Farmers Market Fab

To answer your question, yes, I went to the farmers market today...again.

Two farmers markets in two days, and I couldn't be happier. (Sort of like 40 games in 40 nights...but that data point still needs to be validated).

So today, I finally made it to the Hollywood Farmers Market. I know, Hollywood? For produce? Believe me, I had those same thoughts 8am this morning for this. But, 3 freeways and 2 bags of farmers market goods later, it was definitely worth it.

Why?

1. The variety - Candy-stripe beets? Check. Rainbow carrots? Check. Wild arugula? Check. This market pretty much has very fruit or veggie (in season) that you want, and some that you didn't even know you wanted.



I know you can't really tell from this angle...but this zucchini are super Samoan size. And ostensibly organic as well.

2. The prepared foods - Sure farmers markets are never shy with sampling...but seriously, I can only eat so many peaches/strawberries/apples/oranges before I'm over it. Luckily, this farmers market has lots and lots of offerings. For breakfast, I opted for a pupusa stuffed with chicken and cheese.



I've never heard/seen/eaten a pupusa until today...but from what I can tell, it's very similar to a tamale...but flat. The outside is the same as a tamale and filled with whatever you want. Quite yummy. Although that side of pickled cabbage slaw and salsa really made this pupusa. It was like a Mexican kimchi.

3. Carmela Ice cream!

Yup, handmade, super premium ice cream. Only to rival the ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco. Carmela Ice Cream offers inventive flavors (and seasonal, gotta luv that) flavors, such as cucumber, mint, strawberry lemon, strawberry basil and my pick of the day: strawberry buttermilk. And of course, you can sample all the flavors.



I thought the hand-written label was a nice touch.



I can't even begin to tell describe how much I luved this ice cream. Sooo creamy with just the right amount of air, but not too heavy, like super premium ice cream sometimes can be. They use strawberries from the farmers market (of course) and not too much sugar. So the ice cream was sweet, but just slightly tart from the strawberries and buttermilk. Good lunch pick.

So what did I end up taking home?

1 bunch eucalyptus, 1 bunch beets, 1 bunch carrots, a few rainbow carrots, 2 heirloom tomatoes, several peaches, a bag of cherries, a couple handfuls of fresh peas, arugula and smoked pistachios. Yup, hickory smoked and yummy.

Oh, and I picked up some Italian cookies on the way home from Susina Bakery. The ice cream was a small lunch. A snack, even.



Aren't they cute??

Now, I need to figure out what to make with all this stuff. Perhaps I will contemplate over a few of those pistachios.

Last night, I made Jamie Oliver's zucchini carbonara with that day's farmers market buys.



Ok...carbonara without the bacon. So I guess it was more carbonara for veggies.

And...Lakers won last night! Good game, too. Kobe's facial expressions were hilarious...but not as much as this quote from the announcers:

Pau had just dunked the ball with an assist from Shannon Brown, to which the announcer said:

"Now that's what I call boom, boom, PAU!" Pau, pow...umm...ok.

Pizza, Please

Mmm...pizza...

One of my fav things in life...right up there with the Lakers. Not as high up there, but pretty high.

But, it's one of those things that's pretty hard to replicate at home....and sometimes best left to professionals. Unless you have one of those super cool wood burning outdoor ovens. In which case, you have no excuse not to make pizza.

So about halfway through my 8:30 kickboxing class, I decided that I deserved a pizza. But per usual, I couldn't decide on what kind, so I just went with three:

1. Potato and Arugula Pizza (a fav from Zinc Cafe)
2. Corn, Jalapeno, Cilantro and 4 cheese pizza (from Cheeseboard in Berkeley)
3. Margherita

Which worked well since I had most of the pizza ingredients at home...except the tomato and cilantro. So I went to the Irvine Farmer's Market for these two ingredients, and came home with this...



5 donut peaches, 1 heirloom tomato, and handful of baby zuchinni and squash blossoms, 1 bunch cilantro, 3 red grapefruits, 1 bunch tuberose, 1 bunch casablanca lilies...and 1 chocolate mint potted plant.

I luv my new little mint plant. I hope this one makes it through the summer. The guy I bought it from had a Hawaii shirt, so I felt the need to purchase something. The Irvine Farmer's Market has expanded quite a bit since my last visit, but the offerings are still a little slim. The produce is really nice, fresh and yummy, but I wish there was more variety. For that, I think I'll have to travel up to the Hollywood Farmer's Market. I'm in need of some rainbow carrots.

