Chibi's Fabulous Fifth Birthday Party

Angie made these Chibi cupcakes...I was laughing hysterically when she unveiled them. They were a good likeness to Chibi. Someone put a lot of work into those puppies. The bone cake is a dog cake from 3 Dog Bakery.

My brother and I....he is middle aged now. You would never know because he still acts like a baby.

In celebration of his birthday his favorite food, steaks, were served, along with my mom's potato salad, sugar snap peas, baked potato, and rice.

I was put in charge of decorations. I made this sign, plus some name cards and confetti for the table. Party planner, Angie was quite demanding that the decorations be fabulous.

Chibi gets his special bone. Take a look at how much meat is on there...the bone was pure white when he was finished with it. Angie went to check on him during dinner and he growled at her. We've never heard him growl at us....I guess he really wanted to protect that bone.

The party people with the guest of honor at the head of the table.

Chibi poses for a pre dinner shot

At this point, everyone is stuffed from all the food. Chibi and genki included...but they still had room for doggie cake.

Uncle Kirk gave Chibi this awesome dog seat for the car. It elevates him so that he can see out the window. He also got a monkey toy and winter jacket.

Wow...that is some fancy wrapping. Angie gave Chibi a fancy harness and leash...apparently all the A-list dogs have that kind of leash.

This is from his cousin Genki Nakamori...all his favorites: cucumber, dried japanese fish, and biscuits.

Melt in Your Mouth Tonkatsu: Kagura Restaurant

Today Kirk's best friend Ken and his family introduced us to this awesome tonkatsu restaurant in Torrance. Located on Cabrillo and Carson, this little place is a total find in the south bay. Ken, who is a great cook, foodie, and Japanese food connoisseur has great taste in Japanese cuisine. He also told us about this place with white soba noodles. Anyhow, this restaurant's specialty is tonkatsu which is deep fried pork cutlet. I have lots of memories of this japanese dish as my mom would always make it. She would serve it on a perfectly thinly shredded bed of cabbage with that yummy tonkatsu sauce. Kagura definitely knows how to make their tonkatsu. I had the millefeuille black pork tonkatsu dinner set. It comes with a cabbage salad, chawan mushi (a delicate savory egg custard), pork miso soup, rice, and a bunch of little side dishes (sweet bean, mayo tuna, glass noodle salad, and pickles). The rice, soup, and cabbage are all you can eat as well for those bigger appetites. They also give you a Japanese version of a mortar and pestle called a suribachi and surikogi. Inside you have to grind up sesame seeds and can add tonkatsu sauce to this for dipping. My mille-feuille (french for thousand leaf and pronounced "meel-fwee") tonkatsu was thinly sliced pieces of kurobuta pork rolled up lightly breaded, and perfectly fried. It literally melted in my mouth upon biting into it. Extremely succulent...the perfect amount of fattyness in the meat. It was delicious and makes my mouth water just writing about it. The mille-feuille tonkatsu is something I've never seen before and I would recommend to all you tonkatsu lovers, this is a must try restaurant. I'd be down to eat there anytime.

Japanese mortar (suribachi) and pestle (surikogi)

Cabbage salad and chawan mushi

Mille-feuille black pork (kurobuta) Tonkatsu

Kirk's Chicken Tonkatsu with Daikon Oroshi

Kagura Tokyo Tonkatsu
1652 Cabrillo Ave.
Torrance, CA 90503
www.littletokyorestaurant.com
310-787-0227 (reservations)

Welcome to My New Home: Housewarming Party

I finally had the chance to open up my new home to all my friends and family. It was nice having everyone over to see what I've been doing to the new place. Surprisingly we fit over 40+ people (including 8 babies) in the house. It was a little crowded but everyone found a little nook to hang out in. I made a bunch of food as I love feeding people. There was crab wontons, chocolate cake, rainbow jello, shrimp salad, spinach dip, pulled pork sandwiches, chinese chicken salad, mac and cheese, pigs in a blanket, and mushroom tarts. And that was just the food I made! My super wonderful friends and family made: apple dip, chicken teriyaki, chinese noodles, chili, artichoke dip, beef ribs, and sushi. It was a smorgasborg for yummy food.

