I had nothing to better to do on a Thursday night than get on the computer and change the look of my blog. I am giving you permission to mock my pathetic-ness (I believe that is not an actual word). I guess I should work on my final for my stats class, but that's not due until next Wednesday. I live on the edge.
In honor of the change, I give you David Bowie's "Changes."
MY FAVORITE SUSHI RESTAURANT IN SACRAMENTO
Tonight I had dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant in Sacramento called Nagato Sukiyaki. I discovered this place from my friend Justin who did a business project about this restaurant back in college. Justin, Jennifer (his girlfriend/my friend) and I have been going to this place since. It's typically just the three of us and we sit at the bar and mingle with the chef/owner, Don Kawano. He is a great guy. He is friendly, funny and not bad to look at. He is a Sacramento native and he took over the restaurant after his parents.
About the restaurant
Nagato Sukiyaki is Japanese owned and operated since 1970. This humble restaurant is tucked into the shopping center on Fulton across the street from Town & Country. The restaurant is family run. The cooks and the servers are all somehow related or connected to the chef/owner. I remember one night we were there pretty late, most of the customers had left and the older ladies working there (the moms and aunts) were finally off duty so they arranged a table and helped themselves to a feast-- food that you won't see on the menu. Japanese chatter clamored from that table and I could only assume they were telling each other funny stories because of the outbursts of laughter. That moment, that interaction is exactly what this restaurant is like. It's warm, it's friendly and you see a lot of the same faces. The people who go to this restaurant are regulars and they all want to sit at the bar, because they (including myself) feel like we are special friends of the chef.
The food is excellent. The rolls are simple: No gigantic rolls stuffed to the size of a burrito, no french fries in the rolls (ahem.. Guy Fieri), and the rolls aren't smothered in sauce. I have never eaten a dish I did not like and I visit this place a lot. This place is not hip (like Mikunis) and they don't spend a lot of money on advertising. Their loyal customers (like myself) do the marketing for them by word of mouth, or in this case, by blog.
So... if you're looking to eat just plain old good food (no fancy shmancy sushi) and don't care about the "scene," then Nagato Sukiyaki is the place for you. I urge you to try it next time and if you need company, I'm always up for visiting Don :) and I'm sure so are Jennifer and Justin.
P.S. I had blowfish (the poisonous one you have to cut a certain way to not get poisoned) at this restaurant. The chef had just gotten back from Japan and somehow smuggled some in (or he brought it frozen) and served it to us to try. He put some type of mustard sauce on top and it was dee-licious! It was sweet and mild. This dish wasn't on the menu, he just gave it to us to try for free at the end of the night.
It's called the Double Down. 540 Calories. 32 grams of fat. 1380 sodium.
This all-meat sandwich from KFC may be the death of us -- or at least of American culture.
I am not one to preach about healthy eating. I think vegetarians are stupid (unless you are a vegetarian for religious purposes in which case I would find a new religion). I strongly belive that God put animals on this earth for the purpose of human consumption -- to sustain us. Going along this little rant, I also think that people who do not like bacon, do not like good food. Bacon is also God's gift to the world, for which I am eternally grateful.
With that said, this new KFC sandwhich consists of two breaded and fried chicken breast, bacon and cheese. Each component is delicious, but formed into a sandwich? This is not at all appetizing. The thought of eating one makes me gag. Now, I am not condemning KFC for making such a dish. I believe that people need to be accountable and responsible for their own health. If people are stupid enough to consume these sandwiches, not once, but two perhaps even three times in one day, who is to blame KFC for capitilizing on that stupidity. I sure am not.
You might be wondering why I would take the time to dedicate a post on the Double Down. Well, it occured to me it's not just a sandwich. It is a representation of a type of people and if you know me, you know how much I love to compartmentalize people (e.g. hipsters, Bruce's, D-bags, etc.). I know, I know, it's not fair. People are much more complex than that... but you know, some people really are that simple.
Over the weekend, one of the people I was having brunch with, Sean, asked, "Can't you just picture some jock in flipflops carrying the double down in one hand and a Bud Lite in a beer cozy in the other?" Immediately, an image of the guys I went to high school with popped into my head. I went to a school comparable to one out of Texas or Middle America (think big trucks, cowboy hats, Republicans, guns, etc.) So, the answer is, Yes Sean. I can totally picture that.
In case you didn't pick up the nuances of Sean's joke: Jocks love meat, and these jocks in particular have bad taste in food and extremely bad taste in beer. They not only have bad taste in beer, but are extremely proud to drink Bud Lite or Coors Lite even when they are in their late 20s as evident by their Facebook or MySpace pictures. Only college kids drink Bud Lite, Coors Lite and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
I will likely try the Double Down because I knocked it before trying it and I owe it to the Col. to at least take a bite out of this heart-stopping concoction.
