Dumpling Making Party

Got together with the gang to make dumplings from scratch.  We made 4 different kinds starting with pork and chives.

Pork with shrimp, scallops, water chestnuts and green onions.

Fish with cilantro as well as pork with napa cabbage and cilantro.

Rolling dough out by hand was hard work and here are some completed dumplings.

We probably made over 300 dumplings and feasted on the pork with napa cabbage ones for dinner.

Yum and a supply for the freezer for another day.

Los Angeles Field Trip

Spent the week in Los Angeles mainly for administrative stuff including meeting with my boss and various meetings and court appearances.  It was a productive week in a different respect than the usual field work.

One the way in, I stopped and meet with Grace and Paul at Din Tai Fung.  

We had the infamous pork dumplings.

In addition to the vegetable dumplings.

Noodles, rice and bok choy rounded out the meal.

And we finished with red bean dumplings for dessert.

There was a viewing area where you can see the makings of the dumplings.

Grace was right in that their oolong tea was the best.

Also tried out Alberto's Taco Shop where I had tacos.

And the Chicken Bowl.

Spent some time with Cal and Dave and hit Tsujita LA where I tried the tsukemen.

Also had a meal at home of pasta and rainbow cake.

Good trip with accomplishments.

Mr. B on the Couch

Bailey found his place on the couch with the covers.

Ortega's with Yaling

Dinner and conversation with Yaling in Ocean Beach.  We hit Ortega's which neither of us had been before and we had horchata.

Freshly made guacamole and salsa with chips.

I had a pastor burrito (not as flavorful as the taco I had in Phoenix).

While Yaling and the enchiladas veracruz.

Plenty of leftovers and we went by my old place to check it out.  Looks much the same on the outside, but the big tree is gone replaced by a smaller one.

2nd Annual Spinning Retreat

Since last year's disaster turn out to be quite a great weekend, we decided to reprise the spinning retreat.

The wheels.

The spinners.

The fiber.

The batts and the making thereof.

The yarn.

Kelie's epic project.

Of course the food was fabulous as usual and it was a grand time had by all.  Until next year!

New Freezer

Since I joined the meat consortium, I needed a place to store all that excess meat so a new freezer came to the garage.

It is a Maytag which got great reviews from Home Depot.  There was a discount as well which made it all the better.  The guys that delivered and installed were great and changed the orientation of the door for me.

It is very roomy and it is surprising how much I could fill it up.

I need to get some bins for the shelves as it is a bit sparse.

Beef Consortium

Grace, Eileen and I banded together to join a beef CSA from J&J. 

I went to the Crossfit gym to pick up our first shipment.

After having Ethiopian food for dinner, we divided up the selection.  Can't wait to try it out.

Phoenix Field Trip

A short trip to Phoenix for an interview and I was able to try out pastor tacos at America's.  Jim stated that is was a great making it in America story and it was the original taco stand.

It was taco tuesday with 4 tacos which I split between chicken and pastor.  I have to say the pastor ones were tastier.

It was already in the 90s so pretty hot, but the view from the hotel restaurant on the 5th floor was great.

Squaw Peak Cafe was pretty basic and I had a deli sandwich that was okay, but the fries were fantastic.

Always great working with agents on the ground.