Sundae in the Park

All hail Jose Andres...again...for helping out and continuing to spark the conversation.

This is an emergency’: José Andrés to open relief kitchen for federal workers during shutdown

We've taken to roasting our tri-tips instead of grilling them, as it requires far less meat-sitting. There's 100% less thrilling flame flare-ups but a lot more pan juices.  We buy the untrimmed roasts and trim them lightly, which works out great for self-basting while grilling, but is less useful for roasting in a pan, so we've been trimming more carefully. The meat is much more tender but lacks the charred exterior - not a bad trade off, but we will still grill on occasion.  We made the last one a few nights ago with mashed potatoes, sauteed zucchini, and mushroom cream sauce, and are just now finishing it up as sandwiches. 

Two nights ago we made chicken pot pie soup, because I wanted a pot pie but didn't feel like messing with pastry. And then I went and finally tried the no-knead bread recipe that I've been eyeing for years.  That bread recipe is very forgiving and we were happy with the results. I couldn't believe that I made pretty bread!

Last night was pad se ew with chicken, because we were out of beef and had fresh, soft noodles that couldn't wait.  Beef > chicken in this dish but we managed to get a decent bit of wok hei charring on the noodles. 

This is sounding like a really delicious party!!! Since others have suggested eggs, you could also do deviled eggs, though they are stinkier.  Our party go-tos that always get devoured are the deviled eggs and pesto chicken or pizza rolls.

So they didn't have to quite shut down as feared, though some areas were briefly inaccessible, but all parts of the park are back open today. Unfortunately, is sounds like some parts of the park were and are being damaged, mostly because some people can't help being jerks (off-roading, cutting down Joshua trees, trash and 💩 everywhere).  Good for local businesses (for now), but concerning for the health of the park as the shutdown continues.

Is it a meal or just a cocktail party?  Even though they are not necessarily individually substantial, adding nuts (glazed or spicy), olives, fruits, and dark chocolate would round out a nice list of one-handed snacky options.  Maybe add another dip or two with bread/baguette slices, and/or a satay?  It might also depend on the wine theme. For a real meal you could lean towards more dinner dish-type options like casseroles, sandwiches/sliders, or meat/bread rolls.

Blessing and good luck to all the furloughed workers, workers without pay, and most of all, the contractors who almost certainly won't get paid. 

We've all been cranky and picky coming off various illnesses, but we got a family hit yesterday with chicken tikka masala curry and rice.  Everybody ate (at least some of) the same thing, so we're taking that as a big win.

Hahahahaha Rasika got name-checked (or actually, probably a product placement, but that's kind of weird) on Season 2, Episode 1 of Designated Survivor!!  Apparently it's where President Kiefer gets his takeout chicken korma? LOL, that doesn't even sound like something they would have on their menu (I checked, it's not there now).  Note that the episode aired in late September 2017, which is possibly interesting or completely unrelated to the Michelin announcements in October 2017? What can I say,  I've been bingeing on the show and now have conspiracy theories on the brain 😉

Yep, squash has been soupified, and we're hoping it will be enough to see us through to the end of my sickness.  I cubed it, tossed with oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted it with chunks of onion until caramelized.  Threw it all into a pot with some dried sage, veg stock, and some sherry; whizzed with the stick blender; and stirred in some cream and lots of salt at the end.  It's thick and rich tastes like the holidays come again. I think the rest of the family is having chicken tenders tonight while I have more soup.  

Good Earth sweet and spicy tea is my new obsession and a great weapon when the cravings for a sweet drink hit. I've only tried the orange caffeine-free kind so far (it has a Rooibos base), though there are a few flavors in this line. I have no idea how the blend does it but, much like a perfectly balanced long island iced tea, this stuff alchemizes into a genuinely sweet taste to the tongue without any artificial flavors or calories, so doesn't need any additional sweetening. I'm not quite sure how they do it, but here is the ingredient list:

organic Rooibos, organic chicory root, organic cinnamon, organic rosehip, organic honeybush, natural flavor, organic lemongrass, organic chamomile, organic peppermint, organic ginger root, organic orange oil, organic orange peel

Other than the "natural flavors," I can't see anything suspicious in there. A HuffPo blogger looked into the natural flavors thing a few years ago, but the report back from the company doesn't seem too damning to me.