Some highlights from Coachella. It was hot. The crowd was young and a bit obnoxious. I hardly ate because it's so hot all you can think about is drinking water. Regardless, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
DAY 1 - TRAFFIC AND MELTDOWNS
Day 1 was spent mostly in traffic. I had a little meltdown -- but the good news is it could've been worse.
We saw them because according to SPIN Magazine, they are one of the 25 bands to see at Coachella. They sounded pretty good from what I remember -- but who knows I was delirious at this point because I had been sitting in traffic for 4+ hours, then another 1hr30min in line under the hot sun.
She & Him is made up of actress/singer Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer, Elf) and M. Ward. I really like this duo. Their music reminds me of California. It's sunny and it makes you want to go on a bike ride (and I don't even remember how to ride a bike). They sounded good live. Zooey Deschanel is adorable like a kewpie doll. All the little girls want to be her and all the little boys want to be with her. She played the tambourine and keyboard while He played the guitar. Zooey is not a stellar singer or a musician, but there's something about her that is really likeable. I think they'd be better in a small venue.
*Notes about Zooey Deschanel. Her sister is the actress on the TV show Bones and she grew up in Hollywood because her dad is a big time cinematographer and mom is an actress.*
Of course I had to see this group. This "supergroup" is made up of Dave Grohl on drums (lead singer of Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stoneage) and John Paul Jones (the soul living member of Led Zeppelin). These old guys rocked.
La Roux is a fun and lively and you dance. Dancing is what I would've done if it weren't such a mess inside that tent. They are very popular and needed to be on a bigger stage.
I didn't get to hear a lot of Imogen Heap because she started late and Vampire Weekend was about to start on the bigger stage next door. Coachella runs a very very tight schedule. Anywho.. what I did see I liked. Her set is cool, her hair is wacky. Her music is really good and has this serenity to it.
*Note about Imogen Heap: She used to be in a group called Frou Frou. Currently on the radio, Jason Derulo uses the hook of her song Hide and Seek in Watcha Say.*
I was very excited to see Vampire Weekend. I really like their two albums (the first one better). I was not disappointed by their show. It was fun and they sounded great. They engaged with the audience. The energy level in the crowd did not seem too high but that's perhaps because of their music. It's not really music to dance to. I think of it as quirky. Fun fact about the band: They are a bunch of Ivy Leaguers (Columbia University).
Ok, so we all know who he is. I was very excited to see him because I had seen videos of him perform live and they were good. I was blown away. I am not a hardcore Jay-Z fan but watching him perform you can see why he is so successful. He is a showman. He's funny, he's a crowd-pleaser and he delivers. I think what makes his performance sound amazing is his live band. Most hip-hop artists just have a DJ. He had a 10 piece band (sax, trumpets, drums, guitars, etc.). Whether or not you are a Jay-Z or hip hop fan, you would still appreciate how good is performance was. He told the crowd he was going to turn up the energy level not to 10 -- but to 99 and he definitely did.
I watched his show from the Beer Garden because it was away from the crowd and it was elevated and given that I am short, it was the perfect place. Plus it was away from all of the under-aged. Ha!
His show ended with Beyonce as a special guest. She sang Forever Young and it ended with fireworks. He sang 30+ songs until 1:00 a.m. This was the best closing performance of the festival.
DAY 2 - CLEAN FEET ONLY TO BE DIRTY'D UP AGAIN
I knew Day 2 just had to be logistically better and it was. The event organizers got their act together and the parking lot traffic was no longer a cluster-F and no more long lines!
I've heard a lot about this band from SPIN Magazine (I mean SPIN LOVES them). They sounded better than I thought they would. I know more about the lead singer's personal life. He was born into a cult called Children of God where he wasn't allowed to listen to any music besides 50s and some other oldies. He eventually escaped the cult and became a musician. Their music was good.
I liked them better live. I have their album and to be honest I'm not that big of a fan. Some of the songs sound like it could be 5 different songs shoved into one. They sounded better live and I did not know there was an actual band. I honestly thought it was just two girls.
I didn't stay long for the Corinne Bailey Rae show because her songs are so melow it was getting drowned out by the other stages which is unfortunate. I have her first CD and I really like it. The problem with her show at Coachella was that it was on at night up against other bands who were loud so it was difficult to enjoy her show. I think it'd be great to see her in a small club. Two years ago her husband was found dead in their flat due to a drug overdose.
