Brain Food/Ab Work: Venus vs Mars

Why some things are just better from Europe, ♥ their commercials

Field Trippin': LBC... Lulu & Nunu's Good Vibrations ♥

Oh my GOODNESS where do I start? My FAB friend Lulu & I took a field trip to Long Beach. We got word on the streets from some dude I met on Craigslist... NO not that kinda Dude, GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER PERV, a "friend" I made when I was searching for my rice cooker & he thinks my HK kitchen obsession is HYSTERICAL... anywho he told me that a Hello Kitty/Chococat collector abandoned her apartment & everything had to go! The Landlord Chris was SUPER cool & when I asked if he could, he held a HK waffle maker for me until we arrived. Now I will say I LOVE the Kitty & Chococat but what Lulu & I walked into was INSANE!

Apparently the collector was a chain smoking stripper & a fugitive of the law with an extremely unhealthy affinity for all things Kawaii (Japanese for cute ie Sanrio & Pokeman, yes I'm multilingual *snort*) she lived in this teeny studio & Lulu & I wanted to pass out from the insanity, like we ♥ that stuff but CRAP... we know when to say when! Well I scored an authentic Coach purse, Coach wallet, long white Bebe jacket, pink cashmere scarf & my HK waffle maker for FORTY BUCKS!!! YAY me! On the drive there Lulu & I were discussing what we thought was an urban myth, the elusive Hello Kitty eh em..."massager" when I saw all the stripper stuff I joked to Chris "for sure this chick had the toys" he replied YES, she has 3 & ALL brand spanking new.... ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Lulu & I dropped another $30 & bought a goodie bag full of stickers, key covers, chatchkes & I got an HK & Lulu scooped the My Melody eh... em... "massager". Good Vibrations for all!

On a side note searched 20 minutes on youtube for Marky Mark's Good Vibrations... what a SPUNK! Why does he act like we NEVER knew he was Marky Mark?!?! If I ever see him I will yell at him "HEY Marky Mark... you're wickity wickity WHACK YO! Well there's no sound on this one but from my experience guys this fine should be seen & not heard anyways! What a TOOL!


All that Sanrio love had Lulu & I famished. Chris recommended this FAB Champagne Brunch at a place called Port O'Call. Omelettes & Waffles & Sushi... OH MY! It was phenomenal. There were separate stations for sushi, omelettes, carving, tortillas (with a real live woman rolling & making the tortillas herself... FIERCE!) & our fave the waffle station. Amazing how the trip started with waffles & we practically ate waffles all day! They had several items in the buffet like fried chicken, burger bar, tacos, Korean shortribs, Raw Bar, tons of desserts but for me the Beef Bourguignon & Garlic Mash were sick! I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it! I should be ashamed by showing you my plate, I have NO COOF (yes I said no coof, that's worse than no couth down South!) when it comes down to buffets EVERYTHING goes on my plate, hell it all gets mixed up in my stomach anyways! I ♥ Lulu & ♥ my new nickname she gave me "Nunu" I can't wait to have more adventures with her.

Raw Plate

Omelette & Sushi

Lulu actually thought to get a vegetable

My shameful, SHAMEFUL plate!

The waffles made me do the smarty pants dance!♥

Cooked: Paellissima Paella!

Hailing from Miami, I have been fortunate enough to have had some of the BEST Paella in the world! I especially ♥ how serious the Spaniards are about their national dish... conquistadors still those people! I've had so many different variations, nothing beats my girl Debbie LaCasa's mothers Paella Valenciana. My GOD that Woman is a beast in the kitchen. I've had some with Rabbit & all sorts of game some heavily influenced with seafood & even had one made with pasta! I have been making Paella for years in a cast iron french oven (I've named her Marilyn) & although I have NEVER had anyone complain about the flavor of my Paella, in fact there is plate licking involved, I have on more than one occasion been told my Paella isn't authentic, because I didn't use a Paella pan!!! 

Ok after the third time the hunt was ON to find a paella pan. Like I learned in the movie Boomerang "you have to coordinate". Originally I was looking for a aqua Dansk Paella pan, but REALLY wanted a Le Creuset one to keep with my cast iron obsession, unfortunately Le Creuset stopped making them a while ago. After a year I found an extremely rare vintage one & wouldn't you know it was in the aqua color I wanted (yes Jesus LOVES me) I named him Luke after Paul Newman's character in Cool Hand Luke. 

After a year of not making Paella I finally used this bad boy last night ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... don't like it, like my way better, less messy. It was like a Paella massacre on the stove & it required SO much more attention I was not accustomed to giving my recipe before. I don't know maybe I'll try it ONE more time, I'm not a quitter but the next time I have a Spaniard over that mops up their plate & has the audacity to say "it was AMAZING... buuuuuuuuuuuut that was not Paella" I'm afraid they & I have a "failure to communicate" & might end up with Luke being slapped in the back of their head!

Either way I will say it was hands down one of the best Paellas I have EVER made! The head on shrimp I got for $1.80 in Koreatown was stunning to look at & tasted so good. Trader Joe's seasonally brings back their Langostino tails... AH-MAY-ZING! This is the first time I have ever added it to "my" Paella I also didn't have any peas off hand & honestly am not a huge fan so I used Trader Joe's Soycatash... & I can't get over the the flavor it added to it & the surprise pieces of corn hidden in all the saffron rice was a nice touch. I also enjoyed the Soycatash had diced red peppers in it so that was less peppers I needed to dice. Speaking of peppers I also used Trader Joe's Melange A Trois frozen fajita peppers... it's BRILLIANT for Single cooks. 

