as usual (for me)... however, I also like them with regular honey, too :}D!

For four bucks, I've decided... the four-piece Crispy Chicken Strips from Jack in the Box are a much better price than a ten-piece McNuggets basket thingy. The meat in the McNuggets isn't very meaty (maybe... 2% meat content? :P), but they still taste good at first. The sauce and honey help, of course. I had 15 of them tonight... and by the end, I was still hungry, however I wanted something more... meat-like. *shrug*

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Apparently, this bin o' McNuggets is trying to warn us that it has been nuggetized!...

Steak n shake

Got BBQ, A1, and chipotle shooter burgers. They're adorable and bite sized - perfect for an indecisive person like me. They came with really thin fries which also looked cute, but they cooled more quickly than regular fries, and you had to eat multiple fries at a time to taste them. Steak n Shake is a decent place to go, for the price. (My meal was a little over $4.) Next time, I think I'll order a shake. =P

Crispy Chicken Strips'd

Yay, more Jack in the Box (:'c). Hey, at 1:00 a.m. in the morning, there aren't many places open. :P

While it costs around four bucks for the four-piece Crispy Chicken Strips, I can safely say that it's much more worthwhile than the somewhat mediocre Mozzarella Cheese Sticks I blug about the other day. Seen above are only 3 chicken strips... 'cause they were so tasty (with the inclusion of Honey Mustard dipping sauce) that I had to eat one before taking the picture! The meat's nice and tender, and even if it's not real chicken (I'm honestly not sure, maybe it is!), it at least mimics chicken quite effectively. However, as it seems to go with Jack in the Box for me, I couldn't manage to eat much without large amounts of dipping sauce. I'm noticing a pattern...! But hey, at least it was tasty overall, even if not much food for four bucks. Perhaps next time, I'll get some food from Filiberto's? (Yay for alliteration!)

Arby's redux

Two 5 for $5.95 orders. Totally the way to go. You can even load up on burgers. ^.^ And I got a tasty shake too. Good thing Arby's is near where I'm living this summer.

Travels and food

Had a mediocre breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn in Joplin, Missouri. Overpriced for the quality, but about on par with hotel food costs. The people were friendly though. ^.^ Was surprised by the number of flies wandering around the dining area and the hotel in general, especially because everything looked clean otherwise. Maybe it's a Missouri thing? Also was surprised that most people had Southern accents. Wondering if it's all of Missouri, or just the Southern part. Guess I'll find out when I reach St. Louis.

Random craving: Arby's

Been craving Arby's since we got on the road today on our epic journey from Houston to St. Louis. Finally managed to find an Arby's in Oklahoma around dinner time. Pictured is the bacon cheeseburger that I ate. I wish I had ordered the additional roast beef, but the sandwich was still tasty, although the bacon was a little burnt. I had curly fries too! My mom tried the waffle fries and found them to be too salty, but that's probably just the specific batch. Arby's is another one of those fast food restaurants that I randomly crave. I've always loved their roast beef. Now they have a lot more variety, but I would suggest sticking with what they do best - a giant roast beef burger. Although it took us most of the day to find our first Arby's, we of course saw another one within 10 minutes of leaving. >.<

Andre's

I actually had 2 lunches yesterday, one after the other, because I went to Andre's in Uptown Plaza (Houston) to catch up with Shannon immediately following my first lunch get-together. >.< Andre's was full of well-dressed professionals on their lunch break, even at 13:30. I felt a little out of place wearing shorts and flip flops, but I knew that was a possibility before I went out, and I wasn't about to dress nicely specifically for lunch. Andre's had a bunch of tasty-looking desserts on display, but I wasn't about to only order dessert and leave Shannon to eat by herself while I watched, so I ordered a lunch meal of a shrimp and avocado salad. Apparently, the lunches also come with dessert! ^.^ The salad was larger than I expected. It was delicious, so even though I was full, I made my best effort at eating it. Afterwards, we were presented with a plate of desserts from which to select. Shannon got the white chocolate mousse something, and I got the raspberry one. (I forget what they were specifically called.) We spent some time trying to figure out what the soft green stuff in my cake was. It was tasty, and I guessed that it might have been tea flavored. *shrug* The place was medium priced for the amount and quality of food. Would be a cool place for a lunch date, if you were that type of person.

First time eating tabbouleh

Went out to lunch to catch up with some old friends, Patrick and Alice. Originally intended to hit up Cabo Grill on Richmond and Fountainview (in Houston), but they had closed or moved and were no longer there. Instead, we went to Fadi's Mediterranean Grill, which was nearby. When we went in, the place was beautifully set up with tablecloths and glasses as if it were prepared for an elegant dinner. We were the first customers there. I steeled myself for an expensive meal, but the prices were really awesome for the quality of food and the setting. They started us off with chips that were like thin pita chips, but even more delicious. I ordered the lamb sandwich with tabbouleh. The sandwich surprised me by being in wrap form. My mom, who doesn't like lamb, would have approved because the lamb didn't have that distinctive lamb smell/taste. It was my first time eating tabbouleh, and I guess it's an acquired taste that I haven't acquired yet. >.< The dish was mostly parsley and tomato chunks, and it tasted very sour. Alice and Patrick seemed to really like it. I guess I'll just have to try again. All in all, Fadi's is highly recommended for lunch, and I would definitely go again! ^.^ Also, if you like watching Arabic music videos while you eat, they have 2 large TVs that were playing them the whole time. =P

Bamboo is food this time!

