Diane's bday cake and homemade cinnamon rolls

Wednesday was our beloved pastor's wife's birthday and so I volunteered to make a homemade chocolate cake for her. I hardly make homemade cakes since box mixes are so easy and so tasty, but I decided to go all out for this woman that is ever so faithful in making us meals and delicious goodies each week! I found a recipe online titled "BEST MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE"- who can see that and not try it? So I made it with Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder and it was soooooo delicious. Everybody absolutely loved it and it was so easy! Why would I keep buying boxed cakes with preservatives and junk like high fructose corn syrup if this is just a tad more effort? I think I am committing to buy much fewer, if any, boxed mixes that contain junk. Trader Joe's or Whole Foods may be an exception if the ingredient list is acceptable :)

Then today, we had our friends the Ls over for brunch. We hadn't seen them in a while so I wanted to make something different. I finally attempted homemade cinnamon rolls (along with buttermilk pancakes). First off, I love our bread machine! It just makes so many things easier and fills our hearts with love (and tummies with carbs). I found a recipe on AllRecipes for a "Cinnabon Clone" which it wasn't quite, but that may have been my fault. I think I left them in the oven for a bit too long while I was cooking other stuff so they were a bit crispier than desired on the inside- but the inside was soft and gooey! I'm sure Cinnabon puts a LOT more butter and sugar in their innards though! I think I thinned out the icing a bit too much also. Otherwise, the flavor was good and our guests enjoyed them as well! By the way, I tried the floss cutting method and it really works great- just use some dental floss and slice up that rolled up log in no time without squishing the whole roll!

Five Finger Shoes!

This has absolutely nothing to do with food, but I thought I'd share my new acquired possession- five finger shoes! They're a little weird at first- think toe sock shoes... the concept is that you can run, hike, walk, etc as if you're barefoot but with the protection you need from sharp or dangerous objects. It takes a bit of getting used to, and putting them on isn't as quick as normal shoes, but they seem nice.

I went for a run in them and going on gravel for a train run was a big mistake since I could feel every pebble under my feet- on the pavement was fine though. My calves were sore the next day, I guess I do run differently even though I'm not purposely changing my form!

My co-worker went hiking in hers, as well as paddle boating, and absolutely loved them. She still needs to go running in them to provide that verdict.

Ramen ALMOST 2 days in a row

So I almost had ramen 2 days in a row (not a horrible thing if it had happened by any means) at new places- Orenchi Ramen and Dohatsuten.

I went to Orenchi ramen yesterday for lunch with a few coworkers of mine that I hadn't seen in a while- thanks Lucy for introducing us to the place and for organizing! The ramen was really good. I got the house "Orenchi" ramen which is a tonkotsu ramen. What made it unique was the thicker, chewier noodles which I really liked and thought was delicious. I don't like soft, soggy noodles at all, so it was fresh and "al dente" if you can use the same terminology for asian noodles as well. The broth was tasty and had depth in flavor, but was a bit salty... not that it stopped me from sipping almost all of it! I'm also not a big egg person, but this egg was perfectly soft boiled and looked gorgeous when it was bitten into. I still didn't eat all of it, but it was quite delicious. They offer tonkotsu, shio, and shoyu ramen (along with a few appetizers) I believe but that's it- they again prove my point that it takes being good at a few things and doing them well, as opposed to offering a lot of things but being mediocre in them.

Then tonight for dinner, my old roomie Christina and I had an impromptu shopping and dinner outing. We decided to go to Dohatsuten in Palo Alto. They are a izakaya type restaurant which means small plates that usually go well with sake or other types of alcohol. They also offer ramen and clay pots, so Christina got the Dohatsuten ramen with a small shiro maguro don, and I got the chashu and kimchee clay pot. I will definitely have to go back to try the ramen, but my thought was to try the clay pot since I could take it home if I didn't eat it all since I wasn't that hungry... but of course I ate it all! I'm still holding/rubbing my tummy regretting how much I ate, but it was tasty. The soy saucy flavor was a bit too strong, but you have got to love the crispy rice bits which they have a lot of! I also didn't like that there was soy sauce on the rice under the shiro maguro- the customer should be able to adjust the flavor themselves instead of having already soy sauced rice. Other than that, I'm excited to go back and try the ramen!