Really fun show because their music is fun to dance to. However, there were a bunch of kids around pushing and shoving I was really annoyed. I know, I sound like the old cranky person.
Muse was one of the highly anticipated bands and they rocked, however, they were lacking a bit of stage presence. For me, live music is all about sounding good musically and interacting with the audience. They didn't say much for the crowd but their light show was amazing.
I was extremely disappointed at Coachella for falsely advertising that Muse was the closing act Saturday night because they weren't. After Muse was DJ Tiesto and on the stage over was Dead Weather. I understand why they would put DJ Tiesto at night on the main stage because he apparently is a big deal and it's clubbing music, but it really limited Muse. Unlike Jay-Z who kept playing well into the night, Muse was not allowed to do that. So after Muse, we checked out Dead Weather.
Rock/Alternative... a little bit of blues rock... good stuff.
Nashville
I didn't get a chance to see Dead Weather at the San Francisco Outsidelands Music Festival last year, so I knew I had to catch them at Coachella. This group is another sort of "supergroup" made up of Jack White (White Stripes), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertita (The Raconteurs) and Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs).
Jack White is an incredible musician. He plays the drums for Dead Weather and he tore it up on the drums. He later sang and played the guitar. He is very very talented. They're pretty goth-looking but their music is not really all that dark. I really enjoyed the show until the really annoying clubbing music started on DJ Tiesto's stage. I mean.. how rude.
The great thing about Coachella (or music festivals for that matter) is that you can just wander over to another tent and check out bands you've never heard of. I'm glad I went to this tent because they were pretty good. The singer has a great voice (kind of sounds like Gavin Degraw or James Morrison.. the whole white guy with a soul in his voice thing). He was wearing a bandana over his face so I was thinking, is this guy disfigured? I looked him up, he's not.
The bad thing about having so many indie rock bands in one venue is that at some point they all start to sound the same. To be honest, I can't remember how this band sounds but they were one of SPIN Magazine's bands to listen to. I read good stuff about their performance at Coachella and I believe it. I don't remember them sucking so.. that's good.
B.o.B
HipHop, R&B, Rock.. he's a little of everything
Atlanta
I went to see this guy because I found out he sang that song that's currently on the radio "Nothing on You." I'm not a big fan of the song but I thought it might be interesting to see him. I was surprised at how diverse this guy is. I was impressed because this is what Coachella was all about. He raps, he sings, he plays the guitar... he's hip-hop, he's R&B and he's rock. I listen to all types of music. I don't have one preference over the other, in fact, I think my iPod sounds a lot like this guy -- kind of random. It was a bit strange seeing him go from one genre to the other. It will be interesting to see how people will react to his album which is to be released soon.
So, I'm kind of in-love with this guy. I discovered him when I started following the blog of this singer named Nikki Jean and she opened up for a lot of his shows. So, I started following him on Twitter, and when I found out he was at Coachella, I was pumped. I'm pretty sure I've randomly mentioned him in a previous blog. He is adorable, his music makes me happy and puts a spring in my step :) His show is so much fun. Unfortunately, it was at the hottest part of the day and I just couldn't take standing with the sun beaming down my back anymore I left early.
I was really really looking forward to seeing Phoenix. I absolutely love their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus. Their live performance did not disappoint. Their light crew didn't make it to Coachella because of the volcano eruption so the lead singer, Thomas Mars, said they would make it just about music. It was. I can't say enough good things about their show. My favorite was when they sang Lasso because they put a little bit of groove in it. Fun fact, the lead singer is with Sofia Coppola and he is the father of their two children. The band also had a cameo on Coppola's movie Marie Antoinette.
Ok, after you've listened to Lisztomania, watch this. I promise it's so worth watching:
Now, didn't that just put the biggest smile on your face?
Atoms for Peace (Thom Yorke) Rock - Supergroup All over
Supergroups dominated Coachella and this one was my favorite. Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Flea (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Nigel Goodrich (Radiohead), and some other guy on the drums. They were amazing. Thom Yorke is the genius behind Radiohead and he truly is a genius. At first I was skeptical about his performance because his solo album Eraser is so mellow -- but with the addition of Flea, I was blown away. The performance musically was excellent, the energy was great and the best part was that the audience was all of the "older" folks -- all the kids have passed out or don't care for them. haha. I can't wait for them to release an album. Don't get me wrong, I would still like Radiohead to be together.
P.S. This was hands down the best performance at Coachella... one of the best I have ever seen.
