“Eat around the world” — a new blog challenge

I’ve spent a good part of the pandemic watching YouTube videos. My favorite videos are ones that involve food. It could be a recipe video, a food journey in a particular destination, a food challenge, cooking techniques, restaurant review, etc. I enjoy watching them all!

I’ve been entertaining the idea of having people share how their part of the world would eat something…it could be a particular dish (pizza), feature a particular ingredient (tomatoes), or use a cooking tool (cast iron skillet, cheese grater). It combines my love for food and travel. You don’t have to be a home cook to participate. You can share a dish from a place you dine at too

I plan to kick off my first prompt on June 1st. I am thinking the theme could be wedding cakes around the world…or some treat one would eat at weddings. I chose a wedding theme because June is peak season for weddings. I am inviting everyone to participate all June long.

Anyways I thought it would be a fun idea. I can’t wait to kick it off on June 1st!

Also…any tips of hosting blogging challenges? Comment below!

Home cooking 🏡

Home cooking 🏡

Five things Friday: A Glimpse into my world

I thought this week’s Five things Friday I could do a twist by sharing a glimpse into my world according to my smartphone. Just like most people who have a smartphone, I take mines everywhere. My most used app is the camera app taking photos of things that appeal to me. So here are the top five things you’ll most likely find on my phone:

1. Food I’ve eaten at a restaurant – This photo is from the last restaurant I ate. I got the day off on Monday because it was President’s Day. I met husband for lunch since his work did not get the day off. This restaurant is a Southern Indian restaurant not too far from his work. I am so glad at least outdoor dining is back.

Goat combo meal

Carrot dessert on the far left and sauces

Eggs bonda

Mango lassi

2. Food I make

3. The underappreciated nature finds in Los Angeles — I enjoy being outside. I like how I don’t have to go very far to find it.

Scorpion Park

Angeles National Forest

Behind the Hollywood sign

4. My dogs

Koda the Pomeranian

Teddy the mini Schnauzer

5. …and of course, Lana.

Lana at four months old

Foods I miss eating during pregnancy

1. Poke bowl, sushi burritos, sushi – This warmer weather calls for colder food like poke. There are days where I go “this would be a good day for poke” and then I tell myself, “oh wait…I can’t have raw fish” I would say out of all foods, I miss raw fish the most.
2. Deli meat and canned tuna – I was informed deli meats were food pregnant women should avoid, but I see other articles say it is fine to eat deli meat. The message is confusing. Anyways, I eat these in moderation. And when I say “moderation” — I say once per week. Before pregnancy, I would eat deli meats several times per week because it was a cheap and easy protein to put in my salad and sandwiches.
3. Alcohol – I have a small bar full of wines and liquors. It will be a while until I start mixing drinks again.
4. Kombucha – There is a tiny percentage of alcohol in kombucha. Even I was told it was not recommended during pregnancy.

I was surprised to find that I had a fairly small list of foods that I miss. Nowadays most of my diet consists of fruits, vegetables, beans, chicken, and some sort of plant based milk. I thought I would miss eating dessert all the time. I use to eat several sweets per day and now it is down to one sweet item. It is the healthiest I have ever been. Here’s to keeping it this way!

What foods have you missed during pregnancy?

Week 5: Bangkok, Los Angeles, Naples

Week  4 of the Weekly Travel Blogging Challenge: Top 3 Cultural Foods

“Travel Tuesday” is a back and I am so excited to post this set because my favorite thing about travel is the food. Here are my Top 3 Cities with the best food.

Bangkok, Thailand

I was in Southeast Asia back in 2012 exploring Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam…and I had a brief, less-than-24-hour stint in Hong Kong. I have to say, Bangkok has AMAZING food or my friend who lives in Bangkok took me to all these great places. Maybe because I was young, I loved how places opened late and there were still people around. It reminded me of living Los Angeles when I was in college. At the time, I lived in sleepy San Diego for about 3 years and being in Bangkok made me miss the liveliness of living in the city.

I have to say, fruit in the food stands in Thailand was good. Keeping the fruit under the shade makes all the difference. It was a contrast in buying fruit laying out in the sun from a stand in Cambodia.

Naples, Italy

This was from our long overdue honeymoon in Italy. We went to Italy in September 2015 — our wedding was in October 2014. See, overdue. We went to Rome, Florence, Venice, Cinque Terre, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. Out of all the cities, Naples had the best food and the most diverse. Naples had the best pizza — after all, that is where pizza was invented. My favorite snack (from this whole trip!) was this fried seafood medley.

Los Angeles, CA

I know, I live in Los Angeles, but I feel no matter what your budget is you can find really, good food. Sometimes the saying “you get what you pay for” does not apply in food in Los Angeles.

I love how I can always somehow find food reminiscent of my travels somewhere in LA. If I want Neapolitan style pizza, I can go to Midici’s down the street from my house. If I want kanom krok, I can find it in a Thai stand in Grand Central Market.

Read more posts from the Travel Blogging Challenge:

Week 1: Your Favorite Travel Photo of You and Intro
Week 2: Little Known Travel Tips
Week 3: Funny Travel Story
Week 4: Travel Misadventures

Who else is doing the challenge?

• Journey Through the Trees – Victoria
• Wandering Outside the Box – Winta
• Trouvaille, Mon Cher – Aly
• Simply Emily – Emily

Interested in participating in the Weekly Travel Blogging Challenge? Feel free to make your own today!

Lunch at Seattle: Turkish Delight

Address:
1930 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA 98101

My husband went to Turkey a couple months back for work and ate very well while he was there. Yesterday, after our train ride from Portland to Seattle, we decided to get some Turkish food. The name “Turkish Delight” got my attention because my husband kept raving about this confection while he was there. Not only did we get Turkish Delight, we got a whole lunch meal there! 

Portland food posts

After going to the Memorial Day service, walking around the zoo, and racking up more than 19,000 steps on FitBit — my husband and I needed to eat something. It’s safe to say we burned our calories from Sunday night’s meal at Podnah’s.

Podnah’s Pit BBQ, Portland (OR)

Address:
Podnah’s Pit BBQ
​1625 NE Killingsworth St
Portland, OR 97211

The Halal Guys, Glendale

Beef and Chicken combo sandwich

I’ve been to Halal Guys a couple times for lunch. Between the plate and the sandwich, I prefer the sandwich.

Warning: The red hot sauce is tear-pooling spicy.  Please use at your own risk.

Address:

The Halal Guys
201 N Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA 91203

Sushi Burritos

There was this one place I’ve been meaning to go to because they served Sushi Burritos and they were opening up in Valencia. Of all places, my childhood home? Everytime we’ve gone to see my parents, my husband and I always said to stop by Temakitto but it always slipped our mind.

Yesterday we finally went and we thought, “why have we gone come by sooner?”

We were thinking these sushi burritos would be like the ones from a certain place we’ve gone to in the past where they pack A LOT of rice and it was underwhelming.  Gladly Temakitto packs more content — more fish, more veggies — into their sushi burrito.

From left to right: Crunchy Tiger burrito, Red Eye burrito

Temakitto
28126 Newhall Ranch Rd.
Santa Clarita, CA 91355