August Birthdays

When I think of August I think of Birthday season. With that said, a quick shout out to Lauren (August 4th), Monte and Lynn (August 6th)! Happy Birthday to all! We celebrated Monte's birthday this year at the old school (think Korean style Denny's), Dong Il Jang. The waitresses are decked out in awesome brown and white uniforms, there are booths for families, a big party room where you sit on the floor and even a little koi pond to greet you at the entrence. The tables have built-in bbq grills and service tends to be fast and furious. We discovered this restaurant about a month ago, and I read that if you get the Roast Gui you get the "leftover" kim chee fried rice. I've been there several times but we always ordered the Bulgogi instead. Since we had a big party this time, I FINALLY got to order the Roast Gui. And unfortunately, I'd recommend sticking to the Bulgogi. The Roast Gui isn't marinated and the meat is a little tougher. And although the fried rice at the end was tasty, it wasn't worth giving up the thin slices of marinated beef that melts in your mouth. We also ordered the Kalbi and pork which were both hits. As you'll see Baby Noah graced us with his presence and he obviously did NOT take a liking to me. Sad day. Don't worry Noah, you'll learn to love me!

Dong Il Jang Restaurant
3455 W 8TH St
Los Angeles, CA 90005-2517

YUMMY!!!

I Was Forgotten!

This is the very first trip since I was adopted that I was forgotten...it was a very sad Thursday morning. However, my mom took pictures and promised to take me to New York next time. We'll start with the good then move to the ugly. She arrived in NYC Thursday evening and met friends (old and new) at a Tapas restaurant, Pipa in the Flatiron District to celebrate Renee's birthday. It was absolutely packed with people and the photos from its Citysearch review didn't do it much justice. Prior to the trip we were trying to figure out what this place was about, since its website goes to some sort of random carpet site. Anyway, Bryan explained that you can buy the chandeliers in the restaurant (all gorgeous!) and the chocolate shop, (also listed on the carpet site) Chocolat Michel Cluizel, apparently gave away $2 Million worth in chocolate. Hmmmm. Anyway, Pipa is Spanish slang to have a good time. And a good time, they had indeed! Celebrating with loads of sangria, chorizo, stuffed dates, calamari, shrimp and paella. A great time, great company and a Happy Birthday for Renee! The next day, mom took her mom out for a walk around town. They visited Chinatown, shopped in SoHo and discovered the wonders of Dean & Deluca! Fay went crazy and they had to hold each other back from gluttony. They settled for a snack - two ginormous scallops and one even bigger crab cake. That night they joined for a girls night Indian feast at Yuva. Where they dinned on roasted lamb, chicken korma, saag paneer, naan and some sort of grilled chicken. Everything was delicious and healthy! It was the perfect start to a Friday evening in New York city. After dinner they caught a cab uptown for the "First Friday" event at the Guggenheim Museum. This was the first time she visited any Guggenheim, and as beautiful as it was there were two not so great things about it. It was so crowed that you could barely walk anywhere on the floor. And she was wearing heels (stupid!) and in so much pain from walking around...not to mention she got her heel stuck in floor grates (that must've been pretty awesome, too bad I wasn't there to witness it myself). The girls all seemed to think they were living a fabulous night in New York right out of Sex and The City. I'm going to skip Saturday events for the next posting after this, as it's too important. On Sunday they packed their bags and headed to Joe's Shanghai for soup dumplings. What exactly is a soup dumpling? Well, they are delightful little gems of dumplings containing soup. Definitely worth it if you're looking for something different! Now comes the ugly...so we headed to JFK airport to catch our flights. Marlene boarded the plane only to sit on the JFK runway for 1.5 hours, not moving. Yes, that's right not moving. But to make things worse, she was also in the last row next to the fabulous bathrooms and squeezed into a seat overflowing with Italian newlyweds (quite irritating as they made everyone around change seats). She arrived in Los Angeles only to find that her luggage looked like it was mauled by coyotes on a wild rampage which was then kidnapped by some sort of mad robot with a hate for plastic. And finally, 3 hours after she landed she made it home...thanks to the extremely slow Lot B busses and retarded parking lot pay system at LAX. Delta sort of blows too. Keep that in mind next time you fly. Sadly, they also forgot about serving snacks to those lucky people sitting next to the bathrooms.