Gorillaz Alternative rock/hip-hop/electro England
Remember the Gorillaz? They are a cartoon band but with one mastermind behind the band, Damon Albarn. I was curious to see what this show was like. To be honest, it was disappointing. I thought they would bring out a lot of special guests like Snoop Dogg, Mos Def -- you know, people who rap on their songs, but they only had De La Sol and one other person. The lead singer was unfriendly. He did not say a word to the crowd and didn't even introduce the special guests. Perhaps that is why he formed a virtual band because the cartoons have more personality.
The music sounded good, the images were great (they even had a little clip especially made for this starring Bruce Willis in a car chase with one of the cartoon band members). That was the most entertaining thing. I wish Thom Yorke would have closed the night. The Gorillaz performance just does not compare to last year's closer, The Cure who I heard played until 2 a.m. that they kept playing once the Coachella speakers were already off. That would have been a dream.
Aside from the heat, traffic and annoying kids, Coachella was an amazing experience. I love music and I especially love live music. What I liked most about this festival is how it celebrated just music -- not a specific genre. I hope this is a trend that Coachella will continue because for me there's only two types of music -- music I like and music I don't like (good music, bad music). I'm not a music snob, I like what I like (even if that's Taylor Swift -- which I know practically every song on her latest album).
I hope you get to experience something like Coachella at least once in your life.
It's only Spring, so let the Summer concerts begin! :)
It's 1:00 a.m. and I have to work tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Instead of studying for tomorrow's statistics test, I am blogging. I am currently wide awake, but the minute I start reading about Inferential Statistics my eyes are shut. I even tried walking around while reading-- but by some miraculous gravity defying maneuver, I can fall asleep while standing. What can I say, it's a gift.
If there were ever to be a "manly cupcake" these would be it. Guinness Cupcakes (or Beer Cupcakes). I promised the beer brewing boys at work that I'd make Guinness Cupcakes and they liked it! One of them I think ate 4 -- but he's one of those really skinny guys who can eat a lot. Some people just have it made.
The ingredients:
1 cup Guinness
1 stick, plus 1 tb, unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups dark brown sugar OR white (I used white)
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tb vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
Glaze:
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
If you want the Guinness taste in the frosting, use Guinness instead of the milk. I used both milk and Guinness because I didn't want the beer taste to be too strong. Taste for your preference. I think I only used about 2 tablespoons of Guinness.
First Step...
Melt the butter (chopped into chunks) and Guinness in a saucepan. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the sugar, then cocoa powder.
Step 2...
In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, vanilla and eggs and whisk together.
Step 3...
Combine the chocolate Guinness mixture with the sour cream mixture and flour... VOILA! You have the batter for Guinness Cupcakes.
Bake for 25 minutes -- I would try 20 because the Guinness cooks fast. The cupcakes turn into this rich dark brown color and they have a nice shine to them as well.
Let cool before adding glaze. For the glaze, use a hand mixer to incorporate the ingredients. Make sure cream cheese is softened. For this recipe, I found the glaze to be a bit too runny so I added more sugar. You can also not use as much milk or Guinness. The cupcakes didn't look too appetizing to me so I sprinkled some grated chocolate on top :)
These cupcakes were delicious. You could taste a hint of the Guinness (or at least the malt) and the cupcakes are not bitter at all. In fact, they are a perfect not too sweet chocolate cupcakes which I like a lot. The cupcakes are also extremely moist!
You can also turn these cupcakes into an Irish Car Bomb cupcake. For the frosting use a little Bailey's, butter and confectioner's sugar.
Cheers!
P.S. Don't worry no one got drunk or tipsy.. remember that the alcohol burns off when you bake the cupcakes.
For the second night in a row, I am covered in chocolate and sugar and I am sad to say that it is not because of a hot fireman. Two nights, four attempts and a proper French Macaron remains to be baked, assembled and eaten in my kitchen.
Not to be confused with Macaroon (the coconut flavored sweets), Macarons are small fluffy cookie sandwiches often filled with some sort of custard or chocolate ganache. Macarons are made out of whipped egg whites. Macarons are sweet and heavenly which is why I wanted to make them -- plus they cost about $2.50 a piece. My plan was to make them by Friday so that I can give them to my sis during her birthday dinner and everyone would be so impressed they will flood me with compliments. I need validation. Well, my kitchen won. It was a sweep. In all fairness Macarons are one of the most difficult desserts to make and I was warned.
Macarons are all about the technique. You can search the web for a Macaron recipe and there are countless tips and tricks.
The ingredients: 2 egg whites, 1 cup of powdered sugar, 5 tbsp of granulated sugar, 3 tbsp of unsweetened coco powder and powdered almonds.