I must thank a few people without whom, this party would not have been the success that it was. First, my SW, Joni and her family Dean and Evan for the numerous dishes they made. Joni made her famous noodle salad, apple dip, and decorated the most creative cake I've ever seen. She made an exact replica of my house using paper...so cute and creative. Please see the picture for that. I saved the house and it is not sitting in my craft room as inspiration. Joni also came early with Dean to help set up and Joni took all the photos for the party. She is quite the photographer and can be hired for events! Second, Joni's parents, Jon and Chiyo. Despite a long night at the casinos, Jon made his famous chili and Chiyo made her yummy artichoke dip. Both were gone at the end of the night! It makes me so happy to have become friends with them over the years. Third, Angie, my sister, for making the very alcoholic white sangria. Those who sampled it probably got a nice buzz off of the fruit. She also came over very early helping out with the ice, making drinks, rolling pigs in a blanket, etc. She even did a sweep of the house cleaning and straightening up whatever I didn't get to. Fourth, my parents, who always come through for me whenever I need them and even when I don't ask them to. My dad is as my friend says the silent helper. You never hear him as he flits around collecting trash, taking it out, putting out chairs for people, etc. Even after the party was over, he was busily trying to fix a leak in my window. My mom made the beautifully presented and tasty sushi platter, chicken teriyaki, and beef short ribs. She was so worried that people didn't see that food on the table. I assured her that everyone loved it. I must say, I have the best family. They are always so supportive and helpful. And last, Kirk, my boyfriend and other half. Even after working 80 hours in days and working on saturday, came over sat night to help out. He woke up early to get coffee and helped with all the day of cooking on sunday. He was such a great co-host mingling with everyone and making sure all the food was out. He is the best boyfriend a girl can ask for.
Thanks to everyone who came to the party as well...and for all the thoughtful gifts. My house will continue to look beautiful thanks to all the plants, giftcards, and decorations I received. I can't wait until the next Ocean houseparty!!!

My 33rd Birthday

This year I turned 33 years old! It was just a regular old day speckled with calls, emails, and facebook messages from friends and family. Poor Kirk had to work that day so he couldn't join me and my running buddies for a run then dinner at the new Tofuya. We enjoyed an all you can eat dinner at the korean bbq restaurant on sawtelle and national. I think I like the OG location which is on sawtelle and la grange. Then on the weekend, my mom made her famous potroast dinner which I always request each year. This year, Kirk joined in and got to sample her fall off the bone meat. Angie bought cupcakes from Famous Cupcakes. It was good, but still not as good as Sprinkles. I must say every year has been good to me. So far, the aging process has been good although on the inside, I kind of feel the age. I'm hoping to continue to age like a fine wine :)

Valentine's Day with Kirk at Quality Seafood

I had a lovely weekend with Kirk this past Valentine's Day. Saturday I cooked Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguinon and some homemade chocolate cake. We spent all day sunday lounging and walking around. We decided to go to the pier to walk around. There we ate at Quality Seafood. I usually eat the steamed seafood, but today we went for the fried goodies. I had this plate of all fried items, shrimp, fries, scallops, clams, and fish. It was alright. I felt so greasy....definitely over did it. Kirk had a whole fried fish, which he pretty much demolished. Afterwards, we walked off the food and this cute little old lady and her dog were sitting on a bench. She commented to us "what a sweet couple you guys are.".....we are :)

A kiss from me

Kiss for the fishyUgg...put a fork in me and the fish...we're done

Heart attack on a plate

Seafood at Redondo Beach Pier

I absolutely love shellfish! Crab, lobster, shrimp, etc etc. Kirk suggested we go to Redondo Pier now only minutes away from my place, to enjoy some hot seafood. Our friend Shin came along as he was the one who originally told us about this place. It is Korean run seafood house. You must eat the salad which consisted of raw tuna, smelt eggs, salad, rice, cabbage, and some tasty spicy dressing. Mmm...it was so good. We also had baby octopus and some raw oysters which didn't quite agree with my taste buds, but Kirk and Shin chowed down on them. The main part of our meal were two huge steamed crabs. They gave us some mallets and bibs and we hammered and pulled out juicy fresh crab meat. I always enjoy that kind of seafood because it is so much fun to eat with other people. There is something about hammering crab legs that I love.