Anyway, on to the pizza! But first, a confession. I used pre-made dough from Trader Joe's. I know, I know. How could I?? But honestly, I'm not the best dough-maker and at $1, it's pretty much an offer I couldn't refuse.



Pizzas pre-oven. I didn't know what was gonna happen to them in the oven, so I wanted to show that they did look edible at some point. Clockwise from top: margherita, 4 cheese with white corn and jalapeno and potato with red pepper flakes.



Post-oven/broiler. I topped the potato pizza with a spinach salad (ran out of arugula).

While they were all quite yummy, the 4 cheese (feta, gruyere, burrata and parmigiano), corn, jalapeno and cilantro won. Although, the margherita was a close second...due to the deliciousness of the heirloom tomato. The potato was also yummy, but it made me really sleepy.

And I guess I need to address the Laker loss of Game 2 the other day...but here's what I have to say. Mike (Fab 5/misguided Laker fan) always trash talks to me about the Lakers. You can imagine the time he was having on Thursday. I was upset. He then offered me this "peace offering". Here's what I think about his peace offering and the Clippers:



As it turns out, he found the pretzel on the ground. Clipper fans. Typical.

Yay Lakers!!!

And The Rockets' Red Glare...

Booo!!!

Whew. I just had to get that out of my system. The national anthem will just never be the same again. And by again, I mean, after the Lakers decisively beat Houston in Game 7.

Truth be told, this series should not have gone to Game 7. The Lakers just don't always play up to their potential, and well, I guess that even greatness has its off days. But Sunday certainly was not one of them! The Lakers played amazingly! Like we all know they can. Even Walton (cough, cough) wasn't too bad. Their defense was definitely impressive...and inspiring, some would say (myself included). As for the Rockets...well, I guess someone forgot to tell them it was Game 7. Oh well. Yay Lakers! On to the hated Nuggets!

No doubt Denver will be a tough team...I mean, they don't call them the "Thuggets" for nothing. They're pretty physical and Denver fans are well...hmm...let's just say on par with their team, shall we? The Lakers have beat them in 3 of their 4 meetings in the regular season, but who knows what that means now that this is the Playoffs (aka the most wonderful time of the year). And apparently, where amazing happens. Not to be confused with Kobe. He's where greatness happens.

Speaking of amazing, this has been quite the playoffs, and since I am on break from cost accounting homework (what is cost accounting anyway...I don't know, and I doubt I'll find out over the course of the next 2 months, but whatev), let's recount some fav Playoff moments that come to mind. And in no particular order.

1. Ron Artest's new do (but same attitude)



Now that's commitment. Or craziness. Artest walks a fine line.

2. LeBron's 36-foot jumper. I'm working on mine.

3. Brad Miller getting tripped up by Rondo (never-foul)...and then going to the line to shoot 2. How many baskets do you see Brad? 5? 6? Ok...try to look past the blood dripping down your face...

4. Dwight Howard and his shoulders. I'm working on mine, too.

5. Big Baby coming to play. Yes, I'm a Celtics hater...but come on...it's Baby. How often do you see 250+ pounds dunk? Seriously. Defies gravity.

6. Jeff Van Gundy. Is it just me...or do you also feel that Jeff Van Gundy will explode at least 3 times each game?

7. Kobe being Kobe. Who needs a chalk toss?

And now...onto to the WCF!

Mike: To Boldy Go Where No Man Has Gone Before...

Or should ever venture to again.

Mike is one of the Fab 5, and this entry is dedicated to him.

He's a brownie-loving, Wikipedia-mesmerized, deep fried food obsessed eater and is allergic to just about anything that a person can be allergic to. His one major shortcoming is that he is a lost and misguided Lakers fan, aka a Clipper fan. But we like him all the same. No one's perfect. Well, except maybe Kobe. But then again, he is greatness. Right, Mike?

I mean the Clippers don't have anyone they can call greatness...or goodness...or okay-ness. Maybe not-badness? Come to think of it...who the heck is on the Clippers anyway? Hmm...

Now, for those of you that think you haven't met Mike, if you've ever had the opportunity to read my Facebook status, then you've practically met him. He very generously authors 99.9% of my Facebook statuses.

He is also hilarious and an incredibly good sport. Incredibly.

Recently, I managed to coerce him to watch the Laker game one day after class. The Lakers were having a blow out game against Houston. He luved that. L-U-V. As Houston continued to play like the Clippers...I mean, as they continued to get beat by the Lakers, I became increasingly disinterested with the game, and challenged Mike to eat the remanants of a fried shrimp dish.



Shrimp dish remnants. Mostly shrimp heads, tails and detached legs. Money pictured is Mike's potential earnings. All $3.02.



Shrimp dish after. He didn't eat the oil, but I insisted that he eat all the detached legs. Yummy.



Mike, BC (before consumption). See how happy he is?



Mike, AC (after consumption). Overdosed on shrimp parts and oil. He wasn't feeling so hot. I apologize for the blurriness. But I couldn't stop laughing.

MB > MC? You decide.

Am I Ridiculous?

I take that back.

I am ridiculous.

For many reasons, but most recently for an encounter with a Trader Joe's employee. And I luv Trader Joe's.

Last week, I was at Trader Joe's in need of King Arthur Flour. Why King Arthur only? I don't have a concrete reason per say...but I bake exclusively with King Arthur Flour.



It's all-natural, with no bleach, organic and I think just overall better. And I'm pretty sure my brownies taste better, or at least have better texture.

So you can imagine my surprise when I noticed that Trader Joe's was noticeably out of my fav King Arthur Flour and replaced it with their private label flour.

me (to Trader Joe's employee): Umm...are you out of King Arthur Flour?
TJ Employee: Oh! We must have more in the back. Let me check.
me: Yay!
TJ Employee: Actually, we no longer carry King Arthur. We now only carry our private label flour.
me: Huh?? Why?
TJ Employee: Well, do you know the process of something becoming private label?
me: (still saddened/shocked) Noo...what happens?
TJ Employee: We buy the recipe and the process from the brand, so this is essentially the same thing as King Arthur Flour.
me: Excuse me? Do you have a 150 year tradition of making flour??
TJ Employee: Uhhh....no...
me: So it's not essentially the same, is it?

Geeees. What the heck. I don't know where my filter was that day. And it's not even a 150 year tradition...it's actually 200! Can't even get my facts straight.

And no, I didn't buy the private label flour.

Playoffs, Round 2

It's like the gift that keeps on giving.

How can you not luv this time of year? There's something for everyone.

1. Drama: What will the Celtics do next? How is it possible that Rondo is not ejected/suspended/somehow banned altogether? Will KG ever sit down and shut up? Ever?

2. Comedy: Ron Artest sitting in the stands. Artest calling Charles Barkley over-rated and Brandon Roy the best player he's every played against...save a dude he played when he was 15 or 16. Said dude is now in jail. So the title now goes to Roy. Gangsta. Rick Fox unzipping his shirt to role-play as Wolverine...hmm...maybe this should go in the "Disturbing" category.

3. Action: It's not called "where amazing happens" for nothing. Triple OT!

4. Annoyances: The Birdman. What is up with that hair?? Those tattoos? Why do people like him? Why? KG in a suit. Kicking and screaming and pouting. Rinse and repeat.

5. Acting: The command performances so far go to Rondo and Baby Davis of the Celtics. Never before have I seen such on-cue flopping. Way to go.

6. The Lakers: Is there any other team to cheer for? The Lakers are everything that is good and right in this game.

7. KB24: He's just wonderful. But we all knew this.

All this in Round 1! I can hardly stand it.

May Day!

Is Lei Day in Hawaii...

But what is May Day really?

Wikipedia says that May Day has something to do with labor relations...or historically, it was meant to celebrate some Roman goddess of flowers.

Hmm...well in Hawaii, we make leis, have some sort of school gathering/performance and eat luau food. I much prefer this to whatever Wikipedia had to say.

We even have a song for this day.

"May Day is lei day in Hawaii
Garlands of flowers everywhere...
All of the colors in the rainbow...
Maidens with blossoms in their hair"

"Flowers that mean you should be happy...
Throwing aside a load of care...oh!
May Day is lei day in Hawaii
May Day is happy day out here."

Anything for a day off from school, right?

So as you may have figured, May Day is a pretty big deal in the islands. There's a May Day court and everything. Sort of like Noah's Ark, where you have two kids representing each island, and there is of course a May Pole dance as well as performances by each grade level.



I'm trying to remember the May Day performances from the Wailuku Elementary days...but all I can remember is La Bamba from the 1st grade...and for some reason, I feel like we did something to Bette Midler's "From a Distance". How else would I know that song?