I got some for my diabetic grandma, as she was greatly impressed by the naturally sweet and warming flavor (and she is usually only into expensive Chinese teas).  It tastes amazing hot, warm, or cold. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be bad for me!!! I can get it pretty much anywhere - Vons (Safeway), Sprouts, and I actually first tried it while it was on demo at Costco, though I haven't seen it there since. 

3 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I just got back from London.  Granada is definitely on my list but I need more time to do Seville, Cordoba and Granada together.  

I plan on leaving Wed night or Thurs and returning on Monday.

For a short trip in winter why go far or cold? Miami, Nashville, or Charleston should do the trick, staying in the same time zone, and all work with or without kids.  A little further afield Mexico City is interesting and delicious. San Diego is lovely but blander than the rest of these ideas.

One advantage JJ has over other bakeries is that the DTF wait (among other attractions) keeps business moving briskly, so the items are are constantly being refreshed (there are at least two more bakeries on the same block with little/no visible foot traffic while walking down the block, as compared to the constantly swinging door at JJ).  The downside, however, is that they are sometimes out of the things you want - no curry pastries were available during this visit  We missed them but got some lovely pork buns, a few cake slices, and some fluffy raisin rolls instead.  A long line here also moves quite quickly, as they have several registers.

So, the hoopla about plastic straws is based on a bunk metric, BUT the opener it provides in the conversation about plastic pollution has been amazing.  Vox has a good summary of the plastics problem and every little step that each person takes can help.  I've never really used plastic straws but there are lots of other places in my life I can work on reducing/eliminating single-used plastics, especially in the arenas of takeout meals and bulk groceries.  We've used cloth bags for groceries for years, but lately I've gotten lazy about using those tiny produce bags that can't even be reused for garbage, so it's a good time to buckle down again, with the new year as a fresh start. Let's be better together!!

The beef rolls at the Arcadia location are just as wonderful as I remember from the Alhambra location! We ordered one for there and one to go, and now that the extra roll is gone we wish we had ordered a couple more. We also got the pan-fried lamb dumplings and the non-spicy beef noodle soup.  The dumplings were plump, rich, and so juicy they were practically soup dumplings! They also sell dumplings frozen to take home and next time I think we'll do just that.  The noodle soup had pleasantly chewy hand-torn noodles and good, beefy flavor.  The Arcadia location is just about across the street from the original Din Tai Fung plaza in a kind of dumpy strip mall, and I think we'll be eating here from now on. There was quite the lunch rush a bit after noon on a holiday-ish weekday, and they are cash only so plan accordingly. 

We're having soup to beat the Sick for the next few days. A brothy chicken soup and lentil soup as well. If they're not enough to do the job, I have a big butternut squash that will be roasted and pureed into more soup. Die germs, die!

Sure, this story on the Bar Keeper's Friend website is a promotional entry, but it is still hilarious/awesome and that is the same pan I just bought, looking so very shiny and new after a good scrub! So...I think I'll be getting some. Well played.

We made a lot of cookies for the holidays over a few weeks and stored most in our freezer, to be pulled out as needed (a saving grace for unexpected last-minute gifts!):

• 3 batches of almond joy cookies (a winner of a new recipe this year)
• 1 batch of chocolate, mint-chip cookies
• 1 batch of chocolate, peanut butter-chip cookies
• 1 batch of gluten-free, salted peanut butter cookies
• 1 batch of sugar cookies from a tube
• 2 batches of cranberry-orange cream scones (another winner of a new recipe and great for using up excess cream)
• 1 batch of molasses cookies
• 2 batches of nut-horns
• 1 batch of paciencia meringues

Given that we also received dozens of cookies and other baked gifts, we are SO bakery-ed out!

Christmas Eve for us since we became officially Southern Californian has been beef and pork tamales with assorted salsas and guacamole, adobo black beans, salad, and a Christmas cookie assortment.  For Christmas Day, we meant to put on a few more dishes, but sick kids only allowed us to make the beef tenderloin with bourbon mushroom sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and carrots, cranberry slaw, rolls, and more cookies, which was still tons of food. 

On 11/20/2018 at 10:18 PM, Sundae in the Park said:

So I'm lazy and pretty much have always cooked with at least some non-stick assistance in my pots and pans. I'm getting skeeved out by our burn rate through cheap non-stick pans, though, and am thinking of going big and getting the All-Clad 12-inch stainless frying pan, but am worried about learning to cooking on stainless (the sticking!!). Any tips, tricks, testimonials, or literature I should check out before taking the leap? Should I do it? What say ye?