I'm gonna miss my grandma's cooking. Here's two ways of eating bamboo: cut up and raw, and in a soup. Bamboo shoots actually taste sweet when cut up, but you have to make sure they're very small and barely peeking out of the ground. (We grow bamboo at our house.)

Bamboo is food this time!

I'm gonna miss my grandma's cooking. Here's two ways of eating bamboo: cut up and raw, and in a soup. Bamboo shoots actually taste sweet when cut up, but you have to make sure they're very small and barely peeking out of the ground. (We grow bamboo at our house.)

Chick-Fil-A

Got some Chick-Fil-A at Memorial City Mall. I absolutely love their chicken. It's tender and cooked just right with great flavoring. Probably the best thing they have going for them is that they are not open on Sundays. This means that every Sunday I crave Chick-Fil-A because I can't have it. So on other days, I try not to pass up the opportunity! ^.^

Tiffany's birthday

Surprise party for Tiffany held at JW Sushi Bar in Houston. They have a bar setup on the ground floor, and a restaurant style dining area on the 2nd floor. We all hid upstairs and jumped out at Tiffany when she arrived. Then there was food, which consisted of a salad, miso soup, and a large plate of sushi. Guess I've been having a lot of sushi lately. >.< I had never thought of sushi as being filling, but after a plate and a half of food, I was stuffed. ^.^ The sushi had been sitting out for a while because we were waiting for the birthday girl to arrive (her boyfriend kept getting lost), but that really only affected the raw stuff. My favorite was the eel, which was cooked. I'm not usually a fan of mayonnaise or imitation crab meat, but it worked well as a topping on some of the sushi. Afterwards, we ate a birthday cake from Merryland bakery. Chinese cakes are the best! They're light and fluffy, and this one had a layer of mango pudding and a layer of taro paste. Also, Chinese cakes usually have fruit on top and don't have ridiculous amounts of icing. ^.^ My dream cake would probably be a Chinese style ice cream cheesecake... They do have those, right? =P

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks'd

Though it may be obvious even before trying them... mozzarella cheese sticks from a fast food place (such as, in this case, Jack in the Box) aren't quite as tasty as one might otherwise hope.

Nonetheless, with enough marinara sauce, especially if it's "Zesty Marinara" sauce, I'm pretty sure any mozzarella sticks can pass the "should I eat it?" test (I basically loaded up each and every bite with a heaping helping of Zesty Marinara sauce... which for some reason reminds me of zesty clams).

The cheese wasn't melted enough inside, and without the sauce, there wasn't much flavor to them. However, the sauce saved the day (or night), and the twelve mozzarella cheese sticks that I just finished eating made a pretty decent midnight snack!

Fu Fu Cafe

We tried to eat breakfast at Classic Kitchen, but for some odd reason it was closed for a half day. I say odd because there were people eating inside, and we were told it was closed when we walked in. So we went to Fu Fu Cafe. It was a little hard to order because we couldn't understand the waitress's mainland accent, and she couldn't understand ours. The tofu soup consisted of mushrooms and tofu. It was pretty good. The scallion pancakes were oddly thick, as was the bun portion of the pork sandwich. The you tiao (once met a rude British man who called them crullers) was all right, but I prefer them to be crunchier. For some reason, I included the vegetarian dumplings, but I don't really recall how they tasted. The verdict: Meh. I'd eat here again, but I sure hope Classic Kitchen gets their act together so I can go there.

I actually have no idea...

what this place is called. That's the problem with eating at Chinese restaurants without actually knowing Chinese: you can't order, and you don't know what the place is called. >.< I'll probably drive by the place in the near future and find out, though. The pictures are a dish of shrimp with peas, a sort of layered tortilla thing, fish with a sweet sauce, vegetables, and lamb in soup. My personal favorite was the lamb, but I like lamb in general. I'll update this post when I figure out the name of the restaurant. >.<

Chinese Cuisine

Yes, there is a restaurant called simply "Chinese Cuisine". It's in Golden Plaza in Chinatown Houston, and they do dim sum all day, every day. No more rushing to catch dim sum hours on weekends! Also, since they don't have room for push carts, all of their food is ordered and brought to the table. This is pretty much my favorite dim sum place in Houston because of the format. And the food ain't bad either!

Frozen yogurt finally comes to Houston!

Ever since frozen yogurt hit the big time in NYC and Cali two years ago, I've been waiting impatiently for it to migrate to Houston. We originally went to Cafe la Tea (in the Welcome shopping center in Chinatown) thinking we'd get bubble tea. We ended up getting tangy frozen yogurt with strawberries mixed in. This cup ran us about $4, but it was more than enough for two fat kids who love ice cream. ^.^

Moar Hokkaido

We typically order a plate of sashimi to share, some specialty rolls, and tempura shrimp and yams. The 2 rolls pictured are the dragon roll and the crazy roll. The tempura shrimp usually comes with an assortment of vegetables, but we ask them to only give us fried yams because Lucky loves them. ^.^ I like to order salmon roe. The pop is so satisfying. XD

Miso soup @ Hokkaido

Hokkaido in the Welcome shopping center in Chinatown Houston is a family favorite. Doesn't hurt that they offer free miso soup and red bean dessert soup!

Moniker's Grille

Moniker's Grille in the Marriott hotel near the Baltimore airport. We had brunch there on the last day of our Maryland trip. $15 for the buffet, which included omlettes to order, an assortment of the usual continental breakfast stuff, and some meat. I especially enjoyed the smoked salmon and the chicken apple sausage. And then we made faces with fruit! ^.^