Foodie Finds

First, a little catch up on our food holiday celebrations. The list I have been going by can be found here.

February 8: National Molasses Bar Day.

Didn't remember to take a picture until they were almost all gone. I never knew what a molasses bar was before looking it up for the holiday. I guess it is a southern thing.

February 13: National Tortellini Day. I like how following the holidays helps me decide what to have for dinner. I tend to get in a rut.


Over the weekend we went to Huntington, our favorite state beach. Before going to the beach, we made a couple of foodie stops nearby. First was The Donuttery. Don't you like that name? This was from a tip D received from a friend of a friend (J--you can thank Max for us). Nice variety of flavors, including blueberry, strawberry and pumpkin. Baker's dozen for $7.


Next was a Mr. Pickle sandwich on dutch crunch bread from a new place called Mr. Pickle.


This warm sandwich was so good! Chicken, bacon, avocado, jack cheese, red onion, garlic sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, of course. ($8 inc. tax). The dutch crunch had the perfect texture. D said it had to be one of his top 3 sandwiches, yet somehow it did not make his list! Not sure how that happened. I might even like it better than Earl of Sandwich (which I've been tipped off is coming to Downtown Disney, I might add!)

The weather was nice at the beach considering it is February.


I actually prefer going to the beach off-season because no one else is there.


Except for the seagulls...

More National Food Holidays

February 3: National Carrot Cake Day. Made a carrot cake for D to bring to a potluck at work.


February 6: National Frozen Yogurt Day. Went to Yogurtland and waited in line for 15 minutes for free frozen yogurt/toppings.


February 7: National Fettuccine Alfredo Day. Made "Spaghetti Alfredo" as I did not have any fettuccine on hand.

Fake Wood Never Looked So Good

I stole D's facebook line for the title of this post. We had a busy weekend. I went to a Sally Clarkson motherhood conference. It was a great time for renewal and encouragement. While I was gone, we had new flooring put in our downstairs living areas. I was nervous about the color we chose, but I like how it turned out. First, I will show some "before" pictures. The carpet is old, but it was in fairly good shape when we bought our place in 2009. I remember not wanting to replace the carpet when we first moved because n was still crawling on the floor.

Fast forward 2.5 years of hard living with two little ones...Despite the Rug Doctor and various other cleaning attempts, there were certain sections that we just could not do anything about.









Here are a couple of "after" photos.





Actually, I think it looks better in person, because you can see more of the subtle detail that the camera does not capture. I would highly recommend the company that did the work, so if anyone needs a recommendation in Orange County, let me know.

Putting in the new flooring makes me want to paint our walls even more! I guess that will be our next project.

Weekend Update

Today is National Baked Alaska Day, but I'm not that ambitious. Instead, I will recap our weekend.


We went to an art-themed birthday party for this cute little 4 year old girl.

The kids had fun working on the mural.





n enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes, especially the chocolate chips

On Sunday, D helped organize an udon luncheon for 300+ people at our church.

(pre-broth)


Our pastor's niece is in the women's choir at Azusa Pacific University, Bel Canto.
They gave a concert after the luncheon, which the kids and I enjoyed. It was a good weekend.

Happy National Popcorn Day

Apparently, there is some dispute as to whether national popcorn day is today (January 31) or January 19. We're just going with today to keep up the momentum.


I made kettle corn on the stove using the recipe here. k was squealing with delight when the corn started popping.


n missed out on the pop corn popping, but he ate some when he woke up from his nap.

Happy National Croissant Day

I have decided to have our family celebrate national food holidays. I think it will help inspire me to try new things with the kids and break up the monotony. We'll see how long I can stick with it.

Today, January 30th happens to be National Croissant Day, which is a nice way to start.

Ralphs has 18 ct. packages of mini croissants for $5.99. Just thought that might be helpful for someone to know. They would be perfect for a tea party.

Unrelated to National Croissant Day: Someone thought it would be a good idea to drink his yogurt (k gave him the idea).

Gohan Bistro

My sister is now a quarter century old. To celebrate we went to a new restaurant called Gohan Bistro (parents had a Groupon). The interior is much nicer than its strip mall location. The regular waitress was not there, so service was a little bumpy in the beginning. I think it is described as "home-style" Japanese cooking, so no funky fusion rolls here. I ordered the tuna donburi, which is out of the ordinary for me. I just felt like trying something different.

They give you a LOT of tuna. Both D and I could not even finish it. It had a nice kick to it, added by the dollop of wasabi "salsa".

My mom had the tempura don. I thought it was good overall (I had some of D's tempura), but there were some unidentifiable pieces that were kind of strange.


D had the salmon combo. The piece of salmon was kind of on the small side, but with everything else (and the miso soup), it was a good amount for lunch.


The kids split a chicken teriyaki meal, and it was not enough for them. I thought it was interesting that it comes with macaroni salad. n is very unpredictable in his eating habits, so I never know if he is going to barely eat a few morsels or fight k for the last piece.

Just realized that I neglected to take pictures of my family. I need to work harder on that. :)