I got it! It's sooooooo shiny. Can't wait to try it out.

We have a bunch of their stores out here.  The cakes are consistently nice (my office gets them for birthdays) but are...bundts. There really isn't much besides the shape to distinguish them from other cakes.  However, the smaller bundlets (slightly bigger than big cupcakes), while (I think) expensive for their size, do make a nice host/ess gifts.  They are cute and if you bring a few folks can try different flavors. 

Yeah, we still like the Northridge location better and are willing to drive the 10 extra miles roundtrip (a big deal anywhere in LA!) to get there when we have time. It's a less formal, always-bustling spot that feels warm and welcoming no matter the time you walk in. And the food, probably psychosomatically at this point, tastes just a bit better - spicier, noodles with just the right chew, veggies tender-crisp, etc. Though maybe it is because the kitchen is more open to the dining room so there are more deliciously pungent aromas of Thai food wafting about the room. Who knows? Regardless, we are always happy when we go.

Yeah, my husband has been making fun of me for recycling for years, as it is wayyyyyy less effective for re-using materials than we have been led to believe (and I work in the waste management industry! So I do know this!). The difference is that I think we should do something to help mitigate the problem, instead of throwing up our hands and carrying on in hopelessness. So we have a lot of reusable items to try and do our part in little ways. Cloth grocery bags before they were cool, reusable water bottles and straws, non-plastic food containers, buying in less-packaged bulk when possible, re-using takeout containers as many times as possible, etc. Just trying to reduce the use of packaging where possible.  One area I wrestle with are the plastic fibers in most clothing, which are being sent out to sea as nanoparticles with each wash (these particles are too small to be removed by most wastewater treatment). I adore certain qualities of lycra-ed and jersey-ed materials for clothes, and find many natural fibers itchy and pricey.  But it is something I think about and am trying to switch our family to more cotton and linen.  

Available/offered to eat for the past two nights: manicotti, sausages, assorted cut fruit, roasted asparagus, and sauteed eggplant and peppers. The Big has eaten sausages with white rice dug out from the fridge and the Little has only eaten sausages. Before that we had some lovely homemade chicken tenders that both enthusiastically scarfed for dinner and then refused completely the next day. By the way, while both kids enjoyed the Costco dumplings mightily while we were in the store, they won't touch them at home. I'm somewhat flattered that my homemade dumplings are acceptable and also kind of furious.

Lee, the Big kid just turned 4 and the Little kid is just 1.5, so I don't really expect too much out of either of them (though I dearly miss when #1 would eat anything we gave him, but that has been done for over a year and his formerly wide palate is re-emerging only incrementally). Giving the Big the choice to earn his treats has been less effective during these holidays, as treats are here and there and everywhere and we have been quite indulgent, but has been moderately successful in getting him to revisit the least challenging fruits and vegetables (mostly apples, bananas, pears, and cucumbers). One upside of our method seems to be that he likes treats, but doesn't feel any desperation towards them, as minimum treat attainment is entirely within his control. We're still working on his Halloween candy, which he is happy to share.  This is so different from my own childhood, in which sugary treats were generally banned, and I had already begun filching/hoarding sweets by age 4. While I'm sure a lot of it has to do with our kid's personality, it is a much preferable state of affairs.  As for the Little, we just feed him whatever he will take and try to remove the refused food before it flies through the air.

Last night I made manicotti for the first and last time. That pasta is the devil and I understand why they were still available when all the big shells were gone!! Trying to stuff a slippery pasta slug with ever tinier spoons is rather horrifying and messy.  They tasted rich and cozy, especially when served with roasted asparagus and sausages cooked with peppers and eggplant, so at least the effort was worthwhile.  Tonight we had leftovers from yesterday, plus a few more sausages. We like sausages.