THE THIRD IS NOT THE CHARM
Attempt 1:
It looks like dog poop. Biggest mistake for this batch: Swirling the batter onto the parchment. There were obviously other mistakes, like I don't think I whipped the eggs enough and folded the dry ingredients to the whites one too many folds. It was very difficult to incorporate the dry ingredients.
Attempt 2:
No more swirl but still a hot mess. It is extremely difficult to get rid of those peaks. Also, I do not own a pastry bag so I used a Ziploc.
Attempt 3:
When I got these out of the oven (which you cook for 15 minutes), I was excited because they looked slightly better -- but then I picked up the cookie and as you can see it was bottomless. I am not sure what went wrong there.
The next day, I kept thinking about what I did wrong:
Were the almonds not "powdered" enough?
I powdered the almonds by putting sliced almonds into a food processor. They weren't powdered just finely chopped.
Were the egg whites not whipped right?
I don't think I have ever successfully whipped egg whites. They are suppose to be room temperature (but mine were probably still too cool), I used a hand mixer instead of a standing mixer and I may have added the granulated sugar too early to egg whites, I'm not sure.
ATTEMPT 4:
Changes I made this time around:
Almond extract instead of actual almonds.
Use three egg whites instead of two because the last time, there was too much of the dry ingredient and not enough egg whites.
Use less powdered sugar and chocolate powder.
Make absolutely sure egg whites are room temperature and use glass bowl instead of a metal one.
They are sad, beaten and broken.
I actually made the chocolate filling this time around and tried to assemble the Macarons. The egg whites were a little fluffier but I'm still having a hard time folding the dry ingredients into the egg whites. This batch didn't taste as good as the first 3 because I didn't use almonds. Almonds are definitely better tasting than the extract.
Instead of assembling the rest, I dipped them into the chocolate to hide the cracks.
So, I guess they are now flour-less chocolate cookies topped with chocolate ganache. I'm still a little nervous about serving these to my co-workers though.
For a parting thought, here is what a "perfect" Macaron should be like:
Now I will stew over what else I can change or improve to finally get that ever elusive Macaron. Stay tuned...
This is an Orange Chocolate Cupcake recipe I got from the Design Sponge blog .I made these cupcakes for a potluck at work.
Do you ever picture something in your head and when that image is manifested in reality, somehow things went awry during the translation from your mind to reality and what you're actually seeing is just wrong?!? I do that a lot when I get an idea for an outfit, then I go to put it on and instead of looking like I walked out of an Anthropologie store, I look like a Wal-Mart shopper. Well, this is kind of what happened to this cupcake. The recipe was easy and I was confident that my cupcakes were going to turn out just like the picture--- heck, even better! Boy, was I wrong.
Here's the recipe:
1 Box of Chocolate cake mix
-Substitute the water for orange juice and the oil for Grape Seed Oil
1/2 Orange zest
Frosting:
1 Orange zest
4 Cups of powder sugar
3 tbsp. of orange juice (add as needed)
1 stick of butter (8 tbsp.) - softened
(mix together until smooth)
This recipe is also quite deceiving as it seems like it would be cheap -- but Grape Seed Oil is expensive! It runs anywhere from $15-20! I got mine on-sale for about $8.
My dilemma with cupcakes: Some are big, some are small and some are lopsided. I can never figure out just how much to put in each cup! On the right is the frosting that I think tastes kind of weird but then I have been licking my fingers from the frosting all night and now I want to barf.
The recipe says use a pastry bag. I do not own a pastry bag. What I have is this really cheap plastic syringe looking thing that I got for free from my older step sis. I couldn't figure out which tip to use as you can see. Both cupcakes belong on Cake Wrecks.
To salvage the cupcakes, I thought it'd be genius to make my own orange sugar to sprinkle on top of the cupcakes. Of course I didn't have orange food coloring so I had to mix yellow and red. I know what you're thinking, why didn't I just buy orange sprinkles? Well... let's just say there's a method to my madness.
I finally figured out what tip to use, sprinkled the orange sugar along with a bit of orange zest on top.
Roses are Red, Blueberries are Blue (not really they are actually violet)
Did you know there is no such thing as blue food? Here's a more successful cupcake story. I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's cupcake book. I made these a while back for coworkers who devoured them :)
The frosting is just Cool Whip.
Ingredients: Flour, Cake flour (not self-rising), eggs, blueberries, and milk.
Before and After. I really liked these cupcakes. It's kind of like a blueberry muffin but not as dense or heavy. It hink this cupcake and the orange chocolate cupcakes are the perfect spring cupcakes.