Salty Pies

Yes, I have a "day job" and one of the owners of this company is French. I've always loved French, in fact I took French in college but truly sucked at it, because I always wanted to answer in Japanese (the first language I learned). Anyway, I was speaking to Val, the French lady, and she told me she absolutely adores "salty pies" - or to the rest of us, the quiche. We looked up quiche recipes (in French) together and I realized the quiche recipes didn't use eggs, which is what I thought a quiche was. A little puzzled, and a lot intrigued by these eggless salty pies, I decided to search for a recipe that sounded good to me. I didn't search long because I found a fabulous recipe (again) in that French cookbook I purchased. This recipe is called "Tartelette Au Saumon Fume, Poireaux, Et Citron" and translates to Smoked Salmon, Leek and Lemon Tartlettes. The recipe is actually for 6 mini tarts but I decided to go big (ummm, I didn't have the tartlette pans). I've made it a couple of times but today, I created one especially for Ogy...my hilariously fun co-worker who can't eat much, but loves these salty pies (she grew up in France too).

In Full Bloom

A couple months ago I drove by Posh on Pico and noticed that they, sadly, closed their doors. When Bloom Cafe opened I was a little skeptical, however I kept hearing good things about it. So on Sunday afternoon I met Miki, Melanie and Baby Noah for a lunch date and was pleasantly surprised. First of all they had fresh coconut juice on the menu (love for Miki and I!). As I learned recently, coconut juice is loaded with electrolytes and contains more potassium than a banana plus it's low in calories and of course, all natural! It just makes me happy. Google the benefits of coconut juice then find some coconuts and make yourself happy. Good times.

Anyway, after analyzing the menu and wanting everything, I decided to order the Fresh California Mozzarella & Tapenade Tartine. It was amazing and perfectly seasoned. Melanie ordered the Fish Tacos and Miki got Huevos Rancheros (see pic)...as the waiters were walking by serving this dish, we watched in awe. I had one bite and it was delicious. We then discussed how Earl and Ivan would both enjoy this dish.

Melanie also got a lemonade, but the French waiter brought a mint lemonade instead (which she didn't want so I gulped it up instead). It's probably not for everyone or for anyone that likes their lemonade sweet. But I loved it, refreshing and a bit tart. Perfect and somewhat similiar to the crazy green drink (have no clue what it's called probably because it's in Hebrew, but everyone at my work place loves it) they serve at Aroma Cafe in Encino. Oh, and I can't end without including a picture of Baby Noah. He's filling out and has the most adorable belly that screams "gotta love me!"

Bloom Cafe
http://www.go2bloom.com/
5544 W Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
323.934.6900
P.S. They are organic AND green (meaning environmentally friendly)!

Canneles - A Crazy Confection!

Last week I visited my favorite cafe in Pasadena, EuroPane. As I ordered my usual chicken salad sandwich, I (of course) couldn't help myself from eying the desserts...I noticed a familiar treat, canneles, that I've been wanting to try but haven't seen at any of the other bakeries I've recently visited. I first saw a picture of canneles in the new cookbook I purchased and have been thinking about making EXCEPT you need to purchase these crazy pans and find some beeswax, which intrigued me even more. Once I bit into these scrumptious tiny things, I was in love. Heaven for me really. They are crisp on the outside, from the beeswax and no they don't taste waxy at all...the middle contains a fluffy custard, with an almost cake-like consistency but softer. Sort of like a custard cloud? Okay, I can't find the words but they are phenomenal! One day soon I will find these ridiculously priced pans (perhaps I need to go back to France?) and beeswax. Will keep you all updated, but in the meantime try to find some and enjoy!

