Sunday, January 25, 2009

Mission Street Foods...At Last!

I'm not going to rehash my previous experiences with Mission Street Foods. Just know that there I was, again, in line, waiting to get in for this week's cheap eats. I had a new plan this time, I was there when they opened at 6, and brought the whole family with me (hooray capool!). Quite a crowd had already developed outside, but I didn't mind a little wait. I just need them to not run out of food! The kids weren't as excited abut standing outside though...

In Line Again...

After 45 minutes, the kids were pretty restless and hungry. I decided to walk the kids down the block to give them something to do. We walked by a Salvadoran restaurant so I decided that a couple of pupusas would make a good snack before dinner. We waited for the freshly made treats and when we got back to the even bigger crowd, Britt was nowhere to be found. I didn't think we were gone that long but apparently my name was called and they almost gave our table away because we weren't all there. Good thing Brittany is charming and convinced them we were only half a block away! So finally, I had made it inside.

A Seat Inside!

It also worked out that this week's menu was pretty kids friendly. Macaroni and cheese? Hot dogs and chili? Check. The complete menu can be found here, but we all shared the mac and cheese, hot dog and chili, fried chicken, and BBBLT. Here they are before we dug in:

Digging in

As you can see, the portions are not very big. They were indeed delicious though and we finished it all quick. But there was still dessert! The girls were very excited to have a scoop of the "Barack-y Road" ice cream. (So excited that it was gone before I got a picture. It was a scoop of ice cream. Use your imaginations) For the adults, however, butter friend corn bread with butter milk panna cotta.

Butter-Fried Cornbread with Buttermilk Panna Cotta, and Mint Julep Honey

By the way, sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. I had my nice camera with me, but I just couldn't bring myself to using the bright flash in that dark place. It would have been pretty distracting to others. So iPhone picture by candlelight will have to do...

So I was finally glad that I finally sampled the great Mission Street Foods. Even though I was hungry when I got home, it was a nice chance for the whole family to try some fancy entrees for a reasonable price. Besides, there's always the pupusas to top your stomach off!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Food Notes

Things I've been eating lately (or at least thought about eating):

- Tried to visit the Mission Street Food phenomenon again last Thursday. Haven't been able to make it (inside, anyway) since they take over the Lung Shan restaurant (I do miss that taco truck). So we drop by at about 8:45 to this lovely crowd mingling outside:

Mission Street Food Crowd

I expected a wait, so we hung out for a while. People were getting in and out at a reasonable rate so I was hopeful, but then the dreaded announcement came that they were running out of food. So once again, I missed out on duck fat fried rice. We were determined to try something new that night though (well, and we were hungry), so we ended up at a lovely pupuseria where I had a pupusa con queso y loroco. Loroco is a flower that grows in El Salvador and commonly use in cooking. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I ate it as soon as they brought it to me (If it makes you feel better, the cheese totally burned my tongue). It actually doesn't have much of a taste. You kind of smell it more than anything else. Fragrant, but not a huge draw. But I ate something I never had before, and it was only $1.90, so I'll call the evening a success.

- Friday evening after getting a haircut for the upcoming Chinese new year (as well as taking advantage of the $8.99 haircut sale at Great Clips), Britt and I decided to grab a quick dinner at In N Out. For some reason (probably hunger, it does crazy things to you), I decided to go with the Animal Fries. For the 3 of you out there who don't know about it yet, Animal Fries is a part of their not so secret menu where you fries come topped with cheese, grilled onions and thousand dressing. I had it once before and wasn't really impressed. This time though I think I found the key: as soon as you get it, give it a good stirring so that the topping makes its way to the bottom as well. Much better that way. The question I had though, was when did they start having a specific container for this thing? Not so secret indeed:

Animal Fries Container

- Finally, a quick one for the Asian kids out there. Who hasn't been to an Asian market as a kid and tried to talk their parents into getting them a Yan Yan? Cracker sticks that you dip into chocolate or strawberry...uh...sauce? They are the best and even now when I get them for my own kids, I would have to grab a few to make sure they are poisonous. I was at Ranch 99 tonight and we saw their newest creation:

Yan Yan For Kids!

Yan Yan kids? What the heck was I eating before? Was I guilty of some underage Yan Yan'ing all this time? I am so ashamed all of a sudden...

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Crime and Punishment

In my short stint working at the police department (a lifetime ago, it seems), we used to have a saying. "We never catch the smart ones," veteran officers would tell me. Fortunately for us, most people who decide on a life of crime aren't smart, and even the smart ones eventually do something stupid. I am reminded of this all the time reading about dumb criminals in the news, like this winner here. For all you young fledging criminals out there, if you are going to be dealing with unsavory people doing unsavory things, and a disagreement ensues, the police are probably not the people you want to call to settle the dispute.

Oh, and don't sell your children. Even for a lot of beer.

Monday, January 12, 2009

December

Has it already been a month since I've last post? (Or, "I haven't post since last year!", as my 9 year old would point out) Time has a way of going by quickly, especially this time of year. What have I been up to, you made ask? Well, let me tell you....

Skipollini's
Made a trip to sample the renowned "preggo pizza." It was basically a combo pizza with extra onion and extra garlic. Alas, it didn't work so well for Brittany. It did give me some crazy breath and heartburn, so it's not without it's powers...

Tilden Merry Go Round
Christmas time at the Merry Go Round at Tilden Park. Always festive and a kid favorite. Those are some good looking kids...

AC Christmas 2008
Christmas also means the annual AC Christmas spectacular. Always seem to grow bigger every year. I guess I have a lot to do with that...

Christmas present Opening Chaos
Christmas also means lots of stops to see family and bunch of presents for the kids. Kids love to open presents, dad hates trying to find room for it all. (Some ends up getting donated. Don't tell the girls!)

New Year's toast
And we brought in 2009 with a little quiet celebration at home. Sara is holding cider, I swear. She just looks funny because she was determined to stay up until midnight....

That's about it. You know, probably what all of you did this time of year....

Oh yeah, I forgot. There was the thing about Brittany giving birth to our new daughter...

IMG_0244
Born Dec 23rd, Audrey Suzanne Kwong has made quite a splashed in all of our lives. She keeps us pretty busy too! (In a good way, of course)

Look at the hair!
Mommy and baby are doing very well. They do each other's hair...

Lion King Pose
We re-enact Disney movies... ("Circle of Life!!.....")

New Year's celebration!
And we celebrated the New Year together.

Family of Five!
Family of Five...That's going to take some getting used to.