More Than Just Cooking

(Hi y’all!  Apologies for being MIA.  I was working on an exciting project this past week and got swamped!  I’ll be giving you details later.)

Made you wait long enough, huh?  Ok, I hate cliffhangers as much as you so I should have posted part 2 sooner.  Since part 1 was all text I’m going to make it up to you by making part 2 photo centric.  Fair enough?  Let’s get to it!

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During one visit to see the parents back home in the ‘burbs of DC, I had dinner at the food court inside Lotte Plaza in Aspen Hill, MD.  (Technically Silver Spring but this area is more commonly known as Aspen Hill.)  Lotte Plaza is part of a chain of Korean grocery stores in the US.  The great thing about Lotte is that they have food courts inside the store.  (Hello, genius!  I love how you can eat and shop in one location.)  These food courts are a great place to go if you want something tasty, filling, quite casual and reasonably priced.

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Beam me up Scotty because the traffic on the NJ Turnpike can make a girl batty!  Oy, I need an iced coffee like yesterday.

Just wanted to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day!  I trekked down to my parents’ home in the ‘burbs of Washington, DC to spend some time with pops this weekend.  As in the case with every visit home, it was a busy weekend filled with good eats.  More to come later.

So what does a well-seasoned NY-DC/MD/VA commuter eat on the road?

Utz’s Sour Cream and Onion chips and white cheddar Cheez-its.  (Not orange!)

What?  You wanted me to say carrot & celery sticks with a side of organic hummus?  Hey – I did say that I try my best to be healthy.  It’s okay to eat “naughty” foods once in a blue moon.  Like when in a car on the NJ Turnpike while cursing the congestion.  (Why!  Why!  Why!)

Happy Father’s Day!

I love green tea and green tea flavored food!  I like how it adds a fresh, bright, mild grassy/herbal flavor to the mix.  It’s a bit odd that I like it so much because growing up I did not drink green tea at all.  My family’s choice of tea was oolong, chrysanthemum or ginseng.  Green tea was something I learned to appreciate as I started eating other Asian cuisines.

(Please note the green tea that you drink varies in flavor profiles.  I’m just talking about those awesome green tea flavored foods like noodles, ice cream – ICE CREAM! – and cookies.)

If I see something labeled matcha flavor, I am looking for the food to give me a more intense green tea flavor with a slight hint of bitterness.  So you could understand why I was excited when I saw these:

Matcha, matcha, man. I want to be a matcha man. Yea, yea...

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Thanks to one of my friends, I realized I accidentally enabled the “registration required” function on the comments.  It’s been removed and I apologize for the goof!

Also, you’ll find out that I write certain words or phrases in phonetic Cantonese at times on this blog.  The words will be italicized and in quotes.  Just a heads up so I don’t confuse the heck out of you.

I will try my best to make it Cantonese but I can’t guarantee it.  I’m 100% Toisanese and I grew up mixing my Toisan and Cantonese.  Unfortunately, its the result of growing up in the ‘burbs.  Feel free to ask questions if I don’t make any sense!

(Yes.  Toisan.  Not Taishan.  Yes, I know Taishan is Mandarin for that area of China in Mandarin but I will always refer to it as Toisan.  All my “ham yee bac fan” lovers unite!  That’s salted fish with white rice, a typical Toisan dish. )