2/19/07

Stupid Fucking Blogger

I am pissed as hell. Blogger made me switch to their new version and now my header and cutsie stuff are all gone. In addition, it now is associated with Miles' blog and all the profile stuff I had for this one is gone. If they don't fix the problems, I'm going to restart this one elsewhere. Such a PITA. I've put so much work into this one. Goddammit!

We've been dealing with lots of illness. Last weekend we visited my grandmother and she is doing so poorly. Unfortunately, we're at that point now where we have to view every visit as possibly the last one. It's so sad to see someone you love in such bad shape. The day after we left they moved her to a nursing home. Hopefully they will be able to take better care of her there.

We are still adjusting to our new schedule and it's tough! Last week, Jack was very ill--a bad cold with high fevers. So I had to take 3 days off work and Brian had to take 1 to stay home with him. Now I feel like I'm getting sick, but I really can't take off more time now. This sucks.

Brian and I celebrated a late Valentines Day on Saturday and went to Zengo, a latin-asian fusion restaurant. OMG, one of the best meals I've ever had. I have to chronicle it here, just so I can remember it:

Ceviche Camaron with shrimp, tomatillo, green mango, yuzu, and red onion. I think it also had sesame. Awesome!

Steamed Gyoza Dumplings with foie gras, pork, shrimp, won bok, and ponzu~truffle sauce. Delish!

Angry Zengo sushi roll with spicy yellowfin tuna, avocado, sesame~chipotle rouille, and wasabi tobiko. The rice was an odd texture for sushi, but the flavor made it not really matter. One of my favorite dishes of the night.

Roasted plantains, the only disappointment of the evening.

Chile Ancho Grilled Prawns with pozole gouda fondue and won bok. This also came with an amazing asian slaw. My only complaint is that the dish was too small.

For drinks I had one of their amazing margaritas, their free green tea mojito they gave us in celebration of the Chinese New Year, and a "Blushing Geisha" with Ketel One vodka, sake, brandied cherries, and lime. All yummy!

This place is definitely something we can only do for special occasions, but it's now one of my favorite places.

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Recent Reads: A sort of Asian theme this post.

"The Teahouse Fire" by Ellis Avery: I'm not sure why I finished this one. I guess because of the great reviews and the subject matter, but frankly it was a little boring and took me forever to finish. It's about French-American girl who goes to Japan in the late 1800s with her abusive uncle. Once she gets there she runs away and lives with a family who runs one of the venerated teahouses that specializes in Temae, the formal tea cermony. If you are interested in this subject, I would suggest instead "Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto" by Victoria Abbott Riccardi, which I read a year or two ago and really enjoyed. It's a woman's memoir about living in Japan and studying kaiseki, the refined form of cooking that accompanies the formal Japanese tea ceremony.

"Midnight At The Dragon Café" by Judy Fong Bates: I'm half way through this novel about a young girl who moves with her mother to join her father in Canada, where they run a Chinese restaurant. Things get dramatic when her older brother, who is her father's son from another marriage and about the same age as her mother, moves in.

"The Tenth Circle: A Novel: by Jodi Picoult: I'm about a third of the way listening to this on CD. It's about a girl who gets raped. Or did she? I think she thinks it was a rape and the boy thinks it was consensual. It's not my favorite of Picoult's works, but I'll finish it.