You can blame Josh & working at DAVIDsTEA for my pun-ny humor/dad jokes for days. I’m not proud of myself & neither are my puns. I’ve put off this post long enough, so here it is in all of its mouthwatering & wanderlust invoking (mayhaps?) glory! It’s another filler post, I know, oh well, I promise lots of recipes are coming your way inspired by my trip to Vietnam!
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Today, I’d like to share with you my delicious new recipe of Blackened Cocoa Fish Tacos, which has a fantastic mix of coffee & cocoa powder. Coffee infused with cocoa is also a great alternative to coffee + cocoa powder. After my nearly month old post on South American inspired recipes, I’ve found myself on a bit of Latin kick. While I haven’t explored much of Boston’s offerings–honestly I’ve been told that there’s not much to explore anyway, I mean we don’t even have Valentina or Tajin, you guys; the struggle is real–I love making my own Latin dishes whether it’s tacos, nachos, enchiladas, or mole. Seeeee, I don’t only eat sushi & various Asian food, gosh.
Lacey, one of my best friends who’s currently studying abroad in Sydney, took note of my absence on TB the other day. She knows I loathe Facebook, so I don’t update it, which means she doesn’t get updated on what I’m doing with my life unless it’s on my Instagram or I text her. Well Lacey & other curious/noisy people, I’m updating, so I hope you can handle it. You ready?? I’m ready.
Last month, my former roommate Gaby visited me in Boston. She had never been before & wanted to eat ALL THE THINGS. Not only did Gaby & I share a bedroom back at our days at UCLA, we also share very similar backgrounds. Both our fathers are physicians, our parents are immigrants, our cultures value family & good food, & obviously, we both grew up in Southern California. Aside from all that, Gaby is a delight to dine & travel around the city with. She’s up for anything & eats it all, raw, cooked, fermented, whatever! She has a much stronger aversion to fennel than I do, which makes pho–a very popular Vietnamese noodle soup–on her list of, “I wish I could like it, but it has fennel [seeds].” So while she was here, we avoided Vietnamese food because no one (besides Vietnam) does Vietnamese food like SoCal anyway & went for New England’s finest: clam chowder, lobster rolls, & oysters. Gaby didn’t get to try my tacos, she did get a bowl of my Bun Rieu, a delicious Vietnamese tomato & crab noodle soup that happens to both be our favorites. It’s my specialty Vietnamese soup & her favorite thing I make. I hear she’s paying me in a surprise package of Valentina & Tajin, so I’m really excited. La vida es mejor picante!! Una vida sin picante es una vida muy triste. Muchas gracias, Gaby. đŸ™‚
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This Ma Belle Vie is a little different from others because I’m combining it with Georgina’s A Day in the Life Linkup. Well, to be honest, it’s really not that different. I captured photos from morning until night, however I couldn’t exactly document what happened after we returned to the hotel because that Hand Grenade knocked me out. I hadn’t felt that horrible in a long time, so lesson learned: don’t take on an entire Hand Grenade if you can barely handle more than 5 shots of hard liquor.
On February 19th, Josh attended the 56th Annual Convention of the International Studies held in New Orleans & flew me out for our 2 Year Anniversary. It was my first time in Louisiana & also my first time in New Orleans aka The Big Easy. This city has experienced a lot of tragedy & hardship in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina drowned 80% of the city, due to a major engineering mishap: the levees designed to protect the city against major hurricanes failed. Thousands of people were displaced, lost their homes, lives, businesses, & many were trapped in their own homes when the waters rushed in. Since then, the city has slowly, but surely recuperated. Tourism is very much alive & Mardi Gras is still a much celebrated event. Our trip to NOLA was a week after Mardi Gras, so most of the city still looked like the day after a frat party, but I chose not to photograph the trash. I don’t want to depict the city’s disheveled appearance, hoping to highlight the wonderful mixing of various cultures, food, & architecture. New Orleans is appropriately named America’s most unique city & while it might be a far cry from Paris, Amsterdam, London, or Bern, it is still such a worthy visit. There is no other city in all of the US like it & the culture & food is phenomenal. It’s a perfect blend of Southern comfort, Caribbean & Spanish flavors, & most notably, French influence. NOLA is a pescetarian’s dream come true: seafood for days. It’s also a great hub for meat eaters & veggie lovers alike.