You get 3 kinds of peppers, keep in your freezer so you won't be chucking peppers because you don't have any recipes that call for them & you can't beat that you are getting 3 capsicum flavors, already cut for less than $1.50... this makes me moist I tell ya (ew... I REALLY don't like that word). I made my own stock with chicken wings I grabbed from my neighbor & the chicken I had left over from my Au Gratin potatoes from the night before. 

I also used a fantastic seafood mix that had Crab, Octopus, Calamari, Clams & Mussels this was just PERFECT & I soaked the seafood in Chardonnay before cooking it & it REALLY made the seafood the star of the show. I was originally going to cook for my friend Dan & I but was SO excited about the deals I made, I made enough for My neighbor Keisha, her brother Matt, Dan had leftovers for himself & his roommate & I my girl Rena stopped by today for her taste. None of them Spaniard... damn! Must grab the Magic Eraser & tackle that stove *snort*♥

The Star Studded Cast:

Langostinos:

Seafood Mix

CAN'T BAH-LIEVE how cheap these skrimps were:

I will NEVER understand why people buy canned/box stock?!?! My house smelled like heaven!

Chicken & Chorizo


The Supporting Cast:

Aussie love for my HOT Aussie date ♥ ♥ ♥ finishing salt! This Aussie pink salt is ridiculous not because it's pink, but the delicate crunch & light iodine flavor is incredible AND it's PINK!!! The Paw Paw in the Olive Oil is to DIE for! I picked up the salt at Marshall's & the Olive Oil at Tuesday Morning, I can't stress enough going to close out stores (Ross, Marshalls, TJ Max, Tuesday Morning, Big Lots etc) stroll along their gourmet food section. Wonderful steals... I mean deals!

Platanos!





Messy Pan

Dan the MAN!♥

YUM!

Dan brought cookies, wine & "lollies" *swoon*

AND pretty flowers... his Mama did gooooooooood!♥

My dog Divi is a WHORE!

TERRIBLE: Manouschka The Plant Killer Guerrier

YUP that's what I should change my middle name to... it's RIDICULOUS! I'm a murderer? I have absolutely NO green thumb & I should go to jail! I KNOW this about myself yet I still convinced myself when I found these beautiful floral plants at the 99 Cent Store "If they die, at least they're 99 cents" isn't that just TERRIBLE!!!! 

I'm a Monster I KNEW they were going to die but I bought them anyway because they were cheap... unbelievable. It was a stunning Spring-like day when I got these last month, Spring in February, that's like drugs so that's my excuse... yeah that's it. 

Speaking about TERRIBLE & the 99 Cent Store it's terrible that I can't go in there without full make up on because my ex goes to the gym next door... must be my punishment for being a plant killer, well that AND the fact he's face is about to be splattered on buses & billboards all over town in a month.... UGHHHHHHHH shoot me instead please!

Field Trippin': Koreatown

Tomorrow night I have a hot date with one of my FAVORITE Dan's (yes I have more than one... sue me). I promised to make him Paella. If there is anything I've learned from my last field trip to an Asian Market is they have the BEST seafood, what I love about K-Town though is all the Latinos that live in the area so I can find mad spices I usually have my Mom ship me from Miami... Babygirl even sends me dried Salt Cod so I can make my infamous Bolinho de Bacalao (Cod balls) I love my Mother. She's slamming in the kitchen & her way of shopping & seasoning the meat as soon as she gets home & freezing it is where Single Serving got it's motto♥.

The market was AMAZING! I highly suggest if you have an Asian, Latin, Persian, Kosher, Armenian, Russian & a European market near you, just grab your ipod & stroll along EVERY aisle. Feel, smell, taste as much as possible & be amazed at how incredibly helpful people are about telling you about their food & culture. I ask SO many questions it's probably the most interaction outside of work I actually have with another human being Single Serving has taken SO much of my time. For a little over $20 I bought Clams, Mussels, Tiger Shrimp, Head On Shrimp & spices... I can't BELIEVE how I scored! I bought some chorizo at the 99 Cent store & use the rest of the marinated chicken from last night's dinner to add to my Paellissima Paella. Enjoy the pics... I had such a BLAST!


You know that God LOVES us, why? Because we have RIBS!!! Heck apparently Woman were created from one & he loves us the most.... HA!♥


I found a single black bean in a barrel full of black rice, I found it poetic

AH.. Masa... SO going to make Arepas soon!

Ok so I just died & gone to Goya Heaven. When I first moved here I would have my Mom ship most of this stuff out to me from Miami... who knew it was in K-Town the ENTIRE time!♥

LIVE Halibut... GET OUT! I feel a Yo Mama joke coming on here... "your Mama was so ghetto she took you fishing at the Halibut tank in K-Town!" *snort* NAH... needs more work

Looks like these guys didn't make it, Halibut on the rocks!

OK this is where the fun stopped! CHICKEN FEET... oh my goodness, TOTALLY reminds me of my trip to Haiti & my Mom was mopping these up like they were shrimp... terrible!

OK... seriously they have Chicharron in a Korean Market?!?!?! DAMN YOU HOLLYWOOD & your unrealistic body expectations. I will see you puppies soon... AFTER Pilot Season!

Fresh Seaweed... a VAT of fresh seaweed, I can swim in this!

A VAT of Kimchee, my girl Andrea can swim in this naked (nice Kenny)


I SCORED... just realized they didn't charge me for the Mussels & the Tiger Shrimp... ROCK ON!

How I Roll: Promo to announce my new Website & BLOG!!!

WOO HOO! (did I just say WOO HOO in my first blog?!?!? *snort* well I NEVER said I wasn't a dork!) I can't thank my FABULOUS Director Mike Kallio enough! I'm absolutely tickled pink over this. I am also EXTREMELY grateful for my BFF, partner in crime & my FIERCE Animator Shannon Pope. I'm just grateful for everything we have been through & these are the people I have to Co-Pilot with me on this helluva ride!♥