Dine LA at Akasha

I was planning on skipping out on Dine LA this time since I just bought the house and was trying to save some dough. But wonderful, generous Kirk was so nice to surprise me with reservations at Akasha. We had actually gone to dine la here last year and loved it. The restaurant is a very farmers market fresh type of place with lots of organic and free trade this and that. For appetizers we had the pork sliders and grilled shrimp with ciabatta. The sliders were super moist but a little on the salty and very spicy side. The grilled shrimp was served on grilled ciabatta that was slightly burnt. For our main course I had the braised short ribs and Kirk had the albacore and quinoa. You can't go wrong with braised anything is my saying! It was super delicious and moist. The albacore was just alright...I really wasn't digging the quinoa (pronounced Kin-wa). For dessert, we had the banana split cake and smores pudding. They were just alright. For some reason, I was not quite as impressed as I had been in the past with Akasha. I don't think it was quite a representation of what they are capable of.

Year 3 of Angie's Beauty Strategy Meeting

This is now the third year in the row that I've helped Angie arrange some flowers for her annual strategy meeting. I thought we were totally out of ideas but somehow we put our thinking caps together and managed to come up with a great design to go with the theme of hollywood glamour. Angie found these great silver bowls and crystal pins which we placed in the rose centers. We created a large display for the front that included quince branches with hanging crystals, and wired roses. It looked quite sparkly with all the crystals and crystal pins. It was a lot of work, but in the end everything looked great.

Old Skool Dining at Dal Rae

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Kirk and his family often go to Dal Rae for special occasions. This year for Mrs. Shintani's birthday, the whole family and significant others went to dine at Dal Rae. It was a very old school vibe with great service and soft leather booths. Our waitress Kitty, was a elderly yet super spry lady who kept the jokes going throughout the meal. Complimentary radish tray came filled with radishes (my favorite), pickles, carrots, pepperocine, and other yummy goodies to crunch on. I had the chilean sea bass ala Ben. Man o man...it was so tasty. I got this huge piece of fish served with parmesan and carmelized onions. The fish was super flaky and it went well with the cheese and lemon butter sauce. A large baked potato was served on the side. This restaurant has a nice menu of american style fish and meat dishes. It reminded me of Lawry's but without the prime rib. Probably one of the nicest restaurants outside the LA restaurant area that I normally dine at.

Japanese Eats and Drinks: Yuzu

My weak sauce Shochu and Calpico mix

Shrimp salad with sesame dressing

Grilled Yamaimo with nori

Grilled beef with mushroom and bean sprouts

Karaage Chicken

Grilled beef tongue

Grilled kurobuta pork

Lately, Kirk and I have been exploring the Japanese eats and drinks in the Torrance area. Luckily, Kirk's friend and now our new drinking buddy, Shin, is not only knowledgeable of Japanese cuisine, he is an expert Japanese alcohol drinker! He's great to eat with because he knows his Japanese alcohol, food, and speaks in Japanese! On our second drinking evening (first was at Torihei, but forgot to blog), we went to Yuzu in Old Town Torrance. It has a very modern feel inside, but the food is pretty traditional. I think a great date night place.
We started off with some Shochu which kind of reminds me of Vodka without the heavy alcohol taste and less of a hangover effect. I like the lighter tasting ones and I love adding Calpico drink to kill the alcohol taste. I got my own bottle because Shin and Kirk wanted to more manly, stronger tasting one. We ended up ordering a bunch of food. We started off with some grilled shrimp salad with mixed greens and vegetables. They serve some really large pieces of shrimp with some tasty sesame dressing. Next, we had grilled yamaimo....yum. It was lightly dipped in shoyu or teriyaki sauce and grilled, then sliced. For those of you who don't know, yamaimo is a root vegetable that has a sort of crunchy, slithery texture. I also love it grated and eaten with soba. We also had some other typical grilled items like beef, beef tongue, kurobuta pork, which was grilled just right and so easy to bit into. We finished the meal off with some cold soba, hot udon, and grilled rice balls. Of course, I was pretty toasted at this point, so there are no pictures of the food towards the end of the night :)
Japanese eating and drinking is such an art of pacing. You eat a little, drink a little (or in Shin and Kirk's case, drink a lot). We were there for over 2 hours enjoying the food, Shochu, and conversation...albeit the conversation was pretty geared towards the video game Call of Duty. I'm quite excited to keep exploring the restaurants out here in the South Bay. If anyone wants to join us for some good eats and drinks, let me know!