OK, finally onto food. The Lard Lad donuts in SimpsonsWorld really are as big as a dinner plate and look lovely, but we couldn't imagine eating the whole thing. We mostly wanted to sample the wares of the Wizarding World, so had a couple butterbeers from the dedicated carts. That's in succession, not at the same time. Although it's $7 for basically a cream soda, the artificially sweet/buttery foam is interesting and tasty and cheering and does make you feel like you're trying something different/special. Or maybe the feeling comes from sipping the drink while wandering Hogsmeade. Regardless, we liked it enough to get another later in the day. Also, in case it wasn't clear, butterbeer is non-alcoholic (there has been some debate among my circle). Butterbeer-flavored ice cream, however, is a terrible flop, IMO. It's a (mercifully) small quantity of low-quality (icy, sandy) ice cream with some weak-tea butterscotch flavoring. Skip. If you ask around the park and read reviews, many folks will direct you to the Three Broomsticks in the Wizarding World to eat. While the menu and pictures look like tempting English pub fare in cinematic setting, the wait can be very long (such that there is line-fencing outside the restaurant). We thought to the fried chicken and waffles at Cletus' Chicken Shack, but didn't feel like waiting in that line, either.

We decided to bag eating in the park and left briefly to eat on Universal's Citywalk, which is the outdoor mall leading into the park (you have to walk through it to get to the park from the lot). Because the park is small and Citywalk is right outside, it's not really going out of your way to grab something to eat or take a break from Park crowds. I wanted to try LudoBird, which is one of the fast-casual outposts to get Chef Ludo Lefebvre's (of Trois Mec, etc.) fried chicken. I loved the chicken from his (late 😭) Ludobird food truck, and I've tried it from the location at the Staples Center and enjoyed it there as well. Unfortunately, at Citywalk there was no option for fried chicken in whole pieces; just tenders, a chicken sandwich, or popcorn chicken. We tried the tenders and the sandwich, which were both good (crispy, well-seasoned coating, juicy meat) if not exciting. The tenders are actually a much more generous portion than the sandwich (and the large chunks of breast meat are unexpectedly juicy), but the sandwich comes with a gentle slaw (not much mayo, with a hit of something acidic - quite good) and some jar pickle slices.  Overall, it's a very slightly more upscale version of a Chick Fil-A sandwich. They have the famous lavender biscuits onsite, though we didn't order any. We enjoyed our meal and feel confident it was at least equal if not better than the food/value to be found in the park, but it wasn't anything I'd seek out on its own merits (unlike the truck, which I missed for years after it stopped circulating). 

After a long, tiring day, we still didn't want to settle for any of the Citywalk chains, so hit Lum Ka Naad on the way home for Northern Thai food and it was glorious.

I recommend bringing a bag/backpack. The rides are mostly gentle enough that you can keep your stuff with you or in the room (when you don't actually leave) and any time you are absolutely required to divest there are free lockers that you can use to stow bags and such. While we like to run through roller-coaster-heavy parks as unencumbered as possible, cargo pockets are not ideal for holding a whole day's worth of wallets, phones, etc. Also, the Universal food/water carry-in policy is very generous. The FAQs state that acceptable items include: 

• Bottled water (maximum 2 liters)
• Small snacks
• Any food required for special dietary needs
• Any food required for medical purposes and medically-indicated nutritional supplements
• Baby food/baby formula
• Soft-sided insulated bags no larger than 8.5” wide x 6” high x 6” deep.

While all bags are searched upon entry, we had a few bottles of water, a couple slices of pizza in a zip-lock, a few granola bars, some fruit, and a big bag of mints, all of which passed with no comment. While we did buy things throughout the day, having supplemental food/drink with us was really nice, and would be essential if we had been with our kids. They especially recommend having munchables for the studio tour, as the line can get long and the tour itself is an hour long. (For The Good Place fans, at the moment you get to drive through the neighborhood during the studio tour!!! I saw the chowder fountain and the train station with my own eyes!!!)

Another note about scheduling/timing - we didn't expect that nighttime would be the busiest part of the day, but apparently that is common during the holiday season (basically December, though certain events take place only on specified days), as thousands of people descend around nightfall to see the lights (per a staffer manning an extra line that popped up at night who confirmed our impressions).  There is a holiday light show that plays on the Hogwarts Castle several times each evening, with "snowfall" on Hogsmeade before and after the show. The Wizarding World gets incredibly crowded at this time and a whole new set of barricades/lines to enter this area goes up just before dark. We lucked out and timed it perfectly, so if you want to see the show (it's pretty neat!) I would recommend going back to Hogsmeade before dusk to wander, getting settled as close to the Castle as possible just before showtime, and catching the first show. Then you're free to take in the rest of the park and hit your remaining attractions while many visitors are in line.