Oxnard Strawberry Festival

Last Sunday we all drove up to Oxnard, CA (about an hour north of Los Angeles) to help support PabloSurf.com at the annual Strawberry Festival. It's massive is all I can say...although it made me happy so many people (rumor has it that 65,000 people attended) came to celebrate one of my favorite succulent fruits! They have everything from Strawberry Pizza to Strawberry Nachos and in all seriousness, I've never had such sweet strawberries in my life! These strawberries, as you can see, are very photogenic but they taste even better. Such sweet memories. Anyway, the festival also has food booths from all over town, a major dilemma for us because we can't ever decide where or what to eat. There's BBQ smoke in the air, people munching on corn, candied almonds, thai food and strawberries everywhere. We finally settled on BBQ from a local shop in Ventura, one of our favorites, CJ's BBQ. These guys are from Wharton, Texas so we know they know what they're doing. Good stuff!

CJ's BBQ
480 S. Victoria Ave, Oxnard
Phone: 805-815-3024

http://www.strawberry-fest.org/

Tart Au Chevre Avec Des Poires

Otherwise know as a Goat Cheese Tart with Pears. The other week while browsing on Amazon.com I spontaneously purchased (and perhaps overpaid although I think this is rather hard find) cookbook, The American Boulangerie: French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen by Pascal Rigo. So far I've made Madeleines, which came out beautifully (I forgot to take a pictures) and last week I tried a goat chese tart. It was actually quite simple. The tart is similar to a cheesecake, but lighter in texture as it uses a mixture of goat cheese and cream chesse. The recipe also calls for huckleberries (which I couldn't find) so I used fresh cranberries instead and sprinkled some sugar on them to tone down the tartness.

4 oz firmly packed goat cheese, at room temperature
6 oz. firmly packed cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 C + 4 t. sugar
2 t. heavy whipping cream
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. freshly grated orange zest (I used lemon)
1 extra large egg, separated
9-inch Pate Sucree tart shell
1 Anjou pear, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 C fresh huckleberries

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine goat cheese and cream cheese on medium speed until free of lumps. Add 1/4 C. sugar and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the heavy cream, vanilla and orange zest. Increase to medium speed and continue to mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides. Add the egg yolk and beat until completely incorporated. Set aside.

2. In a clean bowl, whip the egg white until foamy. Incrase speed to high and gradually add the 4 t. sugar. Continue to whip to stiff peaks (firm and shiny). Gently fold the whipped egg white into the cheese mixture. Transfer the cheese mixture into the tart shell. Evenly space the pear slices around the edge of the tart and decorate with huckleberries.

3. Bake for 25 mintues or until the surface looks dry and filling is slightly puffed.

Noah Augustus Priddy

Whoooohooooooo! He has arrived!!! Baby Noah made his way out into the big world on Friday, April 27th. Isn't he adorable? I'm anxiously awaiting our meals together...

Spring Flings!

It's been a busy past couple of weeks and this Sheep has some shout-outs! Grandma and Mama came out for a visit to rock the house! Grandma was asked to give a speech at the Japanese National Museum and impressed everyone with her energy, charm and wisdom (naturally, of course!). Watch out for the Kawakami collection coming our way in 2009! Kudos to my mom for sticking it out, she's one patient (and wonderful) woman. And Justin one of my old-time pals from "the Moore St. experience" drove all the way from San Diego and Monte's mom who came out all the way from Houston to see Grandma Kawakami. Thank you!!! Also celebrating a ton of birthdays lately, onward with the shout-outs! Happy Birthday Adam! One of my very first friends from my homeland, New Zealand. It was so nice to be reunited with the "originals" - Adam, Grace and Michael. We sure ate a lot of garlic that night at The Stinking Rose...I smelled for two days after that dinner. I seriously started wondering how the chefs deal? Do they wear gloves? Does anyone know? Whenever I cook with one clove of garlic my hooves smell for a good day. Next up was Miki! We went to The Boulevard in WeHo where we shoveled-in (that's Anzai term for eating) mini hamburgers, wine and most importantly CAKE! Mari went all out and made not one, but two cakes...both extremely tasty, yet different. I was focused on getting as much cake into my belly as possible. You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you will ever be able to experience this tastiness again? Yup, that was me. I was out of control but you can't blame me because first there was Monte's favorite chocolate/toffee cake and then there was the annual lemon curd with cream cheese frosting fabulousness. In fact I'm dreaming about it now. Daryl was up next, where we celebrated at Eleven, also in WeHo. We were mostly entertained by our waiter, strike-a-pose Jonathan, who we had to get in the picture with us! However, one of my favorite moments of the evening was FINALLY getting to witness Miki's tricycle. Yes, she rides a tricycle, which I'm in full support of, as it is helping our earth situation but really, wouldn't it be easier to ride a bicycle? Daryl, you still love her, flashing light and all right? Watch out for the tricycleladyinweho.com blog coming soon! And if anyone captures an action-shot please let me know! Finally, to my baby brother Bryce and my mom. Happy Birthday to both of you! I still remember the day Bryce was born and how we celebrated my mom's birthday in the hospital with a Baskin-Robbin's ice cream cake (notice how I remember the food?!). I miss you both and hope to see you soon!

