Food makes me so happy, and I love trying new things, but these are my all-time favorites. Ahi sashimi, lilikoi, bread, acai bowls, pasta, mango, tacos, pho, cucumber salad, caprese salad, goat cheese, tomato soup with grilled cheese, and avocado toast. Some of them remind me of home, and others just make me feel good no matter what mood I’m in. I could honestly eat pasta or mango every single day and never get tired of them.
My favorite drinks are matcha, ginger lemonade, chai, yerba mate, smoothies, London fog, coffee, Mexican coke, and chamomile tea. I drink matcha when I need energy, chamomile when I want to relax, and smoothies when it’s hot outside. A London fog is my go-to on cold mornings, and nothing beats an ice-cold Mexican coke after a long day. I love how food and drinks can hold memories and comfort, reminding me of little moments from my past.
In a time full of uncertainty, I think it is important to remember all the things that make me happy!
Oaxacan Food, specifically Tlayudas
My friends!!! I love them so much
My sister. She’s kind of weird, but so am I.
My limited edition “Western” Hydroflask, I like to think the bronze flowers are Aztec Marigolds, and that the water bottle is a limited edition Day of the Dead water bottle.
WATER! I love ice-cold water even if it is bad for me.
Lip gloss. I don’t think I could live with perpetually chapped lips
Music. It feeds my soul and helps me feel connected to my culture from thousands of miles away.
AirPods! They help me get immersed in the scene of my music.
Day 1 Curls. Having freshly washed hair with the perfect curls is the best feeling ever.
Tortilla House! Whenever I am having a bad week, I make sure to go to Tortilla House and get the most loaded burrito bowl.
I am just happy to be alive with a full belly and a roof over my head.
I love Trader Joe’s. There should be a Trader Joe’s on every corner, and even then, that is not enough. It is so weird how they can make dupes for stuff and not get in trouble for it. I have the Brazil Nut Body Butter, and it smells almost exactly like that one Sol de Jainero lotion. Or the Rolled Tortilla Chips, Lime and Chile Flavored, and how they taste like mild Takis. But dupes aren’t the best thing about Trader Joe’s. The original snacks are so good.
Recently, I’ve been liking the Crispy Crunchy Mochi Rice Nuggets. I hate how long the names are. But the mochi nuggets are delectable. The salty, crunchy exterior is perfectly crisp every time.
Imagine this: you come back home or to your dorm after a long day at school, you had 3 tests today, two club meetings, and volleyball practice in 5 minutes, when you see the Crispy Crunchy Mochi Rice Nuggets. Suddenly, your world brightens. The once bleak reality is now filled with light. You reach for the bag to find out it is unopened! You reach your hand into the dark bag for a fried mochi cube, and you pull out the biggest, crunchiest one. You throw it into your mouth, and it is overwhelmed by the flavor. The salt bounces around as you crunch into a piece. So you slowly start throwing more and more into your mouth until you reach for the last one. You aren’t sad that you ate all of them; you are satisfied.
All this to say I love Trader Joe’s and I really want some mochi rice nuggets right now.
I had just gotten home from football practice and ran to my room to grab my clothes and jump in the shower. I cleaned myself in the hot water then got out to shave my face. I was in a rush and accidentally nicked myself. Despite the blood I felt fresh in my dapper outfit, and headed out the door towards The Oak at the Ojai Valley Inn.
When my Father, my Mother and I arrived we were greeted by my grandmother and her cousin, they’re in town for the week. My Grandma hugged me and handed me an envelope, it’s a card for my birthday which is on Wednesday so that was very nice of her.
Right after we went to our table and were assisted by Danny who gave us ice waters and some warm bread and butter, which was amazing. Shortly after Tyler, our server came and I requested a Diet Coke which was brought to me. All 5 of us examined the menu and the growls in my stomach only got louder. Tyler came back and oh boy we were ready. Small but pricey was the restaurant, I ordered the Scallops, Bistro Steak, and a charred and cheesy side of Brussel Sprouts.
After I ordered we waited and waited for our food and all of had great conversation. From my school, to camping , to my parents at work almost everything was covered in that 20 minute wait for our meals. But I believe it was all worth it.
The food came and in an instant I absolutely slammed my meal, everything was so delicious I just put my head down and went to work. After I absolutely housed my food and Danny came back to clean the table Tyler brought out the check and a surprise dessert for my birthday.
The small Mason Jar was aglow on the outside patio complimented with a single spoon and a tiny chocolate with the words “happy birthday” spelt out in gold. The tiny yet deliciousness of that chocolate lavender concoction just put a smile on my face. The simplicity of the desert and presentation made it all worth it and man oh man I loved that thing.
That was my Monday Munchies and I hope you aren’t hungry reading this, because I was one happy little boy.
Every Friday I spend all day thinking about what to write on my blog, but I don’t really know what to write about. I don’t know what else to write about once I have written about what I like to do. Recently I have been talking with my roommate about what I want to do before I graduate from high school, and one of the things I want to do in the next year is to go on a trip to Thailand. She and I went on a trip to Japan together last year, and it made me realize that it’s not about where you go, but who you go with. What I especially want to do in Thailand is to eat delicious food. We have been really into Thai food for a while and would like to try some of the local flavors. We also want to go see animals and take a vacation. Besides going to Thailand, there are many other things I want to do before I graduate, such as going to sports games, going to concerts, and playing top golf. I have about one year left in my high school career. I want to enjoy to the fullest the things I can only do while I am still in high school.
I noticed a lot of the things I write about being grateful for are foods. I do not think that is an issue because food is good and often taken for granted, but I am going to try to write about all non-food things today just to diversify things. Although I am eating my greek yogurt right now and it is so good that I started singing about how much I love yogurt.