March adventures thus far

I need to get better at updating on a regular basis... with that said here are my March food adventures so far :)

1) Pho Linh- it is a new pho place in Cupertino that I went to for lunch with a few of my co-workers. I must say that it was quite delicious and hit the spot on a cold, drizzly day. I ordered the rare steak and brisket pho, while a few friends ordered a chicken pho. I've never tried chicken pho, but apparently they're fans. My only complaint is that they only gave us one dish of vegetables to put in our pho, when there were 4 people! Sure they provided us more when we asked, but one dish sure isn't enough... especially when you have someone like me that loves bean sprouts, basil, and lime!

2) Shan- I went out for lunch again with some co-workers to an Indian restaurant called Shan. From the people that had eaten there before, they recommended the Chicken Tikka Masala, so I gave it a shot. It was definitely different from the other creamier tikka masalas that I've had and liked, but this was good also. The chicken was a bit on the drier side, which semed obvious from everyone leaving some chicken even though the sauce was soaked up. Their naan was delicious- slightly crispy on the outside, but oh so soft on the inside, and delightfully warm. Some people ordered the garlic naan or curry potato stuffed naan, but I liked the plain naan- simple and traditional! It wasn't my favorite tikka ever and my fingers definitely smelled for a long time, but I would go back and try other things again!

3) Blue Rock BBQ catered to work- we had BBQ to celebrate a co-worker's gain of American citizenship with what else but American BBQ? I personally ordered the ribs with hush puppies and baked beans. The ribs fell off the bone and were tasty- drenched in sauce but good and not too fatty. The baked beans were thick and a little sweet, but delicious otherwise and very flavorful. The hush puppies (my first experience) were a bit of a downer because they were a bit too dense and not too flavorful. Maybe those needed to have some sauce on it also! Everyone else agreed also though so it wasn't just me. I also sampled other items- the pulled pork was a bit dry but again drenched in yummy sauce made it good, chicken was moist and tender (made for good BBQ chicken rolls. As for the sides, mac and cheese was like a lasagna with cheese sauce, cole slaw was a bit bland- they were nothing special... the baked beans and ribs were the winners!

4) Jeffrey's burgers- We went with friends to Jeffrey's in Menlo Park. I didn't have high expectations going into it, but I must admit it was quite tasty. I got the plain hamburger, but with the addition of lettuce, tomatoes, and a tad of ketchup from the very fresh looking condiment bar, it was perfect. Even more delightful was the combination of the burger with their delicious french fries and chocolate/vanilla milkshake. The french fries were quite a bit thicker, and you can see the potato skin on it which I always love. Crispy on the outside but nice and soft on the inside I'm usually a greasy, soft fry lover, not the crispy so this was a good combo! As for the shake, yummm.. this was my splurge since I ran the Angel Island 12K yesterday (no food pic but here's my victory pose after the race) :)

Now for some home cooked items
5) Mabo tofu with Lucy- I needed something quick and easy for a week day, so I made mabo tofu with brown rice (attempted and loved in my Japanese food project). No surprise, still loved it, and this time I used ground turkey in an attempt to be a bit more healthy :) Lucy said it hit the spot for her too- soft tofu, rice, a little soupiness... yumm...

6) Stuffed Cabbage- This has been something my Mom made time to time in between Japanese dinners, and I definitely liked them. There is something soothing about cabbage stuffed with ground meat (turkey in this case), carrots, onions, and a little brown rice, all cooked and braised in a tomato sauce concoction... the thing is, it doesn't have to be perfect- the first ones were much more pliable, but as I got deeper into the cabbage layers, they weren't as soft, so the top layer of my pot had some "rolled" pieces with the stuffing sticking out of it. Hey, it still tastes good and now it's soup!

7) "Beef" and barley soup- I put beef in quotes because I used ground turkey instead. I seem to have a lot of turkey according to what I'm posting, but I promise it's because I'm rolling them into one blog entry and only talking about the more unique dishes I've cooked lately! My friend Jamie had brought beef and barley soup to a girl's group and it was delicious so she emailed us all the recipe. Now I made it with turkey and it was delicious- Jeremy ate several bowls of it even though it was a little more tomato than he cared for. I liked it and we're both taking some for lunch too :)

Still to come since I stocked our fridge and cabinet this weekend... corned beef for St Patrick's Day, quinoa with salmon, and more! I'm also going to a new ramen place in Santa Clara so that review to come soon~