Getting Ready for a Priddy Baby!

This past Saturday, we officially began preparing for Baby Priddy. So far, we know Baby Priddy is a boy and the proud parents are still trying to pick a name...apparently Dave just doesn't want to give in to Justin Priddy or Timberlake Priddy. Humph.

The Manzai's (Miki & Mari) put together a wonderful Baby Shower for Melanie, where we enjoyed delicious quiche, asparagus, fruits, ginger scones and sparkling wine. We played games, bashed the OC and watched Melanie unwrap presents - revealing that their son will be some sort of jock with some really sparkly gold shoes. We can't wait!


In preparation for the Priddy Baby Shower, I volunteered to make the cake and put those decorating skills to use. I baked a four-egg cake (thank you Joy of Cooking - that book rocks!), whipped up a batch of milk chocolate mousse and chocolate buttercream frosting. This was definitely easier than the last cake I made, and only created half the mess I did the last time. I began with creating my little gumpaste friends the night before and quickly fell in love with Eleanor the Elephant. Isn't she adorable? I am so sheepy when it comes to love. Sigh. Even though Eleanor wasn't quite the attention queen I thought she would be, Larry the Lazy Lion was the one everyone was fighting over, with Marvin the Monkey in a close second (I think it's because he was made of chocolate instead of gumpaste and someone just wanted his head). Anyway, Melanie took our friends home and tucked them away for freezer hibernation as we all anticipate the newest addition to the family!

BLD (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

These pictures are actually extremely old as I've been meaning to post this forever, however we frequent this place so often it doesn't really matter. BLD is fairly new (less than a year old - I think) and we often enjoy weekend brunches there. But mostly we (or maybe someone more than others, wink) just go there to admire the waitstaff...one in particular. Hmmmmm, charming. Sometimes we even request tables in his section. Enough said. Anyway, BLD was opened by the same team that opened Grace down the street, and the owners happen to be siblings of one of our favorite Anusara yoga teachers, Tiffany Fraser. We've also seen a few celebrity sitings - David Schwimmer (Friends), Victor Garber (Alias) and a few other familiar faces. Anyway, onto the heart of the subject...the food! I haven't had dinner or lunch there yet but have enjoyed many fritattas, "eggs as you like them" (my favorite), french toast and even a bruleed grapefruit! All of which have been excellent. And you've got to get the cream cheese and chive biscuit! Plus the service is always friendly. Definitely try it out if you've driven by wondering what BLD is about (ah hem, other than that diirty Colin video. Yeah that's right, you know what I'm talking about)



BLD
7450 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Mmmm, FIBER! Not just for tree huggers although I do love trees!

For the past 3 weeks I've been on a quest to create the perfect bran muffin. Most people I know wouldn't choose a bran muffin over a fatty blueberry muffin, but after a few additional (unwanted) LB's and encouragement from a co-worker I became obsessed with the bran. First I tried a pineapple bran with dried cranberries which my co-worker renamed, "Happy Cakes" (a good sign that I'm heading in the right direction). Second, I baked banana bran raisin muffins which were probably the closest recipe to the standard bran muffin. This week I tried a banana bran with fresh blueberry recipe which was my personal favorite. I started with a recipe on a blog I recently discovered: http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/
How could I go wrong with a blog featuring my fellow fluffy friends?!

Happy Birthday Miwa!!!

This past weekend was a Miwa-Extravaganza! Her friends don't just throw one surprise party...but two (2)! Which only reveals what a great friend this girl is. This is exactly why we call her THE MIWA, not just Miwa, that would be for the common folks. On Saturday we took over the entire bar at Bodega De Cordova and Sunday we gathered for a more intimate dinner at Blair's in Silverlake, all thanks to her sneaky-sneaky friends Gracie and Robyn.