Graduation. I am very grateful for graduation coming soon, and I am grateful for my education, and also grateful to end one chapter of my life. My cousin has a sign in her room that says something along the lines of “Every beginning starts with an end.” I didn’t get it, and she explained to me that every time something ends, it signifies the beginning of something else. Every time something begins, it came at the cost of something else ending. I liked that a lot, because sometimes I get so excited for the next thing, not realizing it comes at the cost of the first thing ending. To me, it is a reminder to appreciate the things we have when we have them.
Cups. Right now, I am drinking out of a metal cup with nature propaganda on it. I don’t understand what it is talking about but it has REI, North Face, Merrell, Patagonia, and Keen printed on it. I am grateful for it because it is a cute cup.
Mice. Mice are cute. Today, Rory showed me a poster that had the Mouse Grimace Scale. It is made by people who are trying to reduce animal testing. The poster is supposed be scientific and show different levels of various types of reactions by mice, but the poster looks like it is just a bunch of mouse faces.
I was told that I can indeed write all my blogs now and not write anymore, so that is the plan. Also, I am enjoying these.
Yogurt. I love yogurt. My mom always buys the really sweet kind, which is fine but I think I prefer Greek yogurt. My dad and I went to Vons after school yesterday and got some Greek yogurt. I couldn’t wait to eat it so I had some for dinner, and I put frozen goji berries in it because we didn’t have any fresh blueberries or strawberries or anything. It was so good and I can’t wait to eat it for breakfast this morning.
Good food. I am grateful that my mom keeps a lot of good food in the house. I read (or heard?) one time about someone who received some amount of money after not having very much for a long time. They said the best part of being rich was that they could eat fruits that didn’t have mold on them. I am very grateful to have access to lots of tasty, un-moldy, and nutritious food.
Ceramics class. Having a class where you can make bowls and mugs and take them home is so cool. Not only are you taking home knowledge/a new skill, but you also get to take home custom-made bowls, mugs, or whatever you want to make. I want to try and get into the ceramics room more often so I can take advantage of this while I still can.
I just arrived back at school from break, but this time it feels a little bit harder to be back and away from my home and parents. My best friend came home with me this break, and we ate a lot of good food, once again! We had all sorts of things from pastries to ganjang gejang to shabu shabu, which my friend made for my family. It was also my dads fifty sixth birthday which we celebrated by baking him a cake, which was a strawberry cheesecake with a clear gelatin topping which was delicious and cute. I wasn’t actually able to be with my dad on the day of his birthday as he was out of town, but I’m happy we got to celebrate before that. Overall this break was very relaxing, and it’s time for me to look forward to the next one!
Last weekend my roommate and I spent some time outside of school. Our main goal was to go to Korea Town for some good food and shopping. Saturday morning, we woke up at 8:00 and went to Korea Town. We ate Sundubu right after arriving there. I felt like I was on a trip to Korea because of all the Koreans around me. The food was very delicious. After I finished eating, I went to a nail salon. I had black nails, so I decided to get white nails to make me feel like I was going back 180 degrees. I also had a Valentine’s Day design heart painted on my nails. Nails make me feel good and motivate me to do everything. After that, I went to a cafe because it was very cold that day. There we had warm tea and taiyaki. The dough was sticky and the outside was crunchy. Finally, we went shopping. I bought a lot of food. The things I was most happy with were grapes from Korea and a key chain for my cell phone that my roommate bought me. That night we went to a Japanese yakiniku restaurant called Gyukaku. It was a happy day, eating delicious food all day long.
For the dough: 6 cups All-purpose flour, 1 tbsp Sugar, 2 cups Water, lukewarm, 2 tsp Yeast, ½ tsp oil
For stuffing: 2 lbs Ground pork- (1.5lbs lean), 1 clove garlic, finely chopped, 1 tsp fresh grated ginger, 2 small spring onions (whites), finely chopped, Water, Soy sauce, Sichuan pepper powder, White pepper powder, Salt
Making the dough
Measure out flour into a large bowl.
Mix 2 tsp yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 cup of lukewarm water into a measuring cup.
Pour the water into the flour and mix.
Add more lukewarm water gradually if necessary. Generally, the ratio of flour to water is 2:1, but it can vary.
Begin to knead the dough, incorporating the dry flour. If more water is needed to incorporate all the dry flour, add more, but do so sparingly because the dough should not be sticky. The sign of a good dough is a clean bowl and clean hands.
Coat the inside of the big bowl with a small amount of oil, to prevent sticking. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a wet towel to preserve moisture, and put the bowl on top of a bowl or pot of hot water. Allow the dough to rise. This may take a few hours, depending on the room’s temperature. (To check if the dough is ready, poke a hole in it with your finger. If the dough bounces back to fill in the hole, it needs to rise more. If the dough deflates, it has risen for too long. If the dough does not move, it is ready.)
Making the stuffing (While waiting for the dough to rise, begin making your stuffing)
Put the ground pork into a bowl.
Put the chopped garlic into 1 cup of warm water to make garlic water. This will distribute the garlic flavor better. Set aside so that the garlic can release more flavor.
Add the ginger, garlic water (with the garlic), the two pepper powders, salt, soy sauce, and green onion to the pork and stir in one direction.
Add water to the pork and stir.
Wrapping/steaming the baozi
Take the risen dough and knead the air out.
Separate the dough into 20 balls and flatten them slightly by rolling them out with a rolling pin.
Roll the edges thinner.
Wrap the meat into each one.
Let the baozi rest for around 1 hour, or your baozi will deflate.
Steam the baozi for 15 minutes after steam starts coming out of the steamer. Remove steamer from heat and leave baozi inside the steamer until the initial hot steam is gone. Otherwise, your baozi will also deflate.
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