Surf and Turf

Jon, Karen and I made a Costco run and there was a traveling show of seafood and steaks.  Jon was lured in by the giant crab legs and after consideration, it was decided to have a surf and turf dinner.

We also picked up a mixed salad there and to round out the main meal, Karen made some potatoes.

We started off with the steak.

And potatoes.

With the salad on the side.

It was so good that when the crab came out, I totally neglected to photograph that and just chowed down.

Very delicious with room to spare for lemon pound cake for dessert.

Their front yard was decorated as usual and I saw people stopping to photograph it so I did too.

Preparing a New Warp for Towels

I had some time to sit and contemplate the yarn tree and found some inspiration from an etsy store so I pulled down three colors and wound a new warp for 6 kitchen towels.

Now to decide what pattern I want to see.

Orange Sriracha Chicken Dinner

Dinner group got together for my preparation of orange sriracha chicken.

The chicken came out moist and juicy with just a bit of heat with the glaze at the end.

Karen brought a beet and carrot slaw that was refreshing.

Plus she brought a vegan chocolate pots de creme.

No dairy and the base was cashews.

Jon's contribution was the final note with double chocolate cookies with melted rolos inside.

Spin Group

After a long hiatus, spin group resumed at Lori's in San Juan Capistrano.  It was my first visit to her place and she has a cool studio.

I got my spinning mojo back as it has been quite a long time since I have spun anything - so long that I don't remember the last time.

I picked something happy from some fiber I bought at Black Sheep Gathering a few years back.

It took a little time to get back into a groove.

Lunch was delicious as always.  Since it was a cool rainy day, we had chili, corn bread and a couple of salads.

The chili was hot so I had to doctor it up and the cream cheese roll ups cooled off my tongue.

Liliko was very interested in helping out as well as she was perched right behind me on the couch and took her time with Shelly's basket.

After I got home, I continued a bit with the spinning and over the next day was able to finish off the first 3 ounces.  One more bump of 3 ounces to go and then I'll be ready to ply.

Next Warp in the Queue

The next warp in the queue will be some 8/2 cotton towels in 3 colors.

First half.

Second half.

The dark will be on the outside and the light will be on the inside.  Should look cool once I get it one the loom.

Poke U

I was out at the Zion Market for some staples and since it was around lunch time, I decided to try out Poke U.

I took my poke bowl to go and it is a bit more expensive than some of the other places, but volume was good.

A small bowl was 3 scoops of protein, a medium had 5 and there was a large.  The avocado and krab was each a dollar extra.

Tasty just like the rest.

Bacon Wrapped Pork

I tried out this recipe for dinner.  I had all the ingredients in the house so I got my taste testers together for a meal.

I marinaded the pork overnight and I should have gotten more bacon as my package only had 14 slices.  I really needed the 16 (4 for each loin piece).  It was tasty.

We started out with Karen's shrimp cocktail appetizers.

Grace's roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Rounded out the meal with bread and rice and finished with Karen's lemon tart.

Great meal and a repeatable recipe.

Chocolate Class #2

We got another gang together for chocolate class and it was a bit tamer group in class this time except for a few stragglers.  We had enough people that we should have just scheduled a personal class with less people so we could make more chocolate.

Different designs and different fillings, but most of us had the method down.  We were not as rushed this time.

Bark was first and I kept to my pretzels and chips.

Grace made the same mistake as Jon last time by overfilling her molds so she was eating filling out before the final stage.

Next time we are definitely signing up for a personal class.

And More Scarves

On the loom now is the last of the scarves.  I didn't have enough cotton warp in each color so I double stranded one orange and one green while winding the warp.

I used some of the new techniques I learned from Jane's weaving guild and I have to say that winding with 2 strands is so much faster.  Now I need to think about re-winding or just buying more cones of the same color.

Some idea with the weft - one scarf of the orange and one scarf of the green.

Here is the start of the orange weft.  A total different look.

Crab at China Max

On a rainy night after an airport pick up, Eileen invited me out to China Max for crab.

I haven't had the crab here before and it was messy, but delicious.  Wet wipes, napkins, utensils, and new plates were necessary.

Beef Noodle Soup

When I was in Taiwan, there were tons of beef noodle soup places and the award winning ones were at the Taipei train station.

Since the new 99 Ranch Market has opened in the neighborhood, there are a couple of food court places outside of the main market area but still in the building.  One has beef noodle soup with handmade noodles.

There are a few places to sit and eat and it was great.  A little too much for one meal so leftovers for the next day.

Los Angeles Field Trip

A week was spent in Los Angeles working with Social Security Administration.  The weather was foggy and then rainy.

Traffic is so much more congested and took so much more time.

I did hit a Chinese place for some spam ramen.

A productive week overall.

Chinese New Year - Year of the Rooster

Brunch at Jasmine for the Lucky Lion Dancers.

We came prepared to feed the lions for luck in the coming year with red envelopes full of money.

We sampled a bunch of dim sum dishes and then had lunch of peking duck two ways.

Beef and asparagus.

Greens.

And lobster.