Since I just finished my cake decorating class I felt it was time to unleash my beginner skills and attempt Miwa's birthday cake. I decided to try all new recipes (probably not the smartest idea) and baked a yellow cake with a berry-custard filling and Italian buttercream frosting. All went well until the frosting, which took three tries to perfect. First the thermometer died on me, which burnt the first batch. The second batch crystallized, again thanks to the thermometer, and finally I got smart and went with the good 'ol eyeball test. Luckily I had made penguins and the cherry blossoms the night before so I had enough time to decorate. All in all, the cake turned out okay and it did make Miwa smile which is all that matters.

Back to the food (of course!) Blair's was the perfect place for dinner. We enjoyed truffle mac & cheese, short ribs, risotto, sea bass and a ton of other tasty concoctions. The wait staff was attentive and helped pull off the surprise flawlessly. Happy Birthday Miwa!

Blair's
2903 Rowena Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Happy New Year!

I'm bringing SHEEPY BACK and am truly looking forward to 2007! But sadly, my cake decorating class is coming to an end. I was unsure of how I felt about the class at first (mostly because I struggled so much) but have come to enjoy this new hobby and am excited about challenging myself to see what else I can create. I think I've been watching too many episodes of Ace of Cakes (I love that show! Thanks for the tip Julie). As I got fired up, I decided to made a buttermilk cake, filled with chocolate custard and frosted with Italian Buttercream. I had enough cake for a big 6" and two 3" cakes (although i had no one to eat them). Throughout this course I've developed a whole new appreciation for cake but I struggle with the fact that pastry chefs spends hours, sometimes days working on a piece of art only to be destroyed and eaten. Hmmmm. I guess I just need to let go and enjoy both the beauty and taste. I absolutely love creating cakes, eating them too, but mostly I just enjoy creating them. In fact I'm staying up way past my bedtime tonight to not only write this post but was working on gumpaste adornments for my final cake tomorrow. Who knew gumpaste birds could be so cute? I think a sheep cake may be in the near future...

Beard Papa

I'm intrigued by its name alone. Who names a cream puffery "Beard Papa"? I remember first hearing about it through friends in Hawaii; sharing stories about people who would line up (potentially for hours) to purchase these cream puffs and everyday, they would sell out. However, that's the way Hawaii works...their trends are fast and furious. So when I heard they were opening in Los Angeles I told myself I needed to see what the hype's about. However, they placed Beard Papa in a shopping center right smack in the crazy heart of Hollywood (mainly built for tourists), so of course it's taken me over a year to get over there even if it's less than 5 miles away. Anyway, last night I finally stepped hoove in the puffery and we were pleasantly greeted with no lines and a smiling puffette ready to take the order. As they were packaging the puffs, I noticed that their business card read "Healthy and Delightful" - what?! Delightful sure, but healthy? Interesting. The shell was light and crisp, the custard contained real vanilla beans. Delish. Since they're healthy I guess I can eat more! And please check out their story online, it's pure awesomeness!!! Those Japanese sure seem happy! I want to meet the bearded man who smokes puffs out of his cigar.

Beard Papa
http://www.muginohousa.com/
6801 Hollywood Blvd, #153
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-462-6100

Lucky Strike

Although maybe not so lucky?
It was Melanie's birthday today so we went to celebrate at Lucky Strike at Hollywood & Highland. Check me out on the alley, pretty sheepy, huh? I started strong but slowly lost my beginner's luck. Besides, it's a lot more challenging to bowl with hooves. But it was good times nontheless. Because of my size, my friends thought it would be hilarious if they stuffed me into a 14 lb ball. Not so funny as I could see parts of my body I never envisioned seeing. Ugh. Anyway, we enjoyed many tasty treats including cheese fries, nachos and baked brie. Oh, and watch out for super crabby waitresses (snappy!). All in all it was a memmorable evening and Anzai's, next time you're going down!!!

Happy Birthday Melanie!!!

Lucky Strike
http://www.bowlluckystrike.com/
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028