birthday at Bambara

It was John's birthday last Saturday, and we went to one of his favorite restaurants in town - Bambara, to celebrate.





It was a happy happy birthday dinner! :D

a-gui's first birthday

a-gui turned a year old on the 5th!

OK it was probably not really his birthday, but when we adopted him on November 5th last year, he was about two months old, so we decided his birthday should have been September 5th.



I happened to have made the ribbon rose cake for my decorating class, so we pretended it was his birthday cake and tried to have him pose with it.

After a few attempts I had to put the cake right next to him before I could snap a better shot of both the cake and him. a-gui just had to take a little bite on the cake... hence the above picture! :D

I love a-gui!

forage and a-gui

It was my birthday yesterday, and for that John made a reservation at Forage!


It was a wonderful dinner. I shall blog about it later on. Chef/owner Viet Pham was phenomenal!

John and I had their tasting menu. It was so good.


My wonderful friends gave me nice presents and loves! This painting of A-gui is from Daena.

It was a lovely birthday. Thanks everyone!

curry and cake

It's John's birthday today!

I asked him what he would like to eat last night, and he said curry... and I remembered this wonderful little recipe where you can quickly thicken the curry by adding a Chinese "wheat flour tea" powder. I made it with that recipe and it worked! I added udon noodles to the curry and it was yummy.



I used canned carrots and potatoes in the recipe, so everything actually were actually done within half an hour (including the cook time on the udon.)

So this is my version of the recipe:

Heat up a little bit oil in the pan. Stir in half a can (regular size) of carrots and potatoes (sliced), then add half of an onion (sliced). When all the veggies seem heated, add 2-3 tablespoons of curry powder and stir well. Remove the veggies from the pan and set aside on a plate.

With the same pan (don't need to rinse), stir in sliced (or shredded) meat (I used pre-cooked chicken breast fillets... lazy me :p ) until cooked. Add water (as little as a cup, or as much as to make "curry soup.") and bring to a boil. Add cooked udon noodles, and allow everything to simmer for a few minutes.

Add 1 teaspoon salt, sugar, and a little more curry power to taste.

If you'd like a thicker curry soup for your udon noodles, then add a few tablespoons of the "wheat flour tea" powder to it... the liquid would magically thicken and the spices and nut flavors from the powder make the curry flavor more dynamic. If you don't know what this "wheat flour tea" powder is or where to get it, you can thicken the curry by sprinkling some flour and spices to it.

Sprinkle some shichimi before serving. Yumminess!

And of course I made John his favorite pumpkin cake! He got to it before I was able to take a picture of it... so here's a photo of last year's cake:



Happy Birthday, John!

sawadee

My friend Joyce took me to Sawadee last week for my birthday. It was a busy Thai restaurant with very friendly servers and staff.


We sat near the back of the store, next to the kitchen.


A beautiful Thai buddha was near our table.


A very shinny golden lotus wheel(?) was there, too.

I hadn't had much Thai, and Joyce had, so she helped pick out most of the dishes for us to try.

It got dark very soon, so the quality of the photos might have been compromised.


"Tom Yum Goong" - a Thai sweet and sour soup.

Joyce was almost going to order a large soup, and the server's eyes were wide open and said the soup might be too big for the two of us. We therefore got a bowl instead.

There were a lot of spices in the soup. Joyce instructed me to eat the soup, mushroom, shrimp, and cabbages, but to leave pretty much the rest of the spices/roots/leaves. I love the taste of the tangy soup!


"Som Tum" - Thai green papaya salad.

I really liked how the shredded green papayas were marinated well. Yum.


"Honey Ginger Duck."

I actually helped picking out the Honey Ginger Duck because I couldn't really made up my mind on the assorted curry dishes that I originally wanted to order. The Honey Ginger Duck was boneless... yummy! A puree/mashed
something was also on the plate. I tasted it and found some tiny pineapple chunks in it. I coulnd't quite figure out what exactly the puree was made of... but it went well with the duck.

That was a nice early birthday dinner. Thanks Joyce!


Sawadee
754 East South Temple Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84102
(801) 328-8424

30

I turned thirty today. I had been very skeptical about this whole turning 30 thing for the past few days, even though my friends said nothing would be different when you turn 30. I guess it's true.

John said I'm still really cute at 30. Awww. Now that's cute.

Ryan asked me what about turning 30 that freaked me out. Nothing serious, really, but it's just that being 30 almost means I have to REALLY grow up. There are decisions that need to be made. There are things that need to be done. There are responsibilites that I have to take.

But then this morning I got an email from my mom. It was one of the most simple and beautiful "letter" I had ever read. All of a sudden I felt really relaxed and happy about turning 30. Yes there are a lot of decisions, things, and responsibilites that come with being 30, but there are also tons of fun, excitement, and adventures that are coming along.

I'm happy with what I've "accomplished" for the past decade... hmmm... decade is a serious word... but I've finished college, grad school, got married, started my own business, visited amazing countries and places, met cool people, and more! Being 30 will be even more exciting!

I remember my beautiful friend Kat wrote in her blog about aging gracefully. I hope I can do the same thing.

Thanks John for being my bao bei, the best, and all the gifts here and there! (and more to come!?)
Thanks Mom for the wonderful letter.
Thanks Dad for the most generous gift.
Thanks Brian for Sushi Prince, and for remembering my birthday year after year.
Thanks Ryan for the "turning 30" fun talk.
Thanks Kat for the most beautiful card and all the hugs.
Thanks Joyce for the wonderful dinner and friendship.
Thanks Joanne for the yummy food and all the invites!
Thanks EC for being the best sister ever.
Thanks everyone who sings Happy Birthday to me at the caffe!!

I love you guys!

And damn yay I'm 30!