If you’ve never heard of this delicious Sichuan dish before, now you have & you’ve seen a picture of it. Of course my rendition of it errs on the traditional meat & tofu dish, but this is still an amazing Chinese dish, which pretty much is a party in your mouth. Probably might even make you sweat a little if you can’t handle the heat. This would not be the greatest recipe to try if you’re in, oh I don’t know, California or Florida right now–the states that completely avoided the Polar Vortex because they defy the laws of Seasons–but if you’re in any of the other 48 states with the exception of parts of Texas, this dish is right up your alley. Autumn is happening & it’s slowly getting chillier with each passing week, so if you’re one of the strange individuals who doesn’t like soup–& apparently I know about at least 3 of you–mapo tofu is a nice solution. This dish is the perfect embodiment of Sichuan cuisine with its usage of their spicy peppercorns, reminiscent to the heatwave that is hammering a drought stricken California or the ever humid Florida. So, eat up this recipe & experience the heat before venturing out to the chilly autumn wind. Even if you’re not a fan of tofu, the sauce is so distinctive in flavor that the tofu won’t even bother you one bit. Not a fan of mushrooms? We’ve already talked about this.
Vacation
My mother has a stellar memory bank for numbers & fun stories, so she’d often tell us her hilarious childhood stories as she drove us to school. However, not all the stories she told were her own; many of them were ours. One childhood story my mom frequently told was how I used to sing lullabies to my baby brother, but with silly lyrics that were reflective of my language acquisition at that age such as phrases on mowing the grass. A story my mom still loves to tell is how Toddler Tiffany used to absolutely love squatting down in the snow, grabbing a handful of it, & just eating it like it were a doughnut. I may have been born in the spring, but I swear my ethos/spirit animal is a beluga whale. Sad news for Adult Tiffany: there’s no snow in Southern California for me to eat. Adult Tiffany prefers winter over summer. Adult Tiffany thinks speaking in third person is really lame, but for some reason, is still doing it.
So, what about all of those summer recipes you keep posting then, you ask? Listen, you can’t fault me for capitalizing on the season, its fresh fruits, & great recipe inspirations that come with it. Just because I’m bad with heat, doesn’t mean I don’t love the recipes of the season! Now that I’m back from my holiday, I’m posting two new recipes. Since California is experiencing the worst drought in the history of recorded droughts, it’s not exactly wise for us to be participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS, however you can still do something to help spread the word & donate to the cause. You can dump pool water on yourself while you’re in a pool or ice water while you’re standing over an area of your garden that needs watering. What else can you do? Well, shoot, just make some ice pops or an iced tea, social media that thing, & head on over to ALSA.org to donate! No offense to the guy who came up with the challenge, but I’d rather do something useful with ice than to let it go to waste. Tired of ice pops & iced tea recipes, you say? How about sangria with boba instead?
With my love for boba & Two Buck Chuck, why not combine the two with some fresh fruit & juice for a delicious original concoction for your next Sunday Brunch? So, how do you trick your tastebuds into thinking you’re on a tropical holiday you ask? Well, follow the simple steps below. (Remember to hover over the images for captions.)
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Freeport, Grand Bahama |
As I sit here listening to Broods’s self-titled debut EP, I feel a sense of calm that I haven’t felt since I was in the Bahamas with my family & Josh. I’ve been so high strung since I’ve gotten back with application deadlines looming, attempting to gather together my thoughts to compose several profound & moving personal statements formatted correctly to each school’s guidelines that I often forget to just breathe. There is so much I’d like to write to explain myself & why I want to pursue medicine, but I’m often confined to 2500 characters to 450 words, thus it’s absolutely imperative that I make every word count. Years of blogging have taught me that most people stop reading if your blog exceeds 500 words so I’ve always attempted to keep my thoughts short. Just taking a gander at my giveaway post, you can see that most people didn’t care to read what I wrote because they were simply there for the chance to win free loot.
Without further ado, here are some pictures & a video from my week vacation in Freeport, Grand Bahama. It was overcast everyday while we were there so the weather wasn’t optimal for us to do any fun water sports, but with such a beautiful view, it’s difficult to have a bad time!
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Vy & Me at Tao Beach |
I come bearing summer treats! Actually, just one treat, that is of course if you count new albums as treats, then yes, I think treats needs dat plural! A few weeks ago, Vegas experienced one of its hottest weeks of the summer. Fortunately for Danny, Josh, Vy, & me, we experienced it when it was around 42º C (108º F) instead of 47º C (117º F). While Danny gambled, Josh, Vy, & I went to a very overcrowded Tao Beach. We quickly left to enjoy the larger pool beside the day club without sacrificing anything other than a bar only to gain a spacious & cool pool. Sliding into the cold water was like experiencing the best day of your life transformed onto your nervous system as chills avalanched throughout your heated body. It was difficult not to be happy on such a beautiful day, in a beautiful pool, & surrounded by beautiful people.
It’s too bad we only got a short amount of time in Vegas, but it was a fantastic trip & everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Vy especially liked that I made her pasta & brought her Hot Cheetos when we picked her up from the airport. It’s hard to believe it’s almost the weekend again!
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Volcano Roll: Baked scallops on top of a California Roll |
Winter quarter is finally over & it’s Spring Break! Since everyone in LA is away on vacation or back home, I retreated home & got to catch up with Jimmy, Kevin, & Steven. We all went to one of Jimmy’s & my favorite sushi restaurant, Kaisen, & then went over to 7 Leaves Cafe for boba. Added two new albums from Friday & revamped the gallery page. I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